The August Nat Geo

Well we are all moved in as of last night, today we started our Fall semester and I already have homework. So it's safe to say our summer is officially over. But the real reason I am writing today is because Blake was in the National Geographic the mouth! 

How cool is that?

As a kid Blake (and everyone right?) would look through all the amazing pictures in the Nat Geo. Who would have thought one day he would take up a whole page of his own. Anyway it is safe to say we have 10 copies at our house.

Moving Day

Well today is moving day. There's a lot I' going to miss about Miami, thing like Taco Rico (the fist Mexican food I have ever loved), Cuban restaurants everywhere, the warm water at the beach, the beach, being able to get sweet plantains at almost any restaurant, the fruit, the animals. But most of all I will miss the people I have grown to love in this city, some of which have also moved in the last 6 months. Miami has given us friends that we will never forget. The Belliston in particular will sorely be missed. We have not gone more then a few weeks without seeing each other since we both moved here in August 2011. They just had a perfect baby boy on the 1st, and as I held him last night it really hit me that I'm not going to get to play with him at Sunday lunch, or babysit him when Mom needs a break. When I get locked out of my house I don't get to stay up late with Krysta while our husbands are out in the everglades. I'm going to miss her little sisters and all the Rubio  madness (love that whole family). We are leaving our best friends in the world, this should never be allowed to happen. So many good memories, Miami would not have been the same with out them. 

This is the first place it has stung a little to leave. Okay, well it's time to turn on the music and get back to packing.

A Weekend in Ft Lauderdale with The Parents

don't mind the iphone photos

^^the view from our room^^

The weekend after Blake and I got back from our road trip my parents and Adam came down for a mini vacation. While they were here it was perfectly sunny, we spent one day at the seaquarium. Their dolphin exhibit and whale show were cool, you were able to get so close to the killer whale it was like I could touch it. But other than that it was not too impressive, I would not recommend spending the money to go. We also got some fruit and shakes at Robert is Here. The mangos were to die for, we ate them as we sat on the beach the next day. And oh how I loved our time at the beach. The day was not too hot and the water not too cold. I could have lived on that beach mattress/bed thing, it was awesome. That night we ate at BurgerFi and made a visit to the local movie theater. It is not a vacation with the Russ or Santos family without going to a movie. 

Miami Heat!

^^Heat vs Spurs: Game 6, WOW!! that was a game^^

^^Our Miami Family^^

^^Blake was jumping with me on his shoulders. We only fell once, but caught the T-shirt^^

^^love that girl, and her little basketball^^

Over the past two years of living in Miami it was only time before we became Heat fans. I have always said that basketball is one of my favorite sports to watch. Growing up across the river from Portland Oregon some of my favorite memories are going to a Blazer game with the family. It was fun seeing the whole city dress up in black and red supporting their team. Now I still wear the black and red only for a different team. We really got into the payoffs and have found a way to watch the games even without owning a TV (thanks Devin and Krysta for having us over every other night). So you can imagine our excitement last Thursday night when the Heat won the NBA championship. The city came alive just like last year, even though we did not get to watch the game (remember no TV) last year we kept our eyes on the computer screen for the score and hrs after the game you could hear craziness in the streets. So after the win this year we hit the streets prepared with our air horn for heavy traffic, non stop horn honking, and dancing construction workers kind of celebration. It is the only time driving down the streets of Miami you can look over and smile at the car next to you, instead of fighting to get around without making eye contact. You just feel connected. It just so happened that our friends had come into town that night so they got to join in on the celebration as well. It was a lot of fun.

Here is a little video of the drive home, Blake and Nick got to dance a little.

Miami Heat 2013 from A.Russ on Vimeo.

Wynwood Walls

For a date I took Blake down to the Wynwood Walls. What is Wynwood Walls? Well it is an old wears house district near downtown that has been turned into giant canvases for street art. This is about as close as I’m going to get Blake into an art museum, and lets face it graffiti is pretty awesome. Every building in this district is covered with some kind of color. We had fun driving, then walking around admiring how people can make these master peaces with spray paint.
Except this one...

this was chiseled out of the concrete wall. 

Blake and the Florida Python Challenge 2013

From Jan. 12^th – Feb. 10^th  Devin and Blake were involved in the Florida Python Challenge. This competition was put on by the FWC to raise awareness and to capture as many invasive Burmese Pythons as possible.  Blake has been catching wild snakes all his life, and lately has been focused on the Burmese Pythons (remember road cruising?). We were excited to be living down here for the challenge. There were two prizes up for grabs, the first for the hunter who caught the most pythons and second for the hunter who caught the longest. After the month long competition of hunting out in the Everglades Blake and his hunting partner Devin brought home 1^st place for longest python caught and 2^nd for most pythons caught. I know a lot of people would think Blake is crazy for walking out in the Everglades and catching these constrictors with his bare hands, and many people will think I am crazy for letting him do it. But it has been a fun hobby while living down here in south Florida. We have always loved going out into nature, and both find animals beautiful and fascinating. 

 Here is some of the Media coverage they received.

Here is a really good video of Blake on Channel 6  Orlando Channel 6 Orlando News video clip

Buzzfeed.com

New York Times newspaper

Channel 6 South Florida video clip

BYU Newspaper

Oxford american Magazine

FIU Paper

Blake even made the Religion News Quote of the day.

And some of our favorite pictures from the Challenge.

A Picnic In The Park

One beautiful Sunday on our way home from church, Blake and I decided to have a little picnic at the park. The day was perfect with a crisp cool wind, I even got to wear a sweater! But it turned out that our fridge was ill prepared for a spontaneously planned picnic. We did however, have everything in our cupboards to make cookies. Living so close to Tropical Park we were able to take our cookies right out of the oven and enjoy them hot as we sat on our blanket. After sharing a cookie or two with the ducks we took a little nap by the lake enjoying the sun. It was a perfect little afternoon. This winter we only had a few "cold" days, and we can already feel summer right around the corner. So I'm glad we took advantage of it and took a little picnic to enjoy the cold.

Manatees in Miami

Fall semester Krysta and I started going to yoga on Saturday mornings with a friend. It was so relaxing getting up and taking an hour for myself each week. Seriously giving my body a workout and my mind a brake, what could be better than that? When pulling into a parking space after yoga one day we saw a small crowd of people looking at the canal behind our apt. There was not enough people to be SUPER suspicions but we asked anyway what the attraction was. It turned out that there were three manatees swimming in the canal in the middle of Miami!!! Two adults and a baby, it was a little manatee family ahah. We dropped our yoga mats and were on the edge of the canal in no time. We had been dying to see manatees since last winter, and the closest we got were two sightings at the beach, but they only really looked like big blobs. These manatees where coming up and eating the over grown grass on the side of the waterway. It was awesome! We quickly called the boys to get out here asap, not knowing how long they would stay. Blake quickly ended and relocated the meeting he was in the middle of to on the edge of the canal. He was meeting with the LDS missionaries… I don’t think they were to disappointed with the change of location. We (not the missionaries) ended up spending a good hour or so watching the two adults and juvenile manatee swim around. I’m so glad we were curious that morning after yoga. 

Feliz New Year Miami

New Years is one of our favorite holidays. For as long as I have known Blake (06/07 NYE) my New Years Eves have been spent at the Russ house enjoying a pretty impressive bon fire. As we were not going to make the drive back home for the event this year we had no idea what we were going to do with ourselves that evening. After starting out with no plans, we were invited over to Bryan’s (Blake’s older brother) house in Naples. However that morning Blake got a flat tire, he tried to get it fixed and ready to go but had no luck. By 6 everything was closed and we were stuck in Miami with no plans again. Determined not to stay home, we packed up some blankets, a DVD, jambox, and a computer, then set out in search of food. After eating at our favorite Tex-Mex we headed over to Miami Beach, not knowing what to expect but heavy traffic. We were pleasantly surprised, with very little traffic and front row parking a block from the beach with our hybrid car.

Ocean drive was completely blocked off and the streets were full of people from all over the world. We enjoyed walking around taking in the evening scene; lights, music, dancing, countdowns. After taking a little tour around, we found a grassy spot laid out our blankets and watched a movie till almost midnight, when we packed up our stuff and made our way to the beach. There we found a place in the sand and waited for the count down. When the clock hit 12 we enjoyed a nice firework show on the beach. This year because Blake was not the one putting on the show I got my first new years kiss actually at midnight. It was a perfect evening, just Blake and I, no traffic, good food, a movie and firework show on the beach. Just goes to show that sometimes plan B can kick butt.