Jacksonville, FL: Day 1

July 3rd:


It has been a long day! We left the house this morning a little after 8:00 and stopped at Chick-fil-A for breakfast. We left there around 9-ish and headed south.


Every time Kim (my best friend) and I go to her parents house, we always saw a sign on I-75 around the Georgia/Florida border advertising books -- no book over $3. We never stopped, but I convinced my dad to stop today. We were running ahead of schedule (the realty company wasn't meeting us at the condo until 4:00), and had some time to kill, so we stopped. I am glad I finally did. There are tons of books in a variety of genres. A lot of the books are overflow from local libraries. All books were $2.99 or less. I spent about $40 and walked out three bags full of books! I was excited -- my brother called me a nerd. :) So, if you're ever heading down to Florida, travelling I-75 South, and you love books, get off at exit 5. You won't be disappointed!


We got to the condo a little after 4:00. One of the ladies from the realty company met us here and showed us around. We were pleasantly surprised! I found this condo on HomeAway and got a really good deal for a one week stay. We were a little weary of what we were coming into, but everything turned out great! The condo is beautiful and is central to a variety of restaurants and shops -- just about anything you can think of.



We unloaded the car and put everything away. Then, we headed to dinner. Zach (brother) chose Ruby Tuesday. We then headed to Wal-Mart to buy some groceries. We returned to the condo, put everything away, and I finished a paper for my online class.



After I post some pictures, I will be heading to bed. I'm exhausted!! Good night!

Eclipse

My friend Lisa and I went to the 12:01 A.M. showing of "Eclipse". It was absolutely fantastic! I highly recommend it! We arrived around 11 and there was quite a line. We were in theater 6 and there were a lot of excited people in there. A large group of people a few rows back from us started doing the wave before the movie started. During certain scenes in the movie, they would cheer and clap loudly. It was the rowdiest bunch of people I have ever seen a movie with! It was crowded and it was loud, but you can bet that I would definitely do it again!

I must admit that, much like the Harry Potter series, I never wanted to read the Twilight series. But when my best friend's sister, who doesn't like to read at all, started reading them and couldn't put them down, I knew I had to check them out. I was hooked. Stephenie Meyer is super talented! She has a way of writing that just sucks you in. You feel like you are on the same journey with the characters, experiencing their emotions and reactions as they do. The series is incredible! I highly recommend reading it if you haven't already. I'm starting Stephenie Meyer's non-Twilight book called "The Host" this week.

Until next time...