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Friday, November 19, 2010

A weekend in Dallas TX





Well said, my Starbucks yumminess!! And so I will share this story with you... Our last trip to Dallas. We came to the conclusion that we really wanted to get out of Altus but knew we really needed some undistracted time to spend with one another. So we left for Dallas and booked a night at a great hotel for the two of us!!



It was so beautiful before we got there...


And then the rain came down..


Got stuck in some pretty bad traffic...



...But we finally reached our Hotel: the Magnolia Hotel! The best part was it's attached to a Starbucks!!


Yes, my husband was gracious and kind enough to let me get one :). Here I am trying to convey the luxury you are greeted with at The Magnolia... Magnificent dahhling!!


... And the rooms also gently welcomed you to hotel ritz and relaxation!





Check out our view!



... And here's at night :)


The next day we took our time enjoying God's word and the hotel, then we headed out to see the city!!

Here is the Farmers market where we started...






Then we walked all over the City just enjoying art and architecture! It was neat to see so much old mingled within the new!





Here is Andrew at the city hall-- check out that crazy building!! It was put up right after JFK was shot.


Serene...


In the distance you can see the Adolphus. It was (and I believe is) the nicest hotel here.... We accidentally rolled into the Adolphus before we found the Magnolia and we noticed they still used a key entry to their hotel! Behind the check out counter were shiny gold keys lined up and ready to be utilized... It was so cool!


Here is the Adolphus next to the magnolia... As you can see, the Magnolia is much bigger than the Adolphus, but cannot compare in bling..


Water fountains out front...


Check out that delicate abs intricate architecture on the giant front windows! Amazing!


Hope you can view this video-- it shows the low clouds being pushed strongly by the high winds!!

YouTube Video

A very expensive restaurant that we almost embarrassed ourselves by eating at!!


Check out this Starbucks!! It's awesome!!


It has its own little quiet nook surrounded by water... Pretty neat!





...this was just too cool. Love these trees!


This is the fountain place!!


Literally! It's a bunch of fountains!


The locals say its always 10 degrees cooler here in the summer! How nice ;)












We had a really good time just chilling there... And sometimes, literally!



Well, because of the rain looming and threatening to come down, Andrew and I made it back to the car and decided to go moose hunting at Cabelas!

Here is the first one! He's kinda flimsy looking though, yea?


...but not this one!! MOOSE Attack!!


Ever wonder what moose drool looked like?? Wonder no more! Cabelas will show you in their yummy fudge shop!


Moose say it best:


...love this..


...and this is my favorite!!


More moose! A Christmas moose!



And speaking of Christmas, seems the whole town has lights and cheer up already! But I am learning to love it. I know the main purpose must be because of the state of the economy, but for a homesick soul, nothing reminds you that home is around the corner better than some cheerful lights, fun holiday music and the warm glow of Christmas trees!


After all our adventures, we went and ha more fun with our family in Dallas who graciously took Eli for us while we spent some quality time together!
(this is Camden holding up his little puppy ears! Eli misses Camden and the gang...)


We arrived home after some fellowship and fun in Wichita falls. We had a great time and are very thankful we did it!

Oh, and when I got home, I made a change to the hair!!! Hope you like it!!

"Oh there's no place like home for the holidays!!"

Yes, we getting excited to see you all soon!!

Much love and many smiles!


'With songs of joy I speak of Thee, for I know not how to cease',

Kati Thornbury

-- Jeremiah 20:9--

Friday, November 12, 2010

Sippin' and plannin' and other fun stuff!

Thanking God for a sweet Oasis here in Oklahoma :)




















I am such an analytical psycho when it comes to making plans for anything!! Write it out, research it, make a spreadsheet, do some more research, make a pie chart, write more information you found on a new piece of paper and add the old information to it to make it make sense,decide you have made new plans, and start the process all over again... Ah!! How I love it! And this time it was plans for our Greta Alaskan road trip, where we will be driving from Mississippi to Washington state, and from there... To Alaska! Ehh!!









And amidst all the excitement, I think it is slowing hitting me to a degree of how far we really going. Up until a certain point, you kind of live in a haze of some distant future realities, until you start to really take the first step towards the journey. Well, this weekend felt like a first step. I was a little frightened, I am not going to lie! But I never claimed to be super woman. If I was not for sure that this was a natural reaction, I think I would be questioning whether or not my future existence in Alaska would happen! Haha! BUT God makes no mistakes, as Cory Ten Boone states (if you haven't seen 'The Hiding Place', you need to see it!!) So I am sure where He has us going is without a doubt his will for us.. Especially since it has been so prayerfully considered!

And to help ease further doubt, God sent us some friends to help shine the light to what living in Alaska is really like... Spiritually and physically. Their names are Brent and Clark, but we have come to know Brent the best. We all went on a Saturday hike and just picked his brain a bit. It was a huge blessing- God is so faithful to us :)

Here are some pictures from Saturday's fun:









Oh, and the leaves are finally starting to change!! Yey, fall is in it's way!











































































Rock climbing... Too bad Eli couldn't come up too. He missed out on a good family picture opportunity! Haha.












..weeding the forrest!













We proceeded to go from there and meet up with Andrew's flight buddy Austin and his group from Wichita Falls, TX to camp! We didn't end up really doing any camping, but we did have a really good time fellowshipping with other people from the ministry there and hanging out around the campfire!











(Bonnie, I took this picture of the ridge line because somewhere in those shades of blue is your favorite color of blue!!! :) )

Question: how many pilots does it take to put up a tent? ;)

















































And we actually did put up a tent too (just to look like we were camping, haha!). The others really did camp... We were just the impostors!












Check out our view!! ( and if that wind off the water wasn't so bad, it would have been just perfect!)












Off to get firewood.












... They searched high and low...












Cut up the wood and made a fire!












Yey for campfires!!
























It makes us all so happy!!
(Brent and Andrew took a break from their hard work to give the camera a smile for me!)












...and even played with Eli pup!!












Eli thanks you!











Our dinners were the hobo packs you see roasting in the fire (mine actually was a bit more than roasted... Charcoaled is a good word for it, ha!)












(little heads enjoying the setting sun! This is one of my favorite pictures!)






























(can't see him real well, but there is baby Easton!! He is just having a ball!)













Well, that about does it! We are headed to Dallas now for some one-on-one time and time with family since this will probably be our last trip down. Be praying God be glorified as we just learn to take his lead to love one another and love others around us during our trip (pictures to come!). Until next time...













'With songs of joy I speak of Thee, for I know not how to cease',

Kati Thornbury

-- Jeremiah 20:9--