MY FAVORITE VACATION: BY JENN.

for the final installment of amazing guest bloggers, we have jenn. i met jenn through nashville prsa and she was one of the first bloggers i loved to read that i knew in real life. her tagline for her blog, happily ever faster, is "embracing life's extraordinarily ordinary adventures, one step at a time". deep, right?! plus, she has the most gorg hair color i have ever seen. take it away, pretty lady!

Hey bloggies!

I’m Jenn, from HappilyEverFaster.com and I am honored that Katelyn asked me to do a guest post on her awesome blog!

Katelyn and I met last year at a networking event about blogging – go figure. After that, we kept running into each other at various marketing and public relations functions and I became a big fan of her blog – and her sparkling personality! I have enjoyed following her adventures West and am a little bit jealous of her “seize the day” attitude.

Since she is trotting the globe once again this week, she asked me to tell you about my favorite vacation spot, which was a no-brainer.

My favorite vacation spot is definitely Destin, FL. I know, I know – it seems like everyone and their mother, particularly in the Southeast, vacations in Destin. But I was doing Destin before Destin was cool. Heck, I was doing Destin before I was cool.

How can you resist that water? Me in Destin last year.

My parents took me to Destin for the first time when I was 18 months old – and we went back every summer as a family since then, with the exception of one year when my Dad had a business trip to Denver (ironic, no?) and we tagged along there, instead. No offense to Denver, but we’d never make that mistake again. We missed our ocean!

In Destin rocking my first bikini – watch out, fellas.

Every year we’d rent a condo for a week and just relax. We aren’t the zip-lining, shopping, scuba diving, deep sea fishing kind of vacationers. We Wades are the type who just want to eat good seafood and lay around. It’s vacation, after all. Don’t wear yourself out. So, my memories of Destin are full of good food and good conversation with my favorite people.

I took this photo of an old Destin photo (me, my brother and Dad) last year when I was there. You can see my entire “Dear Photograph” post, here.

Once I graduated from college in 2005 and my brother was heading into his sophomore year at UT, we were all going different directions and the family vacations ceased for a while. Life got in the way. I missed them so much and managed to find my way down to Destin with friends and significant others a few times – but let’s be honest, nothing is the same as a family vacation.

Earlier this year in May, we all (my parents, brother, sister-in-law, me and my boyfriend) ventured back to Destin together. It.was.magical. Seriously. That sounds so cheesy, but the family togetherness in our favorite place with nothing to do but love each other’s company was so recharging. I think it will easily become an annual trip, once again.

Although Destin has boomed like you wouldn’t believe over the past almost 30 years or so since we discovered it, it will always be OUR little vacation spot. We love it – and feel like we’ve earned the right to curse the insane tourist crowds like we’re locals. ;)

On that note – if you visit Destin, go before Memorial Day or after Labor Day. Early May and late September are my favorite times to go. The crowds are thin and the weather is perfect. But don’t tell anyone – that’s our little secret.

Thanks again for letting me share my memories with you! Come on over and visit me at HappilyEverFaster.com.

XOXO,
Jenn 

you all - jump over to jenn's blog to see the other pics she turned into "dear photograph" shots. too cute. also, another florida lover, like amanda! i have got to get there soon. thank you so much jenn for sharing!

MY FAVORITE VACATION: BY AMANDA.

you all, i have to be honest and say i literally did a happy dance when my guest bloggers agreed to join us here at hi from colorado to share their fav vacation spots! today's feature is my friend amanda. i have to give her credit where credit is due - i don't think i could have started katelynburkhart.com without her support! she has a very successful and popular design business - artistic amanda - and i admire her so much. without further ado, here's amanda! 

I have to work today. Is anyone else jealous of Katelyn's vacay? ...Just me? Well, I digress.

The downside to being a full time freelancer is having an inconsistent salary, making vacation time a little unpredictable. The upside is having a flexible schedule so that when you are enjoying the occasional cushy life, you can basically pick up and go at a moment's notice.  

I moved around a lot when I was a kid. Today, I attribute my wanderlust to all the traveling I did before age 10 (four states, five schools, eight homes - life on the road... that's how things are meant to be, right?) When my attempts to move to San Francisco (and NYC, and Charleston, etc.) fell through, I resigned myself to the luxury of travel when I could. The world is still my oyster! ...While Nashville remains my home.  

All that to say, when Katelyn asked me to blog about my favorite vacay spot it took me awhile to get back to her. How do I peg my favorite?

Then it hit me. The quiet mornings on a second-story patio overlooking wooden walkways surrounded by the most unique florals I've ever seen. The bike rides through the quaint, consecutive villages on 30A. The walks through town square to indulge in chocolate & tapas at La Crema or delicious coffee at Amavida. I guess you could say Rosemary Beach, Florida is sort of our home away from home.

My parents first went several years ago and talked about it so much that I begged to tag along in 2009. Since then, it's become a family tradition to rent a beach house, forget all our to-do lists for a week and just enjoy the beach, instead.

My most memorable experience at Rosemary Beach was when we went to celebrate my 30th birthday in November 2010. I can't pinpoint whether it was the 32oz. mimosas at the market down the street in Alys Beach or the fancy dinner at Paradis. Mostly, I think it was just being able to get out of Nashville for awhile and spend time with the two people who know me best. And overall, perhaps that's why I have a special place in my heart for Rosemary Beach. Not only do I get to see my family, but it's a rare time when we get focus on nothing else but each other.

um, how cute are her parents?! thank you SO much, amanda! confession time: i have never been to florida! this really makes me want to go, and now, not just to visit disney world. to get more of amanda, check our her blog: from the letter a.

MY FAVORITE VACATION: BY SANDRA.

my first guest blogger! it's fitting that it's my work bff, sandra. sandra introduced me to blogs almost four years ago and without her encouragement i would have never started hi from colorado. her online journey has allowed readers to follow her around the world, including all the way to china to adopt her daughter, kylie! take it away, sandra!

 

Katelyn asked me to write this post about my favorite vacation spot.  I had a post fully written when I decided to scrap it and start over.  

I am a beach lover.  I love everything about the beach.  I love driving for hours and then coming down the road to the smell of the salty air and sandy beach.  I try to get my family to the beach every year, but due to circumstances (a mission journey and foreign adoption), it’s been 2 years since we’ve been to the beach and I’m feeling it.  With every Facebook status update, I feel the longing to get back to the beach growing stronger.  

So, it was no surprise that my first post was about Hawaii.  Our Hawaii trip was pre-kids and I mean, it was HAWAII.  Who doesn’t love Hawaii???  It was beautiful and great and I loved it.  But Hawaii was superseded a few years ago by a cruise we took to the Caribbean.  I have been on two cruises and there is so much I love about them!

First, the food.  Of course, the food.  It’s all you can eat whenever you want.  We ate in the dining room every night.  Steve had a steak every night and every night we had a chocolate lava cake for dessert.  I just realized how our drinks look like wine, but trust me, I’m not in the habit of giving my child alcohol.  That’s actually diet Coke.

Another thing I love about cruises is the view.  You can get some of the most beautiful views off the side of a boat.  It truly it a testament to God’s glorious creation.  Simply breathtaking.

And so of course, the beaches are the highlight of the cruise for me. Every beach we visited was gorgeous.  One in particular in Belize was so beautiful that it literally almost did take your breath away.

The water…oh the water.  You could see straight down to the white sand on the bottom.  And the weather is so perfectly mild.  I thought I was in heaven.  But then, we cruised on to the last stop in Honduras.  Honestly, I only booked a beach excursion there because I figured…what the heck could be worth seeing in Honduras?

Let me answer that for you…

Tabyana Beach Resort.  It is an oasis outside a pretty poor area of Honduras.  We drove through what appeared to be the low income area to get to this beautiful spot.   

There are no words to describe this little gem.  And the snorkeling…  I wish I’d had more than just the disposable underwater camera.  I had never gotten the hang of snorkeling before but somehow I got it here and it was like a whole different world down there under the clear waters.

It was by far my most favorite vacation spot ever.  I do love the beach, but I’m a total sucker for the clear blue/green water and white sands of the Caribbean.  I have been to both the eastern and western sides and there are no beaches like it.

I miss the beach.  I miss the Caribbean.  But I’ll go back someday.  I just hope that someday comes SOON!

thank you so much, sandra! i love that her sweet daughter, jenna grace, makes an appearance in this post. see jg all grown up {and by grown up, i mean 11!} - and meet kylie - at sandra's blog: just haven't met you yet.