Myrtle Beach: Part II

Vacations always seem to fly by! It’s hard to believe we are already back home in Moscow. The last week of vacation had a few hiccups but was overall another great family vacation. J  Despite Hurricane Arthur’s attempts, Kyle landed safely in Myrtle Beach and our family was complete!

We enjoyed quality time swimming in the pool, playing oodles of card games (Hearts and Up & Down the River), putt-putt golf, bowling, walks on the beach, and some time with my mom’s family. Mom’s oldest brother Bill, and his family flew into Myrtle Beach as well so we had a mini Raymond reunion (minus cousin Katie, Kate, and Grandma). The Raymond family is a little crazy; things got pretty wild for a bit as mom tried to help Sophie fight uncle Bill. Luckily, Charlie’s pirates came to the rescue!

It was great to see my aunts, uncles and cousins! Having relatives all over the country stinks because we rarely get to see everyone with our different schedules. I was blessed to see everyone this week and that Matt could get to know my family some more.

One of the highlights of the trip was Myrtle Beach is quite the tourist town and it claims to be the Miniature Golf Capital of the World. Consequently, there are tons of themed mini golf places. My family takes putt-putt golf very seriously and this year we decided to have a 36-hole tournament to declare the champion – complete with photo. Unbelievably, mom was the winner! Usually Dad wins the games so we were all confused! Food for thought: mom kept score for the games… hmm.

[Matt: Let it be known that although this one was a loss for everyone except momma, our final 36 goals of Myrtle Beach were won by none other than myself!]

I think we may have a new Dougherty family tradition! Can’t wait for the next vacation.

Now that I’m officially out of the house, family vacations mean much more to me. Over the past year, I’ve definitely had a difficult time not seeing my family as often as I’d like, so this was the first time we’d all been together for a good chunk of time since Christmas. Myrtle beach is a special place for my family – it holds many memories of family vacations over the year. I think we’ve been going to SC every-other-year since I was 4, and I love it! It was fun to share my memories with Matt and to immerse him in my crazy family.

1 Year Anniversary

I cannot believe how fast the time has gone by. One year ago I was walking down the aisle to say "I do" to the man I'll spend forever with. I remember being optimistic about our future and feeling grateful for how many friends and family came to Salem to celebrate with us. We new our first year would be difficult, but there were never any doubts that we'd make it through together. :)   

I couldn't resist reposting some of my favorite photos! 

Now here we are, 1 year, 5 days later and we've made it through our first year of challenges: medical school, living away from family and friends, new jobs, and small town living, to name a few. I think our first anniversary is particularly special because through some unexpected events, I was reminded where our focus should be - on each other. 

I mean, of course we should focus on each other, we're celebrating our marriage! But I like to plan special events and let's just say our first anniversary did not go according to plan...

1. Matt went to urgent care on July 5th, tested positive for strep throat and had a mild swimmer's ear infection. Even on antibiotics, we could not kiss on our anniversary (which is really hard!)  
2. Given our close relationship.. I might have strep throat. (Thankfully, I did not!)
3. I forgot Matt's anniversary card - wife fail. 
4. Wedding cake was a wee bit more expensive then I imagined to ship, so no cake. (Matt was happy about this one, but I was bummed) 

Despite the few hiccups we made the most of our anniversary. :) I can't complain too much since we were with family on the beach... We even started a new tradition of replicating one of our favorite wedding photos every year. 

And thanks to grandma, we substituted our wedding cake with delicious handmade chocolate eclairs from a local bakery!

Myrtle Beach: Part I

Woohoo vacation! After 6 months of not seeing my family, 11 days on the beach is perfect. Our first couple of days in Myrtle beach have been great! After a LONG travel day we arrived to beautiful weather: highs in the 90s and lows in the 70s. So far we've spent our mornings on the beach and the afternoon at the pool. We've walked along the boardwalk, gone upside down, watched a baseball game, fireworks, and most of all, enjoyed some quality family time. :) Here are a lot of pictures of our first few days!  

Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Colleen always make cute signs when they're going on trips. For fun, my parents decided to copy them. Matt and I decided to take a slightly different approach... 

4 hour layover in Atlanta, GA

Myrtle Beach boardwalk

 My cousin Sophie is quite the thrill seeker. She wanted Jimmy and I to go on this ride with her that swings you in the air, while rotating, until you are upside down spinning in the air. The ride was pretty fun, but I'm amazed that my 5 year old cousin wanted to go on it! 

We also went to a Pelican's baseball game. They put on a great fireworks show after the game to celebrate the 4th of July. 

Charlie decided to be camera shy - so he became Cousin It :)

Jimmy closed his eyes.. :(   

Charlie is quite the ice cream fiend! He has the ice cream stare down, and
only stopped staring when given a bite to enjoy. This photo doesn't due
 justice to Charlie's ice cream face. 

I'm looking forward to the next week of vacation. Right now we're under a Hurricane Arthur watch so it is pouring here. But the weather is still warm. Kyle is supposed to fly in tonight - we're praying the hurricane doesn't delay his arrival! 

Spring Valley Reservoir

As Matt and I find our time in Moscow dwindling, we're trying to do all the exploring we can! Not to mention, the weather is beautiful so we're soaking up the sunshine as well. :) After I got off work last Saturday (well 2 Saturdays ago), we drove to Troy, ID to check out Spring Valley Reservoir. We walked around the lake enjoying the sunshine and watching hawks dive for fish.