What I Did Last Week

 Happy Tuesday, friends! A few weeks ago, a friend approached me at church one Sunday and asked if she thought I'd be able to come (along with the writing team) to her house at the beach for a few days. It wasn't planned and was a last minute decision, but my husband encouraged me to go, even if I was the only one able to go. There were four more of us that were invited, but it ended with two of us who were able to go and spend the week there. So, on Sunday morning last week, I picked up my friend Barbee and we took off to Destin. 

Eight hours and several Sonic stops later, we arrived at Dedee's house! The traffic wasn't bad at all because it was a Sunday and we ended up getting a late snack for dinner before we made the final thirty minute drive. We had fun even just traveling and talked about all the things. Barbee loves her sweet tea like I love coffee and books. We unloaded and went in to settle in for the night. Dedee showed us around, we sat and chatted, then we all went to bed.

I loved my room for the week!

I love that heart shaped throw pillow—if you know me at all, you know I have a thing for hearts. This is the only picture I am sharing from her house. I never feel right about sharing things like that because it isn't mine to share about, but I feel safe with this one picture. Also, the bed and the bedding were so comfy! I slept like a rock all week long.

Everyday we kind of did the same thing—we would get up and drink our beverages of choice (coffee/water/tea sweetened with truvia and garnished with mint), eat our breakfast (I had a protein drink everyday and brought mine from home), then get dressed to go sit on the beach. The first couple of days it was rainy and the ocean was angry, but by the end of the week it had settled back down and the water turned turquoise.

We would sit out there under an umbrella and talk, then we would go in for lunch. We would snack for lunch and then go back out, them to the beach and I went to the pool. Here's the thing about me—I love to gaze at the ocean, but I don't swim in it. I get really hot and want to swim, which is why I almost always end up at the pool and spend more time there. It wasn't a hardship to be alone, I had my Kindle to keep me company and I was able to actually stand in the pool and read it while I floated. 

I would do that for a bit, then I'd go back to her house and shower and read while I waited for my hair to dry. I fell asleep every time I did that, which is really nice.

They would come back and shower and then we would go to dinner at four. In Destin, if you want to eat before ten o'clock at night, you go to the restaurants early early. We ate so good while we were there! I had seafood the first night—bacon wrapped shrimp that was stuffed with crab, Mexican the second night, a late lunch and yummy desert on the third day and McGuire's pub on our last night, where I ate the best steak I've eaten in ages. We also had the most amazing homemade tortilla chips and spinach artichoke dip at McGuire's and I was so full that I was almost TOO full. I was determined to finish my steak, though and I did.

One night after dinner, we drove around to look at houses that were on our way to the restaurants. I loved doing that and loved the ones that were close to the beach and also on the bay area where all the boats set off from. 

The flowers we saw at the homes we drove around looking at were gorgeous! Some of the homes had turf for grass, which is brilliant, in my humble opinion. 

We stayed up talking late every night and we never once ran out of things to talk about. Imagine that! It was really nice getting away to a beautiful place with godly friends for a few days, but we missed the other two ladies who couldn't join us. Hopefully we'll get to try a getaway again with all of us there at once, even though that's yet to happen. We're all in different stages in life, so it's just a busy time for all of us and it's hard to get us all at the same place at one time. 

Funny story about this picture right above—even at four o'clock in the afternoon, McGuire's was packed and we ate upstairs and outside. We were all fine with this and at times there was a great breeze blowing off the water, but when mine and Dedee's steaks came on a sizzling iron plate, the surface of our table heated up a good fifteen degrees! We were basically dying by the time we left and the whole underside of my hair was soaking wet. Even with that, the food was great and it was worth the extra heat. 🤣

The sunsets were incredible! That sky was breathtaking. 

The food was fabulous and the memories we made while we sat at this table are priceless. The keylime pie I had there was so good I almost cried. 

On our last night, they did fireworks right there on the bay. It felt appropriate.

We got up early on Friday morning after loading the car and started the drive home. We made several stops, but our favorite was this market in Andalusia, Alabama.

It was so cute! We each walked away with treasures.

The laughter, the time we spent talking about the kings of the Old Testament in the Bible, the food, the fun, the weather, the time we spent praying together our last night—every bit of this was so precious to me. I will forever hold the memories we made together near and dear in my heart and I feel so very blessed to have had the opportunity to go away for a few days. It was the perfect amount of time! As much fun as we had together, there is never any place quite like home and I was so glad to see my people! 

Thanks for reading my blog, friends. Love to all.