And having a high priest over the house of God; let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not foresaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much more, as ye see the day approaching.This bit of scripture is a reminder to always look to God for guidance despite not knowing what my future holds. It encourages me to keep a full heart especially in times of want or need, to not give up on the Lord, and to continue to love others as I wish to be loved. I'm sure I've read this scripture in the past, but it didn't mean as much to me as it did a week and a half ago. It is one of the best pieces of scripture I've read to date.
Easter 2012 has probably been my favorite Easter of the previous 26. Tom and I were fortunate enough to be able to visit my parents and grandmother in California for Easter weekend! While the weekend was busy, it was so full of love and happiness, fun and entertainment. As always, it was fantastic to spend so much time with my parents and grandma! Other than a slight fiasco at LAX (L.A.'s international airport), travelling was a piece of cake! The trip was WAY too short though!
We flew in late Thursday after a full work day. We were up at 430 AM EST- Tom to work and me to the gym for a morning run. We worked all day. I got off work a little early to take Max to the PetSmart Pet Hotel to be boarded for the weekend (this made me very sad as it was his first boarding experience and I didn't want him to think I was leaving him indefinitely) then Tom and I ate a quick dinner (thank you, Panera) then were en route to Peachy Parking to park our car and catch our shuttle to the airport! Airports are always a great source of entertainment to me- I LOVE to people watch and the mix at any airport is always great to look at!! Upon getting settled, Tom and I were cruising at 30,000+ ft and on our way to California! Upon landing in LA at approximately 930 PM PDT (1230 AM EST), we found my parents and set off for their small farming community, Visalia. We got to my parents' house around 2 AM PDT (5 AM EST) and crashed. We'd been up for 24+ hours and needed sleep. Thanks to our lovely time zone change, Tom and I were awake before 730 AM PDT each day we were there and were not able to adjust to the time change, regardless of what time we fell asleep.
The days to follow were busy, busy, busy for me, not as much for Tom. Friday morning, we went to brunch at my absolute FAVE place to go- Valhalla's, a quaint Dutch restaurant that serves my favorite breakfast item ever- aebleskivers. If you have not tried them, you need to!! After brunch, mom and I ran errands (Tom did not wish to join) then we all went to the Good Friday service, followed by dinner at my parents' country club. Saturday, Tom and I went for a run. Tom made me VERY proud as he did a 4+ mi run (I ran a little bit ahead throughout our run and reached my 5 mi minimum). My mom somehow managed to schedule a hair appointment with me with the one and ONLY person I trust to do ANYTHING with my hair without hesitation and on this trip, I got balayage highlights (similar to ombre highlighting)- see Easter pics below. We did a little bit of running around, then had a nice family dinner. Sunday, we went to the Easter church service, had brunch at a family friends' house, then off we were to LA to catch our red eye flight back to Atlanta...
This started our somewhat dramatic return to Atlanta. After my parents dropped us off at the airport, Tom and I checked in (no baggage thank goodness as we got everything in carry-on's). We got through security and were about to settle into a booth to grab a quick bite to eat when Tom threw his boarding pass on the table. I then realized that Delta had switched our seats and moved us to opposite sides of the plan, me in 36B, Tom in 41F. To say we were upset is an understatement- I was VERY upset as I selected our "companion" seats at booking. Without hesitation, we go straight to the gate agent who proceeded to tell us there was nothing they could do until 30 minutes before departure which is AFTER the boarding process begins. He elected to tell us that they can't change seats of the passengers who have not yet checked in to which I reminded him that they changed OUR seats prior to check-in and without notification nor did the ticketing agent question our seat assignments prior to printing our boarding passes. He looked at me with a face of confusion and could not offer anything other than, "Come back 30 minutes prior to departure." I was fuming by this point. I did not want to sit next to a stranger. On a red eye flight. Trying to get a few hours of sleep before the workday that lay ahead. After eating dinner and waiting then waiting some more (we arrived to LAX around 830 PM and our flight wasn't due to leave until 1145 PM), the gate agent let us know they were able to switch our seats so that we could now fly home together- thank you for FIXING the problem you created in the first place! Neither agent was very pleasant and the lady rolled her eyes at me at one point (I made Delta aware of this in my post-flight survey). Neither Tom nor myself felt like we had been treated very well prior to boarding our flight. At that point though, we brushed it off, boarded the plane, got situated in our seats and did our pre-flight routine- I powered up my newly-purchased Kindle Fire (which I am in LOVE with) to read until the cabin door was closed, Tom fired up his iPod to listen to music. Mr. Pilot then proceeded to tell us our flight was going to be leaving late- awesome. We pushed back from the gate about half hour behind schedule. Once airborne, Tom and I attempted to sleep, waking up every half hour or so, but somehow managed to get a few hours sleep. Upon landing, we got to our car where Ms. Exit-Gate-Attendant let us know that the special under which I'd booked our parking reservations was no longer valid (it was for FREE parking and now we had to pay) so we settled up with them and left in a hurry to pick up Max before going to work (I was already late and let my boss know so in lieu of leaving work on a lunch break, I didn't take a lunch and I picked up Max prior to work). Upon arriving at PetSmart, they brought little Maxwell to me and he was THE happiest camper on the planet- he jumped straight up for me to pick him up and was the most excited I'd ever seen him. After our hasty hello, it was time to pay, only to find out our debit cards weren't working and I didn't have the checkbook. Let's just add to the Morning of Drama! Tom and I went to the bank, got cash from the teller, went BACK to PetSmart, got Max home, changed clothes for work, I took Tom to work, finally got to work at 10 AM, 2 hours after my expected arrival. All in all, the night and morning were a tad stressful, but we got home safely and got our crazy pup and that's all I could really ask for despite being a walking zombie suffering from major sleep deprivation and moodiness. Needless to say, we went to bed at a decent hour that night.
Despite our hectic return to Atlanta, we had a fabulous weekend in Visalia with the parents and grandma and I am itching to go back as soon as we can! I miss my parents more each time we go our separate ways. They really are the best parents I could have ever asked for. They gave me a great foundation of moral character and instilled a sense of pride in myself. They raised my brother and me very well and continue to be loving and supporting in any way possible. They are absolutely wonderful and I could not imagine life without them!
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| Hubs and me |
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| Three generations of women- so special! |
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| Tom and me with Grammie |
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| Mis padres and me |
xoxoxo
Britt!
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