Time in Texas

I want to share about my long visit back to the homeland! I kicked off my visit with a trip to Arkansas and Mississippi. It was a huge blessing to spend a weekend with five of my closest friends from university in Jackson, Mississippi. We wandered around campus and other favorite spots. These girls mean a whole lot to me!

I then spent a week in Little Rock, Arkansas with my sister’s family. I always love these times to play games, basketball, run around parks, do art projects and read books alongside my nephews. Of course, the sister dates at the park (or coffee shop) are also a highlight! Their home in Little Rock feels like one of my homes. I spent a lot of my breaks in university there with them.

I was in Texas the rest of my visit. It was a roasting hot summer… Record-breaking actually! Despite the heat, it felt great to be back in that special place with my parents, John, Steph, and other friends (new and old). It was also fun that Liz and the nephews came down for a little bit! We amused ourselves in the hot afternoons by visiting the gym, the pool, taking evening walks, etc.

One of my favorite – and the most sweaty – parts of my visit were the times at the Hub of Prosperity! I love volunteering out here with these wonderful folks – students and staff at the local university (UTRGV) as well as other local community members. We did a lot of weeding, mulching, plot prep, irrigation set up, tarping (for weed control), harvesting, and preparing for the weekly farm stands to start back up. What a lovely bunch of people who are doing great work!

Here are some pictures from different activities I got up to. I also want to share some photos of pretty plants!

In addition to all these lovely activities I was working part time in the church office (my TX home church). I also got to be around to help prepare the Hub of Prosperity for John and Steph’s wedding! What a joy to be around for this joyous preparation and celebration! The food prep for this was so much fun! Kitchen projects with Steph are another of my favorite things ever.

Thank you for reading about my time back in the US! What a special time! It filled my heart all over again to reminisce about the places/people/creatures/plants I got to see again.