After a wicked early start to work a Cambridge Christian All Pro Dad's Day chapter meeting this morning (the highlight of my work month on many occasions), I will head out early this afternoon to depart on my first 'for fun' trip of 2012. I have lots of upcoming travel as previously mentioned on the blog and highlighted in the right column. But this is the kick off trip. Booked in November during a Southwest Sale - I've been anxiously counting down the days until now...departure day!
I will depart at 4:30 on a non stop flight only to be picked up on the flip side by my best friend, Candy! I am literally thrilled. Were headed tonight to 'the roadhouse' for a late dinner at the restaurant Candy worked in growing up in the 'burg.
I'm really looking forward to some downtime, with a few of my favorite people....in what has quickly become one of my favorite places on earth. Let's just hope I can semi stick with my diet and exercise plan while away for a few days. There will be blog posts still, so you won't have to miss me too much, and I promise to have some fun photos and stories when I return as well.
In my carry on for this trip I will be taking two new books to read:
This is the 7th book in the Women's Murder Club series which many of you who have been following the blog for a while and/or are my friends on GoodReads already know about my obsession with all things JP and this series. So I picked this up from the library this week after being on hold between books 6 and 7, and will begin this while away (and possibly finish it too).
Actually both of the books I'll be traveling with this trip are by JP but #2 is a love story, not a murder mystery. Some of you may be unfamiliar with Patterson as a love story author but he's actually had several famous, non-violent novels. This one was gifted to me by a client who knows about my love of JP and reading in general.
Alright well, it's about time I wrap this up and allow you all to continue with your Fridays (I'm probably working or traveling when you're reading this) but I hope you all have a great weekend.
Well friends and loved ones, I'm back from the 'burg. My return has been somewhat bittersweet. I love Tampa, it has always had the biggest piece of my heart but to quote Reese Witherspoon in Sweet Home Alabama 'but then I come down here, and this fits too'. Being in Scottsburg for 6 days really did feel like home. As I said a tearful goodbye this morning I couldn't help wishing I could skip my flight and cling to a perfect vacation just a bit longer.
Coming home always has it's perks. I look forward to a night in my own bed, getting back into some sense of routine, and laying out by my pool this weekend. But reality comes quick, don't ya think? I hopped off the plane and immediately headed back to work. I was grateful for the distraction so as not to further pout about the fact that I'm no longer with my best friend but with less than 20 minutes between grabbing my bag and returning to my cubicle, it felt like vacation came to a screeching halt.
I finished another book on my trip - and even though her language leaves a few things to be desired I have to say there's somthing I find quite likeable about Kelly Cutrone. I'm now on to Hunger Games and though I don't find it nearly as exciting as all those who recommended it seemed too, I'm enjoying it so far. Hope to be done with it in a few days so I can move on to finish the Michael Bennett series.
I didn't write a single blog while I was away and I learned that you take a chance when you schedule them in advance... oh living and learning, right?
My heart felt a bit heavy and my head a little too full as I touched down in Tampa but most of all I'm overwelmed with gratitude for the wonderful friends the Lord has given me. I tell ya what, I must have THE most amazing set of guy friends any girl could ask for and in general just the best group of people in my corner. I feel so incredibly blessed this week - so thank you, especially to the ones I called up this weekend from afar.
I continue to grow excited about the next few chapters of my life as they unfold in unexpected ways. The roommate and I will be starting up Crossfit this week (or next) - an intense boot camp style workout class 2 days a week for the next few months. I'm anxious but nervous all at once. We may just die - but I think it will be a good way to go out (doing push ups on the concrete and all).
10 days til I'm back on the road headed to St. Louis and selfishly hoping I will be able to see Josh, Candy, and Chad again that weekend. If I can't convince them all to move to Florida maybe I can at least convince them to travel to all my work locations with me?
Expect some posts about my trip over the next couple days but I wanted to let you know I'm back and thank those of you who were in touch while I was away.
Ok, I want to know what you all have going on for the 4th this year - and if you happen to own a boat, I may just be jealous. Actually, I'll be packing my bags up for the 2nd of 3 trips in 4 weeks and headed to Scottsburg, IN.
You may remember what a great time I had there over Christmas with my best friend when her bro-in-law took me four wheelin' late at night (on the ice), we went to a real soda fountain in a drug store, and I even got to meet a few cows. You can read more about that trip here but for a Florida city girl, it was quite an exciting trip. Shortly after (in Feb I believe?) I went ahead and booked a flight on Allegiant Air to spend the 4th of July with my bestie and her sweet, fun families (her's and her husbands - love em both).
Allegiant is one of the best kept secrets in travel - my flight, round trip, was less than $150! Woot. I was so proud of myself. Now, I will be even more proud if I manage to pull off a carry-on only for a 6 day trip. I'm good, but I'm not sure even I am THAT good.
Anywho, I figure if I determine what exactly I need to bring, and don't bring 100 options, I can maybe, possibly, probably pull it off.
Here's my packing small for summer ideas:
- Kindle instead of library books. That way I KNOW I won't run out (which has been known to happen, you know how crazy I am with my reading). This way A. it takes up less room but B. it weights way less than 3-4 novels.
- Staying in the same color family - then I can pack one purse and minimal shoe options (if I don't have to match black and brown outfits).
- Sundresses. They take up WAY less room than a whole outfit AND they're cooler in the hot temps.
- I figure you probably always need at least one pair of jeans or jean capris - so I'm going to wear mine on the way there, that way they don't take up room in my bag, but I still have them if I need them.
So, what are YOUR 4th plans? In town? Out of town? On a boat?
Well the much anticipated weekend with my best friend has come and (sadly) gone. We sure did have a great three days and taking her to the airport Monday was seriously, heartbreaking. It gets harder each and every time. Even when we have our next trip on the books (June 30th - hurry up!) it's still tough and usually tearful when we have to part ways.
The neat thing is that our lives are both going so well. Sadly, that keeps us 17 hours away and only able to see each other every couple months. But it's cool how having such different lives hasn't made us miss a beat in our friendship.
Friday night we hit Bern's dessert room - a Tampa favorite with my sweet Auburn. It was so fun to finally introduce Candy and Auburn, my bffs from two different places. And naturally, they got along famously. Our desserts were delish - mine was of course called: Chocolate chocolate chocolate. Yumm...
Oh and please note that I finally had a chance (excuse) to wear my one shoulder dress with the beading I love. Yay.
I of course also shared with Candy my favorite South Tampa fro yo joint: Yogurtology.
It successfully changed her life.
Oh and mine, again.
We worked on our tans, we went souvenir shopping (read: treasure hunting), shopped the outlet malls for some great deals like this little number from the Gap outlet:
We drove down for a quick trip to the Gap outlet in Ellenton Saturday morning before hitting the pool. Along with this dress I got a cute off the shoulders coral sweater.
We introduced her to Nordstrom Rack where the dress I've been stalking for MONTHS finally went on clearance and I bought ...and so did Candy. It's so fun and colorful - I'll have to post a picture soon. We've decided when I'm up in Scottsburg for the 4th weekend we should be twins for church. Wouldn't that be classic?
It was another great weekend that passed too quickly. Already trying to scheme ways to see Candy again sooner rather than later. But thankful for the time we got and her faithfulness to visit me. Lucky to have such an amazing friend.
One of the things my best friend, Candy, does exceptionally well is be part of my life. That sounds weird, since you imagine that best friends would naturally do that. If you consider what you know about my life though, you can probably see how this would be harder if your best friend was, well...me.
Candy and I live 17 hours away. Which means we, sadly, don't get to be there for some of the small but significant day-to-day happenings of each others lives. I say sadly because honestly, those small moments are wicked important in the grand scheme of life and I'd love nothing more to be a part of every last one of them. That being said, let's get back on track...
Candy is an exceptionally good best friend and she does a great job of knowing every detail of what's happening in my life, which you all KNOW is a lot! She also makes sacrifices to BE there. She comes to Florida to see me, meets my friends, stays at my place, falls in love with my beaches, etc. She drives the distance from Scottsburg to Indy every single time I'm home. Last year she volunteered at 2 of my Indy events AND my Cincinnati Bengals event. She's taken the time to get to know my family members and spend time with them. She is so thoughtful I continue to be blown away by it.
On the flip side of that, I'm a pretty crappy best friend when it comes to this area. I'm a bit of a steamroller and I'm always on the go. It's not like I forget birthdays or don't return phone calls or anything really pathetic like that, but in the past I haven't always been as loyal to just be a part of her life as she has mine. As I examined myself over this past year I realized this really bothered me. When I notice that someone is doing something better than I am, I want to learn from them. I've learned a great many things from Candy but how to be a best friend tops the list by a landslide. I'm not JUST saying this because she's mine, she really is a first-class best friend.
I've always been someone who knows a lot of people but doesn't allow them to get close to her. It wasn't really until I graduated college that I realized the value of investing most of your relationship effort in a few close friends instead of a little bit of effort on tons and tons of shallow relationships. This sounds like it should be obvious, right? But you know me, honing in on things isn't always my strong suit.
Not one to get too caught up in thinking to take action, I decided there was no time like the present to change my less-than-stellar-friend-performance and get on my a-game. With my then upcoming Indiana trip I proposed a change in our normal routine of Candy (and Josh) coming to Indy to see me and I decided it was time to go see them. After all, they live in the town where they both grew up and there's tons of Candy's history in that town which makes me automatically love it because it gave me the best friend I've ever had. On top of that (and a huge bonus, mind you) their whole families live there and they both have great ones.
Since there were about a million of us staying in my house and only 2 cars, I did have to enlist help getting down there and Josh graciously chauffeured be back and forth. I want to pause to note here that if your best friend gets married - I hope for each of your sakes that you love the person they marry. This is a huge blessing that I think Josh is terrific and we get along famously. Lord knows, there are few people I'd trust my bff too.
This trip to Scottsburg, Indiana meant the world to me. I imagine that the recounting of this trip I will do here will come no where close to scratching the surface of just how grateful I am for every minute of it. I'm sorry that my utter lack of skill and ability to paint pictures with words will mean that this blog can't tell you all that I want to say...
First off, you can take the girl out of the city and she may just realize, she likes the country! We packed as much of the Scottsburg experience into those 2 days as we could and I loved every stinkin second. And by stinkin I mean, I went to a cow pasture (in my dress clothes) and it really did stink.
Every day is an adventure as far as I'm concerned and I love a new experience more than the next person. Scottsburg is nothing like Tampa but it has this amazing, small town charm that draws me in. Nowhere in Tampa can you get a fountain diet cherry coke from a real soda fountain in a drug store. Seriously, life-changing.
We took a great tour of Scott County and I loved it...
On the way back I half-jokingly said, 'before I leave tomorrow I want to ride a horse, then this trip will be complete'. Well we didn't have time to ride a horse but thanks to Tyler, I did get to ride a four-wheeler, in the dark. I try not to be a total weeney about things but I have to say I was just a tad bit scared - but thankfully I trusted Tyler not to get me killed. When I showed my Dad the video of me riding he said 'why were you driving so slow'? Apparently I drive a four-wheeler like a little old lady. Awesome.
The country looks good on me, don't ya think?
I have to say, I didn't know people rode four-wheelers on roads. But apparently in Scottsburg, Indiana - you can (or at least, we did). So we rode around and even popped by the junkyard poker game to say hi to Chad. Next time, I'm playing and I will take their money.
We also went down to the courthouse to see Josh's cousin be robed as the new judge! I apparently now travel to Scottsburg for big events of Candy and Josh's families. Weddings and robings that is. It was neat to see Marsha's robing though and it's amazing how big their family really is. Their family dwarfs mine!
I got to see where Candy went to high school. Drink dollar diet cokes from their McDonalds (in a Styrofoam cup - you don't even have to ask for it) - when oh when will Tampa adopt those? Candy cooked me dinner in her adorable kitchen which is decked out in red Kitchen Aid like mine - felt like home. I'm even learning to bond with Ace, her cat (I'm not much of a cat woman myself).
I decided last minute I hadn't had enough Scottsburg and I stayed an extra night so that we could do Christmas with the Owens. Thanks to a quick bond during the wedding weekend, I'm lucky enough to have Ellen as a friend now too. She's such an encouragement to me and I love our text chats throughout the weeks and the sweet pictures of her boys. Cason did most of the unwrapping of the presents for all three boys. Thanks to Santa Candy it was basically like Christmas all over again - paper flying everywhere.
I know I'm becoming infamous for not being much of a kid person but Cason, Jaxon, and Griffin are an exception. : ] I adore them. It was a treat getting to tour their house and play with the boys. Thanks to El, I can now alternate between drinking out of a mug with Candy's face on it and drinking a HUGE amount of coffee out of the sweet red and green polka mug she bought me for Christmas. I'm so spoiled.
It's hard to say what it is I love most about going to Scottsburg but if I had to pin it down, I guess it's that having only been their twice - it feels like home. I love the people. And the square. And laying in Josh's recliner hanging out. Four wheeling. Family events that are bigger than most people's reunions! Candy and Josh have always felt like family but when I go back to their hometown I feel like everyones family. Like I fit right in without ever missing a beat. I love that feeling.
I hope that my Scottsburg trip was a Christmas tradition in the making. I hope though that it will be sooner than next Christmas that I can get back there. In the meantime, I'm already getting excited for Candy's next trip to Tampa in February. I like us to always have a visit on the books so that it never seems too far away.
It felt good to make a big first step towards doing a better job of fitting into Candy's life instead of her always having to fit into mine. I hope sooner or later we live close enough to each other that it's one in the same. Until then, I think we're doing a pretty great job.
You know I always have to debreif from any trip on the blog. It should come as no surprise to you then that I have some thoughts and pictures to share from this weekends trip to Scottsburg, IN as well…
I finished my 46th book of 2010 on my second flight yesterday – Liz Tuccillo’s How to be Single (a novel, not a self help book…I feel the need to defend myself about that). I’m not going to do a book review on it because honestly, I don’t feel inspired to say much about it other than this: it was not to my standards. The writing was so-so. The plot was a bit tired. The morals were somewhat lacking. And the ending was predictable and a little too ‘I will survive’ for my taste. Glad it’s over, glad to be moving on to book 47.
Thanks to an odd leg of my trip, I can now at Missouri to my list of states I’ve been too. Confession here it did take my 2 maps and some effort to figure out that I was indeed in Kansas City, Missouri and not Kansas City, Kansas. Why they would have a city named the same that close together but in two different states is really beyond me. I personally think that’s a terrible idea. Apparently the Nascar girls sitting beside me on my flight from KC to Tampa yesterday spend the entire weekend going back and forth between the two and could barely tell them apart. Hm.
I always have the most interesting travel experiences. After nearly missing my flight from Indy to KC yesterday, I sat in the very last row of the plane next to a couple who graciously allowed me the aisle seat after I ran a little frazzled and sweaty onto the plane during ‘final boarding call’ (there was a wreck on the interstate and Mom and I could barely get there). Turns out, not only were they precious – they’re moving (from KC) to Tampa in 3 weeks. We exchanged info and I will not be their first Tampa friend. You know I love a new friend. I had such an amazing experience getting settled into Tampa myself that now I really try to make others feel at home quickly.
The weekend was a bit of a whirlwind but of the best variety. I impressed even myself by how quickly I got from my condo, to parking, to the airport, checked a bag, thru security, grabbed Starbucks, and got to my gate – in literally 40 minutes total. Am I super woman or what? It was unnecessary since it meant that I had to sit at my gate for longer than I anticipated but better to sit and read then stand in line being wanded and groped for explosives.
I flew through Chicago Midway for the first time. I’ve been to O’Hare my fair share of times but never Midway. It’s surprisingly small for an airport in the greater Chicago area, and easy to navigate (much more so than O’Hare). I had a short but sweet little layover there en route to Indianapolis Friday. It was uneventful.
After landing we were able to slip over to Dad’s office for a quick visit. He even let us stay for lunch, which by the way is delish – having people cook you meals everyday at work would be life-changing (especially for my waistline). Though my visits with my parents never feel long enough, it was nice to get an hour in with Dad before I headed south to Scottsburg and he headed way farther south to my territory for the weekend of work.
Mom and I went out for frozen yogurt before I needed to get ready and head towards ‘the burg’ for the rehearsal and dinner. Unfortunately that yogurt made our stomachs hurt for 2 days. Ouch.
I wore my fabulous new dress and shoes I showed you all a few entries back, but sadly, we didn’t take ANY pictures of the rehersal dinner. I know, what is wrong with us? I’m hoping SOMEONE took some during the rehearsal and maybe I can find them on facebook at some point. Gr. That’s what I get for being too lazy to go back out to my car and get my camera. Boo becca.
Saturday morning we girls got our hair did… here we are make-up-less but hair done and obviously happy about it.
The wedding day was actually far more relaxing than any wedding I’ve ever been to let alone in! We ate subway and hungout at the house after our hair. Then we got ready at the church, took pictures, and still had a little down time before our walk down the aisle. Candy was a beautiful bride. I loved her dress as you’ll see in some of the pictures below and she was absolutely stunning in it. Don’t worry Josh (since I know how much you love being talked about on my blog) you were super handsome yourself!
I didn’t know Lauren or Sam the other 2 bridesmaids before this weekend – but once you’ve dressed and undressed each other a few times, you’re practically family. Glad to know them both. What fun, sweet, and special girls they both are. Looking forward to hopefully getting to hangout with them again in the future.
It was great catching up with some of the Coach girls from back when Candy and I met. Laura and Sarah - so much fun seeing you both.
I'll close this entry with a few pictures... (some borrowed from others facebooks - hope you don't mind!)
Here's what amazon has posted about this one:
The country looks good on me, don't ya think?
