Dusty Bottoms 2009

We got back this morning from a really great couple of days in Jacksonville, FL.  The occassion: Dusty Bottoms 2009!  What's Dusty Bottoms you might ask???!  Let's see if I can give a short version...Jimmy & I got married in 2003.  Jimmy had two friends that he went to college with, Dave & Erin, and he invited them both to our wedding.  Dave & Erin had a past - and they were coming unbeknownst to the other...long story short, it was a good thing that they both decided to come to our wedding.  They began dating again and got married New Year's Eve 2007.  They had one of the neatest weddings - it was laid back and low key - and we met and got to know some really great people.  We all said that we'd love to get together every year since we all became close friends - we said this after our wedding, but it never happened.

  A few months after the wedding, we started sharing pics from the wedding week - and we thought we should give our little group of friends a name - after much debate, we decided on The Dusty Bottoms!!  And we immediately began talking about this group get together.  Last year, Dave's parents were nice enough to let us all use their house in the NC mountains - it was GORGEOUS and relaxing - so nice!!!!  And it was like we'd never been apart!  We played lots and lots of Nutso - our favorite game!  So after that great week, we began taking suggestions for next year's get-away.

  Dave & Erin moved from the West Coast back to Dave's hometown of Jacksonville, FL.  We were still trying to figure out a cost effective place for us all to go.  Dave & Erin came up with a brilliant idea for us to come to their new house!  DONE!  We all booked tickets and flew down for an extended July 4th weekend!

  Jimmy & I had a tough June and we were looking for a much needed exhale!  We got to the airport with no problems - only to see that we were delayed...2 hours...then 3 hours...finally boarded about 3 1/2 hours late and arrived in JAX around 2:30am!!  We felt awful since Dave & Erin offered to pick us up from the airport.  But they were troopers - Erin & Emi came in the DB Mobile!  None of us remember the conversations on the way home - we were just all glad to be there!

  Thursday was nice & relaxing - slept in, did Insanity with Erin (she did SO well!!!), made breakfast, took the dogs for a walk and started dinner preparations - it was grill time!!!  Dinner was so nice - almost everyone that could make it arrived - Amy was the only one left to come in on Friday.  Jimmy learned how to play Nutso - wasn't his cup of tea which surprised me,  I thought his competitive nature would come out!  It was a little too chaotic for him!

  Friday was beach day - halleluia!!  After almost 4 weeks straight of rain in NYC, I was jonesin' for some Vitamin D - not to mention sand and the ocean!!!  It was HOT HOT HOT!!!  But sunny and so nice!!!  I was in hog heaven!!!  Jimmy and I have decided that when we move out of NYC, it has to be near the water!   The water was cool - but just the right temp to cool your feet off!  It was my first time in the Atlantic Ocean - so I can now say that I've put my feet in the water coast to coast!!  We left the beach right before the daily afternoon shower - had a great lunch.  It truly felt like vacation!  Then it was time for a nap and then Amy came in.  All hail, the gang's all here!!!  Pasta was the feast of the night - YUMMY!!!  Some of Dave & Erin's friends came over for some hot and heavy rounds of Nutso - good times!  

  Playing Nutso always makes my heart smile - my parents used to have couple friends come over when I was little and they'd all play Nutso - and now we're playing it with our couple friends.

  Saturday was what vacation was all about...relaxation!  I napped and napped and napped some more!!!  We all did - and didn't feel guilty about it for one minute!  We went to the Riverside Market - lots of fresh veggies and crafts.  The goal was to take pics of whatever we wanted to put on Dave & Erin's living room wall - they had a bunch of frames and wanted their friends to help fill them!  Such a fun project!  It was so nice out there - and I think we got some great shots!  Saturday evening, post napping, we went out to the park to check out the fireworks.  We were supposed to be at a great spot to see a couple of fireworks displays.  Dave was nice enough to check out my camera and give me some tips about what all the settings were.  I had the tripod all set up to capture the fireworks...and when they actually started, everyone in front of us stood up and I was too short to take pics!!!  Doh!  But the fireworks that I could see were nice!  We went back to the house and popped some fireworks of our own!  Hadn't done that in years!!!  Good times!

  Then we had to pack.  Seemed like we'd just gotten settled!!!  This vacation flew by.  We were back home in NYC before we knew it.  But instead of needing a vacation from the vacation, it was so relaxing.  We came back feeling refreshed and renewed and ready to tackle what lies ahead!

   June was a long month filled with ups and downs and tough challenges and amazing experiences.   I almost feel a little lost with where to go from here - it's going to be a hard month to top, but the hard work picks back up tomorrow.  

  July's goals - consistent morning runs, yoga twice a week, studying Turbo Kick rounds to be able to teach by August 1st (if not throwing in some guinea-pig test classes before then) & working in INSANITY with my P90X workouts after it comes out mid-month.  

  In addition to fitness stuff, personal goals - consistent morning writing, doing a better job of keeping up with housework and making dinner at night, and most importantly spending some quality time with Jimmy.  June was so go-go-go and we are looking forward to being able to focus on each other.

  I'm not sure what God has in store for us, but I know big stuff is on it's way - and we're just trying to be open and receptive to what that's going to be!!