round 2 and +1

Well, we've certainly been busy over here at the Burke house. Our trip to Dallas a few weeks ago was the kick off of our traveling adventures. But really before then, we kicked off January with some great news that many of you already know by now. We are adding 1 to the Burke family in early October. And we couldn't be happier!

Part of the reason for my blog absence has been because I have just felt horrible the past 12 weeks, but I am finally starting to feel better. And I will say, I felt my absolute best while in Italy. But that all changed when I got home for some reason. Weird.

Anyway, we headed back to Italy this year because Grant is planning to take a group of upcoming seniors at MUS to France/Italy next summer and we needed to get the scoop for Grant's lessons/places to teach, etc, etc. We were thankful to go, especially since we've got a little one on the way now. :)

So, here's the recap in pictures. Not as good as last time, thanks to the weather. But it definitely didn't stop us from having fun!

First stop: Rome for a day (we couldn't help it. we love this place)

spanish steps

Trevi

We took a train to Cinque Terre the next morning where we planned to do lots of hiking. (The weather had something else in mind for us, though). Cinque Terre consists of 5 towns all accessible by a train or a hiking trail along the coast. It's one the most beautiful places in the world, even when it rains!

view from our room. about the clearest day we had!

You can begin hikes at the first town and hike your way to the last. We started at the first on the Via dell 'Amore (our only "hike" we got to accomplish and also known as "the lovers walk"). It was less than 20 min and all level ground. We made it to the next town just before the rain set in!

Couples are known to pledge their love for each other here and symbolize it with the addition of a pad lock. And probably a kiss, too. We just took a picture of ourselves, not kissing. but in love, no doubt. :)


We didn't end the trip here, but I'm going to have to end this post because its taking me like 5 min to load each picture. And I'm tired.

So next time I'll tell you about the rest of our trip in Cinque Terre and the lovely, Florence!

recent tradition

We've been blessed for the past 3 years to have an opportunity to travel with/without the Grizzlies to see an away game for almost free of charge. And I'm wondering if our luck has finally run out! I guess we'll find out next year :)

Our first year we traveled with the team to D.C. courtesy of our good friends who essentially gave us their trip. Last year, these same friends helped us win a contest at the Forum and we traveled to Orlando where we extended the trip for a couple days to enjoy Disney World with free tickets from another friend. Thanks to our great friends again this year, we traveled to Dallas with them on their plane and our other friend kindly gave us his tickets again. I told Grant at the game this year that I think our good fortune might have come to an end but I would love to be able to carry this tradition on if at all possible.

People that know us well understand our love for the Grizzlies and there's just nothing better than sitting in an opponents arena and cheering loudly for our Grizzlies. We (well, mainly I) usually make enough noise to warrant looks. And I love it. Especially when we win.

And if you didn't already know, I don't particularly enjoy flying, so this year's trip was a big deal for me. We flew on our friend's plane which holds around 6 people. And this is what everyone pretty much made me do as we landed in Dallas. I'll say, it did help ease my nerves for some reason.

yep, im playing c0-pilot.

before the game. grant wouldn't let me document me tearing up their dumb "go mavs" sign left in each seat.

After our big win! There's a handful of NBA teams on my hit list and the Mavs are near the top. To be there for this win was incredible!

We only wish we had video of the last 3 seconds of the game. Grant more than me though, as I would have been quite embarrassed with my celebration dance/screaming.

But here's a video for those of you who don't follow this team. You can imagine what Grant and I were doing after Zbo made this amazing shot.

We're hoping we get to do this again next year! But first, I'd like to make the playoffs, please.