Life Changing Iowa Adventures: Travel Day Friday

5:30 start to this wild ride adventure:
Well I made it on the plane after a little oopsie with my full water bottle....duh!  Had to leave and walk all the way back to the front guzzling my water all the way.  Then back through security once again....no biggie, everyone was wonderful to me.  Go American Airlines!!!

huge vintage suitcase art in the San Antonio airport

The flight over I sat next to
a lovely JoAnn and her husband on their way to Boston for a wedding.  Delightful, easy conversation the entire journey...we're off to a great start.  Nothing brings me to a place of awe like the magnificent sky God creates everyday.  He rocks!!!!

Not sure if I should share my airplane bathroom video...that might be a little creepy.

from my window...I LOVE the art God creates in the sky

OH MY!!!!!!  I totally realized I only transferred soooooome of the pictures.....and last night I started deleting pictures from my phone....WHAT!?!?! Really, are you kidding me?!  Well.....move on!  I would tell my kids "shake it off".  I only deleted all of Friday....travel day.   A WHOLE day,.....LOST.  I'll have to rely on Instagram for whatever that produces.  ahhh...I found some:) happy day!

DFW Chapel...if I had time I'd stop in 

constant movement....why haven't we left yet?

In Flight Entertainment

I LOVE picking.....I love transforming old into new and creating unexpected beauty from rusted metal or old barn wood.  I also LOVE thrifting & flea market shopping.  You just never know what you're gonna run across.  This magazine not only entertained JoAnn for a while but it gave me some fresh ideas I'll have to remind myself of later:)

are you kidding me with how cold it is here....and WINDY!  Oh my my my

the most brilliant rental car I've ever had...even the convertibles don't measure up

ummmm....hello FREEZING Iowa!  Are you kidding?  cold and windy not my favorite combination.  Shake it off.

It'll always be my Grandma Barbie n Grandpa Ken's house.....but Uncle Brad n Aunt Jill
have done a remarkable job renovating this beauty

ahh....my summers were spent here just as much, wait, MORE than the farm because when you're a teenager being in town is way cooler:)  how are family?  Play catchup for a few minutes with my Aunt & Uncle (dad's side).
oops...a few minutes turned into 40 minutes.  I missed the entire wedding rehearsal....oh well, they didn't need me anyway.  Shake it off:)

Rehearsal Dinner: Talk about down home country cookin'

 wow.....fried chicken, baked potato, some other stuff and dark bread......portion control

and the FARM; my mom's side....oh what amazing memories bailing hay, being chased by the bull,
mucking with the pigs, making forts in the hay, shucking corn, shelling peas and hanging clothes on the line

After dinner its off to the farm.  Granddad's place.
I as got out of my adorable European rental car all the summer memories (and a few snowy ones) flooded back to me and my heart was warmed with peace.  I belong here!  This is a very new revelation to me (as of about 24 seconds of setting foot on the farm).

the cat's watering hole overlooking the rock star barn

I love every inch of this place.  How it's nearly the same as when I was a little girl playing in the garden eating fresh strawberries, blackberries, raspberries.  The apple orchard was a favorite place to explore as well.  We never even had to worry about food, just go outside and feast!

the freezer they bought in 1951 still sits in the kitchen keeping everything cool:  amazing!

Wayne and Vivian: madly in love from the day they wed....watch the video in a couple days of
the story of how they met.

Theirs is the ultimate love story.  I hope to go back soon to get more stories out of Gramps and help him organize some craziness in the house....you know how things can sometimes pile up:)

After finally taking over in the kitchen; organizing some kitchen/dining room space (yes, it may just be an addiction) for my Granddad I headed back to town to have dinner with Brad, Jill, Aubrey and her super fabulous boyfriend, Garrett.  Little did I know they'd wanna eat Mexican.  Another "WHAT?!?!"  No way I'm coming from Texas to eat Mexican food in small town Iowa!  Are you kidding?  Turns out my favorite main street cafe turned south of the border....oh boy, is right!

Ok fine!  It's not really about the food anyway it's about the experience......that's why when I saw the prom queen tiara on Aubrey's dresser I knew that was my ticket.  Here we go...."paintin' this ole' town Blu"....must get Crystal Gayle to rework that song with me to make it a worship song....I already have it nearly written:)  Hmmm....random thoughts shared among friends.

Hey Bob, wanna picture with the crazy girl in the tiara?  (in the Mexican food restaurant)

people just want to laugh, at least that's my take on it....this night was amazing and effortless and PAINFUL!  Oh, that's right I never told you....2 days before I'm to come here I realize I hadn't worked out in 6 days so I take my first ever "body pump" class at the Y.  HA!!!!  I can barely walk by Friday night....every muscle is screaming out at me.....STOP MOVING!  But I can't listen...my energy level overrides anything my body's complaining about.  "Shake it off!"

and then Don wanted to wear it because it was his birthday (had to stand on a chair to get the tiara)
Funny small town people 

my old high school (one of four that I attended)

Why, you ask, would I find myself in the high school at 8pm?  Well, we're looking for the sign up for the 5K which takes place at 9am tomorrow.

5K?!?  Oh, that's right, I forgot to tell you.....A few days before the trip Aunt Jill called and we had a beautiful chat (first in 5 years) and in there somewhere she said the whole family was planning on participating in a 5K to raise money for a local boy who had cancer.  I told her I would join the family in the cause.

Here I went, tiara and all, to sign up for my first 5K since I was 16:)  oh boy!  What am I thinking????  At this point it hadn't quite set in yet.

Aubrey and I stayed up till who knows what time (2 maybe) just talking in bed.  So this would be night 4 of tiny bits of sleep or as I see it, "early morning nap".

Join me for more stories about divine intervention including 5K, divine appointment with Jeff, the wedding, reception, grandpa interview and an eye opening movie....FULL Saturday, to say the least....I guess you'll hear about it on Monday (or at least parts of it depending on the level of details I share).


so happy to have you along for the ride.....


love n happy memories,

Diella Wyatt