Hey friends! Sorry it has been so long since I blogged. These past few weeks have been crazy, blessed, emotional, and life changing. Most of you who are reading this already know that God is leading me out to Arizona to live and to do ministry at this time. The process has seemed a long time coming – yet, once it got rolling I had only a matter of days to get my things together there & to get things in order for moving out West. That being said, I packed up & pulled out of the driveway last Thursday morning headed for over 1700 miles of driving spread across 3 days with the best sister in the world. J In this blog I just wanted to share a few of the highlights from our trip out.
Day 1: We saw 5 states this day…AL, MS, TN, AR, & OK. Two of those I had never been to before (AR & OK). We tried to give a synopsis of each state as we went through (on a video) & so I’ll give you the rundown of what we decided here. AL – well, we are from there…don’t really have a new epiphany about it or anything – just that it’s beautiful & a wonderful state. Mississippi – I don’t remember too much about it because I got less than 4 hrs. of sleep the night before & slept whenever I wasn’t in the driver’s seat…but it looks pretty much just like AL in landscaping. Tennessee – We only hit the tip of it – yet neither of us had been through Memphis before, so that was cool. Arkansas – We crossed the Mississippi River coming into AR & I enjoyed that part a lot…it reminded me of New Orleans & walking/running down by the river with great friends. We also decided that Arkansas has A LOT of farms. Oklahoma – I was most excited to see Oklahoma. The main reason being that Carrie Underwood is from there (haha…no, seriously!) Eastern Oklahoma looked a lot like Arkansas & it was still pretty hilly & green (I was expecting flat or rolling plains. Haha) It was really cool though – best part of day 1 = seeing Carrie’s hometown. We are talking – I’ve wanted to see her “road sign” for 6 years…& finally got to! Haha! If you’ve ever heard the song “I Ain’t in Checotah Anymore”, we saw most of those things that she mentions in the song. 14+ hrs. on the road (that’s including stops we made) equaled 2 very tired girls.
Day 2: We went through the Western half of Oklahoma, through the panhandle of Texas, and down to Albuquerque, New Mexico where we stopped for the night. The western part of OK is very different than the eastern. It was a lot more flat with land stretching for miles. We stopped at a little town where there was a Native American trading post. We had fun making pictures with the buffalo statues, teepees, and totem poles. At this point we also found the historic Route 66 and drove down it for several miles. It had been patched multiple times and was unmarked. We only knew where it was by asking a local. Once we got into Texas we discovered why many people have a hard time driving through it. There was literally nothing for miles. I think the only city (or town even) that we went through was Amarillo. We called this the “sleepy” state because we almost fell asleep driving through it. New Mexico is BEAUTIFUL. The terrain changes so much & it was a gorgeous drive. We also found Route 66 in NM & stopped to take pictures with a sign. (the originals have all been torn down or stolen, but there are signs marking it in some places). The place where we stayed in Albuquerque was only a few minutes from “Old Town Albuquerque” (a historic location) that is so cute & has really unique stores & a church that has been there for over 200 years. As a side note: *Kendall, if you’re reading this…a GREAT place for picture taking adventures! SUCH cute buildings & little nooks & stuff* Anyways, we enjoyed our time in Albuquerque!
Day 3: We started out by walking through “Old Town Albuquerque” & taking some fun pictures. Following that we went to a place called Petroglyph National Monument. It was a really neat place where there were 100’s of petroglyph drawings on rocks by Native Americans long long ago. After hiking a little up those rocks, we continued on our journey through New Mexico. As we came into Arizona we stopped to take multiple pictures with the state welcome sign & to get information from the welcome center. Day 3 (Saturday) was a busy & very full day! We then spent a couple of hours in the Painted Desert/Petrified Forest. It was really awesome to get to see those glorious creations that God has made. He makes beautiful & interesting things that all serve to proclaim His glory. We ended up stopping in Winslow later on also to take pictures “standin on a corner.” It is such a quaint & cute little town! Eventually as the sun set on our day we finally arrived at the home where a family has so graciously offered for me to stay temporarily while I search for a more permanent residence. God is good & He blessed our travels out here! Thanks for reading & I hope to post an update soon about what God is showing me out here! I just wanted to share with you the journey of relocating. Please continue to keep me in your prayers as I am learning day by day what God is doing out here. 
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