So far it has been a hectic Winter break! Grandma and I drove all the way from Tallahassee to Lincoln Nebraska to attend my cousin Tara’s wedding. From St. Louis all the way to Lincoln we had to drive through the massive storm that shut down the Denver Airport. We were supposed to leave Wednesday the 20th, but grandma showed up on Tuesday and peer pressured me into leaving a day early to avoid the storm. We made it to Metropolis Illinois around 11:00 PM (12 hours after we left), we gambled for about an hour (I won $80! Go me! Grandma broke about even), then finally we went to sleep around 1:00 AM. At 4:30 that same morning, Grandma decides that we should probably hit the road so that we can make it through St. Louis before rush hour… Unfortunately, we were further from St. Louis then we had thought and ended up hitting the beginning of it. About 4 hours into our second day I was exhausted, so we pulled up into a McDonald’s parking lot and slept for an hour, restocked our supply of energy drinks, and then continued our never ending journey. Finally, at around 3:30 PM we arrived in Lincoln.
We spent the first night in Lincoln at my Aunt Kelly’s house, but the next day Grandma and I, along with the many other relatives flying in that day, checked into the Embassy Suites… They had a complementary “cocktail hour” from 5:30 to 7:30 every night which was the first thing to make me feel like I was on vacation.
On the 22nd I went to the wedding rehearsal, and the rehearsal dinner… The dinner was much more enjoyable because it turned out that I wasn’t even need at the rehearsal (I was an usher for the wedding). The wedding the next day was probably as close to perfect as a wedding could be… and the reception afterwards was a blast. Like my cousin April’s wedding, I once again caught the garter… Last time I caught one, I ended up dating somebody for 4 and a half years, maybe this means something good is around the corner.
On Christmas Eve I flew from Nebraska to Salt Lake City, took a bus out to Park City, and met up with my second family, the Rushes. I spent the last two days on the slopes, but now my knee is killing me, so I reluctantly decided after the first run to take the day off. For those of you who don’t know me well, my absolute favorite thing in the world is skiing, so taking a day off when I only get to go once or twice a season, is a really really big deal. I’m going to try and get back into my exercise routine when I get back to Florida and condition my knee for next time. I hurt it about 2 months ago while playing soccer.
Last night after skiing, Samantha and Astrid brought me to their Yoga class… an hour and a half of what seems easy, but really is a major work out… For the first time since I was 6 I attempted a hand stand, I had somebody helping, but I was able to do it, so that was exciting. The whole working your “inner-being” hoo-ha was kinda weird, but I don’t remember the last time I was that relaxed.
Tomorrow I fly back to Nebraska to begin another endless journey back to Florida. Hopefully this time we’ll have sunlight… Hope everyone is having a great vacation!