Smash 48 Retreat

Happy Friday Everyone! I hope you have wonderful things on your schedule for the weekend! Ours is going to be filled with all wedding-related things! First a bridal shower, then a bachelorette party and finally a wedding reception! I am looking forward to all of the fun and excitement!

Today's post I wanted to share with you my fun ladies retreat trip I went on with Danielle and Sarah.  Sarah sent out an invitation to to all of the girls inviting us to come to the retreat with her and her mom back in March and Danielle and I were the only ones available to go.  It was SO fun too!

Friday evening we made our way up to Springhill.  If you live in Michigan and have not heard of Springhill before, make sure to check out their link! It is a super fun camp and I have been several times and would love to go again.

Friday evening was spent getting to know our cabin mates and going to session with everyone, so it was not overly exciting.  

Saturday morning we got up on the earlier side to get ready and make our way out to go zip lining! It had been a really long time since I had gone on a zipline (since our honeymoon almost three years ago) and let me tell you, it was SO fun! If you have never done this, I would put it on your list of things you must do!

After zip lining, we made our way to the first session of the day and lunch! Sarah and her mom taught Zumba in the morning so while Danielle and I made our way to Yoga, Sarah took a break then we all met up for Zumba in the afternoon.  I love her mom's class because she teaches all types of styles of dance and she uses music that matches the style.  I worked up a pretty good sweat when I was there AND I had a blast!

After dinner, we had our last session of the day which was before my favorite part of the retreat: PROM!

It was so fun getting all dressed up in gowns and heading out for the dance.  Plus, there were some really awesome dresses from the 80's & 90's there! We danced and had fun then stayed up really late giggling at stupid stuff.

Sunday morning, we got up early for breakfast and attended the last session of the trip.  This session was the most striking for me because of the lanterns that they gave us at the end.

When everyone had their lanterns lit, it was amazing to see how bright the room became.  They used the lanterns as a way to remind us that women are strong and when we work together, we can make great change in the world.  Definitely a great reminder when things get crazy.

Overall, the weekend was a ton of fun and I cannot wait to go back next year with my girls! 

#jackabeedaily2014 Weeks 19-21

Happy Thursday Everyone! 

Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who stopped by and commented on my book review on Tuesday! I am so excited that everyone is commenting their favorite books because it is helping me generate a wonderful list of books that I need to read AND it is a great way for you to get some good suggestions too! I noticed that I did not post the date for when I'd pick a winner {silly me} so I wanted to let everyone know, the winner of the book will be selected on Friday June 6th, so make sure to stop on by that day to see if you won! 

I am just a tad bit behind on my #jackabeedaily posts, but I have been keeping up with them on Instagram so there is that! 

Week 19

Day 129: Use yah blakah everyone! haha

Day 130: Justin planned a super fun birthday surprise with my friends! First we went for hibachi then we went to play Bocce Ball!

Day 131: Celebrated mother's day with my wonderful momma!

Day 132: Happy Birthday to me! We went to Maggiano's for dinner, then saw "The Other Woman" - if you haven't seen that movie yet, you definitely should!

Day 133: Another fun trip to Painting with a Twist with my girlies! Pretty beach scenes painted by everyone!

Day 134: I got my influenster vox box in the mail and I love this little gadget! If you want to sign up to become an Influenster, let me know and I will gladly send you an invitation via email! 

Day 135: How cool is this?! My co-worker got this and the recipes look SO fun! 

Week 20

Day 136: We made it to Springhill! Can't wait for the ladies retreat to start!

Day 137: Our day was filled with zip lining, yoga, zumba and prom! Such a fun day

Day 138: Matthew 5:16 "In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." Perfect lesson for the day.

Day 139: Justin got me some pretty flowers just because he loves me.

Day 140: Michigan is starting to finally see some beautiful weather! My head was definitely in the clouds today.

Day 141: Our professional photos came in the mail today! I cannot wait to look through them!

Day 142: This is what cooling a cake upside down looks like when you do not have the proper tools to do so... I hope it tuns out good!

Week 21

Day 143: The cake turned out good! Mom really enjoyed her birthday cake for 2014!

Day 144: Happy Birthday to my momma! We went to see the Tiger's "play" baseball.  The lost 12-2.

Day 145: Spent some time out in the sun since it was 80 degrees! AND the pool is open!

Day 146: My favorite picture from the professional pictures we got taken by Tickled Pink Photo! I love how much we're laughing.

Day 147: I think I got a little burned on Memorial Day... what do you think?

Day 148: We went to dinner at The Melting Pot with Justin's parent and Aunt Michelle! Such a wonderful treat! Thank you Aunt Michelle! 

Day 149: This sketch from Conan O'Brien made my laugh too hard.  Googly eyes make everything better! 

What exciting things have happened for you in the past week! I'd love to hear from you all! 

You can keep up with me every day in 2014 on Instagram @runwithjackabee or find me here too...

Find me on Twitter here.

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Previous Weeks:

• Week 18 
• Week 17
• Week 16
• Week 15
• Week 14
• Week 13
• Week 12
• Week 11
• Weeks 9 & 10 

The Fault in Our Stars Book Review + Giveaway!

Hello Everyone! I hope you had a wonderful and relaxing weekend! Michigan saw some b-e-a-u-tiful weather yesterday and Sunday, so I made sure to get outside for a bit and get some too much sun on my skin.  But honestly, it would not be Memorial Day weekend if I did not burn at least once.

For today's post, I am going to do a review of my May book, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.

Syonpsis (from Amazon):

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be completely rewritten.

Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars brilliantly explores the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.

My Review:

One words: Excellent.  I was going to space out my reading of this book to a chapter a day, but once I got about three chapters in I was hooked and could not put the book down.  I read from page 43 to page 313 in about five hours and I was sad when the book was over.

Green's style of writing is perfect.  It allows you to feel like you are sitting in the room with Hazel and Augustus while they are talking with each other and interacting with the other people around them.  What I loved about the book is that it instantly drew me in to the characters and I wanted to get to know them more. The book covers a wide variety of different subjects that teenagers struggle with; however, there is the added element of cancer and how that changes almost everything in a persons' life.  Plus, the story is filled with romance and excitement.  Honestly, if you have not read this book yet, I would recommend taking a few days to speed through it.

Reviews from Other Bloggers:

• Cuddlebuggery
• Vilma's Book Blog
• Dear Author
• Reader Girls Blog

Did you know they are coming out with a movie for this book too? I am very excited to see how they translate the book into a movie! It comes to theaters June 6.

Haven't read the book yet, but now you are interested? One lucky reader will win a copy of this book! To enter, please leave a comment on the page about your favorite book and one lucky winner will receive a copy!

Painting with a Twist (x2)

After a long weekend of exciting events, we decided to do something more low key on my actual birthday (which was on a Monday) by going to dinner at Maggianos and going to see "The Other Woman".  That movie was hilarious.  My mom, Danielle and I laughed really hard, but I honestly think Wesley and Justin laughed even harder.

The next day, to continue celebrating my birthday, some of the girls and I made our way to Painting with a Twist in Rochester to paint our beautiful beach scenes.  I love painting with a twist because every one's personalities come out in their artwork.  We were making the exact same pictures, but no two pictures are exactly alike. 

If you can remember, I went to Painting with a Twist last year with a different group of friends and we painted a beautiful night scene.  Just like last time, I had a blast with this group of girls! I love going with my girls because we have fun drinking wine, eating snacks and just plain old enjoying each other's company. 

The evening ended with a wonderful thunderstorm that I sat on my porch and listened to.  I am a sucker for a good thunderstorm.

Question of the Day: What fun outings do you do with your girlfriends?

Mother's Day Celebrations

Just another catch up post, I promise I am almost done {maybe}.  For Mother's Day this year, Justin and made early plans with my mom and late plans with his mom because my step-dad travels and was leaving rather early for work on Mother's Day.

Our morning started early with me getting up and cutting up the fruit for the fruit salad I promised I would make for brunch.  You know, I never realized how long it takes to make fruit salad? I spent an hour cutting everything up and I still had half of the fruit left.  And plenty leftover! 

After throwing the fruit salad together, we ran out the door to head out to church with my parents.  My mom loves when we come to church with them, so it really was not a question that we would be going to church with them in the morning.

After church, we made our way back to my parents house for a delicious brunch of breakfast casserole and fruit salad.  My mom set the table again with her nice dishes and a pretty table cloth and we sat and enjoyed each others company until my step-dad had to leave for the afternoon.

After we were finished celebrating with my family, Justin and I ran around doing some errands before heading to the grocery store to grab our supplies to cook dinner for his mom.

This year we decided we would cook dinner for his mom and we ended up making steaks, mashed potatoes and corn on the grill and it was so delicious! Justin and I do not get to eat steak too often because we do not have a grill so it is always a treat when we get to have them.

After dinner, we watched the movie Philomena with Judi Dench and Steve Coogan.

If you have not had a chance to watch this movie, I would recommend it for sure! It is a heartfelt movie that touches on the love of a mother and forgiveness.  Honestly, it was the perfect movie to watch on Mother's Day! 

Question of the Day:

What fun things did you do with your mom for Mother's Day?

Surprised @ Twenty-Five

This year, I turned a quarter of a century old, and let me tell you, it sure was fun! Justin went above and beyond this year to plan a fun semi-surprise party.  Semi-surprise party you ask? Well, I knew that we were going to do something and I knew that my friends were going to be there; however, I had no clue what we were doing.

For the first part of the evening, Justin planned dinner at Sagano Steak House.  I was so excited when we got there because Sagano is my favorite restaurant and it is a real treat when we go.  Have you ever been to a hibachi restaurant? If not, you should definitely make it a point to go! I love that you get to interact with the chef face-to-face and that you can see how your food is prepared.

Of course, the dinner is a lot more fun when you are with other people that you love and we took up an entire table with the ten of us.

 One of the things I was promised by both Justin and Danielle is that I would not be put "on the spot" in any way during the night, but that promise was quickly broken when a birthday dessert was ordered and the owner made me stand up and dance with him while they all sang to me.

Obviously, I had no problem doing the dance because I was rewarded with a tempura banana sundae! Oh my goodness was that ever delicious.

After dinner, another of my friends me us up at The Palazzo di Bocce for bocce ball! If you can remember, we came here with Bryan and Jenny a while back for a double date.  I had so much fun this time because there were so many people and we ended up making it a game of guys vs. girls.  Honestly, at this time I cannot remember who won because everyone was just talking and having a good time.

After bocce ball, almost everyone came back to our apartment to hang out and play some games.  We ended up playing Cards Against Humanity until about 1:30 in the morning when everyone filed out the door for the night. 

Such a fun evening and I could not have asked for a more fun birthday celebration! A special thank you to everyone who made it so special

Birthday Celebration with My Family

The past week and a half has seriously been a continuous celebration of me turning 25 and I have been feeling extremely blessed by my family.

My mom and I have a tradition of going to get pedicures for our birthdays since they both fall in May, so the morning of the birthday dinner we met for Weight Watchers, grabbed breakfast, then went to get pedicures at a place not too far from my apartment.  I love getting my toes done because they always look so nice and the pedicure looks great for a majority of the summer.

My family has a tradition of getting together for dinner to celebrate birthdays and we always end the evening with a cake made (or bought) specifically at the guest of honors request.  This year, I asked my mom if we could have steak and corn and potatoes for dinner because that is not a treat that Justin and I often get, and she obliged.  

My mom even went all out to set the dinner table with a pretty pink table cloth, pretty bone china and a pretty peony on the table.  I love when she decorates the table because she makes it look so pretty and they have such natural and beautiful lighting.  

For dinner, the men cooked up some steaks on the grill while mom and I made the corn on the cob, baked potatoes and Caesar Salad.  Everything was super delicious and so filling.  I even ate two baked potatoes because they were so delicious.  

After dinner, we enjoyed my favorite cake: Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake! I love this ice cream cake so much and my mom has been buying it for me for the last at least fourteen years! We also took some time to open gifts and my family got me some of the sweetest gifts that I am so excited to use/wear! 

After cake and gifts, Justin and I hung out for a while before making our way home for the evening to feed the cats.  

Question of the Day: What birthday traditions does your family have?

It Would Appear 10 Days Has Gone By

Hello Readers! I am so sorry that I disappeared for the last 10 days! A lot has happened and I have lost all notion of time.  

That being said, I have so many fun updates to share with you! 

I celebrated my birthday with my family

Justin planned me a surprise party with my friends 

We went to dinner and a movie on my actual birthday!

I went to Painting with a Twist with my girls and painted a beautiful beach scenery

I went out of town for the weekend with my two best girls

Oh and on top of all of that, I got sick and ended up being home from work today! So as you can see, I have been super busy the last ten days and I cannot wait to share all of the wonderful adventures with you and catch up on my regularly scheduled posts.

Thank you all for checking in and I will be talking with you soon!