Making Memories With My Mom

Some of you know that I went home to Texas for a good chunk of this deployment. I left early August and intended to stay about 2 months. Well, 2 months turned into almost 4, and I ended up staying until Thanksgiving! I never anticipated spending so much time back home during deployment, but it honestly ended up being a Godsend. I was so distracted and constantly surrounded by people who love me. Not to mention, my twin sister popped out one cute kiddo that I have since become completely obsessed with. 

My mom flew to Virginia back in August to make the 20 hour drive to Texas with Jenny and me. That was her second time doing that drive with us, and I was so thankful. I was also 11 weeks pregnant, so kudos to my mom for listening to me whine approximately the whole time about how poorly I was feeling. My rockstar of a mom did the drive with me AGAIN the two days after Thanksgiving to make sure Jenny and I got back to Virginia safely and in one piece. This time, rather than being accompanied by 11 week pregnancy sickness, my mom got to hang out with 7 months pregnant have-to-pee-need-to-eat-all-the-time me. #blessher

20 hours in the car is a long time, but doing it with my mom is seriously so much fun. When you live far away from family, any time you get is a precious gift, and this road trip definitely gave us the gift of time! We pushed farther the first day and drove about 13 hours so that we would only have to do 7 the second day. We left on Black Friday and arrived Saturday afternoon, and we were so blessed with an easy trip and no traffic. Thankfully everyone was at the mall instead of on the road!

I give Jenny MVP for the trip. That's just not a fun 2 days for a pup, and she spent the majority of it doing this. I guess that's comfortable?

 My mom was able to stay with me for a couple of days in Virginia before heading back to Texas, and we had a full to-do list! We walked through what the nursery will look like, redecorated a few spots around the house, tested out gliders at Babies R Us, and online shopped our little hearts out (tis the season for Cyber Monday, yall). 

Since mom has lived in Texas her whole life, she's missed out on the beauty of a real Fall (I had too until the Navy sent us East!). One of my favorite parts of the trip was hearing her "ooh" and "aah" about the colors of the tree leaves. We made sure to do a few nature walks once we arrived in Virginia so she could really appreciate it! Jenny loved showing her Grammy around her neck of the woods!

Cheers to you, mom. The most selfless woman I know. I don't know what I would do without you!

Louisville Lovin'

This past weekend was a great one for our little family! We found out Parker was able to take a few days off and decided to high tail it to Louisville to spend time with his parents. We were originally hoping to go this weekend for the Kentucky Derby, but the Navy only cooperated for this past weekend. When the military lets you take vacation, you grab your bags and get out of dodge as fast as you can before they can change their minds. That's exactly what we did, and we had the best time. It's about a 9.5 hour drive from our humble abode in Virginia, but when there are two of you to tag team on the drive, it goes by really quickly. Thanks to so many military moves, we are pretty seasoned road trippers. Audio books and candy for the win!
Friday was really relaxed, which I loved. We took a long walk with the pups and went to watch the boys play golf. Father/son golf time is basically Parker's favorite activity. 

Saturday, we drove to Mammoth Cave National Park to tour the world's longest cave system with over 400 miles of cave! We went on a 2-hour guided tour that got pretty hairy at times. There were some steep inclines and declines throughout the cave, but we all survived with our limbs in tact. Every inch of the cave is made of limestone. Can you imagine 400 miles of limestone? Pretty neat!

Sunday, we worked out at the gym and then ate the calories back in Mexican food and ice cream later that evening. The family work-out was one of my favorite parts of the trip, as silly as that sounds. There is something so fun about all exercising together. The gym is way better with buddies!

Obsessed with this picture. Those Phelps genes are strong!

This little party animal loved her weekend with her Lolli and Pops and even had a creek adventure with Parker. Not pictured is Darla, who was probably sitting in my lap as this picture was taken. We've started calling her my little shadow because she literally follows me everywhere. I'm not complaining one bit! Her more independent sister likes to spend time by herself practicing the art of being unimpressed.

Our little hunter!

Until next time, Louisville!

That Time The GoPro Turned Our Road Trip Into A Photoshoot

In the past 3 weekends, Parker, Jenny, and I have spent 28 hours in the car together. That's a lot of car time. I wrote a post in December about how to survive holiday road trips without punching your significant other in the face, and those tips can absolutely be applied year round as well. Parker genuinely is my best friend, and we love quality time together, but at a certain point, you just want out of the car and fast. 

We did play our favorite car game quite a bit, which consists of one person thinking of someone you both know and the other asking yes/no questions until they figure it out. However, once I chose my sister's dog and Parker decided that wasn't playing by the rules, that game was done. When I chose our nephew pup, it was at least in the ball park of being an acceptable answer. When he chose a water bottle as the someone we both know, the game was over as we knew it. 

So, once we proved to be too immature for the car games, we turned to an unlikely source for entertainment. Parker brought his GoPro along for the ride during this last trip, and the car ride suddenly reached a new level of awesome. Who knew the GoPro was so entertaining? We set it to snap pictures of us every 30 seconds to see if it caught anything funny, and we had a great time posing for the "camera". This must be what celebrities feel like, no?

 

Excuse the pillows. Back problems = ride in the car with pillows. High maintenance, party of one. 

 

This is Parker's nervous face because I'm behind the wheel. Jenny clearly isn't bothered by it. Girl power.

Butttt we switched drivers anyway. Fine by me!

Danger

I guess I was boring him. I've always thought of it as a treat to get to listen to me talk to my twin sister on the phone.

So much happiness. Why? Because we are finally stopping for dinner. Aka, the best part of the road trip is upon us!

Excuse the face, but this is the cost of getting to be the passenger. You have to feed the driver. Jenny's got her eye on the prize.

I wanted Taco Bell.

 

Well, that was fun :)

So clearly, we've lost it. These are desperate times, people.

How do you stay sane on the road?

Road Tripping 101: How To Survive Holiday Car Rides Without Punching Your Significant Other In The Face

Is the title of this blog post a mouthful or what? It's a bit overboard, but the concept is as real as it gets. Parker and I had done our fair share of long drives prior to this year. We moved from Florida to Texas and drove back to Texas a couple of times during our time in Florida. We thought that was bad, but it was nothing compared to what we've done this past year. Moving from Florida to South Texas has been such a blessing. We are just 4 hours away from my parents, 4 hours away from our alma mater, and a few hours away from Austin, San Antonio, and Fredericksburg. We are so close to so many places and people that we love, but yall, that means countless hours spent in the car trying to get to these places. We had an amazing summer, but I look back on those few months and feel like we spent most of them in the car. It seemed like every weekend we were driving somewhere new.

Road trips became the norm, so we had to figure out how to make it through them without wanting to strangle the other one. Don't get me wrong, Parker and I love each other and appreciate the quality time long drives provides, but road trips can just be draining. If you're on the road for 8 hours, you are going to run out of things to talk about. You are going to get hungry, and you are likely going to get a little cranky. If you're like me, the hungry will cause the cranky, but I digress.

At this point, we feel like pros when it comes to road tripping. We drove 17 hours over Thanksgiving and didn't think anything of it. How did we master the art of road tripping while still maintaining some level of sanity and fondness for each other? Let's break it down:

ROAD TRIPPING 101

How to Survive Holiday Car Rides Without Punching Your Significant Other in the Face:

1. 20 Questions: This is a game we recently thought up to play, and it is such a great way to pass the time. One person thinks of someone you both know/know of (family, friend, acquaintance, celebrity, etc). The other asks yes or no questions to try to figure it out. We enjoy trying to stump each other by picking out of the box people. I thought I was so clever using Jenny as one of mine, but Parker guessed her after like four questions! That was a disappointment, but 20 Questions is perfect for that long car ride.

2. Audio Books: This is a fairly recent discovery as well, but it really helps pass the time. The first audio book we listened to was Lone Survivor, and we were hooked! It was a great story and kept us engaged and interested the whole time. We also listened to The Hatchet by Gary Paulson, a nice easy listen that's perfect for road trips. When you run out of things to talk about after 6 hours in the car, pop on the audio book. If you are still having quality conversation after 6 hours, I salute you. 

3. Stump the Chump: This is a game Parker and I invented this summer. I ask him a question that he should know the answer to if he has listened throughout our years together, and he tries to answer it. Then he does the same for me. These questions can be as hard or as easy as you want. Some sample questions:

• I had 6 cats growing up. What are the names of 3 of them?
• What are my sister's middle names?
• What sports do my younger cousins play?
• What were the names of my high school tennis coaches?
• I was on the chapter management team of my sorority in college. Name 3 other people who were on it with me?

Note: Do not play Stump the Chump if it will cause one of you to get upset because the other doesn't listen or doesn't know the answers. Parker missed most of the questions listed above, and I missed a lot of his questions. The rule of Stump the Chump is these questions are supposed to be difficult, so no hard feelings allowed!

4. Creative Questions: This is another questions game, but the great thing about this one is it sparks up some interesting conversation. I would ask Parker a creative question, and we would both have to answer. Then he would ask me a question for both of us to answer. Some sample questions:

• If you could change your name, what would it be and why?
• If we had a baby right now and the name was solely up to you, what would you name the baby?
• Our future son wants to play football, baseball, and tennis equally and asks your advice. Which sport do you push for?
• Would you rather win a million dollars or have the opportunity to give away a million dollars?

5.  Make It Fun: A road trip is as enjoyable or as miserable as you make it. Use this time to engage with your significant other. Plan fun stops along the way to restaurants or cafes you've never been to. You may be stuck in the car, but that doesn't mean you can't have fun! We were in the car for 8+ hours straight last month. We were only an hour or two away from arriving to our destination, but we decided to stop at the famous Czech Bakery in West, Texas to pick up some kolaches. It added time onto our drive, but who cares? Life's about the journey, not the destination.

What are your tips for staying sane during road trips?

Oklahoma Lovin'

This weekend was a wedding weekend! Parker and I had the privilege of getting to watch two of the most wonderful people tie the knot in Oklahoma. We met Chris and Maggie in Pensacola and so wish they were in Kingsville with us, but they are off to bigger and better things in California. I wrote about their engagement here, and their wedding was nothing short of amazing. They have so much love for each other, and we are so blessed to call them friends.

Seriously though, how precious are they?!

 

 Parker was so funny because the first thing he said when he saw Maggie walking down the aisle was "I love her dress!" I told him I would hope so since it's so similar to mine! I may be biased, but I think her dress is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen. The wedding was an awesome opportunity to get together with some of our Navy friends that we don't get to see as often, although we were definitely missing some (ahem, Emily).

I loved their decor- it was simple, chic, and elegant all at the same time. I know I'm not the only one that thinks mason jars at weddings are the cutest things!

Parker and I had a blast celebrating Chris and Maggie. Not much tops time spent with friends that you love. This marks the last wedding of the year for us, and it couldn't have been a more perfect one to end on.