I love Paris in the Fall

I heart Paris.

It's just that simple.

I was able to spend a week in the city and it was absolute perfection.

70 degress the entire time, hanging with my parents, strolling through the city streets, eating crepes whenever I wanted and laughing my head off with some of my favorite DC friends.

Oh it was wonderful.

Me, KA and MJ inside the Eiffel Tower, where we enjoyed an amazing lunch with my parents.
Mom and I atop the Eiffel Tower.

Blowing away on top of the Eiffel Tower.

Aren't my parents adorable?! Oh how I love them

Me and my Daddy.

We spent the whole first day in Paris with the Eiffel Tower. From every angle. It was awesome.

Just taking it all in.

Hall of Mirrors. Versailles.

Golf Cart through the Versailles Gardens. An absolute MUST.

Marie Antoinette's Chateau.

Little Garden off of Marie Atoinette's Chateau.

Versailles (I just love Versailles!!)

McDonalds. I don't care what you think.

I love it!

Front Row seats to the Mona Lisa. Turns out, all you gotta do is tear your ACL, get a wheelchair and your VIP baby.

I was laughing so dang hard when they wheeled her over....hahahaha.

Just taking a stretch break in the Louvre.

Don't know about you, but I get super tight after walking a few miles.

Aww...sunset outside the Louvre.

Merry and Bright.

Love this picture.

Sunset in Paris. Gorgeous.

Notre Dame.

Enjoying some down time by the Seine River.

These next few photos just crack me up... KA had my camera and was able to capture the slow motion destruction of my crepe and apparently proving that I am 5 years old and incapable of eating properly. Hahahaha.

It begins to fall...

Attempting another bite...

And I'm done and covered in chocolate.

Out of control.

Oh she is just too beautiful for words.

Standing on top of the Arc de Triumphe.

Yearning from afar.

One of my favorite photos from the Normandy Museum at Caen. These are French Women liberated when the American and Allied Troops arrived.

So real. You can just see the joy on their faces.

Another photo, this one from the actual D-Day landing.

Incredibly humbling.

WWII/D-day Museum at Caen (Normandy).

It was the greatest museum... I could have spent a whole day in there alone.

The only thing I really wanted to do this trip, was Normandy. So we signed up for the Full Day Tour with a guide. It was the best money I spent all week. We hit the museum and the Beaches and the American Cemetery. It was such a powerful day. This is a picture of us at Gold Beach (I think).

Looking down at one of the beaches the Allies stormed on D-day.

Another beach shot.

MJ singing and bonding with our Tour Guide.

Outside the American Cemetery at Normandy.

Rossi, our other Tour Guide and our personal Fave. She knew everything and was such a sweetheart. I love French people :)

June 6, 1944.

D-Day.

Standing there with the rows and rows of White Crosses was a very reverent experience.

Reminded me of Gettysburg.

Hallowed Ground.

We are so indebted to those who have fought and who continue to fight for the cause of Freedom.

Gratitude.

Omaha Beach.

I love this girl. We had so much fun together.

Attempting to jump and not quite capturing it... haha.

Our very last stop on the tour, it decided to down pour. It was Pont du Hac (?). It was where the Rangers crawled up the cliffs and fought it out with the Germans for 2 days.

Incredible.

Mom and I at Angelina's with the girls. The desserts at this place were INCREDIBLE. Seriously, rock your world, good.

Another Sunset...our last one in the city. Beautiful as always.

Our last night we walked along the river from the Louvre to the Eiffel Tower. It was the best way to say farewell to the City of Love.

Oh, Paris, I already miss you.

Long Lost Summer

Where has summer gone?!

Seriously, my heart is breaking.

Yes, it is nice not to be sweating to death, but I also know that Fall is just a nice little way to ease us into the misery of Winter.

Oh well... it was another great summer and since I sorta slacked on the blogging (at least since June), here's the highlights:

My friend Deana is a wiz at the grill.

She loves it and I love her. We make a good pair.

Anytime I was in town, we'd get together and she'd grill me up something delish. A new summer tradition has officially been born.

Yes, I can still cook! Or bake. Whatever.

It's a super easy recipe I put together to try and impress these friends, yeah see her blog, I mean I knew I had to up the ante. But its really super easy and delish. Check it out.
Oh my babies. How I adore them.
They were here in Virginia and because I love them so, I had to go and have a play date.

They are just too stinking cute.

Kat and I at the MINI Cross.

It was a rally for MINI Coopers.

Kat has a MINI and she loves it. So we had to go and rally with other MINI lovers.

It was awesome!

MINIs!!

Finally.

My moment has arrived.

I was Guest of the Day at The Hampton Inns.

Yes, this is my sad little life. Hahaha.

Heaven.

Who knew it was in Madisonville, KY?!

If it weren't for that silly 3oz rule, I'd have carried the whole crate on.

My little Ham. Another wonderful weekend in FL with the family.

Love it.

The reason for the trip...

Our Baby Clyde (yes we do still call him that) turned 1!!!

And yes his Aunt Mimi bought him that adorable little onesie :)

I. Could. Eat. Those. Cheeks.

Girls Dates. Oh how I love them!

Tried a new Vietnamese place.

Delicious!

My one true love (forgive me DDP).

Cafe Rio. Cedar City.

Had a work trip in Southern Utah and spend the weekend with Grandma and the family in Parowan. It was perfect.

Sharing my love with my Cousins.

They are now addicts too :)

My incredible Grandma.

Utah Sky.

You really do impress me sometimes.

This is what friendship looks like.

Couldn't make the trip up North so my BFFs met me halfway (somewhere in Beaver) and we just hungout on the side of I-15.

It was hilarious and perfect.

Michelle, Tiffany and me.

So blessed.

Blurry shot but hey, its the 4th of July in DC!

Melissa came up for the 4th and we had the best weekend.

Seriously it was an absolute blast.

Waiting for the Concert on the Capital Lawn.

Go Reba!

Sneaking up on Abe.

Sisters.

Just leaning on the Washington :)

The Jersey Shore.

Made my first (and possibly last) trip to Atlantic City.

Held a Workshop there for work.

Still better than Vegas, at least we had the ocean.

My co-worker ET gearing up for the drive to Atlantic City.

It was a fun little Road Trip.

(This actually took place in June, so the pictures start with the most recent and go backwards)

So that was my summer up until Labor Day, which considering I hit up Paris again, will have to be its own post :)

Life is good.

Charlotte to DC in 18 hours

I really am blessed to love my job, I love traveling around and working with loads of different people.

BUT

Every once in a while it can be just down right rough.

Such was the way of things Thursday when my quick 55 minute flight from Charlotte, NC to DC became a 18 hour delay with a sleepover in Norfolk.

Yup, you read that right 18 HOUR DELAY.

Let me explain.

Thursday afternoon, my team and I finished our school visit early and headed to the airport to jump on earlier flights home, I had some things I wanted to do, so I jumped on the 2:30 flight out of Charlotte, which was scheduled to land at 4:00pm in DC, the key word being scheduled.

We take off and everything's fine. I'm reading and just enjoying the First Class upgrade (the only real perk in this whole ordeal was that I did get to ride First Class- still such a novelty :) ) when the pilot comes on and says that there is bad weather in DC and we are unable to land, so we're going into a holding pattern.

Basically flying around in circles until we're given the go ahead at DC.

About 30 minutes go by and the pilot comes on again... Still unable to land at DC, yet we need to refuel and so we're being diverted to Norfolk, VA airport.

Mind you, Norfolk is about a 3 1/2 hour drive from DC.

Noted.

We land in Norfolk, pull out on the tarmac and refuel and then we wait...and wait...and wait...

2 hours go by.

Nothing.

Pilot tells us we still cannot take off and there's been a "ground stop" at DC- which means no one can fly in or out. It's shut down.

Well he pulls to the gate and allows us to get off the airplane.

It is now 6:00pm.

If any of you have been in the Norfolk airport you know its pretty small. There was only one restaraunt in our Terminal and they had already closed down the kitchen.

Yeah..I know, it's only 6:00pm.

We were not the only flight diverted. The terminal was packed with people, whose flights had been cancelled, delayed or were diverted like us. The poor newsstand had a line wrapping around the entire store.

Chaos.

2 more hours pass and still nothing. No one is taking off and we're just camping out.

I talk to friends in DC and they say the rain is long gone (it has begun raining in Norfolk now however) but there are power outages in the area.

Finally they call my flight and we all start to board. Yipppppeeee!

It is 9:15pm.

There is buzz about our crew however, something about their work hours and having to land in DC by 10pm at the latest (its a 30 minute flight from Norfolk). We're all too excited to worry.

We load up and roll out.

It's 9:34pm.

We're heading down the runway and picking up speed and then...

well then, we're not getting enough speed. I'm realizing that we don't have enough speed to takeoff....

and then it happens.

He makes a U-Turn on the runway.

Yes, a straight up U-turn.

It is silent.

We pull back into the gate and we're all just staring at one another mystified.

After about 5 minutes, the Pilot comes on and says "You may have noticed we're back at the gate. It is illegal for me to operate the aircraft at this time."

That's it. That's all he says.

We unload.

It's 10:00pm and the next flight isn't until the morning. The Gate Agents start rebooking and I'm booked on the 8:00am out of Norfolk.

We were on our own for the night (Airlines don't cover hotel costs if the delays are due to weather) and luckily I know some people in Norfolk. My friend Alisabeth's Mom lives there and she let me crash at her place. We had a quick little sleepover, but it was wonderful.

I finally landed in DC at 10:00am on Friday after another Crew delay that very morning. And yes, it was my same crew from the night before.

What joy.

Those of you who know me well, may ask, why didn't I, the Road Warrior just rent a car and drive the 3 1/2 hours home?

Work. That's why.

When I usually fly in on Fridays I don't have to go into the office.

What was I rushing home too? Ha ha ha..

It was madness, but it was an adventure.

10 Years

Alright, I just blogged about my actual High School Reunion.

But that got me thinking....

10 years.

Since High School.

And what do I have to show for it?

Hmmm....

Okay, here goes...

here's what I've done since High School,

in no particular order

and truly only to proof that I have not wasted a decade of my life:

1. Survived on gelato alone.

2. Slept in a castle.

3. Ran a marathon.

4. Read the Bible- Cover to Cover.-On my Bucket List.

5. Graduated from BYU.

6. Taught school in Mexico.

7. Studied theater in London.

8. Watched the sunset from the Eiffel Tower.

9. Fallen in love.

10. Broken my heart...over and over again.

11. Hiked Camelback- hey it was a big deal to me! Haha.

12. Started a blog.

13. Fulfilled my dream of becoming a teacher.

14. Taught 4th, 6th and 8th grade.

15. Quit teaching with no other prospects.

16. Lived in UT, AR, FL, AZ and DC

17. Walked the streets of Morocco

18. Paid off my car.

19. Became Debt Free!

20. Made some of my dearest, sweetest and lifelong friends.

21. Fallen in love with the job I never knew, I always wanted.

22. Became an Aunt, twice over.

23. Backpacked Europe solo (much more fun with friends I must say)

24. Been a bridesmaid...many times over...

25. Flown coast to coast in 24 hours for weddings (they're important)

26. Become almost nearly an equal in my big brother's eyes- still trying Nathan!

27. Been a U2 groupie

28. Held fast to my faith and standards in a world bent on destroying them.

Wow, well there you have it.

Figured I'd stop at 28, since, well, that's my age.

I may not have the career or the family life I thought I'd have at this point...

But my life has been blessed and I wouldn't trade the last 10 years for anything.

Here's to the adventures of the next decade!

Reunion in Florida

10 years ago I graduated from high school.

10 years.

Woah.

Think I'll have to do a whole other post on that.

Anyhow, so yes there was a Reunion and yes Tiffany and I made our way home for it.

The weekend was absolutely perfect.

So perfect we both cried and didn't want to leave.

I love this girl and I love this town.

Home sweet Home.

In front of Durant. 10 years later, still BFF.
Visiting Sarah and Baby Harlow!
Only one month old and she is just too precious.

Tiffany and I out to dinner with the girls from high school.

A little Pre-Reunion festivities.

Ladies of Durant. Oh how I love them!

Melissa and the boys came down for the weekend as well.

Which was just the cherry on top of the already perfect weekend.

This kid is just too cute.

See those curls!! Baby Clyde melts my heart.

We played by the pool all day.

The Novaks were the greatest hosts- as always.

Seriously so wonderful to have them in my life.

I love you Novaks!!

Heading out to the Reunion.

After an emergency shopping trip, apparently my previous outfit was unacceptable.

I'm not bitter.

Haha.

And yes, it looks like we're going to prom together.

More Prom Shots!

Which is even funnier considering Tiff and I did actually go to prom together!

Best. Date. Ever.

Me and Shelley.

Sunshine in my life.

Jenny St. Martin aka Jenny Morgan.

So great to catch up with her.

She's going places and I told her I'd show this picture to everyone,

proving I knew her back in the day,

before she won her Tony.

It's all you girl. I have faith.

Me and Cortney.

Such a great friend. Seriously.

Get back up her and visit me Cortney!

We really do have fun together.

So grateful for good friends.

Tiffany catching up with old friends.

Me and Becky! Homeroom Buddies!

I haven't seen this lady since HS.

So fun to catch up.

New friend and I already adore her.

Amanda's baby girl Calleigh.

Woke up early just to meet this little lady.

Totally worth it.

Lt. Dan!

Haha. Baby Clyde was cracking us up.

He crawls like this all over the place.

Never seen anything like it.

Too stinking cute.

Awkward Family Photos!

We were laughing so hard.
Vince is out of control.

Awww...family.

I love this picture.

It was such a perfect weekend.

Being home with family and Tiffany and the Novaks and good friends.

I can honestly say that it was the first time in a very long time, that I truly did not want to get on the plane to come home.

Florida has my heart.

That is just the way it is.

I heart FL.