Birthday Border Trip

 On our first day in Texas, where would we go but to Cracker Barrel? I was excited to meet the renown McAllen hostess, Miss Dorissa! We were not let down - we walked in to see a lovely Apostolic girl there at the podium, seating people with a smile on her face!

With the muggy Texas heat, we enjoyed our share of icees and snow cones.
Watermelon all the way!

And I didn't get ANY on my clothes :P

 Woooo hoooo.....we got to see theeeee Mr. Pearly White's church - ha!

Joel Osteen in Houston, in case you were wondering.

Wow! LOL.

 For my birthday we went out for Thai food. My all-time favorite!

Had to have some Thai Tea!

Fancy napkins

 We always try to order a few different kinds of meat and everyone shares - this was the Chu Chee shrimp - it had a sauce made with red curry and coconut milk. 

I'm not a big fan of curry, but wow, this stuff was incredible.

We also got drunken noodles, pineapple fried rice, and some kind of chicken - I can't remember what kind. Anyways, everything was absolutely above and beyond the point of delicious.

I always get the giggles at Thai restaurants....

Try ordering Nua Phat Phet, Pad Sie Eiw, Tod Mun Pla, and Pra Ram Long Song with a straight face. It is impossible!! Nicole and I got on a roll one time at a Thai place in Sacramento, we were crying laughing, gasping for air while trying to give our order to the waitress. 

Sometimes pointing to your request on the menu is the only way to go.

 

 We also preached at Bro. Riley's church in Aransas Pass, but I'm such a dork! I didn't take any pictures, ugh. But I was so happy to meet the sweet girls there! We had a fun time chatting after church.

Crossing the bridge to Aransas Pass, if I remember correctly...

We woke up to this in Houston - 

Snowwww!

Actually, the roof was just painted white, but it did slighty get my hopes up when I first glanced at it.

 Our ultimate destination was Vidor, Texas, but on our way up we stopped at the Mettlen's church in Burke for their anniversary services!

 

Honoring Pastor and Sis. Mettlen

 I had never been to this church before, and ended up meeting one of our sweeeet blog readers - not only that, but she is one of the gals that commented on my drum post offering encouragement by saying that she plays in church as well. 

That was pretty exciting! 

Turns out she is not only a talented drummer, she also rocks in the kitchen as well. 

(Ha!)

Me and Hannah

 After each service the church in Burke served food. There was this delicious chocolate silk pie, I was swooning over it, then found out Hannah had made it! I was super impressed, and happy to get the recipe!

The fellowship hall was decorated so beautifully!

Oooooh la la! Romantic! Ha!

A nice, big Texas roach! NOT ROMANTIC!

 The reason for driving all the way up to Vidor was to preach at the Bullock's church. I had never been, but had previously met Bethany and Bekah Bullock at West Coast a few years ago. I was excited to see them again! 

They have a beeeautiful church...when I walked in my eyes went...uhh...*insert big-eyed emoji*

After church on Sunday morning, they informed me that they had heard it was my birthday and they had something for me in the car. I was shocked when I saw this -

I mean...how sweet is that?!?!? It had all kinds of goodies in it, and let me just say - there was some Bath and Body Works pumpkin latte stuff in there - I feel all festive every time I smell it, and it also makes my stomach growl. It smells so good. 

Thank you Bethany and Bekah!! 

I had such a good time; I was bummed we were only there for a day, but hey! I almost didn't even go to Texas at all in the first place...

We ate at Pappadeaux's for lunch - my first time, and also my first time tasting crawfish and alligator! 

The craw fish was very tasty and the alligator...I hate to say it because it's so cliche...but it tasted like chicken! Very tender chicken. Bekah, photo-taker extraordinaire, captured my reaction to the alligator. The only picture missing is the thumbs up after tasting it! 

 

 

 

Thank goodness Bekah likes to take pictures, otherwise I would have much less to show!

Bethanies - :)

Bethany, Bethany, Bekah, and Hayley

Austin and Landon

We were very bad one night and ate at the House of Pies...

I've been on an apple pie baking kick lately and while in the U.S. I wanted to taste an American-made apple pie to get a good idea in my head of what mine should be like. 

I'm sorry to say it, but I prefer my apple pie over the House of Pie's LOL...

Bayou Goo Pie

French Black Bottom pie

I am not downing the House of Pies! My BLT was awesome and our waitress was super nice. (She said Donald Trump was going to force her to vote for the first time in the upcoming election. OH LORD, HELP US.) Austin and Dad loved their pies. But as we all know - you can't beat homemade!

As we were walking out of the House of Pies to the car, Austin tossed his arm over my shoulders. It was a moment of complete shock. Since when did he get so tall?!?! I just about flipped out.

Of course we had to take a picture.

A while back, I heard an unnamed Texas talk show host interview the owner of the renowned gas station and convenience store called Buc-ee's. Since then, I'd wanted to see one for myself. 

Yes, it was just as incredible as Mr. Talk Show Host made it sound. 

Huuuuge, clean bathrooms, huuuuge store, and tons and tons of gas pumps. The employees were also very nice! It was like a mini Bass Pro Shop, Walmart, and Exxon all in one.

They had these hilarious signs all over the property...

I think they want to keep things clean!

We saw a wild pig on the side of the road.

My last American meal - chipotle chicken crispers at Chili's

On our way back down to Mexico we listened to a dramatized historical fiction called With Lee in Virginia by G.A. Henty. I highly recommend it - the story was incredible! At a certain point, the hero falls in love with a young lady that nursed him back to health after being shot in the war. Grampa said, "Oooh this is the romantic part!" and snuggled up to Gramma. Haha!!

The wifi password to our hotel in San Luis Potosi. Just in case you need it.

A lady with very matted hair at the gas station.

How I spent the majority of the drive back down to Puebla

My blow-up neck pillow got tighter and tighter with each minute we climbed. (Puebla is at an elevation of 7,000 feet.) I had to let air out of it twice so it wouldn't pop.

We got home about half and hour before church on Friday. We were all dead dog tired, but went to church, and being the dedicated and loving sister that I am, I also accompanied Nicole to sell cupcakes at the taco stand. We hadn't seen each other in a couple weeks and had a lot to catch up on! I was so excited to tell her about my trip...

...I've also really enjoyed telling you all about it! Another blog post, down in the memory books!

~Bethany~