When you travel to Michigan and are close to your first apartment you officially shared (after my cousin Lisa moved out), you stop for a selfie.
The name of the complex has changed slightly but it looks exactly the same. Tom had to stop me from knocking on our actual apartment door and asking to look around.
We also stopped to check out Horrocks. Holy shit has that place grown (since we were last there 20 years ago)!! I would kill to have something like that by us now! We managed to spend a few hundred dollars on fun food items like flavored meats and cheeses, bulk dried goods and treats, flavored bulk olive oils, and Michigan-themed products just to name a few. If you’re ever in the area, you MUST stop: Horrocks of Lansing
An outdoor wedding in Michigan on October 1? It was a daring move but it was the most amazingly gorgeous day to watch my cousin’s daughter (I googled and that makes her a first cousin once removed or I can call her a niece) Jessica marry…a marine!!
Jess was our flower girl 21 years ago!Congratulations to Mr. & Mrs. Taylor…and Captain!
No fun errands or escapades… We were on our way to Michigan for my cousin’s wedding (technically like second cousins – whatever my cousin’s kids would be to me!).
Birthday dinner at a super yummy Chinese restaurant in Saginaw.
And a birthday margarita, because of course. The waitress guessed it was my birthday – telling me her mom wears a crown, too. Hey, it got me $1 off. LOL
And then we realized we wanted water for the hotel room so stopped here.
The kids wanted to go mini golfing and us ladies wanted to go shopping so we piled in the car and off we went—Katie actually sat in the waaaay back without a seat and she thought it was great fun!
It’s really strange being here at my dad and Lin’s house…and he’s not here. I keep expecting to see him shuffling in to say good morning, coming to the table for lunch, grabbing a Coke from the fridge, sitting in his rocker, sneaking some cookies, or giving him a kiss goodnight.
But at the same time — and of course something I feel immensely guilty about — is that it’s almost… easier? less stressful? a sense of relief? because there was so much involved in his daily care and dealing with his anxiety.
I’ve pretty much been avoiding any serious grieving before now because we only really saw him 2-3x a year so it was mostly “out of sight out of mind” (as crass as that may sound). But being here…and the memorial service is later this morning…well, I predict I will be a hot freaking mess. Just writing this is hard.
Unfortunately today was really just a travel day. Since I had to change my flight at the last minute, I had a crappy boarding time on the first flight so I got a middle seat so no cool pics.
Lunch!
Even though I still had crappy boarding times for the second flight, I managed to score a window seat!
Overall it was an amazing weekend… Even if I didn’t get home until 9:30 instead of 4:30. And Olive greeted me like a crazed banshee when I got in the car… And then rode home like this.
Today was just a day for relaxing and playing…so we obviously spent most of the day in the pool! And of course there were margaritas. And photos.
We were on our own for dinner and a few of us decided on sushi.
Then we took some Aspire Gloss photos—since Audrey (front and center) was the one who designed it!
And then it was off to axe throwing!
It was soooo much fun! My very first official throw I got a bullseye!
On the way home, I got a text that my flight was cancelled—and automatically rebooked for Monday morning!? Umm, no?! So there was some fast and furious research happening in the car to see what my options were. Unfortunately, the only other decent available option included a 2-hour layover in Dallas. Ughhhh—so glad I paid more for direct flights.
The evening ended back at the house with a bunch of us just chatting and telling stories and laughing a whole bunch.
Today’s schedule was pretty open all day with a short training around lunch. So we started by taking lots of lifestyle photos of and with each other.
AND THEN OMG! I met Katie Enos and Summer Alvarez!! They are some of the top dogs in SeneGence and we got two hours of one-on-one training by them today! They are soooo super nice and down to earth!
Of course I think I look totally ridic in this pic but that’s because someone else took it—I would have done a closeup selfie!!
Then it was off to sit by the pool at the swim up bar.
I might have been a bad influence. (Or, really, they just wanted to taste it and didn’t have glasses!)
And then I just got toooo hot so had to go in the pool. With a margarita of course. But because it’s so extremely hot, the pool water isn’t really even refreshing. It’s definitely not cool. But it is better than the air so…
After dinner it was time for more lifestyle photos. I took a bunch but wasn’t feeling cute at all. (UGHHHHH. I’ve gained so much weight. I know no one there cares but the pics make me sick so A) I’m not posting them and B) it’s time to get back on Naturally Slim.) So this is my best photo—nothing different than I take at home:
But this is the kind of pics most were taking (I just felt super self-conscious so didn’t join in):
TODAY IS THE DAY! Today I get to leave for the Fab Squad Retreat in Scottsdale, Arizona, that I qualified for at 100%!
It was soooo hard getting up at 5 this morning but I made it to the airport easy peasy. Seeing the security line worried me a little bit because I no longer have TSA pre-check but it went very quickly and I had no problems…except I forgot my Apple watch in the basket. I did realize it before I got too far away and the agent was holding it when I got back so I’m gonna count that as a win.
And then… at the gate…they announced that the Phoenix airport had lost power so we couldn’t leave until their power was restored. Thankfully we only left a few minutes late—and then made up enough time in the air to arrive about 30 minutes early!
Welcome to Arizona.Mountains!
Friends picked me up and then it was off to Costco to get margaritas and snacks for the house!
And then they wanted to go to In & Out and I won’t turn down a burger and fries! It wasn’t very thrilling though. We did get hats though.
And then the thing I was most looking forward to… seeing my Jenna and giving her a huge hug! She’s the leader that’s adopted me and supports me even though she doesn’t earn any money from me! She’s literally one of the nicest people on the planet and I’m lucky to know her.
The house was huge—and this was our first view of the backyard and pool.
And my first margarita on the patio trying not to sweat in the heat.
We hung out around the pool until it was time for the PJ party (Jenna bought everyone matching pajamas!)—pizza dinner and ice breakers.
First Jenna wanted to know if we considered ourselves introverts or extroverts. I’d say more than half of our 20 said they were introverts! Then she asked what challenges you’ve faced in the last year and something you’re proud of—business or personal. I knew what I was proud of (my consistent and increasing sales, earning SeneSales every quarter) but had no idea about challenges. I was thinking I can’t seem to host parties, I have no willpower to lose weight… And then people were talking about all these SERIOUS THINGS (deaths, major illnesses, relationship issues, etc) and everyone was getting teary and I’m a total emotional sap so I was teary. And it was getting closer to me—I was like #17/20 and I still didn’t really even know what I was going to say. And then the girl before me said her mom died unexpectedly (which I knew) so I was like Oh okay I’ll tell them my dad died unexpectedly (because I’ve mostly been able to talk about it without getting super emotional) and then as the words were coming out of my mouth it was like it all hit me RIGHT THEN and I could barely even make it through. I know no one cared how I sounded because seriously half the women broke down while talking but I still felt ridiculous. So that was interesting. But we were also all laughing and crying and it was good overall.
I’m not gonna lie—I did feel lots of awkwardness and anxiety all day about hanging out with all these ladies I don’t know. I mean, I know who they are (and they know who I am) but we have never really hung out before and I’m a total introvert in those situations. And also because a lot of them do have real friends within the group so they REALLY know each other.
Down at City Park in the river. It was COLD!Looking for petoskey stones.Goggles helped find them!Swimming at Higgins Lake North State Park.First ones there and last ones to leave! Five hours.Owen now knows how to ride and mow the lawn!Painting rocks on a rainy day!A little laundry to do on their last day.Our pit stop at the Big Mac.Now it’s Granny Lin’s turn!
I made the kids stay outside because it was just perfect weather. They’re making up their own rules to Candyland—which involved running around the house and naming fruits and vegetables. It’s crazy what creativity happens when they don’t have their devices!
Then Tom worked at getting the swing up!
And Owen enjoyed riding around the yard on grandma’s bike!
Once the swing was up, that was Katie’s favorite place to be! Sometimes she even let Owen push her!
Tom kept me from being parched with my new tumbler.
We were in Traverse City for lunch and a movie with the grandparents and kids—and I was charged with picking a lunch place. I chose The Filling Station which is what the dinner train (where we had our reception) has been turned into!
So of course we had to cross the tracks to the Traverse Area District Library to go find our wedding brick (egads, it was 20 years ago!). This was the first time we had to dig for it!
This actually makes me soooo happy because I love that I love my skin and no longer feel the need to wear makeup before taking any pics! (If you want this freeing feeling, too, I’ll hook you up!)
Today has been a day of catching up and finishing the Emerald Extravaganza prizes, lazing around my mom’s house (I didn’t shower until 3p), working on a puzzle, enjoying the silence when my step brother and wife took all the kids to Hartwick Pines, and then enjoying homemade pizza in our Ooni pizza oven that we brought with us!
Just kidding. We don’t need it—we love the family… Just wanted to make sure we were stocked before things closed plus leave enough for the next visit. Plus we always have to stop at Glen’s. (Sorry, it will always be Glen’s to me.)
So this was what it looked like when we left this morning. Pretty…but still yuck. LOL
Tom wanted to leave early so I told him to wake me up. I expected 6am—and when he did it felt like 6. It was 8. So we didn’t leave until 9. Early. Haha. His new early is 9am. I like that.
