Long Weekend Recap

Even though I had to work this Saturday, it was still pretty sweet to have Monday off and get to relax this weekend!

Saturday
Saturday after work I went home, and promptly took a nap. Ha! Clinton and I both fell asleep and slept longer than we intended to, but oh well. When we woke up we went over to my sister's house to catch the UFC fights - it was super weird, for some reason I was just not into it or interested in the fights at all. For those who know me, it's not news that I'm slightly obsessed with UFC/MMA, so it was a weird night for sure. I was more interested in just playing with my baby niece and nephew and instagramming them being adorable, ha! Plus, I have a love-hate relationship with naps. I love taking them, obviously, but I hate waking up from them because I am so grumpy and tired afterward, and it takes me forever to really come out of it! So that happened Saturday and I was just kind of in a haze for most of the night.

After we left, Clinton decided he was hungry and so we stopped to eat at Pei Wei but it was totally throwing me off because it was almost 10p and I never ever eat that late. While we were in there a waiter went and locked the door, and then I felt bad for being those people (there were a couple other tables still dining), but I honestly didn't think they were closing at 10p on a Saturday night, I for sure thought it would be 11p! But luckily we were almost done, so we just hurried up. After we left we decided to hop into the Blockbuster next door and we walked around for a good half hour or so, but we didn't even get anything because nothing really stood out and we had seen most of the movies anyway, ha! Guess that's the bad thing about seeing so many movies! Clint decided that he wanted to actually buy a movie so we went to go to Target, but turns out they also close at 10, ha! Since I work so early I am never even out that late so I have no idea when things close! But he was set on buying some movies, so we went to one of my least favorite places in the world - Wal-Mart. We looked through soooo many movies and oh man, we were there for at least an HOUR with me just following him around aimlessly, and we didn't even buy anything! It was a weird night haha, we were awake at that point so we considered going to see a movie, but it was a few minutes after 11p and that's when the last shows start, so we just went home.

Sunday
Sunday was a pretty lazy day! In the morning we went to Bev-Mo because since we were having people over Monday, I wanted to get some interesting pop. They have a whole wall of specialty pop and you can buy single bottles, so I like to try different ones sometimes - usually whenever we have people over for bbq (about once a month or so) I go buy a few. This trip I got dry blood orange, cranberry, and black cherry.

The dry blood orange is pretty interesting! It's sort of in between a flavored club soda and regular pop - the sweetness is a happy medium between the two. The black cherry tastes how I imagine it might have tasted from an old-fashioned soda fountain, where they put the syrups into each drink and everything. It was a little sweeter and more viscous than say, Cherry Coke. The cranberry dream was one of the grossest things I've ever drank ha! It tasted like medicine. I didn't even finish it... and then I accidentally knocked over the remainder onto the floor and had to scramble to get it up since we just had our carpets cleaned Friday - whoops!! Another kind of interesting gross thing I saw there was one brand that had the weirdest flavors ever - bacon, peanut butter & jelly, and creamed corn. YUCK! Suffice to day, I did not try those ones.

After that we went to the mall so that I could use a $10 gift card I got in the mail from a store for my birthday, and we stopped for one of my favorite snacks at Wetzel Pretzel - pretzel bites and frozen strawberry lemonade. Yummmm. Good thing I don't go to the mall super often because if I did I would eat WAY too much of this!




This is an old picture, but it'll work! We made the mistake of getting 2 bags the 1st time and now we know only 1 is needed!

 After the mall we walked around Cost Plus World Market - we went there just to pick up some olive oil, but we always browse around any time we are in there. After that, the cutest thing happened! We stopped for gas and there was a mama quail and all her little babies crossing the parking lot. It was so cute to see them all running after her across the pavement from one sidewalk to the other! I tried to get close enough to take a picture, but the mom kept running the other direction and the chicks hid in a corner - I think she thought I was a threat and was trying to distract me from her babies - so sweet! But I didn't want to scare them anymore, so we just left them alone - but they were so adorable!

The rest of Saturday was suuuper lazy - we went home and watched the Netflix streaming Season 4 of Arrested Development - the only break we took was to make and grill bacon ranch cheeseburgers and corn on the cob - dinner was super delicious by the way! The burgers were way good and the corn was sooooo sweet.

Monday
Monday morning we did a little bit of grocery shopping and then just spent the early afternoon finishing up Arrested Development and doing prep for dinner. Clinton's parents, Tom and Debbie, came over and we had a nice night. We also originally invited his brother Devon and his uncle Ken, but neither one of them was feeling well, so it ended up being just the 4 of us so there was way too much food, but oh well, that gives us leftovers for lunches! We went with a southern comfort food menu. Grilled carolina BBQ chicken pieces, slow-cooked boneless country-style pork ribs, collard greens (my first time ever both making and eating them!), macaroni and cheese, and rolls.




The spread.

 When we first sat down, Tom moved his plate over to the side when nobody was looking and moved the mac n cheese over to his setting hahaha, and said, "Okay, I'm ready for dinner!" It got a pretty big laugh from everyone. Debbie makes the most amazing potato salad in the whole wide world, and I always do the exact same thing with that bowl whenever she makes it!

After supper (which was super good!) we all hung around for a little while playing board games and being silly - a lot of people don't like board games but we always play and have such a good time! Tom and Clinton are basically the same person and super silly, so there's never a dull moment.

Our poor little puppy was soooo tired and fighting to keep herself awake - she's used to us being gone during the day and spending it sleeping so whenever we're home for most of the day she gets all sluggish by the evening because she spends all day following us around and not getting any rest, so after two days of us being home most of the time, she looked like she could use a nice, long nap.




Little cutie.

 Overall, it was a great, relaxing long weekend, spent with ones I love so really, what more could I ask for? I'm pretty blessed. :)

We've got another long weekend coming up - I have to work Saturday again, but we both have Monday and Tuesday off because my birthday is the 3rd, and as of right now we have no particular plans, but who knows - maybe we'll decide to go somewhere. We shall see! I hope you all have a great week and enjoyed your long holiday weekend as well - what did you do? I'd love to hear about it!

I want to share a little something with you...

Something marvelous was bestowed upon me the other day. You've got to see it with your own eyes to believe it.

- - - - -

- - - - -

Behold. A manatee dressed as Thor. Two of my favorite things in one? The glory of this picture obviously needs to be shared.

Have a nice day! : )

Weekend Getaway.

A few weeks ago Clinton and I had a couple of days off of work so we decided to get out of town for a day. Even though it's only a couple of hours away, neither one of us had been to Sedona for something like 10 years, and we had both been wanting to get back. I planned out a day of activities, packed a picnic, and off we went!

After rounding a corner, our first real view of the red rocks.

A little ways up the road on the right there was an information center that we decided to pull over at so that we could stretch our legs and give Emmy some time to run around and take in the new smells before we started our day.

Tiny pups gotta get tall to see their new surroundings!

Gorgeous.

 Next up, we headed to Sedona Community Cemetery to pay a visit to Clinton's maternal grandparents. I never met either of them, but we brought a photo of us and his parents from the wedding. There was a little cherub there, but it was stuck in the ground and broken into a bunch of pieces, so Clinton tried to put it back together... I mean, it didn't work that well, ha, but it was cute that he tried.

I didn't take any pictures of the actual cemetery because I thought it would be kinda weird and disrespectful but man, if I wanted to be buried (I don't) it'd be nice for it to be done somewhere like that. There were some incredible views in there, and the grounds felt a lot more organic and in tune with nature than a lot of cemeteries do.

Next up, a kind of odd detour - a fast food joint that we don't even eat at. I had read online that Sedona has the only McDonald's in the WORLD that doesn't have the golden arches. Apparently when McD's wanted to build there the town had to vote on it and they said they could only do it if they made the building flow with everything else - for those who don't know, Sedona is a VERY nature/Mother Earth-centric/New Age place with a lot of spirituality linked to it, and everything there is just kind of made to blend in so that it doesn't take too much away from the natural beauty. I just found it shocking that of all the McD's in the whole world, this is the ONLY one that has different arches, and they are one of my favorite colors, turquoise.

We didn't even go inside, so I'm not sure if the inside looked different or not, but I just thought it was really interesting and wanted to take a picture of it.

After that quick stop, we backtracked a little ways to go visit the Chapel of the Holy Cross. This is a very famous place and I knew that I wanted to visit - I had been reading a lot of travel blogs that mentioned it and every one of them mentioned that it was an incredibly spiritual place (it's placed in a Sedona Vortex). I won't lie - I was a little bit let down. I really didn't feel any kind of intense spiritual experience here - I think because it's very touristy? I mean, they even have a gift shop. I wouldn't call myself religious, but I do believe in God and I have a spiritual connection outside of strict organized religion, so I did go inside and pray for a bit, but I just didn't really feel anything - so I was a little bit bummed about that. However, that doesn't take away from the marvel of the history and the architecture of the place, which I did still enjoy immensely.

I wonder how much mail this place gets? Probably way too much for the postman to ever actually put it in this box.

Inside the chapel.

Truly fascinating info about the architect and building of the chapel, Part 1.

And Part 2.

Guestbook.

On our drive to the chapel we drove past this CRAZY, INSANE, ABSOLUTELY BONKERS house mansion. It was the most elaborate house I have ever seen! I took a picture of it looking down from outside the chapel.

Just look at this place! And look at the view!

When we got home, Clinton looked it up and found out that this place belongs to the guy who created the machine for Lasik surgery! He also found out that the people who live in the other houses around there actually hate it! It's really an eyesore - as beautiful as it is, it's a huge distraction to anyone who drives by. Plus, it apparently screws up water pressure for everyone else in the general area. I mean... it's still a cool house, though, ha!





After our trip to the chapel, we did what I was most looking forward to - some hiking! We went to Oak Creek to do the Red Rock Crossing and go to Cathedral Rock.

First, we walked around at Buddha Beach - this is another vortex area.


The shallow stream meanders past the base of Cathedral Rock and through forested groves. On the bank opposite Cathedral you’ll notice dozens of stacked rock totems, looking like a miniature Stonehenge. This is Buddha Beach, considered to be the site of a powerful vortex. (http://travel.aol.com/travel-guide/united-states/arizona/sedona/red-rock-crossing-crescent-moon-ranch-picnic-area-thingstodo-detail-301351/)

This picture was an accident, but I love it! You can even see Cathedral Rock in the background.

We stopped creekside for a family photo op.

And I built a little totem to connect with nature.

After we had had our fill of totem viewing and making, we went back to the other side of the park to Red Rock Crossing - I forgot to take a photo, but it's basically just some flat rocks in the creek that let you get to the other side - and then we took Templeton Trail to Cathedral Rock.

Seriously, this is something that most people have only seen in movies.

It was a beautiful, sunny day.

Giving Emmy's tiny legs a much needed rest.

We hiked a good 2ish miles up Cathedral Rock to the part where it flattens out - there's a peak/needle that you can go up further for even more fantastic views, but we couldn't make the trek with Emmy, so we headed back down. We stopped for a quick rest back at the creek, and then went back down to the bottom to look back at the big ol' rock we had just trekked.

teehee

And then made our way back over to Crescent Moon Picnic Area to have a late picnic lunch, because the occasional piece of jerky on the trail just wasn't gonna cut it!

Emmy was so tired that she didn't even want to eat her favorite salmon jerky treat, and she almost fell asleep right on the table!

So with that, we decided to head home with dirty shoes, empty camelbacks, a sleepy puppy, and a full day of memories in tow.

Pooped.

Finish This Sentence.

1. If calories didn't count, I would eat... French fries. Every day. Honestly though, I've never counted calories a day in my life. I know that french fries every day is not good though, haha!

2.  On my prom night... I went twice, and both nights I had a fabulous time. Junior year I went with a friend - it was strictly platonic, but we had a blast with the two people we went with. They were a couple, and they are married now! Funny story, my date and I were both in their wedding and we were matched up for the recessional after not having seen each other in a few years! Senior year I went with my on and off all through HS boyfriend. My mama made my dress and I wore long black gloves, and he wore a zoot suit! Fancy shoes and everything. I had braces my senior year though, so I hate all the pictures!




Junior Prom

Reunited at our friends' wedding in 2008!

Senior Prom. Can you believe my mom made that dress?!

High school boyfriend + old family photos, haha!

3.  When I go to the store, I always buy...  Cheese, water, onions. I always buy these things, every time, because they are consumed and/or used daily in our home.

4.  Family functions typically... Are hectic. I have 5 sisters, 2 brothes 13 nieces and nephews, lots of aunts and uncles and cousins, several sets of parents, and lots and lots of in-laws. I come from divorced parents so I have a HUGE family. I wouldn't have it any other way.

5. I think my blog readers... are my mom. And sometimes my husband. Haha!

6.  I'd much rather be... in Disneyland, at Christmas time.

7. I have an obsession with... Harry Potter. Well, I am not obsessed with the character haha. The series as a whole, rather. I grew up reading the books, waiting eagerly for the next installment - midnight book releases, midnight movie showings, a Harry Potter gift each year at Christmas from my parents. I re-read the series every year in January. I only love it more as time goes on.

8.  My work friends... are limited. I am friendly at work, but I don't typically pursue friendships with most people outside of the workplace. One of my best friends, however, is a coworker - We started at the company together in the same training class and have been friends for over 5 years, and she was a bridesmaid in our wedding. I'd say there's only about 5 people I really talk to outside of work, though.

9. When I created my Facebook account... My buddy Andy told me I needed to get with the times and switch from Myspace. I think this was just right around the time it was transitioning from a college site to more mainstream, and before Myspace was totally out of the picture. I deactivated Myspace pretty soon after signing up for FB, though. It took my husband like two more years to make the move, haha!

10.  My least favorite word is... OMG, I can't believe I'm even going to type this because I hate it so much.
(moist) Okay, let's just move on and pretend that didn't happen.

11.  I don't really remember... Hm, tough one. I have a really good memory and can remember things even from when I was really, really young. Let's see... Oh! I don't remember any math that I learned in high school or two years of college. Not my forte.

12.  Justin Bieber... Unlike a lot of people, I absolutely do not hate the guy, but I will say this: Sorry bro, the real Justin is BACK.

The Good In The Bad

It has been a pretty intense month. It's hard to even know where to start.

After some weird bumps showed up on her neck, one of my sisters went to the hospital. There were tests and surgeries and waiting periods and a scary prognosis that turned into an even scarier reality and diagnosis: Hodgkins Lymphoma. Or, to be as succinct as possible: my sister has cancer.

I have been avoiding writing about this because nobody wants to commit to actually typing out those words. My sister has cancer. My fingers press the keys, and a lump swells in my throat. My sister has cancer. There's nothing I can do about it. It is our family's new reality.

As far as my blog is concerned, I tend to try to be either funny or eloquent in my updates. Cancer is not either of those things. Cancer is not funny. Cancer is not eloquent. Cancer is scary. Cancer is a bully. Cancer makes you question everything. I know that it's not my job to decide anyone's fate. I don't even believe in the death penalty. But... it is hard to understand why there are terrible people in this world who are alive and healthy and getting away with awful, awful things... and my sister - who is kind and sweet and funny, and the best mother in the entire world - has cancer. It does not make sense, and I cannot wrap my head around it sometimes. I think at this point, I'm done asking why. We'll never know why. But here is what I do know: my family is amazing.

From the moment that all of this started, there has never been a time that I was afraid Beth would not get the support that she needs. Our family has really come together to make sure that she has everything that she needs when and how and where she needs it. Even people who are my family and not her family have helped - my amazing mother-in-law came over one Saturday to help me make two weeks worth of freezer food (dinners, snacks, and breakfasts) for her to have on hand to defrost and eat, or throw in the crockpot so that her and her family will have one less thing to worry about. Whether it is watching her 3 kids so she can take a nap, setting her up right for chemo with a Nook and some super soft PJ's, flying in from out of state to be with her for a couple of days, or giving her husband a ride to work because they only have 1 car and she is tired - we have all done it without question or hesitation. Beth told me that she knows how loved she is because her phone is constantly going off now - calls and texts and Facebook messages of encouragement and offers of help and funny pictures to cheer her up. Despite what her new and terrifying truth is, these are things to be thankful for. She is thankful for them, and I am thankful for them.

We have another thing to be thankful for as well. The Good in the Bad, the Light in the Dark - my newest brother.

Beth and Garrett have been engaged since August 2012. I remember being so happy for her and them - it was two months before my wedding and I was in full on bride mode, so I was nothing short of thrilled. They have been planning a wedding for February 2014. On March 15th, they decided to get married legally at the court and still have the big party next year. At first when she was talking to me about it, it made me very, very sad. I was super bummed that she even had to think about this kind of thing (marrying legally so that he has rights if he needs them) - I was just devastated that these are the kinds of things she has to worry about now, instead of getting to enjoy being engaged the way I did and just going to bridal shows and vendor meetings and trying on big dresses, and where my biggest concern was whether or not I would be able to afford imported beer - not whether or not my partner had legal rights should the need arise in a medical setting. So I cried some, and then I got it together and got excited for her because I don't care what anyone says - even a courthouse wedding is still a wedding and what's not to be excited about? My sister is totally in love with an awesome guy who happens to be totally in love with her too, and they were finally making it official - hooray!

Because our family is so close, we wanted to be there, and they wanted us to be there, so it turned into slightly more than courthouse vows. A longtime family friend happens to be an ordained minister - he also happens to have a huge house and backyard which he very graciously offered up for this last-minute event. What family and friends managed to put together in three days was pretty incredible.

I gave Beth the dress I wore to my rehearsal dinner, and she borrowed my sparkly wedding flats and some pearl jewelry. We went shopping that Saturday to find outfits for her two daughters - her eldest picked this really pretty mint chiffon dress with fluttery little flowers on the bust and then I spent the rest of the day with her searching for the perfect matching shoes (and you'll be relieved to know we found some!) and we even managed to find a dress for the baby that matched perfectly. As a surprise for them, my husband and I decided to go to the florist who did our wedding and get a bouquet for Beth and a boutonniere for Garrett. Poor thing, you should have seen her assistant's face when I asked her on Monday if she could make me a bridal bouquet by Wednesday! I told her not to stress about it though, that I had a few pictures for her and I had no particular requests on flowers - just that I wanted it to look very springy and with soft colors, the size of a bridesmaid bouquet, and tied with a lilac ribbon. I told her that I trusted the florist completely because we had been so happy with our wedding flowers, and that she could take my inspiration photos and that they were open for interpretation. Come Wednesday when I went to pick up our order, I was delighted to find that she did not disappoint.

Inspiration.



 Fruition - sorry for the terrible lighting!

A shot of the flowers and the cake - with the cake topper that I made! :)

I ran around that afternoon with my step-mom completing some last-minute errands - picking up a cake cutting set, chasing down the rings from the mailman (HA!), picking up the food and cake that she had ordered, and going to our family friend's house to set everything up. The house looked great - our friend/officiant's girlfriend had decorated the backyard with tiny lights, candles, and lots of white. Everyone started arriving, the sun set, and it was time to get started. At 8pm there in the back yard under the stars, surrounded by ~20 of their closest friends and family, with their children standing beside them, and with the smell of orange blossoms wafting over everyone, Beth and Garrett got married.

Life has been scary and intense and busy and a little bit hard to handle for the last month, but last Wednesday, March 20, 2012 - was perfect. Everyone smiled all night long. The love in the air was tangible. The support everywhere was overwhelming. The smile on my sister's beautiful face was priceless. Their children were gorgeous, as always. The tears in Garrett's eyes and the way his voice caught in his throat when he uttered the words, "in sickness and in health" were heartbreaking, but encouraging and comforting. He is an amazing father. He will be an amazing husband. He will help her through this. He will be her rock, when for so long she has been the rock for everyone else. I am glad he is her husband, and I am proud to call him my brother. I love my sister. I love my newest brother. I will never forget that night, and I am so happy that it happened, despite the reason behind it. It was beautiful.

It was the first day of spring.