Self-Care Staycation

Other than Christmas break, when our company is closed, I haven't taken a week's vacation since 2013.  We've had a few mini trips and long weekends here and there but my last extended retreat was our beach trip as a family.  Five years ago.

When looking at the number of days I had available and realizing how long it has been since I've had a week's rest, I opted to take a staycation this week.

Spontaneous.  Last minute.  No plans or schedules.  Ten Whole Days Off!

I'm almost always off on Fridays, so actually, I guess my "vacation" has come to an end; however, I am most certainly still in a staycation state of mind.  And will be that way until Monday!

After having something to do, somewhere to go, or somewhat of a last-minute agenda every day so far, today was operation lazy PJ day.  And I thoroughly enjoyed it from my first cup of chocolate chai to Netflix binging and cuddling our new kitty to being completely ok with being non-productive an entire day.

In fact, if I've had any purpose at all for this past week, it has been to practice self-care.  In the moment, listening to what I want or need, and doing just that.  Or nothing at all.

So far...

I've jumped out of my comfort zone and into a dress celebrating the success I've had 

with changing my health for the better.  

AFTER I returned home,
I realized my tag was on my chest.  #backwardfail

Picked up more pumpkins and mums just because they make me smile.

Captured sweet moments at my little sister's wedding.

Held an impromptu sleepover with my nieces and nephew.

Napped whenever I wanted.

Kidnapped mom and took her on our annual "Nut Club Food Fest" adventure.

Enjoyed coffee & chai on the deck.

Self-improvement and continued learning.

Soaking up family time and everyday moments of JOY.

My staycation didn't include spas, sand or exotic locations but I wouldn't trade it for the world.  

And this girl is making it a point to take more "Me" days in my future. Because I'm worth it!

A Break in Spring

Spring Break has come and gone...
Tomorrow starts a new routine for me, familiar ones for the rest of the gang.

We say farewell to late nights and naps in the afternoon.
To eating far more than we should've, but it was oh, so good.
To carefree, no schedules, where clocks don't matter.

It sure was a good run and I feel blessed to have had the time.


We kicked off the break with a family day at the zoo.  It had been awhile since we'd gone as a group.

Growing up this was an annual trip, sometimes multiple times a year, with my mom and stepdad.  Traditionally, we'd end at the park across the street with a picnic lunch.



This April day was a wee chilly though so we opted for a yummy buffet at Golden Corral.  How can you go wrong with all you can eat cotton candy and a chocolate fountain with strawberries!?

I love this pic my sister captured of me and my itty bitty niece, Elaina Rae....

Monday the kids went to Mamaw's and gave me some alone time to do some of the heavy spring cleaning I'd been craving.  I balanced it nicely though on Tuesday morning with a shoe shopping trip, a heavenly facial, and lunch with my aunt and Grandma.

Still loving my Kitchen Aid mixer, I whipped up my first ever from scratch

  chocolate cake.

And learned that you really do have to wait until it is completely cool...

A little sloppy but it didn't change the shut your mouth flavor one bit!

Wednesday, after a lazy good morning with the kids watching movies, 

I finally finished the winter to spring clothing swap.  Whew!

Now, where to put those new shoes?

Thursday we spent the morning at the park letting the kids be kids.

And then the afternoon at my uncle's pond.

Of course, getting to the pond was part of the fun, 

as it was more of a "truck route" and I was in my car.

Good thing I got hung up within in close distance to the pond, so we could fish while waiting for AAA!

When I called Tim to tell him I was stuck, he laughed it off and said 

"have Noah cut the line."

After I nicely explained we hadn't even made it to the pond, he laughed harder.

Really?  Did he think I'd call him if my fishing line got stuck?  

Friday Tim was able to take the day and go out with us.  

Sorry, I completely skipped my "Faithful Friday" post as a result!

We took the kids to a mini golf/laser tag place that I'd scored a big discount with a Groupon months before.  Outdoor golf...and I finally won a game! 

 Indoor where Tim redeemed his usual reign.

Then laser tag where I came in dead last.  Seriously, I think my gun was messed up.

And our first trip ever to Red Robin...

Yum!

Our last blissful day of break was spent at the lake, 

where hours later we had only 4 fish to show for our efforts, 

but many memories of a wonderful week together.

How did you spend your spring break?

Fall Break Fun

Being on vacation this week will either mean one of two things.  This may be my only post...or, I may get the urge to write way more than normal.  I'm leaning toward the first.

This week's fall break is all about living in the moment. 

Enjoying each day as it comes.  Making memories.  Savoring fall.  And most of all, spending as much time as humanly possible with the family. 

The kids started out the weekend by bringing back Culdesac Camping.  Tim's still-recovering back allowed them full reign of the portable tent.  They snuck out snacks and gadgets and we smiled hearing them giggle and chat through the night.

Yesterday, as Tina went to stay with her sister, Noah deemed it "Mom & Me day."  As usual on these adventures, he gets to take the wheel, directing our activities.  Actually he really wanted to take that literally, as he begged to drive out of the subdivision!  I quickly distracted him with the mention of Island Burgers. 

Life had put a damper of my end of summer plans and we never did manage to make a family trip to the middle of nowhere for burgers, shakes, and cheeseballs.  The thought of that meaty-melty-cheesy goodness put him in a bit of food coma and we were soon on the road. 

The weather, sky, and fall foliage were in beautiful harmony as we made the drive.  We soaked in the burnt orange fields under a picturesque blue sky, marveled at the muted patchwork among the trees, and chuckled at the seasonal decor along the way.

Caloric containers in hand, we headed to an empty ballpark, and with windows down, enjoyed the car inside and out.  Noah ran bases and scored an imaginary homerun, we had a trash basketball game and we laughed until our sides hurt. 

On the drive home we stopped at a roadside pumpkin patch.  I'm happy to report I found my mini gourds to fill up our window boxes.  Noah searched out the biggest pumpkin possible and had it loaded into the trunk before I had time to think how we'd get it out once home. 

The rest of our Monday was spent in PJs...vegging on the couch, cuddled together, spooky movie marathon, amazing, memorable, blessed "mom and me" time!

Vacation Moments Part 2

My vacation is coming to a close.  I've soaked up just about as much relaxation and laziness as humanly possible.  And it was joyful bliss.  Here's some tidbits from the rest of the week...

We introduced Noah to Andy Griffith, via the Andy Griffith Show. 

After he finished complaining about the lack of color, he fell in love. 

Now we have to stop him from watching a rerun without us!

Even though I was too lazy to get out of my PJs, Noah insisted he not miss youth on Wednesday night.
We happily took him.

Noah schooled me at the "arcade"...aka his bedroom.

I'm so bad he had to take over and play both our controllers at once. 

I told him I'd take a JOYstick with a red button, a frog and a road over that stuff anyday.

We spent a day shopping, eating, and movie watching.

And brought my Mom along.

This meant sushi.

Where Noah ate his share, part of my share, and most of Mom's.

And lots of "deals" shopping, which of course actually included shopping at Deal's.

We ended the day with a trip to the movie for obscenely overpriced popcorn and coke.

And I worried the entire time we'd be escorted out for the

sheer volume of candy my Mom stuffed in her purse to sneak in the theatre.

Told her we wouldn't eat all of that!

It was such a delightful day we opted to have chocolate cake for dinner.

Tim laughed at my reason for being too tired to cook.

...Listen, vacationing takes a lot out of a girl!

And my last official day off was spent at home,

piddling with a few odds and ends I'd neglected, while Noah slept.

Since it was rainy, we opted to stay in and cook a big meal.

Thanksgiving in July. 

Chicken and dressing.....yum-o.

Noah was overJOYed I finally printed out and made the Pinterest recipe

for eggless cookie dough.  (Safe to eat raw that way) 

He had it for dessert.

I opted for more dressing.

Then we marathoned Andy Griffith to stay awake way past our bedtime to pick up our girl.

She arrived home around midnight.

Tired.  Happy to be home but missing new friends.  Blessed from the mission.

Yep.  Pretty great vaca...er, staycation, if I do say so myself!

What's your favorite way to enjoy a vacation day?

Vacation is Just a State of Mind...

I'm on vacation this week.  Now before I get tweets and comments warning me not to post such things live, for fear our home will be at risk, I'll make the exciting announcement that I'm blogging this vacation post from (drum roll please) ...my home.

Yes, Virginia, you can enjoy a vacation without leaving your hometown.

At least one vacation a year I plan a "do-nothing-staycation" and savor it to the last drop.  This time, with Tim opting to save most of his days and Tina away at mission camp, it is just me and my boy.  It's given us some great Mom & Noah time and that, my friends, beats any exotic vista or action packed trip you could plan!

We're only on Day 3 but I already had some joyful tidbits to share with you.

What's vacation without yummy food? 

We kicked it off with a trip to DQ for some frosty treats.

We ordered "room service" one night for some cheesy pizza.

We went shopping in our downtown stores, complete with a stop for gift shop fudge.

We enjoyed breathtaking views.

We spent a complete LAZY day  living in our PJs and piling on the bed to watch old movies.

And napped joyfully in the middle of the day.

We went on a boat tour with a handsome captain.

And had an extreme water experience...

Who knows what will be in store the rest of this blissful week?!

Staycation Getaway

Sometimes you just need to get away, even if it's just mentally.  While we weren't able to physically take a "real" vacation, our family needed a break from reality.  By 4:00 on Friday afternoon, I made the decision we were going on a staycation...STAT!

There's been some major events the past few weeks, lots of changes in our household, as well as some personnel drama for Tim at the fire department.  All the unexpected stressors resulted in us deciding to disconnect and reconnect!

Though Tim's always "on call" being Chief of a fire department, he surprised me and left his radio and cell phone at home as we left out Friday evening.  Of course, even that didn't work, as we ended up driving up on a wreck so we had a bit of delay for dinner!  By the time the patient was wheeled into the ambulance though, he was back in the truck and we were on our way.

We surprised the kids with a night on the town, complete with plates of never-ending pasta, mini golf and go cart races, and a late night ice cream run.  Yesterday we loaded up the boat, complete with picnic goodies, and spent the entire afternoon on the river.  We floated, swam, ate, splashed, tubed, ate some more and enjoyed the sunshine.  Actually we soaked up the sun to it's last ray, arriving home at dark.  Showered up and snuggled in, we ended with a Harry Potter movie marathon until our eyes would cooperate no longer.

Today's been a mixture of being lazy and completing errands we neglected the rest of the weekend in preparation for the coming week.   And I may keep the lazy, vacation state of mind and order take-out for Sunday dinner.  While it's not always easy to shut out worldly distractions, obligations, phone calls, and stress, sometimes it's just something that's necessary.  Just like with vacation, you can't stay gone forever, but it sure is nice for a break once in awhile!