Skip links

http://medicineandmotherhood.com

One mom's journey raising tiny humans and practicing medicine.

Travel

Cabo San Lucas

by

It’s been awhile since I got to share a vacation recap with you all so I am super pumped to be sharing one today!  Chris and I got to go to Cabo San Lucas last week to celebrate the wedding of our dear friend and had a blast.  Chris has missed nearly all of his friend’s weddings due to obligations with the Army so when we realized we could make it to Trey’s we immediately got on board.  Throw in the fact it was a destination wedding?  Even better.  Grandma flew out to watch the girls and we were off.

 

 

The wedding was held at the JW Marriott Los Cabos Beach Resort so nearly everyone stayed on site.  The hotel is actually in San Jose Del Cabo which is about 30 minutes from the airport and very private.  The above was the view from our room!  Thursday when we got in we got settled before grabbing a cocktail and heading down to the village.

 

 

Most of the weekend was spent at the pool meeting new friends and soaking up the sun.  Trey lives in Phoenix so it was fun connecting with a group of people I could see being friends with when we move home.  When we weren’t at the pool we were enjoyed the quiet that comes with not having the kids with us.  We took naps nearly everyday and I enjoyed reading on out patio listening to the waves.

 

The actual wedding was absolutely spectacular.  The love between Trey and his new bride was so obvious.  Trey was actually in our wedding 8 years ago so it filled my heart with so much joy to see him so very happy.  Throw in an awesome group of people and it made for a great night with lots of laughter and dancing.

 

We wrapped up the weekend that Sunday with a catamaran ride down in Cabo San Lucas.  We got to go see the famous arch and rocks which were amazing in person.  Some of the ladies and I got daring enough to venture out of the banana boat which was exhilarating and slightly terrifying.  There were a few times I was airborne but I held on for dear life.  Overall it was SO much fun.

 

 

It was a little bittersweet heading back to Missouri but I missed my babies.  Unfortunately we have had a stupid amount of rain and where we live is currently flooding.  Fortunately we live at the time of a hill and are in no danger but as I write this I am not sure I will be able to make it to work since the interstate is closed.  What a way to come home right?

 

I hope your weekend was fabulous and your week is off to a great start!

Hilton Head Island // 2015

by

Happy Monday friends!  If you follow me on Instagram you know that we spent our weekend at the beach!  It was time for our annual family vacation with Presley and family.  Last year we went to Disney  and this year we stuck closer to home and went to Hilton Head Island.  I LOVE HHI and am going to miss it so much when we move in the spring.  We go up several times a year so we were really excited to be there with our besties.

Hilton head

 

When Presley and I planned the trip we opted to rent a condo via VRBO and found one right at Coligny Plaza.  It ended up being absolutely perfect and we could walk everywhere!  The beach was 1/3 of a mile away, there were shops and restaurants, and we were able to cook breakfast at home.  It was amazing.  For our dinners we hit up Salty Dog Cafe and Skull Creek Boathouse and neither one disappointed.  During the day we hit the beach, played at the pool, and hung around the house.  Basically it was the prefect weekend.

 

Hilton Head 1Hilton Head 3Hilton Head 2

 

I am starting this week rejuvenated and ready to go!  Maybe thats because we have already decided 2017’s vacation spot and I am pumped?  Who knows.  Either way this week can bring it 😉

 

What did you do this weekend?

Like what you see? Make sure to follow with Bloglovin’! I would love to hear from you on Facebook or Twitter! Need a daily dose of Emmalyne? Find us on Instagram!

Beaching

by

Before getting into today’s post I want to pause for a second and remember the brave men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in service to our country.  It’s because of their selfless service and willingness to give all that we get to celebrate a long weekend and be FREE.  Say a prayer for the fallen and their families today!

 

When I found out early in this rotation that I would be off for four days due to the holiday I immediately suggested to Chris that we get out of town for a night.  It worked out because my sister Heather and her husband were going to be in Jacksonville for the weekend and it was a prime opportunity to see them.  So we loaded up the car and headed south!  Friday night Heather and Mark met us at our hotel and we all went to Maggiano’s for dinner and go sufficiently stuffed on calamari, pastas, and of course dessert.  Perfect pre-beach food, no?  Saturday morning we headed to Heather’s friend’s beach house for a fun day in the sun.

 

Beach

 

This was Bryn’s first trip to the beach and she absolutely LOVED it!  Em is a water baby at heart and had a blast also.  It was so much fun spending time with my sister and her friends.  I haven’t seen some of them since Heather got married 19 years ago and I was 8!

 

Girls Beach

Emmie Beach

 

Bryn Beach

 

One of the hardest parts of being a military wife is being so far from family.  Seeing the girls with their aunt and uncle this weekend reaffirmed my goal of getting us home within the next few years.  They thrived being surrounded by so many people who love them and I can see many family beach trips with my nephews and niece in the future too.

 

Family Beach

Auntie Heather

 

In the meantime I am just thankful that we got to make these precious memories together as a family!  And to many more beach days ahead of us this summer.  Got to soak up the proximity to the ocean while we still can!

 

How was your weekend?  Do anything fun?

 

Like what you see? Make sure to follow with Bloglovin’! I would love to hear from you on Facebook or Twitter! Need a daily dose of Emmalyne? Find us on Instagram!

Five for Friday

by

TGIF my friends!  We are on our back to Georgia after an amazing two weeks with family.  We wrapped up our visit to Phoenix last night with one last family dinner and our flight leaves later this morning.  While I am excited to be home in my own bed with my fur-babies, leaving Arizona is always bittersweet.  The desert is my home and I long for the day we don’t have to leave it.  But that’s the life of an Army family right?  Sigh.  Any-who … I thought I’d keep this wrap-up of our Arizona trip short and sweet in a Five for Friday version!

 

Friday

 

1.  Crazy Hat Picture 2014

Somehow many years ago my mom and step-dad started the tradition of taking a crazy Christmas hat photo.  It was one of those ways of creating blended family memories.  It’s been a tradition since and it’s been fun looking back on those photos as to how our family has grown over the years. New spouses, new babies, and more.  We took this photo with just my sister and her family the night we got in town to see how the set-up would work.  We took the REAL photo the next day with my step-siblings (I don’t want to put their kiddos on the internet without permission and my sister’s kids have already made their debut here) which was twice as big as this one.

Family

 

2.  Bryn was Baptized!

One of the big highlights of this leg of our trip was Bryn’s baptism.  It is so amazing to get to have her baptized in our family’s church with all of her family surrounding her.  The Catholic church is pretty strict when it comes to the sacraments so we were thankful we were able to work it out for her to get baptized while we were home 🙂

Baptism

 

 

3.  The Fantastic Four

I don’t know the last time my sister, half-brothers, and I were all in a picture together so it was fun getting a sibling shot when I was home.  I have 6 brothers and sisters now but it is a yours/mine/ours family.  As my brother Jack dubbed us, we are the Fantastic Four since we have the same dad.  Side note: this is also the first year that I am officially the shortest of my siblings.  I am nearly 5’9 so that’s not an easy thing to do and I was shocked haha.


 Siblings

 

4.  We enjoyed the fire pit

My parents recently remodeled their backyard and put in an awesome fire pit.  One of my best friends from high school came over for wine and s’mores and we got to catch up.  The best friends are the ones that there can be years between when you see each other but it’s like things never changed.  Love you Kelley!

Fire Pit

 

5.  We went to the Fiesta Bowl

I am heartbroken to say that my beloved Wildcats lost to the Boise State Broncos but it was a lot of fun cheering them on at the Fiesta Bowl.  Chris and I went with my brother-in-law and two nephews and we had a blast.  It ended up being a great game and made for awesome family memories.

Fiesta Bowl

Now we are gearing up for the cross-country trek back to the Deep South and are praying that the girls do as well on this leg as they did the last.  So far there haven’t been repeats of our last flying with two disaster so keep your fingers crossed for me will ya?

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Like what you see?  Make sure to follow with Bloglovin’!  I would love to hear from you on Facebook or Twitter!  Need a daily dose of Emmalyne?  Find us on Instagram!

Adventures in Vegas

by

Happy Friday friends!  I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and that Santa was good to you 😉  We are wrapping up our adventures in Vegas and are hopping on a plane for the second half of our vacay in Phoenix!  Wanted to pop in and share some of our adventures here 🙂

 

Ethel M’s

Christmas is one of my father-in-laws favorite times of the year and the outside of their house can rival any Christmas light show, however, going to look at Christmas lights is one of his favorite things to do.  So we loaded in the car and headed down to Ethel M’s for their outdoor Christmas light display!

Ethel M's 2

 

 

We had a great time walking around and looking at the lights.  The highlight of Emma’s experience though was the chocolate store 😉  We got amazing hot chocolate and other treats to take with us.  This Christmas light display was FREE and a ton of fun!

 

Mastro’s Las Vegas

Martin and Yon wanted to take us out to a nice dinner one night and arranged for a babysitter to watch the girls.  Martin had a great year at work and they also wanted to celebrate my first year of PA school so we went to Mastro’s.  We wined and dined and had a great time!  The filet minon was perfection and the lobster mashed potatoes (!!!) are a MUST.

 

Maestro's Vegas

 

 

Mount Charleston

One morning we made the 30-minute drive up Mount Charleston for breakfast.  Getting up in the mountains is one of my favorite things and the views didn’t disappoint!  The little lodge was quaint and the food delicious.  However, word to the wise, the pancakes are MASSIVE.  In fact all the portions were huge so we had way too much food!

 

Mount CharlestonPancakes

 

 

Boo Boos

Emma got a little boo-boo while on our trip.  We took her to the park and she was swinging.  She must have leaned back and lost her balance but she did a back flip off the swings.  Thank God she was ok!  A little scrape on the forehead was all we got but my heart nearly stopped!

 

Boo Boo

 

Penny Slots

Chris and I aren’t big spenders when it comes to gambling but I LOVE the penny slots!  I discovered the Zuma one on this trip and had a ton of fun …. and walked away with $90!  Too bad we had NO IDEA what was going on – we just kept hitting the bet button HA.

 

Zuma

 

Unruly Zin

Lastly, you MUST try this wine!  I am not a huge red wine girl – it gives me a headache – but this Unruly Zin is truly phenomenal.  I just googled it online to see where in AZ I can pick some up for my family 😉

 

Unruly

 

Next time I blog I will be back home in the dessert!  Have a great weekend friends!

 

Like what you see?  Make sure to follow with Bloglovin’!  I would love to hear from you on Facebook or Twitter!  Need a daily dose of Emmalyne?  Find us on Instagram!