Super Sunday

Gallivanting Photographer What a wonderful weekend we had at the beach. Friday, after work, I picked up Gloria and Kim and we headed to Laguna Beach Christian Retreat on the beach. Sarah, Nikki, and Kristen met us and helped us carry our stuff up to our room. What a beautiful view! The water was several shades of green and blue, very calm. The breeze was cool. It was just the perfect weather. Tabitha showed up a few minutes after us, so we all helped her with her things. We just threw our stuff in our room and headed down to the beach to take a long walk and watch the sunset. I had hoped there would be clouds so the sunset would be spectacular, but there were no clouds to be seen. It was a nice sunset anyway. Of course, I took pictures.

After our walk, some of us decided to go find something to eat. We piled into Judy's van and headed down the beach in search of food. We ended up at a Waffle House. We all ordered breakfast items. Tabitha and I had a fiesta omelet. It was very good.

When we got back to the room, we made our beds. I foolishly decided I was going to sleep on the top bunk over Tabitha. I made the bed and decided to try it out before we went next door and had Bible study. It wasn't hard to climb up (even though there wasn't a ladder), but once up there, I couldn't figure out how to get down without hurting myself or stepping on Tabitha. Kim turned her back to me and told me to grab hold around her neck and said "We're heading for the bed. Hang on!" It was the funniest thing. We could have won $10,000 on America's Funniest Videos. She pulled, I jumped and we landed face down on the bed in a heap. The other girls were rolling in the floor laughing. We decided I would sleep on the couch. It made into a single bed and I must say it was very comfortable.

We went next door and Sarah said she wanted everybody to just talk about ourselves, our lives, when we got saved, our husbands, children and anything we wanted to share. It was so nice to find out things about the other women. One of them got married at 14 and is still married to her husband and very much in love. One was an instructor at a spa; another told how her husband proposed by giving her a Bible with her first name and his last name printed on it. He said "I guess we need to make this right. Will you marry me?" That was really a unique way to propose. We shared and studied the scripture until around 1:00am.

I had just gotten to sleep good when the fire alarm went off at 2:20am. It was sooooooo loud! There were five in each room. Four from my room and two from the other room headed out onto the outside hallway to see what was going on. Tabitha would not get up. Kim, Gloria and Judy from our room went downstairs to see what was going on. I decided to stay upstairs so I could wake everybody else up if they found out that it was a fire. I could not smell smoke or see flames, so I was pretty confident it wasn't near us. The firemen arrived and said it was a faulty alarm. Praise God - no fire. Got back to bed and immediately fell asleep. No one in our room woke up until 8:00. That is sleeping in for me. I was surprised I slept that long and that good.

Woke up to a glorious morning. A little cool, the water calm and beautiful. We all gathered on the little balcony, drank coffee and had Bible study until about 9:30. Then, everybody started taking showers and getting ready to go find breakfast. One good thing about our rooms, there are two showers in the bathroom. The sinks are outside the bathroom, so we could all get ready in record time.

We headed out in two vans to the same Waffle House some of us visited the night before. I enjoyed my fiesta omelet, grits and hashbrowns. Nikki shared her raspberry tea with me. She brought her own teabags. She uses Stevia as a natural sweetener. I used to use it all the time, but ran out and the Herb Shop closed. I had not been able to find it anywhere else. She gets hers in Tallahassee at a store there. I may have to find it when I'm in Tallhassee again. She uses liquid Green Leaf Stevia and says it's good. I used to use the liquid, but I can't remember the brand name.

After we got back to the retreat, we took sheets out to the beach and sat down and just enjoyed the view. Tabitha immediately fell asleep. She really needed this time to herself. She took the kids to her sister's in Dothan on Friday. Trent called to thank me for letting them use my car. Tabitha said Hope was very confused when she got in the car and realized I wasn't there. She kept questioning Tabitha "Nonna's car? Nonna's car?" I think she was wondering why they had my car and I wasn't there.

Kristen is studying to be a physical therapist and Judy already is one. Judy was giving Mrs. Sandi a foot rub and Kristen gave Mrs. Sandi and me a neck rub. After that, I was ready for a nap. The rest of the ladies went walking. I stayed with Tabitha and took a short nap. Didn't think the rest of the group would ever get back. They had walked several miles up the beach, then had to walk back. They were exhausted when they got back. I took several pictures and let Liz use my camera to takes some pictures while Tabitha and I took a short walk. Liz left and we all sat around for a few more minutes, then we took a group shot and packed up our stuff and headed home. It was such a nice time. I was so relaxed when I got home. I'm ready to do this again. This is the only time I like to go to the beach. I think Penny wants pictures done next weekend, so we'll head to the beach to take them.

We had an awesome service today at church. Praise and Worship was the best it's been in a long time. We've been great, but I think we stepped up to a higher level today. It was so anointed. We had several visitors and Pastor Fred and Mrs. Lena were there. It was so good to see them.

Came home, ate and took my usual Sunday nap. I had planned to go to Sam's and get more printer ink, but decided against it. I had enough to print up my pictures from yesterday. I'll go tomorrow maybe.

Olga called and I wished her a "happy birthday". She told me about a website where we can watch GODTV live. I watched it from 8:00 till 11:00. It was their 11th anniversary and they just opened a studio in Washington, D.C. They are originally from England and have studios all over the world.

Now, I guess I better get some sleep. Got to be back at work tomorrow. Good night and God bless..........................