It’s been a long week. A really long week. A week full of trials, letdowns, sleepless nights, back aches, and nerves all rolled up into one tightly wrapped package. Today, as I stood to present my final in front of 3 intimidating interior designers and a class full of curious stares, I froze. I lost my thoughts and wanted to casually wave my hand in the air and tell them all that on second thought, I think I’ll sit down and present tomorrow. As in, after I get a full night of sleep, practice my project more thoroughly, and am in the mood. After entertaining the thought for about a millisecond, I knew that just wasn’t feasible and as I struggled to find the right words, I did what I always do… say something funny and laugh nervously. Except when no one else thinks it’s funny and blank stares glare back at you…well, it’s in those moments I wish for supernatural powers. To disappear. And never return.

I somehow managed to get through the rest of my presentation and listened to the “constructive criticism” part at the end. Then, I took my seat and wished for a different supernatural power. To turn back the time. But today, I realized that there really are no second shots in life. There are no do-overs. And there are definitely no superpowers. It was a good reminder that things don’t always work out for the best and sometimes things go really wrong. I guess it’s what you do with that information that makes all the difference. And I say “I guess” because I have yet to do that. For now, I’m in a sulking-feeling-sorry-for-me-and-everyone-else-can-bite-me type of mood. Yep, I really did just say bite me. Oh, and did I mention the drowning my sorrows in ben & jerry’s ice cream mood? Yep.

On a chipper note, I’m looking forward to some time off spent catching up on my reading and The Bachelorette episodes. And I’m really looking forward to shooting this weekend’s wedding in Georgia. I’ll give you a hint why…  

So in the past week since returning from our lil getaway, I’ve managed to spend every waking (and sleeping) moment at an institution called school. I’m talkin 18 hour days in front of a computer. Fun stuff. I got home yesterday after a long day and collapsed on the sofa. I began to feel some pretty intense neck pain and was pretty sure I’d pinched a nerve. Or broke a vertebrae. Instead of going to bed, I told Adi I needed to get my mind off of school and so we decided to watch an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Yes, we watch shows after they’ve wrapped. Adi built me a fort of pillows and propped me up so high, you’d think my back was held up by plywood. This is SO not cool. He would have none of it. You have to sit up straight and support your neck. There’s no arguing with Mr. Chiropractor. Before I could stage another protest, Adi began to build himself the same fort. Instead of sprawling out like the king of the world, he shared in my uncomfortable position to make me feel better. And there we sat, surrounded by supporting lumbar and cervical pillows….perhaps giving us a preview of what our elderly future looks like.  Either way, it’s good to know that the only thing that hasn’t been a pain in my neck this week, has been him. Adi, thank you for always supporting me…literally and figuratively. I’m lucky to have you as “my person”.

I’ve read that every post is better with a picture so I’m posting one that is kind of irrelevant. Adi took it while we were on vacation last weekend and I love it because it comes with fond memories. Memories of a stress free time. Memories of feeling alive, pain-free, young, and & in love.  

Under a shade of palm trees, he propped his arms on the edge of the pool and let his head rest for a little while. The coolness of the water felt refreshing…necessary even. The smell of suntan lotion and pina colada’s surrounded him as I inched my way closer. Swimming up to him, he gently removed the sunglasses off my face and began to wipe the water dripping from my soaked hair. Planting a soft kiss on my forehead, he muttered how great this was. As I made my way under his arms, we floated in the pool and closed our eyes as the gentle waves swayed our legs from side to side, occasionally exposing them to the hot rays emitting from the bright sun. As still and quiet as the breeze, we felt like the only ones there. As though reading my thoughts, Adi reassured me that we’ll always have this. The comfort of lying next to each other, silent & still, yet completely comfortable and happy. If everything else fails us, we’ll have each other. To wipe water droplets off each others faces, to wrap our arms around one another, and surround ourselves with love.

This weekend was beautiful. We relaxed, read books, swam, saw dolphins, took walks, and ate more seafood then immaginable. We wished the hours would freeze and the days would stay still. We wished for our time there to be just a little longer. We marveled at how blessed our lives have been and how much we’ve been given. We didn’t want to take any of it for granted. And we have pictures to prove it. =) Hope your weekend was delightful! Here are just a few from ours…  Happy Monday!

We stayed at the beautiful Hawks Cay Resort down in the Keys. Great food, fun activities, and plenty of eye candy in the form of pools, lagoons, and flowers surrounded us.

That’s an orange. Just in case you thought I didn’t have teeth.
We do cheesy thumbs up signs when we’re on vacation. It’s totally allowed. 

This guy FREAKED me out. But when he didn’t move for 15 minutes, I thought it was safe to take a picture. And he happily obliged. We had these beautiful flowers next to our room to the left. I was in heaven.My best friend and her husband, who happens to be my cousin, came along with us! Aren’t they adorable?!
Those are dolphins on the left! 

He’s really unpredictable. That’s a quality I told a good friend last week that I secretly loved so much about Adi. And yesterday, he fulfilled my description perfectly. After just blogging about how we didn’t need to go to a hotel to be on vacation, my husband pulls a fast one on me and surprises me by declaring otherwise. Busy working, I dismissed it and thought something must have been wrong with his lunch. Surely, he can’t just call me and tell me to pack my bags because we’re off for a small vacation. TOMORROW. Surely, my husband knows that not only am I one week away from finals and should be working all weekend, but I need at least 2 days to process everything. Oh, who am I kidding? I need 2 days just to pack. Well, the boy got home from work, promised all was well with his food, and asked if I’d packed yet. I then checked his forehead. “Come on, let’s not plan everything all the time. Life shouldn’t always be that way”. How could I argue that? Please understand my temptation to do so because really, I plan everything. Waking up earlier than Adi and making him breakfast before work, is about as unpredictable as I get. And it’s usually cereal. So I really did fight the urge to push for next weekend instead but decided to live on the edge for once. So friends, bright and early tomorrow morning, Adi and I are off to the Keys. We’ll probably be doing what we could do here but without all the distractions of life. And like every vacation we take, we’ll be sure to eat. A lot.

Since I will be in school all day today, I have no time to run by good ol’ Barnes and get some good reading material. Instead, I’ll be pondering this great joy on nutrition my good friend Lauren’s been trying to shove down my throat. Pardon the pun. Happy Thursday to you!