This past week I was lucky enough to take a much needed mini-vacation and spend a few days down in Florida soaking up some sun, eating up some shrimp, and spending some quality time with my awesome momma who was kind enough to take me along on this fabulous trip. See, the best part about this vacation was that it was absolutely FREE to me! My momma, the oh so famous Maxie the Preacher’s Wife, was performing for a conference and, because I am such awesome company and I can shave 40 minutes off a 3 1/2 hour drive, she invited me to come along. A free vacation on the beach complete with total pampering to meet my every ridiculous need, yes please! We had a fantastic time and I am so grateful she included me in this awesome opportunity. A few days away from my computer was exactly what I needed and I squeezed every possible bit of joy out of every minute I was away. I love the beach, actually I LOVE the ocean, and there is nothing that puts me at peace more than simply staring at the water and walking in the waves. I didn’t completely escape from the stress since I carried my iPhone with me everywhere, even in the water to my husband’s horror, just in case I got a call or e-mail with news but I did have some beautiful distractions to keep me calm while I continue to wait. Here are a few pics from our trip I want to share. This is just a small sampling of pictures that I took but since 99% of all my pics are basically different views of the ocean, I figured I would spare y’all the repetition. I made [L] watch a slideshow last night and he was completely unimpressed with my lack of creativity or the diversity in my picture taking. Or he was simply jealous that he had to stay home while I beached it without him. Either reason is probably justified. I’d be bummed if I had missed out and I do tend to have tunnel vision when it comes to the ocean. Anyway, here are some pics!

This is the Ritz, where we stayed.
The view from our balcony.

Some of the many, many pictures I took of the ocean on some of my many, many walks.

My cheeseburger in paradise

Second only to my love of the ocean is my love of Spanish moss and hot boiled peanuts!

And, of course, I love my beautiful Momma who will also be trekking to Africa with me soon! Hopefully we got our need to be pampered out of our systems this week!
So, now I’m back home…back to life…back to reality. I’d like to say I’m super rested and calm but, unfortunately, that wore off the minute I stepped off the beach. My body is already rejecting normalcy and I can’t seem to shake this headache that literally started the moment we drove away. Hopefully some good news soon will take care of that and, in the meantime, I’ll just keep getting ready for my babies! And I have plenty to keep me busy because our yard sale has been moved up to this Saturday! I have a crazy week ahead of me but I am ready to get it done so we can move even closer to that wonderful day when [A] and [G] are finally home! And then I can take them to the beach!