This week was special in that we had the opportunity to visit Mike (Steve's brother) in California. Then, I took a short, mid-week trip to College Station to visit my sister, Melissa. We feel so blessed to have flight benefits to be able spend such sweet time with wonderful siblings!
First Stop - San Jose, CA:
Steve and I arrived in San Jose Saturday morning. We had breakfast in a trendy downtown cafe. For some reason unbeknownst to me, as soon as we walked into the cafe, I literally felt as though we were in a foreign country, and actually asked Steve to tell the cashier my order (since he's way better at speaking foreign languages than I am). The sweet husband that he is, he just went along with it, until I suddenly realized that the cashier was speaking English. Duh. I surely must be losing it. We then drove to Half Moon Bay (between San Jose and San Francisco), and walked along some cliffs overlooking the bay. Absolutely breathtaking.
We ended our day with the biggest bowl of soup I have ever had - diameter the size of a dinner plate (for those of you who have not tried the Vietnamese dish "pho," I highly recommend it!). In case you are wondering...no, I did not finish the soup. I ate about a third of what was served and saved the rest. I don't know why some restaurants feel the need to serve such gigantic proportions. But hey, leftovers are always nice!
Next Stop - College Station, TX:
On Monday night, I randomly decided to take a spontaneous trip to College Station to visit my sweet sister. So, Tuesday morning, Steve dropped me off at the airport and headed into work. However, I was lacking the one item necessary to successfully pass through security - my driver's license. Wonderful. Steve was not able to come back because he had meetings all morning with his managers. On to Plan B...I happened to have a community college photo ID in my wallet from the classes I took this summer. I did not think I had the slightest chance of getting through, but what the heck. Thought I would give it a shot anyway. I approached the security line and explained my situation to the TSA employee. He pulled me aside and asked me for any other forms of ID. Then, the moment of truth: he said it wasn't going to work. Shucks. Well, it was worth a try. So, I had resigned to doing some reading and analyzing every square inch of the airport floor until Steve could pick me up at lunch, when all of a sudden, he asked, "Can you do 10 jumping jacks?" What? Indeed, I heard him correctly. I laughed and poised myself for the silly jump (I was desperate) when he stopped me and said he just wanted to know if I could. Funny. Then, he grabbed a highlighter, initialed my boarding pass, and gave me the all clear to go through. Really?? It couldn't be...but it was so! Wouldn't have bet on that. Quite the adventure! And yet another opportunity to just trust the Lord with the outcome!
So, after that minor hiccup, I was on my way to good ol' Aggieland. Whoop! Melissa picked me up from the airport (tiny as can be) and we headed to get Tharsio, Melissa's boyfriend. We had lunch at Fuzzy's Tacos...yum. Talked. Reminisced. Caught up on life. Then we all went to Sweet Eugene's, a local coffee shop with a very Austin-y vibe. It was the first time Melissa and Tharsio had been there, and my umpteenth time. Love that place. There is nothing like a good talk in a coffee shop. We were there for hours. I believe they found their new favorite hangout spot :) We then played a Brazilian card game (Tharsio is from Brazil) - Melissa dominated. So fun! Chili's for dinner. And that night, Melissa and I watched Rio (kids' movies are my favorite!).
Wednesday morning, Melissa and I went to Mugwalls (yes, more coffee) for breakfast. Brought back such great memories! Browsed the mall, met Tharsio at Freebirds for lunch, more cards, and then off to the airport to head back home. Had so much fun visiting with them! I am so blessed with such a wonderful sister :)
