Adventures in Camping, Plus a Birthday...

Christmas 2013 left us with some pretty sweet camping gear. We had a few backyard campout experiences, but Mike surprised me with a real live, full-blown camping trip for my birthday! He set everything up for us to be gone all weekend, which is no small feat since he's the worship pastor and Sundays are kind of important to his job. But, with everything in place, we set out early Saturday morning to Paris Landing State Park to make camp.

I love cooking on the open fire, but instead of doing that this weekend, Mike treated us to a dinner at the Inn for my birthday! And actually, it was very nice to get to relax and not cook.

Our campsite was fantastic! We had to reserve the site online and since neither of us had ever camped at PL, we were kinda just taking a shot in the dark. We definitely lucked out. It was fairly secluded and had shade. Which was pretty much what kept us alive. It was HOT. Like 100 degrees with thick humidity HOT. The kind with no breeze and the moisture in the air is more like a heavy, wet wool blanket than a refreshing mist. So we spent most of the night in the tent wondering if the wind had removed its presence from the Earth altogether. And, we camped near the marina, so around 2AM we were wakened by a very large boat that felt the need to use its horn to alert the entire world of its arrival. And apparently, at 2AM that's one of the funniest things ever. So we laughed and listened to the captain say fun words as he tried to figure out why his boat wouldn't start! :) On Sunday we had a great time exploring the park and just being able to unplug for a while. I always love the opportunity to worship outside. Our family enjoys and holds on to those rare gifts.

Any amount of time away is never really enough, but we'll take every second we can get!

Here's to being easily amused!!

A nice cold shake to end a fun, HOT weekend right!! :)

So far 34 isn't too shabby...

This is the Stuff Life is Made of...

I've mentioned before that we have a beautiful park and marina just down the street from our house. We love to spend time there. We like to walk the trails, bike the paths and watch the boats, people and sunsets. So, here are a few pictures from a couple of our recent adventures...

  

We're always a pushover for a good sunset!

Happy Independence Day...

On July 3rd, here in our hometown, the city has a firework display that happens just down the street from our house at the park and marina. In order to avoid crowds and do something memorable with our girls, we tried to see fireworks from our roof. I'm very scared of heights. Like, stupid scared. So, getting onto and off of the roof was the most dependent thing I have ever done on Independence Day. My poor husband may have bruises on his arms from my death grip and trouble sleeping after my threats of death "if I ever have to get on this roof again"...

But, all-in-all, it was fun times! Unfortunately, we could only hear the fireworks from our roof. So, that was worth it?

But, again, the girls had fun. So, that was worth it...

I guess there were a few fireworks that made it above the trees. :)

The rest of our 4th weekend was mostly good. We spent Friday out at my parents' house. We had a few fireworks to shoot off. This was the first year in several that we actually bought a few fireworks. I'm not usually a fan of blowing up our money, but we went for it this time and had some fun.

The fun part of fireworks are the beautiful displays and loud booms. The downside of fireworks are the loud booms. At least when you are a 7.5 pound dog. Ginger was NOT A FAN. In fact, she bolted the second they started and we did not find her for three days. It was a long, sad three days for us. We made many trips out to the country and we came back empty handed and afraid we'd seen the last of our little girl...

On Sunday morning, my Mom called and said a hungry, but otherwise unharmed little pup greeted her on the front porch. We were very glad and relieved and couldn't wait to pick her up. My Dad said she looked buff from running and surviving in the wild and all. She did seem to hold her head a little higher. We're just glad she's back home safe and sound. I think she liked those fireworks about as much as I liked climbing on the roof. Hey, Ginge, maybe next year you and I will just stay inside! :)

Juicy and Good...

I talked about our little peach tree back in April. Well, here she is in all her June glory!

And here is the one and only peach that made it to ripe, beautiful deliciousness. We cut it four ways and enjoyed a bite of our first fruit! (FYI: I have no idea how this picture turned out this way. It kinda cracks me up. It looks like the peach is in the spotlight...)

15 Years...

I love being married. I love being married to my husband. He completes me perfectly. We have all the right things in common and all the right differences. The Lord certainly knew who I needed to hold my hand and my heart and my dreams.

We've seen good days, bad days, devastatingly difficult days and down right ugly days. Somehow, in each day, we manage to see the Lord and remember grace. Mercy. Forgiveness. Joy. So, no matter what the day brings, we offer it all up to our King and praise Him for giving us one another to walk the road with.

Fifteen years seems so long. And so short. And how have we now been together more of our lives than we have not? We have two precious daughters. And a host of memories and inside jokes. We have our coffee early on our back deck and our evening walk to look at the trees. We have our serious moments and our Nacho Libre moments. We have our Sunday naps and our family walks through the marina. And in it all, we have only our Lord to thank. We never would have made it this far. We never would have worked this hard. We never would have kept love alive this long. Our own flesh and our own selfishness would have killed it long ago. BUT GOD, He didn't leave us to our flesh or selfishness. He loved us first and so, we love one another. A LOT. And I'm so glad He walked with us, carrying both of us at times, into this, our future. So, 15 years might not be a lot for some, but for us it's a miracle. And even though we didn't enjoy a tropical island, or a lavish celebration, we spent the day laughing and retracing our steps to this moment. And it was good. Not easy, but good.

Happy Anniversary Babe...you're still the one.

This fish had us laughing like maniacs in a public place...the teeth are too funny! There's no way you can look at this and tell me that the Lord doesn't have a sense of humor :)

Just a little fun at Opryland Hotel. We used to love to walk around here when we were dating. Now, when we go, we look at the landscaping and decide how to beautify our own yard ha! We're old and okay with that :)

Mike treated me to a beautiful dinner at Solaris. We might not have vacationed in Mexico, but we did have stellar Mexican food and tropical fish were involved. Well, not in the dinner, but you know :)

Fun Photo Friday...

We had some fun up in Grand Rivers several weeks ago! Buffalo, Elk, oh my!

A sight for sore eyes...my favorite park...with my FAVORITE people!

I love these girls! It takes a village and I'm so thankful they're mine!

More Grand Rivers, Patti's & LBL!

My sweet Daddy. This girl still thinks her Daddy hung the moon!

Gracie's first time mowing! She gives the thumbs up!

Little buddy, T. That little guy steals our hearts  :)

The three musketeers after the playdate fashion show.

The girl and her pony. All her dreams are coming true in this picture!

An Easter treat!

This is how my little cowgirl went through Kroger with me today. She couldn't understand why so many people kept looking at us. I'm sure I don't know darling...

Coloring eggs!

Spring time fun!

A trip to the local nursery for tomato and pepper plants!

Our first family camping trip...in the backyard!!

My music man. I'm crazy about him!

The view from my rocking chair this morning. I'm blessed!

Pictures are fun! Thanks for looking :)