Family Ties...

This past weekend, I got to spend some time with the other side of my family in Newport News & Hampton, VA. I had a truly awesome time & was so glad that I was able to make the trip down the interstate for the impromptu (mini) family reunion! Over the years, I've seen much less of my father's side of the family, even though they're actually located 2 hours closer to me than my mother's side of the family in Halifax, VA, so this was a special occasion.

We didn't do anything super extraordinary, just pretty much had a typical southern-style family cookout - fully stocked with near/distant relatives, sinful food & soulful music of course! The older & younger generations both seemed to play well with one another so we agreed to try & make it an annual affair - hopefully we'll indeed make that happen!

Now that it's mid-July & we're finally into the dog days of summer, I've been scrambling trying to come-up with a last minute travel destination for some much need rest & relaxation. It seems that everyone else is posting photos to Instagram or Facebook from some far away beach or exotic destination but at this point, I've still got nothing planned... it's looking more & more like a stay-cation this year.

I did manage to submit my vacation dates, so at the very least I'm guaranteed some time away from the office later this summer. I really wanted to use my passport this year but that'll just have to wait until I have the perfect trip lined-up. I hate the idea of traveling without every aspect of the trip being squared-away & that requires time - something I've simply run-out of (as far as the summer is concerned). I'll circle-back around to international leisure travel at the conclusion of the holiday season, lol.