Thankful Thanksgiving

We just got back from a long, but glorious road trip home for the Thanksgiving holidays! We spent Thanksgiving with my in-laws in Tennessee and will be spending Christmas with my family in Georgia. The trip was full of family, great southern food, beautiful mountains, cold weather, SEC football and lifelong friends. Here are few pictures from our trip. Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Road Trip to STL: Days 1-3

Welcome to the series of posts about our road trip to STL. The trip will last about a week and we are so excited to share it with you!

Day 1: We left L.A. on Monday morning for our one-week road trip to STL. We woke up early, paused to remember our favorite memories of our time in our little place in Glendora, made one last stop at Classic Coffee, then hit the road. We are driving separately, so I was a little nervous about the 13 hour drive to New Mexico, but it flew by. I can't believe how fast it went! Most of the drive was in the blazing desert (114 degrees) but as we made our way into New Mexico we got to see a crazy rain storm from a distance, huge rainbows and an amazing sunset. I will post some pictures I took from my cell as soon as I can figure out how to get them off of my phone. :) We arrived at Holloman Air Force Base around 10pm.

Day 2: We were so happy to get to spend a couple of days with the Fikes. Leslie was one of my college roommates and we have stayed in touch through all of our phases in life. It's great that our husbands get along and we were thrilled to get to meet little baby Chandler Fike. :) We spent most of the day in our pajamas watching Wimbledon and I had a ton of loose ends to tie up with switching banks and insurance. We went on a short afternoon hike, took a stroll around the little town and then made some home-made pizza for dinner. We ended the night playing Cranium. Leslie and I gave the boys a run, but they took the game.


This is the picture that cost us the game of Cranium. Leslie drew it, I had to guess what it was. Does this look like King Kong to you???!!!




I got to let little man sleep on me while I was on the phone most of the morning with the bank and insurance company.

Day 3: Today has looked a lot like yesterday. We spent the morning watching the U.S. in the World Cup and then went to White Sands National Park for a bit. The place is amazing! It was really hot and really bright, but it was insane to see. Remember that scene in Transformers where they are fighting in the desert?? Well, it was filmed in the White Sands. Fun fact, I know. Doug, Leslie's husband, took us to a runway on base so we could watch the jets take off. He flies the F22, which is a stealth fighter jet. It might be the coolest thing I've ever seen. We literally stood at the end of the runway and the jets flew right over us. After the ringing in my ears stopped we came back to the house for lunch and watched Isner's insanely long tennis match, which will have to conclude tomorrow (so far it has been over 9 hours long). We plan on spending the rest of the night eating ribs and playing more cards!










This is a picture of Doug flying an F22...A-Mazing.

Don't you feel protected now???

Road Trip Baby!

Last week I ventured out on the longest drive in the shortest amount of time ever. Kathryn embraced a fun opportunity to complete a clinical rotation for school in Colorado Springs and I was the lucky gal that got to make the drive with her. The road trip to Colorado Springs started around lunch on Sunday....12:21pm to be exact. We patiently listened to the "be safe" speech from Paul and then hit the pavement for the long haul. I can't possibly record the experience in paragraph form, so I have opted to list out the memorable parts of the trip.

1. Making 5+ U-turns (most in an attempt to find Sonic)

2. Yummy Sonic blast and the never ending crave for ice cream

3. Forever battling the ETA on the GPS

4. Hue's random sickness in the middle of the night (Hue is the attractive accented
GPS voice that went absolutely crazy)

5. The scary voice that got the job done while Hue recovered, but kept referencing a noise coming from the trunk....and my avoiding looking in the rear view for fear that I would see a young, pale girl in a white dress

6. The long drive through Kansas. At one point, I would have bet money that Kansas is the only state between Georgia and Colorado.

7. The disgusting feeling around the 18th hour and the rather strong desire to brush my teeth.

8. The random variety of food: bananas, apples, cheddar bunnies, keylime cupcakes (gross), water, cheap coffee drinks, m&m's, subway, arby's, sonic blast.....oh yeah...and fiber one bars.

Road Trip Day 4

Day 4
Our last day in Dallas was a great one. We spent the afternoon playing a competitive match of pool volleyball. We lost, but it was fun. The weather has been abnormally wonderful. It has been cool and completely comfortable outside. I have to say that the highlight of the visit (and quite possibly the entire trip) was getting to go to The Village Church and meet Matt Chandler Saturday night. Matt Chandler was introduced to us by our hosts' son, Doug. We didn't anticipate the impact that that introduction would have on us and our call to ministry, but it has forever changed us. Matt is the head pastor at The Village Church in the Dallas/Fort Worth area (Highland Village to be exact) and if you ever get the chance to listen to him online or wherever....DO IT. God has used him to mold our philosophy of ministry which has become the most passionate yet convicting call both Patrick and I have ever experienced. Getting to attend The Village was alone a satisfying experience, but actually meeting and talking to Matt for even the minute we were given, was unforgettable. I wish we would have had the chance to take a picture with him, but the opportunity did not present itself. The night ended with enjoying a band in downtown Fort Worth.

Road Trip Day 3
We had a great day in Dallas yesterday. We are staying with the family of a friend (Doug), and they have been fabulous hosts. Doug's brother, Drew (who is headed to Cali himself), took us to a great sandwich shop yesterday. We spent a couple of hours there talking and then took a short tour of the town. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing by the pool. Come to think of it, I was actually the only one relaxing-Patrick and Drew played Nuk'em in the pool for quite awhile. It was a great afternoon. We ended the day having dinner with my volleyball and basketball coach from high school. She and her husband live in the area and I haven't seen them in probably five years. They met Patrick for the first time and we spent hours catching up on each other's lives at a small mexican restaurant. They delivered the news that after 12 years of marriage, they are pregnant with their first child! Congrats again guys! It was so nice being able to see them again. I can't imagine that there are too many coach-player relationships that last ten years-we were a tight-knit group.