hurray for vacations, boo for mondays

I'm not really sure where to start with this post, as I will never be able to aptly describe exactly how I felt or the extent to which the trip I took to Virginia was needed.

I took off Friday of this past week so that I could fly to Virginia to see my best friend. I've talked about her before and how amazing she is, but there really aren't enough words to describe her incredible personality and strength. That being said, Friday was her 25th birthday and her dear husband shipped out on the 13th of January for seven long months at sea.

Let me pause there and tell you that I am so proud of her for being able to survive in a state where she has no family and not a lot of close friends while her husband is away. I know how incredibly sad she is, but I also know how incredibly proud she is of her sweet, sweet husband. There is no way I could have handled the situation with as much grace as she is showing right now.

The entire plane ride up there I was convinced I was not going to cry. The second I stepped off the plane and saw her though, we were both in tears. You see, this is the first time in four very long years that we have had each other's undivided attention. No family, no friends, no husbands - just the two of us. And I am so grateful.

I could go into the details about every last thing that we did, but I won't bore you with those things. I will tell you that we literally shopped til we dropped on Saturday, that we cried our eyes out during The Time Travelers Wife, and that we stayed up late being 100% honest with each other about anything and everything.

You see, that's the beauty of a true best friend. No matter how much the truth may hurt, you still are able to tell them exactly what they need to hear, even if it isn't what they want  to hear, and they still are going to love you afterwards and respect what you told them.

I am so incredibly blessed to have her in my life. So Jen, I love you so much. And yes, I am tearing up right now ;)

To give you a funny little side story though, I will tell you about my amazing (note the sarcasm) experience flying home on Sunday :)

I got to the airport early, and let me tell you, the airport in Newport News is MUCH smaller than Bush or Hobby. So I had plenty of time to kill. What does one do with that much time? I went to the bar and ordered a bloody mary, hehe.

After boarding the plane I flew into Atlanta. This is where it got sticky. See, we landed late in Atlanta. How do you feel about this:

My plane was supposed to land at 3:35pm. Instead it landed at 3:45pm. 10 minutes isn't that big of a deal, right? Wrong. My gate was C-53.

My connecting flight to Houston departed at 4:10. Boarding started at 3:30. I have no clue where my gate is. So I am running, literally, with a huge and heavy weekender bag full of clothes and shoes, and a purse that is housing three magazines, my daily devotional book, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo book. But I digress. I'm running up to the tv that gives the gate numbers. My gate is B-33. I don't even know where B-33 is. So in true Home Alone style, I run through the airport. I only stop when I see a security guard to ask him where B-33 is located in between gasping for breath. And do you know what he tells me?

"Go down a level and catch the train".

Excuse me? The train? I just took off running. I didn't catch the train either, I ran the entire way. I ran all the way to gate B-33 - which not only was a floor down, but was also across the airport AND the very last gate on the floor.

I run up at 4:05. Thank goodness. I make my flight, text Sean to tell him about it, and then settle in for the ride.

As we're taxiing over to my gate in Houston, I turn on my phone and - are you ready for this? - it dies. Are you kidding me? So now I'm freaking out. Because I don't know where Sean is. I use a payphone for the first time in probably 15 years and call my parents, because it's one of the few numbers I know by heart (which, as a side note, do you remember the days when you memorized everyone's phone numbers?? at this point I was really wishing I still did that.). Naturally, they don't answer (later, I find out that my mom was going to answer but my dad told her not to because it was a payphone and there was some payphone scam going on - of course).  At this point, all I can't remember the last 4 digits of Sean's work cell phone. So I do the next logical thing - I turn on my iTouch. Naturally, there isn't free wifi and the stupid thing is constantly blinking that it only has 20% battery remaining. I don't care iTouch! I download some crazy app onto it so that I can get wifi and do the only thing I can think of - I email Sean.

To make a long story short, we finally did find each other.

Whew! :)

Have a spectacular week everyone! 5k Sunday, YES!!