Roadtrips!

So in the past couple of weeks I have gone on 2 amazing roadtrips. Two weeks ago, my Dad, brother, and I left Los Angeles en route to St. Louis. My brother had planned the whole trip...he even had random things for us to see each day! We had our maps, our music, and a tank full of gas. We were ready to set out on our 27 hour journey in which we would cover 1,845 miles of the US.

On our first night we stopped in Phoenix, AZ and stayed at my Uncle Scott's house. My cousin, Dylan, is in the army and he is being deployed to Afghanistan for a year---please keep him in your prayers! It was really great to spend time with family whom we haven't seen in quite awhile. The next day, we continued on to Santa Rosa, NM. We stopped for dinner at a restaurant that is famous for their green chile burgers---it was delicious! Night 3 was spent in Bristow, OK. We stayed with one of my brother's friends and her husband. We had dinner at a tiny barbecue place, and then watched the Oklahoma sunset from the back porch. While I could never imagine myself living in the country on acres and acres of land, I have to admit it was absolutely beautiful! The next day would be the last in our journey. We made it to St. Louis at about 9pm the next evening and checked into a hotel to call it a night. The next day and a half flew by! My amazing dad and brother helped my move all my stuff out of the storage unit and into my room---I don't know how I would have done it without them! Then we ended our day with a tour of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.

Our roadtrip was full of random stops including, but not limited to: Cadillac Ranch, The Devil's Rope Museum, an Indian Casino, and the Blue Bell Creamery! It was so wonderful to spend hours in the car with my dad and brother. We had some really incredible conversations that I will never forget. And of course, there was plenty of laughter and sub-par singing haha.

Last weekend, we had roadtrip #2! On Friday, Briana, Liz, and I packed our bags and headed to Chicago for Courtney's wedding!!! We spent the night at Liz's grandma's house, just outside the city. Saturday morning we got up super early and headed to the airport to pick up Nikki on our way to the wedding. We finally made it, and everything was beautiful! It was so much fun to see friends I hadn't seen in awhile, and to all be together again to celebrate such an awesome occasion. The wedding went off without a hitch. Courtney looked absolutely beautiful, and everything was perfect! Congratulations Courtney and Greg---we love you guys!

Saturday night, we all spent the night at Pat and Whitney's house! These two got married in May, but I missed the wedding because I was at camp. It was so much fun to be able to spend time together again---I feel like it's been forever!

Here's a picture of us at dinner on Saturday night:

Before I knew it, the weekend was over and it was time to leave. Nikki, Briana, Liz, and I packed the car and began our drive home, which turned out to be one of the best car rides I have ever experienced. It didn't take long before we started playing "the question game," Nikki's favorite. We spent the next 4 hours in the car asking all kinds of questions and learning even more about one another than we knew before. We even had our own affirmation circle, with plenty of tears of course :-) I seriously have the greatest friends ever, and I am constantly amazed at how blessed I am to have them in my life. The conversations we had and the time we spent together was incredible. I am so lucky to have such faith-filled and loving women in my life---I love you girls more than you know!

Thankful for long roadtrips, amazing conversations, and even better family and friends!

Marissa