My friend Angie

Happy Anniversary to my sweet friend Angie and her husband Donny. They got married only 2 weeks after us, back in the day – 10 whole years ago. Always thought we’d be in each others weddings and then stupidity got in the way in high school so neither of us were. Man, how I’d go back in time and change things if I could. Now Angie and I talk almost daily and are back to being great friends. I guess growing up will make you realize that you can’t throw a friendship away over dumb stuff. We’ve been friends since I was 13 and I realize I’m dating myself here….but that’s 16 whole years (minus the year or so we didn’t talk). I’ve known her half my life – can only say that about one other friend. Most of my middle and high school memories involve Angie, her brother Daniel and their parents. Her parents were definitely my second set of parents. I still love them like that (and will get to see them next weekend when we're in Florida - yeah!). I took many Vero Beach vacations with her family. Not sure how all 5 of us crammed into that hotel room, but we managed and it was awesome.

I miss all the fun times we had growing up - like sitting and eating her mama’s incredible yeast rolls while talking about the drama that our lives involved (how simple everything was back then), laying out in her backyard, talking about boys, roller blading all over creation, being soldiers and angels in the Christmas performance together, being at church for any youth event where the doors were open, sharing clothes (wish I could still wear her clothes!), watching any kind of musical on video with our favorite being Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, sleeping in her closet, doing the thigh master until we couldn’t walk, making picture collages, thinking we were both fat (and neither one of us were), Brett Munson, listening to Daniel play the oboe or piano while eating the aforementioned yeast rolls, then challenging each other not to eat because something had too many calories, being attached at the hip anywhere we went, Vero Beach, talking about God together, crying together, laughing together, sharing secrets together….oh - to be 16 again.

I love her dearly and wished she didn’t live so dang far away.

(I know this isn't a picture of her and Donny, which would be fitting since I posted this to say Happy Anniversary, but I don't have any pictures of them two. She and Donny have two amazingly precious kids.)

Kindergarten

Tonight we had kindergarten orientation at David's school. He starts 3K on Wednesday. His teacher is fantastic and I know he's going to learn so much being in her class.

Before the orientation started we were talking to David and telling him that we were here to learn about kindergarten. He asked "but where are the flowers"? Sweet boy - he thought there should have been flowers at kindergarden. He's such his mama's boy.

Gatlingburg

This past weekend Brad and I went to Gatlinburg to celebrate diez anos de matriomonio. I’m pretty sure that means “10 years of marriage” in Spanish. We stayed in a sweet cabin with some great views. It was huge and felt kinda odd without David with us. It was our first time away together (without him or the boys) since 2002.

This is the view from the back porch of the cabin we stayed in: We did the Gatlinburg tourist trap stuff for the first time (Dollywood – fun, Splash Country – more fun, and Dixie Stampede – fun). They rode ostriches at Dixie Stampede - who would have thought? Oh and we cheered for the South and sadly we lost. We ate at our favorite breakfast place just off of the strip one morning. We tried to go swimming in one of the rivers, but it was too cold. So we sat on the edge of the river watching several stupid kids jump off the rocks that clearly said “AREA CLOSED” on the big white sign underneath these two guys. Each time they’d jump I’d hide my eyes for fear that they would bust their head on a rock. They were having a fun time and part of me wished that I was up there doing that too.
In keeping with my 5k training schedule I attempted (and I use that term very loosely) to stay on track….so I decided to walk up to the top of the resort and then jog back down to the bottom. The problem was that I forgot once I got to the bottom I’d have to walk back up. In a fit of stupidity I tried to run back up the mountain – didn’t work out too well. That’s probably why my calves are still killing me today! I thought I was going to die. But I’m happy to report I’m still here. So then I decided that I got my heart rate up plenty of times on the roller coaster and rides we went on that my heart had had enough exercise for the weekend. Since I’m sure that counts.

Friday night we watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics. I’m such an Olympics junkie – by the way what’s up with a 7 hour opening show?…it’s always too long. The ending was pretty cool, although nothing beats the 1996 Olympics lighting of the torch.

Sunday on the way home on a whim we decided to try and find Deep Creek – a place that my family used to go to every summer when I was a kid. It was about an hour and a half from Gatlinburg and sort of on the way home. We found it and I was so happy, since I remember just how much fun it was when I was little. We rented some tubes and walked almost a mile UP HILL to the top where we tubed down. Too bad the water was low because there wasn’t too much floating going on. The first half was okay with several small falls – the first one we both flipped over….I was able to stand up quickly but Brad went up to his neck in the ice water. It was so freaking funny – I wish I had my camera. I’m not sure he was laughing, but I was! We had a good time, but next time we’ll hope for some deeper water and maybe some water that’s not 22 degrees.

David stayed with a friend while we were gone and each time I’d talk to her David said he didn’t want to talk to us and that he wanted to stay with Holly for a long time. I was a little worried when we got home if he’d actually be happy to see us since he had so much fun with Holly and her two kiddos. Well, I don’t think that boy has ever hugged my neck for so long when I first saw him. He was thrilled to see us and we were thrilled to see him. It was a good weekend for Brad and I, but we are happy to be back home with little man.

Saw this on the strip in Gatlinburg...is there really a need for 21 varieties of hotdogs? Yuck.

I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years holds for us.

I can't get enough....

So I’ve pretty much spent every waking (non-working) moment since Friday watching the Olympics. I am mesmerized by it – the patriotism, the competition, the pride. But seriously - men’s synchronized diving? Really? That’s ridiculous. Diving is cool and all…but I guess they thought it would be even cooler if two people did it at the same time. Interesting. I thought one day I’d be an Olympic diver. I was 8 and took lessons at the local pool….obviously it didn’t work out – I could never quite get the pike down pat. I could dive off the edge of the pool in Vero Beach like a mad-woman as a teenager (love you Schumacher family for all the fun times)…I was just always terrified of busting my head open wide on the side of the pool….plus I’d get so dizzy after just doing one simple backflip. I was never made to flip in circles multiple times….sadly my dreams of an Olympian ended as a kid. I don’t have the endurance either….wish I did.

I love all things water sports (except the aforementioned men’s synchronized diving – I think that’s just weird) – especially Michael Phelps. He’s amazing and I hope he wins all the gold he’s shooting for. I’d love to know what music he listens to on his ipod before he competes. Maybe some journalist will ask him so that I can know. I could use some upbeat songs to help me get through my 5k training program right about now.

I will be sad once the water sports are over, but then we always have badminton (which by the way I took at Samford along with racquetball – it’s the only class Brad and I ever took together – I was terrible and no one wanted me on their team), handball (which I think is another word for racquetball – Brad and I currently play and are thinking about trying out for the Olympics in 2012) and two that I can’t wait to see: trampoline and table tennis. Those two just make me laugh – that there would actually be an Olympic sport for them.

I hope are also enjoying the Olympics – after all – it only happens once every 4 years – so you better get your fill between now and August 24th when all the fun ends.

10 Years Ago Today.....

I married my best friend.

And in that time a lot has happened....I had no idea where God was going to take us over the past 10 years and I have no idea where He will lead us in the future. The greatest blessing we have experienced is the birth of our little boy. David has completely stolen our hearts. I am thankful to be walking this road of life with Brad and thankful that he is such a great father to David. I can't imagine my life without either one of them. I love my husband.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. but the greatest of these is love." - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Roger Becks - good family friend and the guy who married us:
(Brad's) Dad:

My parents:

This weekend I saw the fingerprints of God......

A dear friend of mine delivered her twin babies about a week and a half ago. They are truly miracle babies and have been prayed for for many, many years. They were blessed with a little boy (G) and a little girl (L). L has a personality just like her mama - spunky with lots of energy....and G is just like his daddy - very laid back and easy going. They are still in the NICU because of their size, but are doing incredibly well for being born 5 weeks early and being so small (both are currently still under 4 pounds). We are prayerful that they will be able to go home very soon. Seeing them gives me the baby bug again! :)

Radar

We have a new family member. We initially were just planning to foster him for a few weeks until an adoptive family stepped forward; however, we instantly fell in love with him...and are planning to adopt the boy. He is mainly black lab and his name is Radar and he's about a year old. He's great with David, Sammydog and Garfield. He's very playful, which is fun, but is over the potty training stage, thankfully! He's yet to chew up my running shoes or the remote control or David's favorite toy - so we're in good shape so far. David tells everyone that he has a new dog and he wants them to come see Radar. David actually calls him Raydog most of the time. I guess that's because Lucy was Lucydog and Sammy is Sammydog to us. So Raydog fits. I know the picture doesn't do him justice, but he has the coolest bright blue eyes. We're pretty sure that he's apart of our home for good, we just need to officially adopt him in the next few weeks. The agency we are working with is AAAS, if you have any interest in fostering through them their website is: http://www.animaladoption.org/. It's definitely been a good experience for us.

Rodeo

Last night we went to a local rodeo. While it wasn't the best one we've been to, it was still pretty fun. Some friends and their two boys joined us. They had never been to a rodeo before. I feel that it's my duty to introduce all of my friends to real Alabama entertainment. First - dirt track racing, second - a rodeo, third - I'm really not sure what's next...any suggestions?

They had a race where kids would ride bear back on a sheep. It was so hilarious. The pictures we got weren't great, but you can sort of see this boy on his way falling off his sheep. One boy stayed on much longer than 8 seconds and won the award, which was probably just some nasty beef jerky. David's favorite part of the rodeo is the bull riding and he kept asking all night when the bulls were going to come out. At one point a bull was bucking his rider so close to the fence we were sitting in front of that I almost got up and ran backwards for fear it was going to buck him right over the fence and into our laps.

Brad got a series of pictures of this guy riding one of the bulls. They are blurry because of all the action, but you can still see the end result - a face plant into the rodeo floor which is covered in hay, dirt and lots of other lovely things. This was pretty much the result of most of the bull riding.