Sneak Peek + Returning From Our Wanderings

It's Friday, people.

Don't get me wrong, I'm super thankful to have had a day off on Tuesday, but is it wrong of me to still be glad it's Friday??

I submit that it is not.

So my husband and I have returned from our summer travels (for the most part), and now I'm in full panic mode over some deadlines at the office and other deadlines for my card making business. The sign of a totally beneficial and worthwhile vacation is that you come back from your time away and suddenly realize that the calendar kept moving while you were gone. I hate it when it does that!

Before I dive into relaying our vacation adventures, let me share my sneak peek of my card that will be up on the Butterfly Reflections, Ink blog tomorrow.

Our time at the beach on the East Coast was just as magical as it always is. For the last couple years, my husband and I have had to drive down a day or so later than everyone else because he is still in school. And I am not very patient when it comes to waiting for him to be done so we can hit the road.

Me: "Honey, do you have your stuff all packed? I want to leave as soon as you are done with school."

My husband: "Yeah, for the most part. I'll just finish the rest tomorrow."

Me: "Are you sure it can't be done right now?"

My husband: "Yes."

Me: Proceed to throw it in his suitcase anyway. Surely he can go without his toiletries for one morning.

We drove through a few minutes of a very heavy rainstorm, and that is always a highlight of the trip. I use the word "highlight" a bit sarcastically, as I was honestly concerned we'd have to call the Coast Guard to send us a boat so we could sail the rest of the way to our destination.

When we got to Edisto Beach, I could immediately tell that the shoreline had changed significantly since last fall when a major hurricane came through the island. And ironically, it had already been raining there for a little while when we arrived, so there was LOTS of standing water all over the one main road that goes through the island. Cue the Coast Guard concerns again. But we finally made it to our beach house, where all my sweet nieces were waving at us from the window. Now, unfortunately, I missed it because I was too concerned about making sure we pulled into the covered drive way far enough that our car wasn't sticking out and thus making our unpacking chore a lot more....soggy. But my sister told me 20 minutes later that they were all waving from the window, and I could perfectly picture it in my mind, so that's pretty much the same thing, right?

The week was full of laughter and memories, way too much ice cream, and just enough body boarding to burn off about 1/16th of the calories we consumed. Perhaps the most comforting thing about our annual beach vacation is that we don't have to say goodbye to each other at the end. We all live in the same town, and that is something I am very thankful for.

After our great week at the beach, my husband stayed on the coast to attend some training classes at the Citadel while I headed back to Greenville to an empty house. But we're just gonna pretend that that week never happened.

Our next trip was out to Oregon for my sister in law's wedding. Based on my previous experience with being in Oregon during July, you can imagine my excitement to get back out there and experience some cooler weather in June. However, it was 100 degrees for the first part of our stay. We did what any self respecting person would do in Portland in the middle of a heatwave and in the middle of a wedding. We wore sleeveless and wondered why the good people of Oregon don't have air conditioning. In their defense, it's rare that they get that kind of weather. But they obviously hears that the South Carolinians were coming and wanted to show off.

Anyway, after the wedding festivities were over, we packed up our cars and headed to Tillamook Bay. Where the weather was in the 60s. We had a BEAUTIFUL house that had a GORGEOUS view of the bay, and it was a wonderful time spent with the rest of the family. We missed my brother in law because he had just returned from an overseas assignment with the military. But we got to spend lots of good time with our other family members that we don't see nearly enough. There was even some clamming involved, in which I promptly avoided participation. Because....shellfish. I love the ocean, but I'm not so much a fan of purposefully hunting for creatures that LIVE at the ocean. They are some of the most mysterious and frankly....grumpy animals in the world. But my husband is a scientist, so clearly these types of things are his cup of clam chowder. We also visited Lincoln City Beach and took some epic pictures and I watched while people touched prickly stuff and bothered poor defenseless hermit crabs. Someone has to be the voice of reason, here.