The Chattanooga Market

Since Friday afternoon, we've been at my parent's home in Tennessee. We spent the past few days house hunting, ending up with some disappointments and a couple of hopefuls. We'll see what happens.

House hunting, something I'd normally think of as fun, has been rather tiring and a bit frustrating this go around. Probably because it's being over shadowed with dread. Not dread of living here, but we're both dreading the process of the actual move. And along with that, we're both wanting to get the ball rolling, but just not seeing anything that hits the mark for what we need/want.

We did a lot of traveling on Saturday looking around, and so Sunday morning we decided we should all take a break and do something fun before continuing on the search.

Mom had the perfect suggestion.

In Chattanooga, beneath the protective rise of Lookout Mountain...





...down near the UTC football stadium,...

...in a nice open air pavillion there...

...on ever Sunday during the summer months, the city of Chattanooga hosts The Chattanooga Market. It's a gathering of vendors and shoppers, artists and musicians, and all sorts of things, within the shade of the pavilion where there is lots to see, smell, sample, and purchase.

It opens at 11:00am and we were there for the beginning, before it got too crowded. Mom said some days it's so crowded you can't hardly move. There is live music, with a different musician featured each week. Seating around the stage where you can enjoy the entertainment and some yummy food from the many food vendors.
And after lunch, you can stroll through all the booths and make purchases of all sorts of things, such as fresh produce grown by area farms...

....yummy breads and pastries baked by local bakers....

...stock your pantry with some delightful canned jellies, relishes, and goods....

....purchase a lovely flower arrangement or stock up on fresh herbs...

....and pick up some unique arts and crafts as well.

We toured it all, sampled several yummy things, and purchased a few items of fresh goodness. Then on our way out, we stopped at the cake stand my parents have been telling us about. This lady bakes and decorates specialty cakes. And on Sunday's she bring an impressive collection of flavors down to the market and sells them by the slice. One look, even without a taste, made me want to write down her name for any future cake ordering needs I might run across. What a great marketing strategy she has come up with!

Talk about a hard decision to make!!!! She had just about any type of cake you could think of, from traditionals like German Chocolate, Lemon, Coconut, and Caramel, to some more unique flavors, such as Pumpkin, Tropical, and Dad's favorite, Mounds, which turns out to be an extremely rich chocolate cake with coconut and Mounds candy bar pieces and topped off with chocolate icing. And she's not skimpy on her icing either, or her servings. It's a giant piece of cake! We got a couple pieces to enjoy after our lunch.

After our cake purchase, we drove out to a favorite local deli that mom and dad have eaten at for years. It's like their special place, or at least that's how I've always thought of it. And after lunch, we did some more house hunting.

We found two really neat places we liked this past week, only to have them bought just as we had discovered them. But as Mom said, and as I keep reminding myself, God must have something even better for us.

We might have found the something better Sunday afternoon. If it's meant to be I know we'll get it, but it won't hurt to ask for as many prayers and crossed fingers as we can get going on this. So if you don't mind? Thanks!

Here's a link to The Chattanooga Market for more information. Chattanooga's just a great place to visit, so if your trying to figure where you want to go for next summer's vacation, and your tired of the same old beach trip, think about coming down here and exploring.

What's Cookin'?

Nothing yet, but when I get home, hopefully lots of yummy things!

Y'all know I like to cook and I like cooking things. And I like Pampered Chef products to cook with.

Last year I hosted a blogger Pampered Chef party. It was kind of fun, and maybe a first in the blogging world, for all I know.

I just "hosted" another catalog show because my host discount was expiring. Time to get it renewed since it's good for a year from your show. I didn't blog about it because I've been a slacker blogging lately and didn't feel right saying "hey I know I haven't been blogging much lately and kind of abandoned all you, my dear blogging buddies, but come buy something and help me out."

Just didn't feel right.

But, my consultant just told me I'm one order away from reaching my goal. Technically the show ended today, but she opened it back up till Sunday. And I figured, "what the heck. It's good stuff and maybe my good bloggy friends won't feel like I'm using them."

I had a really hard time finding a Pampered Chef rep. when I moved so I know it can be hard to get a hold of one. So, if your interested, here's a link to our party.

Lots of good stuff and the guest special this month is a free ice cream scoop for all orders over $60.

No obligation, I just wanted to share the opportunity. And if you do order I really appreciate it!

Thanks for letting me use my blog to promote this, and I'll be back in a couple days with another travel post.

PS: Last year we learned that my Canadian friends can't order from my American party. They have to go to a Canadian consultant to order. I'm sorry! But thanks for being willing.

Summer Clouds and Hodge Podge

I have always loved weather, of all kinds in all seasons. But there is just something about summer clouds that always makes me look. I don't mean just glance and smile. I mean I sit there and watch and examine and admire. I can do it all afternoon, especially if there is a front porch with a rocking chair or a swing and a glass of iced tea. (I'm talking about my mom's front porch and of course she's out there with me.) Storm watching from the porch has always been one of our favorite mother/daughter activities.

But I digress.

I like to watch summer clouds, and this week I found several to admire. Early in the week, there was this little cluster, making an appearance at dawn. They were the only clouds for miles and miles. The only ones in the sky.

And then yesterday afternoon, again in Idaho, there were some lovely puffy storm clouds starting to pile up. They always get me excited, even when they really aren't going to do anything.

Of course I may have been mistaken in my assumption that they weren't going to do anything. By the time we got through Yellowstone and back up to the interstate, there were some ominous looking storm clouds pouring out of the mountains surrounding Yellowstone National Park. We were fortunate enough to get to admire them, without having to experience their might.

I love this picture!

Early this morning, between the hours of 1:00am and 3:00am, eastern Montana put on a spectacular light show! It really was impressive. I enjoyed the show but kept hoping that there weren't any grass fires being set. It went on for quite a few hours before I finally caught up with it at the border. Fifteen minutes of hard rain and it was over. I bet the clouds were impressive.

Summer is the season for storms, and I love getting to watch them as we travel. There is nothing like watching storms in the mid-west where you can watch them for miles and miles as you travel. It passes the time.

Yesterday when we pulled into Paul, ID to unload I was delighted to discover that they had babies. There were a few little pastures surrounding the fertilizer plant and there were three babies. PAINT BABIES!

Of course no one wanted to cooperate with me and my camera...

 

 ...or even just let me look and admire. Everyone was being shy, and it wasn't the type of place where I could get out and go visit. It sure did make me miss having babies around! My turn will come...next summer!

Another bit of exciting news I thought I'd share. In my freshman college lit class, the girl who sat behind me on the first day became a good friend. We've stayed in touch over the years, even though we lived in different towns and our lives took different paths. Her husband and I hit it off pretty well too, especially after discovering we were both avid Civil War enthusiasts. Marc is a neat guy with many talents, one of which is writing. He has a blog, The Perfect Drift. He's big time into trout fishing. So I wanted to brag on him a bit. I was so thrilled for him last night when I opened facebook and saw Jill's post congratulation her husband on his big win. Marc won the grand prize in the Outdoor Blogger Networks' contest, for a blog post he did concerning trout in Yellowstone.  The grand prize is a trip to Yellowstone National Park. Sounds like they have some neat things for him to participate in while he's there, including, of course, some trout fishing time! So congratulations Marc on a job well done! I'm glad your getting some recognition for your exceptional writing! Enjoy the trip!

We're almost loaded up with fertilizer and about to head to the house for an evening and morning. Then it's back on the road to deliver in Idaho on Thursday afternoon, reload potatoes Friday, bring them to North Dakota on Saturday, and then.......AND THEN........TWO WEEKS AT HOME! 

Yep, six weeks on the road and it's time for another "vacation."

Growing Up

My sister's baby is growing up so fast! I just finished reading about all her recent accomplishments.

Ava Grace hit her 4 month birthday last Friday, and is more beautiful every day. I love all my sister's posts and pictures. And this most recent one was chock full of precious photos to commemorate Ava Grace's recent milestones. So I had to share.

My Lens on Life

Some of her faces are hilarious. She must be quite the character!

Florida at Last!!!

Weeks ago, I promised you pictures from the Florida wedding. I've been a bit slow in following up on that promise, but today's the day! And I can just feel the excitement building in you! :)

But first, an introduction!  A little over 10 years ago, when I first met Malcolm, I also met his parents and sisters. Both his sisters became good friends as my relationship with Malcolm grew. About a year after meeting, we were married. Malcolm's sister,Rachelle, was one of my bridesmaids, and his other sister, Justine, was our flower girl.

Move forward in time 10 years, almost to the day. Our wedding was in July, and this past July, Justine and her boyfriend,  Rob became engaged! Justine was very excited and immediately started putting her dream wedding together. Within days of her engagement, she was asking Malcolm and I to be in her wedding. We were honored.

I have always appreciated the relationship Malcolm has with his sisters. He has an unusually close bond with them both, which I think is so wonderful.  And when he and Justine are together, there is never a dull moment. They are two peas in a pod.

by the way, make sure you ooo and awww over how good he looks in teal and khakis! He was adament that he only wears jeans and dark earth tone shirts. He was rather horrified at having to wear teal, especially after we showed him what color it was.

Being in the wedding, was an honor, but Justine also asked me to take some pictures, and I was both honored and overwhelmed. I've played with photography, but only for fun. This would be my first experience taking important pictures for a purpose. Fortunately, she also had a professional photographer and several other family members that took lots of pictures, and that took the pressure off.

I was nervous at first, but it quickly became fun, especially since I didn't have to worry about her not having any good pictures if I messed up. So I played with the camera while the "real" photographer was working.

And took a few shots at the reception.

And then after the reception, Justine and Rob wanted to go back to a place on the beach they had found a few days prior to the wedding. It wasn't the sight of the ceremony, but they wanted some pictures made there, with the lighthouse and the rock jetty. They are both very photogenic and had an eye for location! It was just me and Malcolm and the bride and groom. It was fun just being the four of us, and relaxing after a busy day.

We took over 100 pictures, but I won't subject you to all of them! I just pulled out a handful of my favorites.

I'm not bragging on myself, because I know there is tons of room for improvement, but I was pretty pleased with how the pictures came out. And it was a lot of fun taking them. I'm still not sure I'd want to be solely responsible for capturing an important event like a wedding ceremony or such, but I sometimes play with the idea of pursuing this photography thing further. It might be a nice little hobby business to consider for the future.

Wyoming Wind and Tennessee Twisters

This week has ended with a lot of wind. Let me explain.

We had a mission to get home for the weekend. Malcolm's dad was going out of town and he had asked Malcolm if we could come home and feed the cows for him while he was gone. Gladly!

From Texas we loaded poultry meal and took it to a pet food plant in Phoenix, AZ, delivering on Wednesday. Surprisingly it wasn't as warm as I expected. It stayed down in the low 70's, cooler than west Texas had been a couple days earlier. Later I'd remember to be thankful for those balmy temperatures. (not that I wasn't already)

Our broker was having a really hard time getting us headed back towards home. This time of year our freight slows down significantly, and Arizona is never a good place to be for reloading, but even worse in the spring. Not much that goes out of there, at least not for our type of trailer.

The only thing he could come up with that worked for our schedule needs was a load of road salt. Unfortunately, we had to bounce over 500 miles into Utah to pick it up. And then it was only a little over 500 miles loaded, and not that great of a rate, considering the empty miles. Basically, it paid for our fuel to drive from Arizona to home. Just the way it works sometimes.

We were loaded Thursday morning and headed towards Casper, WY. I-15 north through Utah and at Salt Lake City, we turned east on I-80. At Rawlins, WY we jumped off the interstate for a little short cut on 220. It's about 120 miles from Rawlins to Casper, give or take a few.

One of the things about Wyoming is that the wind is more or less a constant. Love it or hate it, it doesn't change anything and if you go to Wyoming, you can't avoid it. Wyoming is windy. So given that, you can have the most gorgeous day, but even in dry summer weather, the wind might knock you off the road. And in winter, the sky can be blue, but the roads might be icy from blowing snow. 

 On this day it wasn't too bad and only the first 30 miles or so had patchy ice and snow. After that I was on dry roads and enjoying the scenery.

 Wyoming is far from flat, but you can still see for a long way from the right vantage point. I like cresting a hill and seeing the road disappear into the horizon.

 Getting nearer to Casper, the road gets closer in to some bigger hills.

 And goes right past Devils Gate, a historical point on the Oregon Trail.

 The snow on the ground had thinned out a bit, but probably it had just blown away to another part of the country.

 We pulled into Casper, WY around 5:00 in the evening. It had been in the low 20's the entire day.

 We finished dumping our load of salt for the road department and were headed north towards home within an hour.

 Home was about 350 miles or so. We took a little bit longer route for the sake of staying on bigger roads. A winter storm had gone through earlier in the week and we knew the bigger roads would be easier to handle with an empty trailer, as they would have been cleaned more. Contrary to what seems logical, an empty trailer is harder to handle on ice and snow than a loaded trailer. We need the weight for traction. So pulling an empty trailer on icy roads...it's not that fun.

The other reason we decided to take a round about way to get home was because we could go through Belle Fourche and get Paris in to see her surgeon. Our "60 days of no jumping" were over, had been for a week, and it was time to see if her leg was doing what it was meant to do. I was really nervous that it was going to be bad news. Paris hasn't exactly followed her doctors orders. We've done our best to keep her still and quiet, but she's done her fair share of jumping and tumbling and wallowing in the blankets, her favorite. So we dropped her off and an hour later came back and her surgeon took me back to show me the xrays. He had them all lined up from her initial break to the ones he'd just taken and showed me all the stages of healing and we had a nice long chat. I LOVE her surgeon! He is great to talk to and really friendly and personable. But I digress.....the point is, he said she was pretty much 99% good to go. There's one little spot that hadn't sealed, but he said it should be fine and she can run and jump to her hearts content! She has wasted no time getting to it!

That was yesterday, Friday. Friday was a big day! We got our great news about Paris, and we got to come home. But not all was grand about Friday. Prior to taking Paris into the vet's, I'd checked the weather and noticed that Tennessee wasn't looking too hot! Mom had mentioned to me earlier in the week that they were supposed to get some bad storms on Friday.

While we waited for Paris, we went and had breakfast and the weather was all over the news on the TV at the cafe.

So after we had Paris, and while Malcolm was driving us the 2 1/2 hours left to home, I was on the computer reading facebook posts and checking news websites from Chattanooga and Nashville. I was really concerned for my sister and her family, because they live north of Nashville, an area that was apparently slotted to get hammered. And Chattanooga was in the process of having some really bad storms. And then people I knew back home started posting things on facebook like "get in the basement if your in this or that area!" It was a little nerve racking to say the least. It was like last April all over again.

Last April I sat and read the same kind of posts from friends who were hiding in closets and basements, and at the end of the day the school I had taught at, the one Mom still teaches at, and the little town it serves had been leveled. That was last year and a town 20 minutes from home. This was now and it was happening in my home town. So close to home, that students at my high school were crouched in the hallways.

I checked in with family and did so again this morning as last nights storms were supposed to be worse than the ones earlier in the day. So relieved to hear that all were OK and no one had any damage. At least none of my family did. But they came close. In fact, my Dad told me this morning there were some very intense moments and at one point my brother and his employees were in the walk in cooler at the restaurant because it had gotten so bad. Malcolm's cousin said it looked like a strobe light was on outside her window down near Atlanta and Dad said the wind was incredible. They ended up with a tree across the driveway, but that was the extent of the damage, and my sister and her husband were spared the worst of it, as the storms didn't play by the pattern the weather service had mapped out exactly, thank the Lord!

I wish I could say the rest for Ooltewah, my home town. On the other side of town from where my parent's live, there are residential areas that were destroyed. As far as I know, "town" wasn't severely damaged, but homes were. Dad said it was a miracle no one was killed, probably saved lives that everyone was at work. Last I read there were 14 injuries serious enough for hospital treatment, but no deaths. Again, thank you Lord!

We have always had storms, and tornado watches weren't uncommon, but I sincerely don't remember them ever being considered a real threat! In my 34 years I have never had to go to the basement for protection. Seems like all of a sudden, the storms are a lot more severe than they used to be. North Alabama always got tornadoes, but I don't remember our area ever getting them! They were always north or south or west of us. So I don't understand why it's like this now. Global warming I suppose or some such explanation. All I know is that a couple years ago, when Mom said they were expecting some storms, I'd tell her to sit on the porch and enjoy them for me! We used to love to sit on the porch and watch the storms. But after last year, she'll tell me they are expecting bad storms, and I feel on edge and anxious till I know it's over. I spent most of the day yesterday checking my computer every few minutes for updates and texting Mom and my sister to see how things were going. I was very glad to wake up this morning to sunshine and then hear from Dad that all was well and they were going about normal Saturday activities!

Whew....didn't mean to go on so long about that! We are grateful that our loved ones were spared the difficulties, and our hearts go out to all those who did not have it so easy.

Back to Montana.....So, the plan is chill here at home till Monday night, drive to Billings, get Macolm's CDL renewed on Tuesday, load, and deliver near Boise, ID on Wednesday morning. I'll be back in touch with you at some point after that.

A CNN video of damage in my home town. One of those times you don't feel honored to make the national news because it's due to tragedy instead of great things!

http://www.cnn.com/video/?/video/weather/2012/03/02/von-cnn-ooltewah-tn-tornado-damage.cnn#/video/weather/2012/03/02/von-cnn-ooltewah-tn-tornado-damage.cnn

Meeting Ava Grace

On Tuesday we had to leave sunny, warm Florida and head back to Tennessee to rescue our dogs and my parents. We were happy to discover that everyone had survived. All were intact and still sane. What a relief! Not to say that all weren't happy to see us! I'm know the girls were relieved that they hadn't been permanently abandoned and I'm sure my parents were glad we were back too to take command of the grand-dogs.

Wednesday morning, my sister drove down from Nashville with a little pink package for me to hold and cuddle. Ava Grace, at 4 weeks old, made her first of many future pilgrimages to Chattanooga to be with family.

She is a sweet little girl who is so good! She hardly ever cries. Even when she wakes up from a nap, she just sits there looking around, taking in her world, waiting for someone to come get her, which you know doesn't take long at all since we're all sitting around watching, just waiting for her eyes to crack open! In fact, for the day and a half that she was with us, she only had one crying episode, for about 10 minutes, because she was a little constipated and not feeling good.

Everyone took their turn holding Ava Grace and getting to know her. And while Uncle Malcolm had her, Ella just couldn't deny her curiosity any longer. She was pretty baffled by the little squirming thing in her man's lap. Up till this point, she'd been too chicken to investigate, though I'd caught her off and on throughout the visit watching Ava Grace from a distance.

Meagan and I took Ava Grace down to Grandma and Grandpa's house so she could meet her great grandparents for the first time. We had a nice long visit there. And then it was time for Mom to come home from work. We visited with her for a little while, and then we all packed up in the cars and headed to dinner, where Ava Grace had her first meal at Couch's BBQ.

She actually didn't have a meal, but she napped through her mom's meal. Actually she pretty much slept through the whole experience.

While Ava Grace slept, we all enjoyed the best BBQ in the world, and visited with my brother and his family. Bentlee got to share about her birthday trip to the American Girl Doll cafe and store in Atlanta, and Kensley stayed busy mooching potato chips from her Papaw, and entertaining us all. Both of my brother's girls are adorable and so much fun to be around.

And then Ava Grace woke up a little bit, and when her Grandmommy scooped her up, it became pretty obvious that her cousin, Kensley, had assumed Ava Grace was a baby doll. Kensley was pretty fascinated when the baby doll started moving around and making noises.

Pretty soon it was time to go back to Mom and Dad's and do some relaxing before bed time. But before we left, we had to get a picture to document Ava Grace's first trip to Couch's BBQ. It will be printed off and added to the "wall of fame" on the shelves behind Dad and Ken in the picture. That's where all the grandkid and family pictures are.

Thursday morning Meagan and Ava Grace headed back to Nashville, and that afternoon, Malcolm and the girls and I hit the road. Back to work! Oh joy!

We were kind of in the dumps about having to go. It was hard leaving Florida when everyone else was staying to play a few more days. And it was hard leaving Tennessee because we felt like we'd hardly gotten any time there. Plus we just didn't want to go back to work.  You know how it is.

But we'd had a load on our trailer all week long. We'd brought a load with us from Missouri to TN, and the plant in GA was waiting for us. We delivered our load Thursday night, and Friday we reloaded in Birmingham, AL. We stopped Saturday in Jackson, MS and spent the day with my aunt and uncle there, which was really nice! Seems like my aunt and I are always coming to Chattanooga for a visit at different times and for different holidays, so we always miss each other in passing. It was pretty special to get her for the whole day just to myself. And it was great to visit with my uncle too!

I had the sniffles all day long and assumed it was southern pollen. I've always had bad allergies down here. But then Sunday morning I woke up feeling pretty wiped out and icky. I had heard rumors (via Mom) that my sister and her family were sick, so I called Meagan. The minute I heard her voice, I knew I had whatever she had. Thankfully it seems to be a short lived crud bug and is kind of clearing up today. But yesterday was miserable. I was glad we only had 240 miles to travel. And I hope with all fingers crossed and wish upon a star that I didn't share it with my aunt and uncle....or Malcolm! Oh, if he gets it....honestly I'd rather by sick again than have Malcolm catch it!

We delivered our load in Shreveport, LA this morning and are now on our way to reload in east Texas. We'll have this load in west Texas by morning, and then we'll be reloading sand in Arizona and taking it to Idaho. And that will get us up to Wednesday and back out west!

I had a couple questions from bloggers after my last Trucking 101 post that I need to address.

Jake wanted to know what we do about eating. I know quite a few drivers eat meals out of their trucks, but with both of us in here, storage is limited. I haul too many books around and the girls have a big wardrobe! :) Poor Malcolm! 

But to be honest, most days our meals are the highlight of the day and kind of break of the monotony. As Malcolm likes to point out, we spend enough time in here without eating in here too. So we usually eat out. Most days, we just have 2 meals. If we're stuck with fast food, we try to eat Subway, assuming it's healthier or as healthy as we're going to get on the road. If we have time to go in and sit down for a real meal, we like to give our business to "mom and pop" places when we can. I think that comes from my family having that type restaurant, so I like to give my business to others like them to help support them. That, and it's just generally better food and more interesting. It's probably more costly to eat out instead of making sandwiches in the truck...well I know it's more expensive....but it's one of the things we splurge on because we enjoy it.

And Cedar View Paint Horses wanted to know what kind of engine was in our truck. This truck has a Cummins ISX 550 horsepower. The last truck had a CAT. Malcolm liked the CAT better...I think.

Fun in the Sun and Sand

Last Saturday morning, after a brief visit with my parent's in Tennessee, and getting the girls settled in with them, Malcolm and I hit the road in a rental car, heading south to Florida. We quickly re-discovered that it was fun to be traveling like "normal" people again! 

We passed through Atlanta, choosing to go through the heart of the city instead of taking the by-pass. We seem to make better time that way. I always enjoy craning my neck to see the tops of the sky scrapers. I also enjoy getting back out of the Atlanta.

It took a little over 8 hours to get to our destination. We drove the entire length of Georgia on I-75, and then in north Florida, we jumped on I-10...

...to Jacksonville, where we turned south on I-95. A couple hours later, we were in New Smyrna Beach, FL and turning into the driveway of Malcolm's aunt and uncle's house, where we discovered a number of family members had gathered to visit and catch up. It was a warm, cozy scene.

 We had arrived just in time to share a dinner of pizza and lots of laughs and hugs. There was also some time to relax and start right in on Florida vacationing. Shortly after arriving we'd migrated to the dock where Malcolm partook in some nightime fishing...

...and I enjoyed the novelty of being comfortable in February without a jacket. The scenery wasn't half bad either.

After a night of restful sleep, we woke up early to get busy helping with anything that needed doing to prepare for the main event of the weekend. There were lots of last minute tasks, but we made sure to get in some fun too. I spent a little time in the morning sitting on the dock some more. I could have stayed there all day long!

It was so quiet and peaceful, and at the same time there was lots to look at, and activity everywhere. Malcolm's aunt and uncle live on a....I don't know what it's called....it's like a river that comes off the ocean into the land and then back out to the ocean. It's really pretty with the scenery of the ocean, but not the waves and crowds. You can see the lighthouse right from their back yard (as you noticed above) and there is lots of wildlife to enjoy. There were dophins playing off and on throughout the day, lots of pelicans and other water birds,...

...and the biggest surprise of the day was when a manatee surfaced for air right beneath our dangling feet as we sat on the dock. I was so surprised that I fumbled the camera and only caught the tail.

Like I said, I could have sat there all day. 

But there were projects and errands to attend to.

When the day was done and tasks complete, we all loaded up in the cars and headed to Orlando to meet Malcolm's sister, her fiance, and his parents for dinner. They took us to Midievil Times, which was a dinner theatre. It was really neat! Good food and great entertainment. We dined while watching knights joust, and nobility parade.

After that, we had about an hour long car ride back to our family's home. It was an hour of laughter and hilarity, with Malcolm at the wheel and his cousin's husband egging him on to spin the wheels and other silliness. It was so much fun to laugh so much! It was a blast to spend time with a couple our own age, and we had so many things in common. We hate that they live 2000 miles away!

Once home, we visited a bit more, and then it was off to bed. We all needed lots of rest for the day to come. 

The next day was a long day of Fun in the Sun and Sand!

The wedding was beautiful and I had my first experience taking important portraits. I was very intimidated but SO pleased with how they turned out. However, Justine and Rob are still vacationing and the bride should get to share her photos first. So after she gets home and posts pictures, I'll will share mine with you! Get ready for bridal overload, because there are so many I love!