there and back again.

Here's some pictures and highlights from Spring Break 2014! 

The first morning there I woke up early for a run.

 Their neighborhood has a boat dock down the road

 so I headed there and enjoyed the beautiful weather!

That day was going to be the warmest day so Staci put on her wetsuit

and headed into the deep blue.

She made a friend and fought the waves clear out there! (Staci is on the left)

The next morning we woke up early and saw the sunrise before the rain moved in.

It rained from Sunday afternoon until around... Wednesday evening.

Kind of a bummer, but we found things to do!

Like bowling!

This is Staci and her two nephews. 

This is us possibly going stir crazy? Haha!

Friday the sun came out again and we went to the beach for a walk 

with Staci's grandma that came from Idaho.

This is the same day that we went back to look for shark teeth.

After we looked for shark teeth we went out to eat with Staci's whole family.

I got to take a bunch of family pictures for them ^_^

These area all her nieces and nephews. 

I didn't really get one where everyone was looking haha!

The drive home was long.

Again we took several pit stops; a couple by water.

This one was a lake that we saw advertised on the highway.

It was full of boat docks so we found one and laid out for a bit.

Down the road we found a river that had white water rafting

as well as a bridge that took you to a zip line/obstacle course.

They said we could go explore their obstacle course fort thing by the river

so of course we did!

Praise Jesus that we didn't get in a wreck or slide off the road like we did last year!

We made it back safe and ready for bed.

Anndd not so ready to go back to work.

Hopefully it will be a smooth transition back into the normal routine.

<3

shark teeth.

This is where they come from...

This is what it leaves behind...

And this is what we find!

Lots and lots of shark teeth!

We went to the beach this morning and got tipped off by a surfer (who got tipped off by a collector) that to the left of where we were standing the water churned up a lot shark teeth and sea glass (which is the first time that I ever heard of such a thing...Those green things in Staci's hand above are examples) (Also.. I just forgot about this until just now, but we were watching sharks out in the water! AS these people were heading out to surf! It's a miracle that we got to talk to her ^_^)

So at low tide we headed out. Staci, her dad, her grandma and I on a hunt for shark teeth!

Stace was the first to find one! I picked up one that I thought could be one... looks more like a tooth shaped rock, I thought. But I went to the expert and showed her what I found and sure enough! My first tooth was found! It happened to be the biggest one I found that day. Staci's was small and I couldn't even believe she found it! That's when I knew the hunt was on!

We walked around scrunched over and looking at small pieces of shell and rock that were spread out along the beach. It's crazy really.. how there is SO many little pieces of treasure in the midst of what most people ignore. Mainly because the big shells seem prettier than a bunch of small chips of shells. It's also crazy how many we probably didn't find... because we got bored and moved on, or stepped over a patch to catch up with the rest of the group.

It made me want to be more patient with life. And enjoy the things that just seem to get shoved aside as unimportant or uninteresting. There is so much there to uncover! Even with the things and people you think you know well.. there's always more to see; to go back and sift through what you might think you already looked at. Think of all the things in the Bible that you've read fifty times! There's still treasure in it all waiting to be discovered!

Near the end of our time I saw a lady that was among us also looking around. I said hello and showed her my handful of tiny teeth and I asked her what she was looking for. Sea glass. She opened her hand and I saw beautiful huge pieces of smooth glass. I ooh'd and ahh'd. She had huge pieces that were obviously from the bottoms of bottles and curved pieces of broken glass that were perfectly sanded and smoothed by the oceans waves, salt, and sand.  She smiled, shook her jacket and said, "I've got a pocketful here!" What a sweetheart. ^_^ It made me want to start looking for glass! Haha!

Don't rush through tomorrow! Talk to someone new and learn something new about an old friend. It'll be worth it!


<3

trip to the east coast.

So... we decided on Sunday that we should go to North Carolina. 

Exciting but also a 24 hour or so drive.
(This is long, but I put in fun pictures! Because I'm a good blogger like that!)

I took this picture after we ran about 4 errands.  

We were all packed but we had to get gas, go to the post office, 

run back to work, then go back home to get something. 

So we were sitting outside our house and I said,

 "Finally our road trip begins!" 

I snap a picture and Staci says,

 "Oh we need to go get cash.."  

Doh! -_-'

So we drove to Kansas City after work on Wednesday 

and got to hang out with my cousin, Amanda. 

She made us some awesome fish and asparagus! Yum!

She works nights so we slept, 

packed up and hit the road by 6:30! 

Of course, day 1 (1/2) we were ready to go!

Then we drove.

 And we drove.

 And we drove and we drove.

 8 or 9 hours later we arrived at the music capital of Nashville!!!

 ...At our jank hotel =\ 

Ha! it ended up okay but it was kinda creepy. 

The traffic was so awful though. 

(a traffic jam before we weaved our way through city roads)

Google maps showed there being a wreck on every main highway 

so we weaved around town and made our way to some eating places. 

Ended up deciding on Hard Rock cafe since neither Staci or I had been there. 

I must say, though it was expensive it was so so good! 

We went back to our room and we feel asleep 

to the lulling sound of planes landing less than a mile away... 

after watching American Idol of course..

Day 2:

We were a little less enthused. 

We got coffee.. but I unfortunately found a Starbucks on the wrong highway.

So we ended up getting a little off course.

Frustrating.

So once we were back on track we saw a river weaving across the road.

Took the next exit and weaved our way down the Tennessee 

road to find a nice boat ramp to the river.

Yum!

Whoo!

So after that we decided that it would be a lot nicer to stop more often 

and try to have more fun since we still had a 12 hour day ahead of us.

So about an hour later we stopped at an antique store.

Fun! Haha!

And then a couple shifts later we were getting kind of restless:

 I was checking out the map 

and saw that a mile or two off the highway was a HUUUGEEE lake!

less than a mile from the highway.

I found a small highway that went beside the main one

and saw that there was construction ahead so I was like,

"Lets take the scenic route and see this lake thing!"

Haha! So we seriously went a mile or two off the course

to this suppose to be "island" in the midst of this huge lake and this is what we saw:

HAHAHAHA!!! It was like DRIED UP!

"Wouldn't it suck to build a house on this island 

and then the lake completely dry up and ruin your beautiful view!?" (me)

"Yea... poor wealthy people, to have these beautiful houses out here."

I think all that was before noon on the second day. It was fun.

The rest of the day was pretty hard to get through.

But we made it! 

<3

another lyrical lament.

Threatening to steal
My joy revealed
The troubles of life
Is what they wield

Yet what they can't see
Is while knocked to my knees
I pray to the Lord
And with Him I plea:

"Lord save my soul!
Forgive my sins!
Make me full!
Make my amends!

"I want the joy
of your salvation!
Fill the void
From condemnation!"


This life is a gift
But pleasures are missed
If we are weighted down
By the burdens we lift

"Come to Me,"
He says, "I could be
Your strength and shield
That sets you free!

"Just take my hand
Let your worries stray
I'll help you stand
And show you the way

Lift up your head
Trust in what I've said
And where fear once swelled
You'll find hope instead."



<3