Earley family vacation

The Earley family is wonderful. All of them. They rented this cabin in the Gatlinburg area for their annual family vacation (family meaning Matt, Arrington, Stevie, Matt's parents- Ron & Betsy, Grandma, Aunt Lissa, cousins Tom, Christie & Donnie, sister Molly & her husband Tim, and more on the way), and they invited us to join them for the weekend! We met up with Matt, Arrington and Stevie (at McDonald's) on Saturday and after a brief stop at the outlet mall, we decided to make our way to the house. Fortunately, we learned that we couldn't take our car inside the development because we didn't have a guest pass. I say fortunately because it very well may have ended up in a ditch on the side of a mountain (like Matt's aunt's car did... AAA rescued it). Apparently "Tippy Top" is an appropriate name for this cabin. It literally was on the top of a mountain. A very steep, non-paved-roads mountain. David, Matt, Tom and Ron ended up pushing me, Stevie and Arrington (in the car) up the steepest part, because their car couldn't handle it. After everyone arrived safely at the house, we all got a good laugh out of it.

Stevie & Ronald

We love the Earleys!

Uncle Dave, Emily & Stevie

Since the journey to and from the house was a bit of a nightmare, we stayed at the house for the night. We grilled out and sat around for hours talking. We had a blast.

Oh, and Arrington (who is a hairdresser) cut my hair! She took several inches off and gave me a great summer bob. I love it!! (Ignore it in the pictures above though... we took those the morning we left, and none of us had showered.)

We were so sad to leave, but we know they are having a great time this week! Thanks for letting us share in your family fun! We love you guys!

free paint

Glidden is giving away free paint!

https://www.glidden.com/promotions/free-paint-giveaway.do

(PS- Mom & Dad- I couldn't decide on a color, so I had a second one sent to your house :))

We used Glidden's Team Colors line for the Ohio State grey paint in the man room. It was awesome! It only took one coat to cover everything.

(Post-post-script- Cathy & Jim... you too :))

Jolly Green Giants

Last night I made my way to the Signal Mountain pool to see the Green Giants swim meet! There are several very special girls on that team, and I had SO much fun watching them compete (well, swim).

I was on swim team one summer. I went to just enough practices that I got the tshirt, then I quit. I only did it because my cousin Mary was on a swim team and I pretty much wanted to be just like her (also the reason I took piano lessons... it lasted about as long as swim team, minus the tshirt).

These girls aren't like that though- they were having lots of fun and doing a really great job!

Proof:

Backstroke babe. (Riley is in the 9-10 year old division, so she had to swim 2 lengths of the pool! She never gave up once!)

Serious swimming. Ella meant business. She worked so hard and did awesome!

Yay! She even one a 3rd place ribbon!!!

Blue ribbon elation! Laney won her race!

and so did Ellie!!

Mattie came in second!

These girls are precious. I love them so much and just LOVE being able to be a part of their lives.

... their silly, crazy little lives :)

I can't say it enough...

I love the Harrisons!!

I love the Jenkins!!

(David loves them too, he just had to be in class...)

We really want to be intentional in our relationships, particularly with sweet families like these. David and I have become keenly aware of how much we have to learn about being a good husband/wife and eventually parents- and we are SO blessed with such amazing examples of Godly families! Thank you guys for letting us into your lives and teaching us by your actions.

"Turning it over in your mind

won't plow the field."

-- Irish Proverb

my first ride

I've been reminded lately of my very first car. It was a 1989 Chrysler LeBaron convertible. It was completely unreliable. We had a love-hate relationship.

--Scanned off a scrapbook page--

Please notice to Hawaiian print seat cover. Man, was I cool.

A few Lebaron stories...

• After having to jump off my battery several, nay, tons of times, we determined the source of the problem. Some little relay box didn't want to turn off when the car did, so it ran the battery out. Thus, every time I turned my car off, I had to pop the hood and tap a little box with my key to make it stop. Yep, every single time. It was awesome...
• The Rhineharts got a Tivo when I was in high school. I loved babysitting or hanging out at their house so I could use it (and because I love them), so they told me they got me a Tivo for my high school graduation. It was actually a Tivo window cling, which I thought was awesome. I hung it proudly in the back window the whole time I had that car. It was kind of my car's trademark. (And the Rhineharts actually got me a REAL Tivo for my college graduation!! They are the best.)
• If you had the exterior lights on, none of the dashboard worked. None of it. Yep, at night I drove without the assistance of a speedometer, unsafe, I know. And because of my dad's insistence that I always drive with the headlights on (this was before he knew I'd be driving a car that made this little safety lesson actually unsafe), I was frequently unaware of how fast I was going or how full my gas tank was- even in the light of day.
• I got pulled over one time because I was driving with my high beams on, but had no idea. 1) no dashboard, remember? 2) my high beams were dimmer than most cars' regular beams.
• There were hills in Birmingham that the Lebaron just couldn't handle. For example, I couldn't drive up Columbianna Road.
• It maxed out at about 55mph.
• There was a leak in the top (it was a soft top), so when it rained hard, I found the nearest overpass. Or I stuffed my laundry in the crack.
• We replaced the engine 2 times. In 2 years.
• Linda, the manager at Grease Monkey, became a very good friend of mine. She was worried about me moving to Birmingham and having the Lebaron as my only mode of transportation, so the summer before I left for college, she had me stop by once a week so they could check my levels and get 'er in tip top condition. I would take them cookies, they would vacuum out my car, we had a good thing going. One day I was at the bank and my car died (go figure). I called my dad, who apparently either a) wasn't in a good mood or b) was regretting the decision to buy this car for the millionth time, told me to call Linda. Yep, Linda, our good friend at Grease Monkey. So, after I was done crying, I called Linda. She came to the bank, had my car towed to the shop and took care of it all.
• I drove the Lebaron for 2 glorious years. I decided that it was probably not the most reliable vehicle, particularly since I was away at school and didn't have my parents on speed dial to rescue me from the side of the road where I was stranded (regular occurence). So, I bought a 1997 Rodeo in November of my freshman year of college. Some how I ended up with both cars in Birmingham, and no means to junk the Lebaron. I ended up donating it to the Salvation Army, which was pretty cool. Unfortunately they had to come get it because it ran out of gas in an intersection in downtown Birmingham on our way (see point 3).

(Man, that list is long... sorry, I just couldn't stop.)

Lots of good things came out of having that car too:

• My friendship with Grease-Monkey-Linda.
• I became very good at jumping the battery off.
• I became very good at changing tires.
• I became very comfortable with popping the hood and checking everything that needed checking- regardless of what I was wearing, who I was with, or where I was parked.
• Lots of fun memories.
• Driving a convertible was pretty fun in the spring and fall (which, in S.GA is about 1 total month out of the year).
• I learned to appreciate the value of a reliable car. I will never take it for granted!

I've been reminded of ol' trusty lately because there is one that I've been seeing around town. David and I were on our way to Wal-Mart last week when I said (with great excitement) "Look! A Lebaron!" and then immediately "oh, that's not a Lebaron... it's a Jag." Cue David bursting into laughter. Clearly, it was no jag, and was indeed a Lebaron- two cars that can not be confused with one another. I saw it again yesterday and confirmed that it is a Lebaron- with a Jag hood ornament!

Yeah, I was frustrated for a while (approx 2 years) about driving that car, but it taught me a lot about life. I'm thankful for it now!

Note: When they turned 16, Ashley got a safety Saturn and Greg got a Jeep Liberty. I bet they don't appreciate the value of a reliable car nearly as much!

SO- what was your first car??

love today.

Have I mentioned how we love having people at our house? Well, we do. It wouldn't be a weekend without overnight guests each night, and this weekend was no exception. Mattearley came Thursday night and stayed through Friday night for his last weekend of drill. He is officially out of the Marine Corps after serving his 6 years! Yay! He was so excited!

Friday night Mary Shelton and Hayden spent the night. For Hayden's 5th grade graduation we gave her a coupon for a dinner-movie-slumber party night, and she cashed it in :). We ate at Sticky Fingers (her choice) and rented He's Just not That Into You on demand. We made cookies and had a blast! Saturday morning David made his signature pancakes (with chocolate chips) and we lounged around in our pjs- the best Saturday morning activity! MS and Jen came back over after working out and joined us for our second round of Clue. Yep, we love old school board games (though Clue has gotten a face lift since we were kids) and are working on quite a collection already. Love this sweet girl. We can't believe she is in middle school now! And yes, she is really that tan and I am really that pale. Awesome.

Saturday night we joined up with Matt & Rachel to watch the second half (I didn't think I could make it through the heat of the first half... the second half was sweaty enough, even at 8:30) of the Chattanooga FC game. It was AWESOME! We had so much fun, and so did the 2,000 other people at Finley Stadium! I couldn't believe the turnout! The night got even better as we made our way to Clumpies for some ice cream (note: still sweating, ice cream was mandatory) where we ran into our dear friends the Harrisons! We could have chatted all night. I just LOVE that we live in Chattanooga. I can't say or express it enough. Love. it.

[Go here for a buy one, get one free Clumpies coupon and lots of other great Chattanooga deals]

Matt spent the night with us Saturday and got his fix of AC and clean laundry. Sunday was pretty low-key since neither of our fathers are in town to celebrate the day with. We served in the children's ministry at the second service, which was quite a change from our early morning crowd, but it was fun. After church, we went over to the Chattanooga Market. Need I say again how much I love Chattanooga? This is just another reason living here rocks.

The rest of the weekend entailed staying in the air conditioning so as to not die from heat exhaustion (which almost happened every time we took the dog out to pee), playing spades , selling a tv that we didn't need, watching the movie Sleepers in about 5 different segments (taking breaks for naps, of course) and enjoying the company of my best friend! Gotta love weekends.

PS- Today is David's first day at Volkswagen!! I can't wait to hear the full report on how it goes.

"Helpfulness to others is the best kind of good."

-Fritz Guy