Man/Woman/Dog Vs. Wild!

This was our last adventure of the summer.  We decided to pack it all up one more time and head to Twin Lakes Campground.  Let me tell you, we had ourselves a blast.  When we got there, we thought a tornado was coming across Lake Hartwell.  During all that tornadic activity, we were trying to put up our tent.  The tent became more of a parachute than a shelter. We were not the only ones having problems that day either.  Amber's daddy, Ricky, was setting up his pop-up camper and all most turned the whole thing over.  As our tent was about to soar us into the air and Ricky was flipping his camper, our neighbors came over and asked, "Do ya'll need some help?"  Needless to say, we had some pretty cool neighbors because they let us borrow a much needed hammer.  Once the homestead was established, we went swimming, tubing, skiing, and most importantly did some major grilling out.  One of our biggest challenge of the trip was trying to get our dog, Sadie, to swim.  We bought her a life jacket and for the most part it worked and she swam for a little while.  We do have to brag some about Sadie because she was such a good little dog while we were there.  She slept in the tent with us at night and that was pretty interesting.  All in all, we have to give major props to Ricky for being the camp cook/recreational chief.  Jamey, Hope, and the one and only Bryce were awesome campsite buddies.  To sum it up, we had an incredible time living outdoors and hope to do it again soon. 

Beach Bums

First off, sorry we haven't blogged in it seems like forever! But...we have been enjoying our last summer days off before school starts back. Honestly, we have spent some days being completely lazy and some we have spent being productive to get things done for school. We have made a few trips to our classrooms to attempt to start the new school year, but couldn't help but take a few last getaways with some of our favorite people.  Last week we went to the beach with Quinn's family.  We didn't get to go down until later in the week because we were busy helping with VBS at church.  Which, by the way, we had an awesome time dancing our hearts out with some amazing kids!  Anyway, we left on Wednesday to hit up the beach and catch some rays.  We had an incredible time getting to hang out with our new nephew Ellison and having a slumber party with Matthew and Nicole.  In case you are wondering, the reason our trip was like a slumber party is because Matthew, Nicole, Quinn, and I all slept in one room together in two twin size beds.  We were a bit snug, but it was seriously a lot of fun, except for the fact that Matthew wanted to keep closing the air vent because of dust.  The few days we had at the beach were incredible though! We went to the beach (even little Ellison), ate some incredible seafood, saw some unbelievable storms, played numerous games on the Wii, and rode bicycles through rain puddles.  It was so nice to just relax and be with our family without a care in the world. We can't wait for next year's beach trip with the Pearson's.  A trip to St. Simon's Island(where we went on our honeymoon) is in the works.

Making Monday Moments.

Oh the joys of Monday...Mondays seem to always be slow and just creep on minute by minute.  You know, sometimes it's all right to slow yourself down because we tend to notice more of the blessings GOD has poured out to us and how He is always faithful.  We spent the day with Quinn's Grandma Lila and his cousins, Kaitlyn, Riley, and Emily.  We didn't do much of anything special other than eat some KFC and sit on the front porch talking about everything under the Son.  We reminisced about some fond memories of Papa James and how he lived his life.  We walked down to his barn and his radio was still playing the Gospel music channel that he always listened to while he worked.  We all found comfort in that music knowing that he is in a better place now. We encourage you to be still and slow down, notice your surroundings, don't complain so much, and finally, be quick to give GOD praise.  Here's a quick quote we came across from Max Lucado, "Today, you will encounter GOD's creation.  When you see the beauty around, let each detail remind you to lift your head in praise to your Father in Heaven." Nothing but love for you all.  

Wedding Weekend!

This weekend was our last wedding weekend for the summer.   Our college friend, Avery, was the stunning bride.  She is the last of our college friends to finally tie the knot.  What's funny is that this time last year, she wasn't even dating Ryan. They met on eharmony.com and totally fell in love. You have to know Avery's personality to understand how in world she dated and married someone within a 1 year span.  She's totally fun, spontaneous, and exciting and all of us knew that once she met "the one" that it would be a short engagement and she'd be a married woman before long.  Avery and Ryan are a great couple and we truly wish them the best!

We had a great time getting to reunite with old college friends and eat some delicious food.  We were really excited because we got to finally see our friends Heather and Jared and their sweet baby boy, Boone. Besides just hanging out with old friends, we were totally stuffed from some incredible food all weekend! Ryan's uncle was the chef and definitely fixed up our meals right! We had everything from homemade salsa to incredible tasting chicken skewers. We had a wonderful weekend and can't wait to reunite with everyone again!

Girls Morning Out!

This morning, I went on a Girls Morning Out with some of my favorite people...Mama, Granny, and Hope.  I was super excited to get to hang out, eat, and get pampered together.  The morning started by a visit to St. Francis Hospital.  A good friend of ours, Sharon, has been in the hospital for almost a month from a sudden case of Pneumonia.  It has left her bed ridden and caused her to get blood clots in her legs. She is now having to start occupational therapy in order to move her arms and legs like normal again.  I think that it was a good time for us to just go and encourage her and lift her spirits.  Please keep her in your prayers as she continues to recover. After our visit, we headed out to Tips -n- Toes to get pedicures.  This is by far one of my favorite things to do.  When I was in college, I got to go get my toes done all of the time, but now that I am teaching, I usually don't have that much time to go.  I figured we would have to wait for quite a while for all 4 of us to get a pedicure, but we went right on in and sat down.  I always love going to nail places and listen to them talk in another language the whole time.  I know that they are probably all secretly talking about how nasty our feet really are.  I actually had my nail lady to ask me about my Jesus fish tattoo on my foot.  It was a neat little time to share with her that it represented my Christianity and faith in Christ.  Another lady also thought I was 16 years old and that Hope was way too blonde to belong to all of us brunettes. Needless to say, we had a great time.  Since Granny and Hope were starving we decided on a fabulous lunch, P.F. Changs! It was absolutely delicious! We left lunch to go to Whole Foods Market. I absolutely loved it there and would love to shop for groceries there all the time if I had all the money in the world.  But I don't have tons of money, so I spend what money I have at ol' Bilo. Anyway, I loved all of the different fruits and vegetables they had, some of which I have never even heard of or seen.  I ended up coming home with a few goodies though.  I brought Quinn some Pistachio crackers, sweet potato chips, and a baby seedless watermelon. Sadie got some sweet potato dog treats herself.  I love the grocery store way too much! Still waiting on my trip to the Farmer's Market before the summer is over.

A Couple Days Behind...

Well, what can we say?  We have been truly livin' it up over these past couple of days.  It all started with Bryce's birthday party which was totally gnarly!  Bryce had a bunch of his buds over to play every sport known to man.  The highlights of the party were the intense wiffle ball game and most definitely the pie throwing at Jamey's face.  We have to give major props to Jamey for letting a bunch of third graders pound him in the face with mountains of whipped cream.  Jamey just sat there and took it like a man.  He will be nominated for "Father of the Year."  

We think it is well worth mentioning that Bryce received a ventriloquist (spelling may be off) doll named "Charlie" for one his birthday gifts.  For some reason, Bryce has an incredible talent at speaking without moving his mouth.  He really can say the whole alphabet without even cracking his lips.  The boy has some major skills which will pay the bills someday.  All in all, Bryce had one cowabunga b-day bash.  Hope and Jamey, well done throwing a great party for a true Son of Thunder.  

Finally, we spent our whole Monday at Table Rock listening to some good ole church talk at the District Conference.  It was an interesting day and the best part was listening to Buddy Rampey.  Buddy Rampey is the man...a true man of God.  Another great part of the day was when Quinn saw two of his students at the conference.  What a small world it is!  Quinn told me that he kept hearing, "Mr. Pearson!" coming from somewhere.  Low and behold, out of the corner of our eyes, there were two of Quinn's students.  After the reunion and some more church talk, we headed back down the mountain to end the day walking our dog, Sadie, down mainstreet while the sun slowly set on the beautiful metropolis of Pelzer.  If that's not livin' it up, then we don't know what is.  Nothing but love and God Bless. 

The Jockey Lot Expedition.

Today we took a Jockey Lot Adventure with Rick, Neesie, and Mr. James.  We were extremely excited because neither of us had been in forever and we had high hopes of finding some neat things to go in our house.  Since we have all the time in the world with summer break, we have been busily working in our home constantly and are always looking for something to make it even better.  Anyway, the morning began at 6:00 a.m.  We haven't gotten up that early since school let out for the summer and boy was it a wake up call. Quinn immediately said that he couldn't do this every Saturday.  The first place we went was to the ol' Piedmont Cafe to get a scrumptious breakfast.  And boy was it delicious! Rick and Mr. James go there so often, the waitresses already know what to order for them.  The rest of us got the normal breakfast but with a grilled biscuit.  Mmmmm! It wasn't a healthy option but was very yummy. After breakfast, the venture to the Jockey Lot began.  Of course Rick and Mr. James got out of the car and left us and Neesie to find deals on our own.  We quickly caught up with Rick and made him stay with us because he is the one who can "wheel and deal."  Everyone knows at the Jockey Lot, you buy extremely random things.  Here is what we came home with: potato chips, Axe spray (can't ever smell too good now), basketball shorts, 4 childrens books, and Sadie a new dog toy.  So needless to say, we didn't find anything to spruce up our house, but we found some other random junk.  That's the joy of going to the Jockey Lot! The morning ended by a quick run to Anderson to a few yard sales that had a bunch of nothing because we were too late.  Then we headed on to Sam's to supposedly just get some croissants, but came home with much much more.  We had an adventurous morning and had a great time listening to Mr. James' stories about life. He also had some great quotes especially this one after we thanked him for a great morning, "Ya'll welcome as the flowers in May."  Maybe we can do it again before school starts back and find some more crazy junk to add to our collection. 

Life is Good at Twin Lakes.

Yesterday was an awesome day for the both of us. We headed up to Twin Lakes to hang out with the one and only Self and Beck families. The Selfs' and Becks' are truly some grand and genuine people. When we got there, Mrs. Self and her girls greeted us with some good ole ham sandwhiches with Mrs. Self's home-grown tomatoes. After a quick lunch, we took a swim in the lake and rode the jet ski. That jet ski was incredible. Quinn pulled the Self girls behind the jet ski on this float called the "UFO." Following a close encounter with the "UFO," we played some pretty intense card games and learned how to speed stack cups. Caroline Self is lightning fast at stacking cups. The best part of the evening was Mrs. Self's onion rings. Those onion rings were so lip-smacking good especially with our hamburgers and hotdogs. Mrs. Beck made some Southwestern chili that was flat out sensational. By then, our bellies were about to pop! We made our way back down to the lake to watch Catherine tear it up water skiing. Catherine looked like she was born to ski as she sliced through that Lake Hartwell water. We ended the night with a nice boat ride from Mr. Beck, home-made ice cream, and some campfire smores. As we drove back home last night, we both said to each other, "Now, that was just fun!" We would simply like to say a big thanks to the Self and Beck families for a great and memorable time. Here's something to sum it all up..."Life is Good."

Good Ole Jackie...

This could be the funniest guy that we know.  He always brings joy to our lives through his entertaining comments during dinner.  He is really known for the way he extends the last note to the song of "Happy Birthday."  Speaking of songs, he has two favorite ones and they are "Lonely Pilgrim" and "Let the Church be the Church."  He has a pretty awesome wife (Quinn's sister) and an amazing little boy by the name of Ellison.  All in all, life would simply...well, just be boring without our beloved Jackie.  We look forward to sharing some laughs with him this weekend.  Jackie, wherever you are brother at this very moment, we just want to say, "We love you Scooney Scooney!"

Mommer Delivered!

We both decided that we needed some curtains or something to go over the kitchen windows.  As you can see, we went with curtains.  By the way, if you are looking for some cool and good-priced fabric, Hobby Lobby is the place.  Well, when we got the fabric, we began to wonder who in the world can make us some curtains?  Quinn called his Mommer and boy did she deliver.  After we hung the curtains up, Quinn's Mommer said, "That's pretty good for my first set of curtains."  We both looked at Mommer and said, "That was your first set of curtains?"  She just laughed.  Mommer, we thank you for your great craftsmanship on these curtains.  They make the kitchen look great!

Front Porchin' It.

The other night, the Sanders joined us for an incredible scrumptious supper.  We (really just Amber) cooked a cheeseburger pie with some peas and carrots.  This meal was definitely a hit! The cool thing about this meal was that we were all able to sit at one table together.  In the past when other peeps join us for a meal, they would have to bring their own chairs.  That has all changed due to our new 15 dollar dining room table.  We extend our deepest gratitude to 8-Ball and Vegie for this extraordinary purchase.  After we ate, we all made our way to the front porch where we rocked into the summer sunset snapping some fresh, grown green beans.  It was truly a great time that we all shared.  As of right now, Summer '09 has been a great one.

The Heat is On!

Good Summer July Morning to all our fellow readers.  Well, our air conditioner is not wanting to cooperate with us.  For the past couple of days, it has been in the mid-80's in our home.  We've been sporting a lot of tank tops and those good ole cut off sleeve t-shirts.  Our air guy, Craig, is the man.  He fixed the capacitor and is currently working on replacing the compressor on our air conditioner.  In the process, Craig is teaching Quinn a few pointers on how an air condition unit works.  Bottom line is we can't even imagine what it was like back in the day without air conditioning.  I guess anyone can say we have a lot to be thankful for with today's advancements in technology.  For your listening pleasure, check out this video because it is a perfect description of how life has been for us over the past couple of days.  Take Care and Nothing but Love.

The Coolest Mutt Around!

Our dog, Sadie, is pretty much the coolest mutt ever.  We got Sadie from the Greenville Humane Society during our Spring Break.  We got a deal on her because the day we were there, all black dogs were half off.  Not sure what kind of sale that was all about, but hey the price was right for us.  She's been the best investment that we have poured our money into.  Anyways, while we were in Columbia, we had to board Sadie at our local vet.  When we picked her up from the vet, she went crazy and immediately grabbed her favorite toy which is the most annoying one for us.  

Wedding Weekend

Bridal Party (Me, Kristi, Beth, Whitney, Taylor, Meagan)

We had an incredibly busy but exciting weekend! As you already know, we headed to Columbia for our friend, Whitney's wedding weekend.  It was a weekend getaway for ourselves as well. Friday was filled with pre-wedding activities, from a bridal brunch, to last minute drives to the store, to the rehearsal dinner.  We were going non-stop, but it was so much fun getting to hang out with our friends that we haven't seen in forever.  It brought back all kinds of memories from college.  Saturday was of course packed with even more wedding festivities. The girls hung out all day talking and primping as usual and the boys spent the afternoon playing frisbee golf and eating pimento cheese hamburgers.  Of course after all of that, there was the big wedding we had been waiting for.  Whitney was absolutely beautiful! You could see the excitement in Nick's eyes. They are perfect for each other and we wish them the best marriage ever.

Speaking of marriage, today marks one year that we have been married.  It is such a special time for us both.  This year has been amazing, and we are so blessed.  Being a part of Whitney and Nick's wedding just reminded us of how wonderful marriage is!  

Because today is our anniversary, of course everyone has been asking what kind of plans we have.  Well, as we arrived back in Pelzer, we came to our house being 90 degrees.  Our air broke while we were gone.  So, for all of you wondering, we will be spending this wonderful day with each other and our families.  We are eating dinner with Q's parents and having our wedding cake for dessert, and spending the night with Amber's parents in an air conditioned house.  This has been such an unforgettable day! We are so excited for the years to come!

Chapel Bells are Ringing!

This weekend we are headed to Columbia to see our friends "tie the knot."  We have known Nick and Whitney since college and they truly are solid people who love Jesus and each other. We look forward to being part of their special day.  Seeing them get married, will definitely bring back memories of our wedding day which was just a year ago.  Our first year of marriage has just been flat out fun.  Yeah, we've had our days, but the good ones outweigh the rough ones by a mile.  We are in constant praise and gratitude to God for uniting us together in this incredible blessing called marriage.  Here's some advice to all those peeps getting married this summer and to the already married couples, remember to always pray together and laugh with each other until it hurts.  One last thing, we hope at the reception this song is played because it was our first dance.  

The Supper of all Casseroles!

Amber tore it up in the kitchen tonight!  Amber made chicken and stuffing casserole, broccolli casserole, and corn water.  We also came to the conclusion that Texas Pete is a great casserole topper.  The coolest part of the night were the peeps who ate with us...Rick, Blake, Ashley, and Lane.  Overall, it was just a good ole time hanging out with the family.  Family time is most definitely underrated these days.

A Day With Mommer!

Here is a pic of the one and only "Mommer" and Grandma Barbara with baby Ellison.  Anyways, we spent the day with "Mommer" piddling around Anderson.  First, we stopped by Verizon to update our phones.  Our new phones are awesome thanks to our sales representative, Jeff.  If you go to Verizon anytime soon, ask for Jeff because he is the man!  Although, he did try to sale us everything! Hey, that's just a man doing his job well.  We ended the day at Panera slurping on some fraps and smoothies.  

Chasing Waterfalls.

Today, we took Tyler to church camp at Table Rock.  The ride up there was pretty cool and the scenery brought back some Tennessee mountain memories from our recent vacation.  After we got Tyler settled in, we decided not to go home quite yet.  We stopped on the side of the road and discovered this awesome little waterfall.  Literally, it was on the side of the road.  There was also a trail that we hiked on for a little bit, but got a little concerned when we saw a grave site.  After seeing that, we both decided it was time to turn around and head back home.  On the way home we stopped by our favorite store, Sun Rift.  All in all, it's been a good day especially when we discovered the mystery waterfall. 

Happy Dad's Day!

Today was a special day for the both of us.  Here in this picture is our dads, Rick and Jerry.  Words can't describe what these men mean to us and what they have done for the both of us in order to make our lives successful. From fixing our broken cars to grilling us unbelievable BBQ and ribs! We are so blessed to have these guys in our lives and are so thankful for how they have raised us in a strong Christian home. They have truly set an example for us to follow as we have our own family one day.  This quote says it all..."Any man can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad."

Sons of Thunder Kayak the Saluda.

A good time was had by all!  We just got finished kayaking the Saluda with a great group of people (Papa D., Jerry, Michael, Doc, Max, Blake, Tyler, and Rick).  The bravest of us all was Papa D. who rode down the river on a surf board.  It was truly amazing!  The Saluda was full and raging due to the past rain we received.  There were several rapids we scooted through and found ourselves a cool sandbar to hang out on.  We did come across some cows in the river.  That was interesting.  Quinn tried to feed one a cracker, but the cow paid it no attention and went on its merry way.  The best part of the trip was paddling through the legendary shoals.  Everybody got a thrill from that.  We must say that it was real and it was fun.  It was real fun!   

Vacation of the Century!

We must say that vacation was simply amazing!  Each and every day was packed with all kinds of different suprises.  For example, the first day we arrived, a rainbow stretched across the sky.  It was pretty cool!  DollyWood's Splash Country was indescribable especially the FreeFall slide.  Only the few and proud muster up enough courage to go down that bad boy!  We rode every water slide in that park!  Neesie (M.V.P. of the trip)  even rode a couple of slides herself.  Whitewater rafting was flat out an adrenaline rush.  Quinn was catapulted out of the raft which was funny and scary at the same time.  We had some close encounters with some raccoons, baby bears, and steep hills.  We played the most interesting putt-putt course ever, called Hillbilly Golf (thanks to Bryce).  For the record, Quinn got his first tattoo and Mikey did a great job on the ink work.  Last but not least, we were fed to the brim by the greatest people that have ever walked on the Earth, Rick and Neesie.  They slaved in the kitchen all most every meal.  The best meals and probably the ones that will be missed the most will be the breakfasts.  We also give Jamey major props for frying enough fish for the whole town of Pelzer!  To sum up this trip, we say this, "Blake, did you bring your computer?"

Gone to DollyWood with Maw-Maw!

Good Morning Beautiful People!  We are all headed to DollyWood to "live it up!"  We are going to have quite an experience I do believe.  Memories will be made...that's for sure!  We will be gone until next Thursday.  In other words, the blog will be in idle mode until we return.  Trust us, we will post some of the highlights of the trip when we return.  Until then, nothing but love for you all!

DollyWood Preparations...

We are getting ready to venture to Gatlinburg, TN with the family!  In the past family vacation has always been at Garden City Beach, but this year we decided to mix it up a little.  Garden City will always have a special place in our hearts...much love G.C.B.  While we are in Gatlinburg, we plan to "live it up" at Splash Country, hiking in the wilderness, and doing some major whitewater rafting.  Last but not least, we will be visiting DollyWood.  We have high hopes of seeing Dolly Parton or at least that is Quinn's hope.  Quinn has been a big fan of Dolly ever since he watched Steel Magnolias.  Anyways, today is packing day and we are trying our best to get everything into one suitcase (Amber's idea).  This is going to be a major challenge for the both of us.  To sum this post up for the day, check out this video from the one and only Dolly Parton and some random guy singing a great song!  Gosh, Quinn hopes he can float down the lazy river with Dolly!

The Summer Begins!

We just finished another wonderful school year!  I must say it was a challenging year, but a great one for the both of us.  We are both looking forward to some time off to truly "live it up."  I can't remember where Amber and I were going the other day, but she looked over at me and said, "Quinn, I want to live it up this summer and do some exciting things."  That comment caught me off guard so I asked Amber, "What kind of things do you have in mind?"  She replied back, "I don't know, like, let's go to the Farmer's Market!"  I looked at her and began to laugh my head off.  She wasn't laughing so I guess we will be taking a trip to the Farmer's Market one day this summer.  Here is something random for you all today...found this on youtube and thought it was simply amazing!  Zack Attack is Back!