Tuesday, June 19, 2007

All Aboard!

Well, I'm back from an incredible weekend out in Illinois with Jonathan's family. It has been rich, full of memories, and settled some things in our hearts as we had a lot of quality time over those 4 1/2 days.


We left Longview, TX at 8pm on Wednesday and got comfortable for the 18 hour train ride ahead of us. I'd never been on a cross country train before, and it was surprisingly comfortable. We enjoyed each moment, relaxing, watching Finding Nemo on a portable DVD player, waking up to the sunrise in Missouri, and a ton of quality conversation. We brought a travel journal along with us to write notes and letters along the way... we filled up half of it by this past Monday--18 typed pages worth!


And my traveling monkey found some new friends to ride along with... the tiger I had given Jonathan, which he appropriately named "Char", and my new carebear, very appropriately named "Thanks-a-lot"--the theme of our entire relationship--Giving thanks to God for each other.


Saw the St. Louis arch for the first time, a very old and historic city. Absolutely beautiful.


Friday before the wedding (the reason we went). This was after lunch and before we went to go play Rook with his mom and grandparents.

Jonathan and his beautiful sister, Rosanna. I really, really enjoyed getting to know her--a kindred spirit, very warm and inviting. She's 21 and currently in college--she spent some time with YWAM in Hawaii, so I instantly felt connected to her. Looking forward to getting to know her more!

I didn't get pictures of his parents, but I also enjoyed getting to know them. It was a very insightful weekend, and I felt as if they welcomed me with open arms.


Jonathan practicing before the wedding he was playing for. He is an AMAZING pianist, I could sit for hours just listening to him play. Wow.


Played a little pool after the wedding with Jonathan, Rosanna and her boyfriend, and a married couple that they knew, Jesse and Karen. We went over to their place to play games and hang out afterwards.

So I guess I didn't take many pictures after this. Saturday, we had breakfast, ran some errands, packed, and left again for the train station. Words can't describe all that happened this weekend because it was so full of priceless memories, conversations, new friends, and confirmations. I am so blessed, though. And so thankful for having Jonathan in my life.

36 hours on the train, and about 16 hours total sleep in 4 days--- who could ask for more?? :)

1 comment:

Radar said...

i just love your pic here, Charisma. you should put it on your Facebook profile pic sometime.
i remember seeing that same pic of you in a dream somewhere...:-)