Just put on a little lipstick...

The last night in Nashville was very hard. We had dinner with the kids and grand-girls at Cool Springs Brewery, which is one of our favorite pizza places.  Emri's rule - pretty smiles only if you get to do silly faces too! Then we spent the night at Jenni's condo and headed out after breakfast with her at the Perch. We will miss these smiling faces, but I have feeling there will be lots of phone calls, visits and skypes for the next year or so.

Joyce suggested we have a going away party at our favorite Mexican restaurant La Terazza. What she didn't tell me was that it was also a birthday party for me. I have awesome friends! We celebrated Joyce's birthday at The Chef and I just a couple of weeks earlier!

We had several going away parties. It sure is hard to leave such wonderful friends, but they promised to visit!

We've been planning to celebrate our 30th anniversary with a trip to Kayne Prime since June 30th. With selling, packing, moving out, etc.. we just kept putting it off one more week. We finally decided we just had to go before we left town, so we picked a Sunday night and headed downtown. Kayne Prime is located in the Gulch area and it has a beautiful view of Union Station and the Nashville skyline. We dined on lobster deviled eggs, homemade bacon w/maple cotton candy, wagyu filet mignon, crème corn brulee  and potato aligot. For dessert they brought us a candle on a plate and chocolate marscapone gelato. I cannot say enough about the service or the food, both were divine! If you have any special occasion to celebrate and you are in Nashville - head down to M Street and visit Kayne Prime. Of course Virago and Tavern are two of my favorites and well.  Thank you to our good friends the Martinos for making sure we had a cozy table and a awesome me...

Hotel living isn't as glamorous as they make it sound in books and movies. We aren't used to living out of suitcases in one or two rooms.  

View from clinic exam room While I was in Utah for work, Verizon sent the movers over and Bryan oversaw the packing of our household. Thank goodness I stayed busy, otherwise I would have been worried sick about strangers packing up all my favorite possessions. I was traveling with two co-workers who love to explore like I do, so that helped tremendously. I trained during the day and then enjoyed the late Utah sunsets with hiking, exploring and ski lift rides in the beautiful Timpanogos mountains. The people of Utah and Timpanogos hospital were wonderful hosts and great with directions and ideas. I  even got to visit the Sundance resort, which was about 25 minutes from where we were working. A visit to Sundance has been on my bucket list for several years and it was just as beautiful as I imagined. I loved shopping at the general store and dining at the Owl Bar. If you ever find yourself at Sundance, get the beef sliders. They use local beef and it...

Wow- that was fast! My fabulous cousin John Hendon sold our house. Originally he was going to come over on Wednesday and take photos and fill out the listing paperwork with us. Then on Saturday he called and said he was taking a lady to look at new construction at the subdivision next to ours and wanted to stop by with her the next day. We were in the midst of cleaning out closets so we shoved everything back in and said sure, why not! Long story short, she loved our house and put an offer on it. Verizon came and packed us up on the 23rd and put our stuff in storage and we closed on July 25th and became houseless. My head is still spinning! If you need a realtor - call John! http://www.coldwellbanker.com/agent?action=detail&agentId=72709&mode=office

My mom's family has a reunion every couple of years and this one was held by her cousins John, Nancy and Stefini. John lives in Sacramento, so it was decided that they would host the reunion at his house.  My mother was a big believer in family and family gatherings and I know she would have been thrilled that Jenni and I attended. The Hendon clan is a happy, loud and loving family. Even though most of these are my 2nd and 3rd cousins we all know each other, and keep up with family happenings. I didn't realize this wasn't the norm in most families until I was older.    Jenni and Jewel picking limes John, Tori and Xiao Xiao opened up their beautiful home to about 40 cousins and a grand time was had by all!

Jenni and I decided to take a Mom-Daughter trip to San Francisco and then finish it off with a trip to Sacramento to our family reunion. Jenni has been with us to San Francisco several times, but not since she was an adult. We had a great time visiting lots of the places we went when she was smaller and added a few more. I introduced her to Chinatown shopping, we went vintage shopping in the Haight and she introduced me to some cool places she had found on Urbanspoon. I even drank coffee each morning with her. For those who know me, this was BIG. Coke zero is what's usually in my coffee mug each morning. We took a little detour on our way to Sacramento through wine country and stopped off at the Dry Creek General Store for a little nourishment. I was trying to get her picture with the locals, but they made me sit down and be in the photo too! What a wonderful trip we had - I love hanging out with you Jen!

My son did it, he did the Spartan Death Race. The kookiest race I've ever heard of. I was on pins and needles the whole time he was racing and until I heard his voice after he finished. Well, he didn't "officially" finish, but in my book he was definitely a finisher. He stopped at hour 68. That's 68 hours straight of running, swimming, chopping wood and obstacles. What is the Death Race you ask? Here's my summary, there's no set course, no set finish line, the rules change constantly and it pushes you to every limit you have. When Josh called me afterwards he said "Hey Ma, I heard you were worried about me. I'm ok, my arms are pretty cut up from the barbwire and my feet are trashed, but it was AMAZING!" I've said it before and I'll say it again, it's exhausting to be the mother of Josh Hall, but I wouldn't change it for anything in the world. Josh was born with an over abundance of energy and it was a challenge to for him...

What do you do when you find out you will be moving 10-11 hours away? You call your best friend and schedule a visit! I took a trip to Florence to hang out with Amber. We dined, giggled, shopped and caught up on life happenings. Thank you for everyone who is keeping my friend in your prayers. She is still taking weekly chemo treatments and feeling pretty well.

I've seen it happen to others over the years, but it has never directly affected us until now. Verizon announced that Bryan's department would be relocating. At first we didn't know of the exact location. We heard rumors of Florida and rumors of Oklahoma. He finally got the details and we will be moving to Lake Mary, Florida on August 16th. The kids are being very supportive, but I'm not sure how it will be not seeing them each week. Jenni has dinner with us almost every week and we see Josh and his family weekly too. This move will be a game changer for our frequent family gatherings. We will be 10-11 hours away. I'm sure there will be lots of phone calls, Skype and letters. I will be able to keep my job in Nashville and work remotely, so I should be able to travel back some. I plan to make the most of those trips. Please keep us in your prayers as we prepare for this transition.

I've been waiting to pass this mark and it finally arrived. I can now say I am officially a 5 year cancer survivor! My surgical oncologist had told me several months ago that I could go ahead and consider myself there, but the actual date was June 10th. Thank you God for helping me through my journey. My prayers go out to each and every person who is still battling cancer and for everyone involved in their care. I think we have the scientist out there who can figure out the cure, we just have to get the research dollars funneled to the right ones.

4 Rules: Stay positive Radiate love Make every day count Kick ass

It's time to finish some posts that have been in my drafts folder far too long... I'm excited to announce that my younger sister Lisa is having a baby! Baby Boy Moore is due late November and we are all very excited for Lisa and Chadd's next adventure. For those of you who follow Lisa on twitter or facebook you know she takes a lot of food and travel photos. I have a feeling in few months, those pictures will change over to a precious little boy's pictures. I can't wait to meet and spoil my new nephew!