Say Yes to Playing Hooky

I'm very blessed to be able to work for my family's business and make a schedule that works for me. I don't take that for granted. As long as I get my work done, my boss (aka Granddad) doesn't really care when I'm at the office. I worked extra hard last week so that I could play hooky on Monday. My cousin & I spent the entire day at the beach and then when I got back home that evening, Adam & I went fishing. It was glorious. I am A Florida girl through & through and couldn't imagine living somewhere that wasn't surrounded by water.

My cousin & I had a blast soaking in the sunshine. I almost always get burnt when I'm out in the sun for more than 2 hours, but luckily my cousin made encouraged me to lather on the SPF. I always tease her that she has to be the responsible one because she's a mom. So anytime we're trying to figure something out or get prepared for something I always say, "You got this." And she finishes with, "Because I'm a mom!" I'm really thankful that my cousin & I are so close. I can definitely say that she's one of my best friends!

Two of favorite quotes from the day (both came out of my lovely cousin's mouth):

1. "You don't really have ugly people in your life."

2. "Man, it's a lot of work being a blogger's cousin." ...she was referring to the fact that I had to photograph just about every other step that we took. #bloglife

Oh and here's one of those moments that I just had to have captured...jumping picture FAIL. I can't believe I'm putting that on the Internet.

After the beach, I met up with Adam to do a little evening fishing. We didn't catch anything, but he taught me how to drive the boat, which I was obviously really good at if you can't tell by the expressions on my face in the pictures below...

Good thing he knows what he's doing!

I realized yesterday that it's so incredibly important to slow down and enjoy the journey. I've always heard that saying but I never let it sink in. Probably because I've always been too busy trying to cross things off my to-do list or planning my next goal. I'm a type-A person all the way, but I've really mellowed out over the last year.

I still think it's important to plan and set goals, but I also think that we need to be aware of other things around us. We need to appreciate the people who are in our lives. We need to make time to spend with them and be available for them. We need to realize that some things don't go as planned. And that's okay. I encourage you to take an entire day and spend it with the people you love most. Let them know that you love them and appreciate them. Say yes to playing hooky (but don't lose your job)!

Side notes:

1. I'm really considering trading in my couch for a hammock.
2. Luke Bryan got an Instagram...and I thought I was addicted before.