Easter Weekend

Well if weather folklore is true, we can definitely expect to have rain for the next 7 Sundays. It's been raining all weekend, and it certainly made for an incredibly dreary Easter Sunday! Of course rain certainly doesn't take away from the glorious celebration that is Easter, the celebration that Jesus Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed!

When it comes to the blogging world, I feel like I've just been trying to keep caught up for the last 5 days or so. I was out of town Tuesday-Thursday for work and then Hubby headed out for a quick getaway to St. Louis. This is honestly the first time I've sat down at a computer since last Tuesday! Oh don't be deceived, I've been checking e-mail and my Reader on my phone, but as far as actually using a computer it's been kinda nice to be away!

We had made plans several weeks ago to take Good Friday & head up to St. Louis for a Cardinals game and some shopping. We ended up adding in another pretty major detour...Hubby got a new car! We've been in the market for quite some time...trying to trade out his 12 mpg SUV for a more fuel efficient, yet still stylish sedan. He's had his heart set on a Cadillac CTS, and he just happened to find a dealership with three that were exactly what we wanted in St. Louis.

Hubby & his pretty new car!

So...since we were headed up anyway, we drove our gas guzzling Yukon up, left it there, and drove away with a 2008 Cadillac CTS! I'm so happy for him! Yes, we now have a new car payment...but we've been paying ourselves anyway and the gas savings will actually result in us saving even more money than we were before!

After we drove off in our new car, we headed for some quick shopping and to head to the hotel to get ready for the game. I had been paying attention to the weather radar on my phone, but I had no idea what we were about to get ourselves into. God was definitely watching out for us, in so many ways! We opted to park in a parking garage to protect our brand new car (which we never do), we had purchased seats in a different area that actually included a fully enclosed area, and thankfully God kept the tornadoes away from the downtown area.

The view from our seats...pre-tornado warnings!

Hubby & I ready to watch some baseball....2 hours and 10 minutes later!

This is what appeared on the screens, and stayed there for probably 45 min to an hour. Definitely not a comforting site!

However, it was definitely an interesting experience to arrive and after only 6 pitches, be put into a 2 hr 10 min rain delay that included an extensive tornado warning. Somehow the grounds crew got the field ready and we stayed for most of the game...leaving at the top of the 7th when it was already 11:30pm. I was exhausted!

As we woke up on Saturday and turned on the local news, my heart absolutely broke for all of those people in STL who are going through such terrible tragedy. I've been there and done that with some tornadoes in our past, and while we didn't lose everything, my parents had plenty of damage and the devastation is hard to put into words. They could definitely use your thoughts and prayers right now as they try and sift through the debris and find what they can to salvage.

We spent the majority of Saturday shopping. I had saved up quite a bit of money from my coupon savings (Coupon Cash as I like to call it) so I was able to have a fairly substantial shopping spree for our upcoming Maui trip. We finally got home about 7, came home to some fun packages from my in-laws, caught up on our DVR and called it a night! Definitely an eventful trip to STL in more ways than one!

The fun packages from our in-laws! My mil definitely makes getting packages in the mail a ton of fun!

Today was Easter Sunday, and the rain was still falling when we woke up. However, I was still definitely excited about the Easter celebration at church and our family gathering this afternoon. My parents joined us for church where our pastor talked about God's Crazy Love for us. One phrase that our pastor said really stuck with me...."When we look at ourselves, we only see the mess. When God looks at us, he knows our name." God doesn't see all the stuff, his love and grace covers over all of that and he only sees us as his son/daughter; a son/daughter that he loves in an absolutely ridiculous crazy way!

We spent the afternoon with our family...33 of us at my parents' house for dinner and just some good quality time. We even put together a quick indoor egg hunt for the kiddos. Unfortunately, the annual raw egg toss had to be cancelled but we still had a fabulous time!

My parents & Josie

Hubby & I

It's time to get back in a routine! With being gone from work last week, it seems like my schedule is totally messed up and I'm actually ready for the 8:30-5 work routine! If only it would stop raining...