Kauai

Ahhh....Kauai! This was our second time on the Garden Island and this sums it up. At this lookout point, in some spots it was hard to tell where the sky and the ocean met. I will have to find a way to post a link to all of our photos. There are way too many to post but they are too great to miss!

I am an island behind. We have also since been to Maui and are now in Honolulu. Maui was incredible and I can't say I will miss Honolulu...New York with palm trees.

Andy's C12 Conference started last night and so I am hanging out in the hotel lobby (the only place I can get internet). We are headed to dinner at Pearl Harbor tonight which should be very interesting. I will do a much better job when I get back of posting our trip details and photos....if I come back. This photo is calling my name again!

You know you're in Hawaii when....

...the symbol for the women's bathroom is wearing a lei and mumu! I couldn't resist. After 3 hours to St. Paul and 8 looooooong hours to Honolulu, we are waiting in the airport for three more hours to fly 30 minutes to Kauai....one day we'll get there! More to come! Aloha!

Good friends, good times!

This weekend we had the FBC Young Couples' Fall Fling here in Graham. I didn't get a final count but 80 people (including kids) RSVP'd to come. Our church is blessed with lots and lots of young couples! Pictured here is my good friend Jenny. She and her husband Taylor moved here over a year ago from Texas and we are so very glad!

We had horseback riding...as Masa is so gracefully showing everyone how to do! Her husband rode for the first time!

A pumpkin carving contest...

A candy counting contest. Cory Barnett and his two youngest are working hard. Mom Jen stayed home with their new baby. She was missed!

Inflatables for the kids...can we say traffic jam??

And inflatables for the big kids (mine is the cute one)!

Why I am SO excited about Election Day

No, she's not the independent party candidate. And she's not a Sarah Palin wannabe.

She's my best friend! And she's coming home November 4th!

EA, I can't wait to see you! It's been over a year and I'm in desperate need of some goofiness.

You see, Erin-Ashley has been my amiga mejor since 1st grade. We have remained best of friends and I am sure it has something to do with the blood-pact we made in elementary school! Or maybe it was the Senead O'Conner song (can I say one hit wonder) that drew our spirits close. Or perhaps it was being a fellow "Cheery Cheeto Chic" in middle school (I won't take the time to explain that one - don't think I could anyway).

All joking aside, it was truly the Lord who gave her friendship to me as a special gift! I thank Him for it often and am looking forward to spending time with her, her hubby Andy, little Emma Grace and little Huffy on the way. It's a boy despite the pink ribbon around her belly!

EA, CLICK HERE for a link that will take you back...a special tribute to you and our friendship!

Fireproof

Last night Andy and I went to dinner and a movie for our anniversary. We went to see the new Sherwood Church flick, "Fireproof". I have really thought this through and tried to come up with another movie that I liked better. And after some thought I can truly say this is the best movie I have EVER seen. I know that sounds like a possible exaggeration but it's true!
If you have not seen it, you have to go NOW!!! That's right, leave work, get out of bed, turn the car around! Whatever you are doing, you have to see it. It is definitely made for spouses but everyone can benefit. I won't say too much more...just PLEASE go see it soon.
Here is the link if you want to check it out as well as other resources:
http://www.fireproofmymarriage.com

A few pics from our weekend

Camping - a true marriage test!

What's a better marriage test than driving 5 hours, putting up a tent for the first time while having 30 minutes of daylight to do it in, not being able to shower for more than 48 hours, and living off of granola bars, hot dogs and pb&J?
Well, we're still married and living to tell about it! Ok, so it wasn't bad at all! Those things did happen but it was a GORGEOUS weekend in the NC Mountains. Next weekend is peak weekend but we were thrilled with the color that we saw. We ended up at Julian Price campground in Boone. For some strange reason it took us five hours to get there and 2 and a half to get back...hmmm.
We hiked around Julian Price Lake, took a rowboat out on the lake and had lunch, went to the Linville Caverns and rode around Banner Elk. We did cheat and ate dinner out on Saturday night.

Seriously, it's October???

Wow. I thought I was just saying, "I can't believe it's September!"
Now it's already a week into October!
I am happy to have my husband back after a couple of weeks of traveling. He went to Gatlinburg and then Tampa for some Christian School Conventions. Next time, it's my turn!
We leave for Hawaii in a couple of weeks!!! And it comes just in time for our third anniversary. That's actually next week but we'll celebrate a little later anyway. We may try to go camping this weekend. We got a really nice tent for our wedding and I can see it now - still in the box. Time to break it out! I'm super excited. We've never been camping together. Photos to come!!!
Other than these things, life is just busy and normal.