Whirlwind

The past few weeks have been a whirlwind of events and the next couple weeks will be the same....don't you just love summer!

We started off with my stepdaughters graduation open house.  It was such a good time and worth the many weeks of prep leading up to the big day.  Although, in typical Michigan fashion, it decided to rain about an hour into the party, which caused about 30+ people to gather under 2 small canopies, our gazebo, and the garage.

The day after this party, I couldn't even get out of bed!  I prepped for about 3 weeks and put in well over 100 hours getting our backyard ready.

This past weekend my sister and I drove from Michigan to West Virginia to attend the Fiestaware Tent Sale.  It was so much fun, but exhausting all at the same time.  I awoke Friday morning about 3am and was on the road by 4:30am.  By the time we arrive back home I was whooped!  Not to mention a wee-bit sunburned :)

We normally stay in a hotel the night before, and then get in line about 6am to get our tickets.  But this year we decided to try something different.  We arrived about 10:45am and only had to wait in line about 2+ hours before entering the tent.



Patiently waiting

 

We rounded the corner and could finally see the tent

 

 If you've never had the chance to experience this.....It is an amazing site!

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Bin after bin after bin of colorful, fiestaware.  I am drooling all over again just thinking about it.



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I was hoping for a few more pieces than what I got, but that just means we will have to go back again next year!

I was able to catch up on some much needed quality time with the hubby and the pets yesterday.  It was a gorgeous summer day here in West Michigan and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Stewie

Lainey

It's so hard to get my tongue all the way into this cow hoof

Tucker

This upcoming weekend I have a bridal shower for a good friend of mine and then the following weekend is the July 4th holiday/wedding. If I can just get through the next 12 days or so, I think I will be able to relax.

I'm Leaving on a Jet Plane

In less than 24 hours I will be on a plane heading to Mexico!  I know I don't leave until tomorrow and technically I'm at work today, but my mind is already on vacation.  My body is here, but my mind is sipping a margarita while digging my toes into the sand.

It's going to be a long travel day.  I don't know if I've ever flown with a layover, but I will tomorrow.  I'm hoping that the whole "flying first class" will make up for the delay in me getting to my destination.

Hey cabana boy....Bring me another margarita!!

Sun, Sun, Sun

In 3 days I will be in the lovely Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!!  I checked the weather this morning and it is going to be sunny and about 92 degrees EVERY day!!

I see a lot of sunbathing in my near future!  I know some of you will lecture me on how bad/unhealthy the sun is, but I don't care.  When you live in Michigan you take full advantage of any opportunity to put some nice color on your skin. 

I have a feeling this just might be one of my best vacations yet.  I'm going to live it up in First Class and allow the resort to pamper me.

I can feel the sand beneath my feet already!!

My brain doesn't let me enjoy anything

I leave for Cabo in 9 days!  And while part of me is so excited, part of me is totally stressing out. 

I have traveled international about a half a dozen times before, but I was always with a group of people.  Never by myself.  And not since there have been all these new restrictions on air travel.  I think if I had taken this trip ten years ago it would be a piece of cake....but somewhere in my "old" age I've developed severe stress about traveling. 

I have always loved flying and feel much safer in a plane than in a car, but for some reason my anxiety level is sky high (pun intended).  What if something happens to me?  What would my husband do?  My parents just lost one of their children 2 months ago how would they survive losing another one?

And it's not only the traveling part that is stressing me out, it's the whole "what am I supposed to pack" part!  I have gained back about 13-15 lbs of the weight I lost last year and at this point NOTHING fits me.  I was silly when I lost the weight and got rid of my "fat" clothes.  Telling myself that I would NEVER be this big again.  Well, ladies and gents, I'm definitely that big again!  I can't justify going out and spending money on summer clothes just for this trip because I definitely don't intend on being this size for much longer.  Ahhhhh....I don't know what to do!

And to pour salt in the wound....the girlfriend I'm going with is t-i-n-y!  It's going to be her skinny a** laying on the beach next to this whale!  Ughhhh....

Can someone please tell my brain to SHUT UP so I can actually relax and try to enjoy this amazing opportunity I have.

Wine, Cabo & Weddings...Oh My!

It's been a couple weeks since my last post.  I've got a lot of posts bouncing around in my head, but work has been so crazy lately and by the time I get home I am just too exhausted to sit at the computer.

So today you are getting bullet points:

• The weekend after my birthday I headed north to Traverse City for one of my good friends bachelorette parties.  We spent the weekend in a cabin right on Lake Leelanau and it was just gorgeous.  Friday night we had pizza and simply relaxed on the deck.  Saturday after having breakfast we headed to Ciccone Winery (the one Madonna's dad owns).  We had a private room for a wine tasting and it was very nice.  From there we decided to hit up a couple more wineries before heading home to relax, eat dinner and get ready for a night on the town.  A shuttle bus picked us up around 8pm and we bar-hopped until the wee hours of the morning (actually, it was only 1am but to this old lady it felt like we pulled an "all-nighter).  After cleaning up on Sunday we all hit the road for the 4 hour trek back home.

House on Lake Leelanau

 

Ciccone Winery



The "gang"



Shuttle Bus



• In 17 days I leave for Cabo San Lucas, Mexico!! Yay!!  The trip was totally unplanned and simply fell into my lap last week.  A good friend of mine has a time share at Cabo Villas Beach Resort and she and her sister were going to spend a week there.  Due to a job change, her sister can no longer go and I am the lucky person who gets to take her place!!  I am so excited.  After the year I have had, I really need some tropical weather to put my mind at rest and spend a little time relaxing in the sun.  And did I mention I'm flying FIRST CLASS!!

• This weekend is the wedding for the above mentioned bride.  It is going to be the first wedding I have attended since my own last summer.  I'm excited to see if I notice things I wouldn't have before.  I expect my overall feelings of the day will be totally different.  I used to go to weddings only to sit at the church counting down the minutes until the reception started so we could eat, drink and dance.  I have a feeling the ceremony is going to carry so much more meaning for me now.  I'll be back later next week with some pictures of the beautiful bride & groom. 



Morgan & Aron

Have a great rest of the week everyone!



I'm Back...

Oh blog...how I've missed you!! So much has happened since my last post.

I spent 2 very busy weeks preparing my parents house for my wedding/rehearsal, I got married, went on my honeymoon and now trying to survive being back to reality.

I have many posts to come, but first I need to catch up at the office! Today is my first day back since July 6.

Vaca Starts Today

Today I'm leaving for Panama City Beach....Yippee! About a 17 hour drive from Michigan but it will be totally worth it.

Enjoy the rest of the week and try not to miss me while I'm gone :)

Holiday Inn Dayton, OH

So we took off on Friday to head down to Dayton, OH for my cousin's wedding. I was beyond excited. This was going to be the first trip that my fiance and I had made together. He doesn't travel much after the accident but he was excited as well. We booked a nice handicap accessible suite including a sitting room with couch, bedroom with king size bed and kitchen with a fridge, microwave and wet bar. We were going to have it made.........that was until we got there and the front desk told us that we did not have a reservation for the handicap suite but instead they had reserved a "regular" room for us. We had just traveled over 6 hours and she was about to mess with the wrong person! Regardless of the fact that I reserved the room by calling the actual hotel and speaking with them about our "special" needs and not using the general 800 number for reservations.....and I had a printed copy of my confirmation stating the exact details of the room I reserved, but she insisted that there was NOT a handicap accessible suite in their hotel. After a few minutes of me trying to rip this ladies face off she finally admitted that there WAS a handicap suite but it had been double booked and the other party was already checked in. She then proceeded to tell me that they didn't have anymore wheelchair accessible rooms available in the hotel.....If you know me at all, you know that at this exact minute I lost it......I was NOT going to go back to the car to tell my fiance that we had just traveled this far and had no place to lay our head. Traveling is not easy for him and I was not about to make the journey even worse! Needless to say, after a few select words from myself, the front desk was able to miraculously find us an available handicap room for the weekend. It obviously wasn't the suite we had intended on, but it was good enough! There was a king size bed, but most importantly there was a wheelchair accessible bathroom.

And this was just the start to our lovely weekend.....it only goes downhill from there!!!

FYI ~ Holiday Inn - Dayton (North) is NOT ever going to get a recommendation from me.