California for the weekend!

It has been three years since I've been in California! Not that I like Cali that much, but I have many friends there and its always good to see them! I flew into LAX Wednesday afternoon. After getting my rental car, I drove to Moreno Valley, or MoVal as we call it. Stopped in for the services at Lighthouse Baptist. That night I stayed with my wonderful, artistic friends, the Wilsons. They have a beautiful family and it's great to spend time with them... even though their kids didn't really remember me. Guess I should visit more often. :) 

Donna, Violette and me

with big boy, Ian

I stopped off at Lancaster for a day and half. Just happened to be Youth Conference time at West Coast Baptist College. Which actually was pretty cool, since more of the people I went to school with four years ago were actually there. Got to say hi to many people and even scared a few. Seems I did that frequently with I was there at school, so decided to keep my reputation. haha

known these girls almost all their lives! Man I feel old. :) 

From there, Jaime and I drove north and then west to the coast where she has family. It was raining when we pulled out of Lancaster/Palmdale, but as we drove on, it cleared up a lot and turned into a beautiful day! We saw some very pretty parts of Southern California (I know, surprising, huh). 

It was very windy on the coast and kinda cool. We were hoping for nice, hot, sunny days, so we could enjoy the beach. Well it was sunny, not so hot (in the 50s), but still nice. We walked a nice trail, spent time at the beach, ate at some good restaurants and overall just had a good time. It was nice to just relax and not be in a hurry for anything. Oh, and of course, we went to this amazing ice cream shop... :) oh yeah! we've both been talking about it for the last 4 years, since the last time we were there. 

waiting for the sunset on pier

at the beach

Also, met up with brother and sister-in-law on Sunday. We attended church together, had lunch with other WCBC friends and then drove south. We stopped at another church that night north of LA, saw more people... some we knew would be there and some we didn't. That was a nice surprise! 

Flew out early Monday morning. Flight was supposed to be just after midnight, but didn't end up leaving until almost 2am. So, got back into Dallas much later than planned... made it back to BBTI, changed clothes and headed out to Jungle Camp.

Spring Break

Well, Spring Break was a total of 10 days for me, during which I drove roughly 2600 miles. Yeah, it was a break from school, but I arrived back in Texas very tired! 

This first picture illustrates my life motto. :) 

Have Passport, Will Travel

 First stop of the trip was Louisiana, where I stayed a night with my friends the Labouves. Well half of the Labouves, only 4 of the 8 were there. I think they heard I was coming and took for the hills. :) Had my morning devotions sitting on their back porch swing. I love mornings with the Word and a cup of coffee.

view from back porch

southern Louisiana

 Stayed in the Pensacola, Florida area for a couple days. It was hot and sunny pretty much the entire time. Spent time with several friends who are students at PCC and others who live in the area. Also, went to a great church that Sunday in Milton - Victory Baptist. 

with Candace & Doug

 with Chelsey

 Next stop was a couple hour visit with Dusty and her kiddos just an hour southeast of Milton. They had been stationed in Alaska a few years back and my sister babysat for them for a while. Great family! 

Gwen, me, Dusty, Natalie, Dominic

 Then across the rest of the top of Florida to Jacksonville. Had a great time with Matthew & Cory, got to meet some of their friends. We went downtown Jacksonville one day and then to Chloe's house to eat. Bonfire at night with friends - can't beat that! 

Chloe, Matt, me, Cory, Nathan
downtown Jacksonville, FL

 Six hours north to Atlanta, Georgia. I didn't realize that my friend Sauleja lived right downtown! And there were NCAA games that night at the Georgia Dome so traffic was awful. But I made it! We walked around for a bit, seeing the town. The next morning, she, her little sister and I went to the Botanical Gardens. Very cool! Lots of plants. :) go figure! but it was pretty awesome. Another gorgeous day! 

Downtown Atlanta

Sauleja, Jenina, me

From there, I drove up and across Tennessee to Jackson. In the hills just east of Chattanooga ran into some crazy rain! It was a downhill, curvy interstate and it was raining so hard there was practically standing water on the road. Could barely see the road and cars in front of me... and then there were crazy (trying to be nice) people who didn't have their headlights on! 

Went to church in Jackson that Sunday morning and then drove all the way thru Arkansas back into Texas. There was construction on I40 with no prior warning signs. So one 10 mile stretch took me an hour to complete. I got off the interstate as soon as I could. Stopped for a short visit in Hot Springs to see some college kids from back home and then back on the road.... 

driving, driving, driving. 

Got in to BBTI right at 3am. 

And class started at 755am.
But I was there! 

Honestly, I was tired, but got to see so many friends and spend time with them, that it was worth it!