checking in....

a lot has happened since i last wrote.

1) texas. wow. texas is one big state. our first stop in texas was lubbock where we saw our old housemate, barrett. it was nice to connect with him and see a bit of his world. we had a big crowd that night and a good show. had some tex-mex too. yum .
we drove through the night to dallas and arrived at 4am. i rode with the camera crew in their car, the bus came to dallas in the early afternoon. now, sarah and steve perkins had one of the most comfortable set-ups for us. it was just like coming home, except with a pool, air conditioning, and lots of food and space. at that point we really needed some good rest time and their hospitality made resting very easy. (thanks!)

i will say one more thing about texas. big bugs. we stopped at a rest stop and i went into the bathroom only to be greeted by, seriously, the largest insect i have ever seen. so, of course i ran out afraid that they were all going to think i'm such a baby. turns out no one could bring themselves to go near it. no one except scott a. he saved the day.

2) after texas we headed to atlanta. this was a great crowd. we had so many volunteers and helpers from various churches and communities and the audience really loved the presentation, southern style. i felt like i was watching it with new eyes through them. it was so hot, though. wow. i think that was our most packed out show. it was good to see leroy and donna again too. i loved what they do and who they are. i feel privileged to know them. we also got to eat at a fairly new, local south food restaurant called 'sweet potatoes'. so good.

3) we left ATL the next morning at 6am and headed to orlando. it just keeps getting hotter and hotter. but everything in orlando is air conditioned so it was a good show. there were between 1400 and 2000 people who came and this church was a well oiled machine. i even got to wear a head set while i did the power point so i could cue the cameras. (!) crazy. that night we stayed with some guys who have some of the most creative decorating ideas i've seen. a couple fake stuffed deer, a framed pictures of babies, massive owl lamps, country style birdhouse wallpaper etc. it was amazing. we got some drinks and frozen pizza and hung in their house until the wee hours of the night.

4) so that brings me to now. we left orlando this morning on our way to raleigh/durham for our show tomorrow. we just stopped off at flagler beach and swam in the ocean and laid on the sand. lovely. i'd say it's a bit different from the jersey shore i'm used to! i even talked the boys into getting a hotel room tonight!!!! it's just sooo hot at night on the bus and no one sleeps. so then we're out of it for the next presentation. i look forward to that shower and that bed.