The Yellow Rose of Texas is the Only Girl for Me

I AM HOOOOOOOOOME!!!!!!!!!!!

I got in late Monday night, and I have been mostly sleeping since then. :) We had some horrific turbulence from Amsterdam to Houston. Food and drinks were flying everywhere, I had water all over my head and shirt, babies were screaming, people were praying, and others were throwing up. The turbulence was not reported, and the pilots were desperately trying to get out of it, almost dive-bombing to lower elevations. Apparently it might have had something to do with the tornadoes in Virginia. While most of my friends were saying their final prayers, I was just trying not to throw up. Needless to say, our flight to DFW was delayed, which gave me enough time to find some Dramamine and Sprite.

The non-drowsy formula was not available, so I was pretty knocked out on the flight, and even more spacey when I was trying to find my parents. Thankfully, I finally spotted them, and what a sight for sore eyes they were!!! Dad with a Sonic Dr Pepper in hand and Mom with a smile big enough to light up Texas. :D



When we got home, my Mom showed me a sign she made that said, "Welcome Home, Julia," and my Dad gave me a dozen yellow roses. :D It is good to be home.

I slept about 12 hours that night, and then Dad and I went out for a great Texas burger and fries the next day (yesterday). I was hoping for my first Dr Pepper, but they were all out. :( Today will hopefully be my lucky day. I never knew how lucky I was to live in Texas and to have such great food! Nothing even close to Mexican food or Tex-Mex exists in Europe. I was far too hopeful coming into it. And Maastricht does not have beef cows. The "hamburgers" we ate (actually, one was enough) were actually the meat from old milk cows. Talk about a different taste.

Last night I slept only a few hours, which was unfortunate . . . but now I get to update my blog! Yea! My computer is not connecting to the internet for some reason, so I am using my Dad's. As soon as I get my computer to connect, I will start putting up pictures! (And here they are!)


The Girls, Dr. Fuertes, and Severine at our Farewell Party

(At the moment we took this picture, Sev (our French Maastricht Director) said, "Guys, we are attracting so much attention!"  And I said, "We're used to it."  And she said, "Well I'm not!"  Hence her turned head and my slightly opened mouth.  We tried so hard not to be the loud Americans attracting attention to ourselves, but when you take group pictures everywhere you go, it is a little hard to stay under the radar . . . )



LM and I

Today we have Staff Retreat! I will be working with the Youth again this summer, and I am so excited to see all of them! Since it is Wednesday, hopefully I will be able to see all of them tonight after the retreat. :)

One interesting thing about being away is that I found great solace in country music (sorry Mom and Dad - I know you are rockers to the core). But when I got homesick for Texas, this just seemed to be a great fix. Some of my favorites were:

Country Roads (John Denver)
Wide Open Spaces (Dixie Chicks)
Texas On My Mind (Django Walker)
Sweet Home Alabama (Lynyrd Skynyrd)
All Texas Folk Songs
And all Mosey songs, which my parents would be happy about. :)

For your enjoyment, here is a little mix of some of these songs:

Woke up this morning
Texas on my mind
Thinking about my friends there . . .
And how I left her waving goodbye standing in the Texas sun

Oh now I'm going to find her
For my heart is full of woe
And we'll sing the song together
That we sang so long ago
We'll play the banjo gaily
And we'll sing the song of yore
And the Yellow Rose of Texas
Shall be mine for ever more

Mom stares out the window and says, "I'm leaving my girl"
She said, "It didn't seem like that long ago"
When she stood there and let her own folks know
She needs wide open spaces . . .

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
[Waco, Texas,] mountain momma
Take me home, country roads

Sweet home [DFW]
Where the skies are so blue
Sweet Home [DFW]
Lord, I'm coming home to you

Hope can give you reason
To get up again
And hope can help you find
A brand new day
And hope can give you strength
To get back on again
And hope can help your broken heart
Find its way back home again
Back home again



And to Caitlin Creed, my Tri Delta sister and family friend, who died 1 year ago today in a car accident . . . we are wearing pink ribbons for you today. God gave you a beautiful and blessed life, and we continue to pray for your friends and family as they continue to glorify God with their lives.