family travel – Just Get in the Car https://justgetinthecar.com Local finds and family adventures Wed, 17 Jul 2019 14:52:35 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://justgetinthecar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Untitled-design-4-75x75.png family travel – Just Get in the Car https://justgetinthecar.com 32 32 Burning Daylight, Life lessons by dad https://justgetinthecar.com/burning-daylight-life-lessons-by-dad/ https://justgetinthecar.com/burning-daylight-life-lessons-by-dad/#comments Wed, 17 Jul 2019 14:52:25 +0000 https://justgetinthecar.com/?p=878

“Are those kids still asleep?” I hear my dad and mom talking outside of the bedroom that I’m sharing with my brother. I’m on the bottom bunk of one bunk bed, and he is on the bottom bunk of the other. Of course, we are in my most favorite place of all time, or at least what was my most favorite place of all time in that moment. My aunt and uncle’s beach house in Ocean Pines, Maryland.

A few seconds later I see an image that is now forever ingrained in my brain, and brings a smile to my face whenever I think about it.

The door flies open, and my tall, tan, healthy, early riser, marine…loud dad yells into our room, “We’re burning daylight!” He is, obviously, wearing a Donald Duck, sleeveless beach shirt (for lack of a better term), that he got on our one and only non-beach family vacation to Disney World. I have a Winnie the Pooh one, and it now belongs to my daughter.

That’s my little bro in the picture.

Beach House Dad

“If you want to go with us to the beach, you need to get your behinds (he probably used a different word) downstairs, eat breakfast and get in the car. I’m outta here in twenty minutes. You snooze, you lose.” And off he goes to finish a cup of coffee on the patio overlooking the water (now, my most favorite thing to do). Or pack up the car, or put his fishing rods on the front of the car, or otherwise prepare to leave for the beach.

At the time I could not understand why we had to go to the beach at the butt crack of dawn. As an adult, of course, I realize that since we had to drive there from my beloved beach house – there was less traffic, easier parking, less crowded beaches, and beautiful early morning beach-ness. But as a teenager it was baffling. We usually stayed through a packed lunch on the beach, came home, showered up, and went to dinner. It was perfect. Especially for me, who actually preferred to be with my family than hanging out on the boardwalk or whatever normal teenagers do at the beach – just maybe with a later start time.

So I’m partly writing this post because I am still actively grieving, and because I can’t tell you how much those years and summers at the beach meant to me, especially in hindsight, and because I want you all to know that your kids will appreciate whatever memories you make with them. They will rely on things you didn’t know were traditions. They will cherish your ‘regularly scheduled programming’ of phrases and nagging and predictable responses, and those summer vacations, or winter vacations, or day trips, or whatever things you do.

One day they will relay to someone how special those weeks at the shore were, how they can now appreciate your need to be the first one on the beach, or reminisce about your desire to NOT ‘burn daylight’ (waste time). They will tell people that the sight of your shirt hanging on a beach chair, or your alarming awake-ness at ridiculously early hours are now the most endearing memories.

Plan the trip. Take the trip. Do all the things, and your kids will thank you for it. Be you. They will remember what made you who you were, and them who they are. The memories will be what they cherish during the most difficult of times.

Making memories
Making memories at Hershey Park

-Kristin

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You need back up to blog https://justgetinthecar.com/you-need-back-up-to-blog/ https://justgetinthecar.com/you-need-back-up-to-blog/#comments Fri, 02 Nov 2018 02:46:42 +0000 https://justgetinthecar.com/?p=351

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Being the introvert that I am, I have always been most comfortable expressing myself through writing. When I learned that ‘online journaling’, as I used to understand it, was a thing – I thought, hey, that’s something that I’d like to do! I never thought of it as a career path, though. Until I realized that I wasn’t on the traditional career path I once saw for myself.

Personally, I’ve dabbled in blogging once or twice, very informally – even bringing Shawn in at one time. We were both totally disgruntled at work, and also at the thought of the time, effort, and money we had both spent on higher education degrees that appeared to be, well, useless. That attempt at blogging was cathartic, but didn’t prove to be something we could carry past a good venting session.

Then I wondered … should I write a blog about being pregnant? I was definitely not the glowing type, and had a lot of thoughts on how unpleasant pregnancy was, and how no, I did not think too fondly of my yet unknown baby (don’t worry, I love her, and my two boys more than anything, and we all survived my pregnancies!). I wrote a few entries, and then found it much more satisfying to tell Shawn how everything was his fault.

How about the blog I added to the website for my feeding consulting service? (That one still exists, but I haven’t updated it in quite some time!). The ideas and love for writing have always been there. But what had been missing was both the motivation to put in the extensive time it takes to create and maintain a successful online presence, and also the know-how and tools to do that.

Shawn and I have always dreamed of being able to spend more time enjoying  life. More time together, and less time in cubicles or dependent on vacation days.

We love to travel, and to take our kids to new places, and we know that creating an online space to share our experiences can be a very satisfying way to foster that. We have the desire to travel. We have the ability to write – we tried to do it on our own. What’s been holding us back from success are two things: knowledge and courage.

It takes courage to put an exorbitant amount of time and energy into something when you are not sure what the payback will be.  And it takes knowledge to do it right. 

And we were missing a third thing, that I personally didn’t appreciate until finding it – a supportive group to go to for practical information and camaraderie.  

Just a few weeks ago I came across a Facebook sponsored ad for a free webinar on travel blogging, hosted by Heather and Pete Reese, of It’s a Lovely Life. Those of you who know me, know that I am not really a ‘fly by the seat of my pants’ gal, nor do I think anything is a ‘free lunch’. But, I was sort of in a personal rut – feeling rather inadequate in all areas of life (no one can relate, right?).  I needed something new to focus my energy on, and something that was going to make a change in our lives. Maybe not today or tomorrow, but eventually – with hard work and determination and …. courage. So I signed up for the free webinar.

And I LOVED it. The couple running it are not only adorable, but also super knowledgeable and easy to listen to. And what they offered in that free webinar was enough information to get me pumped up to believe that I can do what they are doing. Anyone can, really, with the right support, knowledge … and courage.

At the end of the free webinar, there was an opportunity to sign up for one of their courses, at a substantial discount. I’m not one to make rash purchases, but something told me this was the right thing to do. And I am so, so glad that I decided to sign up for their course. The first course I signed up for, and the subsequent ones I have taken all include so much useful information – but the best part is the online support offered via Facebook groups regularly moderated by It’s a Lovely Life staff (I’m assuming they are staff, I’m not positive though). That space is priceless.

Anywho, in every course they offer you a little something extra – some bonus tip, tool, or mini-course.

While I do feel like I am both in full time school and maintaining a full time job (also while home with 3 kids, a grandma, a caregiver and a partridge in a pear tree), I feel like it is preparing me to optimize what can become of Just Get in the Car.

If you’ve made it this far, and perhaps are looking for something new, I cannot recommend this course enough. What have you got to lose? You can start with their free 5 day start a money making blog course, and see what you think.

Have you ever ventured into something new and unknown? Have you ever taken a chance and had it work out better than you expected? Are you a blogger with an inspiring story? Tell us in the comments!

-Kristin

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