Gone Fishin'

I didn't expect to take a two-week break from the blog, but I did, and I figured a nice segue to blogging about what I did during my time off would be to blog about why I didn't blog.  My mind is a strange thing.  I'm embracing it.

For the last four months I've been banging out an average of four posts per week which has been both gratifying and exhausting.  November and December were my busiest blogging months so far since I posted all about our holiday happenings and maintained the 30 Days of Thanks project in November along with a 25 Days of Christmas project in December.  All the while, I was churning out projects left and right, going to my regular 40-hour-a-week job, decorating, socializing, and somehow blogging in my infrequent spare moments (although I'm sure my posts are riddled with typos - the horror!).  I planned to go into this month full-force and really get down to some serious projects.  However, I was given the rare opportunity to take some time off from work last week to spend time with Ryan before he started his new job (which was today!).  We both knew that unless we planned to do something, we'd end up (OK, I'd end up) making us paint, organize, and clean the house.  As soon as we came to that realization, we quickly jumped on the Internets (I like to pluralize it) to plan a little mini-getaway.  I already planned to go on a trip with Carrie, Erica and her sister Alissa later in the week, so Ryan and I turned our focus from Mexico (yes, we considered jet-setting to Mexico for five days) to planning a trip somewhere a little more local.  We chose NYC and I could not have been happier with the choice.  I'll be putting up all the details this week so be sure to stay tuned!

We left for NYC last Tuesday morning and came back Thursday night.  Less than 12 hours later, I was on my way with Carrie and Erica to Charlotte, NC and just returned late last night.  Both trips were vastly different but equally incredible.  Again, more deets coming this week.

One of my top New Year's resolutions is to travel more this year and to be more open to new opportunities that might present themselves.  I didn't get a chance to do a lot of traveling last year since we were planning the wedding and I was finishing school.  Our honeymoon ended up being our "big trip" for the year which was amazing, but I'd like to do a lot more of it this year.   Even though NYC isn't terribly far away, getting out of town for a while and just doing something different for a few nights was exactly what I needed after a hectic holiday season.  I'd hate to look back on this precious time before we start a family and only remember doing projects and being too serious about getting things done.  Initially it was hard for me to give up the idea of getting things done around the house with my new, and unexpected, free time.  But it was totally worth leaving the projects and blogging behind to have some good quality time with my husband followed by a much needed girls trip.  I might not always be able to take off for a few days, but the time away from blogging and project-ing helped me to appreciate the refreshing value of checking out for a little while and fully embracing the moment.
Photo: here