Ahhh... I feel so refreshed.  Jeremy had a meeting in Pennsylvania yesterday and today, so I asked to go along for the alone time.  Generally I am not one that feels like I just need to "get away", I really am a home-body and I love being with my girls.  But we have been so busy and I have been soooo tired!  I just felt like I needed to take a little time to just breath. 

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So I did.

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So what does one do with hours upon hours of free time in a city that one knows nothing about?  Well first of all she uses VZ Navigator to find everything that she is looking for and also find the way to get there (shameless plug), and then she browses.  How many moms can say they ever have time to browse?  I know that I really don't, usually it's hustle and bustle, get in and get out.  But not yesterday or today, these days, I browsed.  I browsed JoAnn Fabrics for 1 hour and 45 minutes and didn't buy one thing. I sat at Panera Bread and ate a delicious lunch and worked on lesson plans with the laptop.  I walked around walmart and picked up a few REALLY cheap school supplies, and a present for Chloe's birthday.  I sat in our hotel room in the quiet and prayed.  I spent time with hubby just laughing and talking.  I woke up leisurely this morning, and moved slowly.  It was wonderful.  And then I came home today missing the girls, ready to start again, ready to handle all of my duties with love and patience and peace and joy. 

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God is so good.  He knows exactly what we need and when we need it, and He provides for us.  (We didn't even pay for this trip because it was for work) This may seem frivolous with all of the other serious things that take our attention, but I know that God loves me and He takes care of me, inside and out.

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On a funny note:  we have a rule in our house.  When you wake up in the morning, you must get dressed and make your bed BEFORE coming downstairs and no one is allowed to turn on the TV.  Apparently, the girls have not yet understood that this is a rule, because if they wake up while I am in the shower, this is what I find when I come out, every time...

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Everyone snuggled, jammies still on, beds not made and their favorite show "Jon and Kate Plus 8" being played off the DVR.  And I always have to say... "Upstairs girls, let's get dressed."  But for real, how cute are they all snuggled like that? :-)