The End of a Challenge

Nearly a month ago, on November 1, I took on a challenge. It looked to be a tough challenge, and, to be honest, I wasn't sure I would be able to accomplish it. My challenge pushed me in ways I didn't realize. There were days I thought about giving up, but I didn't.  Now, here I am on the last day of my challenge, and I am happy to report that I met my goal.

For the last 30 days, I have been participating in NaBloPoMo, National Blog Posting Month. The challenge put out by BlogHer was to write a blog each and every day for the month of November.  Amazingly, I did it.  I'm sure I had some people out there wondering if I had nothing better to do with my time than blog, or even question why I was posting my blog on Facebook every day.

I met the challenge though.  Every day, I found something to write about. Even Chris became part of the process and helped me reach it. When I was stuck on a topic, he helped me to come up with one. He also would take pictures of things we were doing so I could add them to the blog. He read every blog and cheered me along. My wonderful husband has been an amazing source of support.

Today will be my last daily post, for a while.  I will still continue to post regularly to my blog, likely more often than I did before I took on the NaBloPoMo challenge. Now, I hope to post a new blog 2-3 times a week. I know I can do it.  In the last month, I've made some improvements to the blog--rearranging the menu, putting ways to link up with the blog for regular updates, and I even added a new regular page to the blog called "About Me".  During this challenge, I learned to take my blog more seriously and to have more fun with it as well.

I hope those of you who stuck along for the ride enjoyed yourselves.  While I may not blog about anything tomorrow, a blog will be coming in the next couple of days. Thanks for your support over the last month. It has been appreciated!

Road Trip to Florida, Day 2

Today was our last and final day of driving to visit my family in Florida.  We all got up nice and early, around 6 a.m. (although our bodies were telling us it was only 5 a.m.).  It no longer takes us only 30 minutes to get ready in the morning. Now, because we have a baby, it can take a full hour.  It is amazing how much a baby can change your life. I'm not complaining though.

We hit the road heading south (starting from Dalton, Georgia) a little after 7 a.m.  Our plans were to meet my friend Angela at 8:30 a.m. for breakfast in Atlanta.  Unfortunately, Atlanta traffic really sucks. The 80 mile trek to the OK Cafe took close to 2 hours. Along the way, I ended up calling Angela letting her know we would be a bit late. She understood, having lived in Atlanta for nearly 15 years.  

Angela, Ginny & I outside of the OK Cafe.

When we finally arrived, around 8:50 a.m., Angela was waiting patiently for us!  It was a great visit! I loved seeing my friend, and I'm glad we reconnected...even if it was only for the hour we spent there.  The food was excellent as well.  I dared to try something new--an omelet with avocado, tomatoes, sprouts, and topped with sour cream. Yum! 

The only downside to the visit was that the restaurant is not very kid friendly.  The OK Cafe does NOT have high chairs. They only had booster seats which don't work so great for a 7 1/2 month old baby, AND their bathrooms were small with NO changing table (or room in the bathroom to change a baby). I ended up changing Ginny in a booth.

From Atlanta, we left and headed for Jacksonville.  The drive was pretty uneventful, other than the fact that Ginny did not nap for more than 30 minutes the whole drive down.  

Around 4:40 p.m., we arrived at my parents' home. My parents were thrilled to finally see Ginny again. Ginny, however, is not too fond of anyone but Mommy or Daddy holding her. Poor Grandma and Grandpa!  I'm sure that she will adjust, eventually, and allow them to hold her. Hopefully, sooner than later.

For now, we will enjoy our time in Florida. Tonight, I just hope we get some good sleep. More importantly, I hope Ginny gets some sleep. 

Road Trip to Florida, Day 1

I adore road trips. Right now, my husband, Ginny, and I are on a road trip to visit my family in Jacksonville, Florida.  We spent about 11 hours on the road today (between leaving the house and getting into our hotel room). This same leg of the trip only took us 9.5 hours last year. Having a baby on a trip changes how long a normal road trip takes.  Now we need to make multiple stops for diaper changes and feedings. Between those stops and taking a long lunch break, it took us a while to get to Dalton, Georgia. Luckily, Ginny was a great little traveler. It was only in the last 20 minutes of the drive that she began expressing frustration.

Now, we are at our hotel for the evening. My right hip and back are sore. Chris is watching T.V.  Ginny is sleeping in her crib.  It is nice and quiet. We are resting up for tomorrow.

Early tomorrow morning, we will all wake up, get dressed and repacked quickly so that we can hit the road again. I really am looking forward to it.  We plan to be on the road no later than 7 a.m.  In Atlanta, we will stop for breakfast at the OK Cafe with my friend Angela.  Angela and I met our freshman year at KU in English 101. She and I reconnected on Facebook. This will be the first time we've seen each other in over 18 years.

The best part of tomorrow will be arriving in Jacksonville to see my family. Luckily, tomorrow should be a shorter travel day (especially since we won't have any time change like we had today), and the weather is supposed to be nicer. Instead of the cloud cover and rain of today, we should have sunny skies ahead.