As the title says, I am now home! There's been a LOT of stuff packed into this trip, the drive home, and wrapping it up while at home, so have a recap list thingy until I can get my act together and post pictures.
1. I took family pictures for two families and did an engagement shoot over Thanksgiving weekend.
This means that I have a ton of pictures. Fortunately, I've got them all edited and organized on my computer at home; unfortunately, I'm now at work and separated from my laptop. (For those of you that may be concerned that I'm slacking on my job, all it consists of is cleaning and answering the phone. Since cleaning is done, I'm sitting next to the phone awaiting phone calls with bated breath.)
The engagement shoot was for Lydiana's brother Gabi and his fiancé Abi. Let me just tell you now that they are freakin' adorable and I can't WAIT to do the post for them. We went to a reserve a couple of minutes from the Acevedo's house, and it was an absolute pleasure to shoot. I'm just waiting for Abi to get the 'save the date' stuff selected and posted on her end before I start throwing pictures all over the place.
2. Thanksgiving was spent at my brothers' in-laws, which was strange and fun at the same time.
I say 'strange' because for as long as I can remember my family has spent Thanksgiving and Christmas with my grandparents down the street. Since they're both gone as of last February, this means that we're having to create some new traditions that don't involve seeing close family.
I say 'fun' because my best friend Emily Rose is married to my brother's brother-in-law, and the other brother-in-law is the one who had the photo shoot, and everything was delightfully mixed and I got to see people that I haven't seen in months/years. I also stayed with Emily and Obi, took pictures of them, went to Mount Dora (which is a whole whopping 107 feet above sea level!), and generally had a blast.
3. After Thanksgiving I drove to see my friend Tricia on the East coast of Florida.
This meant driving all by myself the breadth of Florida, and aside from the excitement of getting to see Tricia for the first time in a year I had the strange feeling of freedom and independence that comes from driving to an unfamiliar place alone.
Seeing Tricia was AWESOME. She and I have kept in contact via letters and occasional phone calls for the better part of three years, and she is that brutally honest friend that is so gentle and sweet about the way that she unfolds that brutal honesty that instead of off-putting it's very endearing. My biggest regret is not getting any pictures of her, because she was 37 weeks pregnant. There was a moment of trepidation where the baby dropped during my stay, and I wasn't sure if there was going to be a surprise early baby. Thankfully that did not happen, and she's still trucking along towards 40 weeks.
We basically spent the whole visit drinking tea and talking. I think both of us needed the opportunity to catch up. XD
4. On my way back across Florida from Tricia's, I got a phone call about another pregnant friend of mine.
Emily Rose's sister in law, Emily Lynn, went into labor around 5 AM that Sunday. By the time I got back to Isaac and Lydiana's place at 10:30 AM, she had delivered a baby girl at 33 weeks. Both are doing great, and I got to see both of them yesterday, but for a few hours it was pretty tense because we didn't know why she was going into premature labor. We still don't, but by the looks of things they will be going home in a couple of weeks.
5. Wade and Ben kept me crazy busy.
Enough said? XD
6. I started watching a new TV series (like I need another distraction in my life).
I've made it through 1 2/3 seasons of Once Upon a Time within 2 1/2 weeks. I've been truly too busy to pick it up again since coming home, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing.
7.
The trip home was shared with another friend of mine, Jean Marie.
I hadn't seen Jean Marie for almost 2 years, and all I have to say is: THAT NEEDED TO STOP. Seriously. I never realize quite how much I missed her until I saw her last Saturday night, and it was like 'you fit a perfectly Jean-shaped hole in my life please don't go away'. Ya know what I mean? And while we have exchanged the occasional letter and comment on each other's Facebook posts and keep in contact that way, nothing replaces actual, face-to-face, REAL communication. I can't even describe it.
The whole trip home and consequent visit will have to be another post, because it was definitely an adventure in itself. Mwahaha.
You know, I'm liking this adventure-taking side into which my life has been morphing.
8. I've recently started working at the gym again.
I started Monday, as a matter of fact. A week or so before I came home from Colorado Mom called me to say that I had been offered the evening hours at the gym. Since I had nothing else lined up, I jumped on it and am now officially employed. Between cleaning houses and the gym, I should be set before May rolls around again.
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I think that wraps up the list-making...I'll be back with more posts and pictures later, but tonight/tomorrow will be my last days spent with Jean Marie and Shelby before Jean goes back to Florida, so don't expect anything before then. XD
