Welcome to another edition of Nearly Wordless Wednesday, telling the story of our wonderful and much-needed beach trip to the Florida Gulf!
We made it!! Can you tell how happy and RELIEVED we are to finally be away from it all!??! 🙂
Naptime!
It had rained ALL DAY LONG – downpour rain, thunder and lightening – so we had to wait until evening to step onto the sand, but what a beautiful walk and gorgeous SUNSET!!!
Taken from our condo balcony. GORGEOUS VIEW!!!
More beachwalk!
Reading The Harbinger. Seriously – this book is a MUST-READ!
Angelo’s Steak Pit – I hadn’t been since I went with my grandmother when I was 5-6 (at most) years old. I remember she bought me a gold-dipped shark tooth necklace… I was so proud. LOL. Craig and I ventured back and had to have a souvenir – We chose this lovely red boot glass.
Eeeek! Only a few more days until my husband’s special birthday extravaganza begins!! Can you tell I’m excited?!?!?!
Two Very Special Birthdays Ago
I have SUCH a special weekend planned, and I am BURSTING to share everything with him! (Good thing he’s out of town, so it’s easier to keep my secret!)
Of course, until tomorrow when Craig returns home…I have a TON to do – errands to run, things to bake, places to go, coolers to fill, clothes to pack Oops! Did I say that?!?! 🙂 Tonight is church – for which I am super excited – but then it’s time to head home and finish making all the last minute preparations!
Just wait until next week when we get to share all of the details and pictures with you! Promise you it’ll be worth the wait! 🙂
In other news, we have our summer vacation planned!! TO THE BEACH WE GO!!!! I found a heckuvah deal on Groupon, and we booked our room today at Majestic Beach Resort! By mid-July, our view will be like this…
…and I cannot wait! There is nothing like crashing waves on the beach, fresh seafood, and a summer glow to make everything better!
Don’t forget to wish Craig a Happy Birthday on Sunday! He’ll be the big 3-2!
It has been non-stop since Friday last week. We told you we had an adventure of sorts planned and we weren’t lying!
The whole plan was to fly out to North Dakota for the weekend, visit Craig’s old stompin’ ground, and go to a University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux hockey game – and that’s precisely what we did! 🙂 Our weekend was just a tad bit more audacious than we had originally planned…
We met at the airport around 4pm and tried to get out to Minneapolis…After running around from the T Concourse to the A Concourse and back, we realized neither Minnesota nor North Dakota were happening tonight! Everything was booked – overcrowded and oversold, at that.
Off to spend the evening in Madison, Wisconsin – for which Priceline came in handy! We were able to find a decent hotel with an airport shuttle at the very last minute!
Luckily, this hotel even sold beer, wine & champagne at the reception desk (You gotta love Wisconsin!) – which Craig and I happily enjoyed once we got settled in for the night! We thought we’d had a crazy, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants trip already…Little did we know…
THe next morning, we caught the hotel shuttle back to Madison’s airport and easily made it to Minneapolis on the first flight out. Whew. But…we didn’t make it on the flight to North Dakota…So we decided to drive…for five hours…in this:
Hatchback cars are a long-running joke between Craig & I, and when he first mentioned we may have to drive the last leg of our journey, I laughed that we might have to drive an “egg” car… Craig said, “No!” He had booked a compact – similar to a 4-door Ford Focus!
I collapsed in a fit of giggles when I saw we were making the trek in this little beauty – a Ford Fiesta. Good thing we didn’t have the furs with us…My goodness, we’re relatively small people and we barely fit with our two carry-on bags and my purse. Cue CLAUSTROPHOBIA.
As usual, we had a BLAST in the car, singing along to songs on a playlist I made quickly on Spotify. This is one I THOROUGHLY enjoyed at Wednesday night church with our friend Julia last week, and it was my  ABSOLUTE FAVORITE in our road trip mix!
Oh, I LOVE that song!!!! And I can’t tell you how AWESOME it was in person…Wow.
But back to our journey!
We finally arrived in Grand Forks, North Dakota and checked into our little hotel.
We had dinner at the Blue Moose Bar & Grill – It was DELICIOUS!!!
We also had drinks at Whitey’s Wonderbar – and they had the spiciest and yummiest Bloody Mary I have ever had!
I had a special little skirt made on Etsy at the Preppy Pink Shop for the game, and found a coordinating green and black L.L. Bean shirt for Craig to wear. We may have been the only two people in the arena not wearing a jersey…But I just had to bring a little bit of the South to the Midwest. One does NOT wear a jersey to an SEC Football game, for sure! 😉 As a matter of fact, I’m not even sure I’ve ever worn jeans. Probably some of the cutest outfits I wear all year long are worn to Georgia Bulldogs football games!
The game was alot of fun! It was my first hockey game, and while I wasn’t sure what was going on most of the time, it was certainly more exciting to watch than some sports!
Unfortunately, UND lost to Western Michigan that night…But we still really enjoyed ourselves!
The next day, we got up early and enjoyed a beautiful Mass at St. Michael’s Catholic Church.
And then we headed back on the road for our five-hour journey in the Fiesta back to the Minneapolis airport…Only to NOT make it out on the last flight…And that’s another blog post all on it’s own!
By this point, we were a little bit grumbly…
But we made it – by the SKIN OF OUR TEETH – to our last alternate – Kansas City, Missouri! And again…Priceline came in handy! We even managed to wrangle a Sheraton for the night, complete with a restaurant, a shuttle and a super comfortable bed – for a steal!!
We finally caught a flight out of Missouri and made it back to Atlanta on Monday…We both collapsed as soon as we had a home-cooked meal on our stomachs, and slept long and hard! I felt as if we had run a marathon!!!!!
Which made Philipians 3:14 come to mind:
Philippians 3:14
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Things aren’t always smooth sailing…but we must finish the race and press onward toward the goal, the prize.
Until tomorrow…. 3 more days til this giveaway is over!!! “Follow” our blog officially to enter, or if you already follow us, comment below “Done.”.
In light of the recent inclement weather, and ensuing traffic gridlock nightmare that was Atlanta last week, today’s post is a collection of things you might want to think about stowing away in a little bag in your vehicle…just in case. While you may not live in an area in which you feel like the Icepocalypse might ever be a threat, even in this age of cell phones and ON-STAR, you can still be stranded on the road.
As we learned in Atlanta last week, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
This kit includes almost everything one could possibly need in an emergency situation – whether inside your car, or elsewhere. The price is a SMALL investment for the assurance of safety!
It may seem like overkill, but if  you can’t leave your vehicle running to keep the heater on, you’ll be GLAD you have a blanket. The previous kit includes a solar blanket, but this will ensure you’re warm and comfortable.
3. Bottled WaterI was personally “trapped” in my vehicle for more than 9 hours. Trust me. Water is a great thing to have on hand. In some situations, this past week included, you don’t know when you’ll be able to find shelter and food/water. Staying hydrated is key to safety, and in some cases, survival – if it comes to that.
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4. 64 oz Containers
Hey y’all. Nature calls – and it doesn’t stop knocking. I know, personally, one of my ongoing, numerous prayers on Tuesday was, “Lord, please take away my ‘potty urge’!!!”. Seriously.Â
Not to mention, having containers like this one on hand, would be a help in a variety of situations:
If you don’t already, you seriously must have this game downloaded on one of your devices. Not only is it addictive and a lot of challenging fun, I believe it is part of what kept me sane for some of those long hours in the car. (Let me reiterate I did not play any games or operate my phone, etc. whilst moving in traffic – only while stopped, with the car in PARK.) It was a great mental break, and helped to keep your mind focused on something other than the disaster at hand.
This is a good thing to have in your car, regardless of the situation, but I promise you, I felt so much safer knowing my phone had no chance of running out of battery during my trek home. It was super comforting to be able to talk to Craig with no concerns of having to be ‘stranded’ with no means of communication.
Whew! We are glad to be safe and sound, and now, unfortunately, back to the office (or cockpit), as well. It was a nice break while it lasted; however, temperatures last night were comparable to a spring evening. We grilled out on our deck for dinner in short sleeves! Quite a change! 🙂
The next time we have an ’emergency’ situation while traveling in our vehicles, we will be prepared (and now so will YOU!)!
My my my! 2012 is not coming to an end slowly, and the end of this eventful year has not become any less eventful! Part of that may have to do with my own flightiness…but nonetheless, beginning with Friday, it has been quite the journey to end the year!
Friday evening, in Dallas, Georgia, was a rainy and stormy and COLD one (for Georgia folk anyway – 34 degrees!! Brrr!)…Sweet Craig had left that morning for work, and I got home from work, and had my peanut butter for dinner, followed by a glass of wine, and decided to sit on our front porch with the iPad to enjoy the rain, and wait for my husband’s evening call before bed. This was around 8:45pm…and Craig did indeed call around 9pm…I grabbed my glass of wine and the iPad and went to go inside for the night…to find the door locked. Not wanting Craig to worry nor to embarrass myself, I asked my husband if I could call him right back, thinking maybe the neighbors had a spare key…So here I am in my pj’s and fuzzy socks, running next door in the middle of the night, in the pouring rain and cold weather…Long story short, there was no spare key…and I had to walk back to 116 Caitlin Court with my tail between my legs…I called Craig back and explained the situation…Now, I don’t know this for sure, but I am almost positive he rolled his eyes a little and sighed, “Oh my goodness, my silly wife…” but he didn’t let me hear it if he did. 🙂
He had me check a few windows that might be open…They weren’t…I called our sweet friend Julia, who lives semi-nearby, but she didn’t answer so I texted her. Finally, Craig broke down and called the locksmith. Meanwhile, Julia called back and sweetly asked if she could help. Knowing how reliable locksmiths are, and also that (by this time) it was 9:45/10pm and she has 3 small children at home and a husband who is also a pilot and away, I thanked her profusely for calling and offering to save me, but told her that the locksmith was already on the way. I called Craig back and sat down on the bench to wait the estimated 15 minutes for the locksmith to arrive to save the day…and (another long story short) during the 2 and a half more hours I waited outside with freezing wet feet and a HUGE spider climbing the wall next to me, I was reminded of the time in February when Craig and I went camping, in the snow…I was pretty much THAT cold. LUCKILY, around 12:30AM, the locksmith arrived to let me inside. It literally took him 2 seconds.
That little fiasco ALMOST foiled my plan for Saturday…
Poor Craig had to be up SUPER early the next morning to fly to Detroit, and he of course had waited up with me until I was safely inside the house before going to sleep. I felt horrible for him, but OH SO THANKFUL I have such an amazing husband – who saved me from the freezing cold and the scary spider even from hundreds of miles away! I was awoken the next morning by a text message from my husband letting me know he was safely in Detroit at the perfect time. 🙂 We had ‘planned’ that I would try and make it on a flight to Memphis, where Craig would be ending up for a long overnight…HOWEVER, the flights were full going to Memphis and back to Atlanta, as well…So we scratched that plan…and Craig knew how tired I was (we both were) from the night before…But all along I knew I wouldn’t let a full airplane stop me from seeing my husband on my day off! 🙂
Craig’s text came at 9:30am – just enough time for me to jump out of bed and quickly pack and get ready to be on my way by 10am! The drive from Dallas, GA to Memphis, TN is right around 6 hours, and Craig was scheduled to be at his hotel around 4pm. Of course, when I got in the car, Craig called me and I had to work hard to muffle all the driving sounds, since he thought I was sitting downstairs enjoying a pot cup of coffee with Miss Daisy…By the time I had passed safely through Birmingham, AL, Craig had told me the flight between his arrival in Memphis and right then had been canceled, and I felt I should probably let him in on my surprise:
Craig was SO excited! 🙂 I couldn’t wait to see him in just a few more hours…
Ha! I should have remembered that my husband is a PILOT who works for the AIRLINES and that anytime you PLAN anything, it never happens as you think it should! Right, Julia? 🙂
Craig’s first plane was delayed by maintenance, so I found a Target in Memphis and decided to go shopping for a bit…Craig texted to let me know they were on their way and I disappeared into the store for about an hour. After I got back out to the car, thinking it would be time to go and pick him up at the airport in about a half hour, I got another text from Craig…there was an issue AGAIN and they couldn’t take-off…AAHH! Very frustrating and so much for newlywed romance, huh? 🙂
So…I visited Best Buy since my phone was close to dying at this point and I didn’t have a car charger…(We do now!) Then, I found a movie theater, rather close to the airport – and not in a desirable part of Memphis… – and by this time, Craig reminded me of his flight number and said they had gotten a NEW airplane, and were about to take off.
Well, I looked down at the clock in my car. 6:30pm. And I walked up to the ticket counter at the movie theater, and saw that “This Is 40” began at 7:05pm. Perfect! By the time the movie ends, Craig will be here and I will have killed 2 hours! I bought my small popcorn and small Diet Coke (STAPLES for a movie, in my opinion), and went into the theater…to find the movie halfway over… What???
OH YEAH! Memphis is in the Central time zone…and the clock in my car is on the Eastern time zone. Duh.
So, I watched the end of “This Is 40″…and then, when the movie was over, I stretched my legs in the lobby and came back to watch the beginning of the movie. About halfway through, Craig FINALLY texted to say they had safely arrived in Memphis! So I left to head to the airport to pick him up! I’m not sure what happens in the MIDDLE of “This Is 40”, but I enjoyed the beginning and the end…even in reverse order.
I picked up my husband and it was WONDERFUL to be able to spend an evening with him in the middle of a 4-Day trip!! (Even though, after we ate dinner, we were both sleeping like babies within minutes!) I took Craig back to the airport at 7am, and began my drive BACK to Dallas. My mother asked me if it was worth 12 hours of driving to be able to spend even less than that with my husband, and it absolutely was! I would have driven, flown or swam any number of miles to be able to spend any amount of time with him at all.
And so, as I await his arrival back home this afternoon, I wish all of you a very Happy New Year! We are going to celebrate with champagne, black-eyed peas and collard greens, and Mass on January 1st. I cannot wait! I can honestly say that 2012 has been the absolute best year of my life, and according to a recent tweet by my husband, he feels the same:
I have the very best husband in the whole world, and am blown away each day by how God has truly blessed us in 2012!We can only imagine what He has in store for us in 2013! We thank all of you for making this year special, and wish you all the best in 2013!
Today is Wednesday, and for me, Wednesdays are pretty much the saddest day of the week. Yep, I dread Wednesday even more than Monday! The reason? Well, Craig’s trips for work are usually Wednesday through Saturday, and Wednesday is the morning I have to say goodbye to my husband for nearly four days a week, every week. It’s tough. Even more so than you may think. Or you may think it only gets easier as time goes on (as both Craig & I figured it would). But for us, it is harder to say goodbye every Wednesday. Even with phone calls, FaceTime, texting and emails, it is still no fun to bid my husband farewell for four days at a time.
So since today is Wednesday, you would be right in thinking it has been a tough one for me. But luckily, I had my listening ears on when God pointed me in the direction of my now husband… Look what I came home to this evening!
AND MY COFFEE FOR TOMORROW READY TO GO!
Thank you to my sweet and wonderful husband for such an amazing and unexpected surprise!
Thank you, God, for the husband you chose for me, who is beyond my wildest dreams!
Good night everyone! Keep my sweet Craig in your prayers as he travels this week!
Off to spend the evening in Madison, Wisconsin – for which Priceline came in handy! We were able to find a decent hotel with an airport shuttle at the very last minute!
The (Not-So) Newlywed Lefebvres 
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