My travel back home were fairly uneventful which was a blessing. A few of my connections were supposed to be pretty tight with not much of a layover but each time my flight landed 20-30 minutes early and I had plenty of time to get to my next gate. About the biggest event of my trip was some food I ate in Atlanta. I as hungry but didn't feel like something really heavy like a burger from a fast food place. I walked around for a while and found a shop that advertised fresh healthy food. What caught my eye though was that they had crepes on the menu. I have always been a fan of crepes but always thought of them as a desert served with some fruit and maybe whipped cream. They had those but what I got was a Chipotle Southwest Crepe. It sounded kinda weird but seeing as southwest style food is my favorite I HAD to try it! I wasn't sure what to expect but it ended up being really good. They basically made a burrito out of the crepe and filled it with grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato, grilled corn, black beans, salsa, and chipotle ranch sauce. I never would have thought that would be a good combo but the sweetness of the crepe actually worked really well with the southwest flavors involved.
So I ended up getting into my hometown at about 11:15 pm and it was SO nice to be back. When my family picked me up it was like all the stress and frustrations of work just faded away and I was able to leave them behind and focus on enjoying my time back home. Though it was already late when I got home, me and my sisters stayed up till about 3:00 am just talking and laughing together. Once again it was so good to be HOME! The next day I got up pretty early and ran some quick errands in town then met my dad for coffee. It was beyond incredible to be able to sit down, just my dad and I, and talk about what life has been like now that I am on my own. Pretty much everything I know I learned from my parents and all of the instruction they gave me growing up, that maybe didn't make sense at the time, makes SO much sense now. I was happy to be able to look my dad in the eye and thank him for raising my like he did even if I didn't always appreciate it then. Now that I am looking at getting commissioned as a Coast Guard officer about 5 years from now, it was neat to hear his stories and advice on what it was like being a military officer. More importantly though, it was incredible to be able to look into the eyes of not the "Dad the Naval Officer" that I knew growing up, but now "Dad the Pastor." It is an honor to have my dad as one of my Pastors and over the years I have looked up to him spiritually more than any other area. He has been an incredible spiritual example to me over the years and it was great to see how the Lord is using him. All in all a great time and I am so humbled to be able to call him my dad.
From there I went to the school where my mom teaches and where I used to be the PE instructor. It was so much fun to see some of the kids that used to be in my PE class and catch up with them. I also got to do some Algebra tutoring while I was there so that was cool.
After my mom and sisters got home from school, several of us took a walk on the beach. It was a beautiful day and it was so nice to just talk and enjoy each other's company. Walking on the beach brought back so many memories and it felt so good to be back.
That evening my parents and I went out to dinner with several of the people who were instrumental in helping me get accepted to the Coast Guard Academy. I so much appreciate the time and effort they put into writing letters of recommendation, compiling transcripts, etc. It was a fun evening of food and fellowship. After that I took my parents out to coffee (are you noticing a coffee theme yet?) and it was a ton of fun to sit across from the people who poured 19 years of their lives into raising me and who didn't give up when I made bad decisions. I can honestly say I would not be anywhere near where I am today if it wouldn't have been for them investing years of their lives into raising me. As so many of the people I loved and looked up to have crumbled around me spiritually, my parents have always been there for me; a spiritual rock of stability if you will. Faithful year after year always striving to serve the Lord. As I faced some difficult decision in life and Satan tempted me to stray from what I knew was right, it was my parents steadfast example that kept me on the straight and narrow.
The next morning I had the honor of getting to help cook for my church's monthly Men's Prayer Breakfast. It was something I used to always do when I still lived at home and it was so much fun to get to go do it again. It was such an encouragement to be around so many like minded men enjoying fellowship, a great message from God's Word, and getting to pray together. After the breakfast we had a church workday to clean the buildings and do any necessary grounds maintenance. It was a blessing to be able to help take care of the facilities the Lord has blessed our church with. After the workday I went out to lunch with a few friends and it was great to be able to hear how they were doing and where their lives where headed. That evening our church's singles group met for a time of food, fellowship, and a spiritual challenge. A good time was definitely had by all.
Sunday was such a blessing to me. Getting to be back gathered with my church family was wonderful and the lessons and messages from the Bible were just what I needed. It was so refreshing to hear good solid preaching again! A family in the church had us over for lunch and it was so good to catch up with them. This family is like a second family to me and were a huge help in praying for me and giving me advice as I tried to figure out the Lord's will for my life and eventually joined the Coast Guard. After lunch I got to participate in two different nursing home ministries and it was a blessing to be able to serve in that capacity again.
Monday was my 21st birthday so to celebrate, I................................................went SNOWBOARDING! Several of my friends and I made a trip up to one of my favorite mountains for a day of adrenaline-filled fun in the snow. I was a bit worried about the snow conditions because it hadn't snowed in about 5 days and the temperatures on the mountain had been pretty warm. I was skeptical but figured it would be fun to go anyways. It was fun to catch up with friends on the 2 1/2 hour drive up there and when we arrived I saw there was still plenty of snow. It was a bit odd though because it was warmer up on the mountain than it was back at my house at sea level. I immediately took my jacket off and decided to snowboard in a T-Shirt. The snow was actually pretty good. A little hard in the morning, as the sun rose the snow softened to a perfect level, and by the end of the day was a little wet and sloppy for my taste but still not too bad. I couldn't complain. Most of the people who went with were there for the first time. They all seemed to pick it up pretty quickly though and had a good time. They all said they would go again if they had the chance. In the morning we stayed mostly on green (beginner) and blue (intermediate) runs with me straying on to several black runs (advanced). After lunch a few of my friends were feeling confident and decided to they wanted to try some of the black runs. They were pretty nervous at first but after their first time down loved it and wanted to do it again. We did it a few more times then started considering trying Chair lift 6, a lift that goes to only black expert-only runs. It was the only lift I had never been on and didn't know what to expect. I didn't want to get us into a dangerous situation that we would have a hard time getting out of. We debated it for a few minutes until we saw a 8-9 y/o kid jump on the lift talking about how he was going to drop some of his favorite extreme runs. We decided we weren't going to get shown up by him and jumped on. The closer the lift got to the top the more nervous we got because it started looking more and more extreme but we were committed at this point. We got to the top and I decided we would try a run I have always wanted to do but have always been too afraid. It is a black run called the canyon that is exactly what you would expect it to be; s steep steep run that winds its way down through a canyon that is 15-20 feet wide with 50+ foot high walls. I will admit I was pretty nervous but once we dropped in there was no time to think about it. It took all my concentration to stay under control but I had one of the biggest grins of my life on my face. It was INCREDIBLE! Definitely my favorite run I have EVER done. Unfortunately it was towards the end of the day but me and a few of my friends got down it one more time before we had to call it a day. It will definitely be a staple every time I go to this mountain in the future! All in all we had a great time and everyone was taking about planning another trip in the future.
There were too many good times to write about all of them but another one of the highlights of the trip was getting a new gun. For my birthday I got a Springfield XD Sub-Compact 40 and was anxious to shoot it. Several of us got together to shoot one of the days and I can't say enough about how impressed I was with this gun. I almost had to try to miss because it was so accurate and felt so natural to shoot. I even convinced my mom and sisters to shoot it and they all loved it. They shot it accurately and love how it felt. Here is my target that I shot drawing from my holster and shooting rapid fire as in a self-defense type situation. This is an 8 inch target shot rapid fire from 15 yards. Perfect, not really but considering the distance and rate of fire I am REALLY happy with it. I have NO doubt I could defend myself with it if I needed to.
I am not the world's best cook but my one specialty or "signature dish" is my cedar plank grilled salmon. I wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to get and grill some quality salmon because it is hard to get where I am stationed right now. The salmon was marinated in homemade teriyaki sauce then put on cedar planks that had been soaking in water with some salt and lemon and lime juice in it. I then put the planks with the salmon on them on the grill set at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes and it came out perfect! Maybe I shouldn't give away my "secret" recipe but it really is easy and there isn't much secret about it. Try it once and you won't want to grill salmon any other way again. It is literally the best tasting salmon you will ever eat. This picture doesn't do it justice but it is the best I could do. Served with sweet potato fries and caesar salad as sides, it was incredible!
One of the last nights before I left we had a big party with a bunch of friends over. We all had so much fun and the house was filled with laughter for hours. It brought back memories of some of the great parties we have had in the past and I think everyone had a good time. I brought home my boxing gloves and punch mitts (pads you put on your hands so someone with boxing gloves can punch them and not hurt your hand) and we had a good time with those. It got pretty competitive seeing who could throw the hardest punches and the craziest combos. Once it got dark we all went for a walk on the beach which so much fun. We had a lot of spontaneous feat of strength contests. Everything from push up contests, to teams of people hauling huge logs down the beach, to picking up each other and buddy carrying them as far down the beach as we could. It was reminiscent of boot camp for me but a whole lot more fun.
I got to work in the yard with my mom a good bit and I really had a good time with it. Although there is always more that could be done, I think we made some good progress and I believe she was happy with what we did. More than the yard work though, it was just fun spending time with my mom. I love her so much and she has been there for me as I have gone through the toughest times of my life. She has always been someone I can talk to when I am down and she will patiently listen to me and somehow when I am done I always feel happy and cheered up. She just has that effect on people I guess! I couldn't ask for a better mom and I am honored to be called her son and her "favorite Coastie!" Probably my biggest accomplishment while I was home was building a stone wall around one of her flower beds. She had wanted one for while and asked if I could do it. I had never built one before but said I was willing to do my best and try to build it for her. We discussed it on and off for several days and finally one day I said, "Let's just do it!" So kind of spur of the moments we bought the stones and brought them home. As soon as I started building it, it started pouring rain. Surprisingly though the rain made it more fun, not less! We just had to laugh as we were all pretty wet then my mom grabbed an umbrella and we both huddled under it as I built the wall. Good times.....
And here are just a few random pictures of the beautiful place that I call home. All in all it was a GREAT visit home and I had a ton of fun. I obviously didn't want to leave but it was comforting when I got back to have the crew of my cutter tell me how much they missed me and were glad to have me back. It is reassuring knowing I am in the center of God's will!
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