Wow! I need a vacation after last weekend! It was tons of fun! Friday after a long day of miserable rain and NOTHING to make the day go by faster & a workout, I nursed a little migraine. I caught it soon enough to be fine in an hour or so, but I missed the Redneck Riviera party. Instead I met up with Chad and some other kids at Red Bar. I ended up just sitting in the back room and eating with some of the wait staff - two twin brothers from Costa Rica - very nice guys. It's never bad to have friends who work there, just because once the season hits it's almost impossible to get a table!
Saturday morning Chad called me at 6:30 to make sure I was coming to surf. Trust me, it was no easy sell for him to get me out of bed and into the cold cold water. But once I was out there sitting on the board watching the sunrise, all was well in my world. There is just nothing like it! About a dozen other guys (no girls) were crazy enough to be out there that early for the waves. They were about head high and clean. I got up on my knees for a few rides and I got thrashed many many times. According to Chad that is a very good thing, because it means I'm trying and not chickening out.
I got home to shower and freshen up at 11. Then on to the grocery store to shop for all the goodies, drinks, and firewood. I was out on the beach near 12:30 and got some good reading in before everyone started showing up. We had a good group of about 24 throughout the course of the day. We played ultimate frisbee & threw the football, relaxed, etc. The group was a hodgepodge of people I know from church, Off 98, South Walton Young Professionals, the gym... fun fun! Our bonfire was fun and it was a good thing we had it for warmth because it was really cold once the sun went down. The stars out here are amazing! They were twinkling so nicely until the moon came up and stole the show. The light from the moon lit up the white sand and the surf - it was breathtaking! We had hot dogs, s'mores, music from Paul playing the guitar and Chad on the jimbay (sp?). At about 11:30 I "hit a wall" and headed home leaving everyone else around the fire.
Sunday I went to the early service, which was one of the best days at church that I can remember. Pastor E was talking about "Paying it Forward" and making a differnce in action, not just talk. As a way to get the ball rolling they passed the offering buckets a second time and instead of putting money in, every person in the congregation took an envelope out. Each envelope had money in it, anywhere from $5-$400. The instruction was to make a difference somehow by pooling it together with others or just giving it away to someone in need. I was moved to tears and when I was greeting for the second service I was able to tell people that they were in for a really moving message.
After having lunch with my friends Kelly & Warren at Panera I headed back out to Seaside to meet up with Kelly, Summer, Hilary, and Tether to run 10 miles for our 1/2 Marathon training. It was a long long painful run, but now I know I will be more prepared for the race than I was last year. When we got back we sat up on the deck at Bud & Alley's with some cold drinks and fresh tuna dip, laughing enjoying the view, and goofing off for about an hour. There was a lady there who is on the show "The Real Housewives of Orange County" - not that it will mean anything to any of you, but it was our celebrity sighting of the day. Apparently she owns the "San Tropez" clothing store chain.
I got home, ate a healthy dinner, took a bath, and watched the Academy Awards before crawling into bed and sleeping like a rock!
I'm sure ya'll didn't really care for the play-by-play of my weekend, but it was busy and it was fun and it's all I've got to write about.
Prayer Note: Please pray for Micah Stout (yes, my old boyfriend). He has been diagnosed with cancer and they are finding out what options he has now for his treatment. He has 5 children and a wife who completely depend on him, so this will be a very difficult time for the whole Stout family.
In the Press: Check us out in the Daily News and soon to be on the Discovery Channel! Look at the pictures:
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/article/12306
One of the great things about being single, free, and independent is that I can make plans however I want to for the weekends. I've sufficiently stacked my social calendar for tonight, Saturday, and Sunday.
Chad has informed me that there will be surf tomorrow, so it will be an early morning breakfast at Amavida Coffee Shop then out to the waves. This is good news because I bought a wet suit a while back and have only used it a couple times. I'm looking forward to the "cost-per-use" going down.
Happy Birthday, Andrew!
