I want to recap our trip to Southern Florida. Our main reason for the trip, other than a much needed vacation and the engagement to celebrate, was the Miami boat show. We went down the day prior and explored Fort Lauderdale and then on Thursday we were off to Miami. First we stopped at "THE ORIGINAL" Pancake House. Yum! Then it was off to the boat show. I am going to let the pictures do the talking here.

Wow-at the press of a button?

No boat show is complete without fancy cars.




This picture doesn't do this boat justice. It was beautiful-in the way a fine crafted machine can be beautiful. They got close to the dock, pressed a button and an automatic ladder/walkway came out the back to let one of the guys depart. It was very cool.

I LOVE the blue hull.

We came back to Fort Lauderdale and Scott discovered our hotel became quite the tourist attraction on Friday nights. The indoor pool is viewable from the bar-SCANDALOUS! They do a weekly live mermaid show. I don't know who was more excited-the raunchy old men, the children or ME!!!

The mermaid show at our hotel. I can't adequately describe it and I couldn't get a good picture either. It will be chalked up to one of those life experiences that you just "had to be there" to believe.

We were able to do the whole boat show in one day which gave us a FULL extra day to explore Fort Lauderdale. I wanted to play tourist and do the water taxi tour since I didn't know much about the town. I know these things are kinda weird...but I dig a city tour-be in by boat or bus!! here are some of the sites from the water:

One of a gazillion cruise ships we saw. These things are mammoth!

The world's largest iguana sunning himself. Literally 6 feet long.

A nice little place on the water. A 2 bedroom home on a corner lot,less than 1500 sq feet is currently for sale on the intercoastal for 4 m. Too bad I cant move my house down there to a nice water view lot;)

One of my favorite things on the trip. This dogs name is Murphy. He and his owner do this regularly, so often that they become party of the water taxi tour if they are out and about. I loved it-likely as much as that sweet dog does!!

Sunset in Fort Lauderdale.

Before we left for Key West I wanted to get some pictures of our hotel. Here is where we were lucky enough to stay!

View of beach from the hotel.

View of marina from hotel. We had the best of both worlds from a view perspective.


The pool at our hotel. We were so busy seeing the sites while we were down in Fort Lauderdale and Miami that I didn't even know this was there until the day we checked out. We were on the marina side of the hotel, not the pool side. Sad:(

The ocean!

Self portrait in front of the ocean. The only proof we have that we stepped on sand.

I will update on the Key West portion of the trip later.

The first 30 days & when all else fails....

Scott and I have been engaged for a little over 30 days. I think it has FLOWN by. We have the wedding set, the party set, the band booked, the food selected and the bachelor/bachelorette party conceptualized. We also spent a week in Florida celebrating said engagement. Oh-and did I mention that week before we got engaged I put my house on the market. I will get to most of the other things but right now lets concentrate on the house on the market issue. For some reason it's the most stressful to me of all the things going on right now:)

I knew putting the house on the market in the winter would be tough. Couple that with real estate sales being down 12% in January in Knoxville makes for FUN TIMES. But I have done OK so far...3 showings in the first few weeks and everyone that saw it loved it. But...didn't buy it for a variety of good reasons.

When all else fails...us Catholics turn to patron saints. The patron saint of real estate is St. Joesph. Yep-its true. From here on out I am calling him little Joe. I ordered him and he arrived (with complete instructions for burial) on this past Monday. if you are local you know that was the day of our epic flood. I am sure THAT was a coincidence.

little Joe in front of some flowers I got for myself. He really is little.

Close up of little Joe.

The whole real estate Joe kit.

You are supposed to bury the little statue (little Joe) in front of your house-upside down and facing the street. A small prayer is offered up and that's it. You hope for the best. Like I said the flood on Monday prevented him from being placed in the ground. Yesterday I kinda forgot about little Joe sitting on my kitchen table. Today I got TWO CALLS for showings on my house. This is unusual....I am crediting little Joe for this sudden interest. I came home and buried him.

little Joe's final resting place....

Little Joe is in the ground. The house is immaculately clean, again. The first of the two showings is tomorrow morning. Here is hoping that this person will love my little place and want to make it his/her very own-QUICKLY.

Oh-and little Joe wont be left behind. I am not going to mess with God and his instructions.

Instructions that came with St. Joesph. Obviously it's VERY important to dig the little guy back up after the house sells. I will..no man left behind.