Fun with Friends & Family

On to last week's update...

On Tuesday, I got to have dinner with one of the girls from my Bible study. We met at Carabba's at 6:00 and had so much to talk about that at 10:00 we realized they were closing up and hadn't even noticed. It was such a blessing to be able to talk with someone who challenges me spiritually and reminds me of God's love and promises for me. I really hope we can do it again and often.

Saturday, my nephews Ethan and Micah had their birthday party. Their mom let me have the privilege of making their cake. Although it didn't work out as planned, I was pretty happy with the end result. I'm learning more with each cake I do, so I guess that's a good thing.

Thomas Cake

Robby looking a little like a creeper...LOL. He loves me:)

Chowing down on cake!

Love this little boy! But I somehow forgot a picture with my other little boy:(

Me with the cake

After the party, my brother Ben stayed the night with us while my parents were at a hotel. We had a blast. We took him to Applebee's (one of his favorites), played Just Dance on the Wii, played The Office game, then WATCHED The Office. He wore me out:) On the way home, he told my mom that he wishes I lived on their cul-de-sac (TOTALLY made my day).

On Sunday, we got up and went to church. I am so so grateful to be a part of a church that consistently teaches the Word of God and never fails to challenge me in my walk with God. After church, my mom, stepdad, sister and her family all came over for Sunday lunch. I made country fried steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans. I LOVED having my family over and being able to cook for them &  spend time with them. I'm so thankful to have a house now where I'm able to have ten people over for lunch. At about 5:00, everyone left and it was just me and Robby. They wore us out so bad we took a two hour nap:) Then I had to get busy on my schoolwork and get ready for the reality of a Monday quickly approaching.

I don't think this week will hold quite as much excitement, but I guess you never know:)

Tybee Island 2011

I wanted to start by writing about our vacation from a couple of weeks ago. I know I'll want to remember everything about it, so I'm writing it down here. This year, Robby and I took a week's vacation to Tybee Island, GA. It's a small island about 15 miles outside of Savannah. We had a WONDERFUL relaxing time just hanging out and resting. We were right on the ocean with an unbelievable view. One of the coolest things was to be sitting on the balcony or on the beach and seeing the shrimp boats going back and forth to Savannah. We spent a lot of time at the beach, the pool, and our condo. I read a LOT (2 books in 5 days). Since we didn't have DirecTV to record the shows we normally watch, we spent a lot of time watching Food Network. Seeing all the amazing recipes made me want to cook more, and I promised myself I would try some of them. It hasn't happened yet, but who knows:)

One of the many shrimp boats we saw

Our view from the balcony

One day, we rented bicycles from a place downtown and rode around the island to the lighthouse that's there. We actually climbed the lighthouse to the top in 90-something degree heat. But it was so much fun. I've never been to a lighthouse before, and I just thought it was so cool.

Robby and me in front of the lighthouse

At the top

Close-up of the lighthouse

Cool picture of one of the storms we had

On another day, we went into Savannah to do some sightseeing. What a beautiful city. I just love historic towns like that. I know it sounds silly, but as I ride around the town in the trolly, I try to imagine what it was like in its first days. It just fascinates me that these houses and buildings have been standing so long and have seen so many different eras. While we were there, we took a trolly tour, walked on River St, went to Leopold's Ice Cream, and walked in Forsythe Park. There is also an unbelievable cathedral there that blows my mind. There is so much detail in the architecture and paintings on the walls. It's indescribable - you just have to see it for yourself.

River St

St. John's Cathedral

Sitting in Forsythe Park

Fountain in Forsythe Park

At Leopold's

On our last full day on the island, we took a dolphin tour. We must have seen at least 50 dolphins during that hour. They were absolutely beautiful! We even saw some babies. It was a great way to end such an awesome trip.

One of the many dolphins we saw

Another lighthouse we saw while on the tour

On the boat

Intro

I've always loved the idea of having a place to document memories in my life and later look back on those memories. I just don't have time to keep a journal, and never really thought of a blog being a way to do this until recently. I recently decided to majorly cut back my time spent on Facebook. It's mostly a waste of time and I have so many more important things that need my time and energy. I'll still get on there sometimes on the weekends to keep in touch with people, and will respond if someone writes to me, but I won't be on much more than that.

So, I decided to start a blog to keep in touch with people and to document the events in my life so I can later look back on them and maybe even share them with my children someday. I plan to update it once a week on the weekends. That way I can post something at one time about what's going on in my life and not be bogged down with all of the other stuff on Facebook. It may never be read by anyone, and that's OK. It'll be there if they want to, and I'll still have a place to write.