Strawberry Picking

We managed to squeeze in a trip to College Run Farms across the river in mid-May to berry pick again this year right at the end of Strawberry season.  There were many overripe and rotten berries in the field but we still left with 4 baskets full of good ones.  It was a cool morning and made for a perfect pickin' kind of day. 

 Mom & Dad each decided they would be better off picking on their own. :)

 

Hammock Beach

The work event that I plan in May is an annual meeting for our advisors who are located all over the east coast.  We returned again to Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast, Florida this year because it was such a big hit last May.  I was fortunate enough to spend 6 days there.  It really is such a beautiful spot (nice enough for an ideal vacation destination) that caters to both the guys who play golf and the women who just want to enjoy the beach or lazy river.  I am not sure how we will convince our advisors to go anywhere else next year!  Being familiar with the resort and the conference services staff made my job a lot easier this go round.  Even though I am usually "on" from the time I get there till the time I leave (with flight delays, ride changes, dealing with room issues, reworking golf pairings to accommodate new adds, editing/creating last minute PowerPoints, etc.), I still find opportunities to squeeze in some beach time and enjoy the sunshine.  It's always hard for me to leave this place at the end of the week!

This rascal below stole the pineapple right off of my drink at the pool and went to town on it right beside me...literally one chair over!

 The infamous gift bags that I put together for all of our attendees.  Because making them ahead of time is not an option when shipping to sunny (and hot) Florida because all of the delicious chocolate melts and makes a huge mess, I always have to crank these out in my room quickly before all of our guests arrive.  A rainy first day there forced me to knock these out first thing (thankfully) rather than staying up late at night to get them done.

We managed to gather most of the group early in the morning before our last day of meetings for a picture. I am usually given lip over promoting a group picture, but the end result is usually appreciated.  This is proof that this is actually a work meeting and that I do not spend the entire time on the beach. :)

Happy 90th to Grandma!

We have been blessed to have so many years with our sweet and loving mother/grandmother and we celebrated another year (a momentous one!) of her life with a big family birthday party.  Although we do usually see most of my Mom's side of the family on big holidays, there are a few extensions of it that live farther away.  Grandma's only request for her 90th birthday party (beside a cake with lots of frosting and all of her favorite foods) was to have the whole family all together.  So...we made it happen to celebrate her big 9-0 back in April!  She has way outlived all of her own family members and friends, which is sad for her, but we are extremely grateful for her long life and all of the experiences she has shared with us (including her being a Great Great Grandmother, which I have probably mentioned before). 

Having the whole family together meant a great opportunity for a group picture, of course!  The weather didn't cooperate so we had quite a task of trying to find a place in the house where everyone would fit and would fit inside the frame of the photo.  Amazingly, we pulled it off.  One of my little cousins got sick unexpectedly during the party so 4 of the family members are missing (bummer!).

Look at that face!  Grandma has always had a major sweet tooth and that full plate of goodies and cake plus coffee makes her very happy.  At that age (despite health reasons not to), we give her whatever she wants to make her happy. :)

Happy 90th Birthday, Grammie!

A little (just a little) behind... :)

So...here goes.  Just before a couple of exciting and BIG events happen in a few weeks (yikes...time is flying!), I am going to try to catch up a bit on some of the recent happenings that are noteworthy (and fun).  My days are filled with balancing work, which always seems to be picking up rather than slowing down, adding a few items to my Kenya "pack pile" or knocking a few to-dos off of my checklist before leaving on the 13th (today's item was getting Typhoid and Hepatitis A shots :)), and helping in whatever ways I can with wedding preparations.  Some days it feels as if I cannot keep pushing myself this hard, but God gives me the strength to press on and there's a lot of wonderful things at the end of this whirlwind.  So as not to miss savoring some of the great times during this season, I really want to keep up with my blog (or at least catch up a little).  I will give this my best try over the next couple of weeks...