Unexpected Getaway!

The Osborn's and I decided to take a last minute trip to Austin this weekend. We left Friday Morning and got back tonight. It was very needed and a lot of fun! Besides just getting away, one of the main reasons to go was to find Karley a prom dress. As many stores as Dallas has, there is not a whole lot to choose from in that area. Especially if you aren't willing to risk someone else wearing the same dress (and no girl ever wants that!). We were very successful! Austin has a lot of great shopping! Many of there stores are very unique (Austin is a unique city). In case you have never been there, it's a little out there. Very hippie and liberal. But so much fun! I think it would be fun to live there for a short while...not because I'm hippie and liberal, but because it's so different.


We know some people who live there so we got a head's up on the places to eat. They were all over Austin and it was a good thing we had a GPS or we would have NEVER found them or anything else. Keith decided to get a Magellan GPS system the night before we left. "Maggie" as we called her was a huge addition to the vacation! I want to invest in one of those sometime in the future and encourage anyone who travels to get one!


After arriving there on Friday afternoon we went to lunch at a Mexican restaurant that was recommended to us. It was very good! They gave all the ladies that ate there fresh long stem roses, which were beautiful! Once we finished eating, we went to the hotel and then out to shop.


We didn't really have plans for Friday night so Ann, Karley, and I decided that we would go and see a movie that we have been eager to see, Ms. Pettigrew Lives for a Day. We all thought it was great! I definitely recommend it!


Saturday we slept in (Because we were on vacation!) and then we went shopping some more.
We pretty much spent most of the day shopping and then had dinner Saturday night. It was a very fun and relaxed day.


It was very strange not being home for Easter this year. Plane tickets were so expensive that I just decided that I would stay out here. Especially since I will be going home for good in a couple of months. I will say that it ended up being a great day. We attended church at Austin Stone Community Church. This is the church where Chris Tomlin leads worship. So that was what initially caught our eye. But of course, he didn't lead worship this morning. (However, he did sit right behind us. It was a reminder that these people have real lives too.) The worship and message were both great! The church meets in a high school, which is very different than anything I have ever been a part of. All of the services meet in the gym. I have worked in two student ministries that meet in the gym on Wednesday nights. Both of my "bosses" were extremely gifted in set design and setting up for these services. Therefore, I know how much work it is to make this happen. The people at Austin Stone have to have some majorly dedicated people to pull off what they do every Sunday. Their setup was double anything I have ever done and I really felt I could see a piece of their staff's heart just by looking at the setup. Not just in the gym, but also in the hallways that were filled with tables full of information on how to get connected.

Because I worked under people who liked to focus on little details, I have now developed the habit. I can't walk into a room like that without really looking at everything they have done (thanks Tim and Jeff!). As I looked around I had to remind myself that it was a high school gym and not a church gym. I just kept thinking about how obvious it was that the Lord was so in that place, despite everything that goes on in that school during the week. Substitute teaching has shown me that Satan has put a lot of trash in our schools today. I don't believe this school is any different (especially since it was in Austin). That was just a thought I had about the experience. I loved the church though. It reminded me of the church I have been attending here in Dallas.


After church we had lunch at this Bistro. They had an "Easter" buffet, so it was the closest thing we would get to a real Easter meal. The food was great! The price....not so much!


Then we headed back to the hotel to get our stuff packed up. Once we were packed and loaded we were heading back home!


I was glad to be home, but could have stayed a few more days. I definitely want to go back to Austin if I get a chance!


I have a few pictures I will post later.