We pulled into the driveway tonight at about 8:15.  We unloaded the car, I cleaned out the car entirely, cleaned out the fridge (I’m still not sure why), watered my indoor and outdoor plants, unpacked myself and the kids and started on the laundry.  We put the kids to bed quite late tonight because we left the air off (purposely) while we were away.  The upstairs was 89 degrees and the downstairs was 83.

It.was.hot.

So, now I sit, on my couch, my eyelids begging me to close them, but I won’t allow it because it’s still 82 degrees upstairs and I do not sleep anywhere that says anything about 82 degrees.

This past week has been so much fun.  It was the perfect getaway.  I can’t get over how sweet my sister, Sarah and her family are for letting us stay at her house from Tuesday to Saturday.  Then yesterday we drove from Louisville to Michigan to visit my other sister, Amy, and her family.  Today we went on a boat and went fishing.  The kids had never been boating or fishing before.  It was awesome.

This vacation was filled with many firsts…I’ll fill you in later, though.

The car that Ford asked to me to test drive?  AMAZING.  I can’t wait to tell you all about it.   I don’t want to give it back, think they would notice if we gave them our van without air conditioning instead of the 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid they brought to us?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

Of course we ate too much.  I had a grand total of 7 waffle/ice cream cones and at least three s’mores and a lot of donuts.  Which equals 235 pounds gained.

Oh and Brian spent a night in the hospital.

It was quite a week, I’m telling you.

I’m looking forward to tomorrow, to catching up on laundry (thankfully I did most of it at Sarah’s before we left), grocery shopping and getting the house back in order.  Racecar has surgery on Tuesday to have his adenoids removed and tubes put in his ears, so we’ll be taking it easy tomorrow.

I just wanted to check in and say “hi” and thank you for checking in on my blog.  Your readership means so much to me.  And thanks to Erin and Maria for helping me fill my pages with their wonderful words and meaningful thoughts.

There are blessings all around us.

I think my eyelids are winning the battle.  I guess I can sleep in a room that is 82 degrees.

I can’t imagine trying to be my friend.  Always wanting to do or say the right thing, never wanting to disregard, but not wanting to bring anything up for fear of upsetting me.  And then I write something like I wrote in that first paragraph, which only proves that I am impossible to be around.

But I promise I’m not.  At least I try not to be.

While I was in Disney World, I sat across from Emily, whom I had never met before, and she brought up a post I had written about James and Jake.  Her forwardness took me by surprise because people just don’t really do that.  But it was AWESOME.   She had something to say to me about James and Jake and she said it.  It was powerful and it ignited an amazing conversation with her and Andrea.

The people around us, the children, the families, the other bloggers, felt the magic of Disney World because of Mickey and fireworks and I felt it because of the person, the mother, THE DAUGHTER, who sat across from me at our table who was willing to put herself out there, to tell me her thoughts.

As soon as I got off of the plane in Orlando and started walking away from the gate, a woman and her identical twins boys walked directly in front of me.  They were about four.  It was so hard for me because I don’t think I really ever visualized James and Jake at that age.  We are missing so much.  We will always be missing so much.

Then, a few hours later, a set of twin baby boys were in front of us as we walked.

I started to wonder why was this happening?  It was hard enough being in Disney World without my children, this was like throwing salt into the wound.  But as the night progressed I realized that it was to show me that despite the pain, magic still exists.  Not just at Disney World, but everywhere.

I talked to Ariel on the phone while I was riding the Magical Express, heading towards the resort.  The Magical Express is a free transportation service offered to families staying at one of their resorts.  I said to her “I would give anything to have you sitting next to me, staring out of the window, excited to see what lays ahead.“  And she said “well, next time you go to Disney World, we’ll go as a family.”

I made a promise to her that somehow, the next time I’m in Disney World, we will all go as a family.

The weekend consisted of waking up extremely early and going to bed extremely late.  We walked around all day long and were treated to some of the nicest restaurants around.  We totally and completely received the VIP treatment, which was an amazing treat.  I’ll never know what I did to deserve to go on this magnificent adventure with these great people, but I’m thanking my lucky stars that I was asked and that I was able to attend.

The highlights for me were meeting the other bloggers on the trip, hanging out with the friendliest of Disney people and actually realizing that a Disney vacation for me and my family, in a resort, can be affordable.

I had no idea. My first visit to Disney was when I was thirty, I always thought Disney World was for other people.  But I was wrong.

It’s for everyone.

I will be planning a vacation, when? I don’t know.  But I know that there are so many options for me, and I can begin  my planning by getting personalized assistance from Moms (the REAL Disney experts), who can help me plan the best trip, the most memorable (AND AFFORDABLE) vacation, for my family.

I boarded the plane towards Orlando wishing that someday I could go and experience a vacation with my family.  I left knowing that I can.  Now THAT is magic.
——
other bloggers who attended, Lisa @ Crazy Adventures in Parenting, Christine at From Dates to Diapers, Megan at Velveteen Mind, Amanda from Oh Amanda, Marsha at  Sweatpants Mom, Dawn at Because I Said So and Lindsay at Surburban Turmoil.

And the person who made it all possible, Maria Bailey.

Yesterday afternoon, after touring some of San Francisco by myself, without any directions from anyone, I decided I was very, very hungry.  (and obviously, very, very pleased with myself.)

There are tons of places to eat around here, wonderful delis and quaint restaurants.

But I ate at Subway and had a chicken breast sub on white.

I know.

But I made up for it by stopping at Cafe Madeleine’s and indulging in this:

Made the boring sub totally worth it.

For now, I am going to bed, but I’ll leave you with proof that I was, in fact, in Disney World.

I can hardly handle the magic that this picture represents.

Except it’s not even my fault because  we are going there for Brian’s job and he can’t choose which weekend he goes and hello?  It’s San Francisco.  I’ve never been there and well, I need to go there.

I just wish we could afford to bring the kids along, but we can’t. So, I guess I’ll have to settle with sleeping in and having a vat of coffee delivered to our room just to get out of bed, take a shower and leisurely walk around the city taking photos ALL DAY LONG.  (READ: heaven, yo.)

Last year Mother’s Day was pretty much one of the worst days of my life, so I’m hoping that last year sucked and this year I’ll be two thousand miles away from home and next year I can start fresh and start to love and adore Mother’s Day once again.

Man, did I used to love and adore Mother’s Day.

Long story short, I don’t think I’ll be receiving anything for Mother’s Day this year since my plane ticket was so expensive.  (but I’m secretly hoping that I’ll still get my two lilac bushes.  That would be grand.)

So, let’s pretend that I WILL receive gifts for Mother’s Day and that Brian said “Beth, darling, whatever you desire for Mother’s Day, I shall get for you, I just need a list.  With photos and prices on your blog.”  So, that’s what I’m doing this week, a small series on what I want for Mother’s Day, even though I won’t get anything.

(I have a sickness living in this pretend world, I realize this.)

I stumbled upon these unbelievable prints.  They make my heart soar.

The selection is amazing, but I narrowed it down and I’d love to have all of these that I’ve included in this post.  And before you look at these and fall in love, let me just encourage you to buy one for yourself because these are good for your soul.  Tell your husband I said so.  (and the seller is not sponsoring this post, she doesn’t even know I exist.  so there.)

Behold the awesomeness.  Each print has a message on the print.

Among the lines on her skirt are my favorites “wear red shoes,” “surround yourself with good people” and “speak of your gratitude.”  Can you even handle the loveliness?

Hello, birdie.  I love you.

This one is called “I heart your heart.”  Oh my gosh, LOVE.

And this one is just breathtaking to me, the red, the power of the message, the butterfly.  Oh, the perfection.

Not only are these so amazingly beautiful, the messages are profound and perfect and seriously could make me weep in the most beautiful way upon passing a collage on my wall (in my office, to be exact).  The prices vary depending on the size, some are 5×5, some 8×10, the prices ranges from $14 – $18.

This shop, you must visit.  LIKE NOW.  Don’t you agree?  And if you do order something, tell me so I can be jealous of you and also, feel free to go there and tell me which one is your favorite in the comments.  We can dream together.  That’s what girlfriends do.

I have a boy and a girl, my sister has a boy and a girl.
Her boy likes Wii, my boy like Wii.
Her girl likes to dress up, my girl likes to dress up.
I love Target and vanilla vodka, my sister loves Target and vanilla vodka.
My husband loves beer, her husband loves beer.

And we all play and we don’t sleep enough, it’s always a great time.  There are always, always donuts involved.

This weekend was no different except that our kids weren’t necessarily the healthiest they’ve ever been.  Although Racecar was much better when we departed, we didn’t know how sick Ariel was about to become.  She wound up with a fever Saturday night.

Now my sister’s kids are both sick and I have a sneaking suspicion that I’m next.

But it was still worth it, she and I are truly the very best of friends, spending time together like that is the best.

Another thing that was the best was the lighting that was all around me.  I don’t know if the lighting was just fantastic all weekend long and I got lucky or if it’s always this great and I’m just realizing it now that I’m learning to take pictures in any light situation.  Whatever it was, I left feeling completely inspired, not just to take pictures, but to also make my house more beautiful, to make it my sanctuary, to fill it with only things that I love.  (I will be going to Old Time Pottery as soon as I hit publish, you know, for more inspiration.  My husband is aware and he is very, very scared.)

Pictures.  Just for you.

This is Mary.  She’s a hilarious girl who talks brilliantly.  She’s two and she loves me and calls me Aunt Ba.

These are my chips from Qdoba.  I don’t have a Qdoba where I live which is probably a good thing because I would eat it ALL OF THE TIME.  Every time we visit my sister we always get Qdoba, I get the vegetarian nachos with black beans, the chips on the side.  This picture is an ode to the chips that I adore.  Oh and Mary really wanted to know why I took a picture of my chips.

I had no good answer for her.  Other than YUM.

It was my nephew’s birthday, we had cake.

I had a photo shoot at my sister’s best friend’s house.  The lighting there was superb, too.   I didn’t go there to take pictures of whiskey, I went there to take pictures of Katie and her children.  But I love this shot.

I love this shot, too.

There are so many others shots that I want to share, but I’ll wait to share them on my photography site.

My sister recently painted her dining room and overall just simplified the entire look of the room.  This room inspired me the most.  (must go shopping for lovely things RIGHT NOW.)

I love these boys and the looks on their faces.

My sister and Ariel.

Then we went outside because it was WARM which is a beautiful thing.  I left Kentucky really believing that spring was finally on it’s way.  Yesterday and today have been filled with abundant sunshine and birds chirping and it’s a beautiful thing.  I’m trying to soak in the newness of this season.

It’s so special and I can’t waste another minute behind this computer!

Did I mention I’m sick?  And that the kids are home from school because they are sick?  It’s true, but it’s pretty cute because we are just hanging out in our pajamas with our stuffy noses and sneezing.

I’m trying to process this past week, like from this very minute at this time last week to right now, all that has happened:

I was pregnant.
Found out about miscarriage.
Next day had a d&c.
The next day made the decision at 9 o’ clock at night to leave the next morning for Blissdom.  Packing has begun.
Left for Nashville.
Experienced severe cramping and bleeding all day.  Thought I may die.  or that my uterus would slip out of my butt on the airplane or in front of 250 bloggers.
Still managed to laugh 98 times because my friends are hysterical.  And loving.  And so fun.
Met The Nester in the most beautiful, natural and memorable way.
Met her sister.  And wanted to put her in my pocket.
Traveled to downtown Nashville with Sarah Viola and ate beignets for the first time.  (OMGDELICIOUS) (and yes, I would pronounce them like BEN NETS, because I am dumb.)
Met Heather.  Began loving her immediately.
Sessions.  Little Debbies.  Sessions.  blur.  dinner.  laughter.  pictures.  meeting amazing people.
bed time.
Turned 32 on Saturday.
Started the morning off with coffee, hugs from so many people and being sung to by two incredibly handsome (HOT) men.
Always knew that Barbara Jones and Amber from One2One were incredible, but realized just how much on this particular day.  (Hint: GO JOIN NOW.)
Long day.  Learned a lot.  Dinner with friends.  Old and new.
Yesterday, woke up, packed, went to downtown Nashville, ate ice cream.  (Twice.)  Walked a lot.  Boarded a plane, came home and went to bed.

It really was blissful.  But there were some definite downers:

1.  I bought a sample size of Herbal Essence shampoo, I was hoping to get the same reaction the girl gets in the commercials, but that is not what happened.  Instead, I got some shampoo in my eye and it pretty much hurt a lot.

2.  None of the pictures I took with The Nester are good (of me).  Which completely bums me out, this is the best one, which should portray to you, quite accurately, how awful the rest of the shots must have been:

3.  I wanted to meet so many more people and sit down and talk with so many more bloggers.  MORE TIME.  I NEEDED MORE TIME.  I’m seriously broken hearted knowing there was people I didn’t get to meet.

Next time, I suppose.

More updates about Blissdom later.  Lots of pictures were taken.  But for now it’s naptime.  Don’t judge.

And Dolly is on our wall, too.

So far, so good.  Unfortunately, I do not feel very well, I had to make a call to the doctor this morning before taking off, but I know what to watch for and I’ll be sure to take all of my medicine.

Anyway, here are my shoes, because they are awesome.

Here’s our carpet.  It’s awesome, too.

And our room, it’s cozy and the bed loves me.

More later, I’m sure.

Upon entering our house, the first thing I noticed was how good everything smelled, clean and brand new, like new wood and new carpet, it was delicious.  And then I opened the dishwasher and realize I forgot to run it before leaving and that shot the good smell to hell.  (note to self: don’t ever do that again, you idiot.)

So I lit a farmhouse apple candle and that made everything all better.

When we first stopped in Ohio, we got out of the car and Ariel said “oh my gosh, Ohio smells so good, it smells so fresh.   I LOVE OHIO.”  She was very serious.

She smells everything, she even smelled a menu the other day and said it smelled just like the floor of the gymnasium at school.

When we stopped in Pennsylvania she said it smelled so sweet.  “Pennsylvania smells the best!” she said.

New Jersey smelled even sweeter.

And Indiana?  It smells lame.  She was not too happy about returning to Indiana, apparently. Such a strong opinion for such a little girl.  Don’t you think?

On the way home, we stopped at Lynette’s new house near Cleveland.  She moved from this area in July and after seeing her yesterday I realized that I had been supressing so many feelings about her leaving.  I really miss her so much and don’t tell her this, but I kind of want to beat her up for moving.  (she could totally beat me up, so seriously, don’t tell her I said that.)  Anyway, stopping at her house brought us all so much joy, it was the perfect last stop of the trip.

And although the trip was great, I am SO glad it’s over.  I missed you!

I blogged over here today, too.

In the meantime, don’t forget about my Lands’ End giveaway going on, it ends tomorrow.

And before I leave, I have a very big complaint and I think some of you are going to agree with me 100% while the rest of you probably will realize how very lucky you are.

I live in a regular Target area.  It’s just a Target.  It’s really nice, but it’s just a Target. I’m grateful, I swear.  (I realize some of you do not live any where near a Target and I’m so very sorry, I can not imagine.)

But I really want a Super Target, complete with organic produce!  Beautiful, healthy looking produce and tons of alcohol!  I want a Super Target with an assortment of cheeses and yogurts and coffees and cereals.  I want a Target with a Pizza Hut.  Not because I loooove Pizza Hut or anything, but because I at least want the option to have Pizza Hut after shopping if I want to.  But mostly, I want a Target with a Starbucks built into it.  A beautiful, coffee producing, sweet smelling Starbucks.  Starbucks while shopping at Target, it’s a perfect combination.  Today I shopped in a Target and it was divine, it was perfect and quiet and so clean and lovely.  But it was an hour away from my house.

So, please, Mr. Target, send one my way.  Is that really so much to ask?  That’s all.  My rant is over.

Look, I had some fun taking pictures of the sun yesterday.  Look at how well she cooperated with me!  The first two were taken in Philadelphia where we stopped for lunch.  Great city!  The last shot was taken at a rest area in Pennsylvania.  Good night, friends.  It’s great to be home.