Pittsburgh

Take me home country roads. John Denver really did sing it best.

I was able to check off one more state from my list.

West Virginia (leaving only Alaska and Vermont). We had a workshop back in June in Pittsburgh and so we made it a road trip through ET's hometown. We really were listening to "Country roads" as we drove these roads. Pretty surreal.
View of West Virginia.

Gorgeous.

Me & ET. I adore this kid. We have so much fun together. I can't tell you how much I miss him at the office. NACCAS just isn't the same without him.

The whole Workshop Crew.

Pittsburgh! I love this town! I have never seen so many manly men in one place in my whole life!!I loved it! Haha. Seriously though, there were men everywhere. It may or may not have something to do with the fact that the Pirates were playing the Red Sox the weekend we were there. Either way, it improved the overall view ;) The Beer House. Not quite as fun as the one in Munich, but still a pretty dang good time.

Our farewell dinner for ET.

The gang on our last night in Pittsburgh.

Yes I work with some crazy people, but it really is so much fun! I love doing these workshops. I get to travel with my colleagues and I get to teach, which I really do miss doing. It is a lot of hard work but it is so much fun. Pittsburgh was no exception.

The Prince is 5

5 years ago I became an Aunt. It has been the single greatest joy of my life. Hands down. I didn't do anything to deserve it and Melissa did all the hard work to bring this little man into my life, but it has been such a wonderful and incredible experience.

On May 20th Vincent Raymond Deleon turned 5.

Here is what he looked like the first time I saw him 5 years ago.

He was so tiny!! And he had so much hair!
Here is our first photo together (can we just make a sidenote about how ridiculously short my hair was then?! Woah.) I haven't stopped cuddling him since...well atleast when he lets me. The kid never stops running.

And here he is now. Our little Vince the Prince, 5 years old!

We had a big party for him in Tallahassee and it was such a good, good time. My parents were there and so was Nathan. I love being with my nephews and family. These babies bring such happiness into our lives. What the heck did we do before them?!

I know every Aunt thinks her nephews/nieces are the cutest. But seriously? Look at these faces? Pretty sure it's no contest.

I know that Mothers always talk about how they can't believe they have enough room in their heart to love anyone more than their first child and then they have another baby and it just muliplies. Well it's true. Life is so much sweeter with Baby Clyde around who just turned 2, now that I've taken so long to blog this post. Our babies are growing so fast. I honestly cannot get enough of these two.

Aunt Mimi is pretty much my favorite person to be at the moment.

Annie's Wedding

This has taken me forever to blog.

Not sure why, because it was the best time.

My Arizona girls and I haven't all been together for nearly two years,

which is much too long.

So finally in April, we had a very joyous reason to gather in Utah...

The Wedding of Annie Nelson.

Oh how my heart rejoices.

Here is just a sampling of the hysteria that ensued.

Karaoke at a Cowboy bar.

Note to self: Whenever I'm feeling down, just walk into a cowboy bar- quick little pick me up. Haha.
The Bride-to-be being pampered. Well deserved.

Little shopping break.

Wish I had a reason to drop the mulah it required to own this dress.

Gorgeous.

Doesn't Ashley look like a Disney princess? Beautiful.

Little family portrait. Makes my heart happy.

Eagerly awaiting the ceremony.

And yes Ashley has a flower growing out of her head.

Hahahaha.

Just hanging with the Maid of Honor.

Just kicking it.

The Downards! Totally Married!

The AZ Crew. Just like the old times. Love these girls!!

The Woman who made the whole weekend possible!

We love to take pictures together, we only have a million of them...

Gorgeous cake.

Greatest idea EVER.

You will definitely be seeing this at my wedding.

Awwww....so stinking adorable!

Sneaking a photo with the happy couple.

Taken after smashing cake into each other's face.

I love this shot. What a doting husband!

Annie preparing to toss the bouquet.

Merri and I fighting for the bouquet.

It was such a great weekend.

Seriously, just being with these ladies again rejuvenated me.

Life is so much sweeter with good friends to share it with.

Love you girls!

Work: Albuquerque & St. Louis

Our most recent workshop for work was in Albuquerque. I gotta be honest, not my favorite city (had a few near death experiences on those roads) but this trip improved my overall opinion (at least a little). The fun began with a 3 hour layover in Phoenix, which of course meant Lunch at Cafe Rio with Friends. Love making the most of my time.

It was so great to catch up with the Armstrong girls. Seriously family, we just have a good, good time together.

The best part of lunch though was meeting this little sweetheart (yes, even better than the pork buritto), Ms. Brooklyn Gapinski. She even let me hold her. Awwww....

Now, that's just precious.

Well once we got to Albuquerque, I pretty much ate the entire time- nothing new to those of you that know me well. But a big bonus of the weekend was the my Uncle Russell was also in Albucrappy (as he calls it..haha) for work! He took me the The Standard Diner, which was featured on Drive Ins, Diners & Dives. It did not disappoint and we had a great dinner, laughing it up.

Later, my colleagues and I hit up Old Towne Albuquerque and ate some authentic Mexican food.

The Sunday night of our trip, one of our Commissioners booked us all a big dinner up at the top of Sandia Peak and so we had to take a tram all the way up. It is in fact the longest tram ride in the world! A whole 20 minutes...it turned out to be quite an adventure!

ET, Marissa and I gearing up for the tram ride.

A view from the tram. It really was a gorgeous ride.

Another shot.

Albuquerque looks pretty good from this distance.

Yeah, it was a tad windy from the top. Haha.

That's pretty dang high in case you were wondering.

Well as you can gather from this shot, we weren't in the best of moods as we waited to take the tram down. The wind had gotten so out of control that we were unable to take the tram down for 2 HOURS! We had to sit and wait and at one point they were going to make us ride the ski lifts down the other side of the mountain! It was about 30 degrees outside! We opted to wait it out and eventually made it off the mountain, but not before seveal colleagues began to flip out...they will remain nameless...haha.

After Albuquerque, I was able to come home for a few days but then I headed to St. Louis to visit a couple of schools. I hadn't been to St. Louis since I was kid, so my colleague, Augie Favazza (who's from St. Louis) showed me the sights.

You gotta admit, the Arch is pretty incredible.

Augie's family's place. It was some of the best Italian food I've eaten since Italy. No joke. Delish.

We hit up Ted Drewe's a local custard place. A girl can't pass up dessert.

All in all, I'm still enjoying work, especially when I get to see things I'd never have caught on my own. And of course, the greatest blessing of them all, meeting up with family and friends all over the country just never gets old. I really do have a fantastic job!