I went on a trip to Maine with my family, and we just got back last night at 3 o'clock AM after driving all night in the pouring rain.

It was a really amazing trip. I didn't realize how much I missed Maine until I went up again. My parents visited friends up there that they hadn't seen in over 15 years, some of them, and it was really cool. We drove up in our fifteen passenger van.  And we got keyed, like, twice and we were only up there for four days! All those crazy New-Age Global-Warming people don't realize we have seven children and need the space. ;D

Anyway. Before I left, my friend basically forced me to bring his camera. Because I "have an artistic eye". It's a serious camera with a 55 range zoom. He gave me a memory card that's 16 gb. 0.0 And then he gave me a bunch more memory. He said, "I want to see at least a thousand pictures when you get home." I was like.... "0.0" But I ended up taking over 700. It's an incredible camera.

Anyway, we drove all around Maine visiting tons of different people and walking around towns and visiting all the little shops. We ate out a lot (we never eat out) and we ate a ton of ice cream and drank A LOT of coffee. Maine is the closest thing on the East Cost that looks like Washington where I was born, said my parents. And it is beautiful. Lakes and bays and oceans and islands and docks and boats everywhere!

Once we stopped at a dock. And there was this HUGE sail boat out on the water with red sails. But you could hardly see it. I zoomed in really close with my camera and I was like, "What kind of ship has a black flag?" 0.0 And it ended up being an old re-make of a pirate ship that they took tourists out on. But we didn't know that until after. So it was cool and freaky.

We visited our sailor friend who is a pastor as well. He has a white beard, bronze-tanned skin, and he's built like a fisherman. We see him every couple of years or so. It was sooo good to see him again. I love that guy. His house is like a museum. It's an exact replica of a 1700's colonial on the outside and on the inside with a twinge of sailor. Anything modern is hidden away. Then We went out to eat with him. Clam and bread by the ocean. Soooo goood.

We drove home that night. It rained so hard I couldn't believe it. We only inched along on the high-way. There was car-crashes everywhere, but we made it home. Dad drank coffee  to stay awake. haha. We couldn't find a coffee shop, so we forced dad to go to mcdonalds to get the organic coffee that they have. And he was like, "There's no way I'm going into that place!" He thinks it'll kill him or something. But he went finally. And he liked the coffee. It was funny.I'm gonna miss Maine a lot.

And so now we're home. We just finished unpacking everything. Which is a long process. And now I have to re-pack. This time for Malawi, Africa. I leave the first of August and I am supposed to be completely packed by Sunday. (Which is not gonna happen.) I try to be excited about it, but every time I think about it I get really anxous. I don't know why. I didn't sign up for Malawi. My parents signed me up. And of course I wanted to go, but I was hoping God would intervene and"call" me in a way that I would know that He wants me without a doubt.  But that didn't really happen. And I'm going anyway. And Malawi isn't India. I had looked forward to India for years and I was called in an extreme way. And that hasn't happened this time. Idk. Malawi is coming up sooo soon. And I know God has a plan, even if I don't see it now.