Little Bump

So as you saw on my last post...We're having a baby! We are excited beyond words and it all seems to become more and more real each week. I have to be honest, at first it really didn't seem real even after seeing it on a pregnancy test and hearing it from a doctor at about the 6th week (yep--we found out early!). Here is our first real "proof"--an ultrasound they had me do really early to try to get a due date. (Its that little thing between the two plus marks in the center/right of the pic. This is only at 6.5 weeks, so baby is really tiny! We have another ultrasound in about 5 weeks---the boy or girl one! That one should have some more detail to show!)
My mom and my sister were able to come to this first appointment with me (Jon wasn't able to get off work) and it was so great to have them there. My sister happen to be in town right after we found out, so it was so fun to tell her and my family in person and then have her come to a doctors appointment. We all got to see the little tiny "flash" as we saw the baby and its heartbeat. Then we all went to Barnes and Noble where my mom bought me the classic "What to Expect When You're Expecting" and a cool pregnancy journal I am recording all the milestones and details in. It was such a memorable day I will never forget.

So like I said, after being sick for a few weeks (made for some NOT so fun days at work, some horrible experiences at restaurants and just being plain exhausted for weeks), I am in week 13 feeling a lot better! ( I won't mention a HORRIBLE experience I had on Tuesday after our drs. appointment that involved a mexican restaurant and me running to the bathroom. Apparently Baby Epperson hates mexican food. But up until then I had been doing great for more than a week!) I feel less tired and more apt to wanting to eat, which are huge wins in my eyes. Jon and I have been to 2 appointments where we heard the heartbeat both times (8.5 weeks and 12.5 weeks) loud and clear! I think thats when it really started sinking in for both of us. Ok well, maybe its the fact that my jeans are getting tighter that really made it sink it for me. ;-) I think I need to have some real reason why everything feels so tight and awkward each morning as I get dressed. So here I am, 13 weeks along:

Yes, there is a little bump there! I know it may not seem big yet, but its definitely there and I feel growth all around my stomach. I am anxious for a real bump so I just don't feel like I have eaten too much. Its quickly approaching that awkward stage I've heard and read about--almost out of normal clothes and not ready for maternity clothes. Not that I want the huge panel pants or anything, but you know what I mean.
On another note, Jon has been the most supportive and amazing husband through all this crazy beginning stuff. Well, aside from the few times he's just bursted out laughing at some of my insane requests or comments. While they probably are really crazy and funny, the last thing a pregnant girl wants is to be laughed at. :) But he's been so great at making/getting the only food in the world that sounds digestable at the minute, picking up the slack on things around the house that I just can't get up the energy to do, and just being excited and supportive of everything I'm feeling. And only laughing at me occasionally. :)

Thanks to all of you who are so excited for us! We are just in the beginnings of this amazing journey, and its so much fun to share it with all of you! I'm sure there is lots more to come, so thanks for caring!

Just a Teaser...More to Come

Busy Busy Busy

Its been a crazy month! Work has been insane--as soon as I got back from Hawaii, I was thrown into the craziness of VBS . It involved many a late night working, lots of early mornings, but overall, it was a great week (it was the last week in June). God worked in the lives of so many kids and adults, mine included. My job this year at VBS was a hard transition for me, since I am in a new position and had to do something completely different. I had a really hard time at VBS this year, because for the past 3 years, all my responsibilities were "creative" things--painting sets, directing dramas, etc. Things that are my passion, bring me joy and I personally find really easy. But this year, my job was very administrative, management based, and detailed. Now, I can do details, I can manage, and I can even handle all the administration, but it does NOT bring me joy. And these things are kind of the furthest thing from my passion. While I do enjoy checking of an accomplishment from a long list, this is not what keeps me going on a daily basis. So from the beginning of all this VBS planning process (January), I knew I was in for a challenge and that God was going to be growing me in some areas. And I have to be honest, I was dragging my feet through a lot of it. God presented me with many opportunities where I had 2 choices: Get on board and grow from the experience even though it may be a little painful and hard for me to do, OR drag my feet and make it even MORE painful. I will be honest, I didn't choose the choice that was clearly God's best for me all the time. And even when I did "get on board", it wasn't always fun. (How CAN making "walking paths" so 1600 kids don't all walk the same way at the same time be fun?? Honestly?!) But God quickly taught me that it wasn't really about me having fun. And it wasn't really about it being painless. I had to do a lot of things I don't like to do, and the week of VBS wasn't as fun as it had been in years past. But bottom line, God worked in the lives of over 270 kids that made first time decisions to follow Him. And He let me be a tiny part of that huge thing. I know He could have done it without the walking maps, or the 1600 commitment cards I had to make, or the 300 signs I had to make to be posted around campus so people knew where things were located. But He allowed me to be a part of something so much bigger than myself. Are there things I hope I don't have to do ever again? Absolutely. Are those things what VBS is about? Absolutely not. God gave me the opportunity to serve Him, and to impact the lives of kids for eternity. And no matter what job was asked of me, He has called me to do it as if I was doing it just for Him, whether its fun or not!(sounds so obvious when I say it outloud!) I quickly forget that most people don't ever enjoy their job, so its a blessing that I do most of the time! Either way, God has called me to this job for this time and place, and is evidently growing me in some areas that aren't easy or enjoyable, but He knows why and has a plan for why He is doing it. So its a lot wiser to lean into it and trust Him.
Annnnnd...that's VBS. (A lot more than I bargained for! Plus I had some personal stuff going on in the midst of that week, but I will save that for another blog! To be continued!)
In the meantime, my sister, her husand Dave and my niece (Hannah) and nephew (Kaleb) were in town from Oklahoma this week (talk about adding to the craziness). Here are few pics of when we got to hang out (more to come--my sis has most of them).

Reading good old Berinstein Bears...do you remember those books from when we were kids? Yes, Hannah is wearing a tiara. That's about right.

Hannah and Kaleb LOVE Roxy.
Especially picking her up. I'm not sure if the sentiment is returned. She seemed to run away from them alot... :)

Swimming at our Aunt Helen's

Aunt Helen got a new little chihuahua named Chopper. Roxy and Chopper played a bit by the pool. And when I say "play" I mean Chopper chased Roxy and she was scared of the 1.5 pound dog. We are so proud.

Aloha!

We're back! So there is good news and bad news. Good news: We had the BEST time in Hawaii! We felt like it was a second honeymoon! Bad news: its over. But I admit, it actually felt longer than a week, which never seems to happen with vacations, so we were so thankful. Everything on the trip went perfect and was so fun. [Our first clue this was going to be a good trip: when we got to the O.C. Airport on Friday morning, the line to the airline counter was ridiculously long---like almost out the door long. We walked up to the end of the line, starting to wait. A few seconds later, an airline worker picked us out of the line and said "Going to Hawaii?" .We said yes, and she said "follow me". She took us to the outside baggage check (that I guess usually costs money to do), checked us in and our baggage, and in 2 minutes we were done! We bypassed a huge line of waiting. A pretty good start to our great week!]
Our condo was great, (our resort was right on the ocean with our own beach) and Kauai was perfect! The weather was great, the water was warm, and we just love the Poipu area. Ok, enough of that. Here is what we did:

Us at the beach the first day. Looking at the view behind us, you can see that we pretty much decided at this point that is was going to be a great week. This beach was right in front of our condo resort.(Notice our white faces..they get progressively less white in the pictures!) :)

This is one of the many beautiful sunsets we saw. This picture was taken our second night where we went to have drinks at a place called the Point, right on the water with the view of the beach and the sunset.

Stopping for a rest on a walk along the beach. After this walk, we stopped at a restaurant in one of the hotels that had Karaoke later that night so we ended up coming back later when it started. We haven't laughed that hard in a long time. There were some people that took it pretty seriously. There's nothing quite like seeing a man in his 50's sing the song "Discovery Channel". (you know you've heard it--"You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals so let's do it like they do on the Discovery Channel..." I just can't believe I just actually wrote out those lyrics.). I had Jon like 2 drinks away from getting up there himself. Ok maybe not, but its now my lifetime goal to get him up on a Karaoke stage.


Monday, we went on a boat ride up the Napali Coast, which is the whole West side of the island that isn't accessible by car. We saw waterfalls, untouched beaches, turtles, dolphins, seals, and snorkeled at a spot we stopped at off shore. The boat ride was really fun. We talked with some people from different parts of the country, and the boat staff was so fun plus they had breakfast for us, served you beverages, got you snacks, then served us lunch and drinks on the way back. It was a great day to go , weather wise, and we saw so much beautiful land. Jon's highlight was the free mai tai's on the way back. :)

There is so much "green" and nature on the island--we took some hikes and walks down trails.
One of the waterfalls we saw up close. We thought about hiking too it until we saw a couple who had just come up from the hike--soaked from head to toe and covered in mud. We thought, ya know, the waterfall probably just looks bigger from the bottom...this view is just fine.


Another beach day...ok so EVERY day was a beach day. Don't hate us.

We had fun surfing in Kauai. I was excited to be able to surf in just a bathing suit and a rash guard instead of shivering in our California water in a wet suit. Kauai had what we called perfect "Jen size waves". Not too big and not too tiring to keep paddling out to catch them. The two of us had a lot of fun out in the water: Jon was such the surf cheerleader. Every time I am would ride a wave in, as soon as I start paddling back out to where he was he'd be pumping his fist and cheering for me.


We had some amazing meals while we were there. This night, Jon took me out to a really nice dinner on the water. Very romantic! We had the most amazing fish and steak. Needless to say, we came back a couple pounds heavier from this trip.

All in all, Kauai was just as perfect as we had hoped and it was such a dream to finally be there together, like we have talked about for years. We found ourselves planning what we'd do on our next trip there! Who knows if we will, but I do know it was the perfect week, and we are so thankful we went.

Spoiled

So prepare yourself for a kind of "braggy" post--but I must since it's about my husband. I've officially given in to the resolution that the man spoils me. A couple of weeks ago, he told me to save Friday night May 25th because we were going on a "date". When he said this, I was so excited because although we go out to dinner here and there, it usually is a spontaneous thing due to lack of food in our kitchen or because I work late and don't feel like cooking. So I loved that he planned a night where we were going out just like the old days... :) So on Friday night it turns out he made reservations at a really nice restaurant called The Wild Rabbit in Newport Beach, and we had so much fun! The food was amazing---great steak and shrimp (for Jon--I didn't feel like getting puffy or using my Epipen). We just sat back, had an amazing meal, a glass of wine and even had a little time to reflect on how blessed we are. We talked about our house, our little crazy dog, our families, our jobs...all the things we are thankful for and so many unexpected blessings God has given us in the past year and months. We can't believe that in a week we'd be in Hawaii, and how we couldn't believe we are finally talking about this trip as reality. Jon is a Kauai expert having been there with his family multiple times before, so we got to talk about different spots he wanted to take me to, things to do, places to eat, etc. It was SO fun and made us even more excited for it all! We kind of laughed that we are taking a trip in a week and we never even really sat down previous to this and planned what we are going to do there! But, you know me, I like it that way! And really, do you need a plan in Kauai? I don't think so either.
Sorry, I told you it'd be braggy. I'm done now.

One Week and Counting

In exactly one week from now, Jon and I will be in HAWAII! For 8 days and 7 nights we will be vacationing in Kauai, and let me tell you, we can't WAIT! This trip actually snuck up on us a bit. We planned it a while ago and after an extremely busy few months of work and traveling, we can hardly believe it's here! We are so ready to go to the beach, surf, go snorkeling, explore Kauai's beautiful nature, and just relax! I've already stocked up on a book I'm excited to read, a fresh stock of Sodoku and lots of sun tan lotion...I'm set! Ok so I also snuck in a few new tanks tops and summer clothes that somehow made it home with me after a trip to the mall this morning. I am even more excited to spend some consecutive time with Jon. That kind of sounds like weird phrasing, but as I'm sure most wives can attest to, sometimes it feels like I see Jon for a few hours a night (if that) and for a few hours each weekend since I work, and I miss getting to spend DAYS together. So I can't wait for these eight days of spending time together in a place that we've dreamed about going to since forever ago!
Sidenote: Does this ever happen to anyone else: The week or so before you go on vacation, everything seems to start getting super busy at work and even has a tendency to start falling apart...JUST as you are trying to make your exit and wrap things up. I have a feeling this week is going to be no exception, because it already started happening this last week. So my motto this week is "Just walk away". Because I have a feeling I am going to want to spend late nights at work this week, overworking to make sure everything gets done, when I really should put in my 8 hours a day and be content with what I do within that time. Because believe it or not, work still gets done when I'm not there. Ministry still happens. Life goes on. So just walk away Jen, just walk away. (sorry for talking in the 3rd person--its just important that I start now so I can have a sane week.). :)
ALOHA!

Happy Birthday Best Friend!

Today is a very special day--Kristen DACEY's Birthday! (Wow, I think that is the first time I've written that out! I LOVE IT!) Although we can't celebrate like many years past, and I wasn't able to bring her java chip ice cream at midnight on the first minute of her birthday, I am still celebrating this special day from across a few state lines. This year has been a huge one for Kristen. So many happy, life changing memories, leaps of faith, happy endings and new beginnings. Its been a privilege for me to be able to walk beside her especially this past year and see the incredible, uniquely perfect road the Lord has taken her on. I'm bummed that road involved the state of Washington, but at the same time I know she is exactly where God wants her and am excited to see what this new year will bring as she settles into her dream life with the man she loves. Kristen is the type of friend that makes you laugh harder than you thought possible, gives you the perspective and encouragement that you need when life brings you to tears, and is one of the only people I know that would drop everything to pick up your call or even come see you when you need it most (or even when you just want to have a fun night in!). Kris, I'm so sad and sorry we aren't able to sit across from each other at dinner and field you with questions that reminisce about this truly wonderful and momentous year (there would for SURE be no Macaroni Grill experience this year, huh?!). Is it horrible that I am just pretending that you, me and B have a dinner date this weekend to celebrate? I am definitely still in denial of our distance. Know that I miss you more than words can say and that I am truly grateful for you and the friend you are to me. You are so loving, encouraging, full of wisdom...and you just get me! I know you have an amazing husband spoiling you today, so that is the only reason I'm not on a plane right now! So, Happy Birthday Kristen! Enjoy celebrating your first MARRIED Birthday! I wish I was there to celebrate in person. I love you!

Whats Goin' On...

I write today because as I mentioned a few posts ago, I have friends that remind me that I don't do it enough. So although I insist there isn't a ton exciting going on in my life, I will write a list of the top 5 things that keep me busy these days.
1) Sodoku. I blame Kara. Kara White. She taught me once, and I haven't put it down since. It's addictive; it makes you solve it before it allows you to put it down; it it stays in your head even when you close your eyes and attempt to forget about it. It's all consuming. It's sodoku.
2) Work. I write this because of course, my job can sometimes be all consuming. I've found its sometimes hard to draw boundaries with ministry, but its a necessary thing. I can't complain too much though, cuz I really do love my job and love the people I work with. Its the most rewarding thing I've ever done and can't imagine working doing anything else. And really, its just fun. Just to give an example, I spent 6 hours of my paid work week last week choreographing & rehearsing a dance to "We Go Together" (from Grease). Yeah, I get paid to do stuff like that all the time. My parents must be so stoked that they paid $80,000 for my college education.
3) Texting or calling my sister. On a serious note, my nephew has been in the hospital for the last week fighting off what has now turned into pneumonia. He has to be in isolation, and my sister (the amazing mom that she is) insisted on staying with him. So although people can visit them, she is not allowed out, as to not risk bringing outside infection in since she stays with him all the time. So at this point, she would give her left arm to be able to walk to Starbucks and get her own coffee. So I called her yesterday to wish her Happy Mothers Day and she was amazingly upbeat for being stuck in a hospital room. She is a prime example of a selfless, sacrificial mom. If you think about it, pray for Kaleb as he will probably be there until at least Thursday.
4) US Weekly. My loving husband got me a subscription for Christmas and its the gift that keep on giving. I love that it comes every Friday and I get to catch up on all the important things going on in the world. However, I've gotten EXTREMELY behind in reading these ever since I got back from Seattle, so I've been trying to catch up lately. I mean, I feel just so out of it because I had NO idea Ricki Lake was so skinny, Vanessa and Nick were so happy or that Tom and Katie were so rocky. (ok so we all saw that last one coming). If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm not sure if we can still be friends. Ok, ok, I will just let you borrow them when I'm done.
5) Active for Life. At work, our HR dept. started this program called Active for Life which motivates and encourages our staff to stay healthy and active. All those who wanted to were able to join a team, and each person on that team has to set a goal of how many "active minutes" they will accomplish each week. I'm a realist when it comes to exercise, and I said 150 minutes a week. ( I say realist because a good friend of mine tried to be all agro and put down over 350 minutes a week, and lets just say our team hasn't won a week's competition yet due to her missing her goal by about 300 minutes. I'm not judging, I'm just all about being realistic.) While 150 minutes doesn't even seem like a lot, it turns out it is. Good thing I have a 4.5 pound dog with A.D.D. that forces me to walk her frequently, or I wouldn't get these active points. And the work dancing helps as well. Each week we have to report our minutes, and the team with the highest percentage of their goal wins. Yeah, like I said, we haven't won yet. Maybe I should up the ante a bit and bust out my old Tae Bo DVD's. Or just suck it up and finally join a gym like I've been talking about for months. Either way we better win soon, cuz I want a Jamba Juice gift card...I mean I want to stay active and healthy...;-)

Here are the Beautiful Pictures...

Here are some pictures from the "whirlwind" week I described last time. It was such a fun week, as you will see below!

THE BRIDE on Bachelorette Night!


All the girls at the Bridesmaids luncheon at a BEAUTIFUL ocean front home on Bainbridge Island.


This is B and Ezekiel. Isn't he the cutest? (B, you are cute too, dont worry). I love the mo-hawk that he sports. I gotta be honest, after living almost an entire week with the kid, I MISS HIM!


Me and Kris on the Ferry to Bainbridge


Ok, true confessions time: I've always kind of judged those who are obsessed with the "Sodoku Craze" and never really understood it. Mostly because in the past, I took one look at it and was so confused and I just assumed I was stupid and couldn't do it. It looked WAY too hard so I didn't even bother. My husband swears he tried to explain it to me once before and it ended in some sort of yelling and argument, but I have chosen to block that out. It took the patient voice of my favorite Chicago-an and new friend Kara to kindly explain the rules and strategy of the game, thus passing on the addiction to me. Here is me and Carrie tag teaming Sodoku on the Ferry. Kara was kind enough to lend me her book for so much of the trip and I tried to improve my game with any spare moment I had...or she let me borrow it for 1 game and I refused to give it back. I can't remember which. (the little guy in the pic is Ezekiel Prince. That's right: 2 Ezekiels in case you are keeping track).


Some of my "roomies" for the week (aka, the bridesmaids/bride)


Jon got to fly in on Friday, and here we are at the rehearsal dinner (which had the best Salmon Ive ever had in my LIFE by the way. YUM!)


Me and the Bride as we got ready


Me and Carrie lacing her--wasn't the back of her dress SO pretty??


ALL the bridesmaids and the bride! It was so good to catch up and hang out with all these wonderful girls last week. We made many memories and had many laughs. It was even extra fun to meet Kara, Kristen's sister in law, and become fast friends--it felt like we had all known each other for years! We gotta find a way to get Kristen and Kara down here to California for GOOD...it's just wrong how far apart we all live.

Pretty flowers!

The Happy Couple: Mr. and Mrs. Dacey!

This is Gavin, Carrie's son and one of the ring bearers. He seriously one of the cutest, most hilarious kids I've ever met. One of my favorite stories from this trip is when 3 of us girls were in the car with him driving in Seattle, and (inevitably), we got lost. As we are scrambling, trying to find where to go with all the crazy one way streets, Gavin is in the back, calmly and rationally giving direction advice. "Jen, I think you should probably find the freeway." or "I think you should turn towards the water." (Remember--this kid is THREE.) The funniest thing is he probably was right the whole time and knew what he was talking about. We eventually got there probably in large part to Gavin and his wise directions. He is just the cutest--Care, look out--my husband wants to steal him. Jon keeps calling him "Gavin the Genious Kid".

The Matrons and the Bride.

Eric and "the Jens" partying at the reception
The happy/sad ending...happily ever after for them, but sad for us to say goodbye knowing we won't see each other for a while.

A Whirlwind of a Week

This past week I was confronted by some of my favorite girls that I don't blog enough, so here I go. Your wish is my command. This one will be short due to my exhaustion, but its a start! :)
I got home a few hours ago from an event filled week up in Washington. All these events were surrounding my best friend Kristen's wedding. It was such a special time, seeing her dream become a reality; a beautiful ending to their romantic story, yet a new beginning as well. It was all so much fun; so much going on, SO many laughs, and then all of the sudden..its over! Its always a little bit of a slam going back to reality coming off a really fun, out of town experience. (I'm saying this and I haven't even gone to work yet! uh oh..) but such is life. The wedding was just beautiful, the bride "ravishing" (as we kept saying), and I had such a fun time doing every little thing we did. All of us girls spent the majority of our time laughing our heads off, making memories I will never forget. Its weird, cuz while it does feel good to be home and reconnect with my husband...I miss the girls already (and the 2 adorable babies that came with them. I felt like I sort of adopted them for a week and now POOF! all gone!!) We kind of had a little "dorm" experience for a few days (lots of girls in a small living space) and I had so much fun. I will go into more detail later when I post pics, because due to all this fun I had, I am just plain tired! And as I said, work will come quickly tommorow so I should get to bed... hmmm..how many sick days do I have left?? joking...mostly....

Time with Friends...

A few weekends ago, my best friend Kristen came down for a weekend to visit and so we could throw her her very first wedding shower! The weekend was so much fun, but way too short. Here are a couple of pics--I didn't get enough of my camera so if anyone has any from the shower or otherwise, send them my way!

Celebrating B's Birthday at good old Citrus City Grille

The Bride, and her two matrons of honor. :)

Happy Valentines Day

Valentines Day was a great one this year. When I arrived at work, these tulips, a balloon and a box of candy all were waiting for me at my desk thanks to my sweet husband. He got lots of compliments from my co-workers, needless to say. Then Jon and I went to a romantic dinner at this nice Mexican place called Taleo that Jon had made reservations at and surprised me. It was very good and so fun to spend time together. I know that people say its a "made up holiday" for the flower, candy and card businesses, but Im all about it. Any day that I get spoiled with romantic gifts and a dinner out is a great holiday.

Thawing Out After Oklahoma

Im back from Oklahoma! It was a quick but great trip, and I am so glad I got the chance to go. I got to spend some quality time with the whole Bowers fam, and (especially) had so much fun seeing the kids! I know I am biased, but they are so stinkin adorable. It was the hardest its ever been to leave. The quote that brought on the tears for me was "Noooooo! Aunt Jen can't leave. I want her to stay forever!". Yeah...how hard is it to leave when you have a 4 year old princess crying while saying that to you.

As for weather, it snowed while I was there---it was down to 20-something degrees...yeah... now I realize why I live in California. haha, It was really pretty though, I have to admit, but I am still defrosting as we speak.And I had to push Kristi's car out of a ditch. There's a story there. Just ask.

Here are some of the pics from the whirlwind trip.

It was spirit day at school on Friday and Hannah already thinks she's a cheerleader. She was sitting on my lap at the pep rally at school and it took all my strength to hold her back from running on the gym floor to start cheering with the high school cheerleaders. Literally. I'm not exaggerating.

Brrrr.....:)

Happy Birthday Jon!

Happy Birthday to my amazing husband who turns 27 TODAY! We celebrated all weekend with a night out to Melting Pot for the two of us on Friday, then to Tustin Brewing Company on Saturday night with friends and then hunt out after and finally, are continuing the celebration today and tonight with friends again. Got him a few presents including a video game he wanted, stuff for his Ipod that he got for Christmas and some clothes. Of course, the highlight of today's celebration will be watching 24 tonight. Happy Birthday to all of us. I LOVE YOU Jon!

Everybody at Tustin Brewing Co.

Don't ask me what Kevin is doing cuz I have no idea.

The birthday boy with his My Little Pony balloon from Scott and Jenny. He loved it.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Kauai Here We Come!

Last night, Jon and I officially booked a vacation to Kauai for the first week in June! We are SO excited! We are staying at the Outrigger Kiahuna Plantation (that is where this picture is from). We got a condo there so we can have a kitchen but still have maid service (that was a must have for me!) Its right in the middle of Poipu beach which is where Jon and I have talked about going since before we were married. Its our favorite vacation spot that we both have been to seperately with our families, and now we finally get to go together. Work has been especially busy for both Jon and I due to our recent promotions (not that we are complaining about that!)---both promotions involve doing multiple jobs until people are hired underneath us, which is proving to take a while. All that to say, booking this vacation has made work a lot more tolerable knowing that in just a few short months, we will be there: lying on the beach, hearing the waves crash and looking out to bright blue water. Not bad..not bad at all.