Busy busy weekend!

WOW! This weekend has been super busy but it has DEFINITELY been amazing!!!! On Friday I went over to Kourtni's to spend some time with her & Stephanie & to scrapbook together. Later that evening, a big storm swept through the area & Kourtni & I rushed to the window after hearing some people had seen a funnel cloud. 

At first, we thought this was a giant funnel cloud ready to wipe out a quarter of Rockford but it turned out to just be a giant circular cloud. Ha!

About 45 minutes later, I headed to Dan & Kelly's (our college group leaders') apartment. We grilled some hot dogs & played a TON of games! Celebrity, Spades, Dutch Blitz, & SCUM.

 Here we see Tyler acting out the part of Fonzi during Celebrity charades.

We stayed there until almost 1 in the morning! Good times were definitely had by all! :)
The next morning, my family headed out to Lambeau Field to watch the Packers play a pre-season game against the Cleveland Browns.

Here is a group shot of us outside of Lambeau Field.

Here is a shot of Ben & I in front of Lambeau Field.

Inside the stadium, we were DEFINITELY getting excited for the game to start!

Here is a shot of Ben & I with Lambeau Field & the Packers warming up in the background.

Sadly, the game ended with the Cleveland Browns scoring a field goal in the last few seconds of the game, beating the Packers 27-24. It was still awesome to see the Packers play though! :)

Earlier this afternoon, I went to a baby shower for one of my friends, Sarah Hernandez. 

One of the games was to guess how big her belly was using ribbon & then actually wrapping it around her to see who could be the closest. Her best friend ended up matching it perfectly! Figures! :P

Here is a close-up of the winning ribbon!

Sarah got a TON of great gifts! Baby Hernandez is sure blessed! :)

Here is a shot of the glowing mother-to-be & myself. Love her! :)

Tomorrow I am headed to a lake with Ben's family for a day of fun in the sun! This weekend continues to be amazing. :)

Finding the "Healthy" Me

Today begins a new journey for me. I am usually very skeptical of diet programs because it just doesn't seem healthy to cut out an entire food group from your diet or to eat an unhealthily low amount of calories. However, Weight Watchers has always interested me & after hearing many success stories from people around me, I have decided to give it a go. My goal is to lose at least 25 pounds. Weight Watchers uses a Point® system to help calculate how much food you should eat in a day to lose weight. They also give you an allotted amount of "Weekly Allowance Points" where you can "cheat" or go over your daily allowance. I am very excited about this big step in my life & I am ready for the healthiest version of me to become a reality. :)

Vacation Time!

So I just returned from a MUCH needed vacation in Topton, North Carolina. North Carolina was absolutely breath-taking! We stayed in a cabin at the very top of a mountain which is called "El Shaddai." After driving Friday & Saturday, we arrived around 3 p.m. on Saturday afternoon to the cabin. The Schmidt's (my cousins) joined us shortly after.

We spent the evening swinging on the AMAZING swings just outside the cabin & playing games in the rec room. On Sunday, we spent the day relaxing & just enjoying each other's company. Monday was our "busy" day.

We got up early so that we could go horseback riding at Lonesome Dove Stables. The trail we rode on was paved in the 1800s which was SUPER cool! (Below is a group shot of us in the clearing in the middle of our ride.)

After riding, we ate lunch at Papa's Pizza which is an all-you-can-eat buffet. The pizza was good but the bread sticks were delicious!

We then headed to Nantahala Carolina Outfitters, a white water rafting company. Our guide was Nathan. He has never been to Chicago but grew up watching the Cubs on T.V. & has been a HUGE fan ever since. Small world! He was a great guide... always smashing us into rocks & bridges to keep us on our toes. He even convinced us to climb a giant rock & to jump off of it into the 47° water. It definitely took my breath away but the jump was SO worth it! :)

After rafting, we headed back to the cabin to just relax. We were all so tired so we popped the movie Elf in and just relaxed. It was very nice! That night, we all watched the Alfred Hitchcock classic "Rear Window." Some of my cousins had not seen it so it was great to watch their reactions throughout the film!

On Tuesday we ate lunch & headed to the lake to rent a pontoon boat. Unfortunately, they had rented them out by the time we got there. Disappointed, we left. Fortunately, we had spied a cove not too far from the cabin and decided to pull over & swim there. The water temperature was absolutely perfect & it was, in my opinion, even better than going on a pontoon boat. Plus, it was FREE! :) After a couple of hours, we saw the clouds starting to darken so we packed up & headed to our cabin. It started pouring as soon as we got inside! That evening, we headed to Andrews, NC for some shopping & dinner at The Burger Basket.

 It was delicious!

Later that evening, we watched The Three Stooges, a favorite of our family, & sang & danced to some of our favorite songs. We cousins ended up staying up until 12:30 a.m. just talking & laughing. It was a great way to end our vacation.

Wednesday morning we got up bright and early, said our goodbyes, and headed out by 8 a.m. It was so heartbreaking to say goodbye (as always) but the vacation was absolutely amazing & I wouldn't have changed a thing. I am blessed with an incredible family & I thank God everyday for that.