On the Road Again...

Nik and I have covered many miles on the road this past week - Here is a recap of our adventures!

Nik had the privilege of being a District Sponsor for NYC (Nazarene Youth Conference) 2011, in Louisville, KY. He took 9 teens from our church. On Monday, July 4, they hopped on a Charter Bus with other youth groups from South Texas and drove to KY! The bus ride was long - but the Conference was unforgettable!

Over 6,000 youth and sponsors gathered for this event, which takes place every 4 years. They participated in service projects through out the city on the first day. Each evening they gathered for service in the KFC Yum Center. The speakers included Reggie Dabbs, Francis Chan, Chris Folmsbee, David Graves and some others.

Reggie Dabbs 

Francis Chan 

During the days they got to attend workshops, check out the exhibit hall (colleges were setup), and hang out with each other. They also attended 2 concerts: Toby Mac and David Crowder Band.

On Saturday they got a chance to go to the Louisville Slugger Museum. Nik took the picture below holding Mickey Mantle game-used bat!

Nik had such a great time. He was able to get to know some other youth pastors and some teens on this trip. Our teen group came back spiritually renewed and with a stronger passion for seeing other teens come to know Christ!

This weekend I hope to help Nik work on a photo book - which will be a great way to capture (and remember) the memories!

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While Nik was gone, I went home to Roswell, NM, to see my family! It had been a long time and I am so glad I was able to go. My trip was very relaxed. The only plans I had were to see my family; visit with a few friends; play some games; and eat something with Green Chile in it. Plans accomplished! 

My Family:

My mother - she just won in a game of scrabble!

 Scotty - he just won in a game of marbles!

My sister, me and my nephew - out at lunch on Friday.

Me and my nephew - while he was helping me win at Sequence!

I also saw one of my aunts - but I forgot to take a picture! I love my family and had so much fun with them!

My Friends:

On Friday night, some friends of mine, Jason and Heather, dropped by to see me! It had been a couple of years since I have seen them. Jason and I have been friends since Middle School and Heather and I since High School. We go way back....lots of memories with those two! Ha! It was good to actually see them instead of just texting and emailing! I am so bummed I did not get any pictures with them. It was kind of late, and I was pretty tired. That's my excuse.

While in New Mexico, I also drove to Ruidoso, where I lived prior to moving to Temple. I went to church and was able to see so many people! I love them all and think of them often. I did not take pictures while there (except the 2 below) because I was too busy just enjoying seeing everybody!

Me with a long-time friend, Dallas, his wife and kid.

Crazy Story - Dallas moved to Washington a long time ago (at least 5 years ago - maybe more). He got married, settled down and they had a baby. I have only seen them once since he left Ruidoso. When I arrived there on Sunday I saw Dallas' aunt and she told me they were in town! Crazy. While sitting in church, I spotted them and left service (don't judge me for skipping out on part of church - Ha!) to see them. They were hanging out in the back so we took a little walk and caught up with each other. They ended up having to leave shortly after - so I took a quick picture, said good-bye and went back to church! It was good to see them!

After church a few of us went to eat at my ALL TIME FAVORITE HAMBURGER PLACE, Hall of Flame. They seriously have THE. BEST. BACON CHEESEBURGER. EVER! It was a fun lunch catching up with a few of my favorite people there (I am bummed I didn't take any pics)! After everyone else left, Kaylee and I sat outside and visited for awhile. It was so good to spend some one-on-one time with her!

Me and Kaylee

Playing some Games:

Oh, I do I love to play games! I'm so glad my family does too! We spent many hours at the kitchen table playing games, laughing and just hanging out.

Playing some Skip-Bo!

Scrabble - we only played one game because my mom crushed everyone!

Marbles - our favorite game! It's basically like the game Aggravation. But sooo fun!

Sequence - this has to be second favorite!

I stayed up a little too late every night, trying to win! I was not always successful...! But it was fun trying!

Eating some Green Chile:

I love green chile. I always took it for granted because it was always around. Now - I savor it! On my way back to Texas, I stopped at another burrito shop and ordered a green chile, sausage, egg and cheese breakfast burrito!

This is a yummy smothered burrito I had Friday at lunch. So good!

All-in-all it was a wonderful trip! I was able to do everything I wanted and most important, spend some great quality time with the fam. I love you guys!

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I sure did miss Nik while he was gone. He was gone longer than usual, and because of the time difference, the busy schedule and the responsibilities he had...we did not get to talk much. Some days we did not talk at all, and on the days we did talk - it was always under 10 minutes! So, needless to say, I'm happy to be back in the same time zone, state, city, and house as my cutie husband!

I'm looking forward to this weekend so we can hang out and catch up!