Our Easter Weekend...

One of the best things about having your own blog is that you can write about anything you want to…whatever tickles your fancy. I know that most of the time I write about wedding-related stuff, as a way to keep my peeps up-to-date on what’s going on with the wedding planning, but today I think that I’ll take a day off.

Last weekend was Easter, and we were lucky enough to have our kids. Instead of a traditional weekend spent around family and all, we decided to stay closer to home and spend it with just the four of us. We’ve got a crazy schedule right now with little CC in soccer and tweenager CC in baseball season right now, so there’s already too much traveling going on…we just wanted to relax and not have to spend 8 hours of the holiday weekend on the road.

So what did we decide to do? We took the kiddos camping…

We had a blast! I haven’t camped out in a few years, and I had forgotten how much I love it. Little CC had not been camping before that she can remember, so this was a first for her. And tweenager CC had not been camping with girls…Mr. CC didn’t sleep in tents (or on air mattresses) so this whole weekend was a new experience for everyone!
After a slightly rough start to the weekend on Friday, we got to McKinney Falls State Park, located just outside of Austin. It was kind of nice not going too far! We got the last primitive campsite that they had available for the weekend and got camp set up and dinner cooked just as it was time to go to bed that night. We all slept good and got up early the next day for a nice camp-cooker breakfast (since there’s a burn ban in effect right now, no campfires were allowed).

We spent the day exploring the park and seeing the sights. Somehow we ended up on a 5 mile hike with the kids, but they did good and didn’t complain (much). Little CC’s legs were hard pressed to keep up, and she only complained for the last mile, which was pretty good considering. After the hike, we took a nap (YEA!) and then tried to go to the playground at the park. Unfortunately it started to rain, so we ended up spending time at the river behind our tent skipping rocks and Mr. CC spent some time with tweenager CC and his "curve ball." It turns out that little CC has QUITE a throwing arm on her, so maybe T-ball is in the plans for next year...

The next morning was Easter, and we had another great breakfast followed by our own Easter Egg hunt. Little CC stuffed all the eggs herself, and Mr. CC and I hid the eggs. At first, tweenager CC didn’t want to hunt eggs, but it didn’t take long for him to see how much fun little CC was having before he joined in…
Yeah, I don’t really know what to say about the knife in the eggs…he’s a guy…and we were camping…
They had a blast and we all enjoyed ourselves. The kids can’t wait to go camping again, and Mr. CC and I might even take a trip without them!

I hope that everyone had as good of an Easter holiday as we did…we spent the time with our new family and really enjoyed ourselves, even though we did miss our other loved ones. Maybe next year we won’t be so anti-social!

Taking a Break from the Wedding Planning...

Taking a side trip from wedding planning…Mr. CC and I are trying to plan a trip to New Orleans. Last year we went down to NOLA to meet up with some good friends of ours that live in CA. Her family is originally from NOLA, so this is a combo trip for them, and just an opportunity for us to see them while they are “semi-close” to where we are. Not that NOLA is that close to Austin, TX, but one state away is MUCH closer than 4 states away…

Anyway, last year at the end of our trip we all discussed making this event a yearly thing. So a few months back, we started talking about it. But, Miss CC being normal Miss CC, I only just now got serious about searching for accommodations and thinking about paying for this shindig. Mr. CC and I did discuss not going along on the trip this year due to the wedding. There is a certain amount of money that we’re trying to save up each month to pay for the wedding in cash, and taking a trip to NOLA will take a chunk out of that savings. But we both decided that we would like the break, even if it’s just a long weekend to save on costs.

But if you’re trying to take a long weekend to save on costs, I don’t recommend visiting NOLA during Jazz Fest! Hotel rates are higher, sometimes up to double what they normally are. So I’ve started trying to think outside of the box on our lodging situation. A friend of mine finds all kinds of deals on craigslist.com, so I thought I would check there for vacation rentals. Because if renting a one bedroom condo/apartment is the same price as the rates that the hotel is charging, I would MUCH rather be in my own space than stay at a hotel with a bunch of strangers, that can tend to be loud since it is a party weekend in NOLA.

I know…that begs the question of what weekend ISN’T a party weekend in NOLA? LOL!

So check out a few places that I found that fall into my budget guidelines…aren’t they SO cute?

So cute....

LOVE the french doors on the windows...

I would be SO lucky to find somewhere like this with a courtyard...

So my question is has anyone else ever gone this route on vacation? Staying in a vacation rental rather than a hotel? My aunt and uncle do this on most of their trips and they say that they are rarely disappointed with their decision, but I’m a little apprehensive. Probably just because it’s a new thing.

And of course, I can't stay completely AWAY from wedding thoughts, so while searching for somewhere to stay in NOLA, this got me thinking about my honeymoon…wouldn’t this be a great alternative on a honeymoon versus staying in a chain hotel? It would be more intimate and possibly free up some $$ for other activities, if I found a steal on a rental place…

Is anyone else opting to stay in a vacation rental for their honeymoon? Do you think this is a good alternative to consider?

A Christmas Wish...

Merry Christmas to all of you out there…

I hope that the holidays bring you joy and whatever it is that you want most out of life.

I know that as times changes, the things that you think that you need change as well. Like when you’re a kid and the MOST important thing in the world is whether or not you get that special toy from Santa underneath the tree and you think that you’ll just DIE if you don’t get it. Or when you get a little bit older and you are certain that THE MOST important thing in the world is whether or not the designer jeans that you are certain will knock Johnny’s socks off are wrapped up somewhere just waiting for you to open them.

Now that you’re older, you understand that there are more important things to your life.

For me, I’ve personally already got all that I could ever want or ask for. And it’s not even Christmas yet – how lucky am I?!?! I’ve got a daughter that is the best thing that ever happened to me, she makes me a better person. I’ve got a family that is all relatively healthy and who loves me. And most importantly, I’ve got a man in my life that sees me for me, one who sees the real Sandy underneath all of the other stuff and loves me for who I am. A man who constantly strives to show me that love in a million little ways each and every day, along with some big ways every once in a while! (Yes, I’m looking at the ring finger on my left hand, babe!)

I really could not ask for more. It would be selfish.

So to all of my loved ones out there…I hope that you have all that you wish for this holiday season. I hope that you sing some Christmas carols, drive around and enjoy the Christmas lights, and enjoy the time that you have with your own loved ones. For all those that I won’t be able to personally see, take this as my hug and I’ll give you one in person the next time that I do see you…

Merry Christmas!

Have a VERY Stressful Christmas...

(If you hum the title to the tune of "Have a Holly Jolly Christmas" it works REALLY well!)

As most of you know, my company is transferring to a new software program on January 1st, and I’m having a heck of a time keeping up with it all. It’s good that all of my hard work and all over the last 7 months is coming to fruition, but at the same time, I’m just not prepared!

I’m stressed out to the max, and feel like there are times that I might be going crazy! Short trip, believe me I know! And I know that I’m driving my loved ones crazy right along with me. That’s taking the whole misery loves company a little to the extreme, right?

Luckily, I haven’t had my daughter since Monday, so she’s been safe out of harm’s way. But my poor fiancé. I think that he just doesn’t know what to do with me. He’s only got two options…
1.) Stay out of my way
2.) Offer to help
And to be perfectly honest here, neither one is really a great choice. He’s stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If he stays out of my way, I feel his absence and notice it. And all of the little bickering that’s been going on due to my increased stressed level will only escalate because of it. Yes, yes – I’m super sensitive right now about a lot of things. Hopefully this will all ease once the program launch happens and my involvement can taper off a little bit.

If he offers to help, that could be even worse for him. I could take him up on the offer and drive him crazy along with me trying to transfer the knowledge that’s stuck inside my head to his head so that he CAN help me with things. And that might make him go nuts as well…

But maybe there’s a third option…
3.) Hunker down and ride out the storm

Yeah, that one might work best! Have any of you ever driven your loved one nuts due to stress? Surely I can’t be the only one…I just need someone to tell me that once this is over, it will all go back to normal…