Saying goodbye...

After returning from our trip, I discovered my momma was very ill. A year ago she had a heart attack and bypass surgery. Since then, she has struggled to recover, spending more time in rehab and the hospital than in her apartment.

Mom has developed large tumors in her abdomen. While they are non-cancerous, they are growing and inoperable due to her weak heart. My sister, wanting to spare our vacation, carried this knowledge until we returned.

After much discussion with mom, while she's still lucid and making her own discussions, she has decided to go into hospice. She wants to be kept out of pain as much as possible.

A year ago I held her hand as she endured a risky bypass. Today I hold her hand to say goodbye.

Beach babies and sea gulls

When planning the trip, I knew I wanted to splurge a little to make the trip as unique as possible. When I found the Emerald Beach Hotel in Corpus Christi, I knew I wanted to have a bay facing window. It was worth the additional $30 a nice for the kids to be able to listen to the water lap against the sand as they went to sleep.

Being from Missouri, you can imagine we don't exactly get a lot of beach time. We're smack dab in the middle of the United States after all. I hadn't been to a beach in eighteen years. My children had never been to the beach.

I was concerned their fear of underwater creepy crawlies, and swimming teeth would scare them from enjoying the waves. How wrong I was!

The moment the first wave washed over their little toes, they were hooked. I actually kept having to

get them to come closer into shore because they were making me nervous!

Then, at night, we would order pizza and sit in our room, or out on the balcony, and listen to the ocean.

One funny incident included the regret of feeding the sea gulls from our balcony. They got so comfortable with us, they stole the pizza right out of my son's hands! We had a good laugh, and he grabbed another slice.

Somewhere in Corpus Christi, there is a very fat sea gull who has an uncontrollable craving for pizza sauce!

Bucket List and Beluga Whales!

 As I have said, this was our first vacation in six years, so I was determined to make it a memorable one!

Sea World has options if you're willing to pay. Including a meet and greet with the beluga whales!

I adorable beluga's. They are seriously my favorite whale. So when I found out we could do this, I was ecstatic!

We were allowed to go behind the scenes and talk with the trainers. They explained a lot of things about the whale (like the babies are actually grey and don't turn white until they are about five years old).

This beautiful girl was adorable and would sing and blow 'raspberries' for you.

The water was extremely cold, as these are artic whales. It was rather refreshing given that it was so darn hot and humid in San Antonio!

I cried a little when I finally got to love on her (she blew a raspberry for me!).

It was father's day too, so the hubs got an unforgettable gift (that we just all happened to get to share. To two kiddos were without words (which seriously, never happens) and just sat in awe as they loved on the old girl.

The other whales were a bit jealous that they weren't getting attention, and squeaked like crazy through the whole encounter. But it was music to my ears.

Obviously, we saw much more than just the beluga whales. We were fortunate enough to catch both the Orca show, and the seal/otter show. It was almost more fun watching my kids react to the excitement, as it was watching the shows!

More updates to come as the trip continues!

Finally, a vacation!

Six years. It has been six years since our family has taken a real vacation. You see, we used to take one every year with my in-laws. We would go camping and fishing for a week, and love every moment of it. But they passed away five years ago. So it's been six years since we have ventured out as a family to enjoy not doing the dishes, vacuuming the carpet, working 8 grueling hours and driving an hour home in five o'clock traffic. We needed this.

The trip has already started out a bit sad, as our oldest (who is seventeen) got a job and couldn't take the time off of work (though she didn't seem too broken up about not having to sit in the back with her siblings for the eleven hour trip). But we were determined to still have a good time.

So off to Texas we go!

It helps that we have so much family in Texas. It has made the stay much more enjoyable (as well as cheaper!). That's more money to spend on fun things, like the Zoo, and Sea World, and of course, our beach hotel!

More updates to come as our adventure continues.

The Bed Wife Chronicles is now on Audible!

5 years ago, I decided to take the stories in my head and put them down on paper that first book was the bad wife. It gave birth to all the books that came later. Deciding to write that series made me the author I am today.

So, to celebrate the fifth anniversary of my debut series, I have given the book covers a facelift, the Interiors reformatted, and even spiced up the synopsis.

You can actually get book one, The Bed Wife, free on eBook right now!

Additionally, with the help of a fantastic narrator, they are now available on Audible!

You can find The Bed Wife, The Heir, and The Queen (the entire series) narrated by the amazing David Maxwell. It's the perfect time to get it before you head off to the gym or the beach!

There will be more to follow, including a giveaway to get your free audible copies of these books, so keep an eye out here as well as on my Facebook page!

Summer Fantasy Romance Giveaway!

Who doesn't love the chance to win?

 

I have joined up with C.L. Cannon to be part of the Summer Fantasy Romance Giveaway!

 

Subscribe to today’s bestselling Fantasy Romance authors for a chance to win paperback copies of The Traitor’s Kiss by Erin Beaty, A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer, Bloodleaf by Crystal Smith, Graceling by Kristin Cashore, plus one bookish candle, one Once Upon a Time tote bag, one enchanted rose popsocket, one princess sleep mask, two bookmarks, and 19 Indie Author ebooks.

 

That’s 23 new books total, plus some awesome swag to enjoy them with!

 

To enter, go to C.L. Cannon's Website here.