On Lessons Learned

You may recall a few months ago when we won TWO ROUND TRIP AIRLINE TICKETS TO ANY MAJOR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ANYWHERE IN THE CONTINENTAL USA, including a THREE DAY/TWO NIGHT GETAWAY. All we had to do was attend a 90 minute, no-pressure sales presentation and we were in!

Well, we walked away that night, saying "NO" to the small fee of $9800 for a lifetime of glorious vacations, but excited about our one free trip! We mailed in the form with our top 3 destinations (Maui, SanJuan and Cabo) along with a refundable $50 per person money order and waited for them to send us info on how to select the dates we could travel.

Last week we got another letter, confirming that they received our three destination choices and all we had to do was select our top 3 travel dates... but (I bet you saw this coming) THERE WAS A CATCH!

• We could not travel during any holiday, or 7 days before or after any holiday. That's a lot of black-out dates.
• We had to have a 45-day window between our three date choices, which overlapped black-out dates made it hard to find three dates before our "year" was up.
• We had to depart on a Monday, leaving at 9pm returning on Wednesday, leaving at 6am. DID YOU READ THAT LAST SENTENCE??? Our three day/two night getaway would actually be more like a "arrive in Maui at midnight, crash at the hotel, hang out for a day - but don't stay out too late because you have to get back to the airport at 4am for a 6am flight home!
• SHENANIGANS!!

Needless to say, this morning we decided to throw in the towel on our "free" vacation with Millennium Travel... oh, but our $50 per person refundable deposit is only refundable at the completion of your vacation. BLAAAA!!

Global Vacation Network is a total scam. We did get a $50 American Express credit card, but spent $100 on our "refundable" deposit... so we ended up losing $50 in the deal. We learned our lesson. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!

I think I'll park my car outside their office here in Grand Rapids and warn people not to go in!

First Tooth

Ruby (based on her love of all things wood, may be part termite) was eating one of my magazines this afternoon. She got it slobbery enough that some of the page corners started coming off in her mouth. I took it away and stuck my finger in there to get the paper out - I FELT A TOOTH!!

This is very exciting... not only because it's her first tooth, but also because there have been many times over the last 3 months that I have said to myself "Maybe she's acting this way because she's going to get a tooth." Up to this point, that never turned out to be the reason.

It's on the bottom right. It's just barely poking through. It's very exciting!

So what now? Should I start brushing her tooth?

Jo Mama's

Ryan took Ruby and I to eat at "Jo Mama's Italian Deluxe" in Pittsburgh last night. Ruby enjoyed eating the table while we enjoyed our delicious meals. I caught her in the act.

This is what she does every time we take her out to eat with us. She is funny.

What I haven't been blogging about...

Ryan is in the middle of the interview season for fellowship! He decided on Pediatric Gastroenterology (Peds GI), and we will spend 3 years "somewhere" for him to get the specialty training he needs. I've been able to go along to support him on a couple of interviews so far and look forward to spending more time in the car together! Life is an adventure! I'm excited to see what doors God opens for Ryan.

Obviously, I can't really blog much about this huge part of our life, so just know that we will open an envelope this summer that will tell us where we are going to live for 3 years while Ryan is a Fellow. You may recall our "match day" experience during med school that led us to Grand Rapids.

Here's a picture of Ruby being proud of her daddy.
I'm so glad I married Ryan when he was in his first year of med school. We've been on this journey together through med school, residency, his year as chief coming up, and then his fellowship training. He is awesome. I am blessed.

David Gray Concert

Ryan and I met up with our friends Luke, Lindsay, Bain and Laura for the David Gray concert in Milwaukee last weekend. It was an incredible concert - pretty much blew our minds.

When you know every word to every song it's impossible not to be taken back to the places and times that certain songs remind you of. He hasn't toured in the US in a loooong time, so this was the first time any of us had seen him live. Milwaukee was the closest location and we decided we couldn't miss it!

If he's coming to a city near you - I highly recommend trying to get tickets!

Ruby and the Bobcat

You may see these pictures and ask, "How could Amber let her 9 month old play with a bobcat?" and I would answer, "Don't worry, he's not really a bobcat. He's just really a huge kitty with tufted ears."

Ruby got to spend the weekend with her Grammy and Grandpa Beeson while Ryan and I were in Milwaukee for the David Gray concert. Dad got these great shots of Ruby with Socks when we picked her up yesterday. Enjoy!

Ruby Face

Butterflies #FAIL

When I look at this picture of Ryan and Ruby, I like to imagine them covered in butterflies

Last night we went to see the BUTTERFLIES at Meijer Gardens. We paid $10 per person to attend the special "members only" event, I'm not gonna lie, we were disappointed. Here's why:

1. I had high hopes of getting a picture of Ruby covered in butterflies, but I could not. You see, the event was at night, so they weren't really flying as much as they do when it's bright out.
2. Talk about crowded! The place was packed with wall to wall strollers and kids and parents all running around looking for butterflies. If I were a butterfly, I would have stayed high in the trees too!
3. While we were there, we discovered that anyone can go see the butterflies anytime they want for free... during the day when it's not crowded and it's bright out... so I am confused why they promoted this special event for members as if it was the only way to see the special butterflies. Did I fall for a money-making scheme? Perhaps!

Needless to say, we did see butterflies, including a really cool one with clear wings and I'm excited to take Ruby back during the day sometime soon.

Anyone want to come along?

Sunny Saturday

The sun is shining, it's 38 degrees, I'm wearing flip flops.

Ryan and I washed the cars today. We both appreciate a clean car (inside and out) so we always have a good time going to the car wash together, using the vacuum, wiping down the dash with some armor-all and throwing away any accumulated trash from under the seats. I would like to keep up the cleanliness when we have 5 kids and a van someday... we'll see how that goes.

These 4 days of sun in a row have given me a bad case of spring fever. Ruby and I have been taking long walks everyday. She "la, la, la's" to herself while we walk. It's so fun to see her noticing things. I hold her up to the front window and she pats the glass whenever cars go by. The snow in our yard is melting... I'm going to freak out if it snows again.

Here's a picture of Ruby with bananas mushed all over her face. She loves her bananas!

OK Go - This Too Shall Pass