Ahhh....

Well, I have to say, the last week of my life was pretty wonderful.  One of the amazing things about being a teacher, is although I have a "real job" and I'm a big girl now, I still get Spring Break.  It was WONDERFUL.  Like I told you before, my grandparents stay in Siesta Key from February until Mid-April.  They were kind enough to let Ashlie, Katie and I take over part of the condo this week.  My Aunt Judi, cousin Delanie, and Delanie's friend were also there.  Our last night, my Uncle came, so needless to say, it was  FULL house!  It was so much fun and I was constantly reminded of how lucky I am to have such an amazing family.

I started my spring break by visiting the Tortoise in Chicago for a couple of days.  We had a blast in the very mild Chicago weather, and it totally got me pumped to spend a week on the beach.  Being the wonderful person that he is, the Tortoise woke up bright and early to take the three of us to the airport.  When I say bright and early, I mean it.  We left his apartment around 5 am.

After arriving in Sarasota, we spent the week sunning ourselves on the powder-white beach, eating lots of high-calorie food, and simply relaxing.  I read 4 books over the course of vacation.  It was wonderful.  My grandma is a saint, and had snacks waiting for us every time we came back from the beach.  She kept us VERY well fed with home-cooked meals each night as well.  I loved catching up with my grandparents (since they had been gone since February), my aunt (because although we work together, we don't often get a chance to just chat), and my cousin (who is growing up WAY too fast).  It was also wonderful to spend one of the nights playing cards with everyone after my uncle arrived.

It truly was so relaxing and wonderful.  I miss it already.

Bonus:  On the way home, we had a connecting flight in Atlanta.  They needed someone to give up their seat so they could get some of the stand-by people on the plane.  I volunteered after being lured with $400 of flight credit toward Delta Airlines (which happens to be the airline that the Tortoise and I are taking to Jamaica).  They put my up in a hotel, gave me some money for food, and flew me home this morning with a free ticket in my pocket!  Awesome!

Here are some of my favorite pics from the vacation (thanks, Ashlie, for forcing us to take pictures each night!:

More to come later!