So Long Sanibel

I'll write more about our last day on the beach later, but the most important thing you need to know is that it was a sunny, beautiful beach day! The only unfortunate thing is that Liz and I were irresponsible with our sunscreen application and both of us ended up quite sunburned. That made for an uncomfortable trip home.

                   

                                    

Our flight was delayed leaving Fort Myers so we split up and each of us sat in middle seats close to the front of the plane in the hopes that we could make it to our next flight on time. I lucked out with my seat neighbor, talked the whole way home and ended up with free wireless for our flight, a pair of ear buds and an external phone charger! He was a very generous man who travels a ton for work and had extras of everything. There was bad winter weather in Chicago so, even though we had plenty of time to get to our flight at Midway, we had to wait for our first captain to land. Once we got on the plane we had to wait again for de-icing. By the time we left, we were over an hour late. I had hoped to be in bed before 12:30am but it ended up being 1:35am by the time I turned out my lamp.

I slept surprisingly well during the 4.5 hours I had. It's before 9am and I'm back at the airport for a work trip to Orange County, California.

                                     

One of the best things about this crazy travel turnaround was the fact that my car was waiting for me at terminal 2! Rob left for Arizona in the morning, parked my car at the airport, I drove it home for the night and back to the airport this morning. If he doesn't buy a service truck, he will fly home tonight and my car will be waiting for him when he gets to MSP. If he buys a new truck he'll drive it home, returning to MN on Saturday. In that case my car will be waiting for me when I return on Saturday! Brilliant. Mostly just really good timing.

Bon voyage!

Jill

In the Cloud

Remember that fog we experienced last night? It was still here today. Sanibel was under a dense fog advisory until 10am, but it turns out the fog lingered all day long preventing us from furthering our suntans. Despite the thick fog, Liz and I headed for Captiva. We stopped at a couple beaches and eventually gave in... it was no better up there. What do you do when faced with extra time in Captiva? You stop at the Mucky Duck for lunch.

                               

The best part of the experience was when the waitress rolled a window over to our table and said, "There. Now you have a table by the window." A staff with a sense of humor.

                                                

We decided to give up on our goal of spending the day at the beach and headed back to Sanibel. We went for a chilly walk down the beach to the Sanibel Lighthouse.

                                                

When we got back from our lighthouse walk, we learned that our flight from Fort Myers to Atlanta was cancelled! Normally I wouldn't be worried, but on Thursday morning I'm flying to California for a work trip. Thankfully there's another flight only 30 minutes earlier (we won't miss out on potential sun time!) that will take us through Chicago on the way home.

Once we rescheduled our flight and after watching a couple episodes of Law & Order, we went for a walk on our way to Pinocchio's for an ice cream treat.

                           

While it wasn't a sunny day, it was a good day. I wore flip flops most of the day, walked the beach, ate at the Mucky Duck, had ice cream for dinner and watched plenty of shows on USA; none of which I could or would have done at home.

Jill

Foggy Finish

Our first full day in Florida was just about perfect. The day pretty much consisted of beach time, lunch, more beach time, and a non-sunset sunset. Temps today were in the high 70s and there was very little breeze... it was almost too hot, but you'd never hear either one of us complaining. We spent the first part of our day at Tarpon Bay Beach.

                       

Eventually, we went to lunch at the Blue Giraffe and headed for Bowman's Beach. The beach was surprisingly busy -- we circled the parking lot a few times before we scored a good spot! (In the past, we've been here late January, which is not nearly as busy as late February, so traffic, beaches and restaurants have been much busier than we're used to.) We spent another few hours soaking up the sun, took a snack break back at the car and got ready for the sunsest.

It was one of the craziest sunsets we've experienced! When we set up our viewing spot, there didn't seem to be a cloud in the sky -- other than some wispy ones that wouldn't get in the way of the horizon. Shortly after we sat down, some clouds started rolling in from the northwest. Within a less than 5 minute span, the sun went from fully visible with a clear path to the horizon to being completely covered by the clouds.

      

                                   

That alone wasn't so crazy, but the way the clouds absolutely took over the beach was unbelieveable. The result was an ominous, creepy, fog covered beach. At one point, there were no other people visible in either direction.

                                   

As we left the beach, Liz realized she didn't have her shoes, so we walked back to our viewing location. Her shoes were not there. We had stopped to search for sea shells earlier, and, thankfully, her shoes were still stuck in the sand right where she left them. As she leaned down to get her shoes, she dumped out the last of her hard cider. We couldn't stop laughing.

                       

Loving our time together in Sanibel,

Jill

Sanibel Sunset

My alarm went off at 3:25am this morning. Normally I'd have a hard time getting out of bed with only 4.5 hours of sleep, but today it wasn't so difficult. At 6:10am I was on a flight to Fort Myers, FL with my sister-in-law, Liz, for our (sort-of) annual trip to Sanibel Island. Our flights were smooth, we scored two seats in the 3rd row on our Southwest flight and didn't have to change planes during our layover in Atlanta. Because of the cold temps in Minnesota, there is a 100 degree "feels like" temperature difference between Sanibel and home (feels like -30 degrees at home, 70+ degrees in FL).

When we landed, Liz waited for our luggage and I went to get our rental car. A random man and I approached the door at the same time, he put out his arm like a gentleman and said, "Let me get the door for you." I thanked him and we laughed about the fact that it was an automatic door. He looked familiar and I told him so, he said that I, too, looked familiar, we both said our names and it hit me how I knew him. "We're neighbors!" I exclaimed. It was Rich from our neighborhood. He's in FL visiting his step-mom. Another small world story for my book.

From the airport, we headed for Sanibel with a quick stop for lunch at Gater Bites and snacks at the grocery store next door. We were a little apprehensive about our hotel/condo, but it turned out to be a great little place! It's just down the street from our favorite ice cream shop where we visited later this evening (the mint chocoloate chip was delish!). We dropped off our luggage in our condo, put on our swimsuits and headed for the beach. The temperature was warm, not a lot of wind; perfect napping conditions.

                                                   

From there we drove to Tarpon Bay to wach our first sunset of the trip. Does it get any better than this?

                                                   

I don't feel cold. Which is rare for me, but I'll take it.

Grateful for the opportunity to travel to Sanibel with Liz,
Jill

The Pressure

A few weeks ago the pressure in my tires was low. I mentioned this fact to Rob when I got home that evening and, rather than add air to the tires that night, he asked me to remind him in the morning. I thought the pressure might fix itself with an overnight stay in our heated garage, but soon learned otherwise. Of course, we both forgot the next morning, he left for work and when I started my car, the tire pressure was still low. I like to think that I'm an independent woman, but when I realized I was going to have to get dirty putting air in my tires, I was longing for Rob to do the dirty work for me. Unfortunately, he was already at the shop, so I had to do it myself. Thankfully, he talked me through the process of finding the tire pressure gauge, changing the end on the air hose, turning on the air compressor, etc. I pumped up my tires, washed my hands several times and was on my way to work. While I was slightly annoyed that I had to get dirty, I did realize that it could have been so much worse than it was: I could have been on the side of the road with a flat tire or I could have been adding air at a convenience store, freezing my butt off in the below zero temps. Navigating the process in the warmth of a 54 degree garage wasn't so bad.

I was going through Alix withdrawal this week, so I stopped by Andy and Malinda's after work last night. My car sat outside in below zero temps for a few hours while I spent time with them and, when I got in my car to go home, the low pressure light was on again. This time, I forgot to mention anything to Rob when I got home, so when the light was still lit this morning, I wasn't surprised. However, there was a big difference between today and the experience a few weeks ago: Rob was still home this morning. He came out to the garage and literally, within less than 5 minutes, he had checked the pressure and added air to all 4 tires. That same process took me at least 20 minutes, if not longer.

Today I'm grateful for a husband who isn't afraid to get dirty.

Love you babe,
Jill

40 Days

Today is Ash Wednesday. Every year I try to give up something for the 40 days of the Lent (sweets have been on the chopping block the past several years). While this may seem like a great sacrifice, it's actually a very selfish move. Most years this is the point in the winter where I'm feeling sluggish, less toned/less in shape than I'd prefer and my junk food consumption is at a high. So I cut out sweets in the hopes that I'll lose a pound or two, my clothes will fit better and I'll generally feel better about myself and my health. I can't say this has actually happened. Sure. It's definitely a challenge to give up the dove chocolates or ice cream before bed, the bit o' honey every day during 6th period and the random tasty cookie that I'm offered. But in the place of sweets, I end up eating more salty snacks, which doesn't necessarily help with that healthy feeling I seek.

I'm going to try something a little different this year. I can't say it's any less selfish, but I'm adding something to my life in addition to giving something up. Over the years, I have found that when I write regularly, I am more likely to notice positivity, beauty and inspiration all around me. This year, I'm going to try to focus on this positivity and gratitude for the next 40 days in the hopes that my spirits will lift and I will be a better wife/daughter/friend/coworker/counselor. Along the same lines as the Happiness Project, I'm hopeful that I will become a happier person, which in turn will have a positive affect on my health, relationships, faith, etc. My goal is say/write every day until Easter. Maybe I'll just post a picture. Or a quote I've heard. I'm not exactly sure what this will look like; maybe it'll look similar to my posts last summer or during past travel seasons. I'm going to give it a whirl.

For my first day, I want to share a picture of our home. Last week, Rob and I were both fighting some sort of illness, which we suspect was the flu. We had temps well over 100, we spent many hours laying on the couch, watching movies, napping in the recliner and eating very little other than graham crackers and toast w/ peanut butter. The worst of my illness came when I was in Chicago for a conference. With a temp of 103, I had to muster up the energy to go to the grocery store across the street for some Tylenol and ginger ale. By the time I got home Wednesday evening, I was incredibly grateful to be home and over the course of the next few days, I was also grateful Rob and I had each other to share in our misery. While it wasn't the most romantic of Valentine's Days, I was glad to be in the company of my greatest love.

                                         

The sunset behind our house was especially beautiful tonight. I'm not sure the picture will do it justice, but I want to express just how grateful I am for our beautiful home. I love coming home; it's where I feel the most comfortable, at ease, happy and loved.

Happy to be home,
Jill