Happy New Year and some random stuff....

Happy 2014 all my peeps! I hope you all had an amazing New Years. Ours was fantastic, but I will recap on that later. At the moment, I can't upload any photos from my camera because it has decided to stop working! :-/ I can't figure out what is wrong either. It was working fine...I was viewing the photos from Tuesday night and when I shut my camera off it just didn't pull the lens in. Now, the lens is stuck out and won't retract! I'm really hoping this is a simple problem that can be fixed!!

Lil Mister showing off our tree to Maggy!

What you missed W48

This week has been a little slow getting back into the groove! I won’t lie.....I’d much rather still be on holiday! ;-)

It was so wonderful and honestly, our family truly needed it! Although, that house from our Ouma and Oupa is far from childproof! We were so heart sore and tired of telling the kids no for everything that when we got home they’re were able to just about whatever they wanted!

Durban vacation Part 2: Old Friends, New Laughs, and UShaka

As promised, I'm trying to downsize the posts....I don't think I'm succeeding though!
But seriously, when you see these faces...how can you not expect me to post a ton of photos! (And I mean really, peeps, I took like 1000 photos! So don't complain!)

After the amazing beach trip on Saturday, we decided to use Sunday to head to our old stomping grounds! We knew that everyone was working during the week....so we wanted to make sure we saw some old friends!

Durban Vacation: Part 1 Our First Trip to the Beach

Well, we're finally back from our holiday! Did you miss me? I missed you guys terribly! I loved all the support and comments I got while I was gone! I hope you enjoyed the Instagram updates!

I have tried to narrow down these posts as much as possible but with kids as gorgeous as Lil Mister and LJ the photos are numerous to say the least! ;-) I don't want to bombard everything on you at once....so I'll just try to give you the best highlights!!

30 Days of Gratitude: 4 in 1

Today I'm linking with both A Complete Waste of Makeup for Sunday Social and Keeping up with Kelsey for the #30DoG linkup.

After having been on holiday last week, I have a little bit of catching up to do! Yay!

What you missed W47 and I'm missing yall!!

 

While I have been away this week....I’ve also been very active! I hope you are enjoying all of the posts up on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! Otherwise head over there and catch up! Since I’ve been gone and not staying up on what everyone else has been doing....I’m sad to report there will be no favorites this week! I promise to make it up to you next week though! I’ll be back Monday in full swing....or barely surviving being back at work....we’ll just wait and see!

If you happened to be busy as well this week....it’s okay! Organized Chaos is always happy to keep you informed!

Sunday Inspiration: Rest

I hope all is going well with you my friends! I am already missing you guys so much! I promise I really am! In light of staying in my vacation mood....I thought I'd share some Biblical perspective on rest.

simlplyliving.tumblr.com 

Saturday Funny: Vacations

While many of you are freezing this weekend away....I will be toasting my pasty whiteness in the summer sun of Durban! ;-) Sorry....it's my first vacation in the five years I've been living in South Africa...I had to rub it in a little. I hope the burn is gone now!

www.myhyena.com Is this not the cutest kid!

30 Days of Gratitude: Our Car

Day 16: Nov 16, 2013
 Today I am grateful for our car! God has always taken care of our family so much and this has been the greatest blessing this year! Because of this we are now on our way to see our Ouma and Oupa for the first time in almost four years! Praise God!

XOXxx

Shana Danae..

What you missed W44

Ai....another week gone! Have you heard me mention that we are planning, hoping, and praying to make it to Durban this month to visit our Grandparents? Well, if all goes well...it’s two weeks away! TWO FRACKIN’ WEEKS PEEPS!

In light of this...I need some posts! I’ll be away from the blog for a week! I’ll still check your comments, reply and catch up on just relaxing and reading all your lovely words, but I won’t be posting. :-/ I know you’ll miss me. I’ll miss you too! However...most importantly, who wants to hook up Organized Chaos with some guest posts?

Party over here....party over here!

 

Sunday Social....Reminiscing, Living, and Foreseeing

This was a little hard for me this week since we opposite yall in seasons! I debated on whether to do it for last summer, winter which is now ending, or upcoming summer predictions...I couldn’t decide so I did all three! ;-)

TT- Summer Vacation

Tick…

Tick…

Tick….

She glances at the clock again. TWO MINUTES. It feels like a century but only two minutes have passed.

She looks back at her desk.

It’s the last test.

She just needs to complete this one…last…test.

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

She looks again at the clock on the wall. It’s almost time. Only five minutes left.

She begins to get uneasy in her seat.

She shifts her weight from one side to the other.

Tap..tap..tap

Her pencil hits the wooden top repeatedly.

She hurriedly scribbles in one final answer.

Her heart rate is picking up.

She can feel the excitement swelling inside her.

As she looks at the other classmates, they too are unsettled. A murmur roams through the classroom as papers get shifted and feet are shuffled underneath the desks.

Eyes glance warily at each other as if the fear of it never happening actually comes true.

Tick…

Tick…

Tick…

Is it possible that the time is slowing down?

Will it ever come to an end??

And then….in a moment of utter silence; every breath is held and every appendage is stilled….

….

The bell rings!!

Papers fly, screams erupt and summer vacation has finally arrived.

This post is written in response to Jenn’s,  from SomethingClever2.0, Theme Thursday topic; summer vacation. 

Shana..

MHO Monday Mingle-Vacations

A weekly questioner with Funny Postpartum Lady and Story of a Girl!!

This weeks theme:  Vacation

1.  Do you take family vacations?

We’d like to but at this stage it isn’t happening L We have lots and lots of, umm….dreams and discussions about what our vacations will be.

2.  Did you take family vacations as a kid?  If so, what is the one you remember the most?

Not really. What I do remember was going with Dad in the semi for weeks every summer! We’d hit the road that first Sunday school was over and I’d be gone for a week, come home the weekend, and leave out again with him for another week. I’d come home for a couple of weeks and then do it all over again. I hated when our trips ended. When it was just him and me and the open road it felt as if everything was perfect. He was my best friend.

3.  What is your dream vacation, as a family, a couple or even alone?

As a family, Hubby and I want to take the boys on a road trip around South Africa. We want to wait until they’re in high school so they can remember the experience better. But we just want to load up a caravan, take a few weeks and stroll to every hot spot and some unknown wonders and beauties from one corner to the other.

4.  What is your preferred method of traveling? Ex. flying, driving, taking a train, a cruise?

I’d love to take a cruise and trains can be fun. I didn’t necessarily LOVE flying but I don’t mind it. I’d have to say though that driving is my favorite. It is so personal. It creates an experience you can’t exchange. Sometimes the memories of getting there were just as good as the vacation itself!

5.  Have you already made vacations planned for this summer, or are you planning a “staycation”?

Since summer is ending here in South Africa…no. We had a baby for our summer! ;-) hehe but we’re planning this coming summer. The boys will both be older (1 and 3) so we plan to head to the Great Grandparents in Durban….a little fun in the sun at the sea! ;-) Oh…and if time and finances will permit….a nice fishing trip…JUST THE ADULTS!! We plan to let the boys go to Ouma and Oupa for like 3 days or so and Hubby and his brother and girlfriend and I hit the road for camping and fishing and relaxing! Oooooo!!!

 Okay, now it's your turn. Grab the button and questions and repost on your page!!! You don't have to answer the questions, you can just repost the button on your sidebar or in a post. Link your page or post up and mingle with other bloggers!!! No rules, just meet new people! This is a Blog Hop!

Vacation Disaster

I laughed when I read this week’s topic! How strange it seemed to me. Here’s the thing. You’re going to be shocked at what I have to tell you. You won’t believe you’re reading this correctly. I am a person who LOVES to travel. I dream incessantly about traveling the world. I fell in love with Julia Roberts in Eat.Pray.Love and would drop everything to take my family on such a trip!

However, I’ve never been on vacation!

That’s right. I said it! NEVER! Okay, when I was little we took a few trips to see my family in Georgia and I spent weeks every summer riding around in my dad’s semi as we traveled across the states. But these weren’t vacations really! As I got older, I planned my trip, but then ended up moving here instead and got married! So that definitely can’t fall under the disaster category!

Instead though I will tell you about the most memorable trip I have with my dad in the semi! This particular trip will be a story I tell my grand children. It constantly reminds me of what it was like the first time I experienced a life so vastly different from my own!

When in the trucking business there are times in which involve a lot…I mean a ridiculous unimaginable amount of time sitting around and…waiting. You drop a load and travel to a truck stop and wait for your next load. There are times where you receive you next load before you’ve even dropped the one you’re carrying but other times you just sit!

This particular day was a sitting day! Luckily joining us at the stop was Jeff, Scott, and another driver I’d never met. Truckers develop a keen friendship with each other and my dad was always good at maintaining these friendships. Jeff, Scott and my dad drove together a lot and always had a great time!

We all piled into my favorite truck stop, Gateway, in St. Louis. We ate breakfast, checked about a load, mused over the stores, and proceeded to the arcade! Further proving my point that boys don’t really grow up!
After 3 hours of gaming, we ate lunch and checked about loads again. Still….NOTHING! Now my little 8 year old self can only stay busy so long. The men decide a nap is in order for the after noon because if we do get loads now it will be a long drive!

Killing hours on end in a truck stop is only so entertaining and for the guys who do it on a daily basis, each stop begins to be the same!

After about an hour of rest, we get the call! This was before cell phones were really popular so we all rush into the building and hit a pay phone! I remember prancing anxiously as I built up excitement towards hitting the open road again!

We get our load details and the men plot the route. One problem….the dispatch must have made a mistake. The town isn’t even on the map. Spelling must have been wrong!

Phone again. Nope that is the town. It is on the map we must just check closer. Soon enough we find the little dot. It’s there and we’ve never heard of it!

But we’re ready to go! So we pile in and hit the road.

5 hours later we see a sign. This is suppose to be it but wait….there is NOTHING! I’m not joking. The old saying ‘a one horse town.’ This was it. This is what all the stories are based on. At the very bottom of Tennessee, is a one street town.

We drove straight through it looking for the town. We turn around. Nothing like seeing 4 18-wheelers driving up and down a mile strip!

We stop. I  need to use the bathroom. And I’m hungry.

We ask a local police officer who is parked in the parking lot across from us where we can get a bank. He points at the local grocery store.

That local police officer was the ONLY officer. Yea it was that small of a town! Not even a deputy!

This ‘grocery store’ wasn’t much bigger than your average McDonalds. The bank was inside and it also operated as the gas station!

After walking around looking ridiculous (and probably what felt like agonizing hours of complaining from me!) we asked the only employee in the store where we can find an atm.

She stared at us as if we were aliens and then proceeded in her very movie like southern accent to ask “Is that one them machines what you put money in and it give you a card?”

Stunned my dad finally informs her it is the other way and that you put a card in and you get money.

Her response you ask…well…

“No we ain’t got nothing that fancy ‘round here. Hey, yall must be from New York or something!”

And this is where my trip went very sour. Between 5 of us we managed to get $20 out of the trucks in change! Hardly enough to eat dinner on. Even better was that we only off loaded in the morning! And there wasn’t a restaurant or a place in sight with a public bathroom. Where’s the southern hospitality?

Needless to say we made it through the night, although I’m pretty sure I thought I was dying! We left in such a hurry the next morning and never looked back! I’ve never seen my dad drive so fast to a truck stop! Breakfast never tasted so wonderful!

This topic came from Theme Thursdays!!

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Shana