Galveston Island

The city is my adrenaline.
The mountains are my hideaway.
The beach? It's straight up therapy.

Nothing simultaneously soothes my nerves, stills my soul, and leaves me as intoxicated and deliriously happy as the beach. Something about that ocean. Gratefully, my husband indulged and took me on a quick 24-hour trip to Galveston Island from Friday-Saturday night.

Views on the way out of town.

Oh hey, Galveston!

So the truth of the matter is that we spent more hours driving than on the beach.
(Hey Jason? Thanks for being willing to spend late nights driving up and down Texas in quick succession.)
BUT we couldn't pass up an opportunity to go to the beach in October and still have killer weather. (Seriously? This is real life?!) Also, my husband was very understanding that perhaps with all the time we had spent cooped up inside I could use a little mental health break.

I also have the world's most perfect beach baby, which makes for an even better day at the beach.

This was her first beach trip as a walking individual and she LOVED the independence. She marched around on the sand, chased the birds, and walked into the water whenever she pleased.

She spent a lot of the day like this. She'd park herself on the shore in an inch of water, play with toys and scoop up sand. The water was delightfully warm and with every little surge and wave she would giggle in delight.

I was also so delighted with HOW far out in the water she'd go. She didn't mind standing in waist deep water with waves crashing up on her chest. When she'd finally start shivering we'd bring her back in -- but she had big grins and was pretty pleased with herself! (And I was probably even more proud than she was.)

It turns out we weren't as good at applying sunscreen to OURSELVES as we were to our daughter. About 2pm we had to go buy Jason a hat to cover his scorched face. I may also have come home with the worst sunburn I've had in several years.

It wasn't exactly a California beach. Not even close to a Florida or Hawaii beach. But when you've got the ocean next to you and 80 degree weather, you just don't mind the brown water very much.

Here's the other thing. I really do feel like it's this tender mercy that in the past six months we've been able to get to the beach as much as we have. With so many transitions and temporary moves, internships, and bouncing around the country chasing the next opportunity, we've been saying a lot, "So where do you think we'll be living in 2 months?" It's definitely been our most stressful year, but at least God made sure I could get to the ocean more than usual to recoup. You know what I'm saying?

The beach is my happy place.