Mid-Week Date Night

Around the Table

Our Memere' & Pepere' have been in town this week which has resulted in lots of yummy-filled family dinners and outings. :) We've gathered around my parents big round table three times and our table once. Tonight the plan is to have a farewell meal at a local restaurant. It has been such a wonderful week and I'm glad that Tony & I are truly able to enjoy it without schoolwork hanging over heads. It's real nice!!! 

Late Summer Salsa

On this last day of Summer I picked a bowl full of green tomatoes from my garden and fixed a green tomato salsa to go atop our herbed potatoes at dinner time. {Dice tomatoes with onion and drizzle with olive oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper} Simple and oh so good!!!

Brittany's Birthday

Yesterday, my little sister became one year older. She met me in town while I shopped for her gift. We tried on lots of dresses, but decided to settle on some fancy accessories. The family gathered together for dinner ~ bbq'd turkey with homemade mac & cheese, green beans, and cole slaw. Mmmmm! And mom didn't slack at all in the cake department. She fixed a yellow cake with chocolate sprinkled buttercream frosting. It was all so good!! We enjoyed our time together celebrating the "baby" of the family!!! :)

Business in Augusta

Friday afternoon we loaded up our little white rental car, the one with no cruise control, and made our way to Augusta, GA. It was primarily a business trip, but we aim to make an adventure out of everything. :) So while Tony drove, I read out loud to him and crocheted some. We turned up the radio to sing and dance. We talked. and laughed. and sat in silence. Things that the bestest of friends do ~ enjoying our time together. After the clock moved forward about 7 hours we checked into our cozy hotel room. We freshened up and scouted out restaurants with large tap lists -- because we like variety and love to try new things! Google helped us find Rooster's Beak Friday night and Mellow Mushroom Pizzeria the next. :)

Most of Saturday, Tony worked & I hung out at the hotel. I took a nap, read, crocheted, worked out, painted my nails, caught up on email, and ate lunch by myself in the hotel steakhouse (a veggie quesadilla). In the evening we took a quick walk near the Savannah River, enjoyed a "Philosopher's Pie" at the pizzeria, and strolled the night time streets of downtown Augusta. Tony worked a few hours on Sunday before we took a more scenic, lesser traveled path back to our home sweet home (hwy 64 through Charlotte). We admired the rolling hills, lakes, rocks, and rivers. We drove out of the way a little and waited nearly an hour to eat at Taco Mac. :) It was worth the wait! We did more reading from The 4 Hour Work Week and The Search for God & Guinness. Two great books that have made it to our favorite list!!! Hours passed by as the wheels on our car went round and round. We paused for a short nap, reenergized with coffee and some chips & salsa. As the moon took it's place in the sky, we parked the car in our driveway, glad to be home! :)     

Weekend Glimpse

This mornings crisp air lured me into our backyard where the grass needs trimming and a couple parts of our fence need to be repaired from sweet hurricane irene. I sat there with my glass of fresh apple juice and J.R. Miller on my iPod. Today's Miller nugget ~

"True Religion is the great master-secret of all happy home life! The spirit of Christ alone will enable us to live together in perfect peace and love. The presence of Christ in the home is a perpetual blessing. We cannot be selfish, we cannot wrangle and strive, we cannot be bitter and unkind, we cannot be irritable and unreasonable, when conscious of the presence of Christ. If only we can make Christ an abiding guest in our home, and if we can keep ourselves aware of His being with us, our household life cannot help but grow wondrously sweet!" 

 Tony took the day off on Thursday and we were at Surf City by sunrise. See all the little specks in the water? They're surfers and Tony is one of those little specs. Hurricane Katia, although way out at sea,  has been creating some nice surfing conditions on our coast. I took an hour-long walk that morning and the specs were sprinkled all throughout the ocean. In the afternoon we met up with some friends and the surfing continued all the way 'til dinner. :)

I took video footage with Tony's iPod, read from one of my favorite books - The Search for God and Guinness, and worked on my first crocheted lace project. I love the delicacy that comes with working with thin cotton and a tiny, tiny hook. Twist here, twist there, and before you know it you have a beautiful flower.

Saturday we set up the white board in our local park - one means by which to share the gospel with someone. Tony wrote some keywords on the board accompanied with a simple drawing. This opened the door for missional conversation with a guy our age.

That's Miranda - all dressed for the Luau. :) After the park, Tony & I joined some family & friends for good conversation, great food, and live music!! We had a great time!!!

This is our friend James who is completely in his element above - burning the grass in our driveway with a blow torch. :) After church on Sunday we had a yummy lunch of Thai Pineapple Rice, then the guys tackled our driveway while I cleaned the kitchen and fixed a blueberry cobbler. <-- That is me in my element. :)

Happy Tuesday, dear readers! I hope it is a wonderful one!!

This Mornings Workout

Brittany and I tackled lots of steps, running up and down a big hill, jumping jacks, side slides, push ups, and step ups. Then we topped it all off with some toning and zumba!! A banana kale smoothie was our special treat at the finish line. :) Ashley was with us on Tuesday for a similar workout -- so much fun!!

Miss Hurricane Irene

Miss Hurricane Irene brought lots of rain and wind Friday night and all day Saturday. Our power was lost  at 11am Saturday and returned at 2am Monday, although for most of that time we were able to borrow Tony's parents generator. During the storm, we mostly stayed snuggled inside on the couch. The blinds and doors were open so that we could take in some of the action happening outside. And my pretty raincoat was put to good use a few times. When it comes to storms, I definitely have a bit of my dad in me -- wanting to get a closer look and feel of the storm. From the inside, it was kind of comical to watch our newly built fence fall apart one panel at a time and land flat on our little hedge trees that we've been trying to grow for 3 years. :) Thankfully none of the panels broke beyond repair and we are only missing one. It must have taken flight. Repairs are coming along nicely.

Some weekend activities included, a pancake breakfast while we still had power, reading, crocheting, scrabble, revamping ShaynaMade and Seedshakers, a workout, some finishing touches on our sunshiney painting (pictures coming soon), movie time, popcorn, sun coffee, and lots of togetherness time. :)