sunny with a high of 75//

If it wasn't obvious from my last few blogs... I just spent two weeks visiting the state of Alabama. It was my second trip there, and WOW. August is definately different from March!!! I felt the heat when I stepped out of the Birmingham Airport, I was reassured that I was no longer in Washington. Of course... at 11PM it is not completely scorching, but it was still much hotter than any night I was used to at home. The following weeks would be a huge difference for sure.



I have never known anyone that moved 3000 miles away. Not friends. Not family. Kind of crazy, but its true. Anyway, I expected something to be different when we talked to David at the airport. Or when we saw Farah the next morning, but it wasn't. It was like they still lived 2 minutes away, and I had seen them just a day ago. Of course a couple of months apart is not a long time, but when you are used to seeing someone every Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday [and usually sometimes in between], it is a big difference.



Anyways, when I went to bed the first night, I could hardly sleep knowing I would get to see Farah and the boys in the morning. I am pretty sure I woke up at 7:30AM [for me it would have felt like 5:30AM], and sat on the couch waiting for Farah to pull up in the driveway. It seemed like days... but finally she pulled up and we met her at the door. We hugged and everything, said how much we missed her, and then headed for their house. Now Dax, I am pretty sure he was as excited to see us as we were to see him. He never stopped talking for the first hour we were there [I guess he was making up for all the times he was put on the phone to talk to me and just said "ummmm"].



After the first day, the rest of the week somewhat blurred together. We hung out with Bryan and Karen one night, went swimming in Shea's pool, babysat Corey and Emily, answered phones at the office, went to Wednesday night church with Matthew, and had about a million different options* of what to do each evening. Saturday came up way too fast, and Amanda had to head back to Washington. We took her to the airport and comforted our sadness abotu her leaving by going to the movies with Matthew and a bunch of his friends. :] Later we pondered ideas of what to do while sitting outside an ice cream shop and, after a long and much later talked about conversation with some guys we met, decided on driving to the houe of crosses. It is a creepy place [their equivelent to our Camp One Road] that has thousands of crosses all spread out across one man's lawn. Also there are creepy signs and stuff. Just weirdness. [[*Options were basically a big part of every day. We had a hard time deciding on what to do, where to go, and where to eat. Of course Matthew always gave us 15 options, which made the decision even harder.]]



Something I really enjoyed about our trip was being able to go to other churches. Sunday morning we visited Journey... a church that is a lot like Riverchase in the sense that they are a very new church, without a building of their own, and they even have donuts and coffee. :] The pastor was really cool, but I really missed our music. Journey had a lot of cool ideas that we could totally borrow. That night we went to Mt. Hebron, which was a lot more traditional. They had a church building, with pews and all that stuff. They also had a sweet youth house that is used for youth events and bible study and all that cool stuff. Although they made fun of me for the way I say bag, and for calling what you shoot a basketball into a hoop, the kids there were pretty cool. And the youth pastor, a friend of David's, was pretty awesome as well.



I'd have to say that my favorite thing about being in Alabama is Auburn. The way so many people talk about it with such a passion is awesome. In March David showed us around, and this time it was Farah's turn. Being on the campus again made me want even more to go there for college next year. I recognized the exit off the interstate, and I was suddenly in a better mood [not that I was in a bad one before]. We parked at the BCM, and got lemonade at Toomer's corner. Farah showed us around and told us a lot of stories. It was great, and even better, we went back a second time. This time it was for a concert that the band mentioned in the title was performing at. I think that day was the hottest I remember. The band played outside of a church in the parking lot, and the sun was just going down. It was GREAT to be able to go inside the second they finished playing.



One day, Katy and I made a huge mistake. We were at Shea's and were extremely bored, so we decided to WALK to the Isbell office. Now, its like going from Village Green to Safeway. But it was a million degrees outside. By the time we walked into the office to see Karen at the front desk, I thought I was going to literally die. Of course I didn't [or I wouldn't be here], but it was just too hot. It was then that Matthew decided to borrow David's jeep, and allow us to use his car for the rest of our time there [YESSSS. I was so happy!!!!!!!!]. Considering that even when I was back at home, I hadn't driven in a couple weeks because my piece of crap car broke down. Being able to drive places gave us a little bit more freedom. Although we had no place to drive... the freedom to go SOMEWHERE was still there.



The last two days of our trip were probably the most amazing. Or maybe it is just that I can remember them more vividly than the rest. ANYWAY... Six Flags. I have only been to California once. Never been to Disney Land. Never even been on a plane before going to Alabama. The closest thing to Six Flags the the TWO wooden roller coasters that are located at Silverwood in Idaho. You can only imagine how excited I was to get into Atlanta on Sunday morning. We woke up at 5:30AM, and drove most of the morning. I know that God made us go on Sunday for a reason... and that reason: THE WEATHER. It was cool. Yes cool. Not even a bit humid, and the crowds... well they were almost non existent. As I said in my other blog, we rode every roller coaster except one, most of us lost our voices from screaming. It was awesome. Extremely awesome. Monday, although we didn't ride roller coasters or anything, was equally awesome. Spending the entire day with Farah, shopping and all that fun stuff, was amazing. I was os glad to just be able to spend time with her. We went to one mall for Cole to get pictures taken [they were so CUTE!!], then drove through Auurn of Montgomery's campus [another possible college oppertunity], and went to my favorite mall East Chase.



I thought Tuesday would be a lot harder than it actually was. I was sad to be leaving the Isbells. ALL of them, David Farah Bryan Karen Dax Cole Shea Matthew... and the Isbell parents [who we only saw a few times]. But I was also excited to see my family. And friends. And sleep in my own bed, not a futon, and not with Katy [no offence Katy, I loveeee you]. The flight home seemed like it took 7 billion hours, and what do you know, the airline even left my luggage back in Alabama. Thanks Delta :]. My parents and Amanda picked me up, and we drove back to good old Orting, WA. I sadly brushed my teeth without Matthew and Katy, and went to bed in MY bed :]. My luggage was brought to my front door at 9AM, and I concluded my one big summer trip!!!



Now its off to Natural Helpers camp tomorrow morning at 7AM :].