Why vacations are never long enough...

(Praise the Lord for surge protectors and draft autosave, since lightning struck and the computer refused to power on...but it's all good! :-)

Once upon a 12-year-old time, I responded to a pen pal request, and a couple years later, entered into a friend's chat conference. Vwwwolla, and praise the Lord, I was blessed with two of the few ladies that have stuck amidst the many pen pals I've had. It was worked out with Grace, Frequent Flyer Miles, and lotsa gasoline that I got to spend 8 days with LeAnna and 4 days with Jen! :-)

Tuesday before last, I flew to LeAnna's adorable little Flower's house. We stuck with tradition and went to the thrift store with her Mom, brother and sister--it was moi fun! I got 3 pairs of capris, a Pasta Express, 2 boxes of blank notecards, and a computer game (I think that was all?) without spending over $15. Yay for bargains! Then we were just resting and hanging out with her husband Brandon (who nearly sent me to Jen's alone for fear of not being able to survive four days without his darling wife) until we left for Jen's on Thursday morning. :-) Brandon is a hoot! And don't you dare tell him he can't watch Nashville Star because it's suppertime, he'll throw one hilarious 30-year-old (did I mention that?) fit. I STILL laugh when I remember that!

We got on the road at about 8:30 Thursday morning, with our many belongings, gifts, Laffy Taffy, and a couple Audio books to pass the next eight hours. We did amazingly well chatting the whole way for the first four hours without a dull moment in between topics. Once we hit humdrum West Texas/New Mexico territory, we think it would be a good time to pop in Beverly Lewis' The Preacher's Daughter to get the landscape to pass quicker. However, we didn't get through the first disc, cracked up that the lady did the man's voice unconvincingly, and the presumed thirty minutes (?) we listened for felt like two hours. Since that simply would not do, we turned it off and talked the rest of the way (save for about an hour LeAnna slept and I blared Josh Groban).

Once we arrived at Jen's, we jumped right out to hug each other's necks, meet Jen's husband John, and tour their adorable little ranch house. Do we think to kill two birds with one stone and go ahead taking our things in with us? Oh no. Even though later, all three of us were kicking ourselves since we thought about it but went forward touring the aforementioned adorable ranch house. Poor LeAnna locks the keys in the Volvo, along with everything but the clothes on our back. *gasp* I think I had my cellphone--but money? Tooth paste? CAMERA?! *bigger gasp* The Good Lord provideth not an open Volvo dealership, but he provideth a heroic Hispanic locksmith to come to the rescue at 7:30 in the evening. We probably would have offered him supper for our joy, but LeAnna hugged him, tipped him, and we proceeded with vacation. :-)

Friday at Jen's (while John was already at the rodeo), we spent nearly all day in the kitchen making assorted nacho dips, raspberry lemonade, and two types of cookies for our evening fare. Hint: LeAnna and Jen are expecting. *And the world sighs with understanding as to why such a fare would cross our nutritiously conscious minds* That night, we watched fireworks from afar (haha, joke from Jen's brother Nathan to follow post), chatted about spiritual things/aliens/and random people coming upon a little ranch house occupied by three unsuspecting ladies. Note: Any man of consequence to us is at this aforesaid rodeo. To be perfectly honest, I hadn't been nervous. But I told a creepy story before bedtime that night, and my dear friends were officially "nervous".

Saturday (we made it through the night), we arose early for a 2-hour drive to the Ranch Rodeo. It was an all-day ordeal, and poor LeAnna was exhausted, but it was loads of fun. We went shopping in Ruidoso, and ate at this nifty wrap cafe. At the rodeo, we visited with Jen's family and friends, RanchWife and Cottonpicker included, and watched her husband/brother/cousin participate in the rodeo. However it made me feel old, and sorry so much time had passed, it was so good to see everyone. :-)

Sunday was spent relaxing with Jen's family where RanchWife made wonderful dinner of hearty-nutritious-stick-to-your-ribs-unpregnant kinda things. :-) LeAnna's tummy was quite thankful, and Jen's was happy to second the thankfulness. It was rather sad without Taylor and Sara, they were sorely missed. We got Nathan's Sea Monkey aquarium set up (Mama, did you feed them today?), went swimming, and returned home. That night, Jen and I threw LeAnna a surprise mini-baby shower, which was lotsa fun.

Monday morning, we grabbed some coffee with Jen, took some pictures, said goodbyes (which I, Jen, did fairly well not to cry...no really I DID...do well), and hit the road again. The next eight hours of talking, a Bible study, and sleeping found us back at Brandon and Banana's. We spent my last night at her Mom and Dad's for her birthday supper, and had another wonderful time. It was good to hangout with Rachel and Zach (with whom we planted another growing Sea Monkey Home), feed Brandon's friendly cows, see her grandparents, and visit with her sweet Mom.

This post is long already, I could go on about how we three ladies (and Brandon on cellphone) fixed a water pump, how I was mistaken by a 16-year-old as schoolage and possibly eligable (then I interrogated him as to how to pursue a young lady), I left my cellphone at LeAnna's after we manuevered through construction, and how we zoomed back to get it. Then how my bags were checked in late, and there was a possiblility they wouldn't make it home with me. AND how they were so confusing, I could have either boarded the wrong flight, or missed mine altogether. But I'm home, that's what is important. It was really good for me, and I'm sooo thankful it worked out. I'm not going to wait 2-4 years to see these gals again. :-)

I have news to share about our Youth Group and the Mexico mission trip--but I will save them for next time. Thank you for all the prayers and messages I came home to! May the Lord bless your weekend...

Glad to be home, and thankful for dear friends (and adopted family!),

Jen

A joke from Nathan--

Why did the wise men have ashes on their feet?

'Cause they came from afar.

(say it with a Texan accent, then you'll get it) *hi-five to Nathan!*