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.

It's Already Over?

So the annual beach trip has come and gone. I must say that seven days of bare feet in the warm sand, enjoying the ocean's breeze and being with family is pretty hard to beat. Sitting at my desk on Monday morning in my cold, window-less office was hardly a joyful experience.

We didn't see as much marine life this year (like last year's phantom manatee), although we did find a man-of-war washed up on the beach. It's bag like body was about the size of three of my fists; its purple tentacles only a few inches long, which means the rest probably got ripped off somehow. I've always been fascinated by these creatures, especially since Lori's horrible encounter with one about 9 years ago, which resulted in a trip to the emergency room and scars across her wrist, chest and legs. Everett buried this year's encounter in the dunes before I was able to snag a picture of it.

How cute are they?!

Other notable events: wiffle-ball on the beach, a trip to the alligator farm, playing Hand and Foot with Kevin, and simply doing nothing but lie on the beach and enjoy the weather (80 degrees...beautiful). Also- Kevin and Everett riding the "swing" at the corner amusement park, which looked more like a catapult that could have shot them 2 miles down the beach. Oh, and as promised, D cooked his famous pulled pork for the fam and it was a hit (that junk is good). We celebrated Father's Day with dad and Robin's 31st bday appropriately with both German Chocolate and Fudge Pie. The tides this year were friggin' crazy! The water came up to the dunes, and completely flooded some of the streets that neighbor the marsh. The marsh grass was completely hidden under the water, making the inlet look like a giant pond. They credited the tides to a full moon and high winds.

Mairin and Rhett putting grass into a bucket to make "a bed" for a granddaddy long legs.

In the setting pictured above, my mom and I over heard the following conversation:

Mairin: Rhett, I love you more than this bucket.
Rhett: I love you more than this blanket.
Mairin: I love you more than Aunt Boo's hair.
Rhett: I love you more than Mema's sunglasses.
(and this goes on for like five minutes)
Mairin: Well, do you know who I love more than anyone in the whole wide world? (pause)...God and Jesus.
Rhett: Yeah me too! (pause)... everybody does.
Mairin: Well, not everyone.
Rhett: Right, like, not bad guys.
Mairin: Yeah, bad guys don't go to heaven.
Rhett: Well...some do.
Mairin: Yeah, but most go to that place... you know, that state, I mean, city, ummm...
Rhett: Yeah, once I saw a bad guy and he was chasing us but we got away.

The conversations of five-year-olds are quite possibly the best in the world.

That's it for now. The rest of our beach pics are posted on our website.

Match Point at Forty Love

We moved to Forty Love Point in February of '87. Now, twenty years later, we've said our goodbyes as my parents have officially made the move to Charleston. There are a lot of memories tied up in that house, in that lake, in that neighborhood, in that town. The one stop-light, one-grocery store, one-of-everything town that has slowly gained three-of-everything over the years (as in, now there's a Subway, Hardee's and McDonald's, and not just a Hardee's).
So many wonderful friendships were born there, and I think about how the Lord so greatly blessed my family over the years...
I wanted to take some time to jot down some of the memories I have in some of the rooms, but trust me...it's not the rooms that matter, just the memories. Memories that we can laugh at and cherish. And of course, it's not memories that matter, just the here and now, but I think it's okay to have fun with memories. Someone once said, "It's okay to look back...just don't stare." And yes, my family makes fun of me for remembering all of this stuff.

The Infamous Front Porch Shot. I was 19 here.

The Downstairs Bathroom
This is where I got the soap-covered sock stuffed into my mouth for being a jerk to my mom. I also got my butt whooped in this room.
This is where I got mad at Laura for getting sick one morning after she spent the night, because I didn't want her to have to go home.
This is where my cousin, Susan, was changing the toilet paper roll, and the metal spring-loaded thingy shot across the room, hit the tile floor, and made a loud noise and my mom said, "I heard that."
This is the room that smelled like potpourri.

The Study
This is where I would watch Saved By the Bell and the Brady Bunch re-runs after school. I would help my mom in the kitchen with dinner during the commercial breaks.
This is where Robin and I played Nintendo -- she once beat the entire Mario 1 game in between our mom calling us for dinner and actual dinner time (after we had mastered it, of course).
This is where we first discovered the Internet. Our dad purchased "Prodigy," and soon thereafter AOL-- he helped me create bballsax as my screen name, which I used forever.
This is where I emailed Gina, even though calling her would have been faster, and that's back when we actually really knew that was true.


The Living Room
This is where I would play the piano, mainly learning from Robin; when she would play, I would try to sneak in the door and hide behind a chair to listen. I always got busted.
This is where we danced to The Entertainer and Fur Elise.
This is where we watched old movies from our childhood or our mom's childhood.
This is where mom would bring us to talk when the guys where watching TV in the den
This is where the 20+ year old Ficus tree lived

Whoa, look at that mullet!

The Dining Room
This is where we shared holiday meals. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, some birthdays.





The Kitchen
This is where we had dinner/supper every night. My dad calling it supper and my mom calling it dinner.
This is where we stood around and talked when we were all back in town.
This is where Robin, Stacy and I locked the pizza in the oven by turning on the "self-cleaning oven" selection, which burned the pizza into an unrecognizable disc of black soot.
This is where we learned to make homemade chocolate chip cookies, cakes, pies.
This is where our mom made innumerable amounts of meals for our family.
This is where you could look out at the beautiful sunrise, or watch a family of ducks swim by, or watch the grey storm clouds rolling across the sky, and soon thereafter, the rain pelleting the water. I loved it if we got white caps out there.
This is where my mom found a dead scorpion on the floor after Robin had just prayed about needing one for her bug project. Okay, Lord...wow.
This is where you could eat off of the floor because mom kept it so spotless.



The Den
This is where I watched The Cosby Show every Thursday night with my mom.
This is where I threw the scissors cuz I was angry, which punctured a cushion in the couch (another butt whoopin).
This is where our dad would open the French doors, turn on the stereo and blast 2001 across the lake on game day.
This is where we had our first CD player. Stuart gave it Steph as a gift. The first CD she had was The Police, which I would listen to over and over again because it was a CD
This is where I had my 7th grade slumber party, at which we watched all of the Jaws movies
This is where we put our Christmas trees, which we would cut down at a local country tree farm


The Stairs
This is where our mom told us to NOT leave our "stuff". We would leave our shoes there, books there, whatever there, instead of taking it upstairs. That's where I got it from... no "stuff " can be left anywhere.
This is what we rode down on a cot mattress when our parents weren't home
This is where we sat and talked.
This is where I had to stand when my mom measured my prom dresses/bridesmaid dresses that needed to be hemmed

The Screened Porch/Back Deck
This is where we would sit in the dark and listen to the frogs and crickets and watch lonely boats with their green and red lights navigating through the waters.
This is where we would have dessert in the summer time
This is where Stephanie had her quiet time with the Lord in the mornings
This is where I tried to turn grapes into raisins
This is where Mittens and Buttons would lounge in the sun



So......... there is my sentimental sap list of a few memories that have popped into my mind. Of course there's more in there, but this could go on forever. Goodbye house!

I'm Tenseventeen

So I'm 27 now. I don't feel too different, although I think I can actually feel my metabolism slowing as I type. No more eating cake whenever I want to, I guess. I think 2007 is one of those years that I would look at as a child and think, "WHOA. In 2007 I will be 27." Yes, child, you were right, and now it's here, and for some reason, the Lord has let you live. WHOA. In 2048, I will be 68. My dad will be 107. My husband will be 75. Or I could be in heaven, not worrying about how old anyone is or typing a Blog or sitting at work on my day off waiting on a proof from the printer. Not that my idea of heaven is that I won't have to work on my day off... no no. Just saying that in heaven, all of this earth stuff will be the last thing on my mind.
Anyways...Below are some pictures of Stabler and Sadie celebrating my birthday with me...

Hi, I am Stabler, and I'm a good sport.

Hi, I am Sadie, and I'm going to rip this d&%@ thing off my head as soon as you're not looking.

What else happened in May? Hmm. Well, we went to the BMW golf tourney and saw Wayne Gretzky, who winked at me and then turned and hit a hole in one. No, not really. But we did go to the tournament, at which I froze my bippy off b/c it was stinkin' cold. That same day we went to the Armed Svcs Parade downtown, which was really neat to see. That same day we went to see Spidey3, which was entertaining.... All 15.5 hours of it. That was a fun day. We went home to my parents a few weekends ago (pre-move) to divvy up the items that were not going to make the move to Charleston. One of the coolest items I got was my great great grandfather's Bible from when he was a medic for the Union Army in the Civil War. You can still read the notes he wrote in it, although they are fading. How cool is that?! Also, I now have in my possession my kindergarten cookbook. You know, where you and your classmates would tell the teachers how to cook your favorite recipes, and they would then somehow transcribe them into book form and then hand it out of the class so that your parents could think it was cute and then you could laugh at it, in this case, 22 years later. I chose to inform the world how to make pizza and hamburgers (still my favs, no doubt). I was pretty close on the ingredients, but then for both I said, "put in the oven at 2 degrees for 14 hours and then eat it." I bet that would work.

Rob and Molly were in town from Chicago a few weekends ago. They came over with James and Darla and the kids, and we enjoyed a Sunday afternoon cookout. Avery and Marin & Emma and Noah, are so precious. Here's a picture of the babies:

Marin Moore (left) and Noah King

We went to Charleston Memorial Day weekend, which was "clean out D's grandparent's attic" and "move in the parents" weekend. We were able to spend a lot of time with our oldest nephew, Justin, while in the attic, which happened to be 3 billion degrees. We cooked out at Robin's Sunday with both our family and D's mom and aunts. It was a lot of fun.

Justin in the almost-emptied attic.


Robin holding Gina's baby, Davis.

Currently watching... something between "nothing" and "whatever's on" since after all, it is re-run season. Currently listening to... Brooks and Dunn (Greatest Hits Collection), Jack Johnson, and checking out Maroon 5's new album (It Won't Be Soon...). Their stuff sure has evolved since their last album from FIVE years ago. Maybe "evolved" is the wrong word, because I do believe it means changed for the better and not sure this is true of their new album.

Current flowers in the window box:

A pink Dahlia. So pretty!

So it's June now. Holy Cow. Anyways, I want to end this monthly update with the words to You Alone Can Satisfy. Yeah, I know this song is "way old" now, but we have switched from Media Shout to ProPresenter for worship, and I am having to re-type all of the songs into the new program b/c their import system leaves room for improvement. I don't mind it so much because I get re-reminded of lyrics that otherwise might get lost in my head through the music (if that makes sense). I was typing this the other day, and was like, "man, how true."

You Alone Can Satisfy

I have bowed at the altar of the world and its lies/

Now I long to return to
You/You alone can satisfy/
I have wasted affections/On the things You despise/Now I
long to return to You/You alone can satisfy/My bread of life/
You're my provider/You fill my soul with living water/
Beneath Your wing/There is a shelter where I hide/You alone can satisfy/
There's no fortune or pleasure/That this world can provide/They
have failed and they always will/You alone can satisfy/You're the
Treasure that I've found/You're the meaning of life/You're
my deepest desires fulfilled/You alone can satisfy

April 2007

We spent Easter weekend with my parents at their house in Chapin. They are moving to Charleston on May 25, and once they are there, it will be rare that we can go to their house and spend the weekend with "just them" because of all of the other family and friends in the Charleston area. It was "just them" in Chapin, which always resulted in spending time with...just them. We had a great visit...enjoyed my mom's cooking as usual and worshiped at Saint Andrews Pres for probably the last time ever. Will I ever sing "Christ our Lord is Risen Today" again on Easter morning?

The weather in the first part of April was unbelievable. I would walk Sadie twice a day just to get outside and soak in the sun and enjoy the azaleas, which were in full bloom all over the neighborhood. Then the temperature dropped Easter weekend, and a frost wiped out all of the beautiful flowers. Here's a picture of our yard in bloom before the frost.

Adam and Andrea came to visit the second weekend in April. We had a great time catching up with them. We took a hike up to Jones Gap with Sadie, which was fun, but the trail to the waterfall was closed, which was disappointing. We mainly relaxed most of the weekend, which I think we all needed.

The following weekend began Fence Project 2007. We decided that putting up a wooden fence was worth the investment, considering our dog could jump over the chain link one, and therefore, we had to take her out in the backyard with a leash. We have wonderful friends who came and spent lots of time helping putting up the wooden monstrosity. It was a success! Sadie has yet to scale the wooden barrier, and we can now send her outside to chase the squirrels and chipmunks, which makes her little heart so very happy. I think it's great too, except when she comes inside dirty. Just a preparation for messy children, I guess.

We traveled to Charleston the final week in April for Dave and Davies wedding. It was a nice reunion, because all (most) of the old trainers were there, including Jermile, Wreck, Chris and Tiffany (who are pregnant), Bunch, Jeremy, Jonathan...etc. The wedding was at the cotton dock at Boone Hall, and it was stinkin gorgeous. The weather was perfect, the decorations beautiful. The Lord wasn't really honored (or mentioned), but it wouldn't make sense to mention him if the couple doesn't love him. Regardless, that part made me sad.

Here we are...standing where Alison and Dave said their vows. Pretty cool setting. Oh, by the way... We celebrated our 2nd anniversary on April 23!

So before I close, I must make mention of the stomach bug that rocked my world two weeks ago (and Donald's world, and Garrett's and Allison's and Joe's. 5 of us in our small group). It was the week in between building the fence and going to Charleston. It hit me the night of our anniversary, after small group at the Selby's. I missed two days of work, and Donald did too. I remember thinking, "will my life ever be normal again??" as I laid in bed for nearly two days, just waiting for the next trip to the bathroom. Truly an experience that humbled me and sent me to my Lord in thanksgiving for my health and left me in wonder about how I would react if I felt like that everyday.

Currently listening to: KT Tunstall (anything but Black Horse and the Cherry Tree, which I don't like); Bon Jovi; Matthew Smith of Indelible Grace, a worship ministry of RUF; and Donavon Frankenreiter
Currently reading: Spiritual Leadership, by Oswald Sanders. A requirement of my job...I am to present what I've learned from chapters 15 - 18 to "the class" (co-workers) on May 10.
Currently watching: Lost, Planet Earth, The Office, and Cosby Show re-runs when D has them on..oh...and American Idol. We are down to four, and I'm a fan of Jordin Sparks and Blake.

May is here and I'm now 27! I'll tell you all about the transformation next month.

The Big Boat 07

Our vacation began at 6am at the Childress home with Kelly and I deciding that it would be a greater sacrifice to lose the home to fire than to robbers, and therefore, the lamp with the paper-like shade should not be left on all week. After gassing up, and purchasing my traditional road trip waxy mini chocolate gas station donuts, we hit the road for Jacksonville. Surprisingly, the trip went by rather quickly, even after a stop at Cracker Barrel. We arrived at "Port Jax" and embarked around, oh, I don't know, and headed to our rooms to check out the view and the digs. The ship was a bit smaller than last year's, but there was still much to be eaten, and friendly faces ready to make my bed, serve my dinner, entertain me, etc. We played cards that afternoon, and then headed to the dining room to eat some dinner, and by doing so, quickly established our pattern of eating, playing, eating, playing. Eating.

Here we are...The fabulous foursome

Our first stop was in Key West. My friend Kelly, who is a sailboat captain in the Keys, had sent me a group of pictures of her and Mike in Key West the previous Friday...So, basically she created a photo scavenger hunt for us (Kelly and crew were arriving by boat to Key West the same day we were! But just a few hours after we were leaving!! Bummer!). So out of the pictures she sent, we found some immediately, while others we had to hunt down before jumping back on the boat. I was grateful that she took the time to help entertain us!
We rented bikes that day, and were very glad we did, because we were able to see a lot more things and cover more ground. For lunch, we had great burgers at a place called Jack Flats on Duval Street, which I'd highly recommend. Also, Steph had told me about a hotel that you could go to the top of and look out over the city and harbor, which we ended up stumbling across, and so we were able to check out the view. It was pretty cool!

Here's the view from the top of the hotel.
Here we are at the southern most point in the USA (continental)with our fake friends (umm..the statues). Apparently these people are a new addition b/c everyone who sees this pic says they weren't there last year.

Here we are on our bikes on a beautiful street in Key West.
"Hi...I'm Kelly, and I like biking in my jean mini skirt."

We snorkeled on Tuesday in the Bahamas. It was a gorgeous day, but the water was extremely chilly, and the boat was pretty rocky due to rough waters. A girl was puking over the side of the boat, but she claimed it was b/c she was car sick from the ride to the docks. Hmmm...
We were able to see a fair amount of beautiful fish, and some wreckage from an airplane. Well, really it was just a whole airplane covered with sand, after years of being down there, which seemed like it was planted, but they claimed it was from the making of one of the Jaws movies. We also had the opportunity to snorkel in "shark infested waters," which John and Donald did (so they wouldn't look like weanies), but me and Kelly opted out. Kelly's excuse was that she didn't like being around fish in the water (hence her screaming when the 4 inch long ones came near her), and my excuse was that I was sick of getting in and out of the freezing water, and I didn't think getting in for 2 minutes just to say I swam with sharks was worth it. Yeah, yeah-- I'm sure you don't believe me. So anyway, the sharks I did not swim with were on avg 5-6 feet, and it was pretty cool to see them. They pulled up the chum cage at the end, once everyone was up, and threw out the fish chunks to the sharks, which then went into a feeding frenzy. That was pretty sweet to watch too.

Beautiful water!

"Hey you... Fuzzy guy. Hey. Guy with the pink shirt--
There's a shark behind you!"

After our snorkeling adventure, we had our bus driver drop us off at the Fish Fry, which is a line of restaurants that specialize in, well, fried fish, and we picked out one that claimed to have "the best daiquiris in the country," or world or something, and it turned out they were right. They were very, very good-- as long as you mixed them up pretty well. After a feast of conch fritters and Miami Vice daiquiris, we caught a cab to the straw market, which was starting to close down, and then ended our stay after perusing the city a bit more.

After another day at sea, the trip ended on Thursday, and we were greeted in Greenville with cold weather and rain. I was grateful to have three more days before returning to work, to recoop, although I think the extra time turned me to an even bigger zombie. Well- I managed to survive, as I sit here a week later, after the completion of my post-vacation work week. SO- we had a great time on the cruise. John and Kelly were easy to travel with. We ate lots. Played lots. Were lazy lots....