Save the Ta-Tas!

Katie and I participated in Race for the Cure in Greenville yesterday morning. We did the 5K walk. Getting up at 5:00 am was not very dandy, and walking in the misty damp air and cold breeze wasn't pleasing either; but we had a great time and were glad to support all the women and families affected by breast cancer.

Katie and I enjoyed visiting all the vendors before the race. This is the St Francis Hospital nurse. (It kind of looks a little creepy, like an alien.)

After briskly walking 3 miles (so that wouldn't get ran over from behind), we were quite tired. And we actually ran across the finish line to end. Our legs felt like jello. These were some of my friends from school - all 3rd grade teachers. I didn't even know they were going to be there. So I was so excited when I saw them - Chandler Creek Champions for the Cure!

I think the best part of the whole thing was watching the Survivor's Parade. All the ladies that have survived were grouped by how many years it has been since they were diagnosed, and then walked to the "red carpet" to receive a medal while Miss Greenville sang a song. It was so moving. It was all I could do to keep from crying as the younger women with children in strollers were walking past; and older women with their grandchildren on the sidewalk cheering for them - "Go grandma!".

...Wow. I wish you could have been there to see it.

And I thank God for blessing me with good health so far. I pray that if this terrible disease were to ever strike, no matter what type of cancer, that I would have the strength to stay positive like the women I saw yesterday.

Busy Weekend Ahead...

The weekend is going to be crazy busy - but only by my choice. Tonight, of course, Daddy and I have to go see the Rebels spank some hiney. :) Tomorrow morning...VERY EARLY TOMORROW MORNING...I'm walking with Katie and some friends in the Breast Cancer walk in Greenville. We have to be there at like 6:00 am or so. That means I have to get up and start getting ready about 5:00 AM!!!! Am I insane, or what? But! It's for a good cause. Save those ta-tas! After the walk, I really want to go to the Inman Harvest Festival. I look forward to it every year. I always find some great Christmas presents there. Plus, I just like to eat funnel cake. On Sunday, Jason and I have "Toddler Time" duty at church. We have now officially graduated out of the nursery (sniff, sniff). This will be our first Sunday doing it, so it'll be interesting on how everything turns out. Sometime this weekend, I need to buy 4 presents. One for Caroline's birthday, one for my sister's birthday, one for my friend Lauren's birthday (which is today!), and then I need to buy some lingerie for Katie (my brother's fiance) for her bow-chicka-wow-wow shower next Friday night! Does anyone have a money tree growing in your yard? Busy, busy, busy.

New Morning

I did a Bible study back in the summer with Kelly and some other wonderful ladies [Me, Myself, and Lies - by Jennifer Rothschild]. One of the verses that really stood out to me is:

~

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed,

because His compassions fail not.

They are new every morning:

Great is thy faithfulness."

Lamentations 3:22-23

~

I'm so glad that the Lord hasn't thrown in the towel for me yet. Every morning I wake up to a brand new day (no matter how dreary, lately) and He gives me a clean slate, another try at being a worthy representative for Him. We are so fortunate to have such a patient God who is full of mercy.

Great is His faithfulness!

When will it end?

Rain rain go away.

Come again another day.

Kristi's family wants to play!

I am so done with dreary wet weather. One day of the week is fine - but several in a row are too much! I need sunshine!

New Project Idea

Birthday Countdown Calendar

I'm not a real crafty kind of person, but countdown calendars have caught my eye. After "Google"-ing them, I've found several really cool examples that people have made. The picture above is one of them. This blog, Decorate Your Soul, is where I found the directions on how to make one. I'm debating on making one for Gavin. I think that he'd enjoy moving the marker on the calendar each day. His birthday just passed, so surely I can get it done by next August!

Super Fun Weekend

Mom, Dad, Jacob, and I went to the Byrnes football game Friday night. I wanted to go mostly because they were playing Greer @ Greer, which is at Chandler Creek where I work. We watched Byrnes stomp those Yellow Jackets! We even celebrated after the game with ice cream from Sonic! I'm debating on whether or not I should take my Byrnes tshirt with me back to school and hang it somewhere in my room, just to see if I get any comments. It may be a little too brave.

Saturday night, Kelli and I gave my brother Ray and his fiancee Katie a shower with our family. We had hotdogs and all the fixins' and ice cream sundae's for dessert. They got lots of nice gifts.

Katie's Family

My baby brother is getting married...I'm getting old.

Every year in August we go to Pisgah Forest and spend a Sunday afternoon picnicking and playing in the river. August was too busy to go, so we went today. The water was SO COLD! But we all had such a good time. The weather was perfect.

Gavin helping Jason move a big rock

Pops and Gavin

Nana, Karis, and Gavin

Me and Jason

Gavin collecting rocks out of the river

Pops taking Gavin out into the water - so cold!

While we were there, a church group came in and the pastor baptized several people in the river. One of the church members said they go to the river to baptize people every year. It was really awesome to watch.

We had such a great weekend...a lot of family time and fun. Now the week begins...don't you wish weekends could last longer?

Greenville Zoo

So we tried again...Today we back to the Greenville Zoo, this time we had plenty of time to enjoy ourselves. I'm not crazy about this zoo - I've seen better, but it was good for Gavin. He enjoyed seeing all of the animals. Here are some pictures from our afternoon:

I love this boy.

A Fun Family Saturday

We had such a great time being together as a family today. Jason was actually off of work - even though he still spent some time on the phone with people from BMW. It was nice to be able to do things as a family. First, we ran to Target to get some stuff, and then had lunch at Fuddruckers. After lunch, we went to ToysRUs to pick out a Thomas engine for his train set (they sent us a certificate for a free one for Gavin's birthday). After lunch, and after stopping at Academy to get a gift certificate, we drove over to Greenville. Our plan was to go to the zoo, but by the time we got there we would have only had an hour before it closed. So instead, we decided to play on the playground right there at the zoo.

After we left the playground, we drove over to Build-A-Bear to use a gift card Gavin got for his birthday (what was great was that I also had a $5 off coupon too, so we had money left over).

Our newest addition to the family...Rocky Bear Varner. [I know you're thinking "what a dorky name". As you can see, Jason and I aren't very creative with names, plus Gavin couldn't exactly help us brainstorm names. Jason and I were actually getting frustrated with each other because neither of us could come up with and decide on a name. Can't you just imagine it...2 adults arguing over the name of a teddy bear?]