Summertime Beach Bum

Growing up my family and I did a lot of camping, we had an old pop-up camper and went to many campgrounds. One of the places we went to frequently was Yogi Bears in Sturbridge MA. Well i mentioned to Mark that i wanted to start that tradition as well. So summer of 2016 we started our new  tradition and went tenting at Yogi Bears.  Our camp site Tent site number 261 One of the pools had a water slide. We went down it several times. Mark and I both enjoyed it.  Pictures down by the lake at the playground. We swang on the swing for a bit. My family and I used to camp at the site right on the beach.  Mark and I enjoying cooking out on the grill Map of the campground  Mark enjoyed his pinball machine... ...and i enjoyed an ice cream. Which i did eventually share Picture of Mark and I. I am hoping to take this picture every year

Back in May 2016, Mark and I went out to Reno, NV for the national bowling tournament. About 12 other guys went as well, and i was the only female. But it worked out since the guys would golf during the day, and Mark and I would go and explore. Reno was a wonderful trip, we got to see so much. Plus it was a great time. Below are a lot of pictures from our trip. While we were there however, it was very cold.  One of the roads up in the mountain overlooking Lake Tahoe  We passed Squaw Valley, where the 1960's winter olympics were held Natural waterfalls in the mountains We stopped at one of the beaches in South Lake Tahoe. I was going to grab sand from here like i do at other locations, however the sand wasn't very good  Something i didn't realize was that most of Lake Tahoe is actually in California!  Mark bowling in a side tournament at the nationals  During one of the days, we took a walk down the Reno strip, "the biggest little cit

I finally finished a book i had started almost a year ago. It was a book that i would bring it everywhere with me "just incase" i had time to read, but i never read it. So overtime i would pick it up again i was having trouble getting back into it. So i brought it camping with me, and made my self sit and read it. Then i had to finish it! Someone Like You by Sarah Dessen Halley is off at a summer camp that her mom made her go to before starting her Junior year. While away at camp Halley receives a call from her best friend Scarlett with awful news. The first boy that Scarlett loved has been in a terrible accident and passed away.  The two friends start their junior year and try to move on with their lives. Halley meets a new boy who is all too adventurous for her. Meanwhile Scarlett finds out that she is pregnant with her ex boyfriends child. Scarlette's mom has already made the decision that she will "take care" of the child. Scarlett decides on her

I had posted earlier that i was working on the Mr and Mrs sign for our table. I was covering the front with pearls and then the sides with teal ribbon and then lace ribbon. Well yesterday i finally finished it! Even with all the pain, i love it! Here is the picture :) After the wedding i plan to hang it up in the house, and a pretty sign, and also a memento of the first day of the rest of our lives :) 

I was just going to share a wedding craft i have been working on. I purchased stand alone letters that spell out Mr & Mrs, they were silver and made of metal. Then i went and purchased tiny pearls that i was going to glue to the letters once i sprayed the letters white. I was hoping i could put this on the head table at the wedding. Cool idea: yes. Pain in the ass: oh yeah! I am almost done, and now only have one letter left. So i am beyond excited. The other thing is that for the edge of the letter i decided to put the teal ribbon with lace ribbon over it to add another layer of pretty-ness. Here is a picture of the MRS i had finished! I think they will look pretty once all done. I also hope to put them in our home after the wedding.

One part of my wedding that i did not have to plan was my bachelorette party. My Maid of Honor planned that with the help of my bridesmaids. Yesterday: Aug 11th i flew from bradley down to DC, where my MOH currently lives. We hung out yesterday, just exploring the DC area. For dinner we went to a restaurant right down the road from her apartment. It was a nice dinner. Today we are flying off to a secret destination where there will be 8 of us total to all hang out for the long weekend. We are staying from Friday-Monday in a house with a private pool that was rented for all of us. Activities have been planned and i am so beyond excited to relax and see everyone. I have to get up at some point as we will start to think about heading to the air port, but since i actually had a second, i figured i would type a post! Ill be sure to update where we ended up going. 

I had this great idea of summer:  relaxing on the beach floating in my pool fun new outdoor activities BBQ and picnic foods Here is what summer has been so far: wedding plans wedding worksheets phone calls staying in the AC because its way too hot designing centerpieces buying wedding gifts for bridesmaids (and more) finding spots in my home for all the boxes arriving gluing tiny pearls to things while i burn my hand with the hot glue gun *Sigh* I am very much looking forward to the home stretch. If i can give anyone one word of advise-DO NOT mention the the bride "awe its coming up quick, are you ready?" Because when people say this to me all i want to do is start screaming and list off the hundreds of things i still have to get done. Instead politely i state: yes its coming along. Very excited. But inside I'm freaking out. I mean, how is a bride supposed to work full time, manage her normal life of errands, and shopping, and cooking and cleaning, plu

I had found a post about a Harry Potter Running Group. I decided to check it out, and they were announcing their next race soon. They announced and it was the Half-Blood Prince. I signed up and ran my miles. I also joined all the Facebook grounds, and not only is there the main group-The Great Hall, there is each team, The houses, and then there is one for people who want pen pals-Owl Post. Love it so far! I have also gotten several pen pals from them too. They are announcing the next one tomorrow and i am more than excited. 

Turtle Bay Race-this was closed to new people when i first found it, but i wanted to join it! They opened it up to a few more people, and i quickly joined. I really liked this race because two summers ago i read a trilogy: the beach house by Mary Alice Monroe, and throughout all the books were the common theme of turtles. So i have liked turtles since then. Here is a little bit of info posted about this race:  Best of all, your 24.1 miles of sweat and glory will be helping children who are battling cancer in hospitals across the U.S. Along your journey we will share statistics about childhood cancer, as well as encouraging information about how your run (or walk) in paradise will help some of those children WIN their battles!

Grateful for Nurses was a 5K whose proceeds went to  Doctors Without Borders, whose goal is to help people worldwide where the need is greatest, delivering emergency medical aid to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from health care.    The day i actually ran this race i ended up running my furthest distance yet. It was a total of 10 miles, however when i reached 5K i clocked it so i could count it.  I also made sure to run this race on May 9th, the exact day (2 years ago) that i passed my nursing NCLEX.  Happy Nurses Week! 

On Friday as soon as I was done with my patients Mark and I headed up to Burlington Vermont. We arrived up at the hotel around 4:30. Mark drove as I continued to work. We make this trip every year around this time because mark is in a bowling competition. Friday night it was a friend of ours Birthday, so we all went out to dinner. After dinner we all went to one of the hotel rooms to hang out and drink. I was exhausted though because I had just worked 12 days in a row, so I called it a night early.  Saturday we made good use of the pool/hot tub, and then it was time to bowl. Nikki and I went into town for a few hours, then back to watch the men bowl. As soon as Mark was done we rushed out of the bowling ally and headed to another hotel 26 minutes away. A few weeks prior a friend of ours that we had met on the cruise told us he was proposing to his GF. We learned it was the same weekend and same town in VT where we would be. So I helped him create a plan, and we were going to

This was a race (virtual) that I did and the money raised went to families whose spouse was killed in the line of duty. The money helped pay for schooling, mortgages and other expenses. A wonderful cause! Total was 13.1 mi.  The cool thing about this medal was that the lights at the top lit up blue and red. 

My second virtual race completed! The yellow brick road to Oz. This race was a total of 26.2 miles, all of which I pushed myself to run. Another one bites the dust.