Love Me A Road Trip!

It's been a little while since my sweetie and I have gone on a real honest to goodness vacation. It's been at least a couple of years. And I have serious wanderlust a'burning! I love me a good road trip. So, in a little over a week we will be hooking up the "Burke-Turque" and heading down the road in search of adventure!

our last big road trip was in 2011

 I've been mapping out an itinerary for the trip, checking out campgrounds, places of interest. Things like the "Worlds Largest Ball of String" or "Two-Headed Chicken"  might make the list. Definitely desiring some ghost towns and historical monuments and buildings. I've made contact with the friends and family we plan to visit and again, mapping out the routes best to take. And shopping. Oh, yes, shopping before a trip is a must! To be honest, my summer wardrobe has been a little, um, shall we say, 'saggy' since last year's weight loss.... which is a very nice feeling but can be a little tough on the pocketbook. THANK GOODNESS for thrift and consignment stores.

Getting Ready
But probably the most extensive and most fun has been getting the TRAILER ready for the trip. We decided it was in serious need of an overhaul. Now, mind you, it's a 1967 which makes it vintage and therefore cooler than anything new you could buy, and it was gifted to us by friends who were moving several years ago so it felt right to invest some money in the rolling wonder! True, when we first got the trailer I spent some time spiffing it up-- curtains, slipcovers for the seat cushions, etc. but it never quite had the look I was hoping for.

before

You see, we've been to a few Vintage Trailer Rallies and the people who participate in those are... well, they might be a little over the top, but in a very fun and crazy sort of way! We're talking RETRO to the MAX!
There's the pink flamingos and the red checkerboards and the lemon drops. There's the so-shiny-I-can-see-myself-Airstreams. There's a ladies only club. There are some truly obnoxious trailers and there are some way out whacky! I didn't want to go that far. I just wanted to find a theme for our little Aristocrat and run with it.

It's a 1967, as I said, and the main colors are my favorite: turquoise. Because I love not just the color, but the precious stone, my mind went to the southwest, where turquoise is prominent. Aah! Lightbulb! Southwestern theme it shall be.

fabric for seat cushions and curtains

My lovely and talented friend Laura, who can sew ANYTHING, offered to make the curtains and new cushion covers and I went to town with a paintbrush to freshen up the insides. I bought some nice new sheets for the bed and updated the kitchen supplies.

new curtains and cushion covers installed but there's still painting to be done.

painted the ceiling with a fresh creamy white and the area around the cupboards. Added the chocolate brown to the cupboard doors and then with the help of another friend who custom made the stencil for me, I added the blue accents. 

Once Bruce saw all the beautiful changes to the inside he got in the act and decided the outside needed some work. He's been sanding, buffing and painting as time allows and yesterday he found some awesome hubcaps for the wheels. (which I think we should paint with some turquoise accent color and he still is in need of convincing)

freshened paint on the back

primer first

just one more side to paint!

The project we have been working on together is the floor. We chose a laminate flooring that looks like tile and set to work the other day with installing it. Of course we RAN OUT with just a couple feet to go! This stuff can't be bought piece by piece so another order was placed and it's scheduled to arrive just 2 days before we are scheduled to leave! Yikes! (if all else fails, we have rugs!)

It's been a fun undertaking and i am just delighted with the way it's all coming together. It's almost as exciting as the road trip itself!

 Almost. :)

Where Are We Going?
We are heading to Montana to visit my brother and sister-in-love. We visited them 5 years ago--IN THE DEAD OF WINTER--  which is one of the crazier things we've done, but even in it's blanket of white and freezing temps. we could see the raw stark beauty of the place and understand why they call it "Big Sky Country".

Montana in Winter

It will be a whole new scene to see it under a brilliant sun. We have a few places we want to see as we travel there and back, including a few days in Glacier National Forest. I am very excited about the trip.

Probably the best part of this whole adventure is the extended amount of time together it will provide for my sweetie and me. We are long overdue for some uninterrupted quality time together. It is sure to be a romantic, adventurous and fun time.

Of Polka Dots and Nail Polish

Its date night! The love-burkes have reason to celebrate this evening. A job well done, a chance to show it off, and plenty of good food, good friends and good vibes to do it with!

For the last few months my carpenter-sweetie has been transforming an old pizza parlor into a new, fun, vibrant pizza parlor. A Hawaiian/Polynesian themed pizza parlor. Think beaches and bamboo and thatch. It has come together beautifully and tonight, the weekend before the grand opening, we get to enjoy a private celebration with the owners, staff, subcontractors, and some of our family and friends.

I got a sneak preview last week, and even though it was still in the last phase of finishing touches, I could see the creative details that my husband put into it. Gone were the garish red counter tops and walls, the Christmas colored booths and chairs. It's been totally transformed!

 

almost complete and ready for opening.

almost complete and ready for the grand opening.

In anticipation of date night, I've been primping already this morning. Picking out my outfit and accessories, putting on fresh nail polish and adding extra product to my hair to ensure it has longer staying power. Putting in a little more time on the workout so I can eat guilt free this evening. When my sweetie left this morning, I was still in my robe and slippers, hair looking like shredded wheat, un-caffeinated and mostly incoherent because of that. When he comes home tonight he will find me totally transformed.

 Transformation can be a scary word. It usually represents change and you know how some of us are about change. We like status-quo. If it aint broke don't fix it, right? The 'old' pizza parlor that was sitting empty for awhile, there wasn't really anything wrong with it. The kitchen still worked-- you could still crank out a pizza in its ovens. You could still sit in the booths and not get poked by broken springs. But with fresh paint, fresh decor, a buzz of excitement comes and it's attractive and people like attractive. My sweetie adores me and he doesn't care that my hair isn't brushed or that I look desperate for coffee, but he truly does appreciate the extra efforts I make when I 'gussy up' for him on those special occasions.

God is in the transformation business. He loves us, unconditionally, as He proved so long ago by sending His Son to us, to die for us and rise again. (John 3.16)  He accepts up, just as we are, offers us forgiveness, redemption, and grace. But He doesn't just stop there. He takes our old dirty rags (our old selves) and clothes us in robes of righteousness. (Isaiah 61.10) And still He does not stop. As He proclaims us without sin, without blemish, He also adopts us into His family, giving us full access to the Throne of Grace. But there's more! God wants to continue the amazing journey we have embarked on when we stepped on to His path. To paraphrase Max Lucado, yes, He loves us just as we are, but He also loves us too much to leave us there. So He calls us, Come, be transformed! Come be like Jesus

Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5.17

We are new! Like a brand new restaurant, ready for its grand opening-- still capable of welcoming guest and feeding people good food, but in a fresh, clean, vibrant and exciting way. We are new! Like an excited wife who's had her coffee, ironed her new polka dot dress, and polished her nails, still me, only sparkly! 

 Yes, God is, still, in the transformation business. I am not the same girl I was 45+ years ago when I asked Jesus to save me. I am not the same girl who at 14 made a more public profession of faith by being baptized. I am definitely not the same girl who ran away from home, got married at 17, and was divorced at 34. I am not even the same 'girl' I was 5 years ago. I am constantly being changed, by the things around me, and most importantly, by the changes I allow inside of me. 

Romans 12.2 tells us to be transformed by the renewing of our minds, and that can only truly happen when we surrender it fully to God. Like the project manager of a restaurant remodel, He needs full access to the whole shebang.

from The Message: 

So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.