Our Vacation in Gulf Shores, AL

Hey, guess what? I'm finally take some time to blog about my vacation to Gulf Shores, AL. So, without further delay, here's how our trip went down:

Day One: Friday, June 15th - We left home about 6:30 am and caravaned with my brother's family south to Alabama. Late afternoon we arrived at my uncle's house in Huntsville where we would be spending the night to split up the 15hr drive and visit with them.

Day Two: Saturday, June 16th - We finished the trip south and arrived in Gulf Shores (Orange Beach) later afternoon. Our condo that we booked online DID NOT meet our expectation so with the help of the property management, we found another condo to suit our needs. The problem was we would not be able to check into the new place until the following day. Knowing we wanted to spend as little time as possible in the condo, we headed out to eat while they sent a special cleaning crew in to re-clean the unit.

Day Three: Sunday, June 17th - Knowing the new condo wouldn't be available until mid afternoon, we did what all vacationers do....we headed for the pool. The weather was perfect so it was the right choice. We did NOTHING but lounge and swim until it was time to move. Upon entering the new condo, we were more than pleasantly surprised. It was AMAZING. Way beyond what we expected. Everyone (9 of us in our group) was over-the-top thrilled. After our shock of the new place wore off, we once again got into our bathing suits and hit the beach (we were gulf front) and the pool. Since it was Father's Day, we went out to dinner and celebrated when we got back.

Days Four, Five,Six and Seven: June 18th thru 21st - Honestly, these days of our vacation were spent relaxing. Our biggest decisions of these days was whether or not we would go beach side or go pool side. Oh yeah, and where would we go eat dinner. We enjoyed the gulf and the pool and split our time between both. I just can't put into words how peaceful and relaxing this was. We did manage to hit up some of the souvenir shops which was super fun too.

Day Eight: June 22nd - This was a sad, sad day. It was the day we left. Rather than split the trip home in two days, we made the drive straight through. It was a long day, but we were glad to get home and have 2 days before our work week started.

It may seem to some like this was a boring vacation, but let me tell you, it was EXACTLY what we all needed. A bunch of nothing. We are so happy with the way the week turned out that we can't wait to do it again. It was an unbelievable fun time.

I have a ton of pictures, but I think I will save those for another post within the next few days. I can't wait to share them with you. I love looking at them and have done so over and over again since we've been home. I smile real big when I do. Gosh, it was such a memorable time.

Back Home

My family is back from vacation. What a WONDERFUL time we had. Oh my gosh, the memories will stay with me forever. A super great time was had by all.

I've got ideas for a longer post to tell you guys all about it, but in the meantime, I'll share with you a group picture we took on the night before we left. Isn't it great? I sure think so!

back row: my brother Todd, my niece's boyfriend Nick, my husband Tom

middle row: my sister-in-law Colleen, my mom, me

front row: my nephew Evan, my niece Aubrie, my daughter Olivia

So Close

My vacation is so close I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Come Friday, I'm outta here for a week. I cannot wait to have my feet in the sand enjoying the scenery of the Gulf of Mexico! Blue water and white sand....can't you just picture it now? You know; like this:

I'm still getting stuff done around the house to get ready but am not yet stressed. I've got a good start on gathering beach type items, misc stuff AND have started to pack. Oh, and my house is getting cleaner each day. I LOVE coming home from vacation to a clean house. It just makes the sad ending of vacation a little brighter knowing there aren't chores to do before returning to work.

I'm not the best blogger, but I'm hoping to do a great vacation post (pictures included) when I get back.

Enjoy!

Cleaned

Man, do I feel like I am on my way to accomplishing something. I love that feeling.

We have a spare bedroom in our house that is my craft room. Unfortunately, it has become a "catch-all" type of room. Ugh! Also, Olivia and I are bad about using something from the room and not putting it back exactly where it goes.

This weekend is dedicated to getting it re-organized and cleaned up. I worked really hard today and have a great start. Tomorrow I'll finish up. I can't wait til it's done.

That my friends, is a feeling of accomplishment!

Prayers Requested

Do you pray? If so, would you please say some extra prayers for a little girl named Lucy that is fighting cancer?

Although I don't know Lucy or the family, I've been following her mom's blog (not sure even how I found it) for awhile now and her most recent post indicates they don't have much time left with her.

Click here to read about sweet Lucy. Thanks!

Memorial Day and The Beach

Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, is a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation's service.

To help re-educate and remind Americans of the true meaning of Memorial Day, the "National Moment of Remembrance" resolution was passed on Dec 2000 which asks that at 3 p.m. local time, for all Americans "To voluntarily and informally observe in their own way a Moment of remembrance and respect, pausing from whatever they are doing for a moment of silence or listening to 'Taps."

Both my side and my husband's side of the family have veterans and active military. We appreciate them and thank them for keeping America the land of the free and home of the brave.

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This has been one of the hottest Memorial Day weekends here in Northern Indiana that I can remember.

I stayed inside most of the day after I got the grass cut first thing this morning. I believe it got to 96 degrees which is too hot to be outside unless you're close to a body of water; which I wasn't.

However; speaking of water, tomorrow Olivia and I are heading to Lake Michigan for the first time this season. And, we cannot wait. We'll head to New Buffalo, MI. It's fairly close, only about 40 minutes away. We love it there. We enjoy the beach, the ice cream shop and a restaurant called Redamak's.

Later in the day, we're going to have some family over for an informal get-together. All in all, it's going to be a great day.

I hope you and your family have a peaceful and fun Memorial Day.

Whatever Wednesday

For my "Whatever Wednesday" blog I'm just going to randomly write things that are on my mind. Since I can't seem to consistently blog about "real" things, this is what's going to work for me. So, here it goes:

• I've been sick for over a week with bronchitis. I went to the doctor last Thursday thinking I would be diagnosed with a sinus infection. Wrong. An antibiotic, inhaler and steroid prescription later I was leaving the office. My last day of meds was yesterday; thank goodness.
• Say a little prayer for my friend, Susan. She's got some major stress going on right now with planning her son's graduation party and just life in general pertaining to her son reaching this milestone.
• I haven't watched Leighton for a couple weeks. I get to on Friday and can't wait. He's full crawling now AND pulling himself up on furniture. Oh boy...let the baby proofing begin at Grandma Tara's!!
• Our weather here in Northern Indiana has been perfect lately. Just the right amount of sunshine and heat. Bring on summer!
• My vacation is 3 weeks from Friday. Talk about can't wait. Holy cow it can't get here quick enough. Best part is that it's paid for except for spending money once we get there. Praise God.
• Olivia had her last choir concert of the year last night. I took the camera (yay for remembering), but forgot to put the fully charged battery in it before I left the house. Yeah, I wasn't happy about that.
• A small group recently went out to listen to Tom's band a couple weeks ago. It was a great time. Can't wait to plan a fun night out again soon.
• We're American Idol fans at our house and have been since season 2. It's hard to believe tonight is the end of season 11 already. My house really wants Phillip to win. How about you? Do you watch?

I hope you're having a great week. Until next time....