It's...Vacation Time!

So I got to spend this past weekend in Montana visiting with some very special family! I left last Friday at an hour that, seriously, people should not have to be awake! (thanks, Hale, for the ride to the airport!) Of course, when I get up to the counter to get my boarding pass from United, I was politely informed that I would not be able to get on my flight because they oversold it! Yep...that's right folks...I was not going to be able to get onto a flight that I had purchased 4 months prior! Considering that I had only had 3 hours of sleep the previous night and had only one shot of Starbucks at this point, that little girl is lucky I didn't leap over the counter! But, you want to know what the icing on the cake was? They already had my luggage on the plane and couldn't take it off because the plane was getting ready to leave. So, my luggage made the trip to Missoula, Montana, via Denver, Colorado, on United Airlines. I, on the other hand, made the trip to Missoula, Montana, via Seattle, Washington on Horizon Airlines! Thankfully, both of us made it and arrived at our final destination in one piece and at exactly the time we were supposed to!


The picture above and the picture here at the right are pictures of my cousins backyard! No...I'm not joking! They live on approximately 18 acres and have their own pond. During the winter, the pond freezes over and they can ice skate on it. During the summer, they can fish in it and also swim in it! To say that it is peaceful up there would be an understatement. For me, it's like heaven on Earth! I feel so at home and calm and at peace when I'm there and absolutely love it. The people up there are very friendly and this is a place where you can leave your front door unlocked and know that someone's not going to come in while you're gone and taken everything!


This is my godson Brennan! Isn't he adorable? He's 3 1/2 years old and is an absolute blast! As you can see, he's playing with NASCAR cars. He loves them! And, yes, it's all my fault and I'll take all of the credit for it! I had previously given him a Jeff Gordon car and a Dale Earnhardt Jr. car and he plays with them everyday. So, before I left home, I decided to take 2 more cars with me. I bought him Jimmie Johnson and Kyle Busch. He wouldn't let go of the Kyle Busch car and everytime he asked me to play cars with him, he would give me Jimmie Johnson. It wasn't until we were in church on Sunday that he even let me touch the Kyle Busch car!


After church on Sunday, we had a baby shower for my cousin Erica. She and her husband are expecting a baby on Father's Day, June 17. I, personally, am hoping that the baby will hold on until June 18th! Yes...that's my birthday! The baby shower was fantastic and a great time was had by all. After the shower, we loaded up all of the new baby stuff and headed back to the house. A nap was in order for all of us, so a nap it was. Later on, Erica, Brennan, and I worked on the baby room and put away all of the new baby clothes.

Come Tuesday, it was time for me to head back home. Not to be outdone on my flight there, United decided to one-up themselves! The flight from Missoula to Denver was 40 minutes late leaving. That was okay because I had a 3 hour layover in Denver...no problem. So I get to Denver and decide to trek the 1/2 mile (and, no, I'm not joking!) down the terminal to get some dinner. I ate and looked at the departures monitor to check on my flight. The monitor now says that my flight will be leaving 1 hour later than originally scheduled and will be leaving out of gate B82. I'm really not happy about this, becuase this means that I won't be getting back home until 11:15pm, instead of 10:15pm. So, I make the 1/2 mile trek back to gate B82 only to find that my gate has been changed to B56. Yep, I trekked back again! Within a 1/2 hour my departure time changed again...this time from departing at 9:55pm to departing at 10:20pm. Yeah, I was pretty upset...but, what can I do! So, I call the person that is supposed to pick me up at the airport to let them know that I will now be coming in at 11:45pm instead of 10:15pm! (thank you again, Hale!)

In the end, I got home safely and my luggage made it home safely! I guess that's all that really matters. But I think that United will be hard-pressed to get me on one of their flights any time soon!