rebel with a cause

the remainder of my week in Ohio was a blast. I was lucky enough to see almost everyone I had intended to see while I was home. Thanks, everyone, for more memories and quality time!

I went to Michigan to see one of my dearest friends, Kristin Slattery. Well over a year ago, the longest we had ever gone without seeing each other since Teen Mania. Man, I love that girl. She has a beautiful cat, appropriately named "Texas".


And there is the one and only Kristin!


I saved her from a snake and a spider, all within the first hour of arriving. You're welcome, Kristin. :)


Good times with my girls at Huntington church, all growing up right before my eyes. It was so great to see them again! Aren't they beautiful?




Then over to see my adorable adopted niece, Makayla Rose, and one of my longest standing friends, Jen. Makayla is growing like a freaking weed and is on the verge of walking at just 14 months!





My flight home was quite the story. To recap briefly, after my layover in Atlanta, we were on our way to DFW in Dallas for an arrival time of 5pm. Jonathan was waiting to pick me up so we could go spend the evening at the Gaylord Texan hotel for a romantic dinner out. When we were about to land in DFW, we were diverted to Waco (almost two hours from Dallas or Tyler) because of a storm, fueled up and waited for clearance, then flew back to DFW, was held up and diverted BACK to Waco AGAIN. Then, some idiot decided to smoke in the bathroom while we were waiting and almost caused a huge security issue. After waiting another hour, we were informed that our captain had to go off duty because he had been on the clock for 16 hours. They had to send a new pilot out by limo, and would be several more hours before they could leave. Finally, they sent some buses out, for those who didn't want to fly back, but it would still be almost midnight before those would arrive. I called Jonathan, and he had his friend Brandon come and get me because after doing the math in my head, and realizing I had to work in the morning, the earliest I would have gotten home, if I waited, would be at least 3am if not closer to 5am. (I still didn't get in bed before 5am). Needless to say, I complained, and even that only got me $50 voucher because "it was weather and safety related, so we don't care if you were stuck on a plane for seven hours".
Eh, oh well.

And because my boyfriend is amazing, we rescheduled our date for Wednesday, and had a wonderful time... just a few days late :)

Friday, he and I went to Lake of the Pines for a LeTourneau aviation company picnic.



Saw a beautiful sunset, partially due to the torrential rains earlier that evening.


Had lunch with friends from church on Sunday, followed by a nice, relaxing afternoon of doing absolutely nothing.


Then we took off back to Longview, and I stayed with his flight student, Leanne, so we could fly out early Monday morning for San Antonio (about 7 hour drive from Tyler). He took me to the university chapel to practice piano for a while Sunday night (which he is incredibly talented at, by the way), and soon after I discovered Longview's biggest bug!!!


Bright and early, we're off to spend the day in Texas' most proud city... home of the Alamo!


"careful with that hammer, the sea monkey took my money." It's a sleeping Dory fish from Finding Nemo!
We went to the Rainforest Cafe, one of my favorite restaurants.



And off to the Alamo, where I adamantly rebelled.




(although I'm not the one who got yelled at twice by Alamo security officers. ahem. ;)



Hey, look! It's the shortest girl in the world next to the tallest man!

Even Tom Hanks appreciates a little Texas history.


So there you have it. Be looking for another blog of pictures some time next week. I'm off to get packing for our next adventure: taking the train from Longview to Bloomington, Illinois with Jonathan. He's playing the piano for a friend's wedding in his home town. Meeting the family, his friends, and a lot of quality time to look forward to!


Have a great week, everyone!