July Photo Dump!

I can't believe July is already coming to an end. A LOT has happened this month (read: traveling) since our Bermuda cruise. This will probably be a really long post, but I want to remember all the fun I had this month :-)

Just two days after we got home, we drove to Huntington, WV to attend Jill and Sam's wedding. Andy went to law school with Jill. It was a beautiful day!

We took many nightly walks. Sometimes we went downtown. I love walking around our cute little downtown and summer nights here are close to perfection!

& before I set off on my next traveling adventure, our Women's Ministry hosted a Paint Night! It was SO fun and I love that our small town has a place like this.

On July 12th, Luci and I headed to Charlotte for our annual summer trip :-)

Some highlights of our trip included:

Family dinner night at Paco's Tacos

Barrett's wedding shower

Meeting Luci's brother Kona & seeing my friend Grace and her husband Chase

Pool days (and nights!)

Electric scootering around SouthEnd (this was definitely a highlight for my Mom, Anna, and I!) It was so fun!! We rented Bird scooters, rode for a while, got dinner, walked to Pike's for dessert, and then scootered some more!

& finally we enjoyed a couple of ice cream dates! 

It was such a fun week back in Charlotte with family <3

In between Charlotte and my NEXT trip, I went to a baby shower for Stephanie and Harrison. I can't wait to be an aunt!

Just a couple of days later, I was back on the road (and in the air) to Myrtle Beach!

Right after Nana and Papa picked me up from the airport, we had to take a golf cart ride down to the beach :-) 

It had been a rainy day so we stayed in that night. The next day we took it slow and got out to the beach around lunchtime. Sadly, we weren't out there very long before the rain came! 

Since our beach day was rained out, we got ice cream ;-) I'm noticing this post has a lot of ice cream involved ha ha

The next day I went out on the beach EARLY to catch the sun before the rain came! Aunt Darlene came back to MB this day too.

Thankfully we got in several hours on the beach before the rain came. Aunt Darlene and I weathered the storm under an umbrella with Miss Janet's family and it was quite a windy/rainy storm!

Nana, Papa, and I went out to dinner at California Dreaming.

& just like that, it was time to fly home the next day. I love the time I get to spend with Nana, Papa, and Aunt Darlene at the beach. It's where I spent my summers as a child :-)

Believe it or not, Myrtle Beach was NOT supposed to be my last trip of the month. Barrett's bachelorette party in DC was this past weekend. I still can't believe it, but I wasn't able to make it. My car broke down last week so I couldn't drive, so then I bought a plane ticket and then the flight was cancelled the morning I was leaving. So THEN I tried to rent a car (Andy had his truck at work in Beckley) and there weren't any cars available. It was SUCH a mess and needless to say, I was SO upset. 

Andy ended up taking me out to dinner that night after the day I had. I was so, so sad to not be there to celebrate Barrett. But thankfully the girls sent me lots of pictures throughout the weekend.

OH and while I was at the beach, we went under contract on a house. 

(Update: it didn't work out!)

Whew!!! What a BUSY but FUN month!! July is my favorite month of the year and it has been a good one :-)

Blogging Break

Man, I can't believe I haven't blogged since the work stoppage back in early March. I obviously took another blogging break, unintentionally. I know many people have stopped blogging altogether but I just love looking back on my photos accompanied by written memories. After I had computer troubles, my "Photos" on my Mac started acting funny so my attempts to blog became few and far between Ha ha

Anyways, my summer has been jam-packed with fun so I'm just now getting a little time to sit down and catch up. 

Bermuda Cruise {Part 4}

Whew! I've reached the last post in our cruise re-cap! Our 5th day was a super fun one! 

It was the 4th of July!!

We weren't sure how much it would be celebrated since we were sailing international waters on a ship owned by an international company... but it was SO fun!! We could tell by breakfast that it would be a festive day. Seeing some of the staff from all over the world sporting red, white, and blue was sweet. 

Does this spot look familiar? We loved laying out on the second story of the pool deck and this day was no different. 

We got a deal to eat at Izumi, so we had asian food for lunch :-) Not your typical 4th of July meal but it was delicious!!

We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and soaking up the sun.

It was around dinnertime that things got exciting! We began hearing rumors of seeing fireworks on the Virginia shoreline. 

Even the menu had a little holiday cheer ;-)

The waitstaff sang their traditional Italian song. The maitre d announced that not a single person on the waitstaff was Italian Ha ha 

The captain came over the speaker while we were at dinner and confirmed that we'd be able to see fireworks soon. We knew things were getting crazy when we saw these bakers run by with this HUGE cake!

So after dinner, we headed up to the top deck and we were already between land again. It was SO amazing to see fireworks all up and down the VA coast from the sea. It was impossible to capture it on camera, but it was such a wonderful memory!! After watching the fireworks for a while, we went back inside for the party. 

That's the CAKE from about 5 stories above. 

At the beginning of the party,  they called all veterans and those currently serving in the military up to the stairwell. Then they called up all of those who work in public service (police, firefighters, etc.) It was so, so special! We got to thank all of those who fight for our freedom and keep us safe. 

There were a few song performances, they cut the cake, and then the balloon drop! It was a great way to end our trip and celebrate the 4th of July!!! As always, Royal Caribbean never disappoints. 

The next morning, we had breakfast and disembarked super early so that we could drive home and get back to business. 

It was truly a fantastic trip and I'm so glad we decided to go on this cruise!! We want to do it again soon :-)

Bermuda Cruise Part 1
Bermuda Cruise Part 2
Bermuda Cruise Part 3