Packing!!!

I'm slowly getting down a system for packing that I think will work for me!! Of course depending on the trip destination and length changes that.

I'm still an over packer by nature ( good thing we drive to most places..lol) but that's only because I'm kind of wishy washy when it comes to my wardrobe. And I always put extras in because you never know when you will have to change clothes because of weather, malfunctions or accidents ( with the pizza sauce from your dinner)!

I love the luggage I got around Christmas time at Macy's. I do wish now I had gotten Marc his own set! lol 

I know this seems like a crazy amount of bags but you will see the method to my madness real soon...I promise! lol

This was my "carry-on" bag! It holds most everything you could ever need on a plane or car! These tend to change based on where I'm going. I have several Disney ones as well! It holds my blanket, my neck roll, iPad, iPod, headphones, several books and magazines, snacks, note pad, pens/pencils/highlighter bag, travel folder, etc! You name it and it can hold it. I could even get my purse in there when we hauled the luggage to the hotel rooms ( we stayed in three different hotels this trip).

On a road trip I also carry snacks, my own pillow for the hotel bed, my purse of choice, and extra bags for bringing back souvenirs! 

We had a suite during our stay at the Buena Vista Suites hotel. We actually got upgraded to a King Suite with a jacuzzi ( a first for us). The Buena Vista suites come standard with mini fridge, microwave, a separate seating area, and bedroom. So the cabinet where the fridge was had ample drawer space for snacks!

My collection of garbage bags, zip lock bags, paper bags ( I had these crazy idea I would have time to pop popcorn in the microwave) and cloth grocery/shipping bags. We used these to store snacks and food in. And we had to insulated bags for water and perishables while traveling.  

I took a few "cooking" supplies just in case we stayed in any of the days we were there. 

The fridge ended up holding mostly our water, some fruit and some leftovers from dinner.

We kept the bananas out on the cabinet. One of my goals was to stay away from as much junk food as I could. 

The hotel also provided the standard coffee pot but they also offered a full breakfast every morning at no additional cost so most of the time Marc would get his coffee downstairs during breakfast. We did use our "insulated" cups a lot during this trip. Iced coffee for Marc. Tea or water for me.

I try to unpack the moment we get to a hotel, and most of the time I repack the night before we leave. Because this trip required a stay at three separate hotels I tried to pack accordingly by using garment bags for our "travel" part of the journey and our smaller rolling case (filled with our toiletry bags) for the first half of the trip and thereby allowing us to leave the larger rolling case in the car until we arrived in Orlando. 

I also got to use our new Ikea travel accessory/packing cube bags on this trip for the first time. I could probably even use one more additional sets. The bag at the top is an old bags from years ago that I used on this trip to hold swimsuit clothing. Unfortunately we got a lot if rain especially during our downtime so sadly I did not make it to the pool on this trip. Probably a good thing since I never found my favorite swimsuit and never found one on the trip I liked as well! This shelf also held Marc's pajamas.

Marc had a cube filled with his socks, t-shirts and underwear. I really want to have an additional set of these cubes!

These "cubes" held his outer garments which were mostly shorts and polo shirts. He had one pair of tennis shoes and a couple pair of dress shoes (he had class that Friday and Saturday before our trip and I traveled with him so we could leave directly after class for Orlando).  My sister who lives where the school is located actually found us a really good deal at the Omni. But you will have to check out the trip report to see that! lol

We each had four drawers. The last drawer on Marc's side held our shopping purchases (minus jewelry which we locked in the hotel safe). My first drawer held my nightclothes, slippers and cover up for the swim suit I never had! lol 

The two smaller bags hold my underwear and bras. The larger one had my socks and t-shirts.

I also had two packing cubes with all of my dresses, shorts and tops. 

The bottom drawer held my shoes and purse. Yes, that's a lot of purse and shoes. But most were flats so they took up little space. The three bags laid flat on the outside pocket of the large suitcase.

All of these items fit inside my large suitcase!

This ikea large toiletry bag held all of Marc's toiletry items including his own toothbrush, toothpaste, shaver, shower gel, aftershave gel, cologne hair brush and deodorant. Marc is pretty low maintenance when it comes to this stuff.

The smaller blue bag in front held my meds, and the larger bag holds our electronic cords.

I on the other hand tend to take a lot of stuff!!! I got most of the red plaid bags you see here on clearance at Target last fall. They are all Sonia Kashuk bags with the exception of the black bags. The top one holds manicure tools, polish and a travel size nail polish. I'm doing a separate post on my toiletry bag contents. Just thought I would give you a small glimpse here.

Facial and hair accessory bags.

Make-up bags and supplies. By the way my Mary Kay make-up brush bag was perfect for this trip!!!

Main toiletry bag! 

And lastly My jewelry pouch from the Container Store. More details on that as well later. All of these items (along with our pajama's and a change of shoes for me) fit in our smaller rolling bag. I will talk about some of the things that I found unnecessary to bring on a future trip when I do my more detailed toiletry bag post.

So there you have it!!! My long awaited Packing post! LOL

Breaking Bread!!!!

Marc and I had a great anniversary celebration in Orlando! I decided to do my packing post after my trip. I also need to do a trip report while my brain is still fresh! I'm still trying to get myself back into "work" mode after being gone for a week...umm yeah! Just not there yet. lol

I did decide to give a few ministry highlights here. Originally this trip included a meet up with several BSN sista's and their husbands . Three couples weren't able to attend because of various personal reasons but Angie Bledsoe and I had been trying to connect since we first "met" nearly 6 years ago. Angie was one of several PW's I first connected with online via their blogs. At the time I knew it wouldn't be long before I became a PW myself and I wanted to connect with others in the same boat. Over all I've had mostly good experiences when it comes to cyber friendships and thankfully Angie turned out to be not only a great contact, but a great friend, and over the years her and Pastor Byron have prayed for our ministry. I can't tell you what a blessing that has been to us! 

But getting to meet them in person, being able to hug my sista friend and then have the opportunity to be encouraged, and prayed over was the icing on the cake! Pastor Byron and Angie could not have been more hospitable and they gave us valuable advice that I'm sure will help keep us motivated in the long run! Connecting with them as a ministry couple, sharing stories, learning of new ways we can impact our community, and getting words of affirmation that we are heeding God's plans for our life just made me more determined then ever to bring that same type of feeling to other ministry leaders. If your ever in the Orlando area on Sunday drop in at C3 Church and say hello.

I think an even more personal affirmation to me to keep moving forward, and to not give up on my dreams came from my meet up with this lady!!! 

Chandra Mickle Lee and I also met via the World Wide Web. Over the years we have kept up with each other through twitter and Facebook and even though it took a little longer then we thought to connect we finally did at the end of this week.

Chandra swooped in with a ball of energy, gave us a bit of reprieve from the heat (long story that I will talk about in my trip report) and then proceeded to keep Marcus and I in stitches over dinner. 

Pastor Byron and Angie encouraged Marc and I to keep on doing what we are doing as far as WABC was concerned but Chandra encouraged me to not give up on my dreams for BSN! And that was the most special blessing I received that week other then time alone with the luv of my life. 

Blended Souls Network is really my baby. Marc is there to support me no matter what. Whether that's financially, emotionally, or even driving me all over God's green earth promoting it and recruiting other couples to become involved. But first and foremost it's a ministry formed in my heart to really make a difference in our communities and Chandra just reminded me of that. But just like any other baby you birth you must be willing to make the sacrifices it takes to see that baby grow into fruition! 

Sometimes ministry seems easy and the path seems very clear. But other times you may have to accept that the growth or survival of that ministry may require change, re-branding, bigger ideas, smaller ideas, or really just may require that you see the bigger picture! In my head and in my heart I think I was just to scared to really dream the dream that BSN had first inspired me to do. Which was to connect ministry couples from different ethnic, economic, denominational and regional backgrounds with one another so that we could really make an impact in our perspective community. By connecting with one another, building genuine friendships, sharing ideas and life stories and then taking that fellowship to a whole new level by breaking down "turf wars" and "neighborhood boundaries" to really come together as a community of churches who work with each other to really make a difference in this world. 

In my heart is sounded great but in my head I saw too many limitations. I wasn't willing to think "large" because I saw myself as insignificant. Talking to Chandra reminded me that my God is a great big God and with him all things are possible, even BIG Dreams! If your organization is looking to improve their online presence you need to connect with my girl Chandra over at Strategic Online Networking! 

We really had a great week (yes, even without going to the parks) but the best part was hanging with Marc, and breaking bread with ministry friends!

Mid-Week Wrap Up

We had a crazy busy weekend and even crazier week as Marc and my mom prepared for a week long conference at Hampton University. Mean while I've been up to my elbows packing! Hopefully I can get up my packing blog post before we leave for vacation!

My "famous" pasta salad! The recipe for this is so easy it's ridiculous! Yet somehow everyone loves it! 

We had a great turn out for our annual family and friends picnic. Some people were inside while others were out in the sun.

The food was delicious!

This cake was delicious! lol

Our children can't wait to get in class. Neither can their parents, or in our case grandparents! We have a ton of kids who's grandparents make sure they come to church on Sunday!

Nicki is the kid whisperer and candy keeper!

After church on Sunday we headed across the water to help my mom get settled into her "dorm" room for the next week. She's not going to college but she has been attending an annual Ministers and Music Directors Conference for the last few days. It's seems strange to be helping your mom/G`ma move into a dorm. All of my kids have gone to local colleges so they haven't had the dormitory experience! 

Mom really put us to work. 

Packet in hand!

Marc trying to look cool while toting a colorful bag! 

The look on these two faces is priceless!! 

Nicki trying to imagine where she would have put all her stuff! lol 

Not feeling it at all! HAHA!

All settled in! 

Mom picking up her music packet! She's the church director and secretary at my childhood church. 

Marc is attending the same conference but the ministers sessions. He's not staying in the dorms. lol 

Mom explaining her pkg is much larger this year. 

All set!! 

You have to have conference "stuff"! 

After all that we deserved a great meal! Unfortunately Chili's didn't really provide it. My salad may look good but it was rather soggy. That just does not make for a great meal!

Even with all the activity this week and preparation for vacation I'm still working on wedding stuff ( just realized I say "stuff" a lot).

And speaking of stuff...my plan today is to to work on my packing post. I really want to video tape it but I know I won't have time to edit it so I'm thinking about just giving an over view now with pics and then do a video at the hotel. We shall see. In the meantime I hope everyone is having a blessed day! Talk later!

Ok, its taken me two days to get this thing to post from my phone! So I'm not sure if I will get a chance to talk about my packing until we get back home.