Hello, Boston!!!

At 8 am we gathered in the church parking lot, got our driving arrangements, Pastor Arie prayed over us, we used the facilities, and then we departed for Boston around 9. The ride up was pretty uneventful, except for a deer running across an exit ramp right in front of us, making us all miss which way to turn for lunch. We wasted maybe 20 minutes on that exit, unable to find any food places.

We got to Boston at around 4:30, so we made great time. Only seven and a half hours! That was a blessing.

When everyone arrived (even though we went in smaller caravans, rather than all stay together and slowing us down, there was only about a 45 minute span between the first and last caravan) we gathered for some dinner and fellowship before going to our host families homes.

When the 10 of us (I'll list them so you can get an idea of how much fun we had if you know these girls: Mrs. Dayna H., Mrs. Cindy F., Mckenzie H., Makenzie H., Katelyn B., and me, then the Grace Community girls: Allie N., Sherri D., Jaimie R., Sarah J.,) arrived at our house we were all so excited. Our house was amazing. It was a huge old farmhouse. Sure, it needed some work, but there was so much character in the house. I absolutely loved it. Here are some exterior pictures, if you want to see some interior ones, just let me know in the comment section and I'll get them up for you.

As I said before, we had no host family. They were on vacation for the week for one of their daughter's wedding (I believe it was a daughter, if not, it was a son). The house had I think 10 bedrooms and 5 bathrooms, or at least around that many. They have 14 children, and I would guess that about 10-12 are still at home. We definitely had enough beds, no one was sleeping on the floor. Even though there were 5 bathrooms, one just had a claw foot tub, another the shower was broken, and one was in the chaperones bedroom, so only they and McKenzie (daughter of one of the chaperones) used that one as far as I know. So only two showers really got used. One was like part of the hallway and people didn't want to go in there at all the first few days for privacy reasons, but I ended up liking it better. I could just shut both doors, and people knew not to go in (most were still in bed anyway!) Most girls showered the night before, so I could take leisurely showers in the morning, which I appreciated because I don't function well in the morning without the wake up of a shower. Some people like their coffee, I like my showers.

Anyway, I think that's enough about day one. We just sat around the TV that night and watched a movie (well they did, I personally was not big into the movie they were watching, and it was halfway through so I had no idea what was going on, unlike those who had seen it before)

Like I said, if you have any interest in seeing my pictures of the interior, I'd be more than glad to post them or email them to you, or whatever. Just let me know when you comment. It's nothing grand or anything, it's just so big and full of character, and I know pictures don't do it justice. You really feel like a part of history when you're in that house. So, the pictures probably mean more to me than they would to you. But, I'd be more than willing to pass them on anyway. I just didn't want to bore you.