Girl Time – J.I.L.L.

Vero Beach, FL

We made it!!!

8+ hours and we’re finally in Vero Beach, FL! We had another leisurely start to the day, especially because of turning the clocks back.

Our first stop was at Buc-ees. Holy crap. What an experience. Steve told us we should stop there if possible – that it’s like a Cracker Barrel combined with a Sheetz on steroids – and boy was he right! It was an experience in and of itself.

It was another lovely day for a drive. Traffic was okay most of the time. Waze took us another way than we had planned, saying it was 24 minutes shorter, and it worked out okay. I’ve learned to trust Waze. It’s a pretty great app. About an hour after I told BA people don’t really abuse the app to put incorrect alerts out, we started getting a bunch of nonsense alerts. Oh well…

We tried stopping at Cracker Barrel. Waited 20 minutes for a table. Then, after about 3 minutes at the table, we decided to leave. It was super busy, one table near us was complaining to the manager, and another table near us was sitting waiting for their waitress (and had been seated ten minutes before us). Although it was a shame to waste half an hour, we were glad we left and didn’t waste any more time.

Three and a half hours later, we made it to Vero and clinked our glasses:)

We had a nice (and crazy) dinner with family and now we’re settling in at my mom’s place. She and BA are getting along swimmingly:)

Plans for tomorrow… mimosas and the beach!!!

Bristol, Virginia

Well, we are on our way! We left Pennsylvania today and crossed through Maryland (very briefly) and West Virginia to land in Bristol, Virginia. Fun fact, Bristol is on the state line so half of it is in Virginia and the other half is in Tennessee.

What a beautiful day for a drive! It was sunny with happy clouds and the trees in lovely fall colors. We listened to 70’s Light Rock on Pandora. Traffic was relatively light and although BA used the holy sh!t handle a few times and offered to flip somebody off, there were no serious curse words, no true a-holes on the road, and my driving was solid.

We started off only a smidge rough. We had to return for some forgotten snacks, forgot to ask someone to take a picture of us, and forgot to take a picture of the car. Fortunately, it only took a few moments for us to realize this. So we stopped on a random street in Palmyra to snap a selfie. There was a light up goat decoration in the yard where we stopped. Seemed perfect!

The quote of the day: “You see, there’s a lot of stuff I don’t know” (courtesy of BA) and followed up later by the caveat, “but I do know hot buns.” We had delicious hot buns, Cesar salad, steaks, and sweet potatoes at Texas Road House. Can you guess whose drink is who’s?

Now we’re settling into our room to get a good night’s sleep. Good night! Thank you for the prayers and well wishes! I’ll share more tomorrow!

Good friends

Good friends tell you the truth. They don’t just tell you what you want to hear. And when I say the truth, I’m not talking about things like telling you when you have something in your teeth. Although any friend should do that!

I’m talking about telling you the truth by asking you the tough questions and challenging your perspective. Your friendship exists in a judgement-free space where you’re able to be fully vulnerable with each other, knowing that no matter what, you’ll always be there for each other.

I am blessed with lots of great good friends. I love spending time with them. I love sharing laughs. And I’m extra grateful for them when we need to share tears.

Be sure to be that good friend in return. Tell them the truth. And tell them how much you appreciate them, if you haven’t done that in a little while.

The Big Move is Almost Here

I am going to start posting updates on my journey to a new state and a new life.

Including today, I have only five days left at work. And, one week from tomorrow, I hit the road to FL. I still can’t believe I’m actually doing this. I am super excited yet super sad, and can switch between those emotions from one moment to the next.

Between now and next Thursday, I need to figure out exactly how much stuff I can fit in my car, so I can decide exactly what will go with me now and what will go into storage with all my furniture and other home goods. One of the many lessons I have learned so far through this process is the importance of letting go of material things. What do I really need versus what do I just want?

Regardless of what you call it – decluttering, simplifying, organizing, minimalism, essentialism, etc. – I highly recommend you look into purging some material clutter from your life. The process of sorting through all my belongings has given me a sense of freedom I did not anticipate. It makes me think of the movie Labyrinth, where one character literally carried on her back all of the belongings she cherished. This kept her from going out and experiencing life. Scary metaphor, huh?

Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
     ~Matthew 6:33, NLT

I also need to figure out the actual route I will drive to FL. My good friend and former secretary, Betty Anne (BA), is making the trek with me. We are going to make a fun trip of it, stopping at several places along the way. Many people are likening us to Thelma and Louise. I hope we don’t get into nearly as much trouble as those ladies; however, I hope that, thanks to BA’s company, this drive to FL will be an adventure in and of itself!

“Well, we’re not in the middle of nowhere, but we can see it from here.” ~Louise Sawyer, ‘Thelma And Louise’