February 1, 2013

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One thing I didn’t really talk about in my recap of Alt was how my entire family, including my mom and dad, ended up going with us to Utah so I could attend.  You see, I’m still nursing Hayden, and at 5 months old, it’s the time where milk supply starts to get a little more unstable, at least for me anyhow.  I very well could have pumped while away, but I was afraid my supply would suffer and/or he would reject me by the time I came back.  Nursing Hayden for as long as possible, I decided was in the end, more important than attending Alt.  I swirled ideas around about bringing our sitter with us, or hiring a sitter out there, which all ended up not feeling right.  When it came down to it, if I was going to put for the extra expense to attend with Hayden, then we should all reap the benefits somehow.

So I came up with a crazy plan, that actually ended up working.  What if we all went, and made a little vacation out of it?  Our good friends parents own a home in Park City.  They are some of the most gracious and generous people I have ever met and allowed us to stay at their home during Alt.  We now had housing covered, so the other expense of flying needed to be sorted out.  The stars aligned and we found rock bottom priced tickets that got us all there for well under budget, and what  I would have spent in hotel fees alone most likely.  Since we hadn’t taken a vacation since last year, this seemed like a very crazy, but perfect excuse to go.  My parents ended up tagging along too because, well, why not.  At times I felt silly for hatching this plan, but my husband and I both sort of have a very unwavering outlook on life that if you can make things work, and they’re important enough for you, then you need to go for it.  So go for it we did.  I nursed Hayden in the morning and when I got home and in the middle of the night, and really just missed 2 feedings during the day, so all in all the crazy plan worked out.  After Alt was over, we hung around a couple of days to do some skiing and boarding and relax a bit. I boarded for the first time in almost 10 years and not only didn’t kill myself, I actually boarded better than I ever had in my 20’s. Lesson learned, don’t let age stop you from doing what you long to do. This was Taylor’s second year of taking ski lessons, and we got to ride on a ski lift together and come down the mountain side by side for the first time. I’ll never forget that day. The conditions on the mountain were actually pretty crappy, with tons of wind and snow, but she was a trooper and continued skiing well past when her lesson was over. Other than that, we spent a lot of time building snowmen and just enjoying the local scenery and wildlife. Hayden touched snow for the first time, and every morning we got to see a herd of deer traipse through the yard. The kind of stuff us SoCal natives only dream of.  It was work to get there and at times I wondered if it was worth it, but overall we made some pretty sweet memories on this trip, and I gained a lot of knowledge from attending the conference.  I continue to feel grateful and appreciative that I have a husband that supports me and my aspirations.  In other news, we have a new hashtag for the 52 Weeks To Create challenge.  This months winner will receive a shop credit to The Paper Source.  I figured with Spring just around the corner, we can stock up on some pretty papers for the upcoming holidays and birthday season.  And make sure to follow the hashtag to see who the winner of the January Container Store shop credit is.  Oh! I almost forgot to mention, the sweet gals at ban.do are offering my readers 20% off site wide with the code fortheloveof, now through February 17th! So get on that, and get yourself some hearts and other fabulousness!

Have a great weekend everyone! Linking up with Jeannett for InstaFriday (my first time!!)