Catch up

It's been while since I've updated... almost three months! Since mom passed away I've been trying to play catch up with just about everything in life. Work, school, relationships... it's all a balancing act and I'm learning I'm not as good at it as I thought I was. Reality is setting in... Mom is gone and I have to learn how to live without her. Let's be honest, it's tough and it really sucks!

But, I've been blessed to have had a little down time to breathe and as Dad says, "smell the roses."

We cancelled our mini vacation in January since I flew home early from my Young Life conference to be with Mom. Thankfully the resort allowed us to reschedule and we were able to go to Breckenridge at the end of March for a few days. The mountains were breathtaking and the weather was perfect. God's magnificence surrounded us as far as we could see from east to west! I didn't even want to take pictures (who me?) since the camera couldn't begin to capture the beauty and expansiveness of His creation. We slept in, skied all day and strolled the quaint, little town at night. It was perfect.

Then came the travel day from Hell. Yes, it was that bad but you don't need to hear about it. Anyway, we finally made it to Orlando where we joined the rest of Joey's family for a trip to Disney World! Where do I start? The most magical place on earth! Considering we had three kids under 5 years old, the trip very well. The joy on the kids faces when they saw Mickey Mouse and the other characters was priceless. It was a very special time and although we were not all there, I am so glad we were able to be together as a family.

Now it's back to reality. Crunch time. All my assignments are due next week and I'm totally feeling like I'm in college again. Oh the good 'ole days, sitting next to Joey in the computer lab hours before our 15 pagers were due. We were the king and queen of procrastination. I guess some things never change.

Florida

T- one month from today!

SB2010

It's official! We booked a vacation (the first time we've taken off from our new jobs since last September). We are going to Florida in May for Joey's birthday and we're so excited! What's even better is we are meeting friends there. That's right, Erin and Michael are driving down from North Carolina to be beach bums with us. It's crazy to think back to high school and college when we used to go on spring break every year together. This will officially be the 7th spring break trip for Erin and me. Wow what great memories! And I can't wait to make new ones with our dudes too!

Cancun!!!

For our Spring Break/much-deserved vacation from work, we went to Cancun for a week. Neither of us had ever been to Mexico or to an an all-inclusive resort, so we were very excited. We stayed at the Cancun Palace, and it was excellent! It was on Cancun’s main strip and had a beautiful pool, beach and view of the ocean (including from the room). The drinks were excellent (we particularly liked the Miami Vice - half-Strawberry Daiquiri/half-Pina Colada) and the food was also very good. For breakfast there were great buffets, lunch was grilled at the pool and dinner every night was a la carte at one of their many restaurants. We also got to do several activities, and each was better than the last. Our day trips included zip-lining through the jungle, scuba diving, a boat trip to Isla Mujeres and best of all, swimming with dolphins. We were very sad to go back home after our great week. The pictures and memories will last forever but unfortunately our tans are already fading. Hopefully the warm weather will be here soon.

NYC

We’re a little backed up here because of all the fun things that have been happening, but here it goes. The weekend of April 17-19, 7 of us headed to NYC for Nick’s bachelor party.  “Best Time Ever” is an understatement.  Seriously.  Nick, Jon, myself and two of Nick’s high school friends, Mike and Matt drove to the Big Apple from here in Michigan.  And there we met up with Rob (down from his new locale in lower-upstate NY) and another of Nick’s high school friends, Mike. 

We had a great weekend of eating great food (Gray’s Papaya, Magnolia Bakery, Les Halles, pizza, ribs, rice krispy treats), playing football in Central Park, partying, a Yankee’s game at their new stadium (they lost 22-4 to the Indians), hanging out at Rob’s new place, and sending Nick through a car wash. 

But best of all was hanging out together and celebrating all of our friendships (and the memories we’ve made) with Nick.  We are so blessed to be his friend and so excited for his marriage with Kristen.  As always though, it’s just the beginning of more great times ahead.  Oh, and the icing on the cake was how good of friends we became with Nick’s high school friends.  That’s the beginning of great friendships too.