Pop Rocks!

No I am not referring to the candy~ even though I love the watermelon ones! It is a tad bit delayed since I was not home for father's day but I have yet to post about my wonderful daddy for belated father's day! My dad is lovingly called "pop" by my nephews and will one day be called that be our children as well, not anytime soon though. So here as some things I want to share with you about my dad:

1. He loves to make you laugh. My dad has a large sense of humor and is the type of person who lives to make other people laugh. My dad loved, well loves, to tickle me into fits of laughter. My dad loves to try new things and if he is not good at them, he laughs his way through it and has fun anyway. This picture is from a few summers ago when I was trying to teach him how to swing dance, let's just say I almost got dropped! :)

2. My dad's arms were always the place I felt safest. I always felt that when he was holding me, nothing in the world could get to me. He loved me and protected me from all that he could; all the while letting me live my life and learn from my mistakes.

3. He pushes me to be a better person. My dad taught me the values of a strong relationship with God when he sought after Christ in his own trials and tribulations. He pushed me to be closer to God by modeling what that looked like. He pushed me to be a better student which led to graduating college with honors and being able to get this picture at Awards Night. 

4. My dad is a writer. My dad is the type of person who can read three or four different books at the same time and know what is going on in all of them. My dad loves to read and he instilled in me a love for reading as well. Every night when I was a little girl he would read with me at night before bed, if he got home in time. Our go-to-book was Alice in Wonderland. I think about that now and I looked forward to that time so much with him that it helped me love reading as well, which eventually led to me wanting to be an elementary school teacher. The picture above is from a book signing my dad did after finishing a book with Vince Dooley about the Georgia Bulldogs. I am so proud to know my dad played a big part in writing that book and it was a wonderful read! Vince Dooley's Tales from the 1980 Georgia Bulldogs.

5. He is a servant. This picture shows my dad serving dinner to some ladies at our church at a ladies dinner. While this picture shows him serving literally, I mean so more figuratively. My dad is a servant in every way that matters. He is one of the first to volunteer to help out and he is willing and ready when you need him. He is a selfless person who always puts others before himself.

6. He is patient. My dad is one of the most patient men I know. He has put up with a lot of fits over the years, between the three women in his life! I always knew when I had absolutely crossed the ultimate line when my father yelled at me because it took a lot. I don't vividly remember him yelling at me but one time and it was to teach me a lesson I never forgot- accept responsibility for my actions! He probably does not remember teaching me that lesson but he did!

7. He is one amazing pop! He loves those boys so much. I have only seen my dad shed tears when holding his grandsons for the first time. I am sure there were other moments that I missed but those are the ones I remember. I look forward to being able to give him more grandchildren some day down the road because I will be able to show them how lucky I was and how lucky they are!

8. Last, but not least, he is a rock! My father is so much more than the man who taught me how to ride my bike. My father is so much more than the man who did not get angry when I couldn't figure out how to stop said bike and let it run into his car. My father is more than the man who was there with a belt when I got out of line. My father is more than the man who took me to church every time the doors were open so I could grow to love my Savior. My father is the man who gave me away on my wedding day knowing he had done an amazing job at being a dad. My father is the man who danced with me at the reception knowing my husband was a man who would love and care for me just as he had done. My father is the man who hugged and held me as we cried when we left to PCS to Germany for three years. My father is the man whose "I love you" said so much more! I love you dad and I am one of the lucky ones!!!

Snails anyone?

Okay so it has been a while. I have been keeping myself a little busier over the weekend. Of course, the day I return to my blog I learn someone crazy made today "National Escargot Day." GROSS!!! I am not real sure why anyone would want to celebrate snails, much less eating them! YUCK!!

So anyhow, Saturday was the Marigold Festival in the little town of Winterville, where my parents grew up and where we went to church growing up. It is an event I looked forward to every year when I was younger and as I grew up. My dad was the announcer for the parade because he is just that awesome. Of course it is always fun to walk around the different booths that are set up in the park from the staple sand art to the surprising booth with huge turtles! Of course the day was not complete until dad and I had split a cup of delicious boiled peanuts and each of us wrangled our own share of homemade ice cream in different flavors. I managed to get away with a new book for a buck! Here are a few pictures from the festival, the rest will probably get uploaded when I get back to Germany. :)

Ok, well it is only letting me upload one picture for some reason! Saturday I also got to spend the afternoon with my old college roomie, Bray, at her baby shower. She is expecting her first, a baby boy, in July but will probably not last until July because the baby would be around 9 pounds if she waited. Bless her heart, she is ready! It was so good to see her and be able to celebrate with her at this exciting time in her life!

Later on Saturday we got a chance to celebrate my cousin, Tiffany, graduating from high school with some family. I know this is an exciting time in her life and we are proud of her. She is still unsure as to what God's plans are for her so please be in prayer about what her next step might be.

Sunday I spent the day with my mother-in-law's family. We went to church, had lunch, and just spent time together. Meme, Jonathan's grandmother, was not having a great day. Her throat was bothering her a lot so please continue to pray for her as she undergoes chemo treatments.

Monday and part of today was spent with Laura and the boys at her house and then we all headed into Athens Monday afternoon so Laura and I could meet up with my big brother John for a Giles siblings only dinner. It was a lot of fun to get together just the three of us. I can't think of the last time we have done that. It was definitely a nice treat on the visit home. Jonathan will get here Saturday afternoon so obviously I am very excited about that! We are looking forward to our time together at home before heading back to Germany.

Versatile Chain

My sweet big sis tagged me in this versatility chain where I have to tell seven things about myself so here goes nothing:

1. I remember going to a circus as a young girl and watching my daddy ride in on an elephant and thinking he must be the coolest dad ever. I also remember my siblings and I getting to ride around the ring on an elephant. I remember riding up front because I was the smallest and having its ears flap against my legs. Perhaps I watched too much Dumbo but I told my mother when I got off the elephant that its wings kept hitting my legs. :)

2. I took gymnastics for about 7 years as a little girl and loved it. I lived for those early morning rides with mom to the meets and her braiding my hair and getting to spray that glitter hairspray in my hair. I was not a huge fan of the neon pink, blue, and purple leotards we wore but you can't win them all! My favorite part was the awards at the end. I know what you might be thinking, I am conceited. However, the awards ceremony was not my favorite part for the reason of being awarded, for all my brightness- I was not the greatest gymnast in the world. I could hold my own but I have much more red and white ribbons than I do blue ones! Anyhow, the awards was my favorite part because unless we were at my home gym the announcer always mispronounced my last name and my teammates always yelled out at the top at their lungs the correct way of saying it! They always had my back! :)

3. As much as I love watching the kids at church put on their musicals I loved more when I was a part of them. I loved learning all the songs. I am sure my parents, and my siblings, LOVED being forced to listen to me singing the songs at the top of my lungs in my room all up until the big day and most of the time even after the big performance was over. I must admit I think we gave WFBC some of its finest performances! I am sure my sister would beg to differ but we all have our own opinions!

4. I remember moving to a private school in sixth grade and being very nervous because all the other kids had known each other for so long. I remember being so excited to be able to play volleyball that fall and how that helped me find my niche at PAC. Even though we were allowed to play as sixth graders on the JV team we were not allowed to go to away games because we were so young. However, we for some reason or another (I don't remember why) we were allowed to go to one away game. I remember being the only sixth grader that started that game and they annouced the starters and their grade level and I remember wanting to sink into a hole when they announced my name and said sixth grade. Haha, I remember thinking, "Did you HAVE to say what grade I was in!"

5. It was around 1000 days ago that I got a text message from a cute red headed boy asking me if I wanted to go to dinner around 8 this weekend. I replied by answering, "Yes, I would be the one wearing the smile when he came to pick me up." A few weeks later he asked me to be his girlfriend, again I said yes. A year later he got down on a knee on the front porch of my apartment and asked me another question. I initially responded by saying, "Are you kidding me?" But rest assured said yes after the initial shock wore off. 6 months later I got to say "I do" to that cute red head but then a week later had to tell him goodbye. I got him back a year later and have not let him go since. I love my life with him and love the adventure we are on together. I love learning new little things he likes and dislikes. I can't wait for forever after!

6. My parents sweetly deprived me of having a dog my whole life so earlier this year in March I decided to get my own. Cash was born two days after my birthday! Must have been a sign. I love my little cuddler!! I love that he gets jealous when I am on the computer and there is no room for him in my lap. I love that if you leave him in the apt to do laundry he whines after you close the door behind you and is waiting on the rug sitting like a good dog when you come back. I love that he waits patiently while I am cooking until I drop something and I love that I don't have to worry about cleaning it up! He is the perfect lil pup for me and he has made a great addition to our little family.

7. I know teachers complain about their jobs sometimes but trust me we truly love what we do. I miss having little ones that depend on me. I miss getting to touch little hearts in a special way that only teachers can. I sincerely hope that sometime over the next three years I get a chance to teach at one of the schools here in Germany because I think it would be a real net experience.

Well, those are my seven random things. I hope you enjoyed reading my little bits and pieces.

Things I Miss the Most

Okay so I have been formulating this post in my mind for quite a while now and am finally taking the time to put it in writing!

1. Family & Friends: Obviously family and friends back home are what I miss more than anything. I hate that I can't just call someone up. I have to first do some basic math to figure out what time of day it is back home then decide whether it is important enough to pay the cost. I can't wait until our home phone gets set up and that second factor goes away. I think something I miss more than others is hanging out with my super cool nephews. I mean how many of you have an almost 3 year old nephew who pees on the Florida gator and sings Justin Beiber!?!?!? I am willing to take a guess that there are not many of you out there! I just hope my sweet nephews do not forget me and understand I still love them even though I do not see them as much.

2. Having a vehicle: Okay this is a temporary state but still, try going without a vehicle of any kind for two whole months. Believe me your patience will be tried!!! Jonathan and I are looking for some type of small SUV to drive mainly because the insurance is a little cheaper and we would feel safer! lol. In the meantime we do have Jonathan's scooter when we have to go run a quick errand but I am entirely reliable on my dear sweet friend Chrystal when it comes to grocery shopping. She allows me to tag along!

3. American ambulances: No, you did not misread that last one. I miss the sound of an american ambulance. I have attached a brief youtube video of an European police car going down the road. All sirens sound like this here! Mannheim is a fairly busy city so I can only say that I wish I could count on one hand the number of times in one day I have to listen to this awful sound!!! I never could have imagined wishing to hear an american siren!!

4. Walmart: Yea I said it! I miss Walmart. I miss being able to do all the shopping I need to do in one place! Even at its worst Walmart was still the most convenient place to go whenever you needed something.

5. Mexicali Grille and Chik-fil-A: My two favorites have been on the brain lately. You want to know how badly? I had a dream one night that I discovered that we had a Chik-fil-A on base and I was mad that I had not discovered it sooner!!! Yes, in my dream I was not delighted to have one but angry that I had not found it sooner!! I miss the cheesy beef quesadilla from Mexicali like crazy!!! In fact I must stop talking about these establishments before I go crazy!

6. Teaching & Coaching: Lastly, I miss having a classroom full of little minds to love and learn about. I miss the amazing teachers I worked with and how they made that place my second home and took care of me for two years and were with me when my baby was gone and encouraged and supported me all along. I also miss all the wonderful students I had the honor of coaching in volleyball and tennis. I got to know some amazing young people who are incredible people who I genuinely enjoyed spending time with! And not to forget the awesome coaches I worked with!!

Germany is different and I am glad we have the chance to be here but there will always be things about home that I miss and these are just a few of those things.

Saying Goodbye

Well this past week has been really rough and we have not even gotten to the worst of it yet. Sunday morning Jonathan and I went to church with his mom's family and had to say goodbye to some of the people there. Those people are some of the most caring people you will ever meet. After church we headed down to Winterville to catch the tail end of a family reunion where I had to bid numerous sweet cousins goodbye as well as my 90 year old grandfather. That one was difficult because I sincerely hope and pray that is not the last time I give that great man a hug here on earth.

Monday, Jonathan and I were at the apartment all day cleaning, packing, and trashing. Tuesday we had some help from his grandparents loading things to go to Rena's house. We decided since we were headed that way to meet up with my sister, Josh, and the boys for lunch and a little time to hang out. We met up at Zaxby's and enjoyed lunch before heading back to their house to play with Jack and Sam one last time as a 2 year old and a sweet baby less than a year old. Jack enjoyed running from Umple Jonafin and it made me sad that Jonathan has missed so much of them already. Jonathan just met Sam on Sunday and is already telling him bye. It breaks my heart knowing I have been so priviledged to see these sweet boys grow up and laugh with them and play with them but not I can't. I am going to miss so much of them and that makes me so sad. It was so hard to feel that sweet boy give me a hug and a kiss and know that next time I see him he might have grown out of that. He will be a big 3 year old boy the next time I see him! :( Hugging my sister felt like letting go of a best friend. Ever since the boys have been born and she lived less than an hour away we have grown so much closer as sisters and as best friends. She is an amazing mommy to those boys and a great example. I love her so much and it hurt saying goodbye. I did pretty well until we pulled out of the driveway and waved goodbye from the car, I lost it. I boo hoo'd all the way to his mom's house. Thank you to my sister for making so much time for me this summer and I will forever be thankful!!! I love you so much!
Later Tuesday night Jonathan and I went to dinner with his aunt and uncle and their 3 children. We had a great time laughing and cutting up at dinner. After dinner more tears came as we had to bid them goodbye. Jonathan found it difficult to say bye to Kristina, the oldest of those 3. She is not much younger than Jonathan and they have a close bond. She is such a sweet girl who will be loved and missed.


Well Wednesday was a little bit less tearful. We headed back to the apartment in the morning to wait on the movers to come. They came a little after 12 to begin packing up the things we are taking with us to Germany. In the midst of them packing some others guys showed up to work on the air conditioner, washer, and dryer. Then my dad came to take a few things for us in his truck. Our apartment was pack full of people moving all around and trying to get stuff done. It was crazy there for a little while. Once they were all gone Jonathan's dad, stepmom, and stepsisters came up to hang out for a lil while. The girls loved it because Jonathan and I were giving away stuff left and right. Even Karen took home a few prizes! lol. ;) Thanks girls for taking those off our hands. They helped us clean up a little and get things closer to being ready to go and we enjoyed spending time with them. We will be seeing Tim again but we did have to say goodbye to the girls. I know they will have grown up so much next time we see them. Well Jonathan has yet to meet the friends I made in Hartwell while he was gone. These said friends, mainly Kaitlyn, has been dying to meet him. So we managed to work it out to where we could squeeze in a dinner Wednesday night at our usual Mexican location in Hartwell. Well, Kaitlyn managed to gather so many sweet people to have dinner with us. A lot of my past volleyball players and tennis players showed up to say goodbye and eat and laugh with us. It was such a sweet time that we enjoyed so much. We walked away that night with flowers, candy, cake, frosting on the car, and cream in the face! I will post pictures soon for those of you curious about that!

Well here we are at Thursday, our last whole day here and I got to get out of bed and get going because my mom is on her way here to help us get the last of things! It all seems surreal but I guess we are as ready as we will ever be. Germany here we come!

5 weeks

Well 5 weeks from now I will be getting ready to drive down to Jacksonville to pick up my hubby and I am so excited about it!!! It has been such a blast here at the beach but it has been a little bittersweet. I have loved spending this time with my family but it has also been sad to not have Jonathan here with me. He has been a real trooper though making himself available on Yahoo to talk to me whenever for the most part. He is such a sweetheart!

Well the week has been great and here are just a few more pictures of some of the moments dad captured. I sadly left my camera at home so I was dependent on other people's cameras. None the less, I am slightly ready to get back home and finish getting everything ready for when Jonathan gets home.

Laura and I decorating the golf cart.

Jack and I checking out the fish.

John, mom, and I on the beach watching the lighting!

39...At the Beach!

We are in the 30's now and what better way to celebrate than being at the beach with family. We arrived here in Myrtle Beach late Saturday afternoon. We got in a round of golfshoes, a game invented by our family. Dad and I teamed up together and proved to be doing well until a tragic ending where we were robbed by Laura and Josh.

Sunday morning we got up and have the breakfast of champions: cereal of course! We went to the beach and I read some of my latest book. We attempted to get Jack involved in making sand castles but he was slightly more interested in the demolition process of the sand castle building. Regardless it was a fun morning. It was very packed at the beach but we are hoping some of that dies down today since it won't be the weekend.

Sunday late afternoon we all, but dad and Jack, ventured to the outlets to look for some good shopping deals. I made a few purchases that I was pleased with and know I will get a lot of mileage out of them. We went to a nearby restaurant called Duffy Street for dinner. When I say nearby I mean John, Lisa, mom, and I put in our name and the others drove over in our golf cart limo from the beach house. Josh and Laura decided to rent a golf cart for our trips to and from the beach. They planned on renting a 6 seater but the company delivered an 8 seater. So we literally look like we are driving around a golf cart limo. Laura and I even decorated it with fourth of July decor. Dad has unfortunately not gotten a picture of it yet. After dinner we made homemade ice cream and took it down to the beach for the fireworks off the pier.

The fireworks show was a much anticipated one because we had seen it the last time we came here and loved it. The fireworks look really neat over the ocean. Plus they had some really neat fireworks last time that we had never seen done before. They did kind of like a waterfall of fireworks down falling under the pier. It was pretty neat. However, this year the fireworks were much more anticipated because they were supposed to start at 9:30 and we didnt have any fireworks until at least 10:15. :( The fireworks were pretty though. Here is one of the shots dad got with his fancy camera.

56

Well as of today I get to mark it down to 8 more weeks. This weekend is going to be a busy one as well as next week. This morning I am currently relaxing with Cash before I get in the shower and spend the first part of the day when one of my best friends, Amanda- who is in town from Orlando, Fl.

After hanging out with her I am headed back to parental territory for my Grandfathers 90th birthday celebration. He is such an amazing man and I am so thankful for the impact he has had on my life.

Sunday morning I am going to go see Jonathan's dad, Tim, for father's day. Then back through Athens to see my own dad on father's day. Then back up to Amanda's house that night because I will be working at camp next week to help them out for a week. I am excited to go back and visit and hoping that some of my favorite campers are there!! Well I gotta get up and going so I can start this busy weekend! I will update as I am able next week.

Halloween Happiness

Well this week was very crazy. It was Red Ribbon week at school. This is the week where the kids can kind of dress up and there is a focus on staying drug free. Well I didn't particularly appreciate the fact that they did this the week before Halloween. The kids were already hyper. However, the week went by rather quickly. We had a very eventful Friday with testing, Book Character Parade, Cumulative Review, and Witches Brew. Needless to say by the time the kids left Friday I was EXHAUSTED.

Friday after work I drove up to my mother-in-laws house. We had planned on going to the corn maze but mother nature had different ideas because we got rained out. So we stayed in and watched movies.

Saturday morning my sister-in-law and I got up and drove to Hartwell for the Fall Festival at our school. My parents came by ith Jack and he wore his turtle costume. Some of my students were asking if Jack was my baby, well at least they asked instead of assuming. Haha. He looked very cute in his turtle outfit and he got to go fishing, played mini golf, threw the football through the hoops, picked a duck, and won bean bag toss. It was great. After the game playing we were all hungry so we headed to the hot dog hut for some lunch.

After we finished eating we headed back to my apartment to hang out and watch the game. Whil the game was certainly less than thrilling to watch, the company was wonderful. Jack was a lot of fun and had a great time with his new friend Ashley. I fixed tacos for dinner which we ate at half time. All in all great day with family.

Ashley and I watched a scary movie after the parentals and Jack went back to pop and meemaw's house. She was so funny to watch because she had never seen it before. We are going up to Helen today and going to church up there with Rena's family. So I must go get in the shower and get ready.

Jonathan finished third in his board competition on Saturday so pretty good considering he only had a week to study. He plans on going back in December.