Aloha Lake Weekend

This past weekend, we were Virginia bound for a Wedding Luau for my cousin Erin & her fiancé Ryan!  I left as soon as the kids did Friday, our friend Andrea dropped off her cat with Bencakes for the weekend, and all 3 of us were off!

The traffic was minimal & after a stop at Sheetz (our first experience!) and a few radio jam sessions later, we were there!  My aunt greeted us with a cold refreshing Mich Ultra - the perfect welcome to the lake!  Yum!

We had a few drinks & then all went out on my aunt & uncle's friends' pontoon boat.  Good times ensued, including, but not limited to - a short downpour, running out of gas, paddling back to the dock, refueling, backflips into the lake, mucho laughter & grande fun :)

My aunt & uncle's lake house is probably one of my favorite places in the world & Friday night is exactly why!!  Of course I didn't take a single pic - too much fun was being had :)

Life doesn't get any better than this.

Saturday morning started with Snoopy & some Joe and then we all headed down to the lake!

The weather cooperated til about lunch time, but a little clouds didn't keep us inside.  We still hung out at the dock & got a boat ride in.

Floatin'

Drea & I

B & J tubing :)

Once we came in from the water, we visited my with my grandmother for a bit and then it was time to get luau ready!  The Luau was held at my aunt & uncle's friends Kristin & Alan's house.  They have an amazing water front all beached out and they had a fantastic luau set up!!

Richard & B luau ready!

My girlies at the Luau - Me, Kelsey, & Andrea

Me & my man!  Love this pic :)

Bros - Justin, Ryan & Brandon

Me, Andrea, & JM 

Andrea & Justin

A blurry pic of some of the group.  Had to include it, it's the only one I have with the
bride & groom! 

I was terrible about taking pics - didn't get one of my bro & SIL either!  Ughh

The weather hadn't cooperated most of the day & unfortunately, that rang true for party time as well :(  Just after we dug into the delish BBQ spread they had and stuffed out faces, the bottom fell out!  We all huddled in tents, ate dessert, complained about the rain, debated on calling it a night - and then the rain let up!!

And the dance party began.... :)

The Electric Slide Maybe?  Pardon the quality, but these are some of the best pics
all night!!

The Macarena!

We didn't let the rain ruin our fun...but we did call it a night shortly after the dance party ended!  We woke up, hung out a bit and then got back on the road to the QC.  The going home is never as much fun!

Sunday afternoon consisted of some cleaning for me and B mowed the yard.  Let me just say, this is the first time I've cleaned the house top to bottom and oh my sweet heavens - it is a task!!  Took me a good 2 hours to sweep, mop, and clean 2 bathrooms.  Whoa!  But all totally worth it - it's our house after all :)

We made a grocery run and then finally parked ourselves on the couch for some Dexter.  And before you know it, it was Monday!  

Man these weekends, they fly by I tell ya!!  

We're counting down the days to this coming weekend....we'll be home - B's super excited about this as in the 3 weeks we've lived here, he's only actually slept here for 8 nights!! - I see some Lowe's trips and some yard work in our plans this weekend....and I'm really looking forward to it!  I might just be growing a green thumb, but let's not speak too soon just yet ;)

Be blessed, y'all!

Holy Recap Batman

I went from a blogging fool to a non-blogger overnight.  Whoops!  Too much of a good thing maybe?!  After being locked in B's backseat most of the week last week, guess I wasn't much interested in my computer anymore.  So now to recap from where I left off....

Let me first just say, I have NO clue how my husband does what he does!! He spends close to 6-7 hours (give or take a few!) in his car EVERYDAY!  By about 230 on Wednesday I was ready to scream, pull my hair out, and throw a three year old tantrum I was so tired of being in a car.  I would go insane if I were him.  But I am beyond grateful for a hard working husband who is extremely disciplined and wants to provide well for our family!

We try to remind ourselves often that this is just a season and we are hopeful one day he won't be traveling as much!  But absence makes the heart grow fonder, right!?

After Nashvegas, we were Michigan bound and finally, Thursday night we arrived to this piece of West Michigan heaven...

Brandon's Mom's house sits on about 8 acres complete with a barn, pasture, horse arena, coy pond, and beautiful scenery!

B's sister Ashley tends to the barn and horses and gives riding lessons. Brandon & Ashley both grew up barrel racing, but Ashley still barrel races almost every weekend in the summer & is quite good at it!

Ashley & her husband, Casey, are actually in the process of buying the house from B's mom.  They have lots of cool plans for renovations for the house over the years and are excited to make it their own!

I cannot tell a lie...all of these pictures are from my MIL & SIL's facebook :) But they're too pretty not to share!!  I love, love, love visiting up there and cannot wait to share their home with our kids one day!

Michigan in the summer time is like pure joy, I can't even describe it. Although they've had their share of hot & humid up there this summer, for the most part it tends to stay a little cooler and less humid than down south.  In fact, the house doesn't even have AC!  It gets a little warm inside, but there's usually a nice breeze and it just feels peaceful.

Friday morning I hung out outside for a bit with these sweet babies...

Charlie & Cody!  They are some really sweet pups and love to greet you when you pull in the drive!

Cody is pretty much the best dog, well, ever!  If he wasn't an ALASKAN Malamute and didn't have enough fur to warm a small eskimo village, I'd steal him away to NC.

He's a gentle giant and one in a million for sure!  Most Alaskan Malamutes are not near as friendly or gentle as he is!  He's my buddy :)

After Brandon worked a bit Friday, we moved some of his childhood things to store at his grandparents since we just don't have room to bring it all home yet!  It was fun to look at pictures, horse ribbons, trophies, and cute childhood odds and ends!  I stole a "Brandon" puzzle to put in a little boy room one day as well as one of his high school sweat shirts to cuddle up in in the winter :)

Friday night Ashley & Casey, along with 2 other friends, came over to the farm & we all cooked out some delish chicken, corn, pineapple & cheesy potatoes.  Yum!  After we had a good ol' fashioned bon fire, complete with s'mores and a burning couch!  I even wore my cowgirl boots =)  It was so fun I didn't even take pictures!!  Oops.

Saturday didn't quite go our way unfortunately.  We were supposed to head out to the Coast Guard festival in Grand Haven, MI on Lake Michigan, but they rain had other plans.  Boat docked, filled with gas, and rain pouring down, we called it at noon.  We went to visit B's mom at work and said our farewells as we didn't feel the need to prolong the dreaded 12 hour drive home...bleh.

So 2 tanks of gas, a McFlurry, and 11 hours and 45 minutes later, we pulled back into home around 145 am Sunday morning.  We were sad to leave and sad to cut the trip short :(  Unfortunately, because it's so far away, weekend trips on the regular are near impossible and our time up there always seems too short and too few and far between!  But hopefully we can go for longer toward the holidays and of course are looking forward to whenever we get to go back!!

This week I am trying to soak up every last ounce of summer.  Soon I will be bidding farewell to summer because teacher workdays officially begin next Thursday and I'll be going into school probably every day next week anyway, to move around and set up my office (yes I get an office, but no classroom, ha!).

So I think that recaps to where I am today.  Hopefully my non-bloggingness is over :)  Until next time...

Loooong Weekend :)

I sure do love long weekends, especially Memorial Day weekend!!  The kick off to summer, extra time with the hubs, friends, the lake, grilling, lounging by the pool, and a short work week the next week.  Yes please!!

Our weekend was jammed packed and an absolute blast!  But phew....today I could've used another weekend just to rest :)  My weekend got off to a bit of a rough start.  Thursday night I could feel the drainage taking over and my throat starting to hurt, so Friday morning I started popping the mucinex.  Luckily, Friday was a pretty easy day at school and I left shortly after the kids to come home and rest.  After a workout and some ibprofen on top of the mucinex (druggy, I know! Watch out!) I was feeling a bit better.

We had plans to meet up with our friends Greg & Ashley Friday night at Speed Street and then to go see Hangover 2.  (For any non-Charlotteans, Speed Street is the annual street party every Memorial Day weekend in downtown Charlotte with lots of local vendors and musical guests to gear up for the Coca-Cola 600.  Fun fact of the day: Its the longest race in the Sprint cup.  Learn something new every day dontcha?  :)  Anyways....Friday evening was extremely rather rainy, but we thought it had stopped.

We were wrong <insert not so happy wife walking downtown in the rain!!> and the bottom fell out on our walk to the movie theater.  So my darling husband that he is, hailed us a cab to take us the last 2 blocks <insert happier wife with frizzy, wet hair>.  At least its dark in a movie theater!  Can I get an Amen!?

Hangover 2 was hilarious!!!  Yes its crude and rude and I'm sure many people would choose not to see it.  But I saw it and laughed hysterically, I cannot tell a lie.

Saturday around noon we headed off to Lake Norman for the day!!  Our friend Mike has a boat and graciously offered a few seats to us along with Greg & Ashley.  We tied up to the "redneck yacht club" and spent the afternoon tanning and swimming :)

We wanted to venture out & try Speed Street again but we were worn out. Sunday was spent lounging by the pool and then we headed over to cookout at Greg's with he, Ashley and our friends Ryan & Kelly!  We just couldn't get enough of them so we spent Monday laying by their pool!  (I could get used to this!  I'll give you one guess as to where you can find me this summer!?) I didn't take any pictures though Sunday or Monday :(  fail!  One day I'll be better about that! Maybe....

This weekend was a great kickoff to summer....8 days now!  I see a light at the end of the tunnel...it is a faint light....but it's there!!

Finally, a picture of our cat who thinks he owns our house!  Crazzyy kitty.  Hooray for a short work week :) Be blessed!