We Went on Vacation and I Met My Stalker

After having 6 funerals in 2 months, continuing ed out-of-state for a week, running children to visits, baseball, and swimming, camping trips with the children, and finishing up a crazy week of VBS, my Lutheran Stud and I decided we needed a little vacation by ourselves. We had talked about flying out to watch the Rockies play an away game, so we finally decided to make it happen. After church one Sunday I handed the keys to our big tank to a gal from church, gave a big hug to all of my children, hopped into my husband's pickup, and off we went to the airport. I was just a little concerned that we would be cutting it close on making our flight, but lucky us when TSA decided they wanted to check my husband's hands for gun powder residue and we were able to cut through to the front of the security line. Denver's security line can sometimes be super long and annoying, but that day, it was just fine for us.

Can you guess where we decided to go? I'll give you a hint. There were palm trees and beaches. We landed in San Diego right on time, picked up a vehicle, and headed to our hotel.

Our hotel was lush and green and filled with lots of palm trees. Did I mention we had a view of the beach too? Is there anything prettier?

We had just enough time to freshen up before heading north to meet our friends and my stalker. Did I mention I had a stalker, turned new friend? :)

This is my friend, Lauren. Isn't she the cutest pregnant lady? We go way back to our seminary days where we spent hours eating spinach artichoke dip, watching Law and Order, and even tried to sew placemats once. After we left the seminary, Lauren and her sweet family stayed on campus while her husband, Jason, worked for the seminary. Then, this gal, Rachel moved in, on the same street, so her husband, Adam, could teach at the seminary. Somehow, I think, Lauren told her to check out a recipe on this very blog. Christmas rolled around and I sent out cards. Our family photo was on Lauren's fridge and Rachel saw it. By now, I think, correct me if I'm Rachel, Rachel became a regular reader of my blog. Now fast forward a few years.

My friend, Summer, above middle, has a husband, Quinton, who used to be a pastor in Colorado, but took a call to be the campus pastor at Concordia Irvine. Summer and Quinton used to be in PALS with us. We loved it and through that program we became really good friends. They've now been in California longer than they were in Colorado. Crazy, right? While they don't live here anymore we are happy that they choose Colorado as their vacation spot and hang out with us while they're in town. Not long after their move, guess who moved to California? That's right! Rachel and her family moved to California, where her husband is currently a professor at Concordia Irvine. Now, Summer and Rachel, on the right, know each other from their college days at Irvine. Summer told Rachel to check out a recipe on my blog. Soon after that Rachel saw our family photo on Summer's fridge. It was same photo on Lauren's fridge.  Do you see where this is going? FYI, Summer and Lauren don't know each other. This is how I gained a stalker and this stalker, Rachel, finally emailed me to tell me that she's friends with my friends. How cool is that? Since my Lutheran Stud and I flew all the way to California we I thought it would be great to see our friends, right? So, the night we flew into town we drove to this beautiful harbor for fish n' chips, beer, and great company.

Are tired of this story yet? I hope not, because there's more. How can there be more right? That's my Lutheran Stud in the middle, with Quinton on the right, and Adam on the left. My husband regularly attends continuing education classes because one should always keep their mind sharp and he enjoys them. In May, this professor guy, named Adam, flew out to Colorado and my husband attended a class for an afternoon. Then he and another friend drove to New Mexico for a week long continuing ed class to learn about world views from Adam, or Dr. Francisco as he's called by his students. In case you're not following this story, Adam is my stalker's husband. After emailing back and forth for a few months can you imagine the disappointment knowing that our husbands met each other, were hanging out, and we had never met? How does that happen? At any rate, it did happened, but we finally got to meet and chat over dinner, so now all is good.

Now I'm about ready to move to California and stalk my friends Summer and Rachel because look at this beautiful sunset and think about all the trouble we could get into. I guess it's not really a possibility because my husband has a call in Colorado, so I'll just continue to stalk them on the internet and send them crazy, weird texts when they least expect it. With the success of online dating why not make friends online too, right? It was so fun meeting you Rachel. You'll have to come out and vacation in Colorado next summer. Stay tuned for more of our California adventure!