A Push for My Travel Blog

I am trying to get all the vacation drafts I have going from throughout the years up on my travel blog.

Please go check it out, let me know what you think
and 
local Central Florida people-
please set a date and go on one of the trips. You'll be glad you did.

Take your kids,
your family,
your mom,
your sick friend,
your sad friend,
your best friend,
your new friend,
your kids friends,
your families friends.
Just go!

Anyway here's my latest post.
-m

This Could Be About You...

My house is quiet.
All are sleeping,
except me.

As I look around my living/dining/kitchen I began to think of all the people who have graced the inside of these walls.

Of course it all started with the boys in a back room while Steve and I put down all the tile expect like 5 pieces.
The boys grew and soon the Lego table first appeared in the living room during the hurricanes of 2004.
You remember them,
Charlie,
Francis,
Jean.

Then entered my friends,
Oh if these walls could talk.
There seemed for several years to be a steady stream of crafty high school girls and their mentors, aka my friends, filling up every bean bag, chair or spot at the bar. 
pre-teen boys shooting stop-motion Lego videos, growing to teenagers where X-box and poker became the new fav.
my grandmother, 
my grandkids,
high school friends,
elementary friends,
Florida friends,
cousins form Indonesia, Alaska, California, Virginia and Maine.

We've had movie nights and Lord of the Ring Marathons,
birthday parties and a bachelorette party (please Lord may I never have to plan one of these again, we should have just got drunk at a bar).

Tons of people have welcomed in a new year here, I know because you signed the guest book!! 

Homeschoolers have carved their first pumpkins here
and the walls were bursting for
2 different graduation parties.

You've watched my kitchen get tore apart,
our lawn be transformed
and I'm sure you can't figure out where the heck I've moved the trash can to now?

For all of you who have done life here at our house,
around my bar or wherever-
Thank You
I am thankful for you.
and please do come again.

-m

A Good Playlist Can Be a Gamechanger

Calling all my sisters out there who just don't wanna wake up and do another day.

I would encourage you to get a good positive, Christ-filled playlist together and listen
and dance
and sing
and worship.

My current play list is tobymac
a combo off three albums,
it took three screen shots to get the whole playlist but here it is.
If you are looking for some new tunes may I suggest "Beyond Me", his newest single.

When God uses a song to speak to me, I tend to add it several times to a playlist, that way I get to hear it a bunch!! Obviously I did that with "Beyond Me".

I am really holding to the truth of the line in the song that says,"In over my head, keeps me countin on You"- boy do I feel over my head at times.

Toddler.

Business owner.

Ambassador to Honduras.

Grandmother.

Friend.

Encourager.

Wife.

Bible study leader.

Some days it all stacks up and I am reminded that all of this is so beyond me.

If life wasn't a challenge then I would have no reason to look to my God and my Savior.
So a little tobymac really helps make those challenges bearable,
winable,
doable.

So if you need a reminder of what this life is about,
you need a pick me up,
let me encourage you again to a good playlist.

Speaking of, what are your favorite songs for a lift in the mood?

Well, a good playlist always leads to a good roadtrip,
Aubs and I are headed off today for a short day trip with a friend who has found herself in Jacksonville, FL for the week.

Happy Trails
-m

Simply Travel

I love to travel.

Perhaps it has to do with an upbringing up and down the east coast as my Floridian mother balanced a life in the snowy winters of Maine with sunny Florida getaways in the Spring. 

In the 70's and 80's we drove I-95 from Maine through busy Boston, bumpy New York, mysterious Washington DC until finally that thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump of the southern roadways alerted my brain that palm trees, sandy beaches and sunshine were close at hand.

However it happened, it did.

I love to travel.

East coast, Best West coast, across the pond.

Frontier of Honduras, beach of Florida.

Sierra-Nevadas, streets of San Fran.

Wherever I go I just love it.

I get asked a lot to help people plan their travel.

I also get told a lot that travel is out of a families reach.

When I hear that I take it as a challenge to get that family on the road.

Travel does not have to involve planes, trains and automobiles.

It can be as simple as heading out on foot from your front door,

to an inexpensive car day trip in your own state or even own town.

In an attempt to have way to many websites, or blogs as you all call them, I have begun to compile a list and itinerary for some of my favorite trips and places.

My hope and dream for my new travel website/blog is that Spanos Family Travels will encourage you to get out and travel. It'll contain local Central Florida trips, which are great for Floridians as well as those visiting Daytona Beach or Orlando.

Hop over there.

Look around and send me some feedback.

What do you want to see?

Where do you want to go?

I'd love to know.

-m

January is 9 Days In!!

Life has slowed down.
Thanksgiving had northern family in town followed by 5 weeks of extra college kids staying sleeping at the house.

Christmas was very relaxing.

With the years comes change
and this year was the first year in our 21 years of marriage that we did not have any plans for Christmas Eve.

None.
So we did some Christmas shopping at stores that were quiet.
Roads that were NOT packed.
Seems like we were in the minority of those who had places to be on Christmas Eve.
And yes we often wait until Christmas Eve to shop.
And no we aren't stressed out when doing so.

Aubry was unsure of Santa Cow at Chick-fil-A

Over the years we have always made Christmas to be about the birth of Christ.
While some years the tree in filled up and other years it hasn't been
but every year there has been laughing and smiling, napping and relaxing.
This year was no different.

Steve made pancakes,
and 4 generations enjoyed New Hampshire maple syrup, blueberry pancakes and some Trader Joe's Cookie Butter; ok so I was the only one enjoying the cookie butter.

Our annual New Year party was a blast!
I spent 95% of it on the sofa.
Relaxing.

I have truly been blessed with a season of relaxing.
Busy, yes, but God has really given me a sense of peace and relaxing.

2015 is upon us and with it some steps in faith on our part.
Our construction business has been experiencing some growing pains and so we are treading with prayer as we seek God on what this growth will look like.

We have an opportunity to purchase a piece of property to build a garage on for our business and so as this dream of ours takes place we again lay it all at the feet of Jesus.

I'll be back in the office with Steve this year, a growing business means more help needed and so my office skills are needed. I am excited but I know it'll be a challenge. 

I just finished a 10-week study called Breaking Free and have been inspired to step out into my calling.
To encourage women to live their best life, to love their husbands and families despite the hardships that come their way.
To encourage missionaries, bring awareness to their ministries, organize mission trips and help with fundraising.
To encourage families and friends to travel. So much fun can happen when people travel, even if it's in their own back yard.

So that's a brief life update.
Oh and I really would love to do some Aubry May Show podcasts but my iphone just can't handle the video, so who knows when that'll happen.

Happy January.
-m

Aubry and Mom Podcast #1

Here are Aubry and I talking about a neat grab we got while at Michael's right before Christmas.

I want to apologize for many things about this video,

but won't.

I've thought about a video podcast for awhile now but

the house wasn't ever clean enough,

my hair was always such a mess

my outfit sketchy... I think you get it.

Sometime you just gotta do it!

so here it is, enjoy.

Cute straws to drink from and then we ended up making a cute backdrop for my nativity in the entry

I hope you all enjoyed!!

-m