We Beat the Hot Weather

Del Mar Beach, San Diego, CA
Shank Home: Mom, Travis and Nora enjoying Swordfish kabobs and green rice
shopping in Target.
Camelback Spa, Phoenix, AZ
Mom at The Greene House Restaraunt, Scottsdale, AZ

Sipping a Margherita at Z-Tejas Restaraunt on our first night together
Gelato after Pedicures
Pacific Beach, CA
On one of our last evenings
Mom and I at Camelback Spa, Phoenix, AZ

Well, back home! The intense, August sun of Phoenix, Arizona beat down upon mother and daughters for multiple days, but kindred spirits never let the weather win. As Kathy Bates says in the movie, "Fried Green Tomatoes," TAA-WANN-DAA. So we did say to the 107 degree days. Ohh, yes. Mom, Nora and I had a wonderful time talking, eating, shopping, exercising, lounging by the pool and spa, taking a road-trip to San Diego for 3 days, visiting with dear friends and family, and most of all, laughing at each other. That is truly the best part. Like when Mom got confused with her Spanish accent and tried to pronounce "El Rancho" road, "El Ronn-cho" or "El Rawwwnnchoo." I'm not sure which spelling does it justice, but it was pretty hysterical; like when I get hyper over shopping, to the point of Mom and Nora needing to look me in the eye and say, "It's definitely TIME to go!"; or, like when Nora took on this cutesy, fake accent when she gave her "Super Foods" lecture to a group of Diabetics at the hospital where she works. Aww, she sounded so sweet---but where in the world did that come from??? And where do her strange pronunciations come from?

Besides making fun of each other, we also experienced wonderful fellowship. It truly is a blessing to be so united in our spirits and hearts, despite such different seasons of life---a mom whose primary years of child-raising are over, a young, married wife not quite ready to start her own family, and a Senior in college who has yet to jump into the full swing of love and marriage...we don't have much in common by way of To-Do's, but certainly, our Savior equally reigns over our hearts, lives and homes and is continually drawing us closer to Himself every day. And just like Elizabeth Prentiss penned her famous words, each one of us strive in our way to give, "More Love to Thee, O Christ."

On the way to Phoenix, I said to Mom, "When did we grow up? I mean, we are doing a Mother-Daughter trip, and we are all adults!" It is so incredible to me how time flies, and even these trips can all be over in the blink of an eye. Perhaps that's why it is so important to make these trips a priority in the first place: it isn't the grand, snazzy opportunities we had to go to San Diego, eat at a bunch of delicious restaraunts, or receive free day passes to the Camelback Spa, that we so fondly remember in the end (well, maybe the food and drink), but rather returning to the preciousness of living daily life together--quietly sitting together on the couch having our devotional times, making fruit smoothies for breakfast, serving each other by doing dishes, running up to the grocery store, switching over the laundry from the washer to the dryer, pretending we were spies with Rhondi and Becca Lauterbach when going to see The Bourne Ultimatum, curl up in bed and watch an evening show, and being able to read together in silence and not even care that no one is talking. Ironically enough, THESE are things I miss when thinking about Nora continuing to live in Arizona and Mom and I in Maryland. That is why I give thanks to God for providing the finances for this bountifully rich trip to take place!