Our achy breaky hearts

Jess: Last week, Wes and I had the privilege to go to Texas for the Rutledge-Stone wedding. We were so excited to get to visit all of our friends in family in the great nation of Texas. The last time we visited was for the Haug-Lys wedding last July. It's been about 35 degrees here for most of the last couple of months and we haven't seen our friends and family for awhile, so we were understandably jumping up and down with excitement to go down.

Our journey began on Wednesday, when we flew from Philly to Atlanta to San Antonio, where our wonderful friend Ryan picked us up and took us to crash at his apartment. For the 20 minute trip, we yelled out every Texas-related thing we saw on the way: "HEB!" "USAA!" "Mexican food!" "BBQ!" "I-35!" Since it was late, the yelling quickly degenerated to "Sonic!" "McDonalds!" "Bank of America!" "Grass!" We then passed a wonderful couple of hours alternating between talking about how tired we were and catching up on the last few months. Thusly did our wonderful Texas vacation begin.

Over the course of the rest of the week, we spent time with our friends and family, eating Mexican food, eating barbeque, not sleeping enough, wearing shorts and flip-flops, and generally enjoying ourselves. We got to see two of our good friends get married and start a new life together, and we even got to see my friends James and Christi who had been AWOL in our lives since our wedding. It was an absolutely wonderful trip, and we enjoyed every minute of it.

Then came the inevitable: we had to say goodbye to everyone for another long stretch, and get back on the plane to Philly. Katherine (Wes' little sister) cried the whole time we were in the airport, and I think there were a few more of us with less than dry eyes. The plane ride home was long, sad, and tiring. We had to get up about 4 hours after going to bed early Wednesday morning, and going back to work and school was extremely tough.

I've never had friends like I have in Texas. Like I told my mom today, every time we go back there, even after months of being gone, it's like we've always been there. After the initial excitement of being back home, we just fall back into our lives there. It makes New Jersey seem like no fun when we come back. We are really enjoying our time up here, and we know that we have fun and will look back on this time fondly, but going down to Texas reminds us where we belong.

Wes: So I was a groomsman in this wedding for which we flew down. That of course means that I was privy to all of the wild and crazy Bachelor Party shenanigans. And let me tell you, we had fun. In the interest of protecting the newly wed Justin (and in the interest of protecting national security), I'll only divulge the events of part 1 of the festivities. Our first excursion was to the Comal River for what I thought was going to be the worst float of my life. I mean, who goes and floats the river in February?? I must say, though, that the water was amazing, the sun was out, and we had a wonderful time. To top it off, we were the only ones on the river for the most part, and it was great having the whole thing to ourselves.

One of the highlights of the trip for me (outside of seeing friends and family of course) was getting to worship again at my home church in San Antonio. It was great to walk into University United Methodist and feel like I had never left. People I didn't know were coming up to welcome me back and the people that I have looked up to for years were some of the first to welcome us with open arms. Worshiping there was like coming home for me. I have really missed beign able to sing with Mark Swayze and hear about how God is at work in the lives of so many people down there. And even though the sermon was not delivered by the man I consider to be my pastor (who is currently in Rwanda on a three-month sabbatical/mission trip), Pastor Charles spoke an amazing message that I cannot wait to steal and share with my congregants at Crosswicks and Ellisdale. It was a wonderful time that I have dearly missed.

I really enjoyed being back in Texas, and it made me realize how much I miss all of my friends and family who live down there. It is really hard to be up here and away from so many loved ones. Now, for those few people up here in Jersey who read our blog, please do not think this at all means that we don't love and appreciate you. People like Josh and Sarah, all of our friends at Theology on Tap, our church family, and everyone else around here are the reasons that being up here is not only bearable but enjoyable, even fun. But I do have to admit that as much as I love our house, love my job, and love our friends up here, it just does not seem like home. We'll enjoy every minute we have up here, but we know where God is calling us next (or at least where it feels like He is!), and we are ready to answer that call.

Well, that was our Texas trip! Hopefully, it won't be another 8 months before we're able to make it back again. Until then, though, we'll keep chugging away up here, and we'll keep enjoying every minute of our lives together.

Thanks for tuning in! Check back soon for our take on corporate Christian accountability and how it pertains to the world today.

You stay classy, World Wide Web!


-Jess and Wes