Fat girl cruising

Hey yall, how’s your week going so far? Its been good so far. Todd is out of town and I’ve been just laying low binge watching Grace andFrankie on Netflix.   Have you guys seen this series? Its so funny! I’m only on season 3 and there are 5 seasons so I’m midway through.  Its about 2 ladies who were married to their husbands for 40 years then turns out the husbands are in love with each other.  Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin really do a great job in their characters. I’m not sure how many seasons will continue but I hope to get caught up by end of week.

This Sunday, I leave to go on my cruise with my family.  I’m so bummed that Todd cant go but I’m also looking forward to spending time with my stepmom Deb. My grandmother ( Dads mom) Mimi bought EVERYONE this cruise. She has always loved going on cruises and she and Deb had not been on a cruise since Daddy passed 3 years ago. Mimi is 91 years old and honestly she’s not in the best health condition. This is a big deal for all of us to be together. A few of my cousins cant make it but most everyone is going including all their kids.   We set sail from Galveston, TX and our ports will be Roatan, Honduras, Playa Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.  We’re going on Royal Caribbean which is fun for me because I’ve only been on Carnival cruises.

Truth is I don’t have much “vacation money” set aside because of my Amsterdam trip. This cruise was sprung on the family in March with the dates set for June . I’m totally Ok with just getting off the boat and hanging out on beach for free. I really just want to sit on the sand and hear the ocean.   I do have to be very brutally honest at the risk of sounding like a spoiled brat.  I’ve never really been very close to this side of the family.  In fact, it wasn’t until my Dad had his double lung transplant 5 years ago, that Mimi started being kind to me.  My family is very judgey and into appearance 100%.  One of my aunts is also in the same mean girls club .  Both are very Unforgiving of me being Plus-sized.  My aunt actual told me one time when I was with my ex boyfriend that the reason why we were having some relationship issues is because “he’s probably disappointed in my weight gain and men don’t like that”.  Mimi told me a few years ago that “she just couldn’t get used to me being so heavy”.   SOOOOO, while I should be over the moon excited to go on a free cruise, my anxiety level has been over the moon stressed.  I’m going to start tonight picking out my outfits to pack and making sure they’re as flattering as possible.  I cant cancel now. I didn’t buy the insurance and its non-refundable. I want to go. I want to create new happy memories with this side of the family. I am happy I was included because they’ve had family cruises in the past that I wasn’t invited to.   Its just , I am the ONLY fat family member on this side.  THE ONLY ONE. Not even a chubby kid is in the family.  I know all of you know someone who when they see you- they will literally look at you from top to bottom taking everything in on what you’re wearing and how it looks on you. Well I have a few of those going on this trip.  I love my grandma and my aunts. I want to show them that i have a loving and forgiving heart. I want to have a friendship with Mimi. 

I PRAY it goes well and that I didn’t waste an entire weeks’ vacation to be criticized. I am going with open mind and open heart. I want to come back suntanned and loving memories to share with yall.  One thing is I do make friends easy so I may just have to go find a fun crowd and hang out with them. Haha!  Its sad that I want to ask yall to send me luck and prayers while im on vacation. 

I wish the Blogger app didn’t sink because I could post while on ship but it went away.  I’ll post when I get back. It’s a 10 day cruise so I return home on the 16^th.

On another subject, one of my favorite bands Blue October is coming to Dallas in October and I bought tickets for that this week! YAY!!!!

Take care and have a great week- I miss yall already!

Back from Amsterdam

Hey my lovely friends!!  So this time last week, it was our last day in Amsterdam to explore and soak it in.  I've literally hit the ground running since we've back and i'm sorry i'm just now able to get around to blogging. I am so busy at work right now, i have to keep this brief.  I took 788 photos and i'll have to split them up over the next few days/weeks.   Many of these photos were taken from the plane looking down. I loved that i was able to capture some of the tulip fields from the sky. 

I also loved how the sky looked with the gorgeous rainbow streaks in the dark.  If yall are friends with me on FB or IG, you know that i'm all about the clouds, sky and sunrises and sunsets. 

We had a great time in Amsterdam in the 4 days we were there. Unfortunately we were supposed to arrive on Sunday with the rest of the group but we got bumped and didn't get there until Monday. We ended up having to get a hotel in Minneapolis the night before we left which really sucked that we lost a day but it was a paid "work" trip so you cant really complain.   Bonus, we were able to eat some delicious fried cheese curds in Minneapolis airport!

Gotta run, but as i mentioned, i have so many pictures to share with yall. I had a flub with uploading this am- i selected 20 and only 9 came over.  Oh well!!  Have a great day yall and talk to ya soon.  If you want to follow me on IG, you can find me at  Holliworld

Got my big black boots and an old suitcase

Anyone know what song my title comes from? Its one of my favorites because its all about the West Coast which is my all time favorite place to be.
I am crazy stupid busy going in a million directions trying to tie up loose ends by Friday. Why ? Well , i leave for a weeks vacation with my handsome husband.
Guess where i'm going? Its NOT west Coast!
I'll leave you some very easy clues.....
I'll be out of pocket all next week but when i return, i hope to have lots and lots of some fabulous photos.
This may sound corny but i'll miss you guys! I sure love my blogging family.
Hope all of you had a wonderful Easter /Passover weekend.  We drove out to east Texas to see my uncle and pick up a custom piece of furniture he made for us. I have to paint it and that aint happening this week or next so you'll have to wait to see the coolest thing he made .
OK so here are my clues to where we're heading this weekend:

Just So much

Hey everyone!! I really had no intentions of being away from my blog this long.  My last post , I was about to leave for my vacation to Boston.  It was so great! Todd had never been and we really enjoyed our trip. I ate something lobster almost every day we were there.  I , of course, went to Salem one day and bought a couple of fun things for my Holliween party.  We also took a day trip to Maine and saw the coast and gorgeous leaves turning.  I could live up there!!  I am SO over having 90 degree weather in October here in Dallas!! I am currently wearing a sleeveless summer maxi dress and sandals at work.

When we came home from our trip, I had 2 concerts back to back.  Todd and I went to see Alice in Chains at Winstar which is just over the Oklahoma state line less than an hour away. The following night, a friend drove down from San Antonio and we saw Rob Thomas and Counting Crows in Allen.  Both concerts were absolutely fantastic!!!

Oh and while we were gone, our air conditioning went out and we had to replace a coil which is a big deal over 2 grand to fix and that hit us hard.  As mentioned, we had no choice to get fixed because we’re still having high hot temps.

I went to a Pinners Conference with a friend and then also went to a fun junk show with that same friend a few weeks later.  I am preparing for my next junk show which is in 2 weeks. 

My work is taking everything out of me. Literally. I am swamped every minute of the day and have been getting to office super early just to get caught up on my emails. I don’t get overtime but its worth it for me. I’m training 4 hour classes in the morning with a few classes scattered in the afternoon. Lots of meetings and preparation for the classes. This is GO time in that we are starting the training that is regarding our huge merge we did 2 years ago.  Its been pretty stressful. Lots of pressure.

This Saturday is our 5^th annual Holliween party and this years theme is Masquerade.  I’ve been crazy busy decorating every night when I get home from work.  I will show yall pics next week.

Todd started a new job a month ago and he’s traveling full time now.  Lots of stuff going on it seems .  I miss all my blogging friends !!  I just don’t have any free time to post anymore. I am going to try to make more time.  I summed up a lot of things just in this small post.

Just wanted to say HI so you don’t forget about me and I WILL be back soon.  I’m taking tomorrow off to wrap  up the last of decorations and begin to clean the house.

I wish you could all come to my party!!  Have a great weekend, yall. 

Vacation blues

Hey yall!! So have you ever been away for a while and then not know how to get started again? That's where I am. A week ago today we arrived home in late evening from our trip.  My vacation was so awesome and It was very hard to leave. Then as my luck (bad) would have it, I have yet ANOTHER bad cold!! Wasn't it just 3 weeks ago that I had the severe sinis infection?! I thought it was just allergies but by Sunday PM I was feeling like poo. I had low grade fever until Wednesday .  I feel like such a whiner and a sickie. Ugh!  Then i kid you not , i had over 6ooo emails to wade through this week at work. I just have not been in mood to blog. I was scared that if I didn't at least post something soon , I may not pick back up for a long time.

I am going to split my vacation up in chunks with start to Idaho and then to Montana. 

My cousin Brad married a lovely young lady Alexis.  Alexis is an extraordinary woman! She started a movement in colleges and wrote a book called I Am That Girl.  It's about treating others , treating ourselves and the world nicely. She also travels around the world talking to Pro and college men's teams about treating women good.  Alexis was on Survivor and Price is Right.  Needless to say, there were a few "who's who" that were at the wedding.  To start , Sophia Bush was a bridesmaid.  Apparently she and Alexis were college roommates. I've only watched Chicago PD once but she's  a main character.  Another bridesmaid was Yael.  Yael founded a group to fight cancer and is married to Scooter Braun.  Scooter Braun is the manager for Justin Beiber and a few others , a producer for TV shows such as Scorpion and is very popular in Hollywood and NYC.  The DJ and photographer were also apparently pretty famous and well known but I don't remember their names.  

The wedding was in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. If you've never been there, i totally recommend you adding that to your vacation bucket list.  It's truly a little hidden town surrounded by gorgeous lakes. My aunt and uncle lived across the lake and there is a boat ferry that would take you across the lake back and forth in less than 30 minutes. If you drove it would take almost 45 mins to an hour.  The downtown was super cute with quaint shops and restaurants.  We arrived Friday afternoon and the rehearsal dinner was that evening in downtown.  We all took the ferry and busses were waiting for us to take us to the cute Bed and Breakfast house where the party was.  It was where the bride and bridal party were staying and it had huge backyard. The caterer had a wine bar set up and our meal were gourmet burgers with salads and lots of fun fixings. 

Saturday afternoon we had brunch at the country club with my cousins and then borrowed my aunt and uncles boat for a whirl. We took it across the lake to downtown and walked around and then just enjoyed being on the lake to relax before the wedding.  

Of course , later on we all went separate ways to get ready for wedding and met up back at the country club where the wedding was outdoors.   The wedding started at 6 and went to 10. It was perfect! The scenery was gorgeous and it was so fun. Dinner and dancing with family is always a great time.  

Now for a gazillion pictures:

The wedding trip was so awesome and I'm so glad that Todd and I went. We got to spend time with my cousins on my dads side that I don't see enough.  We got to experience another part of our country that was breath taking. 

I'll post about Montana next week.  Have a great weekend y'all!!  I missed you .