I thought we left the crappy weather in Chicago. However, it looks like we brought it with us. I have been up since 4 am, but I wanted to post that we made it here! I love it! Our hotel is nicer than my house. I took a few pictures for you all.

Here’s the kitchen:

The dining area:

The living room:

Our bedroom:

And lastly, the bathroom:

I can’t believe we are going to be staying in this room for a week! So what do you guys think? Nice, huh? We have a great view, but since it is dark, I’ll get a picture in the morning.

Today has been a really long day. Our plane got delayed and our flight was like being squished in a sardine can. However, we got here, the kids are doing great, and I almost feel like we are on our honeymoon again. Unfortunately, we both are severely jet lagged right now. Bill fell asleep almost instantly after we got here (which is why I am on the internet right now). I brought a couple of books to read, but I’d rather be playing here.

I hope to post a little more later in the week and let you know what we have been up to!

Yes, I think almost every post this week is going to be about my trip. This is the first trip I am actually getting excited about. I dreaded the trip to Las Vegas for BlogWorld, and I loved it there. I dreaded the trip to Miami, and that wasn’t too bad either. I thank you guys who told me not to feel guilty, because we are leaving the kids. I think I needed somebody to give me permission to be okay with leaving them. I feel semi-dorky though - I have been watching the virtual tour of my hotel today. I am just trying to get a feel for what to expect. It is all of seventeen degrees here and warm would be nice.

I have been checking out the weather report today, and I am still deciding if I need to find my shorts for not. Depending where you look, I am looking at lows in the 30’s and highs all the way up to 65 degrees. My big problem is that I am not sure if I will fit into any of my shorts (and where they are too). I think I will be going shopping this week, and I am definitely going to need some coupons. I will definitely be checking out stores like Target, Sears, and Kmart. You tend to get the most bang for your buck there (and they have some of the best coupons too). I already know where my swim suit is, so I am set with that. It is just figuring out if I need shorts that is the problem.

We are definitely packing jeans, sweatshirts, and our jackets. Who knows? I may actually start a list, so we don’t forget anything. However, anything we do forget, we can buy there.

At this time on Friday, we will be sitting in Georgia waiting for our plane to Sedona (actually, we fly into Phoenix).  I know, it makes no sense that we have to fly from Chicago to Georgia and then to Phoenix, but that’s what we have to do.  What really sucks is that we have to be at the airport at 4 am!  Anybody want to drive us?  lol  What I am really having to figure out is if we need to pack shorts or not.  Anybody want to drive us?

We definitely need to get away.  Madison pretty much ran a 104 temp all day yesterday.  Today, we are down to 100.  Also, our sump pump quit working too.  Well, actually, the sump pump works fine.  The pipe that the water goes into isn’t.  The sump pump runs and the water doesn’t drain out of the pit.  Bill figures there is ice in the line.  He threw some salt in there, but that didn’t do anything.  Fun times, let me tell you, fun times.

I am getting over my guilt for leaving.  I am actually getting a little excited.  However, I need the kids to get better, so we can go.  I can’t leave 2 sick kids for my mother in law to take of (it would be nice but I’m not that mean).  I am pretty sure Madison just has a cold.  It’ll just be a matter of time for her to get over this.

Keeping my fingers crossed and going to see if I can find the temperature for Sedona . . . .

We leave in less than a week for Sedona. I should be excited, but instead I am feeling more guilty than anything. It was a great idea to leave the kids for a week when we booked this trip. However, now I am feeling extremely guilty now that we are leaving them for so long. I am hoping I can get over it, so Bill and I can enjoy this trip. I am trying to figure out what we need to pack. Its in the 60’s and the 70’s there. Its a whole whopping thirty degrees here. I know what we are not packing: golf shoes. There will be no golfing on this trip. At least, I don’t think there will be any. We haven’t decided what we are doing yet though. I have a feeling I’ll be a tad more frantic during the week trying to pack for both us and the kids for a week.

When I was in Miami last week, I met the most interesting couple. They were from Australia and were telling us all about New Zealand and Australia. I seriously wanted to look into getting some flights to New Zealand and/or Australia after that talk. All I could think about how snowy and cold Chicago was and how beautiful and warm it is over there right now. They had recommended that we try the big game fishing, dune surfing, black water rafting (not sure how that is different from white water rafting), rappelling or we should check our the caves there (I guess they have some really cool glow worms). There is a glacier in New Zealand that you can hike on that leads you to a forest. Honestly, all of that sounds really cool. I can’t wait till my kids are a little older, so we can do trips like this.