A Trip to the "Wilderness"

     I met my friend Sarah this past semester in Microbiology and we hit it off from the first day of class. After several dates to Taco Bueno (which we both love!), DQ and Denny's, we discovered that we are practically the same person (Haha!!). Not quite, but we share the same values and opinions from our relationships with God and career paths down to the beanie hats we love! :-) Anyway, on one of our outings we discovered we both love being outside so we planned a 2 day vacation for when the semester ended. We decided Broken Bow Oklahoma was the perfect place for us to experience the wilderness, so we booked a hotel and 2 weeks later found us driving up to Beaver's Bend State Park.

It was really foggy all of Wednesday.

(This picture was taken Thursday.)

We're here!!!

The scenery was so beautiful! 

We did most of our hiking on Wednesday which ended up working out really well because it was quite a bit cooler on Thursday.

It was a long way down...

So, I jumped down onto a rock not realizing how very slippery it was and ended up flat on my face. I think my shoulders took the hit because they were the only part of me which was sore, but we couldn't stop laughing about it!! :-)

We couldn't find the trail we really wanted to hike on so we were relieved to come on this sign.

It was beautiful even with the fog.

The spillway

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We hiked down a VERY steep hill to find this gorgeous waterfall.

Looking down at the river

Selfie time!! :-)

We started out on, what we thought, was a 3 mile hike over semi difficult terrain, but it turned out to be a 7 mile hike over very steep terrain. We ended up hiking 13+ miles that day. We were exhausted by the end and were so glad to head for the hotel to shower and get cleaned up. We then headed to a little restaurant called Steven's Gap.

Waiting for our dinner to come...

It was the most delicious catfish ever, especially as we were SO hungry!! After we finished, we headed back to the hotel where we slept for the next 12 hours!! :D

The next morning we went to a little coffee shop called Adam and Eve's. It was the cutest and coziest coffee shop I have even been to! 

After our morning cup of coffee, we drove back by the dam and spillway so we could see them in the sunshine. The view was stunningly beautiful!

There was a gift shop connected to the coffee shop and we found these nice water bottles and super cute beanies.

It was even more beautiful in the sunshine than in the fog!! I was amazed!

"The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork." Psalm 19:10

We found The Blue Rooster and decided to try it out. The food was delish and the inside was really rustic.

This little guy (about 6 years old) was the son of the boss and was helping out with serving. He took excellent care of us and kept coming over to ask if we needed drink refills.

We had an absolutely wonderful time and are looking forward to the next time! This verse is so true of our friendship.

"A sweet friendship refreshes the soul. ~Proverbs 27:9

God is faithful!
Lizzy

Dinner With Friends

From the St Louis Edition:

We love Old St Charles and go there often

 to walk down the brick street or stroll by the river. Sometimes we'll

get a coffee.  We'd never been to the restaurants though.

It started out as a family night out, but why not invite good friends?!

Impromptu...

We decided to try out Lewis and Clark.

We sat all the way up on the third floor. Beside one other table, we had

the whole floor to ourselves.

Just in case you were wondering, Lewis and Clark were good cooks. ;-)

Dustin and Jessica are so fun to hang out with.

Progressions...

I think the adults must have rubbed off on them.

It was Nahla's birthday...

...so all the kids got dessert.

Brownies with raspberry sauce. (It was really good!)

After dinner, we walked by the river.

We always have a lot of fun with Dustin and Jessica!

Btw, this is a throwback from September.

Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel. Proverbs 27:9

Brought to you by: Rebekah Benner

A Trip to Cancun!!

Travel!

      In September, (Yes, I'm sorry. It was a while back.) I had the delightful privilege and honor to attend my dear friend, Marcela's, wedding as one of her bridesmaids. The wedding was held in Cancun, Mexico. It was so much fun to celebrate her big day with her, as well as, get to catch-up with her, and some other very dear friends. I enjoyed it SO much. :)

So sorry for the blurry pictures. Savannah and I got to fly down together.
It was such a nice time of encouragement. It had been a long time since
 I had seen her. We are waiting for our flight.

So, while we waited for our flight, we treated
ourselves to a green tea latte. It was very tasty.

On board

Howdy - from Spirit Airlines.

I love clouds!

Cancun!

We arrived safely, and it's so beautiful. 

Marcela's parents were so kind to let us single girls stay in
their apartment with them. It was a joy to get to know
 them. I think, we were on the 5th flour.

I'm here! This was my first time to actually stay
at the beach! Needless to say, I was pretty excited. :)

  

Morning quiet and relaxation. "Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my hope comes from him." Ps. 62:5
I had a little companion up there resting and relaxing with me. :) 

Making breakfast with Bety, Marcela's mom.

Breakfast was a big omelet. It was delicious. 

Marcela and I. I miss this girl so much.

After breakfast, we waded in the ocean,
 hung out and took pictures.

Anna and I got to spend a LOT of time together, catching-up,
 and encouraging one another. She is such a blessing!

On the way to the rehearsal. Marcela and Austin were going to
spend time with his family before the rehearsal. So Anna
and I caught a ride with them to the hotel. Then, hung
out at the hotel's beach. 

The hotel where the wedding was held.

Crashing waves, although small.

Relaxing on the beach

Let the rehearsal begin.

The bridal party

At the rehearsal dinner: Savannah, Kris, and
Auntie Heidi. We are working on a surprise. ;) 

Marcee, another dear friend I hadn't seen in a long time.
 It was good to see her again. She's so much fun. She took quite
a few of these pictures for me. Thank you, Marcee!

                        "Ointment and perfume delight the heart, and the sweet-

                               ness of a man’s friend gives delight by hearty 

                                               counsel." Proverbs 27:9

    I'm so sorry this post was so delayed. Next up, the preparation for the wedding, the wedding, and the reception. Stay tuned! 

                                                                  ~Esther