Tulip Festival:

I love flowers! I think I get that from my dad. He would always tell us the names of flowers and have us come over and smell them. I also try to have fresh flowers in the house and I can’t wait to have a garden of my own!

My mom and I were talking before we moved to Virginia and she was telling me about this tulip festival she had heard of where you could go and pick tulips from fields and fields of flowers. At the time I thought we would miss it and I was so sad but when we found out we were moving I told my mom the first thing I wanted to do was go to this tulip festival before they wilted. 

The festival was at Burnside Farms and was called Holland in Haymarket. The whole family minus Melissa was along with a vast field of daffodils and tulips . Since daffodils don’t last very long the weekend we went was the best to view both fields of flowers. I was in heaven! I immediately started taking pictures of everyone and everything. They gave us a basket to put all the flowers we picked in. We ended up picking about 20 tulips and 10 daffodils. 

I’ve never been to Holland but seeing all those blossoms was incredible. I would totally recommend this place to everyone and I hope to go back next year!

Don't ask me why but I love when flowers are wrapped in brown paper!

Sister and Mom trip to Canyon Ranch:

The day after we arrived to Virginia my mom, my sisters and I left for a girls trip to Canyon Ranch in Arizona. Let me just say everyone needs to go experience this place! 

Canyon Ranch is a resort that has all kinds of exercise classes, outdoor adventures such as hiking, biking and a ropes course, and a spa with many different options. They focus on healthy living and you being the best version of yourself. We arrived on Thursday afternoon and immediately changed and headed to a barre class. It was a nice little kick in the butt and a “welcome to Canyon Ranch”! After that class we took a yoga class. It was a nice to stretch and get ready for the next few days ahead. After our classes we had to go sign up for the spa treatments we wanted and the activities we wanted to do. It was a little overwhelming because they had a TON to choose from but I finally settled on a detox herbal body wrap, an anti-aging skin treatment, and a desert ritual. I also signed up for an astrology reading. 

After signing up we headed to dinner. All the food is already paid for, so we could order whatever we wanted! The first night we had a delicious vegetable medley in a balsamic glaze, some miso soup and a very tasty crab cake.

After dinner I got my detox body wrap. I was wrapped in hot sheets and she gave me a scalp massage and neck massage while I sweated stuff out. It was nice except a little claustrophobic. We were all exhausted so after all our treatments we went right to bed!

Friday we did my favorite class. At 10am we did a Fierce! Tabata Workout. It was a class where we did different exercises and each exercise we would do as many reps as we could as fast as we could for a minute and then we would rest for 30 seconds and then do it again. Each exercise we would do for 5 minutes. It kicked my butt but I loved it. The worst part were the burpies at the end after we did all the other exercises. After that class I couldn’t really feel my legs so we took a little break and then went to eat lunch. I had to go sit in on Courtney head and neck massage with her because she wasn’t 18. I feel asleep in the chair because I was exhausted and it was dark and there was relaxing music playing. After that we met everyone at the pool and hung out there and ate frozen treats. We walked around the facility and then went to the store before we went to a pilates mat class. This was a great class after the one we did that morning. 

Before dinner I had my anti-aging body treatment. I had different body scrubs put all over my body and then I rinsed it off. It ended with a moisturizing lotion that was massaged into my skin. It was a nice treatment and my skin was SO soft after.

After dinner we went back to our room and went to bed.

Saturday morning was a rough one. Getting out of bed was so hard. I could not put any weight on my feet without shooting pains up my calfs. We took our time at breakfast and then Melissa and I went to a women’s stretch class. This class was what I needed but standing up at the end and walking away was the hardest part. After that class we all did a core conditioning class. I loved this class as well. I have discovered I work out better and harder when I work out to songs that I know and love. We broke up into groups and did different exercises that focused on core strength but also our whole body as well. 

After that class we went to lunch. Half way through I went to go get my body composition measured. I went in and she measured my body fat on my arms, my stomach my calfs and the back of my arms. I actually had better numbers than I expected and they lady made me feel good about myself because when I told her I had a baby a year ago she looked at me in shock and told me I looked amazing. I am at optimal performance level and considering I’m not 100% happy with my body she made me feel good about myself.

After lunch I went to my astrology reading. Astrology readings are when they look at how the planets were aligned at the time and day you were born. It was really cool to hear what he had to say about my life and my future. He gave me a recording of the session because he said a lot!

After that we went to lay by the pool again and then we ate an early dinner before we all got our last treatments of the trip. I went to my desert ritual which was my favorite treatment of the whole trip. I went into the room which was really pretty and she had me get into a shower with seven shower heads (amazing!!) and scrub my body with prickly pear body scrub. After the shower I laid on the table and she rubbed 3 different products on me including more prickly pear scrub and some honey. Then I got into a bath tub to soak. I am not really a bath person because my skin is sensitive but this trip may have convinced me to change my mind about baths. After the bath she massaged me with lotion. It was exactly what I needed. It was amazing. After my massage I had to sit with Brittany while she got the Euphoria ritual. I took another nap. 

Courtney did not want to be in this picture

This is where I got my desert ritual 

After we were all done at the spa we headed back to the room to pack up and go to bed. 

This was such a great trip. I loved spending time with my sisters and my mom. It was a great  bonding trip and I love just spending alone time with them. Like I said before everyone needs to experience this place and hopefully I can take Dane back one day!

We didn’t take as many pictures as I wanted but here is what we got:

On our way to a class!

Enjoying Arizona 

Outside the spa

On our way to our room

Our room

Sister Love 

 

  

Our Move: Idaho to Virginia

Our big news for this month is that Dane got a new job in Maryland! He is working for Under Armour in Baltimore, Maryland and he started April 20th! This job has been one of Dane’s dreams so we are really excited that we get to take a new adventure and I get to return to the east coast. Several weeks ago Dane flew out to interview with UA and we knew that things were starting to pick up. Sure enough, and kind of quickly, they offered Dane the job and asked him to start in a few weeks. We were a little panicked because we had to pack up and move all the way out East in a short amount of time. Thankfully Under Armour offered to help us move so I was able to breathe. 

They came and packed us up on Thursday and we weren’t leaving until Sunday so we chilled in our empty apartment for a few days. Adler loved all the free space to crawl around in. After eating at all of our favorite Idaho restaurants one last time and saying goodbye to friends we packed up our car and head to Virginia. We decided to stay with my mom until we find a place and to save some money.

Dane's Idaho office

We ate here a lot...but we didn't have a lot of options 

My Idaho Family

Goodbye Apartment! I loved this place but we don't miss the wind!

We miss Sarah (and Ben) :(

The hospital I delivered Adler at!

 
Our FAVORITE restaurant...I will miss this place!

We miss Hales family as well!

This hotel is the first place we stayed at when we were looking for our apartment and the last place before we left :(

 We drove to Parker, Colorado the first night and stayed with some of Dane’s family friends. The 1st day was the longest drive but it wasn’t bad at all. I wasn’t sure how Adler was going to do in the car but he did amazing! We visited Dane’s old house in Parker and he gave me the run down of what he use to do there.

This is the only sign we took a picture with because it was the only easily accessible one

The next day we headed off to Kansas. My cousin Thane and his wife Shelby live there and they were excited to have us stay. That drive was the shortest one so we got there in time to hang out with them. We went to dinner at RA sushi and then went to a cute little candy shop for dessert. We went back to their place and put Adler down. Then we played some Mario Kart and chatted for a long time! It’s always good to see cousins especially because we are so close to my family. 

They next day we headed to Cincinnati, Ohio where Dane spent most of his childhood. We stayed with the Hopkins, an old family friend of Dane’s. It brought back so many memories for me. I really miss Ohio and I’m sad my in-laws don’t live there anymore. We ate dinner at Skyline Chili and we had to get some Graters ice cream (both of these places are native to Ohio)!! We talked with the Hopkins and then went to bed.

Our last day! We headed to Virginia on Wednesday, listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets the whole way and arrived around 6pm. Adler was excited to see his Grandma and aunts and so were we! I have never done that drive and even though it was a great and Adler was amazing I’m probably ok if I don’t ever need to do it again. It was a relaxing but even with Adler being good he was still exhausting!

We are very excited to be in Virginia and eventually Maryland. I love the east coast and I forgot how green and lush it is here. We are so many adventures planned and I can’t wait to document our life here!