The Oasis

When I think of an oasis, I picture someone walking through the desert very slowly, feet dragging, hunched over, clutching at her chest and praying with all her might that there would be one more drink of water in her canteen.  She knows that regardless of the distance she has yet to travel that she would make it~if only she had just one drink.  Then, her prayer is answered (and lucky for her, this one is answered the way she hoped for).  She sees a big, crystal clear oasis where she knows she'll get the drink she so desperately needs.  Even better, the closer she gets she realizes that her oasis isn't an optical illusion fading into the sand...it's real and it's delicious!

Now that I'm so well traveled (ha-ha!), I can picture another kind of oasis~the delightful "travel oasis".  For any of you that have never had the luxury of traveling on a toll road, here's the jist~once you enter the toll road, you get a ticket that tells you the fee you'll have to pay when you exit the road.  You don't want to exit early, or you have to pay to get off the road, then take a new ticket when you get back on, only to pay again at your destination's exit.  The oasis on these roads is a gas station/restaurant combo where you can exit like you would a rest stop and not have to mess with your tickets/toll.  If you've ever been on a toll road in the middle of Pennsylvania with bulging, nursing boobs, a screaming newborn in the back seat who really, really wants your bulging, nursing boobs, and a very full bladder from trying to keep yourself hydrated because of said bulging, nursing boobs, this oasis will bring you just as much joy as the desert oasis!

Take those visuals (Sorry, Joe M!) to heart and you may start to get a feel of how desperately my family and I needed the oasis that is our extended family. 

Although we got to see my parents at the end of May, I hadn't seen any of my siblings for a very long year, and Joe hadn't seen any of his family in that year, either.  A lot has changed in that year, as you can all imagine and we needed a good, long "drink"~badly.  There were times when we felt as though we were in a different universe as our family.  There is no longer a time than waiting for phone calls from the hospital, trying to figure out if we get on a plane now or wait a little longer...wishing that we could just hop in our car and drive to the ones who are tugging at our hearts, ready to give anything for another hug, another chance to say "I love you" and "You're my hero."

We're so blessed to have the extended family that we have!  We thank God each and every day for all of you and that we made it home for a safe and awesome visit.  I hope you enjoy the next series of posts as much as we enjoyed our "oasis" in Idaho and Utah.  I have 9 occasions to show you pictures from...I promise I won't narrate all of them!  For those of you who don't know, Joe & I are back in school!  By the end of summer 2012, Joe will have his MBA in Sports Management and I'll have my BBA!  Hopefully, we can stay in Tiffin for 2 years to see these dreams become reality!  Obviously, this will be taking sacrifice on our part, so my blogging may have to get simplified ;)  That's not all bad, right?!  Just pictures, no words?!

We'll see...