Weekend Fun

This past weekend was great. Travis, his family and I went camping in Oklahoma at a lake called Tenkiller. Weird name for a lake, huh? Luckily its not as bad as it sounds. It was named after a family of the Cherokee tribe who had the last name Tenkiller. The Lake is in the midst of the Ozark mountains so its really beautiful. All we did the whole time was swim, swim, and swim. We found a bunch of different cliffs to jump and dive off of so that was cool. Travis and his brothers made me feel like a super chicken as they were diving off 30ft cliffs and I was too scared to dive off of a 7ft cliff. Whatever though, I am all set with having a cracked cranium. It was Duke and Penny’s (our dogs) first camping experience but they did really well. Penny was just a little nervous about the whole “sleeping in a tent” thing. She seemed to be wondering why the heck we weren’t going home. Travis and I recently rescued her from a shelter where she spent the first 8 months of her life, so she is just now in this “puppy discovery” phase along with the emotion of “woohoo, I no longer live in a 4′ X 4′ box!” Duke on the other hand was his usual man’s best friend self. A perfect gentleman who only cared about being near “mom’s” feet. Even though we only went for 2 days Travis’ mom packed a whole pantry full of food. Along with pretty much an entire kitchen set. One thing I have quickly discovered while being here in Arkansas is the southerners love to EAT. I have never seen so many buffets in my entire life, and the main items on every menu are, fried chicken, friend catfish, mashed potatoes, pork n’ beans, and fried okra. Im thinking “Ok, do they even have access to salad in the south?” There are no varieties of salads ANYWHERE. Kelly: “Hello waiter, what kind of salads do you have?” Waiter:” Well we gots the house salad if ur int’rested een that.” So of course I then ask what is in the house salad, and they tell me ice burg lettuce, carrots, and radish. Then I ask if it happens to come from a bag, which they confirm to be correct, followed by the question of whether I would prefer the fried chicken or catfish as my main course. And though all of this has been very true, I am just busting on the southerners. In truth, they are some of the kindest people I have ever met. Everybody ALWAYS has time to just sit and chat, everybody waves or nods their heads at one another, and everybody always helps each other out. Travis says the problem is that the church of the south is so focused on the “be kind to your neighbor” part, that they are forgetting some of the other parts. And though that might be true, it really does feel good to be in a place where people on a whole are so kind to each other. Not that I dont miss Rhode Island. Sometimes I miss Rhode Island and its people so badly I think I am going to throw up. Strangers aren’t as pleasant in RI as they are in the south, but the close friends that you do find, are unforgettable. Now where was I…camping. Camping was great, for once in my life I didnt get a sunburn, but that is only because I doused myself several times with SPF50 sunblock which I was happy to find gave me a really nice tan, instead of the lobster burn. So all in all it was a great weekend. 

In other news, I think Travis and I may have found a perfect fit for a church. We went last week to a church called New Heights, which was nice but a lot less radical than we are used to. So after the service I went on Myspace of all places to try to find some young christian people in our area who we could possibly befriend and check out their churches. One of the first people I found had a Misty song on her profile so I emailed her to see if she had ever heard of IHOP, and what kind of church she went to. She emailed me back telling me that she definitely had heard of IHOP and that her father was the pastor of a non-denominational church that was also home to a house of prayer. They have sets Thursday through Tuesday night, and several sets in between those two, and when nobody is playing they run the web stream on a big screen. I am pretty sure God hooked me up big time. So travis and I are going this upcoming Sunday to check it out and I think we are going to love it. I have been really missing IHOP since I left and at points I was wondering if I did the wrong thing in leaving, but I think finding this church is an answer to prayer. I am really excited. 

Alot more has happened but my hands are really tired, so until next time, God Bless.

Here are pics of Duke and Penny by the way, just so you have a mental picture in case they get mentioned. Duke is the Golden. Penny is obviously the none Golden )