coming up next...

My next post will be #750. I still can't believe that I've stuck with it and had this much to say. Hopefully I can keep it going for a long time...I really like the act of documenting our lives and being able to read it later and share with other people.

Working a half day tomorrow then coming home and probably mowing the grass. Though I think I am supposed to wait until it is about to rain or something? How does that work?

fire update.

Fire is still about 30% contained but Chad expects that might change drastically (for the better) after an aerial mapping that occurred today. The acres burned made a huge jump to over 30,000 acres burned (a 35% increase over yesterday) because they did some back-burning to burn up fuel inside the containment area. He said some of the guys from GA got to go home either today or will head home tomorrow but so far, we aren't that lucky. Some rain yesterday helped things and even gave him the evening off today so that is a major praise. A good night's sleep will hopefully make tomorrow more pleasant. Please keep praying for rain, patience, safety, and great attitudes all around. I miss him!

we're hiring!

The Girl Scout Council of the Southern Appalachians is hiring!

The position in the Chattanooga office is working up front, answering calls and questions, helping in the shop, etc.

If you are interested, check out our website at: http://www.girlscoutcsa.org/. and go to the "About GS" tab at the top. Choose the "employment opportunities" link and see what is available!

still burning.

This website said that the fire is now 30% contained but burned another 5% in acreage yesterday. Chad said they got some rain (Praise the Lord!!) yesterday too but it wasn't enough obviously to put things out. And containment means a lot more than just putting out flames too...they need a few days of pretty constant downpours to really help things out. So, still praying for rain...

another night.

Long day at work today - they are working on the roof of our building and it requires a lot of banging, scraping, thunking, bonking, dragging, and loud conversation. Not very friendly to my work environment. Gonna be a good week of getting things done and big plans. Big meeting tomorrow night that I am responsible for, small group Wednesday night, dinner and beverages with a friend Thursday night and then it is Friday!  Did I mention that our office is closed all week next week and I get to travel?!? Woohoo!

After spaghetti and some vino tonight, I am finishing 3 big cleaning projects before I leave town: the sweeping and vacuuming of all the floors (goodbye Gwendolen tumbleweeds!), cleaning off the dining room table (I'm embarrased to let anyone in my house!), and folding the biggest pile of clean laundry you have ever seen (I might actually take a picture and let you see it because it is so impressive. It will make you feel better about all of your own housecleaning. Trust me.)

old bananas.

My goal while Chad is gone this week and I am home is to not eat out the entire time and eat up some of the weird, random things in the pantry and freezer. This is not only an effort to save money but to also make some room to do some serious grocery shopping when he gets back/when we get back from our trip in a few weeks. We love bananas but tend to quickly eat all but one and it sits on the counter until it turns a funny/gross color. Today, in admiring what was in the freezer, I realized that I had at least 6 frozen bananas waiting to make something yummy. I had been meaning to make banana bread for a while so I did that and it is currently baking and making my kitchen smell a-maz-ing. I will enjoy this for breakfast this week - a slice on the way to the gym should get me through my workout to my cereal.

I also found another recipe on a blog/website that I linked to from P-Dub's Tasty Kitchen website. This recipe is for banana ice cream - except it is just frozen bananas and milk. Since my fruit was already frozen, I thought "why not??". Again - amazing. And it used up another three of my frozen bananas so now I only have to figure out what to do with two more!!

I made it myself!

My grandmother had this really awesome thing hanging near her clothes lines down in South GA. and we are trying to save energy and hang our clothes outside too (when the weather cooperates - ask me about last week's very, very wet clothes!!). I only used what memories I have of her clever clothespin holder but hopefully I would have done her proud. Hers had a hanger in the inside that went through a hole at the top but I thought a pants hanger with clips would be easier and would hold plenty of weight. Clothes pins don't weigh that much anyway!  So, two pieces of coordinating fabric out of my scrap stash and a pants hanger from a Walmart 3-pack at around $1.25 each made for a really inexpensive solution! 

good day.

It was a really good day today, despite the fact that Chad left at 5:30 this morning and will be gone 2 weeks. I wrapped up working at a can you believe it is this hot and humid outside, is it even possible to breathe out here?? day camp today and loved it but I am sorta glad it is over. It was fun and exhausting - you know that feeling of having to be on your toes all the time - yeah, I just lived that. I still want to work at G.S. camp every summer and can't figure out how to swing it.

Tonight I went on a date with my in-laws. We ate at Olive Garden (I believe my feelings for Portabello Ravioli and Berry Sangria are well documented) and then saw Water for Elephants. I read the book but it has been a while so I wasn't too terribly offended when it didn't stick strictly to the story line. It was decent though that vampire guy (yes, I know his name...) was hard to believe as Reese Witherspoon's love interest. I do think that I caught a glimpse of Lookout Mtn. in the background of one scene and even though I might have imagined it, I will just continue to believe.

I also just got to Skype with my sweetie. Bless the inventor of Skype, even more than Facebook. Dare I even!?  He took our older laptop with him so we could at least see each other in the next two weeks while we are apart. Please keep praying for safety, health, and a lot of rain!!  Apparently they made some good strides today but it is still a large fire that is being hard to control.

oh life.

We had the most non-eventful, sweet small group on Wednesday night. We got to finally meet sweet baby Ella (photos of her cuteness can be found there on Emily's blog) and she is absolute perfection. Don't worry - no baby jealous here. I still like 'em best when you can love on them and then give them back!  There weren't many of us and we were happy to just hang out together and chat. Don't really know how Chad feels about nights like that but I love them - times when we can just all sit around and laugh and hang out. Frankly, it is better than the super goofy and only partly-enjoyed or accurate video series we have been watching (come on folks, you know you ALL feel like I do!!)

Biggest news on the homefront is that Chad got called out this morning to head to a fire in North Carolina for the next 16 days. Yep. 2 weeks. It will be the longest time we have been apart since we got married close to 3 years ago. Amazing huh? A week is as much as we have managed so far so it should be interesting. We had some travel plans in that time that will have to get put on hold but I am going to Columbus for a bit so at least I won't be alone the whole time. For any potential stalkers out there, I have a FABULOUS neighborhood and even better street full of people who are looking out for me. I'm not worried a bit...oh and a dog that will eat you and an alarm system that is stellar.  I'm gonna miss him tons - and of course worry about him even more - so please do me a favor and add him to your prayer list just a bit more these next two weeks. He leaves super early tomorrow morning to travel to NC and will either come back when the fire gets put out or 16 days from now, which ever comes first.  In all his amazingness, he got off work early today to prepare and he's done dishes, cleaned up the laundry room, done a load of laundry, put away beer making supplies, and is changing the oil in my car.  He is so incredible.

p.s. I tye-dyed at day camp with the kiddos today. My hands are blue.

for my dad.

This is for my Dad - who I don't think even reads my blog (hey mom, help the guy out!!):

Thanks Dad -
for every time you gave me gas money,
for every basketball game you sat through that I barely played in and for cheering me on when I did,
for telling me that you are proud of me every time I brought home good grades and telling me that you knew I could do better when I brought home grades that weren't so great (because you knew I really could),
for every hug and kiss,
for every "don't come home late" knowing I was going to anyway,
for paying for a year of my college tuition when I bombed a math class and refused to agree with a philosophy teacher and lost my scholarship,
for buying me a car (ahem - or 3 cars.),
for rasing me to be dependable, honest, thoughtful, independent, and happy,
for loving my mom and my sisters and me,
for sacrificing for us for many, many years so that we could have a great life, go to a great school, take amazing summer vacations,
for taking me and my sister to Hawaii and Mexico when you could have left us home with the grandparents,
for being excited to see me when I come home now,
for calling me "Pooh Bear" - my most endeared nickname (I guess I'm telling family secrets here...),
for telling Chad - when he asked for my hand in marriage - that "I just want her to be happy." because I truly am.

I am so thankful, blessed, and honored to be your daughter. Hope you have a wonderful Father's Day and I am sorry that I am not there with you but I promise, I will be soon!! See you in 16 days!



P.S. I am also thankful for my father-in-law who treats me like his own daughter. I married into a wonderful family and I am eternally grateful.

The Saturn Vue

Ok, folks - I would really like to sell my 2003 Saturn Vue.  Any takers??
Here are the details:
2003 Saturn Vue AWD
4 cyl. (means it gets pretty decent gas mileage for a SUV - 18 city and 24 hwy)
we are asking $5,500 for it but we would negotiate a bit if necessary.

NEW TIRES (Hankook brand - approx $700 value)
NEW A/C compressor (recently installed - $700 value)

Interior and exterior are actually in really good condition - just minor wear and tear that is expected.
CD/FM/AM stereo - all speakers are working

Let me know if you need more info! 
Have a friend that might want to buy it?  Just let me know!

bending the river.

It has been a busy week this week and I could not have been happier to see Friday afternoon come and see a blank box on my calendar for Saturday. Ahhh - feels like a breath of fresh air. Chad and I braved Riverbend again last night to see Alan Jackson. I'll admit - I love country music and Chad - doesn't so much. Obviously he went because he loves me and pretty much no other reason (I mean, he couldn't let me brave that drunken, loud, sweaty crowd alone right??). We lucked out with really good seats thanks to some friends of Chad's parents who had their chairs out all week and weren't using them all so they let us sit with them - basically front and center. It was good! I knew pretty much every song he played so it was a fun concert. We did sneak out before it was over because we didn't want to have to weave through the crowd again and didn't want to get stuck in traffic - though we were parked probably a good mile away. I'm glad we went and that I experienced Riverbend for the first time this year. However, now I know that I won't really be going back unless there is a band I am really interested in seeing - that crowd is something else!!

Today we literally have nothing on the schedule. We've talked about going to the pool somewhere today but it is a bit overcast so we might wait and see. Chad let me sleep in super late this morning (9:00 - gasp!!) and he was up doing stuff around the house for a while before I got up. Cleaned up a huge mess from brewing a batch of beer yesterday afternoon, watered plants, put up my hammock, etc. He is so beyond fabulous - I am so lucky to have a driven, dedicated, sweet husband like him - and one that even braves country music concerts just to hang out with me!

small wins.

I ended up having quite a successful day of getting things done around the house yesterday. After feeling good enough to eat some lunch, I tackled washing and hanging out to dry my 3 loads of laundry (so very eco-friendly – I love my 2 – yes 2 – clotheslines in the backyard) but I do NOT love crunchy towels so those went in the dryer. Small steps here. I vacuumed up the Gwendolen dust bunnies, cleaned up the kitchen, folded last week’s laundry (yes. embarrassed.), cleaned up my car, organized in the living room/dining room, and watched the end of a movie/documentary called “Born into Brothels” (which was fascinating, sad, and beautiful all at the same time).


Back at work today. It’s gonna be a long week of not a whole lot going on. I have decided that as much as I hate being out at night and working the weekends when I could be at home hanging out with Chad that I really love the flexibility it gives me in my schedule. Because I can flex off the extra time whenever I want to (within two weeks), I can get haircuts, go grocery shopping, etc. when other people are still at work. And not waiting in line is super nice.

not as planned.

Up until 2am this morning, I was having a great weekend. We had an absolute blast yesterday up at the lake with friends and family. Rode the jet ski a bit, rode an inflatable couch with Chad and Megan and fell off twice (totally cleared my sinuses with lake water), and even tried to water ski after an 8 year hiatus and a history of never really being able to. We then went to the drive-in movie last night down in Trenton, GA. It is a super fun - and even cheap - way to watch movies. They have two "screens" that each show two first-run movies. We watched the new X-Men movie and the 4th Pirates of the Caribbean - and it only costs $5 for each person.The other screen was showing the new Kung Fu Panda movie and Water for Elephants. The food in the concession stand is even really reasonably priced! It is a great, inexpensive, fun night. However, for obvious reasons, the movies can't start until the sun goes down - which last night was at least 9:30pm. I thought we were only staying for the first movie (X-Men) but somehow I got outvoted and we stayed for both, leaving there at 2:30 in the morning. When we were leaving, my stomach didn't feel good (I'll admit - I ate nachos at like 11:30 at night - always a bad idea) but I just thought I was tired and cranky and didn't think much of it. This morning, I got up at 7am to gather my stuff and head to meet the SCUBA folks to go do two of my checkout dives in the super cold quarry. Alas, my stomach had some other ideas in mind.

One of the things that they stressed in our class was not to dive if you don't feel well - it won't be fun and it is dangerous for a number of reasons. Well, not only did I not feel well, I couldn't get very far from the toilet for a while (sorry - was that too graphic?? I was trying not to be!). I decided - much to my frustration and embarrassment  - that pulling on a tight wetsuit, being in the sun for hours, and doing to deeper dives was probably not going to be a good idea for today.  I am super frustrated and upset about it because I am now an entire day of dives behind and unless I can get them done before our trip, I've just lost a day of fun diving (which was the whole point in doing it today). I am hoping that there will be another opportunity to go and get some dives in before we go but now I just feel like a wuss, I know that everyone will basically be waiting on me, my instructor will have to take time out of his schedule to meet me and get these dives in - the list can go on. I am frustrated, upset, and annoyed that today didn't really go as planned.

I feel quite a bit better now, though I am not sure how I will feel after I eat something. I almost wish I had gone but I can't imagine how bad I would feel if something went wrong that far from home, wearing a wetsuit and all my SCUBA gear. Not fun. So, I am sure I made the right decision but I am going to be home and mad all day. Plus - I need to clean and do laundry. Double bummer.

gearing up.

I am pretty excited about a fun weekend coming up…though Chad is going to miss most of the fun because he is teaching another lifeguarding class Thursday night, all day Friday, and Sunday. We are headed out tomorrow afternoon (after sleeping in till a late 8am – that’s always our goal. Lofty huh?) to the lake house of friends of Chad’s parents. Incidentally, these are some of the friends that are going on the dive trip with us in July and the husband was my dive instructor. They are hilarious, fun, sweet people and I am looking forward to spending some time above the water with them! There are also jet skis involved so I am a happy girl. Sunday is church like normal but then we are going up to the quarry to get some of our check out dives out of the way (giving us more leisurely dive time in the Turks and Caicos). That water is going to be crazy cold but it should be a fun day. I am glad we aren’t waiting as many weeks before we do these dives so maybe I will remember all the important information that I learned!! Hopefully there are pictures to come – though I am always afraid of getting the camera wet. Maybe I should just buy a cheap, underwater disposable! J

waterlogged.

Just wrapped up an exciting weekend of SCUBA class and I passed. Made 100 on all the written tests and did every skill necessary to progress to the open water checkout dives (which I will do in 7 weeks in the beautiful Turks and Caicos islands). I told Chad that I think it is a major accomplishment that I only cried once and I didn't punch anyone in the face (especially the very lucky - or maybe unlucky? - instuctor that had to turn off my air tank underwater so I would know what running out of air felt like.) I have discovered that as long as I stay busy doing things that I don't have a problem with anxiety. It is when I get bored and have time to think that I have a problem. I have to go to the doctor and get cleared to do my checkout dives because of my migraines and prescriptions association with them but I have plenty of time to do that.

Check that off the list and now all I really need to go is find my equipment to rent and get my passport and I am ready to travel!

it'll be quiet.

Well, just a forewarning that you should not expect to hear from me all weekend. After spending Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights studying and reading and watching videos, Meg and I have our SCUBA class all weekend. Tonight, all day tomorrow, and Sunday afternoon/evening. Chad and I also have our week in the kids church so it is going to be a full, fun, and exhausting weekend.


Going to Dalton this afternoon to drop off my friend/co-worker/gym-buddy K to meet her husband. They are leaving for a week of vacation and I’m super jealous (not that my turn isn’t coming and she can be jealous!). Just having a week off work with no worries is such a blessing. Hopefully I can make a stop into the outlet malls nearby and see if I can find a couple of things for our trip…

for my sister.