Wow
That's all I can say! 2010 has been an eventful year yet for me. We've been running and running and running since prior to our Wedding, (as most of us do) and it's literally been NON-STOP for us!
We thought after our AHR in Minnesota we would have time to breathe and relax. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
It all started during our 2 week long stay in Minnesota. During our stay, we endured some severe weather ~ even having a Tornado touch down!! It was the first time I've ever been in some extreme rain, wind and just so much thunder and lightning! I even had a dentist appointment scheduled as well as Brian and his yearly physical with his doctor. Oh... I also had some oral surgery done too. Yeah, NOT FUN.
Thankfully, the weather cleared up for the day of our Reception and it was nice outside! Couldn't have asked for better weather, considering the storm that had just passed ~ and the storm that was forcasted to come still.
Our Journey Home
On our journey back home, we had to drive 3 hours to Madison, Wisconsin for our flight only to have a two hour layover back in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Don't ask why...long story) We made it to Madison with enough time to go thru security and board the plane. The flight to Minneapolis was short. Very uneventful. We were able to grab a bite to eat prior to boarding and I'm so glad we did. Once we boarded the plane, the weather out was starting to look bad. The plane we were on was HUGE. It was a 757, and there were never ending rows!! It took quite a while to get all of the passengers on board and once we did, we had to sit there and wait. And wait. And wait. The weather had gotten worse, and the Captain kindly made an announcement that due to the severe weather including the lightning, the groundscrew was not allowed to be outside during that time. We had to sit tight and wait it out until they got the all clear and was able to get all the luggage onboard.
An hour later, we were then told we could de-board the plane to stretch out, use the bathrooms, and what not. Needless to say, I took advantage of that! Being stuck on that plane for that long with the hail beating down on the plane and the rain pouring SIDEWAYS was pretty scarey.
After about a half hour or so, we were given the green light to board the plane again and this time, after just a bit of a delay, we were airborne. Yay! Needless to say, our flight was delayed by a total of a little over 3 hours. We should have touched down in San Francisco at 7:30 p.m., but didn't make it there until about 10:30 p.m.
And... we still had another hour and 45 minutes or so of a drive home from there!
Back Home Finally........or so we thought
Was I ever so glad to be back home! Finally! All wedding related activities were done! Finished! We can get our Den (which had been consumed with wedding related stuff for such a long time) cleaned out! We can get on with our lives! We can start focusing on HOME.
Unfortunately, a week after we returned home, Brian's one and only Uncle had passed away. We were completely torn. We had just left Minnesota but we knew that we had to be there for the funeral. We looked at air fare, and it was astronomical....especially since we were looking to travel less than 7 days in advance. After much debate, we decided that we would rent a car and drive the 2,000 mile trek. It was just too expensive to fly Brian, Elyssa and I. Much cheaper to rent a car. This way, the three of us would all be able to go versus us paying more than renting the car and gas for just Brian to fly.
We left on Tuesday late afternoon and made it to our destination Thursday about a little after Midnight. (LATE, LATE, LATE Wednesday night). It was quite the trek, but we did it. With Brian and I taking turns driving / resting, we made it. The funeral was scheduled for Thursday, so we HAD to be there in time! We did have to pull over in Wyoming and we both slept for about 2 hours. Neither of us could continue without a power nap!
Driving back home we didn't have to rush it so much. We had a nice leisure drive, however we took a different route which was quicker time wise. We left Sunday morning at about 9:30 and made it home Monday early evening at 5:45 p.m. We also stopped and slept, but we slept for about 3 hours this time.
Back to normal
We've been home for a full day already and Brian went back to work this morning. I need to get back to the swing of things and get our lives back to some sort of normalcy. We need to get back into our every day routine like we had 7 months ago!
I need to get our Den cleaned out and presentable. Because right now, you can't even step foot in there. There is too much junk! Seriously. Way too much stuff that needs to be tossed out or given away to GoodWill.
So, despite the fact that I have TONS of pictures from our trip, I need to priortize my life and my days. I will share photos with you all in the near future once I get back on track!
I do want to share a few photos with you guys ~ family photos that were taken at the luncheon after the funeral. Brian's cousins and their families. It's their dad who passsed away. Brian hadn't seen his cousins in 15 years. Since HIS dad's funeral. It's unfortunate that it's during times like these that bring families together.
Elyssa, Brian and I
Brian's cousin Dave, his wife and two children
Brian's cousin Lynn, her husband, four daughters, two son in laws and her grandbaby.
Brian's cousin Tom, and his three children
Brian and his cousin Steve
(Don't mind that I was dressed for a 30 + hour drive in a rented Hyundai Elantra)
