Losing it, Weddings, and Warts

So, I’m totally losing it. Well, no more than the next person, I guess. But listen to my last 15 minutes. So I plugged in my camera to upload some pictures and then decided to order something online. So I got up to get my credit card, and while on the way to get my wallet, I remembered that I needed to switch out the laundry. On the way to the laundry room, I remembered that I was supposed to call Emily after work, so I went to find my phone. On the way to find my phone, I realized I had to pee. After using the bathroom and a room by room search for the phone (which was in the kitchen tucked away behind something), I headed back to the laundry room, while scrolling through my phone book to find Emily’s number. And while scrolling through the phone book, Peggy called. So I talked to Peggy while switching out the laundry and then hung up and forgot to call Emily. So I sat back down at my computer, with my wallet, to complete my order, which I did, and then I remembered to call Emily, who told me she’s watching Shark Week on Discovery, so I turn that on and forgot that my camera was still on and plugged in. Well, I finally remembered (during a commercial) and my camera had turned itself off because I had left it sitting there for 15 minutes. But it got done…FINALLY. And now after 10 minutes of Shark Week being on, I am just now realizing that I’ve seen this one. How can you have Shark Week with re-runs??


Here’s a random picture of a sparkler. D and I had fun with them a few nights ago when I found some in our kitchen “junk drawer”. Sadie wasn’t too sure of them.



So Jonathan and Bailey’s wedding was this past weekend! Yay! It was so fun and we had such a blast with our friends. It was a gen-u-wine College of Charleston reunion. We got to see Adam, Andrea, Jeremy, Sam, Jermile, Hailey, Simon, Stephen, Mylin, Dave and Davies (and 7 of the above got to stay with us, which made it extra fun). We are so very happy for Jonathan and Bailey and their “new life” together. And I don’t mean that in a fake greeting card kinda way… I really, really mean it.
Here’s a picture of all the guys at the Mardi Gras themed rehearsal dinner.

So…what’s with the “warts” in the title, you might ask?? Well, we are keeping Bristol while Jonathan and Bailey are on their honeymoon. And Bristol is laden with warts all over his mouth. Oh yeah, Bristol is a dog, not a child. So the warts have been around for at least a month now, and his vet says they’re not contagious, but I still am washing my hands every two seconds and cringing every time he wraps his monster jaws around Sadies snout. But, regardless, we love ‘em….warts and all.

The 3 Other Quarters

So I’ve covered the week at the beach, but the other three weeks of June have been left out of my memory bank, aka blog. Well…let’s see…My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary on June 3rd, which I think is amazing. My mom says they “couldn’t have done it without Jesus,” and I say, amen, we couldn’t have done the last 2 years without Him, and I fully expect to need Him for the next 38 or however long until death makes us part.In early June we said goodbye to Rick who left America to help plant a church/lead worship in a city on the west coast of Australia. Kelly and other (female) members of his fan club threw a party for him so that he could be properly “well-wished” and sent off… I am also preparing my heart to say goodbye to Arie and Dewa, who are leaving in 3 weeks or so, and the possibility of two other sets of friends leaving. Good grief people! This is the summer of Exodus for our friends, and it is SO not cool.

Before we left for the beach, we were able to spend a night in Blowing Rock with Jack and Christine. We stayed at an amazing little cabin that they had rented and had an absolute blast with them…dinner on the deck in the middle of an isolated forest with nothing but frogs and crickets to bother us…a round of cards while sipping chocolate martinis. Donald and I decided to avoid the interstate on the way there and back, and ended up traveling on 9 different highways, winding through the hills and mountains of North and South Carolina. It was totally worth it. We saw a bunch of beautiful farm land and cute little towns– and while traveling through the cutest of the cute little towns, the highway signs suddenly disappeared, and we ended up on a side of town where it just felt like we were headed southeast instead of northeast. Donald has no fear nor stereotypical manly reservations of asking for directions, so he stopped at the first gas station that he saw, and let me tell you that I am so grateful that my husband rarely judges a book by its cover. For what he saw was a man pumping gas who could easily be asked, “which way is…,” but what I saw was not just a man pumping gas but the most redneck man you’ve ever seen in your life pumping gas, and everything in me naturally screamed “avoid. avoid. avoid” as my little white self sat next to my very black husband in the middle of nowhere North Carolina. However, Donald thankfully doesn’t think like I do, so we got our directions and headed on our merry way. It was just another reminder of how stupid I can be and how thankful that I am forgiven for poor attitudes (attitudes that need adjustments).Our garden absolutely took off in June as did our apple trees (two of them in our side yard that produce the tartest apples you’ve ever had in your life). So we’ve had beans galore, ginourmous yellow squash, tomatoes, and an array of herbs. Trying to be creative with you can make when you have the same veggies to use over and over again can be challenging, but so far I’ve made tomato/basil/mozzeralla salad, squash casserole, boiled squash, grilled squash, chicken, squash and pasta with a cream dill dip (Andrea’s recipe), apple cobbler, boiled beans, steamed beans, and next will be a green bean casserole. There’s something very 19th century about using the things in your garden, and I kinda like it.

Our Apples

Turned into this…

Dewa and I took our dogs to a pond on Paris Mountain towards the end of June. It was a lot of fun, regardless of getting attacked by aliens and covered by dog slobber and mud. By aliens, I mean at least 30 daycare students who were on the trail, who, after eyeing the dogs, came marching at us, with their arms in the air like creatures from the dead, with echos of "ooo doggy"..."I want to pet your doggy"…"doggy!”…”will they bite?"…"ooo a dog!" Poor Sadie and Khairie backed as far away from the kids as possible, shaking like leaves and wondering what all of those mini-people were doing reaching for them. But- as soon as the kids were gone, it was back to jumping in the water and fighting over sticks. Sadie was literally STEPPING on Khairie, dunking her under water in true middle-school fashion– it was hilarious (and Dewa laughed too, so it was okay for me to laugh at my bully dog and her antics).

OMG! Sadie! Stop!

Mine. Mine. Mine. Mine.