Emerging from Vacation

We're baaaaack!

The long radio silence since my last post can be attributed to the fact that we spent the last ten days in Florida and Charleston, and the majority of the time, we had no internet.  (One morning, we even camped out at McDonald's for a couple hours to download some things we needed for a project.  Desperation!)

It was an awesome vacation.  And it's good to be home.   I think those two statements, in combination, are the best assessment of a vacation that one can give:  it was great, and it was long enough, and I'm ready to be back.

God's providence was evident throughout the vacation.  The blessings ranged from:

• Safety in our travels, not just in flying, but in the 1200 miles that Mr. Squire drove while we were there (in our brand-spanking-new rental car...which featured all of SIX miles when they gave us the keys)

• Awesome weather.  It was supposed to rain so many of the days that we were there, but we barely experienced any rain (and the rain we did have was short-lived)

• Celebrating the weddings of two sets of friends - one in Orlando (Mr. Squire's college friend), one in Charleston (my law school friend).  We heard such great speeches, witnessed so much love from friends and family members.  How could we not be filled to overflowing with joy?

• The incredible joy of celebrating God's creation!  We saw/experienced so many cool things that God made during this trip (some of which are pictured here), including:

• Seeing one brightly shining planet named Venus during our prayer walk.

• Encountering a rather large turtle on the road near our home.  We parked on the side and watched it cross the road, and followed it into the neighboring field.

• Snorkeling in a huge (artificial) reef with a vast--and I mean vast--array of (very, very non-artificial) tropical fish and stingrays, many of which were larger than me.  That was just...incredible.  So, so cool.  I can't describe how amazing it felt to just explore the waters, follow the stingrays around, feel their "wings" brush against my legs, bug out at all the colorful fish, be entranced by the schools of fish...that was one very magical afternoon.

• Watching pelicans dive for fish and wild dolphins play in the surf of the ocean.

• Exploring anthills...gigantic anthills...and all the intricate tunnels within.  (And then getting bitten by several ants during my Godzilla explorations...)

• Feeding an array of colorful tropical birds as they landed on my hands, my shoulders, my head.

• Observing the endless array of puffy clouds filling the ever-changing theatre of sky.  I love puffy clouds, and Florida is full of them.

• Admiring the vast reedy marshes of Charleston.  They are lush and reflective and so beautiful.

• Quality time with Mr. Squire.  This includes time and space for serious, meditative conversations.  Heckling each other.  Him playing hide-and-seek with my stuffed animals (as in, he would hide them in the enormous house, then watch with great amusement as I frantically executed search-and-rescue missions).  Listening to sermons online together.  Taking prayer walks.  Singing along like crazy people to songs on the radio.  Playing many rounds of the "Appreciation Game" (in which we alternate in stating things that we appreciate about one another).  

• The benefits of low season at the parks.  On average, we waited maybe 10 minutes for each ride/attraction at Sea World, Disney World, and Universal Studios.  That's pretty amazing.

• Sleeping in.  Not thinking about work.

• Feeding my love for movies.  We watched four Redbox movies:  Les Miserables, Argo (which we loved!), Now You See Me (so entertaining), and 42 (my favorite).  

We are so thankful. 

And now, it's time to be back.  I'm a little nervous about returning to work after two weeks away, but at least it is a three-day week for me.  And our church retreat is coming up this weekend, and that will be good, because after two weeks away, we really started to miss our community.  Guess that is a healthy indicator that we are where we should be right now.