Florida vs California

After enduring 7 months on the "Left" Coast, I finally made the trip back home to Florida to visit family and friends. I couldn't have picked a better city to fly into (Tampa), for I was overwhelmed by the beautiful combination of grass and water; two things of which we don't see a lot of living in the desert. In route to my parents' house, I'm pretty sure my mom and brother were growing tired of all my comments about the green and lush foliage.

Just before my trip, I found myself taking part in many discussions about the weather. Based on first hand research, this is the most common topic discussed at the gym. Most of the people I talked to insisted that the Florida heat is far worse than the Mojave Desert heat because of the humidity levels. This trip proved all of those people wrong, hence the title of the blog "Florida vs California", with Florida taking the win in the "More Bearable" category.


One of my favorite parts of the trip was spending time with my little bear.


Scottie's parents had me over for dinner. In this picture, Dad, our niece Trinity, and Trouble are all watching TV.


I also got to see our nephew and Godson John Robert. The little ones grow so much each time we see them.


Trinity and I relaxing in Dad's chair.


Another highlight of the trip was visiting Grace, our beautiful Goddaughter.


Here I am holding Alex, one of Bill and Tiffany's dogs. Alex is Scottie's favorite, hence why there is no picture of Emma and Morgan (the other two dogs). Scottie's partiality goes way back.


Scottie sent me an edible arrangement for my birthday. The chocolate covered strawberries were my favorite. I must note the bowl that the arrangement was in survived the trip back in my suitcase. Thank you American Airlines.


I spent several afternoons target shooting with my dad and brother. My brother and I are pretty good shooters. I guess my dad successfully passed down the sniper genes.


Here's the lake house we all grew up at. I miss spending every weekend on the water.


My 26th birthday cake. My mom ordered my favorite cake from Publix (yellow cake with whipped topping and strawberry filling)


Jen drove all the way from Brandon to spend my birthday with me.


I enjoyed spending a lot of time torturing my brother.


The Kircher Family


The coolest part of the trip was riding on my dad's motorcycle.

Like most vacations, the trip flew by and I found myself on a plane back to California. This trip has made me realize that Florida is my home, and I can't wait for us to return there permanently.