Sand Dollars and Slow Moving Turtles

Greetings from the island! Yes...I have not written in a while. School began to kick my butt, and made me want spring break more than anything. My dreams finally came true yesterday at 5:45 p.m. And that is where my newest adventure began...

We left Huntington in the midst of a rainstorm, which led Lindsay and I to be sitting in our apartment all of Saturday going nuts waiting for 5:45 to come. It finally came, and Chels, Christen, Lindsay and I were taken to the Ft. Wayne airport where we were promptly loaded on our plane. The ride was amazing...pretty sure that we were the entertainment...ah well. Great memories.

Our rental car was there (smaller then what it looked like on the internet...), so we stuffed our luggage, juiced up the GPS and were on our way to the island. It was dark and warm out, and in an hour we were on Gasparilla Island: the most beautiful, quaint and old world island I have seen. Once we got into our condo, we checked the place out thoroughly, grabbed our rooms and unpacked. I took my time and opened up the windows where I could hear the sound of the ocean waves crashing along the shore. Immediately I was at peace and felt so relaxed. I couldn't see the ocean because it was so dark out, so I could not wait until morning...

...and when morning came, I sat up in my bed and there she was! The beautiful ocean, right there. The sun was out, the waves were huge, and the pathway to the sandy shore was calling my name. So, what did I do? Made some coffee, ran downstairs and put on my shoes, and then ran outside and took a jog along the beach - right alongside the ocean. Incredible. If I could try and paint you a picture it would go something like this: a few older couples with their dogs walking, a young jogger here and there, and sand dollars everywhere. I saw a dolphin on my run, and even a slow moving turtle crossing into the sand. It was one of those moments when you just want to thank God for creating all of that. Especially when it seemed like I was the only one on the shoreline, and I thought, "You created this beauty for my eyes?"

I got back in to find my lovely friends awake and sipping coffee. We got in our golf cart and went exploring...and what an adventure that was. Luckily, this island is all about the golf carts. We explored the beautiful houses along the coast, the palm and orange trees, and of course, we checked out the little restaurants and coffee shops in town. So good. After grabbing some groceries, we prepared ourselves for some intense beach tanning time. We set up camp and simply just loved life. Of course, when we came back in, we were burnt, but it was totally worth it, and we plan to repeat that process tomorrow.

We then began preparing dinner. Christen started making spaghetti while I set the table including sparkling grape juice and bread with oil. It was delicious and perfect. We lit the candles and played Michael Buble. Charming.

So now here I sit burnt and loving life listening to Michael replay over and over again with my friends doing there thing on the various furniture in the room. Life does not get much better than this. Can't wait until tomorrow :)