Don't mess with Texas or sinus infections

I'm back in cold, rainy Pittsburgh and recovering from a massive sinus infection that also spread to my throat. That was the diagnosis I received at the urgent care clinic I visited the morning after I wrote my last post. (Side note: There was also a guy named Kirk there waiting to get stitches. Apparently one of his friends threw a full bottle of Gatorade at his face and basically cracked his face in half. You wouldn't think a Riptide Rush to the grill could do that much damage, but you'd be surprised.) Luckily the combo of antibiotics, Mucinex, Vitamin C, and Advil kicked in quickly and I was feeling noticeably better by that afternoon. We drove around Galveston checking out some of the historical district. I was still feeling like crap so most of the photos were taken from the passenger window of a moving car, so they're not very good. That night I finally felt well enough to actually leave the hotel and eat dinner, so I got a steak (in Texas!) with a gulf view. Then I went to bed by 8.

On Thursday morning, I woke up ready to rock Galveston. I still didn't feel awesome, but I could stay awake for longer than 20 minutes and it was our last day there so I wanted to make the most of it. When Frank got back from his morning class, I convinced him to ditch the rest of the day. We drove around town, did some shopping and got an awesome lunch of crab stuffed shrimp (for me. He got something lame with chicken). The rest of the afternoon was spent laying at the pool and drinking Grey Goose and vodka (which is my new favorite). We also went for a long walk on the beach and I found the biggest seashell I've ever captured! Yes, I captured it. Honestly, looking for seashells is my favorite part of the beach and you can bet I brought this bad boy home with me. 

Frank brought this back for me when I didn't feel well enough to go to one of the fancy dinners:

The Hotel Galvez:

These are some of the houses/buildings we saw on our drive around the historic part of town:

The pool area was amazing, so was my view wink wink:

I could do this every day.

My boyfriend:

Me, back from the dead

My giant seashell:

I liked the sun flare

Pointing out grammatical errors on the beach

Family Beach Vacation 2011

I can't believe that it's almost the end of July. This summer is going by way too fast! I know it's because we have been going non-stop, we have had so many little trips that I have literally been living out of my suitcase when I'm home. So far this summer we've been to Italy, Philadelphia, Stone Harbor NJ, Ocean City MD, and Dewey Beach DE. We still have a trip to Chicago the weekend after next and then possibly a trip to Galveston, TX in the fall. I love to travel, but I'm really happy to just be home right now.

We just got home this afternoon from Dewey Beach. We started going there last year with Frank's sister and her family. This year, my mother-in-law and brother-in-law also came, so we got a bigger condo. It was right on the beach and the perfect size for all of us. Wake up, lounge around, go to the beach, shower, nap, dinner, lounge, bed, repeat. I love it. It reminds me of my childhood family vacations in the Carolinas, Florida, and Georgia. I never get bored of it. Unfortunately, due to work and Frank's MBA classes, we couldn't stay the whole week. I did get him to skip class one night so that we could extend it one day. 

Some people might dread spending almost a week living with their MIL, but I'm pretty lucky in the in-laws department. I can't complain. Although she did drive me a little crazy, because she can't waste anything. I threw the end piece of a loaf of bread out in the garbage and she dug it out. I also got a death stare when i didn't drink the milk at the bottom of my bowl of cereal. 

We had a little photo shoot on the beach the last night that Frank and I were there. This was when the crazy east coast heat wave had really started to settle in, so it was SUPER hazy out. I kind of like how it made the pictures look, even though some of them are a little overexposed looking. 

Top row: Frank's brother with our niece and nephew, Frank's mom with them

2nd and 3rd Row: sister in law and her family, Izzy-my god daughter

Las Row: Us with Zach and Iz

These last pictures are straight off the iPhone

I have some more pictures I want to post, including photos from some of our previous trips that I didn't blog about yet, but they're currently being held captive on my point and shoot camera and the card reader won't work. Grr. So hopefully I can figure out how to access those soon.