What a weekend!

This weekend was one of the best I've had in a long time. I think the extra-greatness came from a combination of finally starting to feel better, warm, warm weather down in Phoenix, and being able to spend two whole days with my family, both immediate and extended. My Uncle Brian and cousin Daron Grace flew in from New York and we spent the weekend eating way too much, looking at so many old, amazing photos, and catching up. My sister and I also decided we were feeling brave and took Daron shopping for some clothes. Keep in mind that she is 12-years old- that should help you make sense of the "brave" part. I had no idea it was so difficult to find modest length shorts for a little girl!

Saturday was also my sweet mama's birthday, and she turned 58! My Aunt Pat and Uncle Bob came up, and we all celebrated together with a big meal and a delicious ice cream cake. Afterward Henry had a bit of an early Easter and made out like a bandit, thanks to my parents. He's super into Elmo right now and my sister and Abe got him the cutest little singing Elmo doll too. He's a lucky boy.

Some of my most favorite parts- the long walk my Mom, Hank, Henry and I took Sunday morning, the Greek yogurt onion dip my Mom made, watching Henry get so excited over his new treasures, dinner at Nando's Friday night (I could live on guacamole), and seeing how happy my Mom was to be surrounded by almost all of her family. It was such a good weekend. 

We have a busy, busy week ahead and I can't say enough how excited I am to be (almost) back to normal. If you remember I had that crazy food poisoning in San Francisco, followed by that weird prolonged sickness, and then this whole wisdom teeth thing. I'm never, ever sick, so it's been a very weird past couple of months...and to to say I have a new appreciation of feeling healthy and happy is an understatement.

Here are some Instagram photos from the past couple of days. Enjoy!


my still swollen face on Day 9, Mexican food with the whole family, smoothies and shorts- it almost felt like summer! shopping with Laur and Daron, Lauren's "I'm done" smile, the guys and the dogs heading to the park to throw around the football.


the birthday girl, Carvel ice cream cake- so good! Uncle Brian and Daron, our 2nd frozen yogurt trip of the day, our big family Sunday dinner, and Henry zoning out while watching basketball in his new chair from Grandma and Grandpa.

Lucky

Sometimes I feel like I might be stranger than most people because I think about morbid things like death or loss a little too much. I don't know if you're like this too, but sometimes in a super happy moment or time I'll think about how it won't always be like this and how things always won't be so good. Weird, right? It's only for a second though, but in a way I think it almost helps me really enjoy those good times because I'm hyper-aware of them happening. Sometimes I'll start thinking about this with my parents and it brings me to tears. I recently lost my Grandma and it's bizarre to think about one day losing my own parents. It feels weird to even vocalize this kind of thing here, but it was on my mind as I've spent the past few days with my sweet mama and enjoyed every second of it. I love her SO much, so so much. I can't imagine my world without her, and I can't even begin to think about losing my Mom, like my Dad did a few months ago. So I keep focusing on the now, on the little moments I have with my parents. I take it all in. The way my Mom always seems to have a piece of dark chocolate in her hand anytime after 8pm, how my Dad will always wash my car on a sunny Sunday afternoon. I relish in the hugs and kisses my Mom gives me, even when I pretend to hate it, like my 16-year old self. I love my Dad's tough shell but sweet, sweet heart and my Mom's constant sunshine. I pay attention to the small details, the "make sure you call us when you get home," the "be safe" my Dad always has to say as his last words as we pull out of their driveway, and the way Henry runs to my Mom, arms outstretched, "up up up!"  I take in every single little bit I can, because I know one day it won't be like this. And maybe I'm really weird for having these thoughts, but in a way I'm grateful for them because they remind me to be in the now, and to really pay attention. I never want to take a moment of it for granted.

New Year's Weekend

Oh, Arizona!  After a bit of a rough morning we decided to spend Saturday afternoon at the park in my parents' neighborhood to cheer up a bit. It was a beautiful day- 77 degrees and sunny. What a New Years' Eve, right? It was a lot of fun watching Abe and Hank throw the football around (the photo of them makes me laugh) and Henry enjoyed playing in the grass since most of it up north at our house is dead due to the freezing winter conditions. I love that you can drive a short two hours one way and be in snow, and turn right around the other way and head towards heat. Pretty cool.

We spent the rest of our New Year's laying low, eating and laughing. It was the perfect way to ring in 2012! We're currently dealing with some family stuff- my Grandma isn't doing too well- so being together was great. Plus, Henry brings a smile to everyone's face. I was so tempted to wake him up at midnight for a little smooch but my responsible side won out.

Whatever you did, I hope you had the happiest of New Year's Eves! Here's to a great 2012. 

a Tucson adventure

Last week my family and I (minus Hank, he was on a business trip in Chicago), headed down to Tucson to celebrate my cousin Ryan's graduation from University of Arizona. It was so nice to head down to their neck of the woods for once. Aunt Pat is my Mom's sister and she and her husband, my Uncle Bob, have four boys. Before we even lived in Arizona we would come out to Tucson to visit them from NJ, and I have so many great memories of when we were all so young- visiting Old Tucson, Mt. Lemmon, desert adventures, and lots of laughs. Whenever we all get together I can't help but think about how neat it would be to have four boys. Originally I wanted a girl at some point, but whenever I'm with my cousins I feel like I could be the mama to a bunch of boys just like my Aunt and be so happy.

So anyway, Ryan (the third oldest) graduated UofA so they had a party at my Aunt and Uncle's. Their home is so beautiful and it's always such a treat to enjoy a cool(er) desert night. The night was full of Mexican food, way too much cake, some badminton on their sports court, lots of longing glances at the crystal clear pool, and some trampoline jumping. It was a great night.

Sarah, Henry and I drove down together, and on the way down we of course made the hours fly by with so much girltalk as Henry snoozed away. On the way home it was no different...until I looked down at my odometer and realized that my gas light was on. And had been on.  We were on the long, desolate stretch between Tucson and Florence, about 35 miles between each point. I checked my "range" and it let me know that I had 5 lovely miles left until we ran out of gas. In the middle of nowhere. With little to no cell reception. In 90+ degree heat. And a baby in the car. My worst nightmare. BUT luckily my parents, sister and Abe were in front of us, so my iPhone managed to grab a signal and let them know what was up. I fully anticipated running out of gas...but guess what? My fabulous, wonderful, super car got us all the way to the gas station. We may have been running on fumes, but we got there!

So lesson learned- check your gas levels before engaging in intense girltalk sessions.

All in all though it was a wonderful day and I'm so happy we got to celebrate with Ryan. Unfortunately (and REALLY regretfully) I only used my phone's camera that evening, but these are still good representations of our night, however embarrassingly bad the photo quality...

I sure love my family.

Memorial Day Weekend

This past weekend was nothing short of wonderful. I'm a big fan of birthdays, and I've never been to type to get bummed out at the start of another year. I actually really enjoy getting older, weird, I know. I don't know if I'll always feel that way, but for now I just really feel like life only gets better with every year that goes by. I always wonder what great things the next year will hold. So, as I turned 29 this weekend I was more than happy to usher in the last year of my twenties.

Hank, Henry, Madeline and I spent the weekend down in Mesa at my parents', and had the best time. Friday evening my best friends surprised me with a little dinner party and I drifted off to sleep that night with a full belly and a happy heart. Saturday morning my Mom and I had a great workout, then came home and we all went out to Chandler Fashion Center to shop. I ended up meeting the most adorable reader (hi Sarah!) and she totally made my day. While there Hank also got part one of his birthday present from me, an iPad!  He was so happy and surprised, and it was great to walk into the Apple store and let him know he could go ahead and pick one out. For months I'd been discouraging him from buying one, so he really had no idea. He was beyond happy and jumped around like a little kid. So awesome. Afterward we all went to Green for lunch. The rest of the day was spent relaxing until we headed out to North Scottsdale for Nate's 30th birthday bash at Greasewood Flats. We listened to country music, played horseshoes, and had such a great, low-key night.

Sunday was my actual birthday and it was kind of a dream day for me. To summarize without going into too much detail, it included sleeping in, working out, eating ice cream cake, a trip to Target, swimming and taking lots of photos at the park! My sister also gave us an amazing gift...tickets to see Britney Spears and Nicki Minaj with her. Believe it or not Hank really and truly loves pop music and especially Britney. Yup. So feel free to make fun of him when you see him!

I just feel so thankful for the past few days.  I have a feeling this year is going to be amazing, and I'm excited to see what it has in store for me. This past year has been filled with a lot of personal growth...and is it weird to say that I'm proud of myself? 'Cause I am. I hope I'm just as proud of my 29-year old self at the end of this year.

Here are some photos from the weekend: