ENCM Summit in Texas

So this past week Blake and I had the opportunity to go to Austin, Texas for our annual gathering of youth and campus missionaries.

We had a blast! First of all our lodging, food and registration this year was covered before we even got there, that was such a blessing to us. There were some great speakers too! Also, the week before we left I was talking to my sis-in-law, Ally D, about taking Isaac to Texas and she volunteered to keep him for us. . .for 5 days! Talk about a saint! She had 3 kids all under the age of 3 for 5 days! I know Isaac had a blast, if you want to see Ally blogged all the days on her blog, Dameron Girls.

We dropped Isaac off at 8:20 am on Tuesday morning and then headed to Durham for our flight at 1. Traveling was really fun because we were able to fly with a group of campus ministers from the Raleigh/Durham area. We flew on Southwest and it was great! I've flown over a dozen times and have never been on a flight that was as on time as they were the whole trip. I am definitely not a big fan of flying, mostly because I get motion sick. I've used my fair share of those little white bags in the seat pouches. :) There's one other thing about flying that boggles my mind. It is the fact that that many people and all their stuff can get onto a whole bunch of metal and it flys through the air at hundreds of miles an hour. It just doesn't make sense. Luckily, on the flight to Texas I had Laura Lever sitting beside me and she distracted me. You know Laura, she can talk to you about anything and everything! I really missed having her to talk to on the way home (she stayed longer to visit Brian and Lindsey) :)

This is our group from Greenville: (from left to right) Nick and Heather, Beaty and Carrie, Alan and Melissa, Blake and I, Kristen R., and Laura

Blake and I at Cantina Lorado in downtown Austin.

For our "date night" in Texas we went with a group to Cantina Lorado. It was a nice evening so we sat on the patio. I wish we could have walked around more downtown but I was super tired after dinner! I think it was like 10pm, I know, super late. I don't know if it was the time change or simply recovering from caring for a toddler but I was zonked at like 9:30 or 10 every night!

Wednesday evening after dinner we went to The Domain to walk around. It's a really nice area with lots of shops and restaurants. While walking around we found one of my favorite stores, Zara, so I finished off my birthday money there. That night we also found a place called Orange Cup, a very delicious frozen yogurt place. They only serve four flavors with a choice of different fruits or cereals. My favorite was the regular and acai berry. There was a pale green one called Glo that tasted a bit like face wash. I think that's just because I saw that "aloe" was one of the ingredients. That pretty much ruined that flavor for me. :)

Mmmmmm. . . . . . . .

This is the group from North Carolina. This is an awesome group of people!!! So blessed we got to hang out with them.

Saturday morning we hitched a ride with Nick and Heather, at 5am, in the swagger wagon to the airport. We had one stop in Nashville, TN and got back to RDU at 4. Then we headed to TD and Ally's house to pick up little man. He wasn't as excited as I'd hoped he be but that's okay! :) He babbled at us when he saw us and then ran over to Bella's swing set. ha ha When we left his sight he did wig out a little bit so that was reassuring that he really did miss us and liked that we were back. ;) He seemed so grown up! I think it's from hanging out with his older cousin all week!

Isaac driving while on the phone. . .think he's seen that before!? You like how he talks on the phone? He holds it on the back of his neck and talks! Like I said, He thinks he's grown!

We had a great time and the trip was a success. We learned a lot and got home safe!