A Couple More Friendtastic Days

Hey there, friend who feels panicky about the last few days before Christmas! Good news! We have a new set of stories to keep you company while you shop/wrap/bake/clean/freak out!

Listen here!

So....two weeks ago today we were leaving the beauty of the beach. You may be unclear about our feelings on that:

This was a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng day of travel for us. We had to drive across the width of Florida and then all the way up the opposite coast and into Georgia. Here are some highlights from the road:

Orlando? NOT the happiest place on earth. I sincerely did not think we were going to make it through the construction. My SOUL!! It was insane. I pretty much just held onto my handle with my eyes shut and my face threatening to freeze in disgusting contortions. Praise the Lord (seriously!) and thank you Ryan for getting us through that safely.

This was much happier.

Car games!!!

Our plan that night was to stay with my friend Jill, who worked with me at WBCL. She moved away, got married, and I hadn't seen her in years. But she and her husband graciously opened up their home for us to stay with them that night.

We were bone weary when we got there, and Jill and Gary weren't home yet. They were leading a Bible study, but they let us come on in and rest. What a heavenly sight:

We were hungry and we'd never eaten at a Zaxby's, so we decided to try it. Salads for both of us, but I have to say I think it was one of the best fast food salads I'd ever had. Flavorful!!

We brought our salads back to Gary and Jill's to eat there and watch TV. Then they arrived home and we got to talk with them a bit before going to sleep!

Early the next morning, we headed out for our continued adventure!

Ryan has a good friend named Nate that he went to PTA school with. After Ryan and I were married, we discovered Nate and Jenna attended the same church we started going to. The four of us became friends, and they were one of our favorite couple-friends to hang out with! Then, right about the time we moved to Kokomo, Nate and Jenna moved to North Carolina. We miss them! Ryan wanted to see them while were out, so they were our final stop on our Friendtastic Fifth Anniversary Adventure.

We arrived at their house mid-afternoon on Wednesday. Nate was at work, so we hung out with Jenna, the kids, and the dogs for the afternoon. (And we had our own little room there that was so cozy!)

That evening, they decided to take us to one of their favorite restaurants, which was in Durham, North Carolina. It's called Tyler's Taproom, and it has some of the best garlic fries on the planet. (Although I enjoyed them for several days after, so if you don't like garlic with staying power, don't get them. LOL!)

Dinner really was quite delicious, and it was fun to meet up with Nate (he met us there after work) and be together as a whole friend group again!

 (She's watching a video while she eats.)

The kids were so tired, so after we ate, Jenna took them home to put them to bed, and Nate took Ryan and I around the little area where the restaurant was located. It's really neat. It's an old train depot area and has these great waterfalls and other features.

 Yes. Those are bikes.

 Nate had some 3D glasses that turned Christmas lights into trees and snowflakes, and we had fun looking through them.

On the way home, we stopped for coffee at this little shop. It wasn't our favorite coffee of the trip, but it was a very interesting little shop!

And so you can see the whole group together at once, here we are: