McD Spring Break

Lest you think I have dropped off the face of the earth or given up blogging, I'll just share about 100 pictures from this past week. :)  (I am alive and well, just reallyreally busy with lots of different things going on and not a ton of creative energy for writing lately.)

My fam came to the South for spring break!  It was amazing to have them here and get in a lot of good quality time, and so fun to show them where I live and travel around with them.  I am currently studying for Step 2 of the boards, so this week was a lot of me doing questions in the mini van on the road and anywhere else I could as everyone else was having fun/relaxing.  Not exactly the best way to study OR the best vacation ever, but it was an alright compromise, which suits me perfectly since I never want to miss out or say no to anything unless I absolutely have to. 

(I am sort of cheating with this post... my sister Ellen took most of these pictures, and almost all of them came from her camera; the rest came from my phone.)

First stop on the tour: Martin and Marielle's house in Birmingham.  Honestly one of my favorite places in the world.  Isn't it so cute??

This photo is kinda blurry so I don't know how well you can see the words, but the frame is
a cross-stitch I made for them for Christmas a couple of years back.  Heehee.  :)
The lamp is ceramics that Martin made - he has ACTUAL artistic talent.

Ralphie! (They are totally cat people now. It is weird.)

The amazing tacos at Gordos - a tiny piece of Mexico in the middle of Birmingham.

Mom brought us lots of old photo albums that were fun to look through.

Happening behind Marielle.

Sample from the albums... this is what little brothers are for, right??
(Martin says this explains so much about our personalities.)

Martin and Ralphie

After napping off lunch, it was time for a family workout.  Martin trains at a local CrossFit gym, so this is becoming a common occurrence when we get together.  He has even put together a little home gym in the garage behind the house.

Our trainer explaining the workout.

Dad learns what a kettlebell is.

Seriously - how cute is my mom?!

O-Flo was not into it.

Ralphie also wanted to watch.

We take game nights seriously in this family.

Next stop, a couple of days on the Gulf coast!  Marielle's grandparents were nice enough to let the in-laws crash in their cute little cottage.  The weather wasn't super warm, but it was sunny enough, which is all these Colorado natives need to enjoy some beach time.

And of course the games came along for the ride down to the coast.

Must have been a tough UWorld question.  Jk, I was probably Instagramming something.

Ellen caught me doing some beach yoga.  We had the beach pretty much to ourselves - it was great!

Downtime at the cottage.

St. Patrick's Day celebration with oysters and green beer!

Back for day 2 - sunnier this time!

Like I said, probably not the best place for studying, but not the worst, either. ;)

We said goodbye to the beach and spent another night in Birmingham before heading up to Chattanooga, TN, to spend the day with my great uncle John, who lives in my great-grandparents' old home there.  It looks almost exactly the way it did when they were alive.

My great-grandparents in the top-middle picture, my baby pictures juxtaposed with my grandmother's underneath.

The back porch

View from the back porch!

My sister, the photographer

Catching me setting up my study spot for the afternoon.

Not too shabby, eh?  I am in love with the little desk; it belonged to my grandmother.

My grandmother, age three, and her puppy, Mack.

Then it was back to the A.  The rest of the fam went to Turner Field and did other Atlanta stuff while I spent the day back in the library.

Olivia, the family baseball fanatic.

Lunch out at Antico Pizza!  I seriously think this place is one of the best restaurants in Atlanta. 

For their last night in town, we had some friends over for a little food, a little drink, and an epic game night with my roommates.  There are just so few things in this world that make me happier than exactly that.  And, to make it even better?  GradyDoc came over to hang out!  My teacher-friend-mentor-hero, meeting my family and then staying to throw down for game night??!?  It. Was. Awesome.

Ellen also brought me a little present - this freakin' awesome mug.  I love it.  Reminder/inspiration to keep on writing.  :)

I guess it's a good thing that our family likes road-tripping so much, because their flight back to Colorado got canceled due to snow there, and they couldn't get on another one for two more days, which wouldn't have gotten Dad back in time for a Monday night meeting... and so they drove - yes, drove - back home.

And last but not least, here's Izzy:

Feeling very sad that everyone had to leave.

I know, Izzy.  Me, too.