Rants, Raves & Ramblins': Bay St. Louis

Thursday, December 31, 2015

Favorites of 2015

As 2015 is coming to a close and I start to look forward to all of the things that are to come in 2016 I just had to reflect on some of my favorite moments and lessons from this last year.

This year was full of so many new things for me as I went from a mom of two foster kiddos to the mom of four. Things are so much more hectic when you are chasing around a herd of kids but they somehow have the ability to remind you to slow down and look at what is important!

Yes, I stressed over everything, especially money, in 2015. One thing I'm bringing out of this year though (after a talk with one of my favorite co-workers this week :) ) is that I am investing in the lives of my babies and that is one thing I wouldn't change for anything!

One thing I didn't do as much of in 2015 as in years past is traveling. Not because I didn't want to, but because traveling as a group of 5 is A LOT more expensive than traveling solo. But it is a lot more fun too! This year we did spend some time in Bay St. Louis, MS, which is now my favorite sleepy little beach town. Nothing better than beautiful white sand, quaint little downtown shops and the most delicious frozen yogurt joints! I also took the big girls on a cruise to Mexico the day after Thanksgiving and that was an absolute blast! A couple random trips to Branson and day trips around the State and that sums up our travel for the year!

In 2015 we celebrated a first birthday, two 11th birthdays, a 14th birthday and my 25th birthday.

Me and Little Sister discovered our love of Escape Rooms. Big Sister has become obsessed with Starbucks and all things One Direction (I won't lie, I'm kinda right there with her with 1D!). Miss Priss is still mastering her photography skills, mostly of the dogs, but she likes going with me to my sessions to learn different ways to pose people. And then we have Bubby, who in the last year has changed the most. He is now way past the crawling stage and is in a constant sprint. He talks ALL of the time and his favorite things to do are ride on the dogs like they are horses, wrestle with Papa, play with Gampa's ears, eat lots of pudding and wake me up by trying to touch my brain via my nose cavity while yelling Mama!!

My church kiddos are just as entertaining as ever. We had a great year with us starting a Wednesday night class. We have a couple new "regulars" now too! We had a super fun lock in, a church wide picnic and four wheeler ride that was more fun than should be legal, and we ended the year with a super fun Christmas program.

Basically, this year I have realized just how blessed I really am. I have the most amazing family and I'm so thankful to still have my great grandma, both grandma's and my Papa still around for my kids to get to "experience" (because lets be honest, hanging out with these hoots for long is definitely an experience!). My parents and brother, who are always willing to help me herd the hoodlums, are angels! My friends, both the ones I see all the time and the ones that I just exchange the occasional text with, are beyond anything I deserve. I have a job I enjoy that allows me to do the things a want to do and a church family that continues to lift me up when I need it the most.

2015 was a fabulous year, but I just know 2016 will be my best one yet!

I pray you and your family have a blessed New Year!

Enjoy some of my favorite photos from 2015!

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Ahhh...the Bay!

Quaint. Beautiful. Friendly. Quiet. Relaxing. Perfect.

That is Bay St. Louis, Mississippi.

I honestly never even considered Mississippi when thinking about a beach escape, but legit, I have found the Mecca of picturesque small beach towns.

So let me tell you how this happened. I was cruising through Pinterest one day and ran across this absolutely precious photo of a naked baby on the beach and immediately thought I needed to recreate it with my baby boy. (Because who doesn't love naked baby booty, seriously the cutest thing in the world!)

Pinterest photo (Not my babe)

So, we had no summer plans because I'm taking Miss Priss on a cruise in November. And then I ran across the picture...and a vacation was born. For real.

Now, on to how we ended up in Mississippi. Basically, I pulled up VRBO.com and started looking for fun beach houses up and down the gulf coast, mostly Galveston and Orange Beach areas. I didn't really see anything that struck my fancy so I just ~~cruised~~ clicked all down the coast until I ran across this super cute 3 bdrm/2 bath home in Bay St. Louis, MS. I had never heard of this town so of course I turn to Google and one of the first photos I saw was amazing!

Google

After seeing the house and then the beach, I was sold. So I contacted Rachel, who owns the home in BSL, and she just reaffirmed to me that this was my next vacation destination. She told me all about the super fun cafe's and little hole in the wall restaurants, antique shops and boutiques and I was double sold (is that a thing, double sold?).

I quickly recruited my parents, aunt and uncle and best friend to join me and the kiddos and we decided on dates and then I booked the house.

I have officially been home for two days and let me just say, I cannot get back to BSL soon enough! The house was perfect! Beautiful home on a canal with a dock, plenty of patio furniture on two awesome decks, and more than enough room for all 10 of my traveling circus.

We drove overnight so we were exhausted when we arrived at the house at 6:30 am but of course the kids had slept all night and were ready for the beach so we unpacked the cars and quickly headed out to explore the coast.

I was beyond shocked to find the most beautiful white sand I have every seen, and I've been to a lot of beaches! Not only was this sand perfectly white, but it sparkled! Like God shook a little glitter here on this beach just for me to find and rejoice over (a little dramatic maybe, but glitter is bomb).

The kids ran right for the water and started splashing and having a grand ole time. And then one of the other three people on the beach (yes, there was only three other people on this perfect beach) motioned for my dad and I to come over to where he was standing to look at the most massive jelly fish I have ever seen! Yes, my kids had just ran in to water infested, and I mean INFESTED with jelly fish, and not one of them got even the tiniest sting!

We ooh'd and aah'd over the massive jelly fish and then some of the tiniest jelly fish and then packed up to look for a better swimming spot. We drove maybe 10 miles down the road to Pass Christian (second favorite tiny beach town now) where the sand was just as beautiful and the waters much less jelly fishy (again, is that a thing?). The kids splashed around in the waters while the grown folk worked on our tans. After a couple of hours we were all sun exhausted and just needed a nap so we headed back to our sweet little house to relax.

Before the trip was over we had explored Bay St. Louis, Pass Christian, Waveland, Gulfport and Biloxi. I am in love with this little strip of gulf coast.

We spent one day celebrating my Momma's 50th Birthday early with a cake made by the fabulous Cakes by Karen and one day celebrating Miss Priss' One Year Anniversary at my home with some frozen yogurt from the Pink Octopus in Pass Christian. Bay Fest was taking place in downtown Bay St. Louis so we explored the downtown area a bit and met some of the sweetest shop and restaurant owners.

All in all, after this trip, Galveston has been dethroned (barely) as my favorite small beach town and Bay St. Louis is the new King of the Beach. If you are looking for a fun place to just getaway, this is it!

*Side note: We drove through New Orleans on our way back home. Not impressed, at all, in the slightest. I'll be cruising out of NOLA in November so I'm hoping it can show me some of the charm everyone talks about, but for now I'm slightly bummed by the lack of uniqueness and the overwhelming-ness (word?) of the ghetto. If you have any specific places I should see email me!