Adventures in Destin

Wednesday night after work I set off on a journey that had twists and turns I wasn't expecting. We prepared my car for the journey with new brake pads, an oil change, a new battery and some fresh epoxy to hold the bumper on. No, really, the bumper has been hanging on for dear life for about a year now.

I arrived at my parents' house about 11pm and crashed. I left the next morning at 7am for my road trip (which isn't as much fun by yourself...even if you crank up the music and sing at the top of your lungs...it's still more fun with a car full of friends or the love of your life by your side). After a few hours on the road I had to "rest" and I was a only a few miles from EJ's aunt's work so I took a little detour to surprise her which was fun. About 30 minutes down the road it began raining and raining then it began to pour. I got a break in the storm long enough to pull over and get some Rain-X for Hagdalina(that's the name EJ gave my car). That stuff is like the difference between night and day...I hit another storm and didn't even have to use my wipers unless I was in town in stop-and-go traffic.

But anyway...I arrived safe and sound in Destin on Thursday afternoon for my friend Sarah's wedding on Saturday. We went to preschool through high school together playing softball and basketball. She recently moved to New Mexico so I don't get to see her very often. Friday, all the bridesmaids took the bride to get nails done and then we went out to eat before hitting the beach for a bit. Here's where the story gets a little interesting...

Sarah and I and two other bridesmaids were staying in a condo in Destin and then the groom's sister was staying with all of her family in a house in Navarre (about 45 minutes from Destin). We left the beach Friday afternoon and the four in Destin took showers then I took Kelly (the groom's sister) on to her house where the rehearsal dinner was so she could shower and change clothes before dinner. We were about 5-10 minutes away from Navarre driving with the windows down...
and I said "Do you hear that? It sounds like I've got a loose belt."
To which Kelly replied, "Yeah. Do you smell that?"
To which I replied, "Yeah. Smells like somethings burning."
To which we both replied, "OH MY GOSH!!!"
Smoke was billowing out from the hood. So I pulled the car over but when I tried to turn it was really hard to turn the wheel, so I thought 'Great! The power steering has gone out!' Oh, don't I wish it was that simple.

Apparently in our attempt to ready the car for it's journey we didn't think to check the radiator cap (like we would have ever thought the check that...geesh!) So the radiator cap (a $3 part at any auto parts store) was bad causing lots of terrible things to snowball under the hood of my car causing the engine to overheat to the point that the aluminum pistons in my engine melted and fused together. So I called EJ to emphasize how glad I was that he decided not to come on this trip with me (please hear the sarcasm in my voice!) But oh yeah...he was winning his football game...yay (please hear the lack of enthusiasm in my voice!). This was our conversation when he called me that night....
EJ "Hey! We won!"
Grace "Hey! My car died! Really, died! I'm leaving the piece of junk here! Do you wanna come down here and pick me up and come to the wedding tomorrow or do you wanna book me a flight home? I'm leaving the piece of junk down here seriously."
EJ "Wha..wha...wha...what!!!!!!????!!!!! What do you mean 'your car died'!? How dead?"
Grace "Dead! Breathed it's last! And by the way...never ever ever are you sending me on a trip by myself!"

Is it awful that I couldn't enjoy his win? I feel a little guilty about it now but just a little.
So I bought a duffle bag and cleaned out my car. My sweet friends are bringing all of the bags of junk I took down there and all of the junk from my car to me when they leave on Thursday. I'm mailing my title to them and they are taking it the salvage yard to pick up a check (that hopefully will cover my flight home.)

The flight home is another adventure in itself...I had a little encounter with Maurice at the ticket counter when he threw my ticket in the trash and told me he was putting me on standby. That was not a good decision for him after the weekend I'd had and after I was already stressed from my gate being changed from C to A to E to B at the Atlanta airport (good thing that have a tram)...but I won't get into the details of that story....I'll just tell you, Maurice lost and I made it home to my honey and cried on his shoulder as soon as I saw him then I think I was asleep in the car before we were officially out of the airport.

In the end, Sarah and Thomas were married and Hagdalina gave us all a memory that won't soon be forgotten.

The moral of the story:

The temperature gauge on your car that you think is a waste of dashboard space is just as important to watch as the gas gauge even though it doesn't move very often.

What Really Matters

"I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you can determine what really matters and can be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God."
Phil 1:9-11

Football & Relaxing (but not together)

EJ's football season officially began Friday night with their first game. They lost by a not very pretty margin but the good new is...EJ looked so cute down on the field with his little headset on. I am so proud of him and all that he has accomplished and I was beaming on Friday night despite the loss. Next Friday is a home game, if you are interested in coming. I won't be there though...

...I will be in Destin (I know, bless my heart!) One of my very best friends is getting married Saturday on the beach. I have to say I will miss my husband while I am gone (even though we don't see much of each other during football season anyway) BUT I am hoping for some good relaxation time at the beach on Thursday. I am not usually the type of person that likes to just chill out on the beach...most of the time, I'd rather be doing something active, but I have been so busy and a little stressed out in recent days th atI am rather looking forward to doing nothing with the fourth and final book in the Twilight series on the sand under my umbrella, ella, ella..ay! ay! ay!

memories from a penske truck

I was driving down to Alabama for the weekend last night and I passed a big yellow penske truck. This sent me down memory lane for the majority of my trip south. It was not quite two years ago that we loaded up our yellow truck and headed east from Memphis. We have been so blessed!!! We are in house that truly was a God send and we have two jobs that don't feel so much like jobs because we enjoy what we do. It is such a peaceful feeling to know that you are right where God wants you and we are right where He wants us for the time being.
I was going to post more memories but my sleeping babes just woke up from naps and Mama Zannie is on her way home from work so we are off to the animal park.

Rejoice in the Lord Always!

Yesterday was a long hard day at work. From the minute I walked in the door to the minute I left an hour and a half after closing I was stressed out and a little frustrated to say the least. About five hours into my day at work, one of the technicians who is not a believer walked up beside me and said "Smile, Grace. The day is half over." I immediately was overwhelmed with conviction of my attitude and thoughts. I had let the 'troubles' of life get in the way of my walk with Christ and it showed to the non-believers I am trying to reach every day. I pray that my attitude yesterday does not hinder the non-believers I work with from seeing Christ despite me.
On my lunch break I sat in my car and prayed and I remembered a passage from Francis Chan's book Crazy Love that I will share with you. Be careful in reading any further, especially if you are a type a personality like me that tends to get 'stressed' over life's little things, because this will hurt your little sensitive toes.

"I used to believe that in this world there are two kinds of people: natural worriers and naturally joyful people. I couldn't really help it that I was the worrying kind. I'm a problem solver, so I have to focus on things that need fixing...
"But then there's that perplexing command: 'Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!' Phil 4:4. You'll notice that it doesn't end with "...unless you're doing something extremely important." No, it's a command for all of us, and it follows with the charge, 'Do not be anxious about anything' v. 6...
"When I am consumed by my problems-stressed out about my life, my family, my job-I actually convey the belief that I think the circumstances are more important than God's command to always rejoice. In other words, that I have a 'right' to disobey God because of the magnitude of my responsibilities.
"Worry implies that we don't quite trust that God is big enough, powerful enough, or loving enough to take care of what's happening in our lives.
"Stress says that the things we are involved in are important enough to merit our impatience, our lack of grace toward others, or our tight grip of control.
"Basically these two behaviors communicate that it's okay to sin and not trust God because the stuff in my life is somehow exceptional."

God is good and I had the opportunity last night to apologize to the technician for my sour expression earlier in the day. I was able to tell him of the goodness of God and how I know that nothing is too big for God to handle.
I pray that I will be obedient to His command to rejoice and not be anxious. I pray that I will lean on Him and trust Him fully in every aspect of my life, even in the 'little things'. I pray that I will be more focused on spreading the gospel than anything else during my time on this earth.

Seattle

We have returned to normal life...whatever that is.
The rest of our trip was fantastic. We are planning another trip within the next few years because there was so much we wanted to do but didn't get a chance to do...like hike at Mt. Rainier, hike in the rainforest at Olympic National Forest, and go to Victoria BC.
Here is the rest of our trip...
Thursday
EJ and I toured Safeco Field where the Mariners play

and then Qwest Field where the Seahawks and the Sounders (soccer) play.

Then we went with Mom & Dad to the Woodland Park Zoo and the Space Needle.

Friday
We went to the Pacific Science Center and watched an imax movie about Lewis and Clark (which was a nice rest from all of our walking). Then we went on a harbour cruise.

After that we ate at the the Crab Pot where I ate my first and last oyster.

Then we went on a sunset ferry ride to Bainbridge Island...

it was a perfect evening to see Mt. Rainer.

Then we went to the Space Needle to see Seattle at dark.
Saturday
We met Scott and Sherrie to go to Snoqualmie Falls.

(The new title picture was taken on the hike down to the falls.)
That evening we had a get together with some old friends from Meadowbrook.
Sunday
We went to Meadowbrook then sadly had to leave.

To see more pictures of our trip, click on the link below.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2352179&id=9425876&l=f67477db1b
If that doesn't work...sorry...the pictures really are beautiful!

Vacation Update

We are taking a break from all of our activities and enjoying a night in the hotel so I decided to give a little update so the post next week won't be a novel.

We had a lot of fun in Idaho...who knew it was so beautiful !!. I had driven through Idaho when I was younger but didn't enjoy the beauty or I was in the wrong part of the state to see the beauty. Thirty of my relatives on my mom's side of the family met at a resort community called Tamarack in Donnelly, ID on Wednesday. We had two large chalets, one for the younger folks and one for my mom and her siblings and spouses.
Thursday we loaded up the majority of people and went for a hike down a mountain to Blue Lake. It was absolutely gorgeous. We were hiking among wildflowers in shorts and t-shirts among mountain tops with snow still on top...it was incredible.

Twelve of us went white water rafting down the Payette River on Friday. It was a lot of fun and a beautiful scenic float when we were weren't paddling for our life. Then that evening we went into McCall, ID to walk around the lake community and EJ went ice skating with our cousin, Lake.

Saturday morning we packed up, some of the group went home and the rest of us went to my aunt's house right outside of Boise. We don't get to see them enough so we had a good visit with them until we left on Monday.

Sunday morning we went to Common Ground Biker Church at The Busted Shovel Bar & Grill in Meridian, ID where my uncle is the pastor. We had an awesome morning of worship. After the service my uncle took me for my first motorcycle ride on his Harley. I was scared before we left but once we hit the open road I was completely at ease....I loved it!!!
Monday morning we flew out of Boise to Seattle. That evening we went to a Mariners game with Meadowbrook Church. I have a few handfuls of memories from our time in the Pacific Northwest and many of them include fellowships with Meadowbrook so that was a lot of fun. EJ got to meet some of the people that he has heard about for years and the Mariners won...yay!

Tuesday morning we went to the aquarium, strolled through Pike Place Market then went on a tour of underground Seattle. We learned about how Seattle was formed as a city and saw some of the original city that was built at sea level...then raised to prevent flooding while keeping the original city intact underground. On our walk back to the hotel we stopped at the first Starbucks which looked like just a little local coffee shop because that is what it started as. We then drove to Tacoma and had dinner with some precious friends from back home. It was so good to hear how God is working in their lives and using them where they are.

Jon, Valerie, Scott, Sherrie, EJ, Grace, Dwight, Zannie Today we drove around Redmond which is where we lived when we were out here. We showed EJ our old houses and schools and took him by a local dairy that makes YUMMY ice cream! Then we met some friends for lunch...ice cream then lunch, that's what I'm talking about! We showed EJ Microsoft and Nintendo headquarters. When we got back to downtown Seattle we went to the Experience Music Project which is a museum of music history and we saw the King of Pop's white glove and jacket that he wore at the Motown Festival where he introduced the moonwalk. EJ enjoyed the sound lab where they had drum sets, guitars, keyboards, mixers, etc to play...luckily they closed at 7pm or we would have been there ALL night.Tomorrow we are touring Safeco Field (where the Mariners play) then touring Qwest Field (where the Seahawks play). After that we plan to go on a cruise of the harbor weather permitting. That is it so far...more to come when I get home.