mountain getaway

Happy Monday, friends! Last Wednesday morning, my friend Dedee came to pick me up and she and I drove to the mountains together to meet two other friends who were already there and waiting for us. Do you ever get kind of nervous traveling with people, especially ones that you really don't know all that well? Just me? I was a little nervous about the drive and the trip, but no less than five minutes after I got in her car, I was completely at ease. 

We made excellent time and were there around three thirty or so! We unloaded our car, took a tour of the house and got settled in. The purpose of this trick with these friends was to work on our next Bible study. There are five of us on the writing team and we were minus one, our fearless leader. We did get some things hammered out and we did talk a lot about the format and structure of what we need to work on, but I'll confess here that I didn't get a lot done. I had already done a big portion of my own and I work best when it's just me and in the quiet. We still got a lot done, collectively, and we had a blast together. 

The first full day was spent in comfy clothes and three of us didn't wear makeup. Lynn (the owner of the house and our host) took us out on this ATV on Friday and none of us died! We had so much fun on this thing! Her road is very twisty and steep in certain parts and the only time I may have screamed was when she took a shortcut and took us up a very steep hill to get back. We laughed our heads off, especially Barbee, who is right next to me—this thing makes her laugh like crazy!

We ate another really good dinner that night and we watched some teaching on Esther by David Arthur, Kay Arthur's son. They do Precept Upon Precept and we heard him teach on Esther 1 and 2. 

The final full day we had was spent playing. We got dressed and headed to a nearby town, where we ate lunch and shopped and shopped. They had really cute little boutiques everywhere we turned and we all looked for souvenirs to bring back home with us. We ate dinner out and ended our night by walking all over a huge general store, then headed back to the mountain. We were up with the sun the next morning, thanks to a whooper will, and packed up and loaded by 7:40. We hit the road ten minutes later and were back home before four on Saturday. It's always so much fun to travel, but it's also nice to be back home. Here are some more pictures from the trip:

The mountain was full of hairpin turns and these little buggies came FLYING by us. There were four or five of them!

For two mornings, I spent my quiet time on this swing looking at this view. It was gorgeous! I do my best talking to Jesus when I'm surrounded by beauty in the nature that God created. I'd pray, then I'd sit there to read.

I love pretty doors! 

I took this on our ATV ride back to their house that was originally going to be a barn. I did ask my friend permission to share these and she approved, before I decided to post these.

We each had our own room or space to sleep in. The house is set up for ministry retreats, so there were three rooms upstairs and sleeping nooks at both ends of the hallway. 

And each space and room had a setup identical to this one above. 

I love Scripture all over the walls! They have tons, everywhere you look. 

And this was what our work space looked like! 

I took these because I loved her backsplash and to remember that I made that trendy pour-over coffee that everyone talks about. Their house is solar powered and real coffee makers take tons of energy! Who knew? It was easy to make, thanks to Lynn's instructions and one morning I was the first one up.

This was our play day! Lynn is on the bottom right, then Dedee is behind her and Barbee is behind me. We know how to play and be serious, but we also know how to dress up and have fun. We laughed ourselves silly while we were together and I feel like we're all the new kind of friends now. Lots of memories were made and we know each other so well now. I'm so thankful for godly friends, the kind who are iron-sharpening like these friends. I feel so very fortunate to be even a small part of this circle of friends. We missed our Amy and thought about her and prayed for her the whole time we were gone, so hopefully she'll join us on our next adventure. 

Thanks for reading my blog! Love to all. 

(I'm linking up with Tanya for this post.)