And I Quote . . .

I know, I post pictures of these friends quite often. Seriously though, if they were your friends, you would too. I am so thankful for them. And I'm trying to enjoy as many moments as I can with them before I leave for Florida. Yes, folks. I am moving to Florida. Not forever. Just for the winter. To work.   While I am not crossing the ocean, I feel like this applies to me. This moving to Florida for 4 months makes me nervous, but I also look forward to the new adventures, new friends, new job. On the other hand, it is difficult to leave my friends and things familiar to me. Just like everyone else, change is not my favorite thing. But it is good for me.  These are my parents. They are good people you should know.   My big brother Blake and I from way back in September, but I like the fact that we are both in the same picture.  This is Marvin and Janice. I am privileged to attend the same church as them. You won't meet better folks then these. Th...

Have I mentioned that I love to travel? Seeing new places and people and food and everything else is exciting to me. So, when I got the chance to spend two weeks in New Zealand, I jumped at the chance. Miraculously, my brother-just-younger-then-me agreed to be my traveling companion...which was brave of him. Especially considering the fact that he had never flown before or been outside of the country at all.  This is just before our departure, Sherri was able to come along to drop us off at the airport.   Logan and I About to go through security. I can admit to feeling nervous here. I have flown a decent amount of times, but trying to navigate various different airports outside of the country and finding the right flights is always a little nerve wracking to me.  Almost there!  New Zealand!!! It is springtime over there. So lovely and blossoming. The is Grace, the boat. We were able to take this out on the ocean. (I drove!!!) New...

Since my name IS Maria, I of course know the songs from the Sound of Music...Actually, I get to hear "How do you solve a problem like Maria?" decently often. Seriously, there must be something about the name because there are lots of songs about various different Maria's. I feel special.  Umm...rabbit trail. All that to say, the song from the Sound of Music that goes "these are a few of my favorite things..." and then lists a lot things that the singer likes...that is kinda what I'm trying to do in this post. Here we go: My verse of the summer. Seriously. Read it out loud. There is something so strong and powerful in the words.  Since Melvin (my happy little bug) broke down, my dear brother Logan has been letting me borrow his truck. And I love it!!! So does my friend Jess. We roar around to lots of places.  Current favorite song...I think. I have this problem of liking a song and listening to it over and over and over. And then it bec...