So I have this friend. And she's pretty much amazing.

Emily and I met through our blogs close to two years ago.  We started e-mailing and chatting on facebook...all the time.  You know, tell-tale signs of total best buds. ;)  But there was a bit of a downside to our friendship...12 hours of drive time separated us.  We didn't let that stop us though.  A couple different times we started planning trips to get together and meet in person.  They never worked out though.

But!  Last week...a week ago today in fact, we were able to meet, for the first time, face-to-face.

Talk about a neat experience!  This one definitely makes it to the top of the list.

We met at Cracker Barrel first and had breakfast together.  The first time we saw each other my family and I were on one side of the Cracker Barrel porch and Emily and her family came around the corner on the other side.  We kind of fast-walked to each other and hugged and smiled.  Epic, movie worthy stuff there, I'm telling you.

After Cracker Barrel, we went to the mall.  They had a Barnes and Noble, a Starbucks, a movie/music store and a Bath & Body Works...which equals a pretty fantastic time.

{We found these in Barnes and Noble and thought it great photo opportunity.}

So, to Emily...
Thanks for meeting me.
Thanks for putting up with my Doctor Who obsession.
Thanks for praying for me.
Thanks for being the macaroni to my cheese and the peanut butter to my jelly.  (Hehe!)
Thanks for being my bestie.

{Photo credit to my dad and Emily.}

Dear Florida,

Dear Florida,

We're back!

{Photo credit goes to my dad.}

Footsteps in Florida: Saying Good-Bye

We arrived home yesterday afternoon.  But before leaving the sunshine state we had to say our good-byes.

good-bye...house.

good-bye...barefeet in the sand.

good-bye...walking (and running) on the beach.

good-bye...Florida sun.

good-bye...ocean.

'Til next year!

{Note: Photos without my watermark were taken by my daddy.}

Footsteps in Florida: Being a Tourist

We took a couple of afternoons and went out to some outlet malls for one of my favorite things...shopping.  We had a lot of fun!

{Credited to my dad.}

 There were palm trees everywhere.  Even one in our front yard.  Love it!

Cold Stone Creamery...yum!

{Linking up ^this photo in Mary Ann's photo challenge and Allie's photo challenge.}

{Linking up ^this photo in Francesca's photo challenge.}

One of my favorite stores. <3

Lots of fun!

More soon...you all have a great night and weekend!

Footsteps in Florida: Beach Days

We're here in Florida 'til Friday and I plan on making the beach my second home.  I'm absolutely loving it!

Haha!  Buried in the sand. ;)

What's your favorite photo?


{Note: The pictures without my watermark on them were taken by my daddy.}


Hope everybody's having a wonderful fall break! :) 

Footsteps in Florida: Road Trip & First Times

Road trip equals...

ten hours in the car.

napping on the way.

squished in the backseat with my sister.

music.

laughter.

bumpy roads.

books.

PB&J.

Yep that's a road trip. ;)  But we're here!  We arrived at our resort house yesterday afternoon and got settled in.  Then...we took a trip to the beach.  It was the very first time to see the ocean for my siblings and me.

I have fallen in love.  It's absolutely beautiful!


More to come soon... :)

Fall Break, Part 3: Concert

The big finale to our vacation was... *drum roll*...a Matthew West and Josh Wilson concert!! It was so great! Also, a little info: Matthew West is sorda like...my favorite musician ever. ;) So, just ask Annie, I was squealing with excitement and squeezing her arm when he came out on stage. Haha!


Josh Wilson:

Josh Wilson started the show. He was really great! He didn't have a band with him so he did a one man band thing. He had this cool gadget where he could play something, record it right on the spot, and then play it back. Really neat!


Matthew West:

Matthew West was really awesome! The first part of the concert, he played several of his hit songs. He came out at the beginning rocking out to "The Motions." ;)

{Sorry the pictures are kinda blurry.}

The second part of the concert was called "The Story of Your Life." I don't know if any of you heard about what Matthew West did with his newest album. He stayed in a cabin for 2 months and asked his fans (or anybody) to send in 'the story of their life'. He based every song on his new album on someone's story. Pretty neat! I actually sent in my story to him. Along with 10,000 other people. There was one part in the show where numbers on the projection screen counted all the way up to 10,000. I was sitting in my seat thinking, "I'm one of those numbers. That's me up there."








After the concert I was very excited to find out that Matthew West was going to be out signing autographs. So, we waited in line to meet him. When we got up near the front I leaned over to Mom and said, "I am two people away from my favorite musician." ;)
When it was our turn we walked up and I gave him a CD to sign and told him my name. Then I told him that I had sent him my story. He said, "I read your story." That was really cool to hear! I mean, I knew that he had read it. He read all of them. But to hear that...it was cool! On our way out, he nudged me and told me thanks for sending my story. It was awesome!

So, that's the last part of our fall break vacation. It was the biggest vacation we've been on in a really long time. We all had a great time!
Thanks for coming along on my trip through my blog. I hope you enjoyed it. :)
The End