Chocolate Castles as wel

As we are fastly approaching moving day, Wednesday, there are just so many thoughts going through my mind. One thought is, “I DON”T WANT TO GO” and another is “HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU PACK FOR TWO TO THREE MONTHS WHEN I CAN’T GET TO CLOTHES BECAUSE THEY WILL BE IN STORAGE SOMEPLACE”…where will we go for this new adventure? Will we travel to places which hold special memories or search out new adventures in places that we have always wanted to find..where will we be living around Dallas?… where will we be going to church? Will I be living in a house or a condo? Will we be able to just fall back into the life we left 3 years ago? Will we really spend the time with family that we intend?
Only time will reveal the answers to the questions. We have been up to Big Bear for the weekend with 4 other couples who we have come to love these past 3 years. As we were driving up the mountain, snow began to appear last Friday and it never ceases to amaze me that we can drive 2 hours away and enter a winter wonderland. The purpose of the weekend was to have our traditional Super Bowl party up there with lots of food, card games and of course, the ladies shopping and going to the tea room. Each time we have been there has engrained the fact that we have been so blessed here the past 3 years with friends who have become just so very dear to our hearts. When we are cooking together in the kitchen for the 10 or us, we have learned each others moves and what we do best. Some of us are the ones who do the actual cooking. Some set the table and clean up, while others provide the conversation that makes us all laugh. We have bonded so beautifully with our friends God has given to us here. The friends here have shown us how to love others and truly open your heart to newbies. We never felt like the new kids on the block because of their kindness and hospitality.
Both Randy and I hope that when we return to Dallas, that we will have learned how to reach out to others. We learned so much the past 3 years regarding friendship. Don’t just tell someone to call if they need something, most people will never call. Go ahead and do what you feel is needed. Take a meal by when needed, invite people into your home, regardless of the dust on the table. Reach out to friends by including them in everyday simple activities. When we remember some of the things that people here have included us in, it is usually the simple things that we look back on so fondly. I really truly pray that I continue to “pay it forward” as we head back to Texas and begin this new season of life that is called, “retirement”. We anxiously hope that our lives will spread the joy and encouragement to others that we have received here in California.