Going Private

Sorry to be annoying guys. I'm going private....again. For personal reasons that I will explain in my next post. I'm going to be getting a little more personal and am just wanting to keep it close. For those of you still wanting to follow along you are welcome to just leave me your email. Thanks :)

Lifevantage Elite Retreat 2013

Every year our company pays for the elite distributors to take an all expense paid trip together. This year they chose to go to Coeur d'Alene Idaho. This was our FIRST time leaving Deklan at home. Honestly I normally WANT to take him with but I knew that this trip had a lot of fun excursions that I wouldn't be able to do with a little one around. It was only six days so I knew this would be the trip to test this out. My niece Lindsey stayed at our house and was AMAZING with him making it just a little easier to know he was in good hands- that and I called her a trillion times a day (sorry Linds..:/ ) The first day was rough- and I missed him A LOT! But to be honest - it was SO SO nice to get a week with my husband all alone AND get to sleep in every dang day pretty much!

To be totally honest I wasn't too thrilled about going to Idaho but I had NO idea how stunning this place truly was.

The view from our room balcony. Breathtaking.





We got to chill the first day at the resort and then they had a fancy dinner on the terrace overlooking the lake. The best part about these trips are the people. We look forward to not only seeing the same faces that are always here- but each event get's bigger which mean MORE people are rank advancing and moving up! It's so exciting to meet new people each time :) The view each night from the terrace was beautiful. Being that this trip was just me and the Mr. it was so peaceful. We enjoyed every moment.



The next day was out "team building" activity. They drove us over to another part of the resort to have lunch and give us a gift. Last time everyone got a new pair of Maui Jims so we were all pretty excited to see what they got us! We all got Michael Kors his/her watches! I've worn it pretty much daily since then :) Thank you Life Vantage!!!




After lunch we broke into different teams. Each team had one hour and only a limited amount of materials to build a boat that could hold at least one person and ACTUALLY float around the lake. We had a race at the end and our boat won second place! Then we played against each other in "minute to win it" games. I think we might have to host a minute to win it party because we had a BLAST!

 We had like an hour when we got back to our rooms to shower and head down to the dock for our sunset dinner cruise. I have never seen such a crazy sunset.

 This picture doesn't even do the moon rising justice- we were all in awe that night.

The food was awesome that night- unfortunately they kept me STUFFED from lunch and I could hardly eat.

Pretty romantical if you ask me...


The next day was chill. Most of the boys got up early to golf.  Coeur d'Alene is known for their incredible floating golfing tee in the middle of the lake. They had to take a little shuttle when they got to this hole. Jon was in heaven. He is a golfer at heart.

The girls got to choose from a bunch of spa treatments. Massage, facials, nails and toes. I got my nails and toes did. They gave us ridiculous amounts of food vouchers...so I ate...and ate. 

Then took a shuttle to lounge at one of their pools.

We ate again and got ready for a LONG day. The next day we woke up EARLY and drove two hours away to Montana to go white water rafting. Not gonna lie to you I am not really a fan. I had a feeling I wouldn't be either. I don't love that feeling of being out of control. Oddly enough...LOVE sky diving! (Strange, but I do) Would do it again in a heart beat. After numerous times of scuba diving- I STILL freak out every time, so this...looked scary to me. We were on the river pretty much the whole day. A lot of it was more like floating, and the rapids....weren't TOO bad. However, our boat got stuck trying to save another one on our first rapid so it wasn't the best start. And then....on the class four rapid, I fell out. I was the ONLY person to fall out. I got pretty bruised and banged up and was pretty shaky for the rest of it. I guess our tour guide was just out of training. Our boat practically flipped at that moment. Jonny was pulling in another guy that almost fell out (Vincent) while I flung out the other end. Luckily Melissa (the other girl in my boat) had a mommy hero moment where she grabbed me by the vest and pulled me back in. Could have been bad otherwise! 

Melissa and Vincent and their kids were in our boat :) Thank goodness too since Melissa SAVED me when I fell out! haha!!!

 Our whole group. It was like a big splash fest all day long with these people! Keep in mind the water is FREEZING!

And no toilets obviously so we all had to watch each other pee in the water...hahahahaha Caught you Bailey

A couple of action shots taken by Montana River Photography- Here are the rest of them on their website as I was too cheap to pay $20 per photo...unfortunately they didn't catch me falling out- I may have bought that one- lol http://www.montanariverphoto.com/p758986667/h64cfabc9#h6df18907

Although I was scared out of my mind after falling out of the boat we were with AWESOME people that made the day worth it. MAYBE one day I will forget the falling out part and do it again - we'll see :)


The next morning we were signed up for paddle boarding. I wanted to sleep in and was super sore from the day before so I veto'd that idea. Instead we lounged around in our room watching movies, eating food, and went to the pool for a bit. JUST what I needed after a busy few days. (We ordered their huckleberry juice- what they are known for and had NO idea it contained alcohol til it came up to the room....oops hahaha!) Note to self- don't order the huckleberry juice :)



That night they drove us to this amazing venu for dinner and a show. The entertainment was to watch a "logging show" I was like...ummm what the heck is a logging show. It was actually way cooler than I expected. It was a bunch of guys and gals (yes girl loggers) who competed in front of us doing different activities. Like who could cut a log the fastest, running on that log in the water, throwing axes, and sawing things out of wood. Unexpected but appropriate for a dinner at a barn :)

 I loved hanging out with some of my favorite people that week :) And snuggling on my friends newborn (who oddly enough is not in this picture)

All the while this menace was at home having fun without his mommy. He did so good and it was so fun seeing his reaction when we got home :) He did so good we are leaving to Puerto Rico this week without him too- I think after this though I'll be taking him along with- I already miss him and I haven't even left yet! Thank you Lifevantage for this incredible event :) We feel so blessed to be a part of such a wonderful business and incredible group of like minded individuals. 

Kauai-My NEW official favorite island :)

I've had friends tell me this was the most beautiful place on earth but I didn't believe it tell I was there! The mix of GREEN rain forest, white sandy beaches, and blue water were breathtaking! The Caribbean will always have the CLEAREST bluest water in my opinion but this was pretty dang amazing!!! This was the first time Deklan got to REALLY enjoy the beach. In other words- EAT LOTS of sand! Like enough to poop it out. nuff said. 

I thought he would learn after the first time, but instead he would dip his cheetos in there and eat it...no joke. Luckily our local friends said their Pediatrician told them it was fine...haha otherwise I may have been a tad bit worried by the end of the week.

He LOVED the texture of the sand but really didn't like me trying to bring him in the ocean at all. I think maybe the waves scared him a bit. Totally fine by me because I could let him roam the beach with no real concern he would get near the water.

We were on this island for a little over a week and since our time share was only booked for one week- we spent the first two nights at our friends place in the jungle. Literally- this was where Jurassic Park was filmed guys- SO pretty! The rest of the week was spent here. We were SO lucky because they booked us a first floor room right on the beach! Plus we got a two bedroom so Deklan could have his own room (of course joined to ours) but we could just close the door and he would sleep all night no problem.

One of the days we were lucky enough to get personal training from a friend of how to surf. I have NEVER gone surfing before so I was terrified. This guy is SO GOOD and does this for a living so we both got to get up on the board our first time out!

Our crew chose this beach that was connected to a fresh water lake. It was PERFECT for Deklan! He LOVED the lake- not so much the ocean.

You can kind of see here how the ocean connected to the lake.

his Hawaiian girlfriends :)

Jonny surfing

Please don't laugh- ME SURFING. This is an accomplishment guys. I swear. Totally embarrassing- but still proud of my beginning skills.

Playing in the lake :)

The MOMENT we put this babe on a board he was TERRIFIED!

Poor Kid- still kind of funny though :)

Recovering from the trauma...

And after all that I made him try surfing- I just had to.

I mean when do you get an opportunity in Hawaii with pro surfers?!!!

When I say pro surfer I am not lying!! This girl Daize is in our group and took us surfing for the day and brought us to her beautiful home.There is a movie being made about this girl and her journey- you can watch the trailer HERE. http://vimeo.com/avocadosandcoconuts/thegoodwinproject check it out :) Here is the blog for the project as well http://thegoodwinproject.com

This is her- Ridic!

This is the treehouse in their backyard they built for the movie- unreal! We went up there and got down REAL fast because of the spiders though :/ Not a fan. haha

They have the coolest bus in their backyard they had covered and made into a little apartment.

The Yard.

The whole place was surrounded in these massive 20 ft trees making it so private to live in.

The home itself is the oldest in that area. It was swept away in a tsunami in the 50's. They found the home in some trees and literally had it moved and built around it. It's super quaint with an outdoor shower.

The Boys at the grill :)

Deklan loved playing with all the big kids :):)

Our Lifevantage group in Kauai.

Majority of this trip we had lazy days on the beach which we loved.

Deklan loved the kiddie pools and even went on the big kid slide BY HIMSELF. Freaked me out but Jonny caught him and I launched him...haha

The resort

AND- ta da!!!! He walks- he looks drunk- but he walks! :)

This was the NOOO don't take me to the water fit he gave us...haha

This was taken on my porch. Those steps went from my porch to the beach. We spent MOST of the time right here on the grass. D was so amused with walking on it :)

We ate outside most of the time and this is just to show how D eats a pizza- hahaha cracks me up everytime!

had to walk WITH the pizza in hand

I can honestly say I already want to go back. It was amazing!