Home Sick

Today, I'm really missing home.  My brother called the other day and we talked for a while.  My mom told me that when we got off the phone, he was a little sad and told her he missed me being their to talk to and do stuff with.  

Fall is on its way and that is one of my favorite times of year.  Sure summer rocks because of water and cute clothes, but fall is the precursor to the holiday season and other things I look forward to.  This year I will miss Gamecock football and tailgating, the state fair, watching my favorite shows with friends and decorating for the holidays with family.  

Don't get me wrong...I'm thankful for the opportunity to experience new things here is Alabama.  For one, in October, Dothan holds the worlds largest Peanut Festival and this year I finally have a home big enough to hold a real Christmas tree.  I like the friends we've made here but haven't lost the ones I left behind and I miss them. 

The older I get the more I realize that friends and family matter so much more than time or money.  I hope they all know how much I love and miss them.

Gazing on God's beauty

One thing I ask of the LORD, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.

Psalm 27:3-5

Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as braided hair and the wearing of gold jewelry and fine clothes.  Instead, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight.

1 Peter 3:2-5

Love it/Shove it

~ Low humidity!!!  The weather has been so beautiful and surprisingly not as humid lately and it is wonderful!!!

~ The day time!  Working nights again makes me realize how much I took the daylight for granted.

~ Hy new bedroom fan!  I decided to try to save some money by keeping the air up a bit and using a fan near me while I sleep and I love it.  The extra noise is great and it really does keep me cool.  We'll see if it has any impact on the electricity bill.

~ Folding clothes. Ok, technology is a great thing.  We can wash/dry clothes and wash dishes while sleeping because of some awesome inventions, but when is there going to be something that folds my clothes for me?  I'll be surrounded by baskets of clean clothes before I decide to fold them...I"m even staring at a pile right now.

~ vitamins...so they're essential, but why do they have to be so big?

FALL line up

I have always loved the change of seasons.  I like pulling out new clothes and getting excited about the different activities that take place in each season.  Flowers in Spring, the lake in Summer, pumpkins in the Fall, and CHRISTMAS in Winter!  

For some reason, I have always loved the months of September and October.  I love the weather and the colors of the trees.  There seems like so much to look forward to, and one of those things is the new seasons of my favorite shows.  

I know, its really nothing to get excited about and my life doesn't revolve around the TV but it is nice to throw yourself into a character every once in a while and wonder what will happen next week.

GREY'S ANATOMY season 6 starts September 24th!

ONE TREE HILL season 7 starts September 14th!

Other than these shows that will be taking up my time, there is so much to look forward to for the last 3rd of 2009.  Not to mention seeing the temperatures decline a bit.

Flower Photography

A few randoms from vacation

More Fishing

Lyndsey and Dad with her first fish

Micah and Dan waiting patiently

I think Anna's face in this picture is priceless

And here is our ending total.  Lolly and I caught the biggest fish!

Anna asking, "Fish where are you?" but it came out..."Are you?!"

Wilkes Kids First Fishing Trip

On Thursday we took the kids fishing for their first time.  They had a blast and the weather was perfect.  We went to two different trout ponds (they were supposed to be easier for the kids to catch a fish).  Here are a few pictures from our first fishing adventure.

Dan helping Micah catch his first fish

Lynds waiting patiently

The corn we used to lure the fish in

Sweet daddy/daughter time

Annual Wilkes Women Tea Party

Lolly in her tea party get up

Alecia and Sara getting the food ready while I took pictures...I think I got he best part of the deal

Lynda setting the table

Great-grandma looking fab!!!

Wilkes Family Vacation

So, the next few posts will be pictures from the Wilkes Family Vacation that took place in Franklin, NC.  For me, the vacation started on Wednesday and each day was fun-filled with activities and 5 kids 5 years old or under.  Needless to say, I'm a pretty tired aunt.  So, here is the first post.

Annual Wilkes Women Tea Party

The nail polish I used to paint all the girls nails.

One of the tea pots

Part of the party food

Our assortment of tea

Random Mix

This is going to be a short post because I am so tired.  I've been taking a lot of pictures lately, but haven't edited any so all of these are SOOC (straight out of camera).  

Brandon drawing something for Crissy to guess while playing Cranium

Sweet picture of the ever so hyper, Ruger

Bumper

Practicing some macro photography.  

This week will be a busy one.  I'll be in NC starting Wednesday with the Wilkes family and I'm so excited to see my nieces and nephew.  Hopefully I will get a lot of good pics while there!

Funny Happenings

I am writing this post at the Skelly's place because we have no internet at ours due to a rather funny story.  Caleb was doing one of the things that he loves to do the most... tickle me.  As he was tickling me and loving the fact that I HATE it, a glass was kicked off of my nightstand, fell to the floor breaking and spilling all of the red-colored crystal light on the bed and floor.  Nothing good comes out of tickling!  Caleb got the vacuum cleaner to suck up the small fragments of glass and as he went to plug it in the power went off.  Great...a breaker was blown. No big deal right?  Well sure if you can find the breaker box to reset it, but of course in our old house of closets galore, we looked high and low with no result.  Therefore, we are living like the Amish for the time being.  This might be funny when we actually have lights again.

Anyway,  this past weekend Caleb and I took another trip to Panama City Beach with friends.  We had a blast.  Here are some pictures from our trip. 

We were surrounded by good places to eat.

Okay, this one deserves a bit of an explanation.  We ate dinner at Guy Harvey's Restaurant and I ordered the crab meat martini.  Little did I know that this was it.  A martini glass of crab meat and nothing else.  Apparently my face did not hide my surprise and my crab meat dinner and I were the topic of laughs for the rest of the evening...  By the way, this cost $17.

We rented 2-seater scooters.  Crissy and I made the guys go for a test run before we put ourselves in danger.  However, once Caleb and I got down the road about 1/2 mile ours broke down and we had to walk it back to the rental store to get another.   

The lights over Panama City.