Pennsylvania Visit

Hello Blog World! I cannot wait to tell you about my trip to Pennsylvania!! It was incredible, refreshing, and much needed. So, today's post will be long. It will be full of photos. But, it will also be full of wonderful memories that will never be forgotten. Happy Reading!! :) 

On Thursday night, after nannying, I came home to change and then my dad and little sister took me to the airport. I was running a little late and was feeling rushed when we got in the car at 6:15 to head to Atlanta. Once on the road, I decided to check my flight and this is what I saw... 

It was delayed an HOUR! I was thankful for it though cuz I knew that I was running a little behind. The only thing about the delay that I wasn't so happy about was my arrival time... 1AM! Yikes! 

As we approached Atlanta, the skyline seemed really hazy and we couldn't figure out why. The closer we got the weirder it looked and then my dad said, "That is not fog, that's smoke!"... WHAT?! How freaky! In the photo above, you can see the black smoke on the right side and then the brown haze is it drifting over the city. We listened to the news radio and I looked up headlines on my phone, but we couldn't figure out what happened... Weird! It was one of the creepiest things in the city that I have ever seen. 

I finally made it to the airport and checked my bag in, forgot to check my gate, but knew I could check it after security. Well when I got to security, the main checkpoint was closed and so was the South, so they were funneling EVERYONE through the North checkpoint. It took me about 5 minutes to get to this sign and then about 15 minutes to get to the actual security check. It was crazy! 

Once I made it through security, I remembered that I had no idea which terminal to go to. My dad had told me that a good restaurant terminal was C, so I got on the train and headed to C. I got off and went to the departure screens and my flight was nowhere to be found :/... I looked it up on my phone again and it said it was still just delayed, they hadn't canceled it yet. I then preceded to walk up and down terminal C looking for a Frontier attendant, but found no one. I finally just asked a Delta guy and he said that all Frontier flights flew out of D. I was SO thankful for the delay at this point! I headed to D and again, went to the departure screen... No flight to be found... I started walking again and eventually found Frontier gates and FINALLY found my flight number on their screens. It was ridiculous!! I will never be forgetting to check my gate BEFORE security ever again!  

By the time I found my gate, I didn't have time to go back to C for dinner, so I just chose a Mediterranean place on D and it was actually really good! I was SO hungry by this point cuz lunch had been at noon and it was now 9pm.  

Once I ate, I found a spot on the floor by the window, called Lil' Chef, and waited for my plane to arrive. 

Yes, the time in that photo is correct... the plane PULLED IN at 10:30! This was going to be a long night... The photo to the right is me touching the outside of the plane for good luck :) Something we saw someone else do and now my sisters and I do it :) 

The flight was good and the view was beautiful!! We did have to circle for an hour because of a thunder storm, but we landed safely and I finally arrived at 2am... What a night!! It was so great to see Catherine and Dave (sis and BIL) and we came home and all went to bed. 

The weather was beautiful up there! This is my sister's cute little house and yard :) I love it! 

On Friday morning, we got up, chatted, ran some errands, worked out, picked apples from their very full tree, and got ready to head to Women of Faith!!! 

I will be doing a whole post on this incredible conference! But let me just say, Friday night and Saturday were life changing and I am SO blessed to have been able to go! Thank you sis for getting this for me for my birthday!!! It was an unforgettable gift!! :) 

My sweet older sister and me Friday night at WOF! We are so cute ;) and... I just love her! 

Nicole Johnson on the left and Sheila Walsh on the right... 

Both are unbelievable and I loved being able to finally watch them live! 

Friday night, Nicole Nordeman gave a short concert and it was so beautiful! It was a great night of stories, lessons learned, and glorious worship! 

Catherine had invited three girls from her youth group (her husbands the youth pastor at their church) to come to WOF with us. So, this is all of us on Saturday :) They were such sweet girls and we all had such a great time together! 

Again... love this sister of mine so much! So thankful for the time we got to spend together! 

So, this WOF tour was the final tour for them. Several of the core women that started WOF 20 years ago, came back to speak for this tour and this little woman right here was so amazing! This is Patsy Clairmont! I believe she is in her 80s and has such an amazing story and such a sweet personality. 

I love this photo... In the middle is my sister and her best friend Julie and then next to each of them are their sisters that came with them from out of town :) I love it!! 

The car ride home after the conference! Such a fun two days!!! 

Sunday morning I was able to watch my sister teach Sunday school to little 3-4th graders and then we went to the second service together. I love my sisters church! There are so many young families as well as several families with lots of kiddos :) This particle Sunday they were having a church wide softball game right after service! 

It was so much fun just being able to sit in the sun and fellowship with others in the church! They grilled hot dogs, had tons of watermelon (my fav), chips and cookies! It was a really fun time of relaxing fellowship! 

After the game, Dave and Catherine treated me to ice cream at one of the best ice cream places I have ever been to! It's call The Zebra Striped Whale :) This was only two scoops and I wasn't able to finish it! It's so amazing! So, if your ever up near Philly in Newtown, you should totally try this place! You can click HERE to go to their webpage!!  

Sunday evening my sis and BIL had an engagement at church that they had to go to, so I stayed home to be able to journal about all that I had learned and experienced at Women of Faith. This is their front porch and it's, hands down, my favorite part of their house. The sunset that night was so golden and the air was so cool... simply beautiful! 

I love being able to sit in a quiet place and journal without any interruptions. It's so freeing and refreshing for me. This particular night I journaled for almost an hour and it was wonderful. 

Monday was my last day there :( So, Catherine let me sleep in and then as soon as I got up we did a killer workout! It felt great though and I was ready for whatever adventures they had in store for the day! 

After showering and picking almost all of the apples off of their tree, we headed to their pastor's house to get some canning supplies so that we could start making applesauce that afternoon! After getting the supplies they took me to this amazing Thai restaurant! 

It's a tiny little hole in the wall place, but man was their food yummy!! This was my appetizer... Tofu soup and a spring roll- YUM!!

And I had already dug into this before I took this photo... oops :) This is their famous Pad Thai... another amazing dish! 

After that delicious lunch, we ran to the grocery store to get the rest of the supplies and then headed home to make applesauce! 

This was my sister's first time ever canning!! It was so fun being able to be there with her for this adventure! 

The sauce turned out amazing and she and Dave did such a great job canning it all! I can't remember exactly how much they got, but it was a ton from just their small little apple tree :) 

And then it was time to leave :( Never the fun part! My sis took me to the airport and she had me pack dinner before leaving since the tiny airport near her house has ZERO options ;) I had a granola bar in my bag that I brought, but once I got to my gate I saw the cheez-its and the tea and so I bought those to go along with my roll-ups. Also, like I said, this airport is TINY and you board from outside the plane. I always feel like this is old fashioned and I love it! 

The flight home was much smoother and faster than going and the sky was beautiful the whole way. 

This trip visiting my sister and BIL and going to WOF was a much needed trip. It was life changing and it will never be forgotten. I love this sis to pieces and miss her so much already! 

Thank you both for such an amazing time!! I love you both so much! 

Until our next adventure, 

LoLo

Kinda A Random Week

This week was another great week, but I have to say that the highlight of my week was hearing about Lolo's trip to PA! We spent 3hrs and 39 min (not 40) on the phone Saturday night! I am soooo very excited for her and this new chapter she wants to begin. I can hear in her voice and see in her pictures that she is so excited and truly ready to begin this new adventure. 

Having a long-distance best friend is hard and just plane old STINKS sometimes. You have to communicate through text and phone calls which is hard because nothing compares to a real life conversation. While most of the time she will take my side of any situation, she will also be the first one to tell me that I am overreacting and I need to get over myself. In my opinion moving away from my best friends has only brought us closer and not effected us in a negative way at all. While apart you can both make friends, figure out what you want to do with your life, and grow as a person. If you are not willing to do all those things I do believe that you are to solely focused on one person, and that is not healthy for either party. I miss her like crazy and it is hard not to share every important moment of life together, but being able not let the distance shake our friendship proves that it will be one that will last a lifetime.

When I lived on Guam there were hardly any thunderstorms and so when I moved to the states I hated them! Over time I grew to really enjoy sitting out on a porch and watching them pass through. I loved them while I was staying at the Lazy Bee Farm because the air was so fresh and the breezes always felt so refreshing. Here in the city they are a little different, but I still enjoy them. This is the porch outside my apartment...the only sad thing is that the porch above it is not solid so the rain comes right through, but I still was able to watch it from my door ;) 

Remember how I said that I don't have a kitchen in my apartment? With a target gift card that I saved I ordered this mini griddle so I can have eggs in the mornings again :) 

This is the crazy traffic that I go through every day...I really thought I would mind it way more then I do.

-a little about work-
This is one of my favorite places to go and eat my lunch on break (just to get outside and not hear screaming kids is so nice). That building you can see is identical to the one I work in and there are restaurants and stuff all round. It is normally quite and if there are other people there they are normally on their lunch breaks too. The next picture is of my classroom! Now this was Friday night so I had picked up all the mats and toys and put them up so that the cleaners that come over the weekend could wash the carpets. I am still loving everything about my job and really enjoying getting to know the parents of the kids as well.

I had warned you that I crave food and one night I really wanted popcorn so I made some and ate the WHOLE bag. Then on Friday I was so tired I knew that some sugar would help me get home safely. I went to the store and had gummy bears in my hand, but then I saw the jelly beans and they looked so good. I got home safe and sound so the jelly beans did the trick.

All week I have been dealing with a cold and Friday night was a night of hardly any sleep. I gave up at like 9 and just got up and worked out. It helped drain everything and I felt way better so I went on a walk, but as I stopped to journal I started to feel it getting worse. When I got back home I was hungry and wanted to try this recipe for this simple apple dip. All I had to do is mix these three ingredients together and there you have it. I liked it, but I will have to admit I would rather just have an apple dipped in plane peanut butter. 

Saturdays are days I try to do my grocery shopping that way Sunday I can make my meals for the week. I went to get food but also walked around and window shopped for a little bit. I found these beautiful flowers on my walk and I have no idea what they are but would love to find out. I really liked how there are two colors and bright ones at that.

-Sunday-

After church I always go out with a few couples from the church and we have a great time of just catching up. After that it is time to prep my meals for the week. I love doing this because it makes the rest of my week easier and nicer not to worry about planning what I am eating. This week I had to try out my new griddle so I made homemade tortillas. They are easy (the part that takes the most time is rolling out the dough) and have very few ingredients so they are cheep to make. I am excited to make some wraps and quesadillas this week!

Well that's about all that happened this week and I have a great week to look forward to with a three day weekend coming up! You all have a great week as well!

Make sure you cherish the little moments because they become your memories :)

With a pinch of love,

Lil'Chef