That Month went Fast!

On July 24, Quincy and I left for Edisto Island, SC. That's it in the picture above.

The week before we left was a flurry of preparation--shopping, packing, running around like crazy getting stuff done. We got all packed and left on time though. I got poked and smacked and, sometimes, punched on the way down there.

It was vacation, but I spent lots of time on the phone with my husband checking to make sure my garden got watered and the dog got walked. I was worried!

I have lots of pictures to bore y'all with. Quincy at the beach. Quincy in the pool. Fort Sumter. An alligator at the Charleston Aquarium. Yay! Stuff to look forward to.

In the meantime, I rode in the middle of the backseat of my parents' truck all the way back. The drive took 12 hours and my right shoulder/neck may never be the same. As soon as I don't hurt anymore, there'll be a long Edisto post. Also, a garden post.

Oh, and I am now on the job list for interviews for one job with the State of Tennessee and going to test to get on the eligible list for another soon. So all is well on the job front!

Shock and awe

Listening to hurricane coverage, where they are saying pieces of the roadway are floating by and people could be hit by flying debris. They said a minute ago that it's 350 miles wide, but you don't need me to report what MSNBC is reporting.

I am just amazed at the size of this thing. One of my friends used to live in Brownsville and his old house washed away in the last storm. He moved here a while ago and I'm glad, but he has family there still.

It has already effected (affected? two of the only words I get mixed up as an English teacher. I know. Sad.) gas prices around here. When I went to work at 5 p.m., the gas station across the street from Domino's had about 20 cars lined up. They were out of unleaded by then. They quickly were down to only Super and there were still cars lined up. There was even a hit and run there because there were so many cars. When I went to work, regular unleaded was $3.59 a gallon. On the way home, a mere 5 hours later, gas was anywhere from $3.79 a gallon for regular to $4.49 a gallon. Both Kroger stations by my parents were out of gas at 9:15. I passed several stations on my 12 mile trip home that has cut off their lights and closed because they had no more gas. Keep in mind that I am in Middle Tennessee.

They just said something about 40% of the people stayed on Galveston Island? I thought that I heard this morning that they evacuated that area? I will be thinking happy thoughts and praying tonight for those people who remained. Hurricane junkie that I am, I'll probably be up really late.:)

It's That Day Again

My anniversary. It rains every year on my anniversary. It rained on my wedding day, but not for long and not during the ceremony. We had an outdoor wedding at a state park about an hour from here. One of our best friends got ordained so that he could marry us. People came from Florida and Pennsylvania and Oak Ridge, TN and it was just awesome. Couldn't have asked for a better day, except for the heat and humidity. Didn't hurt the food any though. The main wedding cake was a red velvet cake with cream cheese icing. It held up well, although there was little left. I sweated, but you can't tell in the pictures and that's what counts.

My father speed-walked me down the aisle to the strains of "Jessica" by the Allman Brothers being played on acoustic guitar. We wrote our own vows and the wedding itself was pretty short. Having everyone with us was wonderful. We got married in a clearing in a grove across from two waterfalls. You could hear the rush of the water the entire time.

I made it through the whole ceremony without crying and almost lost it walking back down the aisle with my husband. It was that sweet!

4 years ago today.:)


Here I am stepping through the hedge. In August of 2004, it did nothing but rain in Tennessee everyday so it was muddy. I was trying to be careful not to slip.:)


I love the looks on my husband's face in our wedding pictures.:)


That's my sister in the pink and our friend Mike in the green with yellow Croc's.:)


This picture really highlights the fact that I was 7 months pregnant, but I like it anyway. He's putting the ring on my finger.


I had to crop someone's hand out of this one. It's one of my favorites.


Again, the look on my husband's face kills me.:) I'm trying not to cry in this one.:)

Tennessee state of mind

I don't do change well. I get into grooves and I like to stick with them. For example, I drive exactly the same route to work everyday and home again. I've had the same job for years despite being qualified to do other things. I wish someone would hire me away from there. I keep thinking that if, and when, we move away things will be different. I do not plan to move many hours away from here and still work at Domino's after all!

It is nice to know I have that to fall back on.:) Yay for job skills, I guess.

I was looking at pictures last night of places I've lived at different points in my life. Of things I've lost. Of things I still have. Getting all melancholy. It's amazing how different my life has become over the years. This town has not changed much though. Murfreesboro is still pretty much the same. Yes, it is bigger and has more people and all that stuff, but it has the same feel to it. Tennessee is the same as it has ever been. It made me realize that no matter where we go, Tennessee will always be the same. It is a state of mind thing I guess.

One of my friends wrote a song that says it best for me. I am not typing in the whole thing though. Here's some excerpts:

"Smoky Mountains stretchin' forth/But they don't look the same to me
That old highway reaching forth/Goes a little too far for me....
From the Mississippi up to Cherokee/It'll always be our home...

Well it's hard out on our own/We don't know which way to go,
But she tells me it's all right/There's some things you don't need to know anyway,
But I can hear the river call to me/I hear the catfish jump in my head,
The closest that I get to Tennessee/is when I'm lying with her in bed.

So I hold her tight, like a Kudzu vine
Climbing higher up the tree,
This morning, I woke up in New Hampshire,
Fell asleep in Tennessee"
("Fell Asleep in Tennessee"--Mike LaBo)

The whole song is amazing. Actually, all of his music is incredibly touching to me. If you want to hear it, click here to go to his MySpace music page because I could not figure out how to embed music in a post. :)

Amazing how the Internet can touch you

i just discovered a blog yesterday that is beautifully done. It has amazing pictures, but what most catches your eye is the current post detailing the plane crash that the author (Nie Nie) and her husband were involved in on Saturday. They have small children and there are pictures of them on her blog. It's called The Nie Nie Dialogues and it's just so touching.

Her sister has updates posted on her blog, which is called c jane enjoy it. Reading those updates will make you tear up. She also has posted ways that the family can be helped as they are facing skin grafts and rehab from the extensive burns sustained in the crash.

You can read about the family at either site. They are the Nielsons and I hope that they end up okay after all of this. Please go read about them and think happy thoughts for them.