I Love Me Some Home

It appears I have taken this phrase to heart lately.

 At the moment I have a lot of "homes"- my home in OKC, Austin's home in Dallas, "Happy Place" home at Paper Crown, Austin's dream of a safe house home for girl's who need a fresh start and love, Katie's dream of "Hannah's House" home where African girls who have been orphaned are taken care of and nutured, and a my dream along with others of a " creative home" where ladies can spend a few days together creating, sharing, bonding and recharging. I'm like a mother hen gathering (I hadn't thought of it until Sat., thank you friends for being so very insightful) her chicks. Some of these homes are realized and others are just seeds drifting in the wind hoping to find fertile soil where the can grow- we will just have to be patience, pray and dream.

Last weekend I was given the blessing of taking a few friends to a place I have called home- Waco. In college if you would have told me in 30 yrs I would be bringing a group to Waco for the weekend I probably would have asked " why?!"  Waco was a great sleepy town and one I have always loved but not a lot to do- my, my how things have changed.

 

We headed south because were invited by Stephanie Ackerman to attend a bible journaling class at the Magnolia House. It was a double blessing, we got to take and be inspired by Stephanie and enjoy all things Magnolia.

It was a little toasty but honestly, we didn't care AT ALL!

 

 

 

Stephanie and her sister made sure we all were taken care of and felt at " home." Unfortunately, Jennifer may have taken a little bit of "home" with her to CA- chiggers. I hope you were able to leave that reminder of the weekend in Waco. :)

 

Class was a mix of ladies from OKC and TX with a cornhusker, Jennifer A., thrown into the mix. We were all a little awestruck by this opportunity. Twenty + women with ear to ear smiles is a great thing!

 

 

We spent a majority of the day painting canvas covers for our new journaling bibles and then began some journaling.



Happy, Happy Faces!

Love this picture of Amy and her best friend Jennifer from NE. So glad these two could share this weekend.

 

It was a very quick trip for Lisa but I know she would do it again in a heartbeat!

Thank you for my gift! I love it and especially what it says, it's even more special than you realize!

Nancy and I had some issues with Siri Saturday morning. Thanks to all our classmates and Stephanie for being patient while you waited for us to arrive - with the supplies! When I arrived very late and flustered, Lisa gifted me with a cuff-thks friend!

 

Mary Ann and her husband run the Magnolia House and made sure everything was absolutely perfect. A huge thank you to them for making our visit magical.



Two Texans- Tara came with her mom and they have Royer's Pie Haven in Round Top. You might have seen an article on them in a Somerset Magazine. The pie is definitely as good as they say! On the right is Martha from Waco and I just realized this morning she is friends with one of my college roommates, Susan P.

Jill and Colleen  with Tara's mom. I loved her tshirt I think it said " Be Brave  and Eat Pie"

Meet poor Jamie who was unfortunate enough to sit by me. Stephanie had water bottles on the tables so we could " mist" each other if it got too hot. I managed to "mist" Jamie with a hard and fast stream right in the eye. I don't know what  I was thinking. Jamie is a  sweetheart; I might have pushed me to another table.   

 

Lunch in the gazebo

 

Criss cross applesauce!

 

Robin and her traveling buddy Alisa

 

 

 

Colleen on the left was Stephanie's hairdresser in CA who is now a Texan.

 

Dr. Pepper the official drink of Waco.

"seven"

 

 

It's so very hard to put this weekend into words but I know we are all so very grateful for the opportunity and blessed by the experience and new frienships. Thank you Stephanie and Joanna for sharing your dreams with us. We are anxious to see how these dreams will grow to something even larger than you could imagine- Thank you and keep the faith : )! ox