Jacksonville, Fl

Guys!! This past weekend was off the hook!! Off the hook…do people still say that?? I must be showing my age with that bit of lingo. So, this past weekend I was one of the cool people (I’m rarely that cool) that got to be invited to Graduation party of Tisha or aka La Jefa or aka La Patrona. If you don’t speak a lick of Spanish that just basically means she’s “the boss” and you must do what she says. She finished up her studies in Nursing and was throwing a cool shindig. When I got her invitation I didn’t mind driving 7 hours south to attend. You do things for your friends, right?

So Friday night, (I hope you guys like stories if not you can skip down). Friday night Luis and I started getting ready for our mission down to Jacksonville. We checked in with Jen and she was also on her way up to JAX. Boom! We jetted on down all the while sharing stories, talked spriritual topics, sang songs and eating Chick-Fil-A. I think Luis and I got to know each other a little better on this trip. We checked into our hotel about 2 am. We were tired and went straight to bed. I knocked out and was awoken a couple hours later by a loud alarm sound. In my tired state I kept telling myself that I could sleep through it. It was probably just the next door neighbor. After 15 mins I couldn’t take it anymore. I got up and looked around the room and outside and thought “WHAT THE HECKS!!” Somehow I managed to fall asleep. Later that morning Luis woke up and said that it was the alarm on his tablet and didn’t hear it. 8-0!!!!

Saturday morning we showered and got ready to meet up with Tisha, Jen and Rachel at Metro diner at Jen’s suggestion. We arrived first and were told the wait would be 30 mins? No problem! The girls arrived and after bear hugs and small catching up we ate appetizers of waffle fries from the nearby Chick-Fil-A. We then got seated and commenced the eating. We are such good eaters.

After eating Tisha took us to Five Points to show us around. We accidentally bumped into the worlds smallest ComicCon. Then took in some sights at a museum followed by strolling the area. We finished it off with a stop to a local beer place..pub..drinking spot?? I needed to wet my beak! It was hot and I had developed quite the thirst. Luis drank a ginger soda, while the rest of us drank some beer. I liked most of the beers on my flight but I ended up switching my IPA out with a darker beer Jen had on her flight.

That evening was the party. I took a very long nap. I think it was the beer..maybe the heat..okay it was the beer. The party was very awesome. I got to mingle and remeet some friends I had met on an earlier trip to JAX a few years back. I felt bad that one brother remembered me while I couldn’t remember him. I wish I had an excellent memory like that. We ate tons of food..haha. I was the first one in line after the prayer since everyone was too afraid to get in line. Well, I was first till Jen jumped in front of me. The hunger was real y’all. We played an interact game and a bible game. Followed by loads of dancing. I had a blast. I haven’t been invited to a dancing party in years. I miss merengue. 😦 After we shut the place down Luis and I headed back to the hotel to rest.

The next morning we met up with the girls and Arnwell at Moxie for some brunch. Can you say bottomless mimosas?? I can! It was great the 6 of us talking for a couple of hours. I got to live vicariously through Jen and Arnwell discussing various Crossfit WOD’s. I’m a Garage Gym Lifter previous crossfitter and only have one trip to a Crossfit box under my belt so it was awesome to hear their discussions. Some how I agreed to a 15k run next year. I don’t run so we will see how this goes. But for this bunch..i’ll do it. After eating mass quantities we ventured to Brew for some coffee followed by a side trip to Sweet Theory for Gluten Free schmorgesboard. We said our goodbyes or see you soons before heading our separate ways.

It was an all around awesome trip. I love those people. My only regret on this trip is that Luis had to hear me belt out Adele’s “Hello” on the car ride back home. What a trooper that guy is.

As a side note one of the pictures on here isn’t my picture.. The opening image was taken by and edited by Jefa.