MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

It's Christmas Eve, and....

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

We wish you a Merry Christmas,

AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

This is our precious litle Daniel!!! You can see his little skeleton face, and the spiky thing behind his head (left side of the pic) is his little hand...he's waving at you! :)

So.....

IT'S A BOY!!!!

And his name is Daniel!

We don't have a middle name yet, but we know for sure that his first name will be Daniel.

Our friends have been so wonderful, and I can't believe how many gifts we have received. Thank you so much for your thoughfulness and generosity.

I hope Miranda doesn't shoot me for mentioning this again, but in the card she and her husband gave us, he wrote "Now you only have to worry about 1 weiner". I thought his comment was just so funny because he's right....you have to worry about all the boys if you have a girl.

I think I am starting to get over the shock of having a boy instead of a girl. I didn't realize how convinced I had been that I was carrying a girl. I have always wanted little boys (no girls) so this is a huge answer to my prayers, but a huge shock as well.

Justin is PUMPED that our little blueberry is a boy, and he is super excited to have someone to help with yard work in a few years....hahaha!

Thank you for all of your love and support! :) We are so happy to share our news with you!

Turkey for the girls and turkey for the boys...

So, it's been about a month since Thanksgiving....and I'm still thinking about it! I love Thanksgiving and it's no secret that I am a huge fan of family dinners! :)

We stopped at my parent's house for lunch first.

There was plenty of hustle and bustle in the kitchen. The flowers were beautiful in their fall color glory...


The turducken was snuggled under its woven blanket of bacon (my dad's spin on the bird, and Justin's favorite part). It was quite a spectacular sight! A turducken is a chicken wrapped in duck that's wrapped in turkey....oh yeah, there is cajun pork stuffing in there too!

We had all the traditional sides, and then we had desserts! I love to bake, so it's really a pleasure to make the apple crumb pie and pumpkin pies each year. I put on Justin's ipod and listen to his "Katie's High Standards" mix (artists such as Rosemary Clooney, Bing Crosby, Perry Como, and Frank Sinatra) and think of what has made me thankful over the years and what I am most thankful for in my whole life. I treasure this time in the kitchen each year!

And don't forget....this is not a "slimy" pumpkin pie! Grandma, Daddy and Uncle Pat are very picky about their pumpkin pie and it can't be slimy! Grandma told me that this year I defeated the "slimy-ness" and when she ate my pie she could feel my great grandmother in the room!!!! Wow! Thanks grandma! :)

We stuffed ourselves at the Hogan's house and then we went to Uncle Herman's house to see grandma and grandpa Price. We saw Vanessa (she is due a few days before me) and Joy (she is due two weeks after me), so the pregnant ladies had a lot to talk about.

Julie and Phil had us over after we visited Uncle Herman's house. We had homemade salsa on the porch and then we moved inside to have supper. We at artichokes, bean casserole, shrimp stew and fancy bread from the new Fresh Market in Vero.

Unfortunately I didn't remember to bring my camera in to Julie and Phil's house :(

I hope y'all had a wonderful Thankgiving too!

Class....

I am two classes away from getting my CFE (Certified Florida Evaluator) designation for work! One of the classes I need to take is being offered this week in Orlando, so I will be heading up there for a week with some ladies from work.

Unfortunately, I don't think I will be able to do my weekly update on Tuesday....but the next time I will be able to do the update will be the day after we know the gender!!!!

Keep your fingers crossed for December 14th so that we don't get rescheduled!

Have a good week! :)

16 Week Survey

Happy 17th week birthday little Blueberry!!!

How far along: 17 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I haven't gained an ounce since I got rid of the morning sickness, so I am down about five pounds from the first time I was weighed at the doctor's office.

Maternity clothes: Not yet!

Sleep: I have way more energy now, but napping is still a favorite on the weekends!

Best moment of this week: Getting so many Christmas things done early!

Movement: Yes! I feel the Blueberry everyday, but not for long, and the movements aren't very big yet. I can't wait until Justin can feel the movements too! We were told that he should be able to feel them in about a month!

Food cravings: I have been quite obsessed with chicken parmesan subs from Votinos lately....they have been open since Friday and I have already had two!

Gender: Our ultrasound was scheduled yesterday!!!!! We will know the baby's sex on December 14th!!!!! We couldn't be more excited!

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in or out: In

What I miss: Thanksgiving vacation days

What I am looking forward to: December 14th!

Weekly wisdom: Don't forget to be thankful for all of the blessings in your life! Even the very little ones!


Our 16 week doctor's appointment was scheduled for last Wednesday, but Tuesday they called to reschedule for Monday. We were so bummed because we get ourselves so excited for the appointments, but what can we do? When we have our baby in May I am sure that other couples will have to reschedule their appointments too, it's all part of the game!

Anyway, she rescheduled me for Monday (yesterday) at 2:30. That was the only time she had available so I had to take it...even though later appointments work better for Justin's schedule. He has promised to go to every appointment with me, but yesterday was very hard because he already had appointments scheduled for the afternoon.

I was getting nervous about going by myself, and I couldn't decide if I needed to ask someone else to go with me. (I'm not scared, but I tend to "space out" and not hear everything that the doctor says so it's better to have two sets of ears.) Thankfully Justin was able to go with me and all of my worrying was for nothing! I am so happy that he didn't have to miss hearing the heartbeat....I think that's one of his favorite parts!

I feel so bad for one lady that was waiting for her ultrasound while Justin and I were waiting to see our doctor. The lady looked as if she was suffering from a miserable case of morning sickness that would prompt her to run to the restroom at any second....poor thing! Her appointment was running at least 30 minutes behind, and she was so uncomfortable that she couldn't even sit up straight. I remember being there and I just wanted to cry for her. :(

Thank goodness I have "turned a corner" with my morning sickness. I have felt so much better lately! I still get sick on rare occasions, and I still don't feel perfect, but it is such a change from how I was feeling in my first trimester.

16 Week Survey - The Blueberry is the size of an avacado this week!!!!!

How far along? 16 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I have gained one pound since I lost weight from my run-in with morning sickness. I was wrong last week...I feel huge, but the scale continues to surprise me, lol

Maternity clothes: Not yet! My sis is loosing weight and looking great, which works out swimmingly for me! She is handing down all kinds of wonderful clothes and saving me from having to buy anything new! Thanks, Kel! I know Justin really appreciates it! ;)

Sleep: I don't require as much! YAY! I still love naps, but that's nothing new!

Best moment of this week: Signing our little Blueberry up for preschool!!!! I was so excited and I couldn't stop smiling all day! We are open to all options, but at this point we have a secure spot at a great preschool called, Sign With Me Child Development Center! My grandma had the owner in her kindergarden class, so I have known her forever which makes me super comfortable. Also, all the children learn sign language, so it will be really awesome to communicate with the Blueberry before he/she can talk.....of course we won't have a full conversation, but it will be great nonetheless!!!!

Movement: Here comes the crazy first time mom again, but I swear I can feel the baby in there. Nothing huge, but a little taps and flutters....we will ask Lisa, the midwife, if this could be anything substantial or not when we go to our appointment tomorrow!

Food cravings: Not really....I think I am still recovering from hating all food during my morning sickness stage.

Gender: We should know around Christmas if we will have a Daniel or a Betsy!

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in or out: Still in!

What I miss: Subs made with deli meat!

What I am looking forward to: Our appointment tomorrow! Hopefully we can schedule a date with the ultrasound tech to find out the Blueberry's gender before Christmas!

Weekly wisdom: We spent the weekend with our friends at their beach house. They had their baby with them, and he was a piece of cake! It made me feel a lot more confident about having a baby of my own. Here's Justin helping him walk, isn't he just the cutest?!

15 Week Survey!!!

Happy 15 week birthday little Blueberry!!!

How far along? 15 weeks

Total weight gain/loss: I have gained a little since last week, but I am still not close to what my first pregnancy weigh in at the doctor's office

Maternity clothes: Not yet, but I am wearing my more comfortable "fat clothes"

Sleep: I have actually been able to stay up later and take fewer/smaller naps! I may return back to normal after all!

Best moment this week: Finding out that my bridesmaid Julie is pregnant too! She is due June 22nd!!!!!

Movement: I swear that I feel "something", but I am not sure if it's a baby, lol

Food cravings: Not really.

Gender: Grrrr....still waiting. We'll know right around Christmas!

Labor signs: Nope

Belly button in or out: I think I have a while before it pokes out....hopefully!

What I miss: Milk and Cokes! :( It makes my stomach hurt now.....so sad!

What I am looking forward to: The weekly update from Baby Center so that I can call Justin and tell him the developments for this week.

Weekly wisdom: Do as much as you can when you have the energy because you never know how long it will last!

Milestones: I baked 10 pounds of cinnamon pecan nuts! Hopefully the next 10 pounds will come in soon so I can get the majority of my Christmas baking done early! (The nuts keep really well, so don't be scared you get some for Christmas...they should taste just fine and be perfectly safe!)

The Questions

I can't find much to do today....I have cleaned, written thank you cards, and put my shoes away (all things that I don't care much to do, but end up getting done when I don't have much to do). I could tackle the HUGE, DAUNTING task of organizing our back (junk) room to get it ready to transform it into the guest room since the baby will be in our current guest room....but that would take too much time. I have to be ready by 10:30.....

You see, I have a funeral to go to today. A funeral for a classmate that I have known all the way from kindergarten through our junior year of high school. Her last name was Henson and my last name was Hogan, so I ALWAYS sat behind her...you get to know someone pretty well that way.

She was never a popular girl...she was the girl that the popular girls had a mission to make miserable. She was very loyal, kind, and never had an ill word to say about anyone...even the popular girls that made her life miserble. I hope that people in her life after school, and after I knew her, treated her as she truly deserved.

I don't believe that death is bad....actually I believe tha that she is on her way to Heaven, and we should be grateful, we should even be celebrating for her! The part that stinks and brings the pain is the questions that death leaves behind...

She had four children...can you believe that, four! What will they do without their Mommy? Are they too young to remember her? How will her mother cope with the pain of the death of her daughter?

WOW! So much to say!

Sorry for the long post, but so many things have been happening lately....here's the update:

My cousin Joseph Martin married Kelly Darling (great maiden name which she kept as her middle) on October 24th at the church where I attended mass while in college, St. Thomas Moore. Their reception was at the Doak Campbell Stadium!!!! It was an awesome venue!!!

I loved visiting Tallahassee and showing Justin my old "stomping grounds" HA! I can't believe I am old enough to refer to college as my "old stomping grounds"!

I was inspired by the lyrics of Jimmy Buffett's Tin Cup Chalice, "Give me Oysters and Beer for dinner everyday of the year and I'd feel fine" to throw an "Oysters & Beer" party to celebrate Justin's 30th birthday! Justin really enjoyed the party, and it sounds like everyone had a great time!

My Aunt Roxanne and I have the same birthday, November 4th, and my dad's birthday is two days later (November 6th) so this past weekend my mom had a birthday party for us! We had a fun lunch together! And, as always, we enjoyed mom's cooking as much as the company!

Finally, today marks the first day of my second trimester (14 weeks)!!!!! I haven't mentioned our little baby on the blog yet because I have been slightly anxious and TOO TIRED.

When we found out we were pregnant, our baby was the size of a blueberry....and the name kinda stuck. We call him/her The Blueberry. Our Blueberry is around the size of a lemon this week, and he/she can make faces and can suck his/her thumb! Wouldn't that be so cool to see?!

Our 16 week appointment is the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and we will get our next ultrasound at 18-20 weeks.....right around Christmas!!!! I told Justin that I can wait until 20 weeks (which would be our regular appt) to see what the baby is, but I really want to know for Christmas, so if our 20 week appointment isn't until after Christmas we will have to schedule another appointment just for the ultrasound....it sounds crazy, but we are so ready to know if our Blueberry is a boy or a girl!

Anyway, I saw a weekly update on another blog, and I thought I would try to be organized enough to give an update every Tuesday (the Blueberry's weekly "birthday"). I will be answering the same questions, and hopefully adding a "belly pic" so you can see the baby (and me, lol) grow.


14 Week Survey
How far along? 14 weeks, officially the beginning of my second trimester! YAY!
Total weight gain/loss: around 5 pounds down, the morning sickness has been pretty bad, but it seems to be slacking off a little
Maternity clothes? Not yet!
Sleep: Sleeping has been my favorite thing to do lately! The other day Justin suggested that I take a nap because I "seem to be really good at that (napping) lately", lol, it sounds kinda harsh, but he didn't mean it in a malicious way at all....it acutally made me laugh.
Best moment this week: Reading the weekly update to Justin and telling him that The Blueberry can make faces and suck his/her thumb...."watching" the development of our baby is just awesome!
Movement: They say first time moms won't feel anything for about another month, but sometimes I sit really still and try to feel becauseI have convinced myself that I am not like other first time moms and I will feel it sooner than a month, lol
Food cravings: I want to go to Bangkok in down town and have a ginger salad and cucumber rolls, but I refuse to until the morning sickness is gone b/c I don't want to ruin my taste for sushi! Other than that, I have no cravings, but I do love Shirley Temples....haven't been able to turn one down yet!
Gender: We stared out wanting a girl, but now we are just excited to have a baby and it doesn't matter which it is! Although boy names are hard to pick and girl's clothes are WAY more cute!
Labor Signs: Nope
Belly Button in or out? In
What I miss: Cokes and spicy tuna rolls
What I am looking forward to: Saying goodbye to morning sickness
Weekly Wisdom: If you like it, don't eat it until the morning sickness is gone, or you may never want to eat it again *tear*
Milestones: Hearing the baby's heartbeat at our last appointment! Justin teared up, and I would have too, but I was too scared to even breathe because I thought I would disturb The Blueberry and we wouldn't be able to hear its heart anymore!


We don't know The Blueberry's sex, but we are still playing with names....

The girl name we have picked is Elizabeth Jane, Betsy for short. Betsy is my wonderful friend from college, her sweet smile, her strong, enduring faith, and her wonderful personality have touched Justin and me so much that we wanted to name our little girl after her. It is strictly a coincidence, but an awesome one, that Jane is a family name on both sides of my family. My grandmother's (dad's mom) middle name is Jane, and my Aunt's (mother's late sister) name was Jane as well...both are/were amazing women.

We need help with a boy's name. Our minds are pretty set on using Daniel as his first name, Danny for short. Daniel was supposed to be Justin's father's name, but his mother was talked out of it at the last minute. The name Daniel keeps popping up in Justin's Bible class, and we have received various other "signs" that this is a perfect first name....but, we are having trouble with a middle name!

Any suggestions? Please don't be offended if it doesn't make the cut...it seems that Justin and I can be pretty picky.

Thank you for your input and have a great day! :)

Conch Salad and another birthday!

Richard, our neighbor, celebrated his 53rd birthday Saturday night. It was so hard to decide what to bring.... After we thought long and hard, we decided that Richard wanted Conch Salad for his birthday!

Saturday was the first cool day of the year...with the windows open, Ollie helping, and Mango napping, Justin and I fondly remembered our summer. We talked about our trips to Bimini, our countless boatrides, and our (or mainly my) new obsession with Buckshot Bay Burgers as we sliced, diced, and juiced our way to a delightful Conch Salad.

These are the "mobile homes" of the conch that we used in the salad. The shells have been cleaned and they are ready for their new place of honor in Amanda's house!

First the limes needed to be juiced (15 limes to be exact)....in an antique juicer that I inherited as a young girl and kept in my hope chest until Saturday! What an awesome treat to have a use for this old, beloved treasure! (Thank you, Uncle Al!)

Justin got to work preparing the "side of the road fruit stand" goodies. Tomatoes, peppers and onions needed to get sliced....

Smaller, please....

Just right!

Next the conch needs to be sliced! Honey, don't forget to slice it really fine!

Everything was prepared and we still had a few hours until the party. The weather was getting cooler by the minute and the rain was barely drizzling, so we decieded to take naps, not just any naps....we took lazy, Saturday "couch naps".

After our naps and the Gator game (whew, that was close!) it was time to finish the Conch Salad!

So, we added the conch to our beautiful "side of the road fruit stand" mixture.

Then we added a every last bit of time juice I had squeezed (15 limes made a little over 2 cups).

Hot sauce and pepper to taste finish this treat!

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the most important part, the taste tester!!!! Grandma Price says that nothing should leave your kitchen without being tasted first, and we take her advice very seriously! Afterall, she is the expert!
So we went to the party with, conch salad proudly in tow, and we ejoyed our evening with our friends and the cooler weather.

To our surprise, when the cake was presented.....Justin's name was on it! The cake celebrated Richard, Justin and Jamie's birthdays! How special is that?!

Justin's Maiden Voyage

Two weeks ago today we got up early.....very early.....like 3:30 am early to drive down to Pompano, launch the boat and cross to Bimini with Justin as our captain. This was one of very many trips for Justin, but it was his first time being the captain, the man with the plan!

The plan was to get to the boat ramp, launch the boat and watch the sunrise as we left the inlet behind and headed for the open ocean.

We didn't quite make it for sunrise because our breakfast stop on the way down, and restroom stops at the boat ramp set us back a little bit, but we were super-close!

There are about 20 minutes of going slow through the intercoastal until the Hillsborough Inlet...plenty of time for applying sunscreen, making sure all bags, etc are ready for the crossing, and getting comfortable for the 2-2 1/2 hour ride....and it's a good time for snapping a few pics.

The captain and his first mate.

The boys....Russell, David and Justin (from left to right).

I told you we were so close to seeing the sun peek over the horizon!

After stops, and 2 1/2 hours we pulled into Bimini Sands where we wait with the boat until Justin clears customs. Our crossing was perfectly flawless! I have to admit that I always get antsy until I see the sea (CDC as grandma would say) on crossing mornings. Two Thursdays ago when I got my first glimpse of the sea I just snuggled into my beanbag in the stern of the boat, closed my eyes, enjoyed the breeze and smiled the whole way to Bimini.

There will be more posts to come about our Bimini adventures! :) And we are doing it all over again next Thursday...weather permitting!

Happy Belated Birthday, Kelly and Danielle!!!

The title of this post is a little deceiving.....we were not belated with our birthday wishes to them, but this post is a day late, sorry girls! :)

Let's start with Kelly....she is my little sister. I have no other sisters, but I can't seem to shake the "little" label when introducing her. She turned 24 yesterday!!!!! Here's the Hogan gang that celebrated Kelly's birthday party!

We started the big celebration at the Pelican Yacht Club where we all had dinner and drinks. The birthday girl is on the left in the front row (wearing the green dress) Jon, Aunt Roxanne, Uncle Pat, Mommy, Daddy, me and Justin make up the rest of the party!

After supper we went to grandma's house to have a homemade Angel Food Cake (Hogan tradition) and ice cream and to open presents! I seem to remember mentioning loving family dinners before....hmmm.

I gave Kelly an Easter Avenue Company purse for her b-day. The selection at Sentiment was sparse (they are expecting a shipment any day now), so I got the purse that had the prettiest fabric, but I had major concerns that the purse wouldn't match anything. Much to my surpirse, the purse matched the dress she was wearing that night....WOOHOO!

Danielle's turn!

Danielle and her husband Russell are our dear friends that live way too far away....Ocala. They came over the Wednesday night before Labor Day to make the crossing with us to Bimini for a short vacation.

Since Danielle and Russell live in Ocala, we were not going to be able to see her on her birthday, so Grandma and I decided that she needed a surprise birthday on the last day of our stay in Bimini!

We got to celebrate Danielle's birthday with Grandma Price's famous Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Price tradition)!

Grandma got help from everyone one the island to pull of Danielle's surprise party. Kenny and Pauline provided Happy Birthday Plates, decor, and parasols and Ron was able to find some blueberries for the center of the pineapples (there were no maraschino cherries in Grandma's fridge, and no one else had any, so Ron got creative).

We had a wonderful steak and lobster dinner, and then, when Danielle wasn't looking, we hung the Happy Birthday banner and pulled the cake out of the oven....it was so fun! She had no idea that we were going to celebrate her birthday, and, since birthdays were never a big deal when she, was growing up she was so excited to have all this comotion just for her.

Happy birthday, girlies! We love you! :)

We Love Family Dinners!

Justin and I went to Julie and Phil's house for a family dinner on Wednesday night! Andrea is in town, so we all sat down to have supper together!

We had chips and home-made salsa for an appetizer and then we moved on to a main course of terriyaki marinated shrimp and scallops, corn on the cob, awesome coconut rice (I can't remember the whole name, but awesome is the perfect adjective to describe it), and broiled marinated tofu prepared by Andrea. Every part of our meal was out-of-this-world-amazing.....and then we had dessert! Julie had made, by hand, raspberry frozen yogurt, and she garnished each serving with fresh, organic raspberries! Is your mouth watering yet?!

Phil, our wine expert, had two bottles ready when we arrived. Andrea had given him a Venturi Aerator (as seen in the pic below) for his birthday, and we had a lot of fun putting his new toy to use. The jury is still out wether the Venturi is better at being a conversation piece or a wine enhancer....maybe a few more bottles will help us decide! ;)

After we finished our supper and dessert we lingered on the porch for quite some time just talking and enjoying each other and the beautiful night. I am sure that would could have talked the night away if Justin wasn't nodding off from not getting a full night's sleep the night before.

Thank you, Julie, Phil and Andrea for such a wonderful evening!

Welcome to The Salty Mango Blog!

Hello and welcome! This blog has been "a long time coming", just ask my husband! I have been talking about creating a blog for ages, but I couldn't come up with the right name.

My mother-in-law and I agree that "The Salty Mango" is a better than average choice! :)

I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to Mango our beloved puppy and inspiration for this blog's name....

Mango is a little over a year old, and as the "smile" on his face suggests....he prefers to be salty (which works out swimmingly for Justin and me....pun intended)! Unfortunately we can't bring Ollie the head of the house out in the boat, but he waits anxiously at the door (or takes long, luxurious naps) until we get home. When we open the door, he is usually rolling on the floor looking for some lovin'....so sweet and so cute!

The intent of this blog is to give our family and friends a way to keep up with us and what we are doing. Our wedding website was a hit, so we thought we would try blogging for a while! Hopefully the posts will be frequent and fun!