*Destin, Fl May 2010*

As a way to celebrate my graduation, Brandon & I were able to go to Destin, Fl with Brandon's mom & dad, Sandy & Terry. We could not wait for May 14th to get here. Usually, when Brandon and I do go to the beach, I either had to attend class before we left or we had some other obligation that would allow us to get on the road until much later in the day, however, this time, we were able to leave early. We met Terry & Sandy and were on the road at 6:15.

We got to Destin a little after 1pm, leaving us time to get lunch at Chick-fil-a and get on the beach. We checked into our condo, but our swimsuits on, grabbed our chairs, and headed for the sand.

I'm not sure about everyone else when they go to the beach, however, when we go, we have a routine.

Our beach schedule:

*Wake Up

*Breakfast (cereal, pop tart, banana...)

*Beach

*Take a Walk

*Sit in the sun, under the umbrella, go to the pool, ocean...etc

*Pack up

*Shower

*Eat Out

*Shop

Usually, the only thing we see in the ocean are Jellyfish and sometimes, Dolphins, however, this time, we were able to add Manarays to our list. I was excited about seeing them, even if no one else was.

We definitely enjoyed our time there and even made some new friends. Now that we have been going and staying in the same condos, we are building relationships with the people that we tend to see year after year. Granted, most of them are retired and spend the entire months of May and October in Destin, however, we are beginning to get to know them and make new friendships.

Most of the time, when Brandon and I go to the beach, we go with excitement as we look forward to the relaxation that the sun & sand will bring. Don't get me wrong, we still left Franklin with that same excitement, but we feel as though God really used this time to not only rejuvenate our spirits, but to lead our hearts into a specific direction. We actually looked forward to coming home to share what we felt as though God had prepared our hearts for. A while back, I posted about how we felt as though Something is Stirring...and Change is Coming and we feel as though this trip to Destin is a part of that. Though we thought we were going to celebrate the accomplishment of graduation, it resulted in a renewed heart and a fresh direction we feel we are being led in.

We are so incredibly thankful to have been able to go to Destin. It was a great vacation!

For some reason, I didn't take a ridiculous amount of pictures, but I did take some, actually more than I really remember taking.

Terry's Buggy, our hands were free as Terry carries the umbrellas and as Brandon pushed the buggy.

Setting up camp in the sand.

All set up for the day.

Sand & Waves

My handsome husband.

Look really close, the darker spots in the water are the Manarays that passed through on a regular basis.

Sandy playing putt-putt.

Terry getting ready to make his hole-in-one.

Sandy & Terry

Brandon & me on the balcony.

The view from the other side of our condo.

The sun was setting.

One night we got back to the condo in time to just hang out before dark. This bird perched itself on top of the gazebo on the beach.

Brandon :)

Me.

The sun was coming up as we were leaving on Sunday.