Just the other day....

Lately life has gotten in the way of things I not only needed but wanted to do.  The past couple months felt like gravity had taken it's hold and said "here is where you stay", even when the world was pulling me in 5 different directions.  We've all been there letting life get in the way and accepting it, well this past weekend I put my foot down on the gas pedal and drove to see my best friend and her beautiful almost 1 year old daughter Katelyn in Copperas Cove which is near Fort Hood. 

I fell in love with this area, it's hill country so there is a lot of green to go around, with fields of wild flowers and back roads to take you to places you only see in movies.  One of them being this little country store full of knickknacks to keep one looking at for hours.  The best part of this home turned into a store was the couple who own it, who also have their actual home right next door.  You can tell the two of them worked hard their entire life, raised a family they were proud of and now live as simple as they can, enjoying every bit of life.  It's truly something to strive for.  The old man took one look at my niece Katelyn and decided she needed a Beanie Bear in her life. 

While there another car stopped to look around and out popped the most gorgeous family of 5.  Gorgeous family as in loving, kids who listened to their parents, and parents who were patient with their kids They weren't the traditional family you'd expect to see on the back roads of Texas, they were out for a drive on a beautiful Saturday afternoon enjoying life and eachother.  It was funny to watch the old man switch back and forth carrying on conversations with us and this family, making sure the kids saw the goats he is so very proud of.  The mother and us carried on a conversation about the "exotic animal park" just up the road ( again not something you'd expect to find on the back roads of texas.) 

I watched the family load up and drive away, it hit me that the "not what you expect to find" can bring the biggest smiles to ones face.  It did mine, along with hope a whole lot of it. 

As we said our goodbye to the sweet old  man (really wished I had gotten his name), Laura and I both said we could have sat there and talked to him for hours on end, listening to his stories.  I see Laura and I going back to the house/store if only to see the sweet old man and maybe see something else I didn't expect to see.