"For you shall go out in joy and be led forth in peace"



Tuesday, October 25, 2011

"it's just not quite what I was thinking"

Seth and I have developed a phrase since we’ve moved here: “It’s just not quite what I was thinking”. It doesn’t mean bad, it doesn’t mean good, it just means…different. Even down to the little things like groceries or haircuts. It’s just not what we are used to- but that doesn’t always qualify it as bad either.
 Somedays it feels like EVERYTHING is different, other days it feels more manageable and I can find the familiar again. Sometimes I wonder if  familiar isn’t always good either. Some days I feel like a box of crayons that someone dumped upside down and now I’m trying to figure out where to put all the pieces again- do I want them back in the same order they were or do I want to try something new and different?
Well, aside from the rambling of my heart, here are some pictures of what has been going on lately:
Our Anniversary Celebration
Seth decided to surprise me with a weekend away. It was so needed. He wouldn’t tell me where we were going, but told me a few things to pack.  We ended up at an amazing bed and breakfast in hot springs! It was great to just get away and relax!
                                                       Picture of the awesome room we had!




View of the back of the bed & breakfast. It was gorgeous.


                                                 My boy at the fisherman's wharf for dinner...so handsome!


                 what would a bed and breakfast be without BREAKFAST! This was the first course of breakfast...mmmm
Main meal at breakfast- some type of porkchop, and this AMAZING french toast! I've never eaten porkchop for breakfast, but it     
was good!
We took a canoe ride...the inn was against a lake and they had a free canoe we could use.
Haha- I hardly have words for this one! So we are driving along, headed toward downtown hot springs, to go hiking, when all of a sudden we see this HUGE thrift store! We quick turn around and pull in the lot. We walk in all excited and expectant we are going to find some hidden treasure here! oh my word- no treasure to be found. I'm pretty sure that everything in here has been in there for at least 10 years and not moved at all. We were just cracking up as we walked through thinking "who would buy one=eyed doll or and old cookie tin- probably with cookies still in it!"...there were maybe a few kinda neat things, but waaay overpriced. Needless to say, it was worth the experience.
We went hiking in hot springs. This is the only picture I have of us hiking- but it's a super awkward picture- we had it on timer and ran into place- hence our interesting pose, :)!
Chick-fil-a Grand Opening
…Chick-fil-a grand opening! We were part of the crazies that spent the night at chick-fil-a. Not only do you spend a night, you spend a whole 24 hours in the parking lot. We arrived to Russellville at 5:15ish in the morning along with many others that were crazy like us! We stood, shivering in the parking lot until 6:00am when they had us form a line and take a number. If there were over 100 people, then they would draw numbers and who ever got picked would be eligable to win a year of free chick-fil-a. There were 104 people. Our chances were looking pretty good. Both of us were selected and we set up camp. And I mean camp...a tent, air mattress, the whole deal in the parking lot. We went with a group of friends so we just hung out all day- because the rule is- you cannot leave the parking lot for ANYTHING, if you do, you are disqualified. You can use the restroom inside the restaurant, but that's it! We also got free breakfast, lunch, & dinner! Honestly, it was a blast, but it wears you out- doing nothing all day & eating fried chicken, haha :).

                                               This was taken about 3:30 am! Are we nuts or what??


                                    Picture of everyone setting up camp at about 6:30 in the morning- it was coooold!
                                                 Our friends, Emily & Dan- camped right next to us!
Darling little drew was such a trooper!


We played lots of games throughout the day- blokus being one of them :)


                                                 Emily & I are trying to get our bible study reading done
                                                                    More games!
chick-fil-a also facilitated games throughout the day- this one came at good time because it was getting hot outside!


                                       Cindy, Keri, & Kari & the babies watching the guys play games!
                                                                  Steven and Emma
                                                        
The Helmick's

                                                                   This was our home for 24 hours!


My Parents came to visit!
This was awesome! We hadn't seen them since July so it was soo good to have them here. We tried to cram in as much as we could in the couple days they were here! We went hiking on a much more trecherous trail than we thought it would be. To my siblings- YES mom and dad went major rock climbing and you would have been amazed! Mostly, we just loved their company and being with them again! (Mom and Dad- you are going to be so mad at me for posting these pictures- but I love them :)!)

                                Seth spotted a turtle and went to pick it up and the turtle went completely inside itself!
                          We went hiking with my parents- the trail became muuuch more rugged than any of us thought!
                                 A look up at the train we were climbing- it just kept going and going!
                                                                    At the top- woohoo!


                                                                  we made it!!!!!!!!!!!!
                                                   I just love this picture- it captures them so well!
          Before heading to church for a saturday night service. I think this is one of my favorite pictures of them- they just look great!
                                       When we got home from church we made homemade pizzas!!
...and we played games!


That's all for now....hopefully i'll post sooner so it's not such a long post next time (though I tend to say that alot!). Thanks for reading!