Oregon Fever

This last week my entire family was vacationing on the Oregon coast. The weather was mildly cold, but it's much more preferable to the heat we've had back home. My parents rented a cozy little condo near the beach, and we really had a great time. The downside though? No WiFi. Even the cell service there was pretty pathetic. So I guess that is sort of an excuse for not having a new video blog post sooner, though I did manage to film this gem:

If that video doesn't make you jealous of my sweet family, then I don't know what will.

The trip taught me a few things, and I'd like to share them with you. 

1. I can survive without the internet. I still had my phone and I was able to use it occasionally if I could pick up a decent signal, but most of the trip I was disgruntled for not being able to get my photos to post to Instagram. It was particularly annoying when we needed to look up information about a place, or find directions, and the phone wouldn't connect, but in the end everything worked out. And in a way it was a healthy break from the social media world.

2. Everybody just needs to relax. My family is great, but many of us have a tendency to get real stressed out on vacations. Seems counter intuitive doesn't it? I understand that vacations only last so long, and there's lots to see and do in that short amount of time; but for once we don't have to worry about hurrying so much. In the real world, you have to be on time for work and you have deadlines; but on vacation you can just relax. Nobody is going to fire you if you're late to the beach. 

3. Oregon is incredible. Oregon is just great. The weather is great, the culture is great; they even pump your gas for you. Oh, and did I mention no sales tax? Plus they pay you to recycle. Who wouldn't want to live there?

4: Family is awesome. Every time I get together with my family I'm reminded of how amazing they all are. Like I mentioned before, we might get uptight once in a while, but we are blessed to have a fun, happy family. We can just sit around for hours and laugh and joke. So imagine this vacation with all the kids and grand kids. We had a blast. This trip definitely brought us closer together and helped us form greater bonds with one another.

Thanks to my amazing parents for making this all happen. I love you both. 

And to the rest of you, join me next week for another episode of To Fuse is Richer than to Separate.