from cleveland with love

yes. there it is, errrbody.

cleveland, ohio. in all its glory.

"what's in cleveland?"

"i've never heard anyone say, 'i'm going to cleveland on vacation.'"

-Joakim Noah

the famous NBA star said it as a jab to LeBron James, but i'll have you know, Joakim, cleveland is where it's at.

um, hello. ever heard of the Melick Family?

yeah, buddy.

they live in cleveland & in this great city is where i spent my summer vacation.

so, take THAT.

for the 4th of july holiday, john & i managed to sneak away from real life & head up north for some much needed "away time."

[in the dictionary you will find "the north" defined as:

"the land of 70 degree summers, non-humidity,

bratwurst & unsweetened tea."]

you read right folks, Yanks don't put sugar in their tea, & I must admit, I really like it.

john & i live 10 hours away from our family.

although we love the independence & the opportunity to make our own life together, at times it can be sad living so far away from the ones who mean the most.

john & i are very adventurous & courageous, so we made the choice to explore new places unlike where we grew up & what we've always known.

we've grown up & moved on & out to start a new life of our own, but, that doesn't mean we've forgotten the awesome people who instilled that brave, courageous, adventurous spirit in us.

you know what...

...there's just something about being with your family.

just simply, being.

you can sit with them for hours & hours & do nothing.

but, no, it's not nothing.

it's loving

it's sharing

it's laughing

it's crying

it's encouraging

it's supporting

you sit down together at noon & before you know it, 6, 7, 8 hours have passed!

(keep in mind, most of this sitting around is done while still wearing the pajamas from the night before. hair is a mess, face unkempt)

yes, you can look like an absolute Neanderthal around you family & they don't even skip a beat.

i absolutely love these aspects of family.

i absolutely love family.

how lucky i am to have been embraced into such a neat group of people.

i am so thankful every day.

(& the fact that the humidity percentage is like 0.02% on any given summer day when i visit them doesn't hurt either!)

we had such a fantastic time last week.

we cannot wait to see them again.

however, lots of things are changing at rapid paces for all of us, so it's all up in the air when we'll all be together again, but until that time of togetherness comes, I will relish in the fact that we will always have each other, always.

(p.s. thank god for Facebook & text messaging & iChat & Skype & the good old-fashioned telephone, right? sheesh, how would we k-i-t without technology?!)

if you'd like to know more about planning your next vacation to cleveland, feel free to ask me.

take my advice, don't listen to a THING Joakim Noah says.

he's just bitter that the Bulls suuuuuck & LeBron's going to the Heat.

xo

p.s. "k-i-t" = "keep in touch"