So I have been totally slacking and haven't written in a while! James and I have had a busy few months here in Tampa.
I finally got to celebrate my first Gasparilla at the end of January. Anyone who is familiar with Tampa knows about Gasparilla or 'pirate fest'. In the late 1700s a pirate by the name of Jose Gaspar invaded the now city of Tampa. Tampa 'celebrates' that invasion with a parade called Gasparilla. Thousands of people dress up as pirates and line Bayshore (a road along the water here in Tampa), and floats sponsored by community businesses and local sports teams drive by and throw beads to the parade attendees. Here is a picture of James and I at the parade with all of the beads James caught for me!
The weekend after Gasparilla James and I headed down to Naples for the Super Bowl. James' parents rent a home in the Naples area for a month during the winter and host an annual Super Bowl party. James is a huge Giants fan so this was obviously a very exciting weekend for him! James' cousins Chris and Brendan came to Naples too so it was nice to spend time with lots of family. We spent the weekend at the pool and relaxing until it was game time. The game was a nail biter so everyone was on the edge of their seat watching but we were all very excited when the Giants pulled out the win. James and I have been pretty fortunate with our teams these last two years, each of our teams have had a Super Bowl win!
Mid February brought a new job for me! I was promoted from my customer service position at Kforce into a recruiting role. I survived an intense three week training and was even named Valedictorian of my training class. I am now apart of our West team or one of the 'Gateway Girls' at Kforce, which means that I recruit for positions, mostly in the IT field, in our Denver, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, Kansas City and St. Louis markets. So far I am loving my new job, it has brought longer hours and a lot more work but I am up for the challenge.
James' cousin Brendan came down to Tampa to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with us! James took Friday off from work and him and Brendan got to spend some time at the pool enjoying the gorgeous weather we have been having. On Saturday a few friends came over for a BBQ and we spent the afternoon at the pool. Later that day we headed into South Tampa to one of our favorite bars called Yard of Ale. They are famous for their yards of craft beer but of course on St. Patrick's Day our beer of choice was green. Here are a few pictures from our night out-not holding green beers
Eric, James, Dan & Brendan
James, Brendan & me
The next few months will also be pretty busy, but exciting for us. We recently resigned our lease so we will be staying in our apartment for another year. We will also be traveling a lot from now until June including trips to New York and Italy!!! We (I) will try to keep this updated a bit more especially with pictures from our upcoming trips.
Here are a few more pictures from the past few months here in Tampa. Thanks for reading!!! xoxo
A February sunset at the beach across the street from our apartment
Watching the sunset right outside the apartment
