Recap

Ugghh. Everytime I sit down to write I'm so overwhelmed at how behind I am, I just move on to something else. The downside to that is the fact that I'm going to look back on 2010 and wonder what the heck I did. So, here's a short recap of the past few weeks...

A few weeks ago I had a business trip to Phoenix that ended with a few days with family and friends. It was a whirlwind trip, but loads of fun. We stayed at the Phoenician...which is beyond fantastic. The "turndown" service each night before bed included a soft rug between the beds, the curtains drawn, the sheets turned down, dimmed lights and soft opera music. I could seriously get used to that! :) My coworkers and I enjoyed some amazing dinners, shopping, relaxing and attending the Hoops of Hope banquet. My company was kind enough to let me stay a few days before flying home so that I could hang out with my family. Friday morning the rest of the crew took off and my sister-in-law, nieces and nephew came to the hotel to enjoy the pools before I had to check out.

Friday afternoon I drove to Oldtown Scottsdale to spend the evening with my longtime friend, Stephanie. I haven't seen her since August and a "special someone" has become a part of her life since then, so I enjoyed getting to meet him as well! We had a great night hanging out...only wish it could have been longer!

Saturday I got up with the kiddos and spent the morning baking dark chocolate cupcakes with mint cream cheese icing (colored green for St. Patty's day). We played quite a bit of Wii, jumped on the trampoline, and made the most of the very short amount of time we had together. Saturday night Ryan, Cheri, Dan, Megan, Jordan, Parker, Scott and I all went out for sushi to celebrate Ryan's new job, Dan's promotion, and, well...we love sushi and will make up any excuse to go out and celebrate when I'm in town :). After dinner we headed back to Ryan & Cheri's house, had some dessert and played cornhole late into the night...and even some Super Mario Bros after that. Sleep wasn't an important part of the trip, that's for sure :).

Sunday morning it was already time to head home. Will came downstairs while everyone else was getting ready for church and said, "Aunt Trish, I'm really sad you're leaving today". Broke my heart :-(. I definitely wish I could have stayed longer, but was grateful for the time I had. Hopefully it won't be too horribly long before i make it back again.

This week has been full of family emails and phone calls as we are nailing down our Christmas 2010 plans. I know it may seem a little too soon, but you'd be amazed at how quickly things get booked when you're renting something for the week of Christmas. This year we're going to Tahoe and I couldn't be more excited! I can't wait to pack up my skis and hit the slopes...and snowmobile...and snowtube...and sit in the hot tub while the snow falls. Absolute bliss in my book! We found a great house right on the lake that looks like it will be an amazing winter vacation...and tempting enough to return for a summer vacation as well!

And finally, this weekend I headed to Knoxville to celebrate Bryce's 25th birthday. I offered to make his cake since I'd been dreaming up a peanut butter banana cake for the past few weeks. I didn't take any pictures (as has been the case lately...sorry!), but it was 2 layers of banana cake with a peanut butter buttermilk drizzle, fresh slices of bananas between the layers and coated in a cream cheese icing. It was definitely a hit! I also designed a tshirt for Bryce for his birthday that says "Hrorky Hrangle Hrot". It's the nickname we (Nathan, Ryan and I) called him as a child (and he HATED it!), so I thought it would be a funny gift...as well as a great conversation piece. He definitely loved that! I got to see my parent's new RV and also help my mom shop for some dishes and accessories for it as well as get some final touches (towels, rugs, etc.) for Bryce's house. All-in-all a relaxing, fun and productive weekend.

Alright, well as extremely exciting as that was...at least I'm somewhat "caught up" for the time being. Hopefully the future posts will have more pictures and less words. Until then...have a great week!