Vacation

What a glorious thing a vacation is. A time away from reality, relaxing, being away from home, experiencing different things, no worries. It has been years since I have had a "real" vacation. Yes, I have left for a few days at a time, but nothing note worthy. I actually just got NINE days. Nine stress free days. Nine days with no thought of work. Nine days with no school. Nine days being with people that I love.

Started out flying into Chicago. Mark and I stayed with my mom's old best friend, Debbie, and her daughter, Anna. We spent the first night going to see Bridesmaids in Chicago Heights. Talk about a ghetto theatre! I embarrassed Mark and Anna by asking the employees what type of projector that they have- no one knew! Seriously now... coming from someone who works in a theatre, you just KNOW these things. So we get into the movie, surprisingly full, and the group of teens behind us start talking extremely loud and making crude remarks. Then a baby is crying (reminder that this is a night time rated R movie). Everyone is on their phone. And absolutely no one comes in to check on the presentation. This drove me nutty. I finally turned around and said something to the obnoxious hoodlums. I have to admit, I was slightly nervous I was going to get shanked or something, but luckily, they just quieted down somewhat.

The next day started out going to Millennium Park. It was really chilly, but the sun was out! A rare occurrence in the windy city. We took our picture with The Bean. Love. I know that it is completely dorky, but I love it. We walked a little bit more through the park and then got on a bus and went to Navy Pier. Mark was with us, so we had to start out by getting lunch as he was getting cranky. We ate at Harey Carey's. The food was actually kind of gross and a lot of money. Oh well. After that, we walked around the pier. I got vetoed out of doing a boat ride, dang. It was nice to see everything though. We even rode the ferris wheel! It was a little scary when he got stuck at the very top and the wind was fierce. But we survived! That night, we went back to the house and just played some board games. I can honestly tell you that I cannot remember a time where I had more fun! We played Apples to Apples and then Catch Phrase. The games got very intense and super funny! Debbie almost wet her pants! Haha!

Day three consisted of going to the Field Museum. Mark and I took the train by ourselves! I was a little nervous, because let's admit it, Mark has no sense of direction so it was up to me to pay attention. The museum was so much fun! We went to the Ancient Americas, Ancient Egypt, and the dinosaurs exhibits. I wish they had museums like that here in Arizona. I love history and seeing these things in person was amazing. Ancient Egypt was my favorite. I loved seeing the real mummy and other things with that. I find that all fascinating. After the museum, we walked over to Soldier Field and took some dorky pictures. Just sad that we did not get to be there for a game! We went back to the house after and decided that we wanted to go to the Bulls game that night! Playoffs versus the Heat! Got down to the city and walked to the United Center. There were actually tickets for the game! We ended up opting for some really great seats ;) Sadly, we lost. It was a lot of fun though! Lots of drinks and I was feeling pretty silly on the way home that night!

Sadly, the next day, our time in Chicago came to and end. Debbie drove us down to Watseka. Michael had his senior awards ceremony that night and we had to attend. I am so glad that I got to spend some time with Debbie and Anna! They are both amazing and have been amazing to my family. We got to the ceremony that night, and without going into too much detail, it was pretty disappointing. It is a private catholic school with a ton of very smart kids with full ride to any college of their choice. Michael was the only one who was "undecided" about his future and did not get any awards. We sat through 3 hours of watching other kids get awards. But let's be real here, I am just thrilled to death that he graduated!

I saw my Papa and Mary Lou the next day. We barged into their place and forced them to spend time with us haha. They are such hermits sometimes and hard to get ahold of! We visited with them for a little bit and then I took off for Champaign to see my lifelong friend, Kristin. I have not seen her for years, so it was so great to be able to catch up with her! I have known her since she was born, I was 6 months old! She is the only one that I have known my entire life. We went to a little restaurant called Radio Maria. It was really good! We then went to a cute little cupcake shop and then I got to see her place and meet her boyfriend. I am so glad I got to see her! That night meant driving almost 2 hours back to Watseka, alone. Let me tell you, driving in central Illinois is in no way similar to anything we have here in Arizona. I was on a two lane interstate with no lights or land marks. Just corn fields and forests. I probably almost died from a few semis more than once. Passing cars on two lane roads is scarier than it sounds! Especially when you are not used to it!

The next day consisted of me and my brothers going over to my Papa's house. Wen went and decorated my mom's grave with red roses. It was the first time that I have actually seen the stone for it. It was really nice. My name was on it. It gave me an eerie feeling to be honest. I am not sure how I feel about everything with it. It was a feeling that I cannot explain to be there and to know that my mom's body was under us. How can one actually grasp that concept? It was a nice moment with me and my brothers though. I am glad that we got to decorate it. After that, we went back to my Papa's and made him play catch phrase with us. Poor thing, he was so bad at it! He could not get the idea of the game at all! It was actually really funny to play with him and laugh though. I got to see a side of him that I usually do not get to see.

Michael's graduation. The big event. Since he goes to a private Catholic school, it was held at a church with a full mass. That was the most interesting graduation I have ever been to! There were only 44 in his graduating class, so thankfully that did not take too long. I liked that we got to see a different type of ceremony. It was nice to go to church too, something I have been slacking at for a while! They even played my mom's favorite church song, How Great Thou Art. Brought a tear to my eye, knowing that she was there for that. Our whole family came out to support Michael. I felt like I was at a family reunion! We went to Monicals pizza afterwards. Best pizza ever! Ate a ton of pizza (I ate way too much on this trip, glad I started a diet as soon as I got back!), and cake! Took a bunch of pictures and then left. That night, we caught up on some TV and then went to bed.

I swear I aged 30 years on this trip. I stayed with my aunt and uncle in a small town, where there is virtually nothing exciting to do. We went and watched Pirates at the local theatre. It was cool that there was a balcony! Very different in every single stand point from where I work. I know, I am a complete loser for seeing so many movies on my vacation. I always find it fun though to compare. I spent a lot of the next couple of days just spending time with my family, relaxing, and reading. I read all of Something Borrowed and Something Blue. Both were fantastic!

Last full day. Went shopping with Cindy, favorite thing to do! Then we came back to the house and had a bbq with my cousins and their kids. It was so much fun! Not sure how it happened, but I got stuck watching all of the kids in the basement while everyone else was upstairs! Good thing I love them! haha. We played playground, princess, and clean up haha! Love them all to death!

Coming home. A tornado touched down where we were! Scary! The power went out as well. We were so blessed to have great weather the whole trip, and the day we leave, this happens! Luckily, we made it to the airport. After a 3 hour delay, 3 changes of the gate, and a nap, we made it home.

There is something about being back there that just brings a smile to my face. I wish I could bring a smell back with me. Smells always remind me of my childhood. The grass, fresh air, my papa's house. I miss that smell already.

I feel better after my vacation. It was so relaxing, brought about a calmness to my life. I hope that I can hold onto that feeling when reality sets back in and the stress of everyday life comes. I love my family and am so blessed and thankful I was able to see them. I am also so beyond proud of my baby brother for graduating high school. I know that my mom would be proud that we were all able to succeed, even with all of the hardships of life thrown at us.

Summer

I have been really bad at updating my blog recently, I apologize. This semester has been very time consuming! I have had little to no time for myself or to do anything besides school and work! It has finally come to an end and I could not be happier! Still waiting for my final grades to be posted, but as of now it looks as if I will be getting all A's and one B! Not bad considering you have to get a 93% to get an A in the professional program and my B was a 90%! There is officially less than a year til I graduate! May 5, 2012. Happy Cinco De Mayo to me! haha

I am leaving for Chicago on Monday. Little more than 24 hours! I just finished cleaning my apartment, like deep cleaning everything. I do not want to come back to a dirty apartment. I am so glad that I did! Makes me feel good when everything looks nice. I just wish I had the time to keep it this way all the time! I am pretty much done packing as well. Weird to be so on top of everything! Just need to get through one more shift at work and I will be on a 9 day vacation. It is going to be so fantastic to just relax and get to see my family. It has been years since I have been out of town longer than 2 days straight. I will post all about it on here!

We are doing the Biggest Loser challenge at my work. I am officially starting the day after I get back from vacation. I am pumped I have a motivation to get back into shape. This semester has really been bad for me. I have had absolutely no time to do anything. The fact that next semester I will basically have no extra money will also help me not eat out ever! Lots of sandwiches and chicken for me! The contest ends at the end of the year so I have some time to lose as much as possible.

I am a pretty boring person and can't really think of much else to write about at this current point in time. There are a few topics on my mind, but I think I want to wait a little bit til I post those. I want to have some time to think it through!

Pictures and details of Chicago coming during the next post! :)