Spring is Here!

Maybe I shouldn't title this post as such- don't want to tempt the fates and plummet back to 30 and 40 degree temperatures because I've been too optimistic! But the weather guy says we're supposed to see the mid-to-upper 70s today, and I can't wait. The downside to spring's arrival is that after reviewing my pictures from our trip to William Jewell with Paige and our weekend in Eureka Springs (pictures to follow below), I realized I'm NOT in bikini shape. Ok, geez, it didn't take the pics for me to know this, but they were a reaffirmation that my rear needs to hit the gym. I have had evening meetings more nights than not over the past month, and in the mornings I've been too tired to get up early to head to the gym. But really, I feel so much better when I am working out, that I need to make time to do it even when I'm crazy busy.

So I pulled out the DVD of that crazy gal Jillian from Biggest Loser (I bought it in January or February, and it has sat in the movie basket in the living room for 3 months) and popped it into the DVD on Monday evening. It was 20 minutes of hell, on the beginner level. She's a drill sergeant, saying "C'mon, if you have to rest, you've got five seconds, and then BACK TO IT!". I'm still feeling Monday's workout today, but I have made it to the gym the last two mornings to do some time on the elliptical. I'm almost scared to do the DVD again, I know it is going to hurt! But no pain, no gain, huh!?

We had a great trip with Paige to William Jewell on Friday; she has decided that is where she will be going to school. It was a gorgeous campus, and she will have such opportunities there. We are going back up on June 5th for her registration day, and hopefully staying with friends Garry and Heather (Geather, if you're reading this, sorry we haven't called to confirm this with you yet!) Here we are at WJC, in front of an classic phone booth:

After driving to KC and back on Friday, we headed home that evening and went out to dinner with Jace, Neil, Paige and Dave's mom, brother and sister-in-law. His brother had been in MO for a visit with Dave's mom for the week, so we wanted to see them before they headed back to Syracuse.

On Saturday morning we left Springfield early and headed south 1.5 hours to Eureka Springs, Arkansas. We had reservations at one of the historic hotels, the Park Basin Hotel, and had to be there by 10:15, because we had spa packages reserved for 10:30 - a morning of relaxation! Dave had never had a massage before, so this was new territory for him. And I don't often take the time or spend the money on a massage, so I was definitely looking forward to my morning. We relaxed on the deck area until they were ready for us:

I had a massage, facial and a seaweed mud body wrap - two-and-a-half hours of pure relaxation! Here are some other shots of our weekend, including the hotel below:









We did meet some new friends at the hotel bar that night; Kelli and Jake, who are also from near Springfield, were a lot of fun!


As we prepared to leave Eureka Springs on Sunday afternoon after a leisurely brunch at the Mudhouse Cafe on Spring Street, we took some time to drive around Eureka Springs and see a few more attractions. I wanted to go and see the Crescent Hotel, since that was where we had originally wanted to stay but it was booked.




We went inside and took the elevator up to the observatory deck on the back of the hotel, it was gorgeous. Dave and I decided we will make this Eureka Springs trip an annual birthday trip for awhile - next year we may go back to the Basin Park Hotel, or might try a stay at the Crescent.

Our birthday (same day!) is this Saturday, and it will be a quiet weekend in Springfield. We have a marriage seminar on Friday night and Saturday morning, and Jace will be hanging out with Paige and the doggies while we are at the retreat. Neil has a baseball tournament out of town this weekend, that busy season has already started for him. Then we might head to the lake in the afternoon with Jace, while Paige goes to work.

Speaking of work, I'm back to it now, and signing off.