June Playdate

Last month Mikelyn and I started a new tradition - a monthly playdate for us to get together, catch up and just have some fun. We take turns picking the destination and this month it was my turn to pick. I did a little research online and decided on Eufaula after learning there would be a city music and arts festival going on today. We headed out at 8:30 this morning in order to make it there for a 10am tour of the old homes.

We pull into town and we are looking around. Where is everybody? There are no booths, no music and no art to be found. Hmp. Not really sure what's going on. We decide to just walk around and maybe we'll find it. We ended up at the Shorter Mansion just as they opened the doors at 10am.

The curator and president of the Eufaula Heritage Society has no clue what we're talking about when we mention the festival. Then another group walks in and asks the same question. So, the lady calls the chamber and there is a recording on the voicemail saying the festival has been cancelled.

Geez Louise.

Oh well. The trip is not about the destination or the events of the day anyway. The main purpose of our playdate is for two girlfriends to be together, having dedicated time with one another, and we find adventures wherever we go.

Shorter Mansion was very interesting and well worth the visit. The artifacts inside are not original to the house or family. Everything inside has been donated. So there is a random assortment of items. Upstairs, in a back room I come across a frame that has Robert E Lee in it. I stop because, well, he is the namesake of my university. In the frame it had Lee on the left, his wife Mary on the right and in the middle is a report card from Washington College, Virginia. That's where I went to school! And it is signed by the president at that time - Robert E Lee himself! How cool. It was only after he died that the college was renamed Washington and Lee University in his honor. A neat little find I thought.

After Shorter Mansion, we walk the oak-lined streets of Eufaula only to find just a few shops open. Unfortunately, the cute floral shop was closed for some local weddings and other stores closed earlier in the day.

But it didn't matter. Mikelyn and I had a great playdate. Our adventure in Eufaula was a success not because of the location, but because of the great company we shared with one another.

I look forward to July and Mikelyn's pick of the month.

How We Met

Five years ago about this time, I was fresh out of college with diploma in hand, no job in sight and moving to Atlanta. Dad hooked me up with Cathy Cox's campaign to volunteer for the summer. And there was a span of about 7 days when I was actually in Donalsonville before I made the move. It was during those 7 days that we first met.

Grant and I had never met before, however, our families have known each other for years. But Grant and I had never crossed paths.

Grant and his twin brother Kyle had started their landscaping business just a few months before I came home. And their first big job was my parents yard. I actually didn't even know that my parents were re-landscaping until they came up for a visit around Easter weekend. A visit where they met the guy I was dating at the time. It was on this visit that I first heard about Grant and Kyle. On the way to dinner, walking down Main Street, my mom starts going on and on about these two guys and how great they are and I just have to meet them. This is on the way to meet my boyfriend! Needless to say, he and I didn't last - thank goodness.

So, back to those seven days in D'ville. There were no sparks, no fireworks, no real interest (I don't think) for either of us. We met in the yard. Spoke in passing. And that was about it. And to be honest, I really couldn't tell the difference between the two of them at the time. With a hat and sunglasses on they really looked the same.

Days pass, I'm in Atlanta now. My summer weekends are pretty much booked with wedding parties for my sister who was getting married Labor Day weekend in the fall. Earlier that spring I had thought I was going to have a date to all these parties since I was dating that guy. But when he broke up with me I was pretty shaken up, mad, upset - you name it - about the whole thing. And somehow I thought that if I had a date to those parties, well I would show him! So...who to ask?? None of my high school friends were around anymore. And I couldn't ask anyone from school cause they all lived too far away. What about these Faulk boys that mom raved about so much? Well, Kyle had a girlfriend. So, I guess I'll call up Grant.

And that's how it all started. We spent the summer going to wedding parties. Driving back and forth. And after six months of dating we had our first conversation about spending the rest of our lives together.

Now, I feel like Grant has been in my life always. He is my best friend.

I'm so glad that guy broke up with me spring term senior year.

Our First Trip to the Library

Laura and I got a library card today at the Dothan library downtown. It was our first time there. We found the children section pretty easy. There was a fun train table, but some big kids were playing with it so we could only look on.

Now, having a sister who is a director in a regional library system, you would think that I would know how libraries work. But apparently not.

My phone rings and I fish around to find it. Answer it. And proceed to talk until I look up and see the librarian giving me the evil eyes. She asks me to step out into the hall - cell phones are not allowed. So, I immediately get off the phone (sorry Lee Ann) and then I see all the no cell phones allowed signs posted everywhere. Oh well.

It takes us a while, but we finally find some appropriate reading for LB. However, at this point it feels like my elbow is going to fall off. So, I look for Dr. Seuss, grab three or four books and head straight to check out. Whew, we made it.

Get home. Proud of our adventure, we excitedly show Daddy our prizes. ha! Well......the first book he opens has sheet music in it! What?!? The Cat in the Hat Song Book. In my hurry, all I read was the Cat in the Hat. I grabbed it. No no, this has real songs and cords and music in it. Being the great daddy that he is, Grant proceeds to sing one of the songs to LB. :)

Later on we pick up another book. ha! Well......this one is in Spanish! What?!? I thought I was getting Horton Hears a Who. Technically I did, but it is not in a language that I can read anymore.

I might be going back to the library sooner than I had planned.

Geez Louise.

A New Way to Get Dressed

I just realized that the portion of my wardrobe that seems to be growing the fastest is my hat collection.

You name it and I've bought it or received it as a gift recently. It is definitely a tell all sign of my new station in life and how I dress for the occasion. This morning - red shorts...ahh the red ball cap. Blue shorts....several blue visors to pick from. Going to water world...sun hat.

Its a new way to get dressed each morning.

H-O-R-S-E

Grant and I created a new version of HORSE yesterday. You have to call the shot before it is made using little plastic balls and trying to hit various things, mainly the polka dots in the playroom. Let me preface this by saying that Grant has played basketball all his life. I have not. He won considerably; however, I think he did end up with a few letters of his own.

The funniest call was to hit LB's chip clip. We clip up her dresses with a chip clip in the back so that she can crawl around easier. She was standing up, with her back to us. Grant called it. And he nailed her little leg - pop! She didn't cry at first, but turned her head around and that bottom lip started to quiver. It was so funny.

The hardest call was to bounce off the floor, hit the red wall in the corner and then off a blue dot. That one was never made.

I am now using our playtime as practice. Look out Grant!

H-O-R-S-E!

Grant's First Father's Day

The weekend was full of fathers, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, uncles and great-uncles. We saw many of the men that have impacted our lives over the years. And it all revolved around food! There was catfish at Hunts, steaks around the pool and roast around the table. Everything was yummy and it was great being around all the family. But quite possibly my favorite time the entire weekend was when Grant and I sat in the sunroom Sunday evening. LB was down for the night - early, tired from lots of people and playing. And Grant and I just sat. Enjoying a drink. Reading. Talking. It was so simple. We talked about how far life has come for us in the last five years. We dreamed about what life will bring in the coming years. It was a great father's day for our little family.

Way Too Fast!

Life is going Way Too Fast! The days just seem to melt away, then weeks, and now months - and I don't think things are going to slow down anytime soon. So...

We've got to figure out a way to embrace this new pace of life. How can I take a step back and soak up life in the here and now? I don't want it all to be a blur. And I don't want to live for the weekends either. Each and every day has something special about it.

Maybe I should start a list and that will force me to look for the special moments and not take things for granted.

Ok, today is Friday, June 18th, 2010....

Special Moment #1

Well, nothing is coming to mind right now, but now that I know to look for it I'm sure I'll have something to write about tonight.

To be continued....

Come On Teeth!

Two bottom teeth - check.

Orajel and Tylenol - check, check.

Two upper teeth - oh, please come on in!

It took LB over an hour to go to sleep last night. Up and down all night long. Morning nap - same deal.

Pulling on ears. Running a fever, which goes down immediately with the tylenol. We all would like for these teeth to come on in!

Spontaneous Photo Shoot Friday

Good Friday Morning

Slept in an hour. LB slept in an hour and a half. Enjoyed my ENTIRE cup of coffee. 8am and LB is already back down for a nap. Need I really say more. Good Friday Morning!!

I love Weddings

I absolutely love weddings. I love all the planning, the engagement parties, showers, flowers, gowns - everything. I smile every time we receive an invitation for one or when I get an excited phone call from a friend saying she's engaged. It all reminds me of my own.

Everyone gave us advice while we were engaged - mostly good, encouraging advice that we listened to willingly. Probably the one piece of advice that I remember intentionally following was to make a point of looking around. I don't remember who told me, but she said that her wedding was a blur. If it weren't for her pictures she would have missed her wedding. So getting ready to walk down the aisle I looked around and soaked it all in. Getting to the front I looked at every bridesmaid and every groomsman, then I locked eyes with Grant.

Probably my favorite moment in our wedding was the Bride and Groom prayer. Just months before we got married I attended a wedding where they did this and it was so moving. After that Grant and I added it to our own program. It was wonderful. One of my favorite pictures from the wedding is of us holding hands, heads bowed, sun setting in the background while we whispered our prayers to one another. Nothing tops that solitary moment.

Right now we have only one wedding on the calendar for next spring. It will be a small intimate wedding set on a beautiful plantation in Thomasville, GA. I'm really looking forward to this one. Its a tennis friend from my teenage years that is getting married. She has asked me to read scripture. I am so honored and touched that she has asked me to be a part of such a special day. I know it will be perfect for her like mine was for me. I'm smiling just thinking about it all.

BamaJam Side Effects

We had our first BamaJam experience this year. I must say that we both were beyond pleasantly surprised. We really enjoyed it. Friday night was the only time we went, but we probably would have gone more if we had lined up more babysitters. However, now that it's Sunday evening I'm glad that we only have to recover from one night's lack of sleep.

Several years ago we would have slept the morning away, but now we have a cute little alarm clock that likes to get up with the sun. With only a few hours under our belt we bought an hour of laying around by putting LB in the bed with us. But she is so busy that she doesn't lay around at all. She crawled back and forth between the two of us with her little pointer finger ready to touch everything. Finding my cup on the beside table, LB managed to tip it over. Fortunately, there wasn't much water in it.

But that is where it all started. We forgot and left our fresh veggies in the car for 24 hours that we bought at the Farmers Market Saturday morning. Veggies that I continue to refer to as fruit for some reason. And at some point I referred to LB's fruit as veggies.

We forgot to put up our leftovers from dinner Saturday night. Only realizing it Sunday morning when it was too late. In the trash they went.

After going to bed at 8:15 Saturday night and getting 10 hours of sleep, we still forgot to turn off the coffee pot this morning. We remembered on our way to church. Thankfully, we have one that turns itself off after a while.

We have laughed and laughed at the fact that we can't hang like we once could. Alas...we're getting older. We need our sleep.

A Weekend at Compass Lake

http://www.thepostsearchlight.com/news/2010/jun/01/stumps-and-twigs/

Dad's article this week about Memorial Weekend at Compass Lake

If You Knew Me...

I had a great quiet time this morning.

First off, I have struggled to even have a daily quiet time. I know how extremely important it is. And its not that I don't have the time to squeeze in 30 minutes for me and God to hang out; its just that life is busy. Before I know it, Laura is down for the night, Grant and I are hanging out, I'm tired, and the day is over. So I decided over the weekend that I should do it first thing in the morning! Before work starts, before LB gets up, give God my firsts. Well, wouldn't you know that my alarm went off at 5am, I turned it off and slept for another 25 minutes. WOW - the devil IS in the details.

Anyway, I finally get up, have my vanilla filled coffee, sit down and I'm ready to go. And God was ready too.

I'm going through a Beth Moore book - Believing God. The section I started this morning is called, I am who God says I am. The biggest statement I took away this morning - Beth Moore talking about herself says, "I have a little hang-up with believing "I am who God says I am." I tend to want to rewrite it as, "I strive to be who God says I am." WOW. I completely agree.

I guess I don't always feel like I measure up to God's standards. And I hate it when I feel like I'm falling short. But think about Moses - he doubted himself. The Bible tells us that because I have accepted Jesus as my personal savior that I am already who God says I am. And I was made in his image. WOW. What I see in my own actions are from my viewpoint, which is different from God's point of view.

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!" 1 John 3:1

I am Blessed, Chosen, Adopted, Favored, Redeemed and Forgiven.

I am who God says I am.

"You shine like stars in the universe." Philippians 2:15

Getting Out of Debt

Grant and I are fired up about getting out of debt! We went through Dave Ramsey's class last fall. And after many months on a budget we are starting to really chip away at our debt.

Personally I love the big balloon payments that are made at the end of the month. I get so excited that I check the loan website multiple times a day to see the check clear and how much is left. Perhaps a little overkill I know, but I really love seeing that balance dwindle down. It fires me up to try and pay off even more the next month.

Getting ready to finalize the June budget I decided to take the budget to a new level - cash envelopes. Dave says to get rid of all your credit cards. Well, we haven't done that. But we do keep a zero balance on our AMX and basically use our debit card for everything else. But its too easy to just swipe it. I know that there is money in the account to pay for my next purchase without consulting the budget and the month's plan - and its money that's already allotted for something else. So, I'm going to start using cash for my grocery shopping. I thought I would start with just one category and see how it goes first. Sometimes its better to ease into things.

I'll have a certain amount in my purse and that's it. I'll need to take a calculator in the store with me, but its so worth it to be that nerd in the grocery aisle tabulating your total! Because this nerd is going to get out of debt.

Can you imagine the freedom??

"Live like no one else, so later on you can live like no one else."

Love Dave Ramsey.

Laura Loves Compass Lake

Laura loves Compass Lake! She did not cry one bit in the water. She didn't mind being splashed by cousin Henry. She even crawled straight to the water on the second day when I put her down in the sand. Laura is going to love growing up going to the lake just like I did.
Laura and her Grandaddy Dan - first time in the lake.