Lessons From the Road

1) My husband is an expert at eating sunflower seeds. Almost squirrel like he stored a hand full of seeds in his cheek, cracked, chewed and spit the shells into an empty Krystal box for hours at a time. After knowing this man for eight years I never knew he had this talent. He attempted to explain the seed eating process to me, but I'm just not that  coordinated. Along with lobster, shrimp and other nuts I just don't see the point of all of the effort it takes to get to a piece of meat or a nut so small.

His lovely "spit box"

2) Hotel hair dryers are not normal. No matter where you are. Even at the nicest hotels they still manage to frizz and fry. Don't get me wrong I never leave home without my own personal hairdryer but for some reason I always want to try that cute little convenient one mounted to the wall.

(Hotel Dryer)

(My Dryer)

3) Never trust a seagull. These birds are mean and they will poop on you. Just lying on the beach this one in particular would not leave me alone.

4) Take the scenic route every once in a while... we opted to drive A1A for 42 miles from St. Augustine Beach to Daytona Beach. It was beautiful.

5) People love to dance... No matter your race, ethnicity, age or where you're from in the world, We ALL just wanna dance!

6) The Florida Turnpike does not accept credit/debit cards. We should be receiving a bill for $3.00 plus a "small administrative fee" in the mail.

7) Dollar General- they exist in every state, city and town across this country. No matter where you are you are guaranteed to see at least one. Thankfully, we were not more than one mile from the nearest local Dollar General. The first place we could think to stop for a bag of rice as I accidentally dropped my IPhone in a leftover cup of Orange Fanta in Mike's truck. Luckily, only the top of my phone got wet but there was no sound from the ear piece. After four hours in the bag of rice it was miraculously recovered. Thanks Dollar General!

8) A little luck from the FL Lotto- Mike won $100 on a $20 scratch off ticket. I say "luck" but I am a firm believer in good karma.... 

The night before he won we were eating at a local seafood restaurant near our hotel.  An elderly couple were seated behind us that had us laughing the entire meal. We thought, this is going to be us one day! Mike instantly wanted to pay for their meal... until we found out that they were waiting on another couple and they already ordered multiple beers. The couple they were waiting on were late and they wanted to call them to see if they were on the way.  Mike jumped at the graciousness to let the man use his phone and asked the man "Do you know how to use an IPhone?" You could hear chuckles throughout the restaurant. Mike proceeded to dial the number for the gentleman who couldn't stop thanking us for our generosity. It never ceases to amaze me how giving my husband is and that he truely has a heart of gold. Despite us loosing Madison, I know that good things will happen to good people and that God has a bigger plan for us. 

9) Home Sweet Home. 

I had a ton of anxiety about coming home, it seemed like the past two weeks had been an escape from reality, they flew by so quickly. I didn't know how we would feel walking back into our home. We were pleasently greeted by beautiful flowers, a welcome home card and yummy treats from our neighbors, the McClung's. Mike's Mom and Jimmy were waiting inside for us to cook us a much needed home cooked meal of spaghetti. We were also overwhelmed by the stack of cards we received wishing us sympathy and condolences. We are forever thankful to each and every one who reached out to us and has kept us in their prayers. Our journey to healing is not over but the saying is so true.... 

"There's NO place like home"