Blessings – a year in retrospect
This weekend, Chad and I celebrate our first year of marriage. We have accomplished so much together in this short year. A few highlights to remember:
Our first “married” Christmas gift exchange – and a beautiful tree covered in Karen’s hearts
Christmas morning in Lakeland with Marcia (my mom) and family
Weekends in Satellite Beach – kayaking, visiting, spending time on Sue and Joe’s dock
Countless DELICIOUS weeknight dinners from my amazing chef/husband – best was sushi night!
Camping at Princess Place
BBQ on the weekends with our family and friends
Visiting Joe Tanner and family in California
Temecula – wine tasting…. for 3 days straight!
AmGen Cycling – Tour of California – we were right on the sideline with Joe, it was AWESOME!
Charci Day – spent in Cali, relaxing beach time
Planting our garden in the backyard – herbs and veggies galore
Lazy Saturdays when it rained – watching movies and cooking fun food
Painted EVERY room in the house this year – one room at a time!
Monthly family budget check in meetings – starting our finances right!
Kayaking and fishing – Lake Maitland and the Winter Park chain
Watching Tour de France and our annual Tour de France party
Innisbrook for our birthdays – relaxed, fished, swam, had a blast
Kayak crossing to Anchlote Key – a day on a deserted island!
Installed flooring/tile through the WHOLE house – making a house a home!
Florida football – not so pretty this year, but still worth getting together!
Scott and Stacy’s pool parties
Finished our first 5K together
And that is just a taste of the fun things that were part of our first year together – we keep the road hot and have fun all the time!
On a more serious note, I just want to say that I am truly blessed. Chad is such a perfect partner and a perfect husband. We make a perfect fit. If this year is any indication of the life I get to lead with Chad, then I cannot begin to express my excitement. Words cannot measure how grateful I feel. I AM BLESSED!
Happy Anniversary, Chad! One down, a million to go! What a journey! 
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Our First 5K!
We did it! Chad and I ran our first 5K together! I am a member of Junior League here in Orlando, and each year, my organization sponsors a 5K to support Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. We decided a few months ago, it was time for us to train and take on a 5K! Chad did a great job, finishing in 32 minutes. I brought up the back, finishing in 36 minutes. I was so proud of Chad, he used to say he would NEVER run, and look, there he goes!
Since Chad introduced me to cycling, I feel that I showed him an appreciation for running. Mind you, cycling is much more technical and requires a lot more precision, but running is about pushing your body in a different way. The mental fortitude it takes to run really puts a new spin on our workout routine.
I am so proud of Chad!
New Flooring Project
Marci and I saved for around 6 months in preparation for, what atleast I consider to be, the last major update to our home. New roof… check, new AC… check, new appliances… check, new flooring… under construction!
Floors Direct has a crew on site today laying new laminate flooring in our living room, hallway, and bedrooms as well as new tile in our kitchen, foyer, bathrooms and back porch and I have to tell you, these guys are busting it out.
To get ready for the install, this weekend I ripped out the old sinks and cabinets in our master bath and found out that the entire dam wall to our walk in shower was completely rotten. Thank goodness for my dad who was kind enough to come over and instruct me on how to build a new one so as to not impeed progress on the flooring installation. Needless to say, instead of just replacing the sinks and toilet and then coming back to the shower remodel, we now have a full master bath to remodel, so, maybe I spoke too soon about that “last major update.” Maybe I should just say that the flooring is the most dramatic update. However, we plan on renovating the bathroom ourselves rather than hiring in a crew. I am sure with my dad’s instruction and assistance, we will soon have a kick butt master bath to match!
Anyway, here are some pics showing the progress HERE.
Filed under Pictures, Uncategorized | Comment (0)Lunch before breakfast!
Marci and I are out at our favorite campsite (Princess place) this weekend. The weather was beautiful last night and we slept well with a cool breeze blowing off the river through our mesh screened tent. I woke with the sun and grabbed the fly rod. Caught lunch before I even had breakfast.
More pics HERE.
Chad
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (0)FREEEEEEDDDDOOOOMMMMM!
It was a little more than two years ago when I read Dave Ramsey’s “The Total Money Makeover” and it changed the way I looked at money and debt forever. Unbeknownst to Marci, I had already made the decision that I wanted to marry her, and if I was going to do that, I knew it was time to make some changes in the way I treated money. Soon after reading The Total Money Makeover, I paid off my credit card and stopped using it. I then secretly started saving for an engagement ring.
After getting engaged, I turned Marci on to Dave Ramsey and she soon read his books as well. She quickly came on board. Since then, she stopped using her credit cards, paid off her car and we cash flowed our wedding and honeymoon.
After the wonderful excitement of the wedding and honeymoon was complete, we tightened our belts again and hit our final debt with a vengeance, our Mazda. The Mazda is the 3rd new car I have bought in my life. This is the first time I will have a Title in my hands! We made the last payment today… nearly 2.5 years EARLY!
Today is the day we became debt free (except for the house of course.) FREEEEEEEEEEEEDDDDOOOOOOOOMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!
Withlacoochee/Rainbow River Camp and Kayak Weekend
Click here for photos!
Chad and I had the pleasure of spending the weekend paddling with the Florida Sport Paddling Club. We headed to Dunnellon on Friday and set up camp right after night fall. It was bone chilling cold, the temp got down to 27 degrees by the morning! After setting up camp, we made a late dinner of burgers and lipton noodles. Then, off to sleep in our cozy tent, aptly equipped with a small heater (thank you, Chad, for making the run to get that heater earlier tin the week!).
We awoke Saturday morning to a frigid morning, but as we got moving, the bite of the cold wore off and gave way to a gorgeous morning. We loaded the gear and headed to our kayak drop off on the Withlacoochee River. After shuttling back with the club, I rejoined Chad and off we went down the magnificent river. We paddled for many hours, enjoying the quiet, the fresh air, the serenity of being in nature and clearing your mind. We stopped at a clearing in the woods for a short lunch break, then headed back out on the water. We were on the water about 5 hours on Saturday, I give total credit to the fitness level of this club, they paddled for so long and kept a great pace – and did not complain once about aches or pains. I think it was the scenery, you just cannot feel bad in such a perfect place!
We finally landed at our finish mark and loaded the kayaks. While many of the club members wanted to catch an early dinner, we wanted to get back to the campsite and enjoy the down time and have a nice cocktail. For dinner, we made tortellini and pasta sauce, a favorite of ours when we camp. The night was capped by a gift exchange among the group, we laughed together, shared stories and cider, and kicked back after a long paddle. The tent was calling my name and we were sleeping soundly by 10!
Sunday morning brought a close to many of the group member’s weekend. Many had long drives and decided to pack up and head out early. We, on the other hand, wanted to spend another glorious day on that water! Staying at the Rainbow Springs park allows free access to the boat launch. We loaded our gear and headed upstream to Rainbow Springs, about a 2 mile paddle. Arriving at the spring, it was quiet and free of the usual throngs of swimmers. The cold weather meant we had a spring all to ourselves! We took great pictures and enjoyed the clear waters.
We decided to drift back to our launch point, and fish along the way! Chad chose to fly fish, while I chose spin. Neither of us had any luck, I think the fish were stunned from the cold! Either way, it was a great time to practice casting.
After we arrived at our launch site, we had some lunch by the river, then packed up our gear for a ride home. What a spectacular weekend, great new friends, beautiful scenery, a perfect Florida weekend!
Filed under Uncategorized | Comments OffToast to the Charci’s
Thank you to Patti and Donna for hosting a wonderful party, we had a blast. As you can see, our bar is officially STOCKED! Thank you to everyone for joining us and, for the delicious libations. We will think fondly of you as we imbibe.
- Chad & Marci
Filed under Uncategorized | Comment (1)Happy Hour with the Charcis
October 16, 2010
It’s time to toast the couple, “Charci”
with a Happy Hour at 660 Darcey.
The message here is very clear,
we’d like to toast them their whole first year.
No bags or boxes tied with fancy twine,
just words of wisdom on a bottle of wine.
Then every month on the 6th day
you’ll toast them in a special way.
Happy are we ONE and ALL
to toast Mr. and Mrs. Chad Helenthal!
What a great theme and poem! And I am sure that it will be a wonderful party as well. We are blessed to have such an amazing and supportive family. Keep a lookout in your email for your Evite from Donna and Patti. We hope to see you there!
By the way… ONE MONTH TO GO! WOOHOO!
