Oh..what a beautiful life

Good morning..good afternoon..good evening and good night!

Life is wonderful with family, friends and an amazing husband by my side!!

Spring has sprung..the cleaning has started and the busy wedding season has begun. Mack and I have enjoyed wonderful day trips to Wills Point to play outside with the dogs and enjoy each others company. 

We went to Tyler's Car Show..car shows are becoming a thing that Mack and I attend!

At the end of February we visited our college friends, Rob and Meredith Hyde and their kiddos Wyatt, Ella and newborn Charlie who recently moved to Wichita Falls. It was such a fun, long weekend visiting them, watching Wyatt's first soccer game, going to the monster truck rally, and taking strolls in their beautiful neighborhood. These are such sweet friends and kids who we just adore more than anything!! It snowed on our last day there which was so fun to experience since we moved back to Tyler from Minnesota and have yet to have a good snow..so we ended the weekend off by putting our Subaru to good use! 

Ella and Mack! Her personality is so fun to watch and truly shines!! miss thang! 

Sweet Charlie..all smiles ;)

Wyatt is such a character..I can't believe how much he has grown!!

Us at Wyatt's soccer game

Saying goodbye until next time..

 We just returned from an amazing 4 day vacation to the beautiful Marco Island. We laid on the beach, ate amazing food, spent great time with family and took a fun ride on the jet skis. 

Mack relaxing on the hammock on our last day in Marco

The last night I was surprised by an early, beyond AMAZING, birthday present from the McGowens!! A trip to Paris!!! It was such a sweet moment with the family and I am so grateful and blessed beyond words!!

We returned home to find out our dogs had received 2nd place in the Dogs in Action contest with the Tyler Paper!!

The picture was taken at Circle Star Pet Resort..an amazing boarding resort that puts pictures up of the dog's daily activities, including: golf cart rides, massages, outdoor/indoor playtime and private agility lessons!! This is the best place for the dogs to have a good time and they are so worn out when we pick them up, it's wonderful!! 

Last weekend we went to Palestine's Dogwood Trails festival!! We walked around, I Zorbed in a pool of water and saw a long time friend Rachel- which was such a surprise!! 

Can't wait for more exciting adventures to come..Mack and I have town festivals to attend, a 5K to run, more wedding and events to work, Lauren's 25th birthday, family birthdays and a trip to Padre Island on the horizon!!

Until next time,

McGowens on The Move

The Blue Cypress- Arlington, TX

Not sure where they got the name "Blue Cypress" but don't let it fool you..this hotel is nothing fancy. After the icy roads on the way home and a fun dinner/movie date we decides to call it a day.  I LOVE hotels and I'm always excited for a stay! We had accumulated so many hotel nights we got a "free" hotel night stay worth $104. This Executive King Suite was on sale for only $89! A steal..not. Luckily we only had to pay tax on our stay, $10, because if we would have paid more than that, it would not be worth it. 

As you enter the lobby you are filled with the smell of citrus, surrounded by the beautiful floors, adorable lounge section, restaurant/bar patio down the hall, business room and gift shop but don't look any further...there were exposed wires from the security cameras and holes in the walls.

We ventured down stairs to the gym and indoor/outdoor pool- that was a sight. It looked better than it was. Stained and ripped carpets brought the musk smell to life. The pools had a stinch not even the chlorine could hide but the workout equipment was nice. 

The halls greeted you with their bright colors and fun pattern seeking the suspense of our room quality. As we entered it was fair..great size complete with a sofa, desk, microwave, fridge, closet, mirror station and bathroom. This is supposed to be the most important part of your hotel stay, correct? Mine is the room and the amenities. I did love the hotel pillows- they were soft and comfortable and I didn't wake up with my neck hurting so that was nice. But don't plan on taking a quick shower- or sometimes even a shower at all. We were on the first floor but at the end of the hall and we had to run the water for 3-4 minutes for it to get hot. But, by the time you wanted to get in the tub it was filled with all the cold water you started with because the drain wasn't a fast worker. So we just laid in the bed and fliped through ALL 30 channels..sorry folks so Dish here. But please, Enjoy your stay. 

I rated this hotel 2.5 out of 5 stars. The friendly staff, free wifi/parking and breakfast, comfy bed, soft pillows and lounge area really helped this hotel. We also only paid $10, so if you get a great deal like that then maybe..but for $109-$140 or so what it normally is, no thanks. I'll take a LaQuinta. 

Until our next stay. 

Canada & Washington

Taking a look back..I never finished our Overland Adventure posts. 

Canada was beautiful!! The people were so kind and everything was clean! Victoria Island was majestic! Seriously, we could not get enough. I probably took 400 photos! We loved riding the ferry even though we didn't see any whales. We definitely will stay in Canada longer next time! 

We couldn't leave without riding on the Merry Go round ! There will always be a child in me who loves to experience it all! 

They even let dogs in! Cheyanne loved walking around and smelling everything. But don't worry- at the end when you do your shopping, there is a "dog drop off" to tie your dog up complete with a water bowl to keep them happy while you spend money ;)

On the way back down was a stop in Seattle then on to "Mack's big part of the journey!" The MAJOR back roads through the mountains of Washington. 

As we made our way to Seattle we thought we were being sneaky on the back roads, we ended up at a dead end and had to ride another ferry- which was fine with us- I'm just glad we got there at the right time! We met a great couple in Canada who we saw again on the ferry!! The sun was setting and I knew we didn't have a lot of time- so dinner and a quick trip around the Ferris wheel was our treat! It was beautiful! I'm so glad we decided the do the Ferris wheel at night- definitely worth it! The day time would not have done it justice! 

We stopped at a peaceful place for lunch where we could drive down by the river and let the dogs run. We sat in our chairs and enjoyed the sun. We were lucky enough for most of the trip to have a lot of "private spots" in such beautiful areas.

The next day we made it into the mountains- the dirt and tiny roads were waiting! It was amazing following a group's route before us, hoping that every road on the map was still open or waiting around the bend to see if we had to move another tree (well Mack). This was the longest but most exciting part of the trip. We only saw about 5 cars the entire time. 

I ran a lot of these roads since Mack could only drive about 5 MPH. Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!?...nope! So much for the animals we were going to see in the mountains. The only animals we saw were a couple of deer and sheep. The mountains were breathtaking though! The truck was having overheating problems but luckily it wasn't that hot with the windows down. About 5 days in we had had enough so we skipped the Oregon/Colorado part of the mountain route but will do it another time.  We stopped in a precious town and got ice cream..that was the treat choice of the trip!! With a quaint and rustic feel this town was complete with family fun, treats and eats for everyone!

We made great time back down, got an oil change, drove to Colorado and got to stay with my Aunt Jana, Uncle Josh and the kids for a couple days. It was a blessing to hang out and help them pack for their big move to College Station, TX! 

We were back in Texas for 3 days until I turned around a flew back to Vancouver, Canada with our friend, sister and cousin for 5 days to run 13.1 miles in the amazing SeaWheeze Half Marathon! If you have never done this, this is a MUST do on your bucket list!! I have never run more then 6 miles before but this run is the most exciting, emotional and rewarding experience I have ever had!! You are cheered on by hundreds of individuals that you have never met telling you to keep going, yelling funny things at you, mermaids on rocks, men in heels and dressed as Sasquatch- all kinds of motivation all around you! I ran the whole thing, even after really feeling it after 9 miles in 3:06! You get amazing goodies: massages, breakfast after the race, hair/nails done, yoga, sunset festival and an exclusive Lululemon shopping experience! If I can do it you can do it!! 

Best wishes and love!

Until next time,

McGowens on the Move!