New adventures, new friends and Elvis

Y'all can just add Rambling Rose to my list of names because it seems like that is what I have become.... A Rambling Rose.  Which is so ironic because I usually go nowhere without Nick.  I've never been one to seek out taking trips with  girlfriends and stuff like that.  My happiest place is with my man.  I even get homesick when I'm off with my daughters.  But it seems like this past year, the Lord has just opened up so many doors of opportunity for me to travel and meet new people. 

 Just a couple of weeks ago, a young man who we are friends with from back home came and shared a ministry he is a part of with our church.   While eating lunch I mentioned I was going somewhere the next week with a mutual friend of ours.  He said, "It seems like you've been doing that a lot lately."    I cringed and made a face and apologized..."I know!  And that is so not like me!  I'm not about running off leaving my husband to go off with friends and stuff like that!  It just seems the Lord keeps opening up doors lately...)  And he said the most comforting thing. "Well Ms Stephanie, it's just that you're in a new season of life with your girls all grown and stuff....maybe the Lord is just giving you different opportunities now."

And you know what?  I  believe the Lord used Brad to speak to me that day. I am in a new season.  My girls are grown.  And with that comes new stuff.  I believe all these opportunities are part of this new season.   I am so blessed by all of the lives the Lord has intertwined with mine and I value and treasure each one.

This latest excursion was with mah girl Calah.  

She is a fellow pastor's wife and precious friend of mine.  I often forget she could be by daughter...She is the same age as Elizabeth.  But I think that is awesome.  I have always encouraged my girls to seek friendships of all ages.  There is so much we all have to offer each other in every season of our lives and when we stick to just our "peers" we miss out on some rich blessings.  Not to mention, it's biblical...Titus 2 makes it pretty clear for us, ahem, older ladies what we are to be about doing.  However, I must say, Calah has taught me more than I can ever teach her.  She has walked through the journey of cancer with such strength and faith that she is an inspiration to everyone around her.  She shared with me just this weekend, she would never trade going through cancer because of all that she has gained in Christ because of it.  You see why I love hanging out with this girl?

So  when she called me and asked if I would like to ride with her to Tupelo so that she could meet up with a friend of hers from Texas whose husband was preaching a revival service,  I told her heck yeah! 

I mean, hanging out with Calah, frolicking through Tupelo, hearing good preaching, meeting new friends in the Lord?....I knew I was in for a blessing. 

Our first stop was a Menonite bakery that is on the way. Oh. My. Stars. There stuff is sooo good.  They had this saying painted on the wall.  It was too massive to get the entire saying in one picture.

The South,

The place where tea is sweet and accents are sweeter----summer starts in April-----macaroni and cheese is a vegetable----front porches are wide and words are long----pecan pie is a staple-----Y’all is the only proper noun----chicken is fried and biscuits come with gravy----everything is darlin’------ someone’s heart is always being blessed.

So true 

Then we drove a little farther and I spied this giant ice cream cone!  

So cute!  I wanted to throw it in the back of the van and bring it home.  

Drove a little farther and the heavens parted and the angels started singing....

It was my fave-o-rite store!  Whoop whoop!  

Fortunately for me, Calah likes it as much as me and my girls do AND.... she has a built in radar for the good stuff too so we are seriously compatible shopping buds. 

And let me tell you...we found a gold mine!

They had the best $1 rack and $.50 cent rack ever!  Like sweaters from Target and Kohls! Hell-O!  

And a $.15 cent bin!!  Wha?!  Yep...sadly, I can't tell you what it was I found because they may end up as gifts for a few honey pot relatives.  But the items were regularly priced $15.00!  Oh yeah baby.

Well, when we finally arrived in Tupelo we checked into our hotel and then headed out to find where the church was so that we would know exactly where to go the next day.  And directly across the street from where were going is the birthplace of Elvis.

I was a little more than I excited.  My love for Elvis is in my blood.

Besides the fact that me and Nick's very first"our song" was Elvis' "Can't Help falling in Love, 

my mom was an Elvis fan. A big fan.  I can still remember her in our living room taking pictures of the TV with her 110 camera  when they televised his funeral. It was a big deal people.  She was so disappointed when she got them developed and all she had was a stack of pictures with a big glare on them. 

And my daddy liked Elvis too.  He sometimes thought he was Elvis.  I mean, he did have the same dark and handsome good looks as Elvis...but he had been known to grab a broom a time or two and croon a few of his songs while playing the "guitar".   

Oh yeah....we love Elvis.

My handsome daddy.

By this time, it was late and we walked up right as the little lady was locking the door. So we had to settle for just checking out the outside.

And rocking on the same  porch that little Elvis used to run around on!

Can you imagine?!  

And I even stole a little kiss.

Then we walked a few feet across the yard to his church.

And we wrapped it up at this car.  

Sadly, I can't tell you the significance about this car because we got a little side tracked.

I asked a sweet looking little family who walked up if they would take a picture so Calah could be in it with me and as soon as the daddy answered me, we knew he wasn't from around here.  

Come to find out, they had driven 12 hours straight from Orlando where they had just flown in from England!  From there they were driving to Memphis.  The man said his wife was a major fan of Elvis and then she asked me where we were from...

Well I know they are  probably still talking about that country bumpkin back woods lady in Tupelo because I tell the lady..." Well, I'm eventually from Louisiana"  I'm thinking in my mind, "did I just say eventually cuz I meant originally....should I correct myself?  Will that make me sound worse?!"  So I just kept on talking like that was a normal thing we say. And hurried off to our car when we said goodbye.  I asked Calah if she picked up on my mistake, and she said, "uh huh...if you mean when you said you were eventually from Louisiana "  Well that was the end of it!  We laughed til we cried.  I'm just hoping they think that is an American saying or something. 

All the giggling made me thirsty and to my delight Tupelo has a Starbucks!!  The closest one I have is over an hour away so whenever I'm in a town that has one I always treat myself....this time I went big!  Calah laughed at me...I will deliberate for 15 minutes trying to decide if I want to spend $4 on a dress but I didn't even hesitate to spend more than that on coffee.

I know....I'm not proud.

After all those shenanigans we headed back to the hotel to freshen up...

And then off we went to enjoy supper together.

The next day I was so disappointed to find the pancake machine was not working.

I live for the stuff like this.  I couldn't wait to see the pancake drop. I know...I'm like 4 years old.  I had to settle for a muffin instead.

It was pouring down raining when it was time for church and we discovered that neither one of us had packed an umbrella.  So Calah grabbed an Old Navy bag for herself and I wrapped my head up in my scarf. I'm sure we made a grand entrance as we ran as fast as we could giggling all the way.

Now after all that...we are finally here for the reason we came.....

For Calah to see these precious people again...  Bro Paul and LaDonna Gill.

I felt like I've known them forever.  What a blessing it is to meet new friends in the Lord and ministry.

I hope the Lord crosses our paths again soon.

It was a fun little getaway and I'm thankful Calah invited me to go.

My bag is still sitting in my bedroom waiting to be unpacked.

But hey.....this Rambling Rose might just head out again before that happens. ;)

                                                                           

ps. Don't forget to sign up for the scripture prints giveaway from  Blossom and Vine!  

You can click here if you haven't already.  I'll  announce the winner tomorrow.