Coastal Oddities

As with a lot of my trips, I like to take pictures of 'oddities' that I find. Here are some of them from this trip to the coast...

Because of the oil rigs being near, there is sometimes tar in the water, so they give you a certain kind of 'wet wipe' to wash it off your skin. It's kind of weird - I never would've associated the beach with tar! Here's the sign reminding you to check for tar:

And in Texas, the wildlife is pretty hardcore - RATTLESNAKES?!

And this cool tree looks like a big huge bonsai tree!

On Saturday, after it was done raining, we went outside on our balcony and saw the coolest rainbow across the sky!

If you look closely at this picture, you can see the full, complete rainbow! No pot of gold, though...

And as Mayce and I were sitting on our plane waiting to leave Corpus Christi, I looked out the plane window and saw this - a Columbian Air Force plane with a Corpus police car next to it. Was it another secret mission? A drug smuggle drama? My imagination was going wild!!

FERRY Tale

On our way back to the airport and home on Sunday, we stopped at the actual 'port' of Port Aransas. We fed the birds, saw turtle and mini-jellyfish in the water and walked out on the jetty.

Here's Cody and Chauncey looking at the jellyfish in the cracks between the rocks....

Here is Mayce with a 'tipped-over' palm tree - I've never seen one do that!

There were tons of super cool boats there...

And I call this 'lazy-man fishing' - fishing poles stuck in PVC pipe!

Here's the group, just hanging out by the water.

As we were hanging out and talking, a government/military helicopter flew over us a few times - maybe a secret mission!

And one of the highlights of the whole trip for me was the car ferry that we got to ride on! It takes you from Mustang Island (where we stayed) back to the mainland of Port Aransas. We didn't use it last year because we drove a different way across a bridge, but this time we had a few hours to waste before Mayce and I needed to be at the airport, so we took the 'scenic route' which included the car ferry! I was so excited!

Here we are driving onto the ferry:

We were the last car on that trip - here's a pic of the back of the ferry - that ledge will keep us from falling off the back - HA!

Here's Mayce and Cody - enjoying the view. Man, it was weird to open the car door and step out when you are in the ocean! A very strange feeling...

Here's a view of another one of the ferries that was going in the opposite direction...

I loved my first car ferry experience! It was so fun!

The Salty Dog

After The Crazy Cajun in Port Aransas, we went to The Salty Dog for some drinks and some of the group did karoake.

The unique thing about this bar was that the owner had their dog in the bar and he just ran around and played with the patrons! I was more interested in the dog than the karoake....

He had his own 'perch' next to the bar. Love it!

And like any good Texas bar, there was a saddle right above our table!

Here's Mayce and the group, planning their next karoake songs...

The Crazy Cajun

Just like last year (and probably every other year the group has made the trip to the coast), the Saturday night tradition was to go eat at The Crazy Cajun. As most of you know, I do not eat fish, seafood, and I'm not all that crazy about super spicy food - so this wasn't my first choice of restaurants....but I just needed to take one for the team. Here's Mayce and I at the table....

The seafood eaters (everyone but Elvia and I) get this "Hungry Cajun" dinner where they just bring your dinner in a big metal bowl and dump it on the table in front of you and you just eat it on the table - no plates! The Hungry Cajun consists of potatoes, corn-on-the-cob, shrimp, spicy sausage and sometimes crawfish.

Here are some pics of their dinner:

And here is the nasty carnage in mid-dinner.....

And here's the pile of shrimp carcases after they were done - ICK!!

Last year, they had a chicken dinner that I eagerly ordered, but this year it wasn't on the menu - I panicked!! The only other non-fish-or-seafood option was ribs, so Elvia and I got that. Here was my dinner: (also served in a metal bowl that they just dump on the table - no graceful way to eat at this joint!)

"Coast"ing Through Life

Last weekend, Mayce and I made the annual trip to the coast with her brother and their friends from San Antonio. They have all been going for years (always the weekend after Labor Day - rates are much lower), but this is only my 2nd annual trip to the coast. Last year we drove down to San Antonio and met the group and then drove as a big group to Port Aransas, but this year Mayce and I scored us some sweet flight arrangements and flew to Corpus Christi where the rest of the group picked us up at the airport, then went grocery shopping and to the beach!

We stayed a couple miles down the coast from the place we stayed last year, but the beach was just as nice!
The water was like bath water that first night, but I didn't find any sand dollars like I had hoped. Just like last year, Cody, Chauncey and I were the only ones that went down to the beach on Friday night - and we found a washed-up pineapple this time!

On Saturday morning, we all headed to the beach for some fun in the water, but our time was limited, because it started raining and lightening....

And in Colleen-style, here are my toes!

And I thought this was a cool picture of Cody - totally relaxed as the waves came in!

And as much as I realize that most of the oil that is drilled and refined in this country (at least the lower 48) is done in/around Houston and along the Texas coast, it is STILL weird to see oil rigs when you are sitting on the beach! Here are some rigs that we saw as we enjoyed the water!

After the beach, we moved to the condo pool - but just for a little while since it started lightening and raining again. Look at those dark clouds!

Here's some of the group (there were 10 of us in all) enjoying the pool before we had to leave or get struck by lightening!

PUSH!

JUST PUSH

A man was sleeping one night in his cabin when suddenly his room filled with light, and God appeared. The Lord told the man he had work for him to do, and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin. The Lord explained that the man was to push against the rock with all his might...

So, this the man did, day after day. For many years he toiled from sunup to sundown, his shoulders set squarely against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving rock, pushing with all his might!

Each night the man returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling that his whole day had been spent in vain. Since the man was showing discouragement, the Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture by placing thoughts into the weary mind: (He will do it every time)!

You have been pushing against that rock for a long time and it hasn't moved." Thus, he gave the man the impression that the task was impossible and that he was a failure. These thoughts discouraged and disheartened the man.

Satan said, "Why kill yourself over this? Just put in your time, giving just the minimum effort; and that will be good enough."

That's what the weary man planned to do, but decided to make it a matter of prayer and to take his troubled thoughts to the Lord.

"Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in Your Service, putting all my strength to do that which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I have not even budged that rock by half a millimeter. What is wrong? Why am I failing?"

The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend, when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I told you that your task was to push against the rock with all of your strength, which you have done.

Never once did I mention to you that I expected you to move it. Your task was to push. And now you come to Me with your strength spent, thinking that you have failed.

But, is that really so? Look at yourself. Your arms are strong and muscled, your back shiny and brown; your hands are callused from constant pressure, your legs have become massive and hard.

Through opposition you have grown much, and your abilities now surpass that which you used to have. True, you haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be obedient and to push and to exercise your faith and trust in My wisdom. That you have done. Now I, my friend, will move the rock."

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what He wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him.

By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God Who moves the mountains.

When everything seems to go wrong..........................Just P.U.S.H.

When the job gets you down...........................Just P.U.S.H.

When people don't do as you think they should...............Just P.U.S.H.

When your money is "gone" and the bills are due...............Just P.U.S.H.

When people just don't understand you..........................Just P.U.S.H.

P = Pray
U = Until
S = Something
H = Happens

It's All Straightened Out

Lately, I have started doing something that I haven’t done since the summer of 1997 (in college) – and that thing is: letting my hair go curly! I have had it chemically straightened for all these years – twice a year. The last time I had it straightened was the day before I drove down to Texas in March 2008. I figured I would find someone down here to do my straightening, just like I did when I moved to Ohio….but that did not happen. The Aveda salon that did my hair in Ohio used a Kenra straightener, which is a common product line, but when I started calling salons in Texas last fall, I couldn’t find ANY that even knew the straightener OR process that I was talking about! What?!


So anyway, I haven’t straightened it in a year and a half – since I left Ohio….which means that out of the shower, my hair is pretty curly as it dries. I have blow-dried it straight every day for years and one day I was running late for church and decided to just let it go curly and roll with it…..well, I kind of liked it!


I have cursed my curls for my whole life, but I’m kind of embracing them lately – mostly because when I let it go curly, I can cut almost a half an hour off my ‘getting ready’ time in the morning – score! And Chris likes the curls, so they are a good option all around. I just can’t believe I’m wearing the curls again!


And so now, all I put in it is this very cool product called Sunsilk Captivating Curls - it's awesome. So I towel-dry my hair, put some of this stuff in it and that's it! No blowdrying, no curling irons, nothing.

And here's a pic of our murder mystery night - to illustrate the hair change. Thoughts??