En route to some more 30 before 30 action!

Well hello there, millions of adoring fans. Hehe ok, maybe it's more like several loyal readers and a few creepers. Regardless.

So, as I'm sure you understand, it's been a bit of a whirlwind the past few weeks, and you don't even know the half of it (and to be honest, you won't know the whole of it for a few more weeks...that outta entice you to come back). Still, I'll do my best to fill you in in this post!

I'm writing this blog from about 38,000 feet on a flight to Tampa, FL. Taylor and I are going on a vacation that we planned way back in November, and the timing couldn't be better (or worse, depending on how you look at it).

We've taken to planning vacations within vacations and this trip is no different). We decided we wanted to go to the Caribbean and settled on the little-known but highly recommended island of Curacao. Last year, we tried to find time to go to Florida to visit my grandparents who live in The Villages, but we never were able to do so, so we decided to stop there on this trip. We would fly to Tampa, rent a car and drive to The Villages for a couple days, and then fly to Curacao for 5 days.

Well, last week, around the same time my grandma passed away, my Nana in Florida e-mailed me to tell me that they had a pipe burst and a huge flood at their home in Michigan and were coming back up to Michigan to deal with it.

So, not to be deterred, Taylor and I came up with some fantastic backup plans. First, we're going to see the Yankees play a Spring Training game in Tampa. Then, since we need to fill a couple days in Florida before we head to Curacao, I'm checking an item off my 30 before 30 list (stay at a world-renowned hotel somewhere) and staying at the Don CeSar hotel on in St. Petersburg! I lived in St. Pete a few years ago and had always heard about this hotel. I figure, what better way to make lemonade out of these lemons than to complete one of my goals!

Here's a picture of the hotel:
After I check this one off (I'll write a separate blog about it), we're driving to Miami on Sunday and staying overnight before catching our flight to Curacao Monday mornign, WHEW!

I'm also working on my goal to read 10 of the top novels of all time. I finished To Kill a Mockingbird a few days ago and I'm about 1/3 of the way through Pride and Prejudice (go me!).

And, just because i have the photo hand, I just thought I'd share a great photo of my whole family that was taken last weekend at Grandma's funeral. I already miss this bunch a TON!