Summer Bucket List Update

I guess I should have aimed a little higher with the Bucket List since I've now completed almost half of them and it isn't officially Summer yet. Oh well!! I'm hoping to repeat some of these a few times!

Thanks to our weekend at the lake, I have now...
-Gone Camping
-Gone on a Boat Ride
-Roasted Marshmallows
-Gone Swimming
-Grilled Out

If all goes as planned, 2 more will be marked off the list this weekend. (I'll tell you more about that when it happens!) That will mean 7 out of 18 will be complete. Maybe I need to think about some additions to this list. Any ideas?!

Memorial Day Weekend

It saddens me to think what Memorial Day is becoming in our country.

Through the years, it seems to be changing into more of a vacation/cook out day than a day to remember those that have died while protecting our freedom. Don’t get me wrong, I can cook out and hang out with the best of them, but I really feel like it is crucial to reflect on where our nation has been and those who fight to protect us. I know that I am a bit of a History nerd, but I am also very proud of our nation and our nation’s military.

Although I did not grow up in a military family, I did grow up near a military base (Shout Out to Ft. Benning!!). A lot of my friends were military kids and several of my friends joined the military. I am so thankful that I was blessed to be around so many that were willing to sacrifice so much for our nation’s freedom. I am so thankful to see first-hand what their families go through. I am thankful that I was taught to appreciate and respect the branches of our military.

I heard a TV interview with a widow of a soldier the other day. She made a comment that really stuck with me. She said that she and her family remembered her husband every day, but Memorial Day was a day that she hoped everyone would stop, even if just for a moment, to think about her husband and the others who have died in combat. That thought brought her comfort.

I am like this woman. I think of Mark often, but especially on Memorial Day. I am thankful for his sacrifice. I am thankful for the sacrifice his family made. I am thankful for his willingness to stand and fight for my freedom, despite the risk.

Mark is my brother-in-law, Mike’s, younger brother. He was killed in Iraq in 2005 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery with so many other brave men and women. I am proud of Mark and thankful for him!

I am thankful for freedom. I am thankful for a day away from the normal routine of life to appreciate the freedoms that we have. I am thankful for time to share with friends.

Time with friends is exactly what we had last weekend. Good quality camping at the lake time. David and I spent Saturday and Sunday at Lake Keowee with our friends, the Strouds. We thoroughly enjoyed crashing with them in their camper and hanging out with them on the water. They have really become a second family to us. We are in the middle of all of them, age wise, but love spending time with all of them – Mark, Connie, Matthew, Savannah and John Lewis.

Before we went, I met up with my college roommate, Anna, for a mani/pedi on Friday. If you know me at all, you know this is a big deal for me. I have only had a few of these in my life. I know some of you (Bor) think that is crazy, but I don’t really like having a stranger cut, file and rub my nails, especially my toenails. I had one done before our wedding. The only other times I have gone has been with people asked me to go – Bor’s wedding, a girls’ weekend with my mom, and this time with Anna. This time, I decided to go all out and get a bright pink on my fingernails and toenails.

Here are my FANCY nails

It has been funny to see everyone notice my nails. I guess because they are NEVER painted!

We went up to the lake early Saturday morning and came home late Sunday night. We spent a lot of time on the boat and the rest of time hanging around at the campsite.

Matthew, Savannah, and John Lewis

John Lewis, Savannah, me, and David

I didn’t ski, but most everyone else did. I have done it before, but I am not very good at it. I have learned not to waste everyone’s time trying to get up and just let the experts do it while I get some extra sun! David is an amazing water skier and is so much fun to watch. I would much rather watch him cut out and back on the water then try over and over drinking most of the lake!

Mark recently bought a Sky Ski. This is, by far, the craziest water contraption I have ever seen. It looks almost like a wakeboard, but has seat and foot holds on it. You are literally strapped in at the waist and the feet. In addition to all that, there is a big metal fin that is attached to the bottom. This fin boosts you on top of the water, almost like you are flying. The boys all tried this out, but us girls were smarter than all that! It was HILARIOUS to watch!

David on the Sky Ski

We had a super great time with them!! We grilled out, made s’mores, and played games. The boys LOVED playing Corn Hole. They went out and back with that one, trash talking the whole time! It was fun to play but even more fun to watch!!

David, Matthew and John Lewis

Memorial Day reminds me that I am so proud to be an American. I am proud to live where we are free and enjoy an abundance. I realize that there are so many all around the world that are not as fortunate as we are. They do not take vacations. They do not have a job to take a day off. They do not have extra to do anything that they enjoy. I do not take our life and freedom for granted. I am thankful that the Lord blessed us by allowing us to be born in this great nation!

15. If you were an animal, what would you be and why?

Surprisingly enough, this was a tough one for me. I guess because I like being a human. Most animals just don’t have a great life.

I had to think carefully about my answer. I definitely don’t want to be any kind of insect or bug. That’s just not cool. Then you have all of the reptiles and amphibians. They are out too. They are just too grody! Speaking of grody, all of the animals in the rat family are out too!! Eww!! Next off the list are the typical road kill animals – squirrels, raccoons, opossum, chipmunks, etc. - too much risk of death. And talking about death, I wouldn’t want to be a deer, turkey, hog, or any of the other animals that are frequently hunted. Although it would be cool to fly, I don’t think I’d want to be a bird either, especially not a nasty bird like a buzzard. Cows, pigs and chickens are definitely out. That is a life that is born to be killed!

So, after narrowing all that down, what would I want to be?!

I guess most people would say a lion, tiger, bear, or something similar since they tend to be at the top of the food chain. I don’t think I’d want to be that though.

I think it would be pretty neat to be one of those electric fish things that are in the deep, dark places of the ocean. I mean, really, who doesn’t think those are cool?!

So, yeah, that’s what I’m thinking I would be if I were an animal.

What about y’all…any thoughts?!

It is time to PLAY

I am SO excited!! It is time for the QUESTION GAME!!! I LOVE this game!!!

*In case you forgot, click here to review the rules.

Here we go...

 

1.    What is your favorite color?

2.    What is your favorite shape?

3.    What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

4.    Shoes or Barefooted?

5.    Cake or Pie?

6.    Half Full or Half Empty?

7.    Seatbelt - yes or no?

8.    What is your favorite type of movie?

9.    What is your favorite sport to watch?

10.  What is your favorite sport to play?

11.  Shorts or Pants?

12.  Hard or Soft?

13.  Coke or Pepsi?

14.  Knuckle Popper – yes or no?

15.  What is your favorite fruit?

16.  What is your favorite dinosaur?

17.  What is your favorite reality TV show?

18.  Skim, 2%, or Whole Milk?

19.  Up or Down?

20.  Right Handed or Left Handed?

21.  Virgin Hair – yes or no?

22.  What is your favorite holiday?

23.  What is your favorite drink?

24.  What is your favorite animal noise?

25.  Black or Blue?

26.  Hair – short or long?

27.  Foreign or Domestic?

28.  Coffee – yes or no?

29.  What is your favorite sea creature?

30.  Beach or Mountains?

Packing Up and Moving Out

Well, we have signed a contract to sell our house.

It is kind of a crazy story.

At the end of last year, we thought about selling our house and looking for something a little closer. I love where we live, until I have to drive. We are at least 20 minutes away from EVERYTHING!! It is nice and a pain at the same time.

We decided to put out a “For Sale By Owner” sign in the yard and waited.

We didn’t have any interest for a while, but did end up having a real estate agent call us to say that she had a girl that wanted to look at the house.

We cleaned. She came. She liked.

Unfortunately, her credit was not at a place for her to buy the house. We tried for a couple of months and then finally gave up. We figured it just wasn’t the right time to sell, so we took down the sign.

We haven’t given it a whole lot of thought since then…until…the same real estate agent contacted David again a few weeks ago saying that she was still interested in our house. The agent assured us that everything was approved this time, so we started to talk to them again about the prospect of selling.

This past Saturday, they came to the house to look at it again and then we signed a contract. We are now waiting to have the house inspected and cleared before we can move forward. We are looking at a potential closing date in the middle of July, which is perfect timing!! We are HOPING that everything moves through this time!!!

Where are we moving? Well, that is the tricky part! We don’t actually know!!

Since we hadn’t really planned on moving right now, we haven’t really been looking. Thankfully, we do have some friends that have some rental properties. I think we are going to plan on renting for the time being and start looking after that. I don’t want to rush into anything. I want to make sure that we make a wise choice.

This is another example of the crazy life that we live!! It sure keeps us on our toes!! J

Summer Bucket List

I wanted to do a Summer Bucket List like I did for the fall, but I couldn't find one that I really liked. I decided that I would just create my own. This is what I hope to do this summer (plus, some other really cool extras!)

• Go Camping
• Boat Ride
• Roast Marshmallows
• Have a Snow Cone
• Watch Fireworks
• Paint
• Go to a Baseball Game
• Go Swimming
• Go to a Museum
• Go to Dollywood
• Go to a Water Park
• Ride 4-Wheeler
• Read
• Have Homemade Ice Cream
• Indoor Skydiving
• Grill Out
• Road Trip
• Go YardSaleing

As best as I can, I will report in with stories and/or pics when I cross these off the list. Hopefully I'll be able to knock them all out with ease!

The Question Game

When I was in college I invented The Question Game. Everyone quickly fell in love with my game. We played in all kinds of settings with all different kinds of people. Basically, the name is self-explanatory. Someone asks questions, and everyone has to answer them. It is a great way to get to know people in a short period of time.

There are a few rules though.

• Anyone in the game can ask a question and everyone has to answer it.
• Only one question can be asked at a time.
• Everyone has to answer with only ONE answer. "It depends", "Both", "Maybe", and other similar answers are not allowed.
• Any question is acceptable.
• Questions do not require an explanation.

I think that's it.

So, who wants to play the Reb's World Version?!

Obviously, it will have to be a little bit different than it would be if we were in person. Our version will go like this...first of all, leave me a comment on this post and let me know if you want to play. If no one wants to play, that's cool - you're loss though!! If people do want to play, I'll do a post with some typical "Question Game" questions. You will then leave the answers in the comment section of that post - don't forget the rules!!

If you have questions that you would like to ask the group, post those too and I'll compile all of the extra questions in another post for everyone to answer.

I'm so excited!! I LOVE this game!!!

Jello What?!

Ok, if I don’t have any good stories about my own life right now, the least I can do is share one about somebody else. In this case it is my sister, Miriam.

We have always regarded Mir as the “perfect child”. She is the oldest, the bossiest, and the one that got into the least amount of trouble. Growing up, it seemed like Mir could do something and not get in trouble for it, but if any of the others of us did the exact same thing, we would get in trouble. Now, Mir and the ‘rents would argue this, but it is in fact true! (Bor, Stephen, can I get a witness?!)

If you know the 3 of us sisters, you know that we are all VERY different even though we are a lot alike. Mir is much more reserved than me and Bor. She is a little more prim and proper. She has always been more business minded. She is a bit of a control freak. She loves to have fun, but in a controlled setting.

*She is probably disagreeing with all of this, but that’s ok.

This is the setting for a story that had me on the verge of wetting my pants!!

Mir and Mike are getting ready to move to the DC area. This week she went to look at some houses and get an idea of where they want to live. Since her bro and sis-in-law live near DC, she stayed with them overnight instead of getting a hotel. I called Mir that afternoon to get the low down on the houses that she had seen and her thoughts of the area. While we were talking, Mir told me that her sis-in-law had invited her to dinner that evening. Mir did not realize until later that some of her sis-in-law’s friends were meeting them at the restaurant. (Herein is where the “control freak” side sets in. Mir doesn’t like to be unprepared for anything! Add that to the fact that she had driven 4 hours that morning and then ridden all over looking at houses.)

That evening as I was checking FB, I came across a post that Mir had been tagged in. It said, “Jello shots for Tes’s birthday. I have the video will post later J” I CRACKED UP!!! If you know Mir AT ALL, you know this is definitely not her style!! I knew that although she was tagged in this post, she was actually not a participant in this. Being the good sister that I am, I immediately screen shot this and sent her a text asking her what kind of wild adventures she was getting into. She did not realize that (A) she had been tagged, (2) it appeared on her FB wall, and (D) she could not un-tag herself from this post. Again, being the good sister that I am, I laughed hysterically at this!!

To make the whole thing even better, the video was indeed uploaded. I couldn’t wait to watch it. The video clearly shows the entire table counting down and taking their Jello shots…everyone, that is, except Mir. She is sitting mildly (right in front of the camera, mind you) with her hands in her lap watching everyone!! Again, I DIED LAUGHING!! Typical Mir!!

**For those of you that know Mir, I hope that you are cracking up at this point. Those of you that don’t know her, I sure hope you get to meet her - and when you do, you remember this story!!! J

Disclaimer -- Although Mir doesn’t do Jello Shots with random groups of people, she really is super fun to hang out with!! She also has a great sis-in-law! We all really like her! She and I are great “Internet Friends”. She and Mir get a long great, even though they are very different.

14. Describe 5 strengths you have.

1. Sense of Humor
2. Fun / Adventure
3. Realist Attitude
4. Friendship
5. Good Work Ethic

13. Describe 5 weaknesses you have.

1. Mercy
2. Speaking Before Thinking
3. Pride
4. Writing People Off
5. Ice Cream

10. Describe your most embarrasing moment.

I’m so sad that my first version of this got deleted, because I don’t know that I can do it justice a second time. I’ll try though…

I have had way to many embarrassing moments in my life to really keep up – from tripping, falling, dropping things, breaking things, saying the wrong things, and the list could go on and on. I learned early on that the best way to handle embarrassing moments is to laugh them off and keep going. I try not to let them get me down or ruin my day. If I did, I’d be ruined all the time, because, seriously, I’m doing stuff like that all the time!

When thinking of the MOST embarrassing moment, a few came to mind – my first slide into home plate when I slid too early and had to crawl the rest of the way to the base, forgetting to wear a bra to work (not ONCE but TWICE!!), jumping out of a swing in elementary school and ripping my shirt, splitting my pants when trying to show off in GAs and do a split. See, I wasn’t kidding…too many to choose from!!

I think there is one that wins out though. I had to go WAY back to get it…all the way to Mrs. Gavel’s Kindergarten Class at Blossomwood Elementary School. Overall, Kindergarten was a good time in my life - a new start to school, new friends, my first kiss on the playground, my first experience with a kid eating glue (no lies there…he really did…ELMER’S GLUE!!). Truthfully, I’d say that this was really my only bad memory from that school year.

Our classroom was like other public elementary school classrooms. We had a bathroom in our room. Being the good student that I was, I always raised my hand to ask if I could go to the bathroom. On this particular day, the urge hit me while Mrs. Gravel was teaching. I raised my hand, but she told me to wait until she was finished. I put my hand down like she asked and waited...until I could wait no longer.

When Mrs. Gravel finished teaching, we had "center" time. I, however, chose to stay in my seat. I mean, really, who wants to get up and play with wet drawers?! She noticed that I had not left my seat and came to ask me what was wrong. That's when the shame started - I had to admit that I had peed my pants!

You would think this is embarrassing enough for a kid, but unfortunately, the story does not end there. That would be too easy. No my story continues...

Mrs. Gravel called my mom to let her know what had happened and asked her to bring me a change of clothes. At this point, Glynis had a choice - and I'll just let you know up front, she chose POORLY!! I'm very convinced that Glyn went to my room, looked around, rummaged through my drawers and closet until she found it - the ugliest outfit that I owned. Now, keep in mind that I am at school in my most favorite outfit, a super cute yellow shorts/short combo with tulips all over it. When looking at my childhood pictures, there are several ones of me in that particular outfit. What you will NEVER find a picture of is me in the outfit that she chose to bring to school that day!! Coincidence?! I think NOT!!

Let me break it down for you. It was brown. It had polka dots. It had bloommers. It had a chicken.

That's right...A CHICKEN!!!

This outfit was one of those sleeveless tops that was somewhere between a shirt and dress, so it required wearing bloommers with it so as not to be inappropriate. Bloommers! Like the kind you put over a baby's DIAPER, not the kind you wear in KINDERGARTEN!!! The top was a darker brown with white polka dots. There was a ruffle around the bottom of it. The bloomers were a different shade of brown. The icing on the cake though was the design. At the bottom right there was a chicken. It, too, was a different shade of brown - more tan like. It wasn't a detailed chicken, just the outline, as if that makes it any better.

So there I was, humiliated that I had peed my pants in class, wearing the bloomered chicken outfit for the rest of the day!!!

That, my friends, is definitely my most embarrassing moment. Yes, there have been many since then, but it was this moment that was a defining moment in my life. This moment has scarred me for life!!

help!!

I feel like I haven't had a REAL post in forever, but as you can tell from my "daily life" there isn't a whole lot of interesting stuff going on. I really feel like that is my week - every single day.

Because of that, I seem to have lost my mojo in writing exciting/interesting posts. I seriously have sat down and started writing several times, only to quit or delete it because I didn't feel like what I was writing was any good.

Here's where you come in...how about sending me some blog ideas. What do YOU want to read about? What would YOU like to know?

HELP!!