Family vacation in Orlando: Magical

Happy August friends! I feel like its always so crazy how fast the summer goes. And then you see school supplies in Target and it's like BAM over. Except it will still be hot for like three more months. You'll see.

July was ca-razy for us. It went like this.

1. Start orientation for my new JOB.
2. Fourth of July
3. Trip to Orlando with Caleb's fam
4. Trip to Indiana with my mom
5. Buy a house
6. Start my new JOB for reals.
7. Sleep for like two days straight after all that.

So I have a lot to catch up on. Let's start with Orlando. We went on this magical trip with Caleb's family to celebrate his parents' 30th anniversary. Amazing.


Because Disney World really is the happiest place on earth.

We arrived to the Disney resort late on a Wednesday night. And that place is huge. So huge that we had a small tiff about navigating through it. No worries, we got to our hotel with unharmed.

The next day we set out for the Magic Kingdom. As soon as we got inside, I saw Cinderella ride by in the parade. I cried a few tears of joy. Magical.

George, ready to get his Disney on.

Cinderella's castle!!! And a few ominous clouds...

We hit up the teacups and It's A Small World. Junie B and I bonded. As you can see, our excitement was equal.

We rode the Pirates of the Caribbean. Which I'm pretty sure was the last straw for George and June. They bounced. Good thing, because storms broke loose. We hunkered down at the Peter Pan ride. It was indoors, obviously.

The storms passed. We rode Space Mountain. The best ride ever. Then we tried to tour Cinderella's castle on our own. We were denied.

We finished off the night with the electric light parade (amazing!) and the best fireworks I've ever seen. I also may have shed a few tears at this point.

Thanks tall dude, for getting in my pic.

My first trip to Disney World was magical. That's all there is to it.

The next day we headed to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.

In case you were unaware, this is where Harry Potter World lives. I don't know if its really called that, but we call it that. Actually, its called The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. But I like Harry Potter World.

Audrey and I, getting ready to respect the spell limits.

We rode a lot of rides that day. A lot. By the end of the day, I couldn't ride any more rides. Harry Potter, the Hulk, Spiderman, and more. We rode the main HP ride like 4 times. I lost count. We went to the sweet shop in HP world and ate things like chocolate frogs and fizzing whizbees. Again, magical.

Caleb and Jordan, with Hogwarts in the background.

We finished up the day with dinner at the Hard Rock Cafe. Which I love so much I didn't take a picture of. But I do love some Hard Rock.

After a couple theme park-packed days, we took it easy the next day. Got our shop on at the Mall at Millenia. Which is a wonderful, magical place all on its own. I've been there before, for our first anniversary. It makes me feel like a rich person. Just to walk around there. Also, we visited IKEA. Is there a campaign to bring them to KC? Because I will be part of it.

For our final day in Orlando, we hit up the beach. I almost drowned and got super sun burnt. Again, magical. We had a delish dinner at PF Changs.

Hello, sun burnt shoulder. Good thing it matches my neon dress. (R to L: Zach, George, Jordan, Audrey, Jim, Bev, June, Caleb, Audrey, and me!)

Spending time in Orlando with my sweet in laws was just...magical. I know.

Christmas in Kansas City

I made it through work this week! That means two days off before and after Christmas. Except I get to work Christmas Day. Aren't you jealous? Now I'm just waiting for the sweet hubs to get home and thought I would share some highlights from our Christmas trip to the 913. We celebrated a little early since Kiewit was flying us back to KC for par-tays. I mean...meetings.

I had a really great seat on the first plane and a really crappy seat on the second one.

We did a little Crown Center ice skating and general Christmas merriment with Caleb's family. We also enjoyed some Jack Stack. I love you, bbq. And here's something honest: I love to ice skate. Everyone was ready to go and I was like "but I just warmed up!"

We had "Christmas" with both sides of the family, since we will be hanging out here in Tennessee for the actual holiday. The most fun was watching George. We seriously love that guy. Caleb's dad got some KU tickets and gear for Christmas. We force our love of the Jayhawks on everyone around us! Baby June, guess where you are going to college?

My dad got a grill for Christmas. He was super pumped. I also made him grill our Christmas dinner but he didn't seem to mind!

I love my parent's Christmas tree, it always looks exactly the same as I remember it from when I was a kid.

We also babysat for George and June one night. Caleb was a jungle gym and his keys were the best toy ever.

June cried most of the time. So we just snuggled her and kept her out of bed. Oops. Sorry to mess up the sleep training...

We had SUCH a good time with our families! It's always hard to leave. Hopefully someday soon we'll be back for good!

Last sip of Boulevard Wheat in the airport before catching our flight back...

I got an early Christmas present from the hubs...a macro lens. So expect so close up pics soon...

Giving Thanks

So I am finally getting around to my Thanksgiving post...I almost skipped it, but I love Thanksgiving and honestly can't afford to NOT reflect on what I'm thankful for. So here is my list, with a few pics of recent happenings.

1. I am so thankful for my j.o.b. I have worked a whole freaking lot this year and I am so grateful for the opportunity to do that. I love my coworkers and my patients (ok, most of them). Sometimes I hate the hours, the poop, and the crazy people. But I love getting to help people through some of the toughest times in their lives.

B-12 is my favorite shot to give. Because its pink. Duh.

2. I am so so thankful for all the awesome friends we have. We have so many great friends here in Tennessee and actually spread all over the place. We spent Thanksgiving evening with Logan and Stephanie and our favorite nerd game, Settlers of Catan. Logan cooked a killer turkey. It was amazing.

3. Both of our families pretty much rock. So thankful for supportive, loving families! We met up with Caleb's fam in Nashville for Thanksgiving weekend. We shopped till we dropped, people. It was real.

And we saw my sweet cousin, Nicole while we were there. Tessa, Nic, and I got our shop on. L.o.v.e. this pic.

4. My darling husband. He is my favorite person on this earth. I got him a Thanksgiving card since I had to work all day. (Don't worry, he was fine with shooting guns with his buddies all day.)

5.  The little things that make my days good...coffee, Kathie Lee and Hoda, convos on the way home from work with my momma, laughing at silly tv shows with my hub, going out for lunch with Stephanie,  emails from my Grandma, a good butt kicking at the gym, Michael Buble's Christmas album, Instagram, and a tiny glass of wine at the end of the day.

6. And of course, the amazing fact that God send his Son to die for me. Wonderful, amazing, and the huge truth that gets forgotten in the little happenings of daily life.

That's my list! I would like to share that I am officially a Tennessean as of today. I switched my driver's license over. Caleb is switching his too. Why? So that we can legally buy a gun in the state of Tennessee. Oh Tennessee, what have you done to us?

(Oh, I really heart Instagram. Can you tell?)

Kansas City goodness

This post is a little belated since I got back from Kansas City late Saturday night. I was going to post on Sunday but then I was hanging out with my hubby all day. I worked on Monday and Tuesday (and it was a little crazy). Yesterday I was going to post, and then after spending most of the day shopping, I realized I should probably clean. I did buy three pairs of shoes at Target though. On sale. And they are super cute.

Anyway, our trip to Kansas was a success. We went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter, which was amazing. Caleb did make our group stand in line outside the theater starting at 7pm. It was really, really, really hot. I should have taken pictures of all the hilarious costumes people were wearing but I just wasn't in the mood. I was too dang hot. But the movie was seriously awesome. And they had butterbeer, which was super hilarious.

Butterscotch schnapps, cream soda, and a glow stick.

We spent the weekend hanging out with our families and celebrated Caleb's mom's birthday! We had a birthday cookout and spent the evening watching George do funny baby things. Because we are all obsessed with George.

Tell me this picture doesn't make you smile.

Caleb had to leave on Monday (boo work) and drove the whole 12 hours by himself. My husband is a rockstar. I got to stay for the rest of the week and spent lots of time hanging out with my family and friends. My parents celebrated their 27th wedding anniversary last Friday and we headed out to the Royals to brave the heat. We got some shady seats and loaded up on buck night goodies, so it was a good time.

27 years, people.

We also saw our all time favorite player, Johnny Damon. I like to call him Johnny D. And we cheered for him even though he was playing against the Royals and we love the Royals. Johnny D. played for the Wranglers (a previous Royals Double A team) when we lived in Wichita and we loved him. We have loved him throughout his major league career, long hair, and two wives.

Johnny D., you can totally get 3,000 hits. I believe in you.

Not only was it buck night, my parent's 27th anniversary, and Johnny D. day, it was also firework night.
I do love some good fireworks.

Saturday was my last day in Kansas. Kerry and I headed out to George's first birthday party. It was freaking hot. I am a committed aunt.

He is starting to walk!

It was so hot, the candy all melted. The kids didn't seem to mind though.

Layne, the other birthday boy, sucking melted gummy candy out of the package.

Birthday boy with his parents and super cute cake.

Kerry and I took some notes for our future children's bday parties as we sweated it out. (By future, I mean distant future.) So so cute! Check out Audrey and Jami's blogs here and here!

BFF pic (minus Cara! We love you Cara!)

I had a wonderful week but was so happy to get back to my hubby. I love Kansas City. And my man.

I hope you are having a wonderful week! This is my last day off before my work weekend so I'm trying to spend it getting some stuff done and not thinking about work! Happy Thursday!

Happy Father's Day!

To my dad:
Who missed a golf tournament 25 years ago for my birth, who taught me to ride a bike, throw a ball less like a girl, drive a car (way before the legal driving age), who paid for me to learn all the things he couldn't teach me himself, who came to all my concerts, musicals, and even my sporting events, who told me I could be anything I wanted, who taught me how to pray, how to stand up for what is right, and how to admit when I am wrong. I love you, Daddy.

To my father-in-law:
Whose patience, understanding, wisdom, trips to the emergency room, and probably a lot of prayers shaped the man who is my husband. Thank you. Don't worry, you will probably get to enjoy payback to your son in the form of grandchildren some day.

We wish we could be there to spend the day with you! We love you both!

I love Kansas City

We road tripped it up to Kansas City this past weekend for Caleb's brother, Jordan's high school graduation. It has been four long months since I have been HOME and it was beautiful! We left Thursday night and drove all the way through with Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone on cd to keep us company and we rocked it all night. We got there at 6am and since no one was up yet we decorated Jordan's car.

The rain washed it off later that day. But it's the thought that counts!

We hung out with my parents for the day and saw their rehab house project. I told them to make a blog about it. They looked at me like I was a little crazy.

Then we crashed around 3pm. That staying up all night eventually gets to you! Then we headed over to Zach and Audrey's to find out if their bun in the oven is a boy or girl. (It's a girl! So excited to buy girl stuff!) But mostly we went to see George. Sorry Zach and Aud, we love your spawn. That boy is like twice as big as he was four months ago (not an exaggeration) and totally knows how to ham it up for the camera. Love him.  And we met Audrey's sister Jami's new peanut, Penelope (and by new I mean, less than one week old!). Not gonna lie, holding babies makes my womb ache a little. Just a tiny tiny itty bitty bit.

Tell me that isn't the cutest face you've ever seen.

Saturday was the graduation extravaganza. Chipotle catering your grad party=genius. I love Chipotle. (But not as much as baby George.) We got to see tons of relatives that we hadn't seen since our wedding and had a blast.

Caleb and Grandma Baker

Caleb and Uncle Mike, who said he wanted a different pic if it was going on my blog.

I think George loved Grandma Baker, they hung out for awhile.

Baker fam.

Caleb and I are really bad influences. 

Haha.

I forgot to take pics of my fam or of my bff because I'm crazy. But I love them and loved seeing them! I finished up the trip by waking up on Monday with awful back pain. I dislike hard mattresses. Very very much. Thanks to some muscle relaxers from my father-in-law, I'm good to go. Because as a nurse, I encourage people to share their prescription meds. (Oh wait...)

We rolled in at 3am, crashed for awhile, and now it's back to real life! I love Kansas City, family, and home.

There's no place like home...

So we went home for ten days...and it was wonderful. We were pretty disappointed that we had to miss Christmas with our families but this was a great time! I kind of took a massive amount of pictures...and even missed some stuff I should have taken photos of. Oh well. But this post will come in two parts because there is just too much stuff!

Family Christmas dinner with the Bakers...we finally got to meet Tessa, Jordan's super cute girlfriend! It was her 19th birthday so we had to celebrate. And I'm pretty sure Joe hates taking pictures as much as Caleb does.

Obviously we are in love with baby George. He wants to crawl so bad!

So freaking cute. Don't you just want to kiss those cheeks??

More of us and George. Obsessed.

He loves hanging out with Grandma!

I got to see my bffs, Kerry and Cara. Kerry made a yummy dinner and we sat around and drank some wine and had some girl talk. I miss that a lot here! And I took no pictures of it...sad. But I love those girls! We didn't go ice skating like I promised Cara. It was just too dang cold! Next year, Cara, next year.

My beautiful Grandma Frank was in town too! She taught me how to make a blueberry pie for the Voth Christmas dinner. We had a blast.

Grandma is a pie making pro.

After Voth Christmas dinner, the boys all disappeared and my mom did facials for the girls. She will give you a FREE Mary Kay facial if you want one!

So fun!

Part two will be posted tomorrow night...don't fret. 

I went to the gym this morning (only because I had to go downstairs to move my car...and figured I should make the trip worthwhile). The guy that works there said "Oh hey, I haven't seen you in awhile!" Thanks gym guy. Maybe that's why I huffed and puffed my way through the tredmill and eliptical. I think I can, I think I can...

I also started the state of the house project today. (I've been working the last couple days, give me a break.) I cleaned and organized the bedroom. It took like...an hour. I even cleaned under the bed and put up pictures. So I was pretty happy with myself to get it done in such a short amount of time. Even though this is the least cluttered room of the house. It was a good way to start out the project! I also remembered why my house is cluttered and a mess. Because I work all the time. And on my days off here are the things I want to do: 1. lay in bed and watch the Today Show and drink coffee, 2. go to the gym, 3. bake things, 4. catch up on all my dvr'd shows. *Sigh* I will not give up. 

I'm working all weekend and so my sweet hubby who has been working his butt off all week can play xbox in peace. Closet cleaning time on Monday. Watch out closet!

The hub is going to a concert tomorrow night so when I get home from work I will post the rest of our fun trip! Have a beautiful weekend! And enjoy your snow days all you lucky KC people!

George the Monkey

I love being off on Mondays after working all weekend. Sleeping in until 7 (two hours past when I usually wake up), a slow cup of coffee, the Today show, and blogging! Caleb's brother Zach and his wife Audreyand their sweet baby George came to visit us last weekend. We had SO much fun...eating, shopping, playing with George, just hanging out and catching up. Looking through my pictures I realized that most of them are of George...because everything a baby does is cute. Eating, sleeping, smiling, frowning...seriously we just took pictures of everything he did.

I'm trying out a new photo collage program that Audrey introduced me to...so here we go.


While Caleb was working, we went antique shopping and to the hotdog store on our street.

I love the lady looking adoringly at George.

FYI, George adores me. All other aunts, beware. I am his favorite.

Men love blondes. What can I say?

He also adores his uncle Caleb. Who let him play with the new Harry Potter wands. (See previous post!)

This was hilarious. And adorable. 

Of course, George loves his parents most. He lights up whenever Zach is around. Seriously, the sweetest thing ever!

Zach and Aud even cooked us dinner one night. Which was awesome. Who doesn't love a great meal that is delish, cooked for you, AND cleaned up for you? Yes, I would love to hold your child while you cook me dinner...

More of George just being an awesome baby...

Love all his expressions.

I bought him a monkey costume for Halloween. It was probably the cutest thing ever. He hated it. Go figure. Don't worry George, I will stop buying you costumes with built in footies after you can walk. (Unlike the aunt in the movie A Christmas Story.)

Note the look of terror by George. Sorry kiddo.

Much happier naked!

Adorable.

We love this kid and our awesome brother and sister! 

Sweet family shots!

Zach and Audrey: Thanks for making the trip to East Tennessee! We loved having you! Please come back!

Let me know what you think of the collage...I just realized that I should have made all the backgrounds black. Oh well...next time!