just beachy :)

1 week ,2 girls and 14 hour drive later, I am back home from Florida! Wow, what a blur! A much needed vacation with my best friend landed us around Ocala, Florida by ourselves in a trailer owned by her grandparents. It most definitely ranks up with one of the best vacations I’ve had.

The drive down was spent mostly singing loudly…everything from bluegrass to hip-hop, country to southern gospel. And we achieved one of our goal – to learn all the “rap” to Jason Aldean’s “Dirt Road Anthem” (it’s a country song for those of you who don’t know…awesome song at that). People watching and car dancing were also included.

Spending two days at Daytona Beach was a blast, especially enjoying the boardwalk at night and the fireworks on the beach. We even saw a man escape 2 straight jackets and two chains while hanging about 20 feet in the air upside down! (let’s hope he didn’t learn that in prison ;)) We also spent a day in St. Augustine seeing the sights, and chasing crabs on the beach that night- or were the crabs chasing us..hm..

My best friend’s boyfriend lives down in Florida, so he was able to spend a good bit of his time with us as well, so the three of us had a very good time! Even though us girls got sunburned, I still escaped with a tan! Yay me!

Standing on the beach really made me think at one point in time…look at the vast ocean, and the grains of sand. Really look at them. God created all of it…and he knows the number of grains of sand. That’s mind blowing, breath taking, makes you speechless. Think about all the creatures (ok, maybe lets not think too much about the things I was swimming with) that are in the ocean…and think about their creator. Think about mine and YOUR creator. I serve an awesome God, and I’m so thankful my risen Savior reached his hand down for me- a lowly speck of dirt in the midst of amazing beauty.

The trip to St. Augustine was another moment that made me realize my blessings. Standing in the Basilica and seeing the many candles lit by others made me think about what an empty religion Catholicism is. Now you may be catholic reading this and be offended, but I make no apologies. I serve a savior who doesn’t ask me to pay $3 or $5 (yes, there really WAS a sign that said $3 & $5 for candles) to send prayers to heaven. Goodness, if I lit a candle for every person and thing I pray for, that whole church would be on fire and my bank account would be in the red. I don’t need the bishop or pope (or whoever it is) to make intercession for me, I have Jesus for that. Romans 8:34 takes care of that. My spot in heaven is secured and guaranteed, I don’t need to second guess it or have doubts about it. I was overcome with such sadness while standing in front of the man made beauty of the Cathedral for all the souls lost in such a false religion. It’s heartbreaking.

Other things I learned on the trip:

- Spending $60 on a week's worth of groceries at Walmart is really satisfying

- Eyelids really hurt when they are sunburned...and trust me when I say really hurt.

-Sunburn can cause swelling...and its not a good thing when it's your face.

- It's a little weird not having your parents around while on a vacation...especially your mothers to double check that you're doing things right

- I (well, we) can cook very well..and it was scrumptious!

- people...will always be incredibly strange.

- necessity truly is the mother of invention...especially when it comes to changing out of a wet bathing suit. a trail behind a bunch of mangrove trees does, in fact, suffice. (until a group of young boys start running around....)

- When you live with your bestfriend...privacy doing anything becomes a thing of the past... ha.

-Late nights (or early mornings, whichever) create very interesting conversations.

- mini frogs and lizards are fun to play with..

- I really talk to myself too much while driving... (not the creepy kind..but the 'talk-to-others-and-tell-em-what-you-think' kind of talking)

-reading tweets from twitter can help pass time

-PostSecret books. Enough said.

-old people on golfcarts, (or shopping carts for that matter) can be dangerous, yet hilarious.

-while walking the beach at night...you really DO need a flashlight, or you might meet a crab that becomes rather crabby, fast.. juuusss sayin.