Tree Down Again

It happened again. I don't know what the deal is but the very same tree dropped another limb during the wee small hours of Monday morning. I woke to Maggie barking like crazy to what Matt thought to be a tree falling elsewhere in the neighborhood. I decided to check anyway and discovered this:

We are thankful that the only casualty this time around was our outdoor glass table which can be easily replaced.

Although it made quite the mess, at least we didn't have to deal with home repair or the insurance company. Matt and his dad were able to wrangle this limb to the curb themselves--saving us a good bit of cash. I suppose it's time to get that tree checked to make sure it's healthy (one more thing to worry about when you own a home)....

Atlanta

I miss this city. Last weekend I had the chance to take a quick overnight trip to visit my seminary bff, Jillian. We enjoyed some quality shopping and had the chance to eat at our all time favorite restaurant, The Flying Biscuit. Yum!

(forgive the poor picture quality, apparently the guy taking it didn't know how to take a good iphone photo)

We woke up Saturday morning to find the Coca-Cola bear in our hotel. Things like this only happen in Atlanta....

Baseball

Last week I was able to spend some time at one of my all time favorite places.....Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves. I spent a lot of my 3 years of seminary cheering on the Braves with some of my dearest friends. I love that place.

It was a brief trip because I ventured with the youth from our church. Luckily, I'm headed back this weekend to spend some time in my favorite city with Jillian! I can't wait to eat some Flying Biscuit, do some quality shopping, and enjoy the big city life.

Ordination

On Friday evening, Matt was ordained into full connection in the United Methodist Church. After a process of written paperwork and in-person interviews over the past several years, he is now officially ordained!

Although you can't tell from this photo, I had the privilege of standing with Matt during the ceremony. I couldn't have been more proud. Can't wait to see where ministry takes us in the years ahead! Congratulations Matt!

Garden Update

Last weekend, we also spent several hours working in the garden. I let the weeds grow out of control so it was time to put a stop to that.

We also did some research (should have done the prior to planting?) and realized we needed to separate our leeks and onions so Matt took on that job.

After a brief scare in which I thought we'd lost our garden for the year because of extreme heat early in the season, I'd say things are looking pretty good! We've had several strawberries, tasty spinach, and are currently waiting on some baby squash and okra to grow (side note: our spaghetti squash given to us as a seedling is growing out of control, as in it might grow out of our "garden box"!).

Having a home garden is a heck of a lot of work but so rewarding and fun when things go well. I recommend everyone give it a shot. There is nothing like getting your hands in the dirt and growing your own food.

Memorial Day Get Away

My in-laws recently bought a lake house and they invited us down this weekend to enjoy it (I forgot to actually take a picture of the house...next time). So we spent Friday and Saturday on the lake. My view looked like this for most of the time:

It was wonderful to escape our every day norm and spend some time taking in the sun and the breeze on the water. Maggie loved the freedom of not being on the leash and splashing around in the lake. She played so hard that the minute we returned home we found her like this:

Matt and I are looking forward to many more great weekends spent at the lake. They are beginning some renovation work this week & we are hopeful that in the near future there might also be a boat to go with the house. But until then, we are thankful for a weekend of rest and sunshine!

Turning 27

Yesterday I celebrated my 27th birthday. It doesn't even seem possible that I can be that old. But it was a great start to a new year of life ahead.

After returning home from a quiet dinner together, Matt arranged for our dearest friends to surprise me at home. I seriously had no idea. We walked into the house, the alarm wasn't beeping, the light we usually leave on was off, & Matt was staring into the living room. My first thought was, "we've been robbed." So I breathed a huge sigh of relief when the lights came on and all of my friends jumped out yelling, "Surprise!" It was great to spend the evening with friends. Thank you Matt for arranging something so special & fun. I love you to the moon and back! (oh and he also gave me a new Kindle so I am exploring the world of the e-reader these days...so far, so good).

Here's to the 27th year!