Happy Happy Birthday Roxy dear!

Our little baby has become a toddler! Happy Birthday (belated) to Roxy! She got way too many presents from Grandma and everyone, but she had tons of fun opening them and playing with them. The Dr Pepper cake was also a hit with her! We love you Roxanne! You are so smart and sweet and GROWN UP!

The Monkey

Well, obviously, the hugest thing going on in our lives over the past couple of years is giving birth to our sweetest little daughter. Roxanne Lois Weaver was born on 9/5/11. It was Labor Day. She came 6 days early. She has been the best baby !!! By now she is 11 months. She has quite the personality. She loves to dance. She loves music. She loves to talk and babble and hear her own voice. She loves watching kid videos on Youtube. She loves trying to sneak into the bathroom and play in the toilet when we're not looking. She loves to EAT! The girl has some CHUNK to her. In short she has been the become the center of our lives and we're just rejoicing every day and thanking God that we have such a wonderful, healthy baby girl to snuggle on every day. What a blessing! Here are some photos/videos in ascending age.

Hi. So, it's been awhile. hahaha Obviously a lot has happened in the past, what ... 2 years ?  For whatever reason I decided I'm going to try to start blogging again. So here goes. I won't go into anything real huge now I'll just start with something fun! I've been looking at a lot of travel blogs during the day when I have free moments. I saw this travel-themed survey 'ABC's of Travel' and though it would be neat to fill it out. It was so fun!! It made me happy to think about some of my fondest travel memories I've had. Yay.

A: AGE you went on your first international trip
I went to Rome, Italy for 4 weeks to study Italian in a language school right after high school

B: Best (foreign) BEER you’ve ever tasted
Butterbeer at The Wizarding World of Harry Potter @ Universal Studios       J I don’t drink real beer

C: CUISINE (favorite)
My favorite thing to eat is freshly baked bread. So for that reason it would probably should be French, but I love so may Italian dishes so that is maybe the truer answer.

D: Most and least favorite DESTINATIONS
Most Favorite: Basque Country. San Sebastian, Biarritz, St. Jean de la Luz… all amazing.
Least Favorite: Belize. Everyone there just felt really shifty. We did not feel very safe.

E: EVENT you experienced that made you say “wow”.
Climbing to the top of St Peter’s Basilica and seeing the amazing views and Vatican City and Rome. I fell in love with travel at that moment.

F: FAVORITE mode of transportation
Renting a scooter and zooming around!

G: GREATEST feeling while traveling
Learning something new about a different culture and being able to appreciate it.  

H: HOTTEST place you’ve traveled to

Thailand was stinkin' hot.

I: INCREDIBLE service you’ve received and where
Seoul, Korea. The girl that led the tour was incredibly kind and friendly and even emailed me photos because I had forgot my camera. [This is a photo of me enjoying a traditional Korean meal :) ]

J: JOURNEY that took the longest

Coming home from SE Asia. Bangkok to Seoul… 4.5 hrs,  10 hr layover, Seoul to LAX… 11 hrs, LAX to SLCL… 2 hours.

K: KEEPSAKE from your travels
I don’t buy trinkets very often but I like to keep city maps that I used. I especially like it when they are kind of torn and battered because it means I used it a lot and got to see a lot of things J

L: LET-DOWN site; why and where
I can’t really think of a good one. Getting my purse stolen while in an H&M in Madrid was not a high point. But that’s not really a let-down. Just a crappy misfortune.

M: MOMENT that you fell in love with travel
Same as my ‘wow’ moment. But another one was relaxing on a yacht in the Bahamas while the wind was blowing through my face and seeing the most gorgeous blue water ever.

N: NICEST hotel you’ve stayed in
I tend to go the cheap route. Probably the nicest would be the Gaylord Texan right here in Grapevine, or maybe the Animal  Kingdom Hotel at Disney World.

O: OBSESSION- what are you obsessed with taking pictures of while you travel?
Anything that is weird or makes me laugh. Like huge posters all around Bangkok of the Thai King doing random stuff like playing the Saxophone.

P: PASSPORT STAMPS- How many and from where?
I love my passport. I will be so sad if they have to completely erase all the stamps when I sent it in to get my renewal/name change. I think I have probably somewhere around 30.

Q: QUIRKIEST attraction you visited and where?
It’s really not that quirky because it’s very on the beaten path for anyone travelling to SE Asia, but seeing the ‘elephant farm’ in Chaing Mai where they train the elephants to play soccer or paint pictures is really quite funny.  


R: RECOMMENDED site, event or experience
Snorkeling in the Florida Keys. So so so beautiful and amazing!

S: SPLURGE- something you have no problem spending money on while you’re traveling
Food. I love trying everything.  

T: TOURISTY thing you’ve done
Vang Vieng in Laos -- tubing down the river and stopping along the way to have a snack at the bars and play on their rope swings. Pretty dang touristy but it was so much fun.

U: UNFORGETTABLE travel memory
The best road trip ever.  Spending a week in Laguna Beach with 3 awesome friends and laughing more than I have in my whole life, maybe more than I will ever again!

V: VISAS- How many and from where?
4 – Brazil, Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. The Coolest looking one is the Cambodian.

W: WINE- Best glass of wine you’ve had, and where
I don’t drink wine. But a memorable ‘virgin’ beverage was freshly squeezed passion fruit juice in Hawaii.

X: EXCELLENT view and from where?
Riding on a bus through the mountains Laos and seeing the beautiful green countryside.

Y: YEARS spent traveling
8

Z: ZEALOUS sports fans and from where?
I’m not really a sports fan but in Brazil they have a ton a national pride and they seem pretty gung-ho about their soccer teams down there.  

I don't have kids yet but I love this video. I think we can all relate to those people who are always trying to one-up you...

California Love?

We have been thinking about moving to Southern California. Good idea? Bad idea? We don't want to live in Texas anymore. We just feel like moving. So far we have talked about Seattle, AZ and California. We like the California idea. It's kind of scary to think about moving and starting over again though! Ahhh !

Our Nation's Capitol

Here are a few picks from our trip to Washington DC in January!



President George Wasington's Tomb at his home @ Mount Vernon



Ships at Jamestown, VA




The whole gang



Me and Momma

Washington Monument

Air and Space Museum

Speer women in front of the Capitol Buidling

A portrait of Max's favorite President, Andrew Jackson!

at the Ronald Reagan Airport

Dr. Pepper, the White House, and Baklava

So not that anyone reads this, but I decided to write today after a 7 month hiatus. Basically, I'm not a great blogger because I don't have much of interest to share. Anyway, life is pretty sweet right now. I love my sweet husband a lot. We are so happy together! We miss each other when we are away all day. I'm excited for babies but it's not time yet.

I also really like my job right now. Since last August, I have been working for Ryder Logistics. This job is a great fit for me! I work on the Dr. Pepper account and I coordinate shipments of Dr. Pepper finished goods to get from the plants where they are made to other locations. Basically I'm emailing and on the phone all day with carriers and Dr. Pepper people. It requires a lot of patience and customer service skills and tedius, detail-oriented tasks. But luckily I can do that stuff all DAY, and I do lately. This weekend I am even working some on Saturday and Sunday. Which means, HELLA over time! Yes, I still work on an hourly basis. I am actually still a temp through an employment agency. I have heard that they are "working on something" for me so that I can get hired on as a full-time Ryder employee soon. That means more money, health benefits and paid vacation days. Yay! Hopefully it won't take another 7 months to make that happen.

In more interesting news, Max and I went on a vacation to Washington DC and Williamsburg VA a few weeks ago!! We had an AWESOME time. We went with my Mom, my Aunt, my Aunt's granddaughter, and my cousin. We had a good ol' Speerneck time. For me the trip's top make- fun -of-my-mother worthy moment was when we were moving inching down the road slowly on a crowded bus, and at a stop where several people were getting off, Mom got all nervous and practically shouted and the person next to her "should we get off this bus???" HAHA as if they would know if we should get of the bus or where we were going, etc. Mom really makes me laugh. She goes out of her way to ask people questions, without ever taking 2 seconds to try to figure something out for herself.

Another memorable moment in the trip was when we arrived for our White House tour and OD had brought her camera, even though it was clearly stated in our paperwork that there were NO CAMERAS in the White House. Well Lynda decided that she would find someplace to stash the camera and ran off. After the tour we found out that she had gone the the Willard Hotel (very fancy and historical hotel) and asked them to keep if for her. When they said no she stuffed the camera between some seat cushions, along with 2 donuts she had in a plastic bag. Ironically when she came back to retreieve the items, the camera was still there but the donuts were gone. HA! Crazy Speer ladies.

Since I'm somewhat of a foodie I suppose, I had fun EATING on the trip. The best was this Lebanese restaurant we ate at. Ahhh hummus, shawarma, and flatbread, plus the best piece of baklava I've ever eaten, among other things. Another favorite was a Persian restaurant, also delicious. Good kabob.

I'll have to post some pics later. Basically it was really really cool. Very affordable too!

That is a little snapshot of my life at the moment. All is well in Texas!