Masters Family Vacation: Part 1

This year we went to Ft. Lauderdale, Florida for our annual Masters Family vacation!  And we had such a great time!  There's nothing I love more than being with my family...playing games, going out to eat, exploring, doing all the touristy things, riding in the car together, and even fighting together.  I feel like these times with my family are going to be harder to come by in just a few short years and that makes them even more special.  My family may not be perfect but they're mine and I wouldn't change them for anything!

Travel Day!

We took two flights to get to Florida, one ironically stopping in Houston, while my family drove the 16 hours to get there, so can't complain!

Once we got there, we were starving because travel days always mean no food (we literally walked off one plane and on to the other without stopping!)  So we headed to the only place open all night...IHOP!  We ordered so much food we couldn't fit everything on the table!

The next day, Sunday, we just stayed in, relaxed and played games.  My favorite!

They finished this in ONE DAY!

So our game of choice for the week was The Game of Things.  It's a simple concept...you take turns answering questions like "Things you shouldn't do at a party," "Things that make you giggle," "Things that you wish were real," etc. and then you have to guess who said what.  What made it even more fun was this Helium app that Steph and Sean kept using the entire trip to secretly record us saying funny things and it would make our voices sound all high and cartoony and make us look funny!  It made for some pretty awesome, laugh until you pee your pants videos like the one below...

I think the question was "Things you don't want to know about your grandma!"

Mark and I made our famous Asian Salmon bowls for dinner.  Everyone loved them!  Even Steph and she's a vegan (we made hers an Asian Tofu bowl).

One hot chef right there ;)

The fixings!

After dinner we took a walk along the ocean as the sun went down.  We basically had the beach to ourselves and it was so beautiful!

Just a girl and her ocean :)

The next day we hit the beach!  Our hotel wasn't right on the beach but it was a short 5 min walk across the street.  The water felt amazing, like a bathtub!  I also decided that my new favorite thing is being in Mark's arms while floating in the ocean.  Heaven, pure heaven.  I can't remember the last time I felt so happy and perfectly at peace.

Beach Bunnies :)

All the kiddos

Our umbrella did not live up to its full potential

More pictures and hilarious videos to follow.  Florida, I miss you.

Searching for Calm

I've been so on edge the past few days and it seems no matter what I do I am unable to locate that inner peace and calm I so desperately desire.

Some of the anxiety is probably from coming back from vacation and getting back into my routine. I am a very organized, methodical person so when my routine gets interrupted (which unfortunately happens often in the industry I'm in) I panic and feel stressed.

I had a voiceover audition yesterday, my first day back and I was so worried about it. It ended up going great and I was relieved but now I have another one today and I was also supposed to work today so I had to get out of that and let people down, as usual. I hate doing that. I hate being forced to be flaky by my job.

I feel like every day I'm just longing for tomorrow and hoping the stress of today melts away in the night. But I'm starting to realize it never really goes away...

I need to learn to let go of my need for control in my life because really we have none. It's so hard for me to accept that which is why I enforce order and structure in all aspects of my life, including trying to get pregnant. I am so worried it'll never happen or if it does I'll miscarry again. Is that really what happened? Did I really have a miscarriage? I think I've been in denial about the whole thing. It was so early that's not really what it was. I much prefer the term "chemical pregnancy". After all, most women have one at some point or another and don't ever know it because they haven't taken a test. That's why I'm not testing until I'm a week late this time around!

I really think I may be pregnant though. I was in my fertile window when we were on vaca in Florida. So Mark and I knew that was going to make trying super fun, ha. We didn't even have our own room! We had to sleep in the couch bed in the living room. So that was tricky and super stressful. We had to stay up until 3 am until everyone was asleep (and my bro and sis are night owls) and I was always so exhausted by the time it was time to go. One time my dad walked out in the middle of the night and we just froze under the covers and pretended to be asleep. Not the way anyone should try to conceive, let me tell you!!!

And now I'm in the two week wait and have been having lots of cm (it's supposed to dry up if your period is coming up) and my temp is very high (it's supposed to go back down) and the biggest sign actually happened in Florida. On Friday I had the worst cramps ever, worse than period cramps but they felt similar. I was so sure my period was going to come, which would have been terrifying because I had only ovulated a few days before so that may have meant an ectopic pregnancy or something. But I'm pretty sure it was implantation cramps. Some women get them and the timing was right and it just felt different! I guess only time will tell.

I know I should keep things in perspective. So many people are going through so many harder trials than me and I have every reason to be calm and happy. I want to be but something is getting in the way. Praying daily though and who knows, maybe it's just babyflies in my tummy :)

4th of July

I've been super slacking at blogging lately but that's mostly because we've been busy doing fun things and living the good life...so can't complain.  At least it's still July so I'm not that late in posting about our long, fun 4th of July weekend!

On Thursday night we had a Disney date, my favorite!

We finally got a good seat ahead of time for the "Paint the Night" parade!  It's seriously the best parade I've ever seen!

There are something like two million lights in the parade and it's incredible!!  Our seats were right in front of the speakers too so we had surround sound and it was awesome!

That video won't do it justice, you've got to experience the magic for yourself! :)

After Disney, we drove to PV to spend the weekend with family.  On Friday we saw "Inside Out" and LOVED it!!!  Seriously, that movie spoke to me.  I cried three times, including in the Lava short (although, that's typical for me).  I wasn't the only one either...our audience was full of kids and this one little girl a few rows behind us would sob during the sad parts!  It was precious and every time she cried, I cried.  Mark and I decided that would be an awesome promotional trailer...just showing kids' reactions to the movie!  Her reactions were priceless.

After the movie, we were on duty to baby-sit our adorable nephews while Birk and Al attended Al's sister's wedding. Jake was the ring bearer but he never made it to the actual ceremony. When he saw Birk was taking Sam home after pictures, he realized that was an option and convinced them to let him come home too. But he would have made an adorable ring bearer!

When I asked him how the wedding was he said, "I kept waiting for the wedding but it never came!" Hahaha, he is precious.

We baby-sat at Al's parents' amazing home in Palos Verdes.  It's one of the most incredible houses I've ever been in. The whole back side is glass and the view is incredible.

I told Mark if we lived here I would just sit and stare at the view all day.

While I played with sweet Sam, Mark and Jake watched Thomas the Train.

After we finally got Sam down (things to look forward to in the future, ha) we ordered a pizza and watched The Office.  My kind of night :)

The next morning we headed to the South Bay Galleria and Del Amo Fashion Center and shopped till we dropped!

We were on a hunt for a new swimsuit for me and groomsman attire for Mark. He also got an early birthday present from his dad...

Looking dapper ;)

For lunch we had a classic American favorite...

In-N-Out!

Heaven

We went to pretty much every store known to man looking for my swimsuit with no luck.  That's probably because I had my heart set on this one from J Crew...

They only had sizes 12 and 14 left online (and they don't carry swimsuits in store, along with half of the other stores I went to).  So I was searching for something similar but had no luck.  I was so disappointed. Then I decided to go back online to admire it one more time and suddenly they had one available in just my size!!!  (I actually had said a prayer that I would be able to get this swimsuit somehow or one just like it, hahaha totally inappropriate I know.)  I ordered it so fast and then they were sold out and the suit literally disappeared from the website.  I prayed it would fit and it was a perfect fit!  So happy!!!

Beach Bunnies :)

And Mark successfully found khaki pants and suspenders for Sean's wedding. His mom made the blush bow tie so he's all set for that one! He is also a groomsman at his best friend's wedding in Arizona a few weeks before! 'Tis the season for weddings!

The next night, 4th of July, we headed back to the Schwartz's for their annual 4th of July party. It was catered and I ate like it was Thanksgiving...there was just so much to choose from!  Appetizers included assorted cheese and crackers, chips and salsa, pita chips and the most delicious warm spinach artichoke dip, and fresh fruit.

For dinner we had traditional All American cuisine: hotdogs, cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, homemade macaroni and cheese (fave), baked beans, potato salad, fruit salad, potato chips and pickles!  We were stuffed after all that deliciousness but then they brought out giant cookies for dessert! I grabbed a sugar one for me and Rocky Road for Mark so I could try both ;)

Then we sat around and talked, sluggish and sleepy after all that food, as we waited for the fireworks to start. All of the houses along the coast have the best view...the fireworks are right above the water, so basically in their backyard.  Jake stayed up to watch them and to keep him occupied, Chip kept counting down to when they would start. After several countdowns (a few including fractions), finally he was right and they lasted a good 30 minutes. Near the end, Jake kept asking, "Is it almost over? When are they gonna be done?" Haha, I was getting pretty bored too, mostly because I was sleepy. But it was a great night.

I wonder where we'll be next 4th of July and if we'll still be a family of two. So many exciting things to look forward to and I'm impatient for all of them. I guess I should try and embrace the journey and enjoy every minute that I have my hubby all to myself. Who knows what the future holds but life right now is pretty great...

Walks with Mark

One of my favorite things to do is go on walks with my love. I love being in nature, holding hands and getting exercise in all at the same time. Sometimes I have to drag Mark off the couch after work (before he falls asleep and naps till bedtime) but I know he loves it once we're out.

We've started running together 3 days a week in the evenings, just as the sun is going down. I'm working up to be able to run 30 minutes straight without stopping. Running is something I've never really been able to do and I always thought it would be impossible for me but we're following a specific schedule to work up to it and so far, so good!

Tonight we're walking 1 min, running 7 minutes, four times. Afterwards we're going swimming at a house we're sitting this week! My first swim of the summer...I'm terrible I know.

Vacation in Florida next week! Can't wait!

Where did June go?

I can't believe June is almost over!  It's been a whirlwind.

We started the month off with a Disney date night at our favorite restaurant, Carnation Cafe!

My handsome date!

The next day was our nephew Jake's birthday party!  These are always a great time...he is the sweetest little thing.  3 years old now!

Isn't he precious?

Here's a video I took of Mark being amazing with the kids!  He is going to be such an awesome daddy! :)

I've also been super productive this month.  I put together an animation voice over reel (long overdue) because I've been reading for several pilots lately and it stirred up something inside me to really get cracking on this dream of mine!  I learned how to use a sound editing program and (with the help of my awesome brother-in-law) found a bunch of sound effects to make it sound like the clips came from actual shows.  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  Not sure how to post it here but maybe I'll find some pictures to go with it and make it a video on YouTube!  If so, I'll post it later.

I've also been working on another dream of mine, starting my own princess party company!  I've been getting all my supplies and treasures (for my treasure chest!) because my first party is on June 30!  It's coming up fast.  I had a costume fitting this past weekend with my amazingly talented mother-in-law and this Ariel costume is going to be stunning!!!  She has such wonderful ideas and is just so detail oriented with everything.  I'm so excited to see it and wear it for the party!

Mark has been helping me with my website and designed my business cards for me!  I love our theme!  We've only got a Coming Soon page up on my website but I am in love with how it turned out! :)

Next month should go pretty fast too!  We have our annual Masters family vacation and two weddings to get ready for in August!  I'm just realizing this summer is going to fly by and then my favorite season is right around the corner...Fall!!