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We have been so excited about our new swagger-wagon, we decided we should break her in back in June by taking a 16 hour road trip to Destin, Florida. Greg and I would go every year when we lived in Alabama and haven't been to a beach since moving to Texas, six years ago. We left our house around 10:00pm and arrived in Destin the following day around 4:00pm, right on time for check-in. Thank goodness for DVD players! If you're reading this and you've been to Destin, you know why we went. It was just as we had remembered---beautiful! We were met by the cool, ocean breeze, emerald coastline, and white, sandy beaches. JP loved swimming in the ocean as well as the pool, but was not much a fan of the sand. We visited Greg's old football teammate, Carey Nick down at Nick's on the Beach (great seafood) and drove down to the lovely Seaside, which is straight out of the world of Norman Rockwell. It was definitely hard to leave this beautiful place, especially knowing that another 16 hour road-trip with 2 young kiddos in-tow, was inevitable.
By the end of June, we were back on the road again, but this time to Alabama for Tony and Kalyn's wedding. This sweet couple were highschool sweethearts from Greg's old youth group, and he was very honored to pronounce them man and wife. While in Butler, we were able to spend time with our family and some of our friends. Georgia met several family members for the first time. We enjoyed eating some "home-grown" food, including MawMaw's pound cake (can I get an Amen?). Uncle JK and Aunt Polly took us to the Fish Camp, where Georgia discovered sweet tea for the first time. JP had a great time swimming in Mrs. Carolyn's pool as well as Mrs. Laverne's. If I could give my hometown a one-word descriptor, it would be "hospitable".
In July, Greg, GG, and I flew to Albuqurque for a quick weekend trip. Greg had the pleasure of preaching at West Albuqurque Baptist Church and GG and I begged to tag along. JP wanted to stay behind and play at Mr. Dale's and Mrs. Cindy's house. He also got to play an entire day over at his buddy Parker's house. I had never been this far West, so I was thrilled to get the opportunity to go. I felt like I was in the movie Cars every time we drove Route 66. We took in everything we could in a short weekend, including Sandia Mountain Tramway and Old Town. Our favorite place to eat was The Frontier Cafe, which is directly across the street from U of New Mexico, making it a fave among the college students, as well.
August brought a big change to our family, but an exciting one. Greg accepted a job with Guidestone Financial Resources of the Southern Baptist Convention. He now travels to Dallas every morning until we find a home in the Birmingham area--that's right, we will be moving back to Alabama by the end of the year. This move is definitely bittersweet for us, but I will talk more about that in another post.
