Trip Part 1- North Carolina

The night before we left for the trip we discovered an error in our checkbook. You see, months ago Zach took over the bills (although I still try to balance the checkbook). Well, he had taken out more than he should have for our mortgage two months in a row so we had $900 extra!!! We barely had to use the credit card! God is so faithful (even in mistakes)!

I have taken so many pictures (400) that I decided to break our trip up into sections! I got to meet Christine on the way to Goldsboro and that was a delight. Our husband's had fun talking about guns, we had fun talking about childbirth, children and homeschooling, and our children warmed up to one another and had fun playing. It was so neat to actually meet in person somebody I felt like I already knew, a sister in Christ.

We made it to Goldsboro and the time just flew by. We saw our old friends, the Bishop's, who we were stationed with in Minot. I remember life before we were pregnant and Diana and I talking about having a baby and then we both got pregnant around the same time! Princess talks about marrying Alex, Diana's firstborn. We went to our old church and got to see many familiar faces. They even had a picnic afterwards and we got to visit with people we normally wouldn't have seen on the trip. We also had CARE group (although it was a totally different group) at Beth's house. I got to get out alone with Beth and do some shopping at TARGET and Old Navy! We ate some of our favorite foods while there and we even discovered a couple of new places. We had a picnic where the kids could play and I could visit with all the ladies. Poor Daddy got stuck watching the kids alot, but he really didn't mind. Some of our friends have moved since we lived there so he didn't exactly have alot of people to hang out with. We drove by our old house and drove by all the new housing they're building. Don't forget the swimming in Beth's backyard or the dinner with some other friends. Afterwards we had went to the park downtown. When we lived there I never really ventured to that park...it seemed so creepy. But, we had fun (except for the Mexican guy staring our way).

We stayed in TLF and let's just say we didn't sleep well. It is the same setup as the one here and Zach had fears of roaches trying to open his mouth at night (happened when we moved here). There were weird creaks in the walls at night and our sleep was hard to come-by, but it was worth it. It was so good to see familiar faces and meet people's children (most of the ladies were pregnant, along with me, when we moved).

It was hard to leave and there were tears in my eyes as I said good-bye to friends. Even though my home is here, in Mississippi (for now), part of my heart is still in North Carolina with the friends I have there. I am thankful to Zach for taking me on this trip. It was like therapy for me after a long hard beginning of the year. I feel so refreshed. I am so thankful. I am blessed.