Laughter

Friday, I slept in because I did not sleep well on the hard hotel couch.  I kept waking up feeling like someone was breaking my kneecaps.  It was fun.  And I didn't have anywhere else to be that morning, so why not?

I finally managed to wake myself up about 2:00 that afternoon.  I ate some of the snacks I had in my bookbag and basically just chilled out until Michal came to pick me up just before 4:00.  I mentioned her several times last year.  She is a sweet girl that I met very briefly at Sanctuary, but we stayed in contact and from the first phone conversation we had, we were instant sisters.  We are so much alike that I knew spending the whole evening with her was going to be grand.  What I didn't expect was how it would give us the chance to connect on a completely new level.

She picked me up, and we went to Starbucks for happy hour.  She got some latte, and since I hate coffee, I got peppermint hot chocolate, and it was delicious.  We were sitting there talking about all sorts of random stuff, but mostly how fascinated Michal is with all the different languages of Siri.  Then, she was texting her Nashville dad, Wade, and he invited us over to his house for his youngest son's birthday party.  I was up for whatever Michal wanted to do, so we headed over.

Their house was SO MUCH FUN.  Funnily enough, Wade's family's last name is also Jones.  They had three families that they are friends with over, and I had a blast with all of them.  They were loud and fun and seemed to enjoy asking me a  bunch of questions and hearing me tell them about myself and my story.  One woman in particular and I spent a lot of time sitting in the study and talking until she had to go.  I also got to hear a lot about Michal's love and the people she spends a lot of her time with.  I sort of didn't want to leave.  I asked Wade if he could adopt me.  Ha!

This is Wade.  Ignore the fact that my eyes are closed...I didn't realize it until late that night when I was already back in my hotel room.

And this is beautiful, dear, sweet Michal.  Wade took this picture for us.  I love it.  It's my new profile picture on Facebook.  :)

We left Wade's house sometime not long after 7:00, and we went back to Michal's place for dinner.  She made me this amazing chicken fettucini alfredo with ginger and nutmeg, and we just talked.  About her love, about my family, about her family, school, relationships, God, friends, sex, SO MUCH.  And I don't think we stopped laughing the entire time.  I really didn't want to leave, but at about 9:30, she took me back to the hotel.  She was exhausted from getting very little sleep the night before, and I knew I needed to be well-rested and up early for Saturday.  But before we left, she made me this for dessert.

Vanilla ice cream with dark chocolate syrup and chocolate crunch toppings.  YUM.

Once back at the hotel, I did the usual getting ready for bed, shower, blah blah blah, and laid down on the couch once again with another huge smile on my face.  How could I not?  Between the joy of having an evening that wonderful with Michal and the anticipation of Saturday, I didn't know how I was ever going to get to sleep, but I eventually did.