Whew! What an incredibly busy and awesome last two weeks. I’m not sure I’ve mentioned this yet, but since getting hired at the amazing new architecture firm, I also scored myself a second job!

I recently sold my car (we are now a one car “family!”) and had to get a bunch of work done on it. It turns out the mechanic I saw was looking for an office manager and voile! I’ve been working there about two weeks now and it’s perfect. A few hours tacked on to my normal Mon-Fri work day. Easy work, great atmosphere, perfect.

So one week after I started there, we left for a nine-day vacation to Maine. It could not have come at a better time. This was at the tail end of several months of uprooting and settling and then starting my 60 hour weeks. I was exhausted.

We, of course were on our way to Maine to see Mike’s family. Everyone of his family members lives there so we try to go back as often as possible. Mike’s parents have a “camp” (Maine word for awesome uninsulated house) on a lake there. It is, as my dad so perceptively named it, “my happy place.” So quiet you can actually hear the woodland animals, surrounded by huge, beautiful trees, great Maine sight seeing and hiking in the area, and they have a speed boat for wakeboarding, tubing, and water skiing! Doesn’t get much better.

Also, we all managed to coordinate our schedules so that Mike’s sister, her friend, and his parents all had the week off. Mike’s uncle and his family were also staying across the road at their camp. We had a week of fun with family, lots of sleep and food, and some gorgeous Maine exploring.

So instead of giving more text, here are photos to explain 🙂

 ^ Mike with grandma and grandpa.

 ^ He surprised me with a date! Swanky dinner at the hotel down the road.

^ Us white people have to find the shade.

 ^ We went whale watching and saw a rainbow! Also happened to be one of the best days for whale watching all season. Those whales were massive!!

 ^ The whole crew 🙂

 ^ Mike and his fam bam.

 ^ The overlook at Mount Batty. We were sickeningly sweet to each other all week. Made me very happy.

 ^ Another beautiful view at Acadia National Park: Cadillac Mountain.

^ Post-dinner, pre-dessert wake boarding. Cold water but so worth it.

 ^ Action shot! I love me some wake boarding.

 ^ So many girls my age! I love hanging out with Mike’s family.

Then! I worked my new crazy work schedule this week and this weekend has been full of fun little honey-dos that have been on the list for a while. We went to the Del Mar Horse Races on Friday with my family. I’m not much of a gambler but it’s so hard not to get wrapped up in the excitement. Yesterday was my first bike ride in 6 months and I took Mike on a date. (see below) And we got to see another big festival right on our door step.

 ^ Bike ride up Mount Soledad in San Diego.

^ Date night to a haunted house and then delicious dinner. Fire pit was pretty sweet.

I’m exhausted but oh man it’s the good kind.

And I’ll just leave you all with a little photo of Mike and Beatrice (the blow-up dinosaur).

I hope you all had relaxing or productive or both kind of weekends. Keep that smile on your face, Monday is only 1/5 of the work week!