Georgia's on my mind

Have you ever noticed that as you get older, your friends seem to scatter across the country?  Just a few years ago, the center of our world (literally) was Kansas City.  All of our friends were there, our church was there, our life was there.  Not so now.  Aside from the fact that we now reside in Austin, many of our friends have moved to various parts of the country.  We decided to visit a couple of these friends in Macon, GA and then realized that we knew three other couples in that vicinity, none of whom had met Juliet yet.  A roadtrip is born!

Dave with Juliet

On March 2, we flew into Greenville, SC.  I've never been to this part of the country before...it is so lovely!  There were rolling hills covered with blankets of green grass.  Trees were beginning to bloom lovely hues of white and pink.  The homes are built in true southern style with charm that is hard to deny.  When we arrived in Greenville, the sun was shining, and it was a gorgeous day!  We picked up our rented SUV (a necessity with all the baby gear) and headed for our friend, Shauna Douglass's house.  Shauna and I used to be roommates before I was married.  We met in college.  She got married in January of 2010, and since her hubby, David, lived in SC, she moved down there after their wedding.  We spent the day catching up with them.  Juliet had a rough day with all the travel, so naps and bedtime were especially stressful.  In spite of this, we enjoyed the fellowship of just sitting and talking with our friends.  Needless to say, we got a VERY good night's sleep after our long day of travel.  By 9:30am the following morning, we were ready to proceed.  I promised Shauna I wouldn't post a pic of her because when we took them, she had just gotten up in the morning, but I made no such promise to her husband! :)

Lem and Marge Morgan

After a delicious pancake breakfast, we said goodbye to Dave and Shauna and headed south toward Atlanta, the next stop on our tour of the south.  Just north and west of the city lives my dear friends, Lem and Marge Morgan.  Mr. Morgan was a professor of mine in college.  One day when I was a freshman, I came into his office to talk after receiving a D on one of his tests.  I totally broke down and started crying.  Poor guy...he had absolutely no idea what to do, but that was the beginning of a beautiful mentorship.  Over the next four years, I spent much time in his office, sharing my life and problems, and he wisely advised me and listened too.  After college, he and his wife retired to Atlanta.  I traveled out to visit them on several occasions.  When my hubby and I got engaged, I asked him to officiate our wedding.  Mr. Morgan is sort of an un-official grandfather to me.  I really wanted him to meet our sweet Juliet, so when we had the opportunity, we couldn't pass it up.  We arrived at their house around 12:30 in the afternoon and spent a relaxing day with them.  We visited and caught up, and then they took us to their favorite local Chinese restaurant for lunch.  It was really hard to say goodbye.  Since they are older, we never know when each visit will be our last, but we were very thankful for the time we had to spend with them, and that they were able to meet our baby girl.  That night, we stayed at a local hotel before heading to Macon, GA the next morning.

Yummy Cupcakes! 

Macon, GA was where our idea of a trip to Georgia began.  Our dear friends, Dave and Jen Diaz live there.  We were so excited to get there and spend four days with them.  Juliet was able to settle down a bit and have some normalcy as far as her routine.  While we were there, unfortunately the weather was not very nice. So we opted to spend a lot of time at home, playing canasta, eating, and just catching up and laughing together.  We also ate out a few times.  We found a local cupcake shop called, Hello There, Cupcake.  We bought a dozen, and then ate them over the next two days!  They were delicious.  We also were able to sample some local seafood, which I definitely enjoyed.  Dave and Jen also took us to the Air Force Air History Museum.  I enjoyed the display on the Korean War.  I don't know much about that war, so walking through and reading up on it was educational and interesting.

The Nix's and Diaz's

Being in Macon was the best part of our trip.  There is something so warm and wonderful about being reunited with sweet friends who are also brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ.  It's nice to be with people who are almost like family.  We can just be ourselves with them, share hopes and dreams, and reminisce on our past and the blessings that await us in our futures.  The Diaz's are awaiting the birth of their first child in June, and no one could be happier for them than my husband and me.  It's so beautiful to watch a relationship grow and develop and then see the love overflow through the birth of a child...a family is born.  God is so good.

We were very sad to go, but we had one more leg of our trip that we were really looking forward to.  After four days with our friends, we left on Tuesday morning to drive to Augusta, GA.  There, we met up with our friends, Paul and Amy Cartwright.  We spent two days with them before flying home.  In Augusta, Amy took some family photos for us.  That was one of the highlights of our trip.  We'd been wanting to have some done, so it was nice to finally get them, and she did a fantastic job.  Staying with the Cartwright's was like being at a bed and breakfast.  Amy is working hard to perfect the role of the American Housewife, and she's doing a darn good job of it.  She made every meal for us, fresh.  The meals were amazing!  Their home is so cute too!  It's a little older, but has charming wood floors and a very homey feel.  Her husband is doing his residency, so we only were able to spend time with him at night when he got home, but catching up with the both of them was fun.  Our evenings were spent eating and enjoying fun fellowship.

Finally, on Thursday, March 10, we came home.  Although we enjoyed our trip, it's always a great feeling to be home.  We jumped right back into our lives, going with our realtor that same day to see more houses, but it's still good to be here.  So far, this weekend has been nice and easy...and we are planning for the remainder of it to be exactly the same!