It was a (mostly) GREAT week off! It started with Matt & I going up to my best friend Annie's cabin for a night! We spent some time with Annie, her sister and their two little boys.
After a night at Annie's cabin, Matt and I spent the day with our pup, Chooch. We took him to one of his favorite spots, a brewery. Doesn't he look like a happy camper?
It was after this that my vacation went slightly downhill. I woke up with food poisoning/(self-diagnosed) salmonella. So, it was a brutal 3 days. After this, I went pretty much back to normal.
The 8th-10th was a big weekend for me. It was what's known as Calcutta weekend at my home golf course, and also my friend DJ's birthday celebration. DJ is my friend who passed away in February. Now, Friday was my practice round and during the round, I saw a cardinal (I didn't get a pic of it unfortunately.) There's a saying that when a cardinal appears, it's a visitor from heaven. It was the first cardinal I've seen since DJ died, so it was a welcomed sight.
Saturday kicked off the tournament, where I played with my partner, Amanda and even got my niece Mila to push my cart for me for a few holes.
Saturday night was DJ's birthday celebration at the cabin. It was beautiful, fun and very emotional. Just about our whole friend group made it up to celebrate the beautiful life that DJ lived.
At sunset, we lit candles for his 29th birthday, listened to Cody Johnson's "Til You Can't," and released balloons. We all cried and just were there for each other. I can't put into words how special this moment was.
In addition to that, we had a Captain Morgan board (DJ's favorite drink) that we could all sign that will be kept at the cabin. One of our friend's also made this beautiful bench that will be kept at the cabin.
After the most wonderful, but emotionally exhausting Saturday, I had to finish the Calcutta tournament on Sunday! My partner and I finished tied for 1st place, which meant we had to do a playoff hole. I have a "Live Like DJ" ball marker that I used all weekend, but I never really looked at it until I marked my ball on the playoff hole. As soon as I marked it, I heard "Heaven Right Now" by Thomas Rhett playing from my golf cart, which is a song that always makes me think of DJ. I made my putt, which got us the win. I know DJ was right there cheering me on.