This past weekend I hopped on a 48 min flight and headed down to Jacksonville to meet my pals Shannon & Amanda Gillespie for a weekend in Florida! A guy named Gil that Shannon taught on her mission was going thru the temple for the first time and that event was pretty much the main reason we went out there. Orlando is the closest temple to Jacksonville and is only a few hrs away from where we were staying. It was an AMAZING experience and it was so cool to see the excitement & happiness in his eyes.
There were a lot of supporters there, some that drove almost 4+ hours to get there! Even his best friend who is a recent convert himself, drove 2 hours and was outside to greet him as he came out of the temple. So after lots of hugs and about a million pics, all 18 of us headed down to Olive Garden to celebrate!
We visited Gainesville - the home of the University of Florida GATORS, which was Non's last area of her mission. I went to the single's ward with them and tried my best to blend in! It was pretty nice outside - so we decided to walk campus and see some of the sights. The campus is HUGE and they are pretty hardcore there...there was a gas station completely painted blue and orange to represent the school colors. Talk about school spirit... 
Everything there was pretty spread out, we spent a lot of time driving to get where we needed to but it was def. worth it! One of my fave places we went was Fernandina Beach. Met up with a few more converts that Non taught and WOW - they were probably some of the nicest ppl I've ever met! Some haven't even been members for a yr and you could tell they had rock solid testimonies! And what was even more amazing is they were in a branch - and it blows me away how devoted and faithful they are even when the majority of ppl around them are inactive or not members. It made me feel a little disappointed that I haven't really considered what a blessing it is to have been born and raised in the church! 
Monday came around and it was time to head back to our respective homes...for the first time in my LIFE of flying - I heard the words that no one wants to hear in the security line - "BAG CHECK". They scanned it twice and the guy had to take me over and check the contents of my backpack which contained a book, my iPod and my purse with all my crap.
Carrie - guess what they were suspicious of...MY OVERSIZED D&G PURSE ZIPPERS! Had to laugh about it though...I guess that's the price you pay to own a sweet purse! :~) 
The trip was a success, made life-long memories and that's the most important thing. So what better way to end a trip, than in a random rocking chair at the Jacksonville Airport.
Just so grateful.
2 years ago
8 comments:
The zippers?? Are you serious?? BA HA HA HA!!! Thats funny. Love the last picture. Very cute!
What a fun trip Jazz! That's so cool. That temple is beautiful. ps I haven't seen the easter pageant since high school. I've been dying to take a surprise trip down to AZ for that weekend. How cool?!
Sounds like a great trip! Lafe will be so jealous. He's a huge Florida Gators fan. We own Gators pajamas, t-shirts, blankets, hats...the whole getup. He even tried to have the nickname "Gator" for Stetson, but it hasn't really caught on. (whew)
Wow-sounds like a blast! Our little missionary Non-she's just soo cute!! and MY- your hair is getting so long!! So when mine is short- everyone who has always had short hair- decides to be long.... lame!
Oh my gosh I hate those scanner things at the airport. What a pain! But what a fun trip! An amazing experience for all of you girls to share.
Hey girl it sounds like you had so much fun. I am going to add you to my blog I hope that is ok. You look great! I miss the old days with you me and Candice. We always had so much fun :0)
kara again, not Q. Too lazy to sign his name out. wait what was I gonna say?........
oh, that temple is beautiful! Where the heck did the rocking chairs come from? I would kill for a random rocking chair in an airport, especially being a dairy-to-go kind of traveler.
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