I visited a little church in the area today. I was referred to it from a friend back in the northwest, and it was great. The pastor was a really welcoming dude and the sermon was easy to relate to. It was exactly what I needed. God always provides what we need, especially when we are faithful to his plan.

Even when things look dark and unpredictable, God is present and in control. I'll be trusting in that for now. One day, the reason for the storms will be made clear, and it will be excellent. As my home church always says, the story is good.

Anyway, the gal I'm living with is a real sweetheart and has been including me in all kinds of things she's been doing. Her younger sister is graduating from high school this weekend, so she has oodles and oodles of family in town. She invited me along to enjoy some burgers and a walk along the river. Although it meant missing the season finale of my favorite show (and secret obsession! No, I will not say what show it is), I said yes and went along.

Her family is a hoot! Sometimes I can't quite keep up with what they're saying because of their accents and because they talk so fast, but I just smile and nod when I'm lost. Or laugh. I laugh when I'm nervous.

Anyway, we enjoyed some Five Guys burgers and then walked along the Tennessee river where the Riverbend festival is every year and even passed by the aquarium. I was so thankful they invited me along and showed me a bit of downtown. They're some real kind folks over here.



















Also, I ripped a hole in my pants today at work. Second day of work. Seriously, Jessica? Ugugugugug.

Anyway, that's all I've got for today. Had my first day of work and it went well. Still work, but with less people around and more fun accents to listen to. Also my own personal bathroom. That's cool.

I was hoping to take some pictures with my real camera and upload them, but I just haven't been able to get out and shoot yet.

Right now I'm camped out at a Starbucks. My grand plan was to drive by my local work office to make sure I could find it (check!) and then hang out at Starbucks for a while with a skinny vanilla latte and catch up on my Hulu (still in the process of getting access to the Internet back at the house. Will update on that progress later). Anyway, I ordered my drink to the very friendly southern baristo and then meandered outside to sit in the gorgeous Chattanooga sunshine. I sat down, unpacked my computer and booted up. I was cut short when I realized I only had about 10 minutes battery life left, so I packed up again and headed inside to a table. But now, I'm sitting here and there isn't an outlet in sight. Do Starbucks in Tennessee offer electricity? I'm so confused. And, honestly, I'm too embarrassed to get up again and search. So, my shows may just have to wait a day or two.

Instead, I went through my phone and edited a few more shots. And wrote this post. Still productive, yeah?

Here's some pictures:















The pictures with all the peanuts is from a place the gramps and I went to eat at last night. They have a thing of peanuts on each table and when you break the shell to eat the peanut, you then throw the shell on the ground. Just slide it off the table to the floor. What? Part of me was afraid my grandmother was going to pop up behind me and slap my hand for making such a mess. 

But it did, and we ended up hitting five states total on day two: Idaho, Utah, (Why)oming, Colorado, and Nebraska. No, Colorado was not on our original route, but it was like 15 minutes out of the way. We're a spontaneous pair, the gramps and I. Watch out!

Day three offered a lot more scenery. We finished driving through Nebraska, spent about 30 minutes in Iowa, and then passed right into Missouri, which is where we've parked our selves for some sleep.

Some of the more interesting occurrences so far (top 5 list!!)
5. Taught a woman with no teeth how to work the paper dispenser in the woman's room at a truck stop. Side note: didn't know truck stops had a place available for people to take showers. Makes sense, but hearing "shower two is now available. Next customer please step in" over the intercom just seemed a little strange. But I digress.
4. Had half a dozen Nebraska-folk stop to check on us when we stopped for some grub on the side of the road. After asking if we were ok, they all commented on how great the weather was and told us to enjoy ourselves. Such nice people!
3. Got a 10% discount at the hotel we stayed in last night. I think it was the cute-girl discount. (I'm sticking to it).
2. I got the gramps addicted to skittles. And chicken salad sandwiches.
1. The gramps and I stumbled our way across a real life biker gang! I would have snagged a picture, but about 70% of me was actually afraid.

Now, phone dump.



















One more day of driving to go!! Text me. Snap chat me. Start up a game of words with friends. If I'm not driving, I'll respond in 30 seconds flat. Seriously.

Today I finished packing up my car-and, yes, I have about two suitcases too much stuff. Oh well. Then I said goodbye to my family and headed in to town to take my last final for my sophomore year of college. After completing the final (which probably could have gone better...) I left town. Just like that. Hopped in my car and began the 290 mile trip to Boise to catch up with my grandfather who will be making the rest of the trip with me. He's suffering from some back issues and says that sitting is fine, it's walking around that bothers it. Well, with three days ahead of us and 10 hours of driving each day, I think we'll be sitting quite a bit.

On my way out of town, I shot a few quick pictures of the beautiful Idaho scenery I'll be leaving behind.







I'll check in again tomorrow. Hold on to your seats!