Visit to the Mainland

Overall, I had a really good visit. I always leave feeling like I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to {like seeing more friends}, but I did cover the important things. I spent lots of time with my family, attended a wedding, spent time with more family {Joe's side} and had some bestie time. =) Most importantly {wink, wink} I ate at this wonderful restaurant 3 times. =P

Chick Fil A is just the yummiest thing ever. Mm-mmm good!! Anyway. =)

Also, the weather cooperated with me. I may or may not have mentioned the severe weather that happened while I was visiting. 

I think this was the night Joplin was hit by a tornado. 

This was my last night. 

For the most part, I thoroughly enjoyed it. At one point, my dad even made fun of me because I jumped and squealed at some very loud thunder. =P He said, "Who was that?!" After I said it was me he asked, "Don't get much of that in Hawaii, do ya?" No, Dad, we don't. Haha. Anyway. It really stormed about 3-4 times while I was there. The last night {picture directly above} was the worst for my area. There were 3 tornado touchdowns all about an hour from my parents' house. I wasn't worried until around midnight when 60 mph winds hit and the power started flicking on and off. I thought for sure a tornado was headed our way, but we were lucky and nothing too serious happened. The funniest part of it all were some of my friends' FB posts. One said something to the effect of "The weather isn't serious until Garrett's sleeves are up." Another said, "It's safe to play in the streets until Garrett rolls the sleeves up." I was laughing so hard!!! Garrett is the local weatherman...and he's basically a celebrity. He came to Chili's once while I was working and I was a tad excited. =P Anyway. I never realized that the sleeves go up when things get busy. Sure enough, when I started streaming the news feed on my computer during the 60 mph winds, the sleeves were up. Ha!

I was really happy that I got lots of good quality bestie time during this trip. =) The last few times we've only been able to hang out for a day, or a few hours. This time we got one whole day and 2 days of a few hours. It was so nice!! She helped me pick out fabric for some projects, we got some stuff for my living room, and she took me to Chick Fil A twice. =) Best bestie ever award!!! Oh, and I got to play with her little girl. Hehe. Tuesday, I went over to her house for a couple hours and she took some pictures of me with Jorja... Seriously, she could pass for mine. See for yourself.

Seriously. It's so funny because it's not like Melissa and I are even related!! I know her hubby has red in his beard and her brother has red hair, but still. I just think it's hilarious that my bestie would have a red headed child. Haha! =) 

Hawaii has some great scenery {obviously} but it was also nice to enjoy a little something different for a while. Like, really different. Here are a few pictures of where my parents live...just to give you an idea of where/how I grew up. =)

My parents {well, really my mom} raise goats. They used to have around 20, but sold several of them earlier this spring. So if you ever questioned why I hate traffic or driving in/around big cities, now you know why. I grew up practically in the middle of nowhere. The closest big cities are at least a 2 hour drive away, though the closest city (of around 250,000 people) is a 15 minute drive away. On the drive to my parents' house from the airport, I felt an immediate relief. There was no one on the road. Just a few cars here and there. Insert big sigh of relief here. There really is a slower pace in the South...and I miss it a lot.

Other than adjusting to the noise level in my parents' house {I can't tell you how many times I said "can we turn this down?!" while they were talking over the TV...} and sleeping in a twin bed, I had a good time. Being "home" always stirs up memories of my former life...college...

...meeting Joe, dating Joe...getting married...just that life in general. It's crazy how much can change in just a few short years. Anyway...

As much as I didn't enjoy flying all day yesterday, I did see something pretty amazing. Normally when I fly cross-country, it's in the middle of the night so I can't see anything out of the windows. This was not the case yesterday. After I took a serious snooze on flight #2 of the day, I woke up to see something just gorgeous. 

I have absolutely no idea where we were, but these mountains are just gorgeous. I've never seen anything like this before. The more I see of the US {I'd say world, but...}, the more I see just how amazing and creative God is. I don't know how you could see things like this and not believe that God created them. Just amazing.

After I finally made it to Honolulu, I was greeted with a phone call from my hubby {wooooo!}, a pretty lei from Annie, and a purse I won from JG's giveaway a while back!

I think I came out of this trip really well! =) Got to experience some great storms, spent time with family, hung out with my bestie, and survived 2 very long flying days. I think it's ok that I did basically nothing today. Here's hoping for no more jet lag tomorrow!