So much to talk about…still taking a break from DIY projects, but I did pick up a little chest of drawers yesterday I hope to dig into this next week.

Right now my clean garage is full of garage sale “stuff”…it wasn’t full of “stuff” Sunday night when storms roared through the area…but we had a house full of guest all weekend with lots of cars here and there so we left the car out of the garage. Big mistake….

…I suspect the car is totaled. Brian’s company truck may fair better.

So now I have another huge gap in my tree line…no biggy since the neighbors cut down all their trees.

Even though the car SHOULD have been in the garage, there are some upsides. My truck is usually parked there and I need my truck for work…so it’s a good thing it was parked in the street. Had the car been in the garage, Brian would not have been able to get to work Monday morning because it took a tree crew most of the day just to cut the tree off the cars so we could have them towed. Fortunately Brian has access to another company car, so he can survive without his car for a time.

No one was hurt…the tree missed the house…everything is insured.

So why did we have guests all weekend you ask?!

Matt and Hannah’s wedding!!!!!

I honestly couldn’t imagine a wedding more beautiful than a sunset wedding on a beach in Maui. But I can honestly say that a sunrise wedding on a cliff overlooking the Ozark mountains is just as beautiful.

As I mentioned here, I had the honor of making the reception cakes. Not to toot my own horn or anything but they turned out pretty awesome!

So my takeaways from this week….

Storms may come and wreck havoc, but there is ALWAYS something to be grateful for…find it….focus on it. What’s done is done and there is no sense in making it worse by focusing on the negative.

It doesn’t matter if you are standing on a beach in Maui, on a bluff in the mountains, or in the middle of your living room…love expressed and shared is what makes the moment!

If you are struggling with confidence…to do ANYTHING…just remember you can’t find confidence in a book or on the internet or get it from another person…you only get confidence from trying and failing and trying and persevering.

This past week Brian and I went to Maui for Brandon and Taylor's wedding. Sunset on the beach...

A destination wedding is, hands down, the way to go! Ten of us (all family) traveled to Maui and we all had an amazing vacation for what it would cost to have a fancy-shmancy wedding at home. No, MOST of your friends and relatives might not be able to go, but the people who matter will be there...whether in person or spirit. Those who can not be there will be thrilled you had the wedding AND a vacation of a lifetime.

The minister performed a Christian ceremony decked out in his Hawaiian regalia! A friend of Brian's had his sister bring the entire wedding party Hawaiian leis! It was a touching and beautiful ceremony!!!

Brian and I stuck with the "land" tours.

A tour of Pearl Harbor and the island of O'ahu. The Arizona Memorial is a must see....

The tour around the island of O'ahu included lunch at the ranch with a view of the "Jurassic Park" mountains..,seriously, this is where they filmed the mountain scenes!

A private zip line excursion along the mountains in Wailuka....

I'm telling you...zip lining is for young and old!

We drove around to the northern point of the island and the "road to Hana" in a convertible.

We watched the sun set on the beach.

While we didn't venture into the waters, we did visit the Maui Ocean Center where we saw all the native tropical fish, rays, sharks and turtles! (Without risk of being eaten by a shark! Yes, I have a few phobias!)

We went to a luau...the food was so-so but the show made up for it...amazing!

The only thing I didn't get to do, that I desperately wanted to do, was the helicopter tour around the island...we booked it but it was cancelled the day before we left...curses! But that one hiccup didn't distract from an amazing week!

This is a trip we probably never would have taken. I feel so honored, and am so grateful, that Brandon and Taylor asked us to share their special day!

As wonderful as the week was, I am glad to be home. So far I have spent the week just trying to catch up...not there yet!

So until next week when I will return to our regularly scheduled program....