A Little Southern Comfort Day 1

I decided to title this vacation's posts something that would encompass our trip as a whole, although you'll soon see that it wasn't all sweet and that we had to sometimes be intentional in looking for the silver linings. I have so much to cover from this trip that I decided to break it down into several posts over the next few days.

I'll begin with just trying to get to our destination. I've been planning this trip to visit my mom in Georgia for about a month now. We made plans to stay over in Tennessee to break up the drive for G. I had my lists written, my budget planned, tickets pre-purchased, and a couple little surprises lined up.

We left bright and early on Tuesday morning.  We had packed the majority of our things in the vehicle the night before and morning went by smoothly.  Apparently too smoothly...

G has Bella and is ready to go!

About 2.5 hours into our trip our vehicle began to overheat...no good. We quickly pulled off on the next exit and made our way into a gas station parking lot. Upon parking and turning off the vehicle white smoke was pouring out everywhere.

FYI:We're still not exactly sure what went wrong but it's being looked into...We made multiple calls to family members and car rental businesses with no luck. My husband finally found a car rental company within "safe" driving distance (we prayed the whole 8 minutes it took us to get there.) C went in and came out with his head hung low. Despite the company's online site indicating available rentals, truth was, they would have none available until sometime the next day. I admit I got a bit weepy. I was hot, tired and the baby was done with her car seat. After a brief pity party I got my head together and we began calling other rental locations and finally found one promising they could get us taken care of. We prayed for another 15 miles to reach this beacon of hope. They had made a promise...that resulted in a vehicle not being available for what would be another 6 hours.

Not knowing when they would call with a vehicle we went about 5 minutes down the road and grabbed lunch. Afterwards we pulled into a park where we hung out the remainder of the afternoon.

Her first time in a swing! She loved it!

Snacking on some grapes

Side note: Let me just say that our baby is a trooper. No real naps were allotted and our circumstances were less than ideal and through it all she remained in pretty good spirits.

Around 4 PM that afternoon we were blessed to find ourselves in a reliable rental.

Our vehicle was left at the place of business to be picked up by my in - laws at some point in the week. We had a lot of things go poorly...

Breaking down (in front of a dealership that sells our type of vehicle nonetheless)...

The driving weather...

But through it all we were reminded of God's goodness and grace. We were granted beautiful weather while waiting at the park.

We were graced to have the financial provisions to pay for such a large unexpected cost. We were able to make some first time memories and through it all we remained thankful. My husband and I caught one another giving thanks for the good when it would have been so easy to become bitter and complain. I feel this situation shows not only how we've grown as a couple but as individuals in the Lord.

We finally made it to our hotel, and despite needing a bathroom remodel, we were pleased with our stay. Many fun things to come...be looking for a little more southern comfort to come...

Sneak Peek!

A Turkey, A Tow Truck and Two of a Kind

Yesterday was just one of those days. It began with running a bit behind for work. I dropped G off at the sitter and began my trek to work. As I rounded the bend just miles from the sitters house, I saw a turkey crossing the road. It was as if life began reeling in slow motion. I saw the little guy crossing the road, but there was nothing I could do. It was inevitable. The little guy didn't stand a chance. In one brief instance there were feathers flying both in front and behind me. The car behind me got a nice dose of them as well. I guess we'll never know why poultry cross roads...he did get some revenge by doing some damage to my jeep...

The guys at my husband's work gave me a hard time for starting Turkey Season a day early.

 

 

After getting my heart rate and blood pressure to a normal level, I called my hubby to let him know about the incident. Things were not going much better for him. He was stranded on the highway due to some pretty major car trouble. We found out later that it was a big crack in the radiator. A tow truck came and took him and his vehicle to his fire department. By the end of the day his vehicle was fixed and life was normalizing...at least for him.

Upon getting to work, I noticed that our secretary had brought in a pet crate. I assumed it was her daughter's dog and that her daughter would be along shortly to pick him up. I was surprised to find two cats in the crate. She told me their sad story...

The family that owned these cats, and one dog, had moved. My secretary's daughter happened to see one of the cats outside. Knowing that the owners had moved, she stopped to see what was going on. By the end of it all, she had discovered that the family had left one of the cats outside and the other, along with the dog, inside the house. These poor animals had been abandoned. These little guys had been left since at least Monday, but my friends believe it was longer than that. The little guy that was inside was pretty thin.

Meet Ace!

Meet Rigby!

She had brought these animals to school to pass on to our librarian who does animal rescue and works closely with the Humane Society in the area. She was already overwhelmed with cats that need homes...she had 6-7 she was already trying to place. So...what did I do? I had to do what my heart and head were telling me. At the end of the school day I became the official owner of two adorable little boys. These guys are approximately 6-7 months old. They have the best temperaments and could not be more cuddly. They'll do just fine out here in the country.

The king of his new castle.

G was not sure what to think of them at first, but as you can see, she quickly warmed up to them.