Home is where the Heart is.

     I think we all know where my heart lies. :) I keep telling Luke that I'm so thankful to be on this journey with him. But I know at the end of it all, we both will be so ready to go "home." Home to me will always be Arkansas. I can't wait until we can build our own house in the hills.
     Anyways! We were SO excited to go home. I had gone home earlier this year. September actually to meet Em's lil one Tanner. I'm so glad I did. He's precious, and honestly the best baby I've ever met. She's so blessed! (I think you know it too!) But Luke hadn't been home since we moved here in June. Six months, is a very very long time to be away from your home. We ended up leaving Friday afternoon. After our last adventure, I'd learned my lesson. I dosed the pups an hour before we left. We actually got to leave Pensacola around 3. Thank goodness! We left without a hitch, and drove all night. We made it to Gma Sharons house at 2 in the morning on Saturday. It's so hard trying to plan a week to see everyone. Needless to say, I made quite a few trips to Mtn. Home that week.
     Saturday Luke and I went to the Killian/O'meara wedding. It was so beautiful. Tiff is such an awesome person, we can't wait to go see them in Baton Rouse. She actually walked down the aisle to bag pipes! How cool is that?! Haha.
     Anyways, Sunday we went and hung out with The Clarks! Johnny and Andrea went to school with Luke, and we've double dated with them..pretty much since Luke and I've been together. We just adore them! We brought the pups and stayed over with them. We went to dinner, and then to a movie. By the end of the movie, though, Andrea was complaining that her arm hurt. We had noticed earlier that Delyla had scratched her on her wrist, just like she had me earlier that day. I happened to notice that her arm was swollen and puffy. Needless to say, we ended up in the E.R. at 11 o'clock at night, only to be dismissed, and told that she'd be fine. What a night!
     Monday, I got to go see my favorite hair stylist Jessi! She took me back to my natural color, and after calming my nerves for an hour, I've gotten used to how dark it is. It was just kind of a shock at first! We then went back to Salem to stay the night.
     Tuesday I got to see Ms. Patricia and her girls, Dreama and Jazlyn! I miss them so much :(. We sat in El Chico's for at least two hours! Ms. Amanda came to meet us, and I got to visit with her for a bit before her date. And THEN, I went over to the dear ole Mrs. Herb's house. I cannot BELIEVE how big Tanner's gotten. He's so stinkin cute. I hope our first baby is as easy going as he is. :) Em and I had fun just chatting over some dinner.
     Wednesday, Luke, Lynn and I went to do some last minute shopping in West Plains. That evening I went to Mtn. Home to see the Montessori Girls! Oh gracious was that fun! :D
     Thursday, here we go. X-mas eve..that morning we went to visit my mom. After a bit we drove to Rolla, where my dad and brother now live. We spent the night up there, and actually woke up to..
     A WHITE CHRISTMAS! Oh my gosh, I was SO excited to see snow. However, that feeling wouldn't last long. Luke and I had a busy day ahead of us, and so we tried to leave early. I begged Luke to take it slow because it had rained for the previous two days, and I just knew that the roads were going to be slick under the snow. What happend ten miles outside of Rolla, I was no prepared for. The wind was blowing INSANELY hard. So hard, that it literally knocked the tail end of our truck to the left. This knocked us into a fishtail, one of which Luke tried to correct. We then slid to far to the right, again, he tried to fix. But this time, it didn't help. We spun. And then spun again, and on the tail end of this one, we ended up in the ditch. I had BRACED myself because I knew we were going to hit the solid rock bluff that was on the backside of the ditch. God must have sent an angel down to watch over us. It's a miracle that there weren't any other cars on the road, or that we landed in the ditch just so. AND that we didn't hit the bluff. Oh gosh. It may not sound like much, but I'm just going to tell you now, I freaked. I hyperventillated, and then started bawling. My nerves just couldn't take it. I was scared out of my mind, and then so thankful that it hadn't been worse than it was. Well, we tried to rock out. That didn't happen. The ditch was just deep enough, and the road was just slick enough that we weren't able to just pull out. After a few minutes I had calmed down, and told Luke that I was going to push. He laughed, and tried to talk me into driving and him pushing. I said ABSOLUTELY not. I HATE driving on the ice, and especially after what we had been through. So, I got behind, and SHOVED. The truck threw mud all over me, but hey, it was on the road! Luke jumped out and said, "Holy crap I married Superwoman!" I said, "Get back in the truck! There's a car comin!" Well, it took us an hour longer than it was supposed to, but we made it back to Arkansas without wrecking again.
     We spent the morning at Gma Sharons house. She made the most delicious Xmas Lunch I've ever had. We opened presents, and then were off to Gma Frankies. After leaving there we went to Luke's mom's house. We ate supper there, and after playing with his niece and nephews for a while, we headed back to Gma Sharons. Five christmas' later...haha.
     The next morning was Saturday, and the day we had to leave Arkansas :(. We got around and left without a hitch, and made it back to Pensacola around 10. I miss home already. I love and cherish every time we get to see our loved ones, and can't wait for the next time.