Road Trips

I love them! I grew up with road trips and think that traveling in your car across the country is quite cool. Therefore, I will be imparting that lovely sense of open road on my daughter this summer.

As a kid, we traveled alot. My Dad was older when I was born, therefore he retired while I was still in middle school, leaving our summers free. We would be sitting around the kitchen table and my Dad would announce, tomorrow we start driving to the Grand Canyon. When I was 12 we went to Washington, D.C. and NYC. When I was 14 we went to Mount Rushmore. ETC.... We would be gone about 2 to 3 weeks and would eat wherever, sleep whenever and see the 'World's largest Ball of Twine'.

I have officially been to 46 of the 50 states. We somehow missed Seattle and Oregon and well, obviously Alaska is a bit far for a road trip and Hawaii would be impossible. I took all of that traveling for granted. Didn't realize that not many of my friends did.

Sometimes we would stay in real posh hotels, other times it was the 'flea bag Inn'. Sometimes we would dine on steak and some times we would McDonalds it. Whatever we did, it was fun. Even though, I didn't have a DVD player, or a Nintendo DS or even an IPOD. I remember when I was in high school and we trucked to Niagria Falls, I bought a Walkman and thought I was the coolest kid in the back seat EVER!

The crazy thing about road tripping is not having a real set agenda. It's tough when you have to go visit family in Utah and you have only 3 days to do it in. That is not fun! But taking the road less traveled and taking your time to stop at Stuckey's and debate about buying that box of candy with the 1 inch layer of dust on top, is....

So this summer, we will be driving down to NOLA for a cruise and then later in the Summer, Natalie, my Mother and myself will be having a good old fashioned road trip and truck to Orlando, FL. One night we'll eat steak and the next will be Chick-fil-a. Oh and I plan on stopping to see the world largest Frying Pan! I'll be sure and post those pics on FB.

Easter

The older I get the more this Holiday really grows on me! Maybe because the older I get the more spiritual I become. Maybe it is because, I finally found a good allergy medicine and I am not miserable February thru May! Maybe I secretly desire a rabbit! Or maybe I just have to fess up and admit I love Cadburry Eggs and Reese's peanut butter EGGS!

For whatever reason, it is here! This fabulous Revelation started last Sunday, Palm Sunday. I love getting a fresh new Palm for my house. I also enjoyed a thing we did at church where we passed this large wooden cross over our heads, then it was carried up to the front and my husband pounded in the nails, draped it with a cloth and put a crown of thorns up on top. It was truly moving and I cried. (Doesn't take much for me to cry, but this was truly moving!) Then Natalie and I made Easter Cookies in the afternoon.

This week we will continue with church, we have a Maundy Thursday meal and last supper re-enactment. A Service will be Friday evening and the culmination will be on Sunday! I am so looking forward to it, that we will go to both services, our normal contemporary and the traditional later. The second service is unusual for us, but Natalie will officially join the church and participate in a first communion! My parents will come and we will have a fabulous lunch at home!

In writing this, I just came to the conclusion of why I like Easter so much....

I love the rebirth of it all! It is Christ resurrected! It is a spring! It is new flowers! It is a new year! Things that were dormant all winter are blossoming! It's another chance at everything!

Well enough about the sappy stuff. I need to get back to my sarcasm and rants. Those come easier....