tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26357249215922744922024-02-21T04:29:25.683-05:00Livin' The Wood LifeErinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.comBlogger54125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-90279703609872631872011-11-11T22:00:00.000-05:002011-11-11T22:00:17.913-05:00New StuffHey heyyyy!<br />
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So, a quick update on Joyce really quick. She FINALLY made it through the CDIF infection (thanks to so much help from Ginny...and a miracle on God's part) and started feeling better, getting stronger, and having a more normal appetite. But right before her appointment with the oncologist, she started to get sick again and couldn't keep any food down. So, they told her that chemo wasn't an option unless she got better. She DID get better after another week or so and decided on her own to go ahead and do the chemo. So she went in last Monday to have the port installed into her chest and then started her first chemo treatment last Wednesday. So far, she's had some symptoms, but it could be a lot worse, so we are hoping and praying for the best over the next six months. She will go in for chemo every other week for six months. We appreciate all of your prayers!<br />
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In other life updates, I just started a new job this week! And so far, I LOOOVE IT! Definitely a good change for me. I enjoyed the position I had at Roam before this but realized that it was not such a great fit for my personality or skills and it became a very frustrating position for me. Around the time I decided I needed to move in a different direction, Ryan and I had decided to make Perimeter Church our home church (Praise the Lord for a place to finally plug in and get connected!!), and soon after that, saw a posting on their website for a Ministry Associate position with the Global Outreach team. I had not considered it seriously until I was talking to a friend who is on staff at Perimeter and mentioned I had seen the posting and she talked about how awesome the Global Outreach team was. So, because it had been a while since I had first seen the posting, I went to see if it was still even posted and when it was, applied immediately. I interviewed two days later I believe, was offered the job the morning after my interview (on a Friday), and committed to the position the following Monday. I walked out of the interview SO excited about the opportunity because I just felt like it would be such a great fit and really loved the whole group of people that I interviewed with and especially their mission and vision for Global Outreach around the world. <br />
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I took off most of last week to have a little bit of time to myself before starting my new position. AWESOME WEEK by the way. Got to spend a day with Joyce (had not seen her in a month and a half, since her surgery since she had been so weak and contagious with the CDIF following surgery!), took a gorgeous fall drive to the mountains of Blairsville to have a baking day with Laura, her mom, sister, and niece (need to get that coconut macaroon recipe by the way, LG!), and ended up spending the night, watching New Moon to prepare ourselves for the next Twilight movie that's about to come out (YAY!), and spent a couple HGTV-style days at Matt's new fixer-upper priming walls, painting the ceilings and trim and helping him pick out counter-tops, floors, and cabinet paint so he can rent out his first house (Pride Property Group, LLC!).<br />
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And then on Monday, I started my new job at Perimeter! Walked into a CRAZY week - the team I am working with conducts clinics in partner cities around the world, but twice a year, they host a clinic at Perimeter where partners from around the U.S. and some of our international partner cities come here. Well, the clinic started on Thursday, so I pretty much came in and hit the ground running. Will get a real orientation next week, but this week I just jumped in and started on the clinic and have learned a lot fast! Enough to know I'm going to love it here. The girl that I am replacing is leaving to teach, so I'll be able to work WITH her for the next month...and although I know my position would not have even been available to me if it weren't for her leaving, I'm sad to see her leave! She's awesome and I honestly think we'd make a good team working together, but it's great that I'll have time to really learn the ins and outs of the Global Outreach department ...and the rest of Perimeter...from her. One of the things I love most is the event planning component. That is one of the things I miss most from working for the Falcons and in the Duke Athletic Department - planning the events. I LOVED both of my jobs at the Falcons and at Duke, but when we moved back to GA, I wanted something with more normal hours (less nights and weekends), and I wanted something where I felt like I was investing in people and a purpose I believed in. Which is why this seems to be such a great fit (so far!), in addition to the fact that the more I'm around the GO team, the more I love the fact that I get to be a part of such an awesome team of people and the more meetings I am a part of, the more I believe in the work they are doing and am so excited to be a part of it. There is some event planning, but not on a crazy busy weekly basis. Just periodically. Perfect! Because while I like my nights and weekends, I LOVE the creativity and hectic craziness of putting on events! So it's the best of both worlds. :)<br />
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The theme for this fall clinic is "carnival/fair", which was all pre-planned by Ashley of course, and since I just stepped in on Monday, am just helping her put it all on. But so far, yesterday and today went very well and we just have tomorrow to go! Today, for their afternoon snack break, we made caramel apples, corndogs, and had a popcorn station and a dippin' dots stand. Everyone loved it! And if my card-reader on the computer would work, I'd include some pictures, but it's not for some reason and my I.T. man (aka Ryan) isn't here to fix it for me, so sorry. :) Ashley is GREAT at her job (it's obvious everyone is going to miss her tons!) and is definitely leaving big shoes to fill, but the more I'm around her, the more I find that we are so much alike, so I hope I can do the position justice when she leaves! ;) <br />
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Ryan is still very much enjoying being at JLL - can't believe he's been there for almost a year now! <br />
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We're looking forward to a West Virginia Thanksgiving in a couple weeks with the entire Pridemore Family. That was our one holiday tradition growing up that was the same every year of my life, but Matt and TJ haven't been since they entered high school because Buford was always in the playoffs over Thanksgiving (those high school years, the WV fam came to us in GA and went to the Buford game) and then they both just had their last college season last year. So this is the first year we'll all be able to go...since '01 I think! And my married cousins that have moved away will be there too, so we're excited about Mamaw's cooking, riding four-wheelers in the mountains, card games, and being with the entire family!! :)<br />
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Hope y'all are enjoying this time of year - it's pretty out but I'm constantly FREEZING already! brrr.... <br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/Signaturecopy.png" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-23778125381688325642011-09-20T21:48:00.000-04:002011-09-20T21:48:44.384-04:00JoycieMany people have been emailing, facebooking, calling, and texting to ask about my grandmother Joyce, who is <u>trying</u> to recover from a major surgery and infection due to the recent and sudden news that she has colon cancer. As many emails/calls/texts as I've received, multiply that by at least ten for the amount my mom and my aunt Elaine have received. We feel so extremely blessed to be surrounded by so many people who love us and are praying for Joyce (and our family, esp. Mom and Elaine), so thank you ALL for the ways you have been loving on our family. And while it's much easier to post one big response to give everyone the scoop on Joyce and an update on how she is doing, I will continue to try and respond to all of your emails, facebook messages, calls, and text messages individually. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7qYMTdFUUe4/Tnk3Bg_PQYI/AAAAAAAABUE/3Raoy6kGMTk/s640/Christmas+2009+%252889%2529.JPG" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom, Joyce, & Elaine</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Right now, Joyce is doing a little bit better than she was mid to late last week, although her condition seems to go up and down from day to day. She improves a little, then takes a step back. The doctors were hopeful that she might be able to come home today (today is the 18th day that she has been in the hospital), but when I talked to my mom a little while ago, she said the doctor had not come in yet and that Joyce was feeling a little bit worse and in more pain than she has been the last few days, so I'm not sure if they will approve for her to go home or not. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fvCL6aCrf6U/Tnk5RTjo9jI/AAAAAAAABUc/2tgydRYIJMc/s1600/DSC_030222.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fvCL6aCrf6U/Tnk5RTjo9jI/AAAAAAAABUc/2tgydRYIJMc/s640/DSC_030222.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The whole fam: Mom, Dad, Me & Ryan, Matt, TJ, & Jamie to the right of Joyce. Elaine & Steve, Andrea & husband Jimmy, kids Alicia & AJ; Tina & husband Wes; & Eric to Joyce's left. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>To give the whole background...<br />
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Joyce was fine as far as we knew last month - she had less energy than normal and had not been feeling great, but had not been able to figure out exactly what it was. Two Fridays back, she was at home, getting ready to color her hair and had plans to go to dinner and a movie with a friend later that night when her doctor called and told her she needed to go to the hospital due to the results from her blood work a few days prior. Her hemoglobin was at a 6 (normal should be 11 or 12), so she had less than half the amount of blood pumping through her body than normal, hence the major sluggishness and lack of energy. Because her blood level was so dangerously low, they told her not to drive herself, so my mom went to pick her up and take her. When they got there, they admitted her, gave her two units of blood, and proceeded to run tests on her for the next four days. A CT Scan revealed something irregular on her abdomen and then a colonoscopy a few days later revealed that the irregularity was a cancerous tumor in her colon. They scheduled her for surgery that Friday to remove the tumor and take some lymph nodes to see if the cancer was contained or if it had begun to spread. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-msGOEyZVejk/Tnk4z_7RbTI/AAAAAAAABUY/7UftDU7fsmU/s1600/DSC_0295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-msGOEyZVejk/Tnk4z_7RbTI/AAAAAAAABUY/7UftDU7fsmU/s640/DSC_0295.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joycie with her two daughters and her two sons-in-law</td></tr>
</tbody></table>They successfully removed the tumor and about a 6-inch section of her colon last Friday (as in 11 days ago, not this past Friday) along with her gallbladder (decision they made once they had her opened up) and removed 18 lymph nodes to biopsy and did not see any other visible traces of cancer. And I'm not kidding, half the waiting room was people there for Joyce's 2-3 hour surgery :) The surgeon came out after surgery and said "I heard there was a whole crowd out here for Joyce". Anyways, when we met with the doctor after her surgery, he said it went as well as it could go, so we were very excited and just waiting on the pathology report on the lymph nodes to come back to let us know if she was cancer free or if it had started to spread. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-acezLyh9uTQ/Tnk3WCODbUI/AAAAAAAABUI/y-zvvfipIv4/s1600/DSC01922.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-acezLyh9uTQ/Tnk3WCODbUI/AAAAAAAABUI/y-zvvfipIv4/s640/DSC01922.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom & Joyce at the cabin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>After a couple days, Joyce was supposed to be walking around and starting to introduce solid food gradually back into her diet, but instead started feeling worse and was in a lot of pain. Her condition deteriorated rapidly to the point that she could not get out of bed, hold her eyes open, or even talk. They finally realized that she had gotten a very contagious intestinal (of all places) infection called CDIF that is very dangerous for a person of her age and who has just had trauma to her currently not-functioning-properly colon. It was <b>very</b> serious and at one point on Wednesday, my mom told me that she thought Joyce was not going to make it. According to Mom, Joyce didn't seem to think she was going to make it through that day either and started saying her goodbyes and making final preparations - that was a rough day for all of us. <br />
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The worst part about it all is that once they found out about the infection, they put her in isolation and no one could see her other than my mom and my aunt Elaine who had already been around her every day (we had not gone to the hospital to see her the previous couple of days because she was feeling so weak that she was not up for visitors). This has been really hard for both my mom and Elaine as they have watched Joyce deteriorate before their eyes. It has been emotionally and physically draining for them - for my mom because before this weekend, she had been at the hospital for 14 days straight and had only been home twice (she would go to Elaine's house to sleep when she didn't stay in Joyce's room because they live much closer to the hospital than my parents do) and with Elaine working full time and being sick (elementary school teacher at the start of a school year), Mom has spent most of the last two weeks up there going through this time of uncertainty alone, writing everything the doctors were saying in a notebook just so she could keep up. And then for Elaine, in addition to going through all of this herself, she is working full time and has been sick...so it has just been exhausting for both of them, and hard for all of the rest of us to not be able to visit Joyce or be there for Mom and Elaine. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XXHOa-FoXHs/Tnk3vfDs6xI/AAAAAAAABUM/DpAz_DHHO9o/s1600/DSC01923.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XXHOa-FoXHs/Tnk3vfDs6xI/AAAAAAAABUM/DpAz_DHHO9o/s640/DSC01923.JPG" width="480" /></a></div><br />
Last week, we also found out that of the 18 lymph nodes that they removed, 16 were clean but 2 had traces of the cancer. They brought an oncologist on, who established that she has Stage 3 Colon Cancer, and has said that chemo would be an option, but only if Joyce is well and gets her strength back, so right now there has not been much talk or thinking about that decision at all yet...she still has a long way to go to get to the point of being able to make that decision. There are a lot of risks with chemo, so there will likely be some tough decisions ahead.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-90SdkEraYQI/Tnk4E8x-TbI/AAAAAAAABUQ/Zd-NNgPWLIk/s1600/DSC01928%25282%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-90SdkEraYQI/Tnk4E8x-TbI/AAAAAAAABUQ/Zd-NNgPWLIk/s640/DSC01928%25282%2529.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
Through it all though, God has used so many of you to remind us of His goodness, His love, and that His will and His plan are for <span style="font-size: large;"><b>His glory</b> </span>and <span style="font-size: large;"><b>His good</b></span>. The power of prayer is so amazing, and though Joyce's situation has not improved significantly and there remains so much uncertainty yet ahead, I have so many times felt God's peace that surpasses ALL understanding that I <u><b>know</b></u><b> </b>has been prayed over us. It is a comfort to know that our God is not only Joyce's Creator, but also her Great Physician. And this weekend, God blessed us beyond what we could have even thought to pray for. Mom says He sent us an angel...and He really did. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z8O0dsUz2nc/Tnk4cwRxV-I/AAAAAAAABUU/xEh8IbwgYHo/s1600/DSC01949.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z8O0dsUz2nc/Tnk4cwRxV-I/AAAAAAAABUU/xEh8IbwgYHo/s640/DSC01949.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Mom and Elaine have been so anxious about what they will do when Joyce is released to go home. Mom has said so many times that many times it takes two or three nurses to help Joyce do things that she has to do in order to get better and she doesn't know what they'll do when they take her home. Well, last Wednesday night, after talking to my mom on the phone and her telling me that she didn't think Joyce was going to make it through this infection, I put a post on facebook about Joyce's situation asking for prayer. One of my mom's best friends who lives in the UAE (United Arab Emirates) is a nurse and saw my post (they had just gotten internet and it was her first time online in several weeks), and messaged me asking all the medically detailed questions about Joyce. I got the message during the night and since I couldn't sleep, I got up and went ahead and responded with all of the details. The next morning, Ginny messaged me back saying that she had thought and prayed about a way to help and that she had <span style="font-size: large;"><b>booked a (15-hr) flight</b> </span>(!!) to fly across the world from Dubai to Atlanta to come take care of Joyce and relieve my mom and Elaine in a way that none of the rest of us could. Ginny wanted to surprise my mom, so my dad and I went down to the airport to pick Ginny up early Saturday morning and brought her back home (mom came home Friday night to spend the weekend while Elaine stayed with Joyce since she is no longer sick). Saying that Mom was <b><span style="font-size: large;">shocked</span> </b>to see Ginny is an understatement. She burst into tears and they hugged and cried for the next half hour. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F17qeX5b09A/Tnk6BKmoCEI/AAAAAAAABUk/wJTlQ5mS2xg/s1600/IMG_0207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F17qeX5b09A/Tnk6BKmoCEI/AAAAAAAABUk/wJTlQ5mS2xg/s640/IMG_0207.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Joycie has sat through her share of football games. TJ introduced her to "the swamp".</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I think having Ginny here for the weekend, while Mom caught up (some) on rest and Ginny recovered from jet lag was good therapy for my mom - we hung around the house in comfy clothes, we got pedicures, and just sat around sipping coffee and talking. Mom cried when she called both Joyce and Elaine to tell them. What a relief and an incredible blessing, not only for Joyce, for Mom and Elaine, but for ALL of us in our family who have felt so helpless to do anything to help any of the three of them. A relief to know that Joyce is being cared for properly by someone who treats her like her own family member. And a relief to know that now when she is sent home, Ginny will be there to help during the transition (she is here for two weeks). And such a relief to know that Ginny is there with my mom and Elaine when all the rest of us can't be. What an act of love from an amazing friend!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y6lNhe_0-78/Tnk5qhkFftI/AAAAAAAABUg/Xw9_r9bfN9c/s1600/IMG_0174.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y6lNhe_0-78/Tnk5qhkFftI/AAAAAAAABUg/Xw9_r9bfN9c/s640/IMG_0174.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At another football game - Duke @ Clemson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I'll try to give updates as I hear things. Meanwhile, thank you so much for praying for our family - we have been so encouraged by so many of you. <br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/Signaturecopy.png" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-50899857336106257362011-06-30T00:03:00.002-04:002011-08-07T17:59:06.861-04:00Macedonia Team Meeting & MovingRyan, Matt, Summer, Wes, and I all crammed into my little Honda Accord a couple of weekends ago and road-tripped our way to Durham for our second and last Macedonia team meeting. Our entire team was there this time and we were able to Skype with Brian, the missionary from The Summit who lives in Macedonia that we will be working with.<br />
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Our meeting really got us excited about going!! As it turns out, the football camp that had started out as an afterthought since we just happened to have three former football players on the team has turned into one of the main parts of the trip. It's awesome to see how God has gifted Ryan, Matt and Wes with their football abilities not only to provide them with a college scholarship, their education, and a platform to be a Christian example among their teammates, but also how they are able to now use that God-given ability to minister to people in a huge way across the world! Just when they thought that football chapter of their lives had come to an end... :)<br />
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Initially we were supposed to work on a project with the Red Cross in the mornings and then do the football camp and English classes in the afternoons. But once Brian started talking with the Red Cross Director, who has lifeguards stationed at all of the beaches in Ohrid, about us coming, the director actually recommended having the Red Cross lifeguards block off their main beach so that we could conduct the football camp all day! Brian mentioned that one of the biggest ways mission teams can help their ministry is to do things that bring in lots of people, so we hope this will do that. So exciting!!<br />
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It sounds like there may be a bigger turn-out for the football camp than we initially thought, so since we may be doing it all day, some of us girls may even help some and then we will probably utilize the opportunity of having so many people in one place to conduct informal mini-English sessions every couple of hours on the side, encouraging the people we meet to meet up with us later in the evening at the coffee shop for more formal English classes.<br />
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The Red Cross does have a project that we can still work on, so we may have a couple people go and work on that for a couple hours at a time. It sounds like there will be a lot for us to do! In addition to the football camp, English classes, and Red Cross project, we hope to be able to minister to and encourage Brian and Mandy and their family as well. They have two little kids, so maybe Summer and I can babysit one night so they can have a date night or something. :)<br />
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While our whole team was together, we were able to get a group picture! Please continue to pray for us as we prepare to leave for Macedonia in 23 days! <br />
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On another note, we are finally moving! We found an awesome condo in Dunwoody, right between Ryan's office in Buckhead and mine in Alpharetta (we'll both have about 15 minute commutes) and moving day is set for Saturday! woohooo!!!! We found it a couple months ago, but it was not available until July, so we have just been waiting until we were able to move in. We will definitely miss Buford and being close to family and close friends, but it will be nice to gain two more hours back in our day and have more time together, be able to actually cook dinner every night again... ahh, can't wait! God is good - it amazes me how He constantly provides all of our needs! :)<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/Signaturecopy.png" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-52889806671482946982011-06-09T21:18:00.009-04:002011-08-07T17:58:29.299-04:00Going to Охрид, Македонија<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
...or in English, that's Ohrid, Macedonia.</div><br />
Ryan and I will be heading there on July 22nd on a mission trip with a team of ten people from our church, The Summit Church, in Durham. We are SO excited to be a part of this team!<br />
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While Ryan and I from early in our marriage have tried to make it a priority to constantly recognize and serve in the mission field that God has placed us in (our friends and family, our work places, our community, etc...), we have also prepared ourselves for a time when God might open the door to an opportunity for us to serve Him and share God's love and His word with others someplace away from home. As Americans, we have been so blessed with so many freedoms and luxuries in life that we take for granted every day. It is easy to forget that there are people groups around the world that do not have "churches on every street corner" or people who have a relationship with Christ and can share God's love and His hope and truth with them or small groups to meet with to study God's word and gain encouragement from.<br />
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So, when this opportunity came up for us to travel to the town of Ohrid, Macedonia to work with a family that lives and serves there as permanent missionaries, we spent a couple weeks praying and seeking God's direction on this opportunity and ultimately felt that He was opening the door for us to go. <br />
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We hesitated at first to go on a mission trip through the Summit, only because having just moved back to the Atlanta area, we thought maybe we should wait until we found a church here before going on a mission trip. But we LOVED our church in Durham - it's heart for missions and taking the gospel around the country and around the world is contagious. It seemed that every few weeks we as a congregation were praying over families who were leaving jobs and families to uproot and move their young families overseas into full-time mission work to plant churches. The Summit has a goal to plant 1,000 churches in 40 years around the world in areas where the church is needed most. Our church has sent many missionaries to closed countries, to U.S. cities...all over. And while they are very focused on "sending", they are just as focused, if not more, on serving the Raleigh/Durham community. We just felt so blessed to be a part of that church and our small group for the past two and a half years, so although we no longer live there, we are extremely excited to be going with The Summit. <br />
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Secondly, we were hesitant because we didn't want to serve on a mission team with people we would never see or keep in touch with afterward since we just moved away from RDU. However, my brother Matt, his roommate Wes (both attended the Summit with us), and a friend Summer (from Buford) are all a part of our team going to Macedonia, so we're also super excited about serving alongside each of them. On a side note...during our time in Durham, I had spent months praying for Matt to recognize his need for God's guidance in his life as it was his nature to always be in control and have total dependence on himself rather than be able to depend and trust God with his life. And after months and months of praying and feeling discouraged that God was not doing anything, Matt shared with Ryan and I that God had been working in his life over the past few months (those same months I had been praying!), had been humbling him and showing him his need for total dependence on the Lord to take and direct his life (exactly what I had been praying for!). Over the past year, it has been amazing to see the way that Matt's life and heart have changed as he completely seeks after the Lord's will for his life. Together, Matt and Wes, along with their friend and teammate Adam, pursued their walks with the Lord and spent time in Bible study with Ryan on a weekly basis until we moved. After we moved back to Georgia, Matt is actually the one who found out about this mission opportunity to Macedonia, pursued more information on it, signed up for it, and then asked us if we would be interested in going.<br />
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Another kinda cool story...one day right before the application deadline when Ryan and I were praying and seeking whether or not God had us going as part of this team to Macedonia or not, we were reading through Acts together and came across this passage:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><i>"...During the night Paul had a vision of a man of <b>Macedonia </b>standing and begging him, 'Come over to <b>Macedonia </b>and help us.' After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for <b>Macedonia</b>, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them". Acts 16:9-10 </i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Crazy, huh? We didn't take this as a "sign" or base our decision off of just this passage, but it was pretty cool reading this as we were trying to make a decision. </div><br />
So now that I've given you the "how" and "why" of us going, let me give you a little background on where we're going, who we'll be working with, and what we'll be doing there... <br />
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Macedonia is a small country north of Greece, surrounded by Albania, Kosovo, and Bulgaria on it's other sides. It's part of the former Yugoslavia and has only been independent from a 500-year Turkish rule since 1991. Ohrid, the town we're going to is in the southwest corner of Macedonia, near Albania and is made up mostly of Macedonians, but also many Albanians. At one point centuries ago, Ohrid was actually known for its many churches (Paul traveled through this area on two of his missionary journeys when the early church was established...how cool is that??). A family from The Summit has been living in Ohrid as full time missionaries through the IMB (International Mission Board) for the last several years trying to build relationships with the people there and have been preparing to plant a church there. They have established a coffee shop where they talk with people and provide Christian reading materials in the Macedonian language. Several have become believers in Christ and have been meeting with Brian and Mandy and their team for Bible Study and from what we understand, they are in a position to launch the church very soon.<br />
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As the Macedonian people are very interested in and curious about American culture, our team will be spending the mornings working on a project (project specifics TBD) with the Red Cross and will spend our afternoons teaching English workshops while Ryan, Matt, and Wes head up an American football camp with our team leader Doug and Brian, the missionary who is making all the arrangements and plans for our team.<br />
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I can't say enough how excited we are to be going to Macedonia!!! As we plan, pack, and prepare for this trip, we would so appreciate your prayers! Please be praying for Brian and Mandy and the group of believers that they have been meeting with and for the church that is soon to be planted in Ohrid. Please pray for our team - we will be traveling to Durham and Wes will be flying in from Texas this weekend to meet with the rest of our team and talk with Brian over Skype. Please also pray that God would prepare our hearts to be His servants during the week of July 22-31 and that God would do awesome things in Macedonia through our team.<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/Signaturecopy.png" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-77420898457808109272011-05-21T14:18:00.000-04:002011-05-21T14:18:47.747-04:00Introducing "Duke"<div style="text-align: left;">We want a dog. Like real bad. But the timing just isn't right...we're living in a basement, we're gone all day, we're going to be in a rental living situation for the next year with no yard... </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So instead of getting a puppy, we satisfied our puppy fix by going in with TJ and Jamie to get a puppy for Matt for graduation. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Meet "Duke". </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">We have all grown quite attached and Matt has become quite the proud parent.<br />
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Ryan and I found out about the puppy from a friend whose aunt and uncle had a litter...in Florida. Since we couldn't have a dog, I mentioned it to TJ since the farm was not far from Gainesville (FL). Now isn't the best time for him to have a dog either (with a full time summer job and then another semester left of school), so we talked about maybe getting it for Matt for graduation. TJ went to see the dog, of course couldn't turn down his little puppy eyes, so with a week left of school, he took him home with him. In that week TJ got pretty attached and wanted to keep him, but in reality, he knew Matt would have more time to spend with him, so he decided to give up the pup so we could all give him to Matt as a graduation gift. </div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
He brought him home that weekend, handed him off to me and Ryan, and we drove him up to Durham to Matt.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dzo7oQXI5UQ/TdgBTcjznZI/AAAAAAAABTU/4CVIlqBUbfs/s1600/TJ+saying+bye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="402" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dzo7oQXI5UQ/TdgBTcjznZI/AAAAAAAABTU/4CVIlqBUbfs/s640/TJ+saying+bye.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">TJ saying bye to Duke. </td></tr>
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That baby just laid on my lap or at my feet the entire 5 hour drive. He is sooo sweet and has such a good personality! We drove straight to Matt's track meet and the little guy sat through the rain and watched Matt run before getting to meet his new "dad". </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">check out the cow-lick on his tail!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-orhxQP2ZCLI/Tdbwb3pCHgI/AAAAAAAABSs/x0mvsj0F_Vo/s1600/DSC_0616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-orhxQP2ZCLI/Tdbwb3pCHgI/AAAAAAAABSs/x0mvsj0F_Vo/s640/DSC_0616.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He cheered Matt on in his race</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt got to meet "Duke" after he ran his prelims</td></tr>
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On Saturday, Duke sat through another day at the track meet. Instead of rain, we got heat...he tried staying cool by sleeping under the shade of the bleacher. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nbbMdjw3Kog/Tdb3UGHiz_I/AAAAAAAABSw/8E0jxzgok7s/s1600/DSC_0713.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nbbMdjw3Kog/Tdb3UGHiz_I/AAAAAAAABSw/8E0jxzgok7s/s640/DSC_0713.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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</tbody></table><span id="goog_1451865425">Isn't he cute?? I want a puppy!</span><span id="goog_1451865426"></span><br />
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<span id="goog_1451865425"></span><span id="goog_1451865426"></span>Matt started working with him right away on sitting, staying, fetching, going outside to pee...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NP0v0PepcFg/Tdf6lHRkwsI/AAAAAAAABS8/U-QqB7oA59E/s1600/Duke+learning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-NP0v0PepcFg/Tdf6lHRkwsI/AAAAAAAABS8/U-QqB7oA59E/s640/Duke+learning.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span id="goog_1451865425"></span><span id="goog_1451865426"></span><br />
<span id="goog_1451865425">I think he likes his graduation gift. He was just lucky that we were needing a puppy fix ourselves, but couldn't have one of our own. ;)</span><br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/Signaturecopy.png" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-48617451623549153332011-05-02T23:23:00.000-04:002011-05-02T23:23:01.779-04:00A blog post...what?Well heeeey there! It's been a while...<br />
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We're clearly not "all about our North Carolina life" anymore. It's clearly no longer football season. And I've clearly abandoned our blog...which is clearly in dire need of a makeover!<br />
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But I just thought I'd pop in and give a lil' Georgia update and maybe catch up a tad.<br />
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In short...life is good. We've gotten settled into our "terrace level suite" as we like to refer to our basement lodgings at the in-laws house. We are soo so thankful that they have let us stay with them so long while we sold our house and have tried to find a place to live in Atlanta. Thankfully the selling the house part was easier than deciding on a place to live here...imagine that (and Praise God)! We have at least narrowed our choices down to a couple of options and should hopefully be getting moved into something soon.<br />
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Ryan is liking his job at JLL, but he stays really busy and gone a lot, partly due to his outrageous commute everyday. I started working recently for a company called Roam Atlanta (you can check that out at www.roamatlanta.com ) in Alpharetta and also have about a 50 minute commute each way. So we are definitely anxious to move closer. I am really liking my new job a lot though! It has given me a great opportunity to meet all kinds of interesting people...mostly entrepreneurs and small business owners. Every day is interesting and I love all of the people I work with and get to talk to every day. <br />
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Other than the major updates (living and job situations), we have stayed busy lately with weddings of a couple of our good friends... Ryan's roommate from college got married in Pittsburgh, so we had a miniature Duke reunion with a lot of friends up there, and then one of my best friends from high school and college, Breanne, got married a couple of weekends later. Between bachelor/bachelorette parties, showers, rehearsals, rehearsal dinners, and actual weddings, we got to spend a lot of time with friends and had a lot of fun reconnecting and catching up with people we've missed over the last couple of years.<br />
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As for other things going on...TJ is home for the summer, getting to experience an actual summer break for the first time in years. The same goes for Matt now that football is over too. He is still at Duke finishing up his one and only track season, then he'll be joining TJ on his first ever true summer break as well. Jamie is finishing up her freshman year at UGA and will also be heading home after finals. It's crazy that all four of us will be home this summer! <br />
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Ryan and I made it to Duke last weekend to watch Matt run in the ACC Track Championships that were hosted by Duke. It was so fun to see Matt run! The last track meet he ran in was his senior year of high school. He won state in the 200m and was 1st runner up in the 100m his senior year and I was on a plane headed to New Zealand for my study abroad and missed it! Now that his football career is over, this was his first spring free of football workouts and spring practices, so for fun, he decided to squeeze in a track season after four years of not running just to see how he would do. He was hindered for most of the season by a pulled hamstring, but he still did well in the ACC Championships and Duke was really excited to have him on their sprint team this spring.<br />
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Day 1 of prelims was nasty and rainy out, but he won his heat in the 400m and got 2nd place overall.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Matt ran in the finals on Saturday and placed 7th in the ACC in the 400m. </div><br />
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We stayed with our good friends, the Densmores, for the weekend and got to celebrate Easter weekend with them. I helped Marnie put together the Easter baskets after Caden (4) and Asher (13 mos.) went to bed and didn't realize until the next morning that one of them had been for us. Ha, Marnie and her slyness! We did enjoy that basket of candy on the ride home though!<br />
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It was so fun getting to spend some time with their sweet kids too. Caden and Asher are seriously two of the cutest and funniest kids I've ever been around. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Just look at Asher. Those eyes! And couldn't you just eat his cheeks??</div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>And that Caden...he holds a special place in our hearts. He can be really shy around people and take a while to warm up. But he became comfortable around us early on in our friendship with the Densmores and rarely gets shy around us. Even after months of living in Georgia, he was still excited to see us and acted just like we had never left. Marnie said that when we were driving up, he was asking when we were going to get there. :) I just love him! He's so funny too...the second I pull my camera out, he gets camera-shy and tries to hide from the camera. So I try to catch him when he doesn't realize I'm trying to take a picture of him. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KxlZJDak5DY/Tb9seaTAy2I/AAAAAAAABKU/v4m-RCZykjU/s1600/DSC_0738.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KxlZJDak5DY/Tb9seaTAy2I/AAAAAAAABKU/v4m-RCZykjU/s640/DSC_0738.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br />
And on a side note...this kid is a trooper. He sat through two days of the track meet, including Friday in the rain... and apparently runs around his house with a baton and hurdles these days. ;) <br />
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But once this weekend, just out of the blue, he turned around and said, "hey, take a picture of me running" and then just took off running down the sidewalk. haha! <br />
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After Marnie explained that if he would let me take his picture, he could see them on the computer later, he finally warmed up to the camera. For the first time ever! His big ole' personality completely came out of his camera-shy shell and gave me some goofball Caden poses. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e8JH66sm1Co/Tb9vvxdWw9I/AAAAAAAABKk/wbi7ynV3WOw/s1600/DSC_0787.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-e8JH66sm1Co/Tb9vvxdWw9I/AAAAAAAABKk/wbi7ynV3WOw/s640/DSC_0787.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Ha, Charlie told him to do a "hang ten", but he got stuck on the "hook 'em horns"... </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">but then he got it! :) </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">and a "real ten" </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"> Cute, cute, cute! We miss you guys...and all of our other Durham friends!!!</div><br />
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<span id="goog_1067356325"></span><span id="goog_1067356326"></span><img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-22518456471407131712010-12-07T15:55:00.000-05:002010-12-07T15:55:30.551-05:00Welcome to the Peach State!Well, we're here!<br />
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And as usual, it takes me a while to get around to updating the blog, but we've been back in Buford, GA for a full week now. And I will finally say it. "It feels good to be 'home'". Maybe it's because it's Christmas time. Maybe it's because we haven't been away from Durham for too long yet. Maybe it's because it's only been a week since we've seen all of our Durham friends, co-workers, and been to the Summit church, but so far, it does feel good to be here.<br />
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I know I alluded to it being hard to leave even though we were moving "home", but it was actually <b>really </b>hard for me. Close to awful, actually. That last week in Durham was just sad. It was sad because it was such a great week filled with all of our favorite things that it made it just that much harder to leave. The last day we were there was Sunday and I literally was on the verge of tears the entire day. It started with the first song at the beginning of the church service and I finally did burst out in tears when we bumped into some of our friends from our small group on the way out. We stopped by our friends' Adam and Melissa's house for a little bit that afternoon, then had Matt, Wes and Adam over for a steak dinner Sunday night - "the last supper" we called it. boo. hoo. <br />
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Anyways, even though we were headed home, I just dreaded it. Surprising, isn't it? I always thought I wanted to live back in Georgia eventually, so why was it so hard to move back? I think because God blessed us tremendously during our two and a half years in Durham with amazing friends who became our family while we were there, with an incredible church that is serving that community in awesome ways, and just surrounded us by great people that were SO hard to leave. Not only did He provide for us in so many ways, but He also taught us so much while we were there. If we stay in Georgia for the rest of our lives, I'll always be thankful for the two and a half years we had in Durham. I think being away from home was the best thing for us and for the start of our marriage. We really learned so much these last couple of years and have learned to depend on each other and fully rely on God for everything. And those lessons have been priceless.<br />
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We got a late start headed south last Monday, and didn't get here until that night. But ever since our arrival, it has just been nice to be home. We unpacked and visited with Ryan's parents on Tuesday and ran some errands at the mall for things Ryan needed to start his job. He started working on Wednesday, so I've been on my own. I thought having the days to myself, being alone and without a job to keep me busy right away, would be the worst thing since I was away from everything I had just left behind, but I have actually stayed really busy and friends have just so warmly welcomed us back. Some things that have kept me busy and also helped the transition tremendously over the past week have been:<br />
<ul><li>Going to lunch on Wednesday (Ryan's first day of work) with two of my best friends from childhood, Erin and Julie.</li>
<li>Taking an afternoon on Thursday to visit the old college campus and have lunch with Jamie in Athens...and check out her dorm, buy a new "UGA Alumni" car decal for my car, and get frozen yogurt with her and Jennica. </li>
<li>Christmas errands and Cheesecake Factory with my mom and her best friend, Lisa.</li>
<li>Making it to a Friday night Buford football game. They're still good - playing in the state championship on Friday!</li>
<li>Going to my good friend Susan's baby shower for the twins that we have prayed for and waited for with Susan and Chris for years. </li>
<li>Watching the SEC Championship game with good friends (and Auburn grads), Julie and Rob. {Ryan has had his heart set on a German Shepherd for two years now from being around their dog, Bo. Being with them Saturday only made it worse!}</li>
<li>Decorating the Wood's Christmas tree by the fire...ahh, love it!</li>
<li>Going to church at Blackshear Place and seeing so many family friends</li>
<li>Decorating my parents' Christmas tree and hanging the stockings on the fireplace</li>
<li>and of course, some Christmas shopping at the good ole' Mall of Georgia! </li>
</ul><br />
And this weekend, we have - well, just on Friday alone, we have the Buford State Championship game at the Georgia Dome, then Ryan's company Christmas party (any advice on what I should wear for the "South Beach Chick" attire??), followed by a tacky Christmas sweater party with some friends in Atlanta we haven't seen in a long time. Then on Saturday, we have an engagement party for one of my best friends, Breanne and her fiance Knox. ...so a lot going on!<br />
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Lots of fun stuff to welcome us back and make it feel like we never left. Lots of friendships that have picked right back up where we left off two and a half years ago.<br />
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Still to be determined though... a job for me, where to live in Atlanta, and what church to get plugged into. Anyone hiring? :) <br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-15131918589253768912010-11-20T23:51:00.000-05:002010-11-20T23:51:27.308-05:00The way to travel...It's 10:25 pm (well, it was when I started this post - I got a little sidetracked between then and now though...) and we've been home from Georgia Tech for two hours already. Team travel is the way to go. Seriously. If I could travel everywhere like we traveled this weekend, it'd be amazing and I'd be fat.<br />
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We had planned to drive to Atlanta for the Georgia Tech game, but when I mentioned our plans to Stan, one of the guys I work for, he made arrangements for us to be a part of the travel party and travel with the team to Georgia Tech. Talk about the way to travel - it's like VIP treatment! Stan hooked us up since he knew it would be way more convenient for us than driving, but also as a fun last hoorah before I leave. <br />
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Apparently guys are a little less detail oriented than us girls because none of them...not Ryan, not Matt, not TJ...has ever mentioned the treatment they get on away trips before. <br />
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It all started before we even departed from the airport. We parked at general aviation, never even stepped foot in a terminal, just went through a single line of security set up specifically for our travel party. Then we walked straight up to the airplane and boarded via the stairs. It reminded me of the President boarding Air Force One...on a smaller, less important scale of course. :) Before boarding the plane, we grabbed a food bag and chose between the sandwich, philly cheese steak and chicken fingers. When I opened my bag of food on the plane, it was never-ending! <br />
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Then, when we arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson in ATL, one of the busiest airports in the world, we got off at a separate area - not a gate- where the charter buses had pulled right up next to the plane. We had a police escort to the hotel and this may have been the craziest part of the whole thing. We got on 285 during the middle of 6 lanes of stand-still traffic and the police just stopped the cars in all lanes and we made a beeline for the HOV. Once there, I was like well that was cool, but what now...no one in front of us can go anywhere and it might as well be a parking lot. Cars weren't moving. Well, with that police escort, cars pulled over out of the HOV lane and we went right on ahead. When we reached our exit, the police blocked off the lanes again so all four buses could just dart over to the exit. It was like the parting of the sea lol. The cars in all lanes just stopped on the middle of the highway for us to cross. <br />
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When we got to the Westin Peachtree Plaza, we got our room key and to the horror of my elevator phobia, our room was on the 36th floor. Juuust wonderful! Actually, these elevators weren't too bad and the view wasn't at all bad, so it was fun. Seriously though, my second thought after Stan made arrangements for us to travel was "oh crap, the Westin is one TALL building - I sure hope we're not on a high floor". And I was legitimately concerned about it until we got there. Crazy and stupid, I know. :)<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOidImVy9eI/AAAAAAAABIs/mzzG_eUi6ag/s1600/DSC03550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOidImVy9eI/AAAAAAAABIs/mzzG_eUi6ag/s640/DSC03550.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">view from our room to the left - downtown Atlanta </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOic1pwtIoI/AAAAAAAABIo/AKtyXWWFtqc/s1600/DSC03547.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOic1pwtIoI/AAAAAAAABIo/AKtyXWWFtqc/s640/DSC03547.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and view to the right - my beloved Georgia Dome, where the Falcons play! :) ...and CNN Center, Centennial Olympic Park, etc. </td></tr>
</tbody></table> Several of the parents greeted the team (my parents and Wes' parents who were staying at my parents' house included), so Matt and Wes came down and we all hung out for a couple hours before dinner time. For dinner, Ryan and I went with a large group of athletics and campus administrators to Ray's in the City - delicious! Then we hung out in the Sun Dial room afterwards until we headed to bed.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Ray's in the City with Stan and Ramona</td></tr>
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<br />
After a Starbucks breakfast in the hotel, we once again loaded the charter buses and headed to the stadium with our police escort. We hit a couple of tailgates - one with some football alum guys and one with the player's families. Then Ryan and I headed up to the AD's box for the first half of the game, which included...of course...more food! We moved down to the stands for the second half to sit with my parents, Jamie and a couple of her friends.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ryan and I in the visiting AD's suite</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOidk4H3QcI/AAAAAAAABI0/Hvy8qHrLLkQ/s1600/DSC03555%2528edit%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOidk4H3QcI/AAAAAAAABI0/Hvy8qHrLLkQ/s640/DSC03555%2528edit%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Duke Athletics ladies I'm going to MISS!!! Cindy, Nina, and Ramona! ...and "Bubba King" in Nina's belly! :)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOiesFMcOkI/AAAAAAAABJI/lCiBWeGVcgY/s1600/DSC_09982.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOiesFMcOkI/AAAAAAAABJI/lCiBWeGVcgY/s640/DSC_09982.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt and Banks' high five ritual before kickoff</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOiehqdIeMI/AAAAAAAABJE/gORCcV43uRU/s1600/DSC_0992%2528crop2%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOiehqdIeMI/AAAAAAAABJE/gORCcV43uRU/s640/DSC_0992%2528crop2%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and Egboh making a play!</td></tr>
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After visiting with the players after the game, we loaded up and headed back to the airport. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOid3jxmImI/AAAAAAAABI4/xuvkGNeUVT0/s1600/DSC03566.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOid3jxmImI/AAAAAAAABI4/xuvkGNeUVT0/s640/DSC03566.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mom, Dad, me, Ryan, Matt and Jamie + Summer and Jamie's friends Alysha and Elizabeth</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOieJPrd2LI/AAAAAAAABI8/EVqEjr5joLU/s1600/DSC03569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOieJPrd2LI/AAAAAAAABI8/EVqEjr5joLU/s640/DSC03569.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banks and Matt showing off their 'staches for no shave November. Wes really has the best mustache going on, but he was already on the bus. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOieZU-M2nI/AAAAAAAABJA/5Zcftg6vU5Q/s1600/DSC03570%2528edit%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TOieZU-M2nI/AAAAAAAABJA/5Zcftg6vU5Q/s640/DSC03570%2528edit%2529.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This picture is majorly lacking TJ!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table> Again, we walked straight onto the plane after grabbing yet another heaping bag of food, which was followed by Dove ice cream bars that the flight attendants handed out once we were in the air. And by 8:15 pm, we were back in our car, headed home! And with our days in Durham dwindling, we gained a much-needed free full day by being in Durham all day tomorrow instead of spending our day driving back. <br />
<br />
It was so fun to experience traveling with the team - to see what it's like from the player's perspective. With Ryan, Matt, and TJ doing this on a regular basis, it's fun to see what game weekends are like to them!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-467891074829964002010-11-11T16:50:00.000-05:002010-11-11T16:50:47.318-05:00The Move (and all the details!)Well - it's official. Official because it's now been posted to facebook...and everything becomes official at that point right? So, for anyone who missed it on facebook...<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="font-size: large;">We're moving to Atlanta!!!</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">In two and a half weeks! </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">And I am just a mess of all kinds of emotions. So excited yet SO sad! We're going to be close to both of our families, and the parts of our families that are not in Atlanta (TJ in Gainesville, FL, and Norrises in Tuscaloosa, AL will be 5 hours closer than they are now. TJ 5 hours away instead of 10 and Norrises 3 hours away instead of 8. But Matt will go from being a couple minutes down the road to 5 hours away...until he graduates in May anyways. At which point, he better move to Atlanta too because I've become quite attached to having him close-by. </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Ok, so here's the scoop.... So, first of all, we bought a house a couple months back, that I've mentioned in passing on here, but not given the details of yet. How's that for crazy timing?? We've lived in it and become quite attached to our "first home" over the last couple of months, fully unpacked and decorated it and made it home. And let me mention that I am NOT A FAN OF MOVING! yuck! It was my first ever big move in my entire life and it was not fun, so you can imagine my excitement at having to do it again in such a short amount of time! (any volunteers??? haha...i'm kidding. kinda :))<br />
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So, we buy this house, then out of the blue...Ryan gets an email from a commercial real estate company in Atlanta saying that they are hiring for a position and had his resume on file and that they'd like to interview him. First question we had was "where did they even get his resume?" He did have a couple of contacts in that company, so looking back, we remembered that before he graduated and secured his job here, he had set up some meetings over Christmas break two years ago with some people in Atlanta just to network and one of the meetings that never worked out had asked for his resume to keep on file, so we assume that is where it came from. So they still had it and I guess it got put in the stack of resumes when they started the hiring process for this position. Both being from the Atlanta area and with that being where our families are, we had hoped to end up back there sometime down the road...although the longer we've been here in Durham, the more we were getting settled here. So we weren't sure how serious we were about the position initially, but how do you turn down an interview like that, in our hometown and everything? So, if for no other reason than networking for future opportunities, he went down to interview. Long story short...three trips to Atlanta, and lots of prayer later, we felt that it was a really good opportunity for him and the direction we should go. <br />
<br />
<strong><span style="font-size: large;">So............. </span></strong><br />
the house goes on the market and it's time to pack up everything I've just finished unpacking! <br />
(can't you just feel my excitement??) ;p<br />
<br />
And since everyone is asking what comes next for us, here is the plan for now...<br />
<br />
Ryan starts his new job, working as an Industrial Broker for Jones Lang LaSalle in Atlanta, on December 1st. We are both going to work until theWednesday before Thanksgiving, then we'll be here through that Saturday for the Duke/UNC football game - Matt's last college football game! - and then we'll move the next day on Sunday, he'll start work that Wednesday. We're planning to live in Ryan's parents' basement right away to give us a little time to sell our house and scope out the areas that we could live. The debate is between living in the city (and if so, what area...Buckhead, Vinings, Virginia Highlands have been recommended) or living outside the city in a suburb of Atlanta (Alpharetta, Marietta, Smyrna...??), but not as far out as our families because that would probably be way too much of a commute when you factor in rush hour traffic. <br />
<br />
I don't have a job lined up yet and have not quite started searching yet. Between having a ton to wrap up here at work and feeling like I'm running out of time to finish it all and then not having any idea what area of Atlanta we'll be living yet and since the move is only a couple weeks away, I'm going to wait til we get there and see where we think we'll be living before starting to job search. <br />
<br />
There are a ton of unknowns at this point - not having a clue where we'll live...not even what town, not having a job lined up is kinda scary, and then of course... finding a church, making new friends, finding a new "community". While it sounds like we're just "moving home", we will actually likely be 45 minutes or more, depending on where we land, from our Gainesville/Buford community, where all our family and friends are, so while we'll be much <span style="font-size: large;">much</span> closer to them than we're used to being, we'll still be far enough away that we can't just stop in and visit on the way home from work or do dinner on last minute notice. So, we'll definitely be starting over in the sense that we'll be finding a new church and new "community" of friends closer to Atlanta, wherever we end up living. That's the part I'm most sad about leaving here - we've found such awesome community and close-knit friends here that live right around us and moving there all of our friends will end up being a good distance away. It'll be such a tease to live in Buford for a little bit so close to everyone just to move farthur away soon after. But we know that the Lord has guided and directed our steps our whole lives and throughout our marriage so far and we know he will continue to guide and direct us in this situation as well. So, we're moving to Atlanta and just trusting Him to provide all of our needs and enjoying the peace of knowing that He is in control and He has a plan (Jeremiah 29:11...one of my all-time favorites!).<br />
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In light of moving away, I thought I'd do a series of posts on things that I love most about Durham. For those of you who have never been here, it'll be an introduction to all our favorite spots, people, things we'll miss, etc... but for me and Ryan, it'll be a good way to record and remember all of our favorite things about Durham that we can look back on. I'm holding myself to actually blogging about this one, so y'all hold me to it too! :)<br />
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And for all of you who have been asking "when are you going to put pics of the new house on the blog?", they're coming! The house is one of the things we'll miss about Durham, so there will be a post about it. <br />
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Also, to all of our friends in Gainesville/Buford - we're excited about seeing you in December! And to our friends in Atlanta - we're excited about hanging out and having y'all show us around! :)<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border-bottom: 0pt; border-left: 0pt; border-right: 0pt; border-top: 0pt;" /></div><br />
</div>Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-1676152957356429002010-11-10T13:11:00.001-05:002010-11-10T13:22:26.524-05:00Tuscaloosa TripWell, as usual, we've been busy! So busy that I can't even hardly get my pictures loaded onto the computer, much less into a blog post. So I apologize for the lack of updates. But blog posts are not as fun without pictures, so when I'm not caught up on pictures, then I just don't blog. A quick recap: lots of traveling, lots of football, lots of house projects, lots of big decisions (more on that later) and lots of work! That pretty much sums it up!<br />
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A quick recap of our football weekends lately...<br />
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We went to Tuscaloosa for the Florida/Bama game a few weeks back and stayed with Ryan's sister Rachel and her family and had a lot of fun with them. I hate to brag, but I'm pretty sure our nephew and nieces are the cutest kids in existence. I mean, just look at them...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoPJHsaV6I/AAAAAAAABHM/b2v46vhRO48/s1600/norris+kids.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="354" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoPJHsaV6I/AAAAAAAABHM/b2v46vhRO48/s640/norris+kids.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><u>ADORABLE! </u></i></b></span></div><br />
And seeing Ryan with those sweet little girls just melts my heart. It has me convinced that he's going to be a really good dad one day (not that I ever doubted that). And I thought it was so cute - but surprising - when Jeff (bro-in-law) asked if we want a girl first or a boy first whenever we have kids (Jeff always asks us random life questions like this lol) and without hesitation, Ryan said "a girl". [I had no idea that he even had a preference]. Needless to say, I think those cute little nieces have won over his heart. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoRSobs56I/AAAAAAAABHY/D4VzGuIOufI/s1600/ryan+with+girls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoRSobs56I/AAAAAAAABHY/D4VzGuIOufI/s640/ryan+with+girls.jpg" width="612" /></a></div><br />
They just love him! Samuel loves Ryan too, but in more of a play with me outside, rough and tumble, guy-to-guy kind of way. The girls though, they just love on him and snuggle up with him. Ellie Kate in the picture above (top right) kept fighting falling asleep but finally just conked out laying on him.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">We had lunch with Samuel at school and played lots of legos throughout the weekend! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoRh_Oql2I/AAAAAAAABHc/RWm_vOzoEXc/s1600/DSC_0945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoRh_Oql2I/AAAAAAAABHc/RWm_vOzoEXc/s640/DSC_0945.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
The girls had a dance party after they got all dressed up in their gameday attire. So cute - check out all of Abigail's moves and facial expressions lol! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoPLNzQ7bI/AAAAAAAABHQ/eA0gEQBYWoM/s1600/girls+dancing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoPLNzQ7bI/AAAAAAAABHQ/eA0gEQBYWoM/s640/girls+dancing.jpg" width="640" /></a></div> <br />
<div style="text-align: center;">But then when she realizes she's the center of attention, her classic "shy face" comes out...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoPWzLBEzI/AAAAAAAABHU/p-tOch3XYwQ/s1600/DSC_0895.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoPWzLBEzI/AAAAAAAABHU/p-tOch3XYwQ/s640/DSC_0895.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><u><i><b>Precious!!!</b></i></u></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">When game time finally rolled around, we headed over to campus and had dinner at the Alpha Chi house (Rachel's sorority) beside the stadium. I love that tradition and wish UGA did the same thing! Sorority row at Alabama lines the stadium and on game day, each house hosts a catered meal for all the current girls and their families and guests as well as all of the alumni and their family and guests. So it's a good way to bump into all kinds of people you went to school with that you might not normally keep in touch with and gives you an excuse to reconnect with all kinds of people. They just all bump into each other on game days and keep in so much better touch that way. We saw a lot of the Woods' family friends at the sorority house - I didn't realize they/we had so many Alabama Alpha Chi ties, but being the outsider, I actually knew a lot of people at the house. Ryan's pastor's wife was one and they were there, a friend of Ryan's and my family from high school is a current one so we saw her there, Jeff's sister was one, so his parents were there, Rachel and Ryan's cousin is a freshman Alpha Chi, so she and Ryan's aunt and uncle were there. It was so much fun! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoW4M4gHRI/AAAAAAAABHk/TdvhskXhZrg/s1600/DSC_10462.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoW4M4gHRI/AAAAAAAABHk/TdvhskXhZrg/s640/DSC_10462.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">After eating at the house, we went our separate ways. Us Florida folks over to catch the team getting off the bus and the Bama ones continued visiting at the house. I was so excited to see TJ - for the first time since he came to Durham for <a href="http://livingthewoodlife.blogspot.com/2010/07/surprise.html">Matt's birthday</a> in July - but goodness gracious, I had to shove like 5 girls off of him to just hug his neck. As soon as he got off the bus, he spotted us and headed our way. When he got over to us, this girl standing in front of us thought he was coming for her, so she grabbed him as soon as he was in reaching distance and gave him a big hug...and then I think she realized "oh wait...mom and sister...that's probably who he was reaching out for" haha. Then another girl was like "TJ, can I have a kiss?" and when he was reaching over the first girl to hug mom, she just jumps in there and plants one on his cheek. {Really people? I'm amazed at how girls are these days....right in front of the kids parents...WHILE he's in the middle of hugging his mother, she asks for a kiss?} As soon as TJ walked away, he texted me and said "who were those girls y'all let in front of you?" LOL. I know he's cute, but the protective big sister in me came to the surface and I just wanted to be like "back off!"<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoYJgTzFeI/AAAAAAAABHo/komuUbgVCek/s1600/DSC_1050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoYJgTzFeI/AAAAAAAABHo/komuUbgVCek/s640/DSC_1050.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>Another awesome thing about the sorority house is that it is RIGHT. BESIDE. the stadium and Alpha Chi happens to be right by the player family gate for the opposing team too. So when we were in line, a security lady told me I couldn't bring my zoom lens in. To say I was annoyed was an understatement - I mean people were taking shuttles to campus from their cars parked miles away...what would I do with the thing if we were parked really far away? Anyways...beside the point... so I ran over to the Alpha Chi house where Ryan's family was still hanging out and was going to leave it there, but ended up just shoving it down in the bottom of Martha's bag underneath her sweater to sneak it in. Rebellious I know - but no other stadium has had a problem with it and I really wanted my pictures. Anyways, I ran it to her and got back in line before we had even reached the ticket table. <br />
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The BAD thing about Alabama though is that they stick their opposing team's family in their newest nosebleed addition of the stadium where you can't even make out the numbers on the players jerseys. I'm not even kidding either - literally could not tell what their numbers were. So even with the zoom lens zoomed in all the way, and when the team was at the closest end of the football field, this was as good as the pictures got. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">TJ's #45 in at full back on the right with Trey Burton in at QB.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoad6-1rdI/AAAAAAAABIA/EERCmP-bBM0/s1600/DSC_1095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoad6-1rdI/AAAAAAAABIA/EERCmP-bBM0/s640/DSC_1095.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Clearing the way for Trey...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoaunPLkeI/AAAAAAAABIE/LdO-YAOUtrs/s1600/DSC_1097.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNoaunPLkeI/AAAAAAAABIE/LdO-YAOUtrs/s640/DSC_1097.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">I can't remember since this was a few weeks ago, but I don't think the ref called it a TD. :(</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNobCTNAZJI/AAAAAAAABII/xuhfkK8PCds/s1600/DSC_1099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNobCTNAZJI/AAAAAAAABII/xuhfkK8PCds/s640/DSC_1099.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Gotta include a pic of TJ lined up behind John (Brantley) too. Now if they'd just put Sam (Robey) in at Center instead of Pouncey, then all three roommates would be lined up behind each other. Sam at Center, John at QB, TJ at FB. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNobWFTAKFI/AAAAAAAABIM/hW52ZjupizM/s1600/DSC_1140.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNobWFTAKFI/AAAAAAAABIM/hW52ZjupizM/s640/DSC_1140.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Every time I see this picture (taken by Tim Casey), I think it would be such a cool shot if they were all three in at the same time. It would be the roomie line-up.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNrYj3G0I9I/AAAAAAAABIU/BG7xpVeoG-Y/s1600/58627_426098182790_224849367790_5502844_3979638_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="512" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TNrYj3G0I9I/AAAAAAAABIU/BG7xpVeoG-Y/s640/58627_426098182790_224849367790_5502844_3979638_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Since our trip to Tuscaloosa, we've also been to GA/FL two weekends ago, which was a crazy trip. We went from Durham to Ponte Vedra, FL to see TJ at the hotel on Friday night, then we went to Jacksonville for the night, then we went to Gainesville after the game to spend Sunday morning with him and get to see his, John's, and Sam's house that we haven't seen in the last year they've lived there, and then BACK to Durham. All in 48 hours. Then this past Saturday was a fun Duke win against UVA followed by a shrimp boil with the Banks...and no driving!! All of which I "plan" to blog about, but am behind on pictures with, so we'll see if it really happens or not :)<br />
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And as someone signed their email to me today...<br />
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"Happy Hump Day" everyone! <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border-bottom: 0pt; border-left: 0pt; border-right: 0pt; border-top: 0pt;" /></div>Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-58703307529070325742010-10-25T19:31:00.000-04:002010-10-25T19:31:31.598-04:00We have a winner!<div style="text-align: center;">Congratulations <span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://3littlebabybyrds.blogspot.com/">Debbie</a></b></span> from The Adventures of Three Little Byrds! With your 3rd comment out of 30, you have won the <a href="http://livingthewoodlife.blogspot.com/2010/10/up-for-grabs-60-gift-card.html">$60 CSN Stores gift card!</a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><b>Thanks to all of you who commented and joined in the giveaway!! </b></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TMYQokwu40I/AAAAAAAABHI/1uEyIuDWppk/s1600/random.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TMYQokwu40I/AAAAAAAABHI/1uEyIuDWppk/s1600/random.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-66207219635259675472010-10-22T16:32:00.001-04:002010-10-22T16:37:41.902-04:00Extended to MondayRunning out the door with no internet access all weekend and I'm late (no way, not me!), so I'm going to extend the <a href="http://livingthewoodlife.blogspot.com/2010/10/up-for-grabs-60-gift-card.html">giveaway</a> until Monday!<br />
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Hope everyone has a great weekend!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-76011406076366368922010-10-20T16:56:00.000-04:002010-10-20T16:56:43.594-04:00Does it ever slow down?<div style="text-align: center;">Sorry for two posts in a row with no pictures - I know that's no fun! But so many times the pictures are what keep me from posting because I don't have them all on the computer yet...and I always think I'll get to them, but never do...so here goes anyways, just so you know what we've been up to.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So, life has been BUSY lately. I keep wondering when I'm going to be able to stop and catch up, but things just continue on full speed ahead. Ryan was out of town Sunday through last night so I had three evenings to myself and I was actually kind of excited. (Sorry babe! I missed you ALOT though!) I had all kinds of "catching up" plans. I was going to finish sorting through all 400+ pictures from Tina's wedding, finish editing them and put them on flash drives for my aunt and cousins. I had full intentions of FINALLY tackling the "office" and unloading all of the boxes in there - it basically looks like a storage room right now...still, a month after moving in. I intended to find some pillows for the couch. AND I thought I would have so much time to myself that AFTER all of that, I envisioned myself sipping coffee and reading a book at the end of the day!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Who was I kidding???</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The ONLY thing that got done on that list was that I did find some pillows from Target (on my lunch break!), haha. No editing/sorting pictures. No cleaning up the office...although I think I did shove one or two...or five...more piles of things in there. And NO (frown face) sipping coffee and reading a book. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I did actually START to edit pictures, but as soon as I got on the computer to do that, Matt called to tell me about the candy that he and Wes got on their Target run and upon realizing that I was staying by myself, he and the rooms drove 20 minutes at 9:30 at night to come stay at the house so I didn't have to stay in our big, dark house by myself. I love brothers - I think everyone should have one :) (I got lucky with two...Matt AND TJ!) They act all big and tough on the outside, but really they have a soft, protective spot for their sisters on the inside - even their big sisters. Funny how it wasn't like that when we were kids, ha! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">So, I watched like 45 minutes of "Hitch" on tv and ate candy with Matt and Wes instead, then we all went to bed. And I have yet to return to the pictures. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">They ditched me the next night though because of a 6 AM practice the next morning and not wanting to be 25 minutes from campus. Can't blame them. So I did have to man up and kill a giant spider in the garage by myself...Ryan didn't believe me when I told him about that. :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I knew going into these evenings by myself that we were hosting our small group on Thursday night, but the house was for the most part already clean. But then, on Monday, my friend who was hosting a baby shower on Tuesday night got sick, so I volunteered to have it at our house instead. AND, I am having a jewelry party for the same friend (she's selling jewelry) next Tuesday and I was going to have it at work, right after work. Well, I ended up changing my mind about having it at work and decided to have it at home instead. So, I went from only hosting small group Thursday night and making a pan of brownies to having a baby shower the next day with lots of munchies, small group on Thursday night with a pan of brownies, AND having a jewelry party at our house next Tuesday night with munchies to prepare (and we're out of town this weekend, so nothing will get done then!). So instead, my evenings turned into grocery store/home goods store/BabiesRUs runs to get snack foods, baby gift (because I'm a procrastinator like that) and speed up my pillow selection process so that the couches would have pillows. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Needless to say, I shut the office door...to remain that way for a while! :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">{Don't forget to add a comment (or four!) to my <a href="http://livingthewoodlife.blogspot.com/2010/10/up-for-grabs-60-gift-card.html">last post</a> to enter the drawing for the $60 gift card!}</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border-bottom: 0pt; border-left: 0pt; border-right: 0pt; border-top: 0pt;" /></div>Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-22296882279915450742010-10-18T13:45:00.000-04:002010-10-18T13:45:22.657-04:00Up for grabs: $60 gift card!<div style="text-align: center;"><strong><em><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times; font-size: x-large;">~ who wants it?? ~</span></em></strong></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">So, a couple months ago, I got an email from someone at CSN Stores asking if I wanted to host a giveaway or do a product review on my blog. Not gonna lie, I was skeptical and didn't respond for a while at first.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">For like a month... </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Well, that and I've become a little bit of a personal email slacker lately. As in like 300 emails in my inbox currently...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">But then, I happened to come across a couple other blogs who had CSN stores giveaways, and it turned out to be legit. I started looking around on some of their websites and realized that they carry a TON of stuff/brands...and I even signed up to win on someone else's giveaway, so I dug up the old email and wrote back, hoping it wasn't too late.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">It wasn't. (Yay!) Turns out, I have the option of reviewing an item for myself or having a giveaway. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Hmmm...what shall I do?</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">While the idea of using the gift card for myself just to review an item was pretty tempting, I thought I would share instead. Besides, sometimes I jump on my little tracker thing at the bottom of the page and see where people visit my blog from and it's all over the place. And curious person that I am, I'm always like "well, who could that be in Texas/Arizona/California...even Africa? I don't know anyone there!" And I always wonder how people in those places find me...what brought them to little ole "Livin' the Wood Life", my teeny tiny corner of the world wide web. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Or there have even been times that someone will tell me "oh, so and so told me about such and such...they saw it on your blog" and I'm like how the heck did "so and so" know that I even had a blog. I know I put links on facebook after posting, but half the time "so and so" isn't even on facebook. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Sooooo....I decided that I will give YOU the gift card in exchange for satisfying my curiousity and knowing who is visiting and keeping up with us as we live the "Wood life". </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">What can a CSN stores gift card get you, you may ask? Well, just about anything you want or need. Having just bought a house, I'm in "furnishing" mode, so one of the first things I looked at was <a href="http://www.bedroomfurniture.com/">bed sets</a> for our guest room, then bathroom faucets. If that's not what excites you though, then you can buy shoes, clothes, school supplies, cookware, toys, pet supplies, housewares, appliances, tools...you name it, they have it, and probably in the brand you're looking for. You can check out all the brands that they carry <a href="http://www.csnstores.com/Browse-By-Brand-C114464.html">here on the CSN Stores site</a>.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The $60 gift card is good for anything on their site, but does not include shipping, and the giveaway is limited to U.S. and Canada residents only </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'll pick the winner randomly from the number of comments left on this post so that everyone has a fair chance. And you can enter up to four times to increase your chance of winning. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><strong><span style="background-color: white; color: black; font-size: large;">"So, get to the point Erin...how can I WIN??"</span></strong></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I hear ya. Here's how:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">1. FIRST: Become a follower - and then be sure to leave a comment letting me know that you're already a follower or you've just become a follower (because the comment is what counts!). For those of you non-bloggers, "following" just lets me know you read "Livin' the Wood Life" - all you have to do is click "follow" under the followers section on the left sidebar.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Then, for bonus entries...after your first comment, you can leave three additional comments:</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">2. Leave a comment saying how you found my blog...on facebook, from someone else's blog, etc...</div><div style="text-align: center;">3. Tell me where you're from.<br />
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4. Since it's football season and lots of my posts this time of year are about which football game we're at each weekend, leave a comment with a shoutout to the team that you cheer for.</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">I'll pick a winner on Friday at 5 PM EST (to ring in the weekend!), so you have until then to enter.<br />
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{Be sure and leave your name and an email address on your comments so I can contact you if you win!}</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #990000; font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: x-large;"><em><strong>HAPPY MONDAY!!</strong></em></span></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border-bottom: 0pt; border-left: 0pt; border-right: 0pt; border-top: 0pt;" /></div>Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com30tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-46789246478499830902010-10-01T10:18:00.000-04:002010-10-21T14:46:42.022-04:00Army Game<div style="text-align: center;">Well, we're in T-town!! We flew into Atlanta last night, where Martha and Dexter picked us up and we all drove to Rachel and Jeff's beautiful home in Tuscaloosa, AL. It's crazy that they have lived here for nearly three (I think?) years and this is the first time we've seen their home in AL.<br />
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After waking up to three of the most precious kids you have ever seen in your life, it makes me wish they lived 5 minutes away like they did in Athens when I was in college at UGA so this Aunt Erin could see them all the time. Samuel and Ellie Kate were so cute this morning when I came downstairs. They were so excited to see us and wanted to go jump on Ryan in bed to wake him up. When they found him already awake, they were so excited and ran and pounced on him.<br />
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Now, Samuel's at school and the girls are at Mother's morning out, so we're going to go explore this town! Rachel has a whole itinerary set for us, complete with seeing the campus, seeing the cute shops around here, Bryant museum, and Ryan and I are going to go eat lunch with Samuel at school.<br />
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It's so fun for me to see this town that they live in and the town that Ryan grew up coming to so much throughout his childhood for games and to visit his sister when she was in college at U of A. <br />
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Anyways, while I'm on this whole catching up kick, let's just go ahead and get on </div><div style="text-align: center;">to this past weekend too before it gets overlooked...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">One of my very best friends from home came up to visit - this was like her 7th trip to Durham since I've lived here, so if coming all the way to Durham to see me is any indication of how much my friends love me, then Britney loves me the most! :) Another unnamed friend did not end up making it this weekend. Something about a 5k that she planned way back when or something and the Britney trip was a last minute one that came together....clearly, she doesn't love me. 5 notches down the friend list she goes. I won't name any names though...Laura might get upset with me! ;) I'm kidding..Laura has made the 5 hour drive more than once by herself to visit. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">But she did miss out on some good Cheesecake Factory cheesecake that we had to celebrate Britney's birthday with... mmm!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">My parents also ended up coming up at the last minute so two weekends in a row we had a full house, which we love!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">First time I've ever caught the three amigos walking together in the Devil's Walk before...and Mom getting a hug from Banks. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOliMDr4sI/AAAAAAAABBw/DUCpRCJoTH0/s1600/Army+%281%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOliMDr4sI/AAAAAAAABBw/DUCpRCJoTH0/s640/Army+%281%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div align="center">My parents at the Devil's walk... ha, check out Mom's "Duke #10" bag. She flips it around when she goes to Florida games and the other side says "Florida #45" in orange with TJ's button on it. </div><div align="center">Is she a <strike>soccer mom</strike> football mom or what? :) </div><div align="center"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOljidQSvI/AAAAAAAABB0/nkPBH_inLsk/s1600/Army+%283%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOljidQSvI/AAAAAAAABB0/nkPBH_inLsk/s640/Army+%283%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">BBB-ritney! Everything is more fun with Britney...I'm still trying to talk her into MOVING to Durham! There's lots of medical opportunities here for a Nurse Practitioner I'm sure! (that's my argument anyways)</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOlk9-HHLI/AAAAAAAABB4/ihbJZd8iFsQ/s1600/Army+%287%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOlk9-HHLI/AAAAAAAABB4/ihbJZd8iFsQ/s640/Army+%287%29.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">We played Army for our homecoming game, so it was also Military Appreciation Day. There was a flyover and parachuters brought in the NC flag and the game ball. </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Ryan and Dad waiting for the team to come out of the tunnel.</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOluEWBN6I/AAAAAAAABCA/RXMeP1Dg0OU/s1600/Army+%2813%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOluEWBN6I/AAAAAAAABCA/RXMeP1Dg0OU/s640/Army+%2813%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Here they come...and there's our number #10!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOlv8OKTHI/AAAAAAAABCE/6N230zTZjAg/s1600/Army+%2814%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOlv8OKTHI/AAAAAAAABCE/6N230zTZjAg/s640/Army+%2814%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Here comes the team, led by our Matt Pridemore carrying the American Flag! I was so excited about this because Matt is one of the most patriotic people I know and he was chosen by Coach Cutcliffe to carry the American flag on Homecoming/Military Appreciation Day against Army! <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;">Here he comes!</div><br />
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOooSDRTuI/AAAAAAAABCo/9CXNy5KGNoM/s1600/Army+%2817%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOooSDRTuI/AAAAAAAABCo/9CXNy5KGNoM/s640/Army+%2817%29.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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At the end of the game, our team went over to stand with Army during the playing of their fight song. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOo4TJubmI/AAAAAAAABDE/_UJdHpMP134/s1600/Army+%2835%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKOo4TJubmI/AAAAAAAABDE/_UJdHpMP134/s640/Army+%2835%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">It was a really cool game atmosphere and a really fun weekend with Britney. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Now I'm off to explore this town!</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" /></div>Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-31986627512906547522010-09-30T16:56:00.000-04:002010-10-21T14:47:47.407-04:00Duke / AlabamaNow on to Alabama! (In the blog post sense and in the pack-my-bags-and-fly-to-Alabama sense!) :)<br />
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Duke/Bama was a weekend with Rachel and Jeff and Martha and Dexter, if I can even call it that. It was a weekend for Ryan and more like a fun 12 hours for me, since I spent the first half of the weekend at home for Tina's wedding, but the time we did have all together was fun!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">And Crazy...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And Exhausting...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And the game ended with a big fat ugly "L"...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">But it was still lots of fun. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Let's back up a bit so I can explain why it was so exhausting...</div><br />
So first, I flew into Atlanta on Wednesday night, got to my grandmother's house around 9:30 PM, met up with a good friend around 10 PM...one of my college roommates who lives in the same suburb of Atlanta as my grandmother/cousins that I hadn't seen in way too long and had lots to catch up on...and turned out the light at 3:30 AM. Night 1 of less than 5 hours of sleep...<br />
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Then, I had to get up at 7 AM on Thursday to run some errands and get to the Bridesmaid's luncheon. Then ran errands with Tina all afternoon...picked up her dress from getting altered, booked their massage for their honeymoon while she tanned, etc...ran with Tina and Wes to Belk on the way to the rehearsal to have the sensor removed from her dress (emergency crisis!)...then rehearsal/rehearsal dinner (Jamie arrived from Athens, woohoo!), got back to Joyce's around midnight only to stay up until the wee hours of the morning hearing all about lil sis's college life only to have to get up again at 7 AM. Night 2 of less than 5 hours of sleep. <br />
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Up early Friday morning, wedding day. Wedding/Reception, get to Joyce's after midnight. Shower, pack up, go to sleep at 1:30 AM. Get up at 5:30 AM to head to airport. Night 3 of less than 5 hours of sleep. And bless my poor grandmother's heart who also got up at 5:30 AM to drive me to the airport!<br />
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Land at RDU at 10 AM, get picked up, stop by the house briefly (have I mentioned we bought a house on here yet? oops, sorry! We bought a house! :) ), then head straight to campus for 90 degree game day...EXHAUSTED! <br />
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We did a little tailgating and watched the Georgia game, then headed toward the stadium to catch the Devil's Walk. Ryan and Jeff (bro-in-laws) are talking football in their opposing team colors. :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7b2VE5gI/AAAAAAAABAU/2etmvZsats0/s1600/Alabama+%287%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7b2VE5gI/AAAAAAAABAU/2etmvZsats0/s640/Alabama+%287%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Devil's Walk!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7SpCMewI/AAAAAAAABAI/QDol2tS9qeE/s1600/Alabama+%281%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7SpCMewI/AAAAAAAABAI/QDol2tS9qeE/s640/Alabama+%281%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Wes, Matt, and Banks' eyes peeking over Hatcher's shoulder</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Bama fans had to check out Cameron Indoor. We went in with Rachel and Jeff and there were a ton of Bama fans in there...they even started the Roll Tide chant...like 3 times. </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7djxOA5I/AAAAAAAABAY/GRtVJz5rY6o/s1600/Alabama+%288%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7djxOA5I/AAAAAAAABAY/GRtVJz5rY6o/s640/Alabama+%288%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Alumni players on the alumni deck! Fun to see some of the guys we don't see too often.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7fNFKuzI/AAAAAAAABAc/FRII38o5cbA/s1600/Alabama+%289%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7fNFKuzI/AAAAAAAABAc/FRII38o5cbA/s640/Alabama+%289%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Where's Jeff?? I'll give you a hint. He's the one in the red shirt. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Still can't find him? He's the one waving...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7n8c45UI/AAAAAAAABAg/g6IEzE25H4M/s1600/Alabama+%2811%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7n8c45UI/AAAAAAAABAg/g6IEzE25H4M/s640/Alabama+%2811%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Game time! Here comes the team....</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7svVljJI/AAAAAAAABAk/hHhbaMqX6jQ/s1600/Alabama+%2814%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7svVljJI/AAAAAAAABAk/hHhbaMqX6jQ/s640/Alabama+%2814%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Pridemore trying to pull off a mohawk lol. Can you see it?</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7zwQrHOI/AAAAAAAABAs/tRuRE7J4IEs/s1600/Alabama+%2818%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7zwQrHOI/AAAAAAAABAs/tRuRE7J4IEs/s640/Alabama+%2818%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN8UZQOljI/AAAAAAAABA0/unc2IsOSTWs/s1600/Alabama+%2823%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN8UZQOljI/AAAAAAAABA0/unc2IsOSTWs/s640/Alabama+%2823%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7xzL0uOI/AAAAAAAABAo/g4KvAh8xaqo/s1600/Alabama+%2816%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN7xzL0uOI/AAAAAAAABAo/g4KvAh8xaqo/s640/Alabama+%2816%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN8g0vwRxI/AAAAAAAABA8/Lqq0wE1CilI/s1600/Alabama+%2826%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" px="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN8g0vwRxI/AAAAAAAABA8/Lqq0wE1CilI/s640/Alabama+%2826%29.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Love this pic. Egboh taking down Mark Ingram! Go Egboh!! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN72sbjKrI/AAAAAAAABAw/_cAAnheIlE0/s1600/Alabama+%2819%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN72sbjKrI/AAAAAAAABAw/_cAAnheIlE0/s640/Alabama+%2819%29.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN8XdXSWaI/AAAAAAAABA4/KdrW4qyy5L8/s1600/Alabama+%2824%29.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" px="true" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKN8XdXSWaI/AAAAAAAABA4/KdrW4qyy5L8/s640/Alabama+%2824%29.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I'm not sure if I mentioned that this was the first time that Rachel and Jeff have visited Durham since we've been married. Unfortunately, because it takes 10 hours in the car to get here and we didn't have enough tickets (or so we thought...ended up with extras at the last minute though), they didn't bring the kids with them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">So this weekend, we're returning the visit! We're headed to Tuscaloosa for the Florida/Alabama game and killing lots of birds with one stone! This will be our first trip to Tuscaloosa visiting Rachel and Jeff since they have lived there and we'll get to see the kids this time (yay!), we'll get to see Ryan's aunt and uncle and grandmother in Birmingham, hopefully get to see his cousins that are in school at Bama, and of course, get to finally see TJ and a Florida game...and a good SEC match-up at that! </div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" /></div>Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-65920798189274686432010-09-29T22:55:00.000-04:002010-10-21T14:48:17.804-04:00Tina's Wedding...finally!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Now after both those blog posts about Tina and the big Duke/Bama game, are you wondering where the pictures are? :)<br />
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Am I an inconsistent blogger or what?<br />
<br />
Yes, I definintely am.<br />
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So, I thought I should get those things taken care of before moving on because <span style="font-size: large;"><b>this </b></span>weekend, we are headed to Tuscaloosa Alabama for the <span style="font-size: large;">Florida/Bama</span> game and if I don't blog about Tina and Duke/Bama before we leave, then when I return, those things will be a thing of the past that I'll never end up revisiting, ha!<br />
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Just like how I never blogged about our family beach trip with Ryan's family (in May!) or our Maine trip (in June!) or our friends' summer weddings (in July and August!)! Maybe I'll circle back around to those eventually...<br />
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It's just hard to stay caught up on it when I spend all day at a computer at work and then come home and have to figure out dinner, clean up from dinner, spend as much time with Ryan as I can, and the last thing on my list is usually getting BACK on the computer. I do write blog posts in my head sometimes, if that counts...they just never make it to the actual computer screen.<br />
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But tonight, I'm getting my priorities in line! No packing for Alabama until I whip out some blog posts, complete with pictures. Dedication baby...<br />
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As for Tina's wedding, it was <span style="font-size: small;"><b>BEAUTIFUL </b>and SO. MUCH. </span><span style="font-size: small;"><b>FUN</b></span>!! On a perfect day for an outdoor wedding in one of the prettiest outdoor settings I've ever seen, she was possibly the most gorgeous, most excited bride I've ever seen. Knowing Tina, I had a feeling she would be nervous and stressed on the day of, but she was totally relaxed and even said to one of her friends/bridesmaids at one point right before the ceremony, "why are you nervous? I'm not even nervous!".<br />
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We kicked off the wedding weekend on Thursday morning with the Bridesmaid's luncheon that my mom hosted for Tina at a surprise location that turned out to be...the Swan Coach House in Buckhead! <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKYySMEOBI/AAAAAAAAA-4/wkK_soE-n2o/s1600/Bridesmaids+luncheon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="328" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKYySMEOBI/AAAAAAAAA-4/wkK_soE-n2o/s640/Bridesmaids+luncheon.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Here is Tina with her bridal party... me, Andrea - her sister and Matron of Honor, Alicia - her niece and junior bridesmaid, Tina, Carlie, and Allison. Carlie and Allison are two of Tina's best friends from elementary school. It was a fun group!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKc3VE3-mI/AAAAAAAAA-8/LyZO7PA34Eo/s1600/DSC_0470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKc3VE3-mI/AAAAAAAAA-8/LyZO7PA34Eo/s640/DSC_0470.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Tina with her two moms! Her mom, my aunt Elaine on the left, and Mama Ellis (Wes' mom, Kathy) on the right. She inherited an awesome mother-in-law like I did! :)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKdBWMEcGI/AAAAAAAAA_A/JsS0cCEqtR4/s1600/DSC_0479.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKdBWMEcGI/AAAAAAAAA_A/JsS0cCEqtR4/s640/DSC_0479.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Then came the rehearsal dinner at the Old Mill in downtown Ackworth(?). Quite possibly the best dinner I've ever had!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPcProE_nI/AAAAAAAABDM/DtCGjG6hMKM/s1600/DSC_0487.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPcProE_nI/AAAAAAAABDM/DtCGjG6hMKM/s640/DSC_0487.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Wes' parents put on the sweetest rehearsal dinner too, with a slideshow all about Tina being the answer to their prayers for their son and a video of all the grandparents giving marriage advice. <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Andrea and Wes' brother/best man Daniel had to give speeches at the rehearsal dinner. Andrea was a little nervous about it beforehand, but did an awesome job! </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKYZCO5tBI/AAAAAAAAA-0/eZEHSkAkpTI/s1600/DSC_0494.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKYZCO5tBI/AAAAAAAAA-0/eZEHSkAkpTI/s400/DSC_0494.JPG" width="263" /></a><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPfl3vA87I/AAAAAAAABDY/f2BK-8cQc2o/s1600/DSC_0495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPfl3vA87I/AAAAAAAABDY/f2BK-8cQc2o/s400/DSC_0495.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Rehearsal dinner was the first time I got to see Jamiloo since my arrival to Georgia!! Stinking love that girl and the party was even more fun once she arrived on the scene! And then I didn't have to decide between the steak or the salmon. She got steak, I got salmon, and then we split them... :) Thank goodness for my other half!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKdHRbi0dI/AAAAAAAAA_E/D02picgI_8E/s1600/DSC_0504.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKdHRbi0dI/AAAAAAAAA_E/D02picgI_8E/s640/DSC_0504.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Joycie and all four of her grandgirls!<br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPqwqhX2pI/AAAAAAAABEc/fD1Sr2wBZZQ/s1600/DSC_0511.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPqwqhX2pI/AAAAAAAABEc/fD1Sr2wBZZQ/s640/DSC_0511.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
Dun dun dun</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">and finally I give you...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">...the couple of the hour! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Christina Baguley and Wesley Ellis. <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPd6Z6MnpI/AAAAAAAABDQ/VBnLZv4425A/s1600/DSC_0497.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPd6Z6MnpI/AAAAAAAABDQ/VBnLZv4425A/s640/DSC_0497.jpg" width="424" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">And Tina with her parents, my uncle Steve and aunt Elaine</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPfPKKSGkI/AAAAAAAABDU/HXS9fm5XC5I/s1600/DSC_0502.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPfPKKSGkI/AAAAAAAABDU/HXS9fm5XC5I/s640/DSC_0502.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">We were two goofy kids once who did everything together. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Occasionally, the kids in us still come out to play...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPp5jNXyjI/AAAAAAAABEQ/_t9FJafRK4o/s1600/DSC_0524.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKPp5jNXyjI/AAAAAAAABEQ/_t9FJafRK4o/s640/DSC_0524.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><br />
The next morning, the day of the wedding, Jamie, Alicia and I ran some last minute errands to pick up Tina's honeymoon dresses from the alteration shop. We jammed out/woke up to some Justin Beiber. Yeah! Lol<br />
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<b>Be sure and pause the ipod on the left sidebar so you can hear it. </b><br />
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A little bit later after meeting back up with Tina, Andrea and Elaine, we arrived at the hotel near the ceremony site to get ready. Wes and his brother had stayed in the hotel room the night before to play golf the morning of the wedding, and this is how he left the room for Tina. A three page letter, a dozen roses, and a heart made of kisses...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKdVT0f2wI/AAAAAAAAA_I/bobpeh9YWqI/s1600/DSC_0533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKKdVT0f2wI/AAAAAAAAA_I/bobpeh9YWqI/s640/DSC_0533.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Tina brought Carolyn in to do our hair, which was so fun! Carolyn did all the girls' hair for my wedding too and that was the last time I had seen her. Here Tina's discussing what she wants done to her hair.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKP0lm-2GUI/AAAAAAAABFw/88tkxYVbWjA/s1600/DSC_0540.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKP0lm-2GUI/AAAAAAAABFw/88tkxYVbWjA/s640/DSC_0540.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKP2YBkjhRI/AAAAAAAABGA/b3ctMFddtqQ/s1600/DSC_0580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TKP2YBkjhRI/AAAAAAAABGA/b3ctMFddtqQ/s640/DSC_0580.JPG" width="424" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
Tina wouldn't read Wes' letter until after she had written her own.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Little Nelly Olson brat here! She gave me her best brat face to go with her Nelly Olson curls. :) </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Bridesmaids getting ready!</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Her daddy first saw her when we got to the wedding site - the Governor's House in Kingston, GA. </div><br />
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Garter - check! It's her something old and something blue in one!</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Putting on the dress with the help of her mom and sister...</div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">And the dress is <b style="color: #76a5af;"><span style="font-size: large;">STUNNING</span></b>!</div><br />
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Andrea helped put her shoes on and Alicia stepped in to admire. On go the pearl earrings </div><div style="text-align: center;">- something borrowed! From me :) I wore them on my wedding day too. </div><br />
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Bridal party picture time!</div><br />
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AJ arrived and Alicia was so excited to show Andrea and Tina how "handsome" he looked all dressed up. It was the cutest thing ever! I don't know which was cuter...AJ or the fact that Alicia was so proud of him and wanted to show him off.<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Mom and Dad arrived and Dad wore Bob's tie (Bob is our grandfather - Joyce's husband and Mom and Elaine's dad, who passed away when I was 3, Tina was 4) so Bob could be represented on Tina's special day. </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Ceremony time! Christina Marie Baguley walked down the aisle to meet her groom who had </div><div style="text-align: center;">yet to see her or talk to her the entire day... </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Christina Baguley Ellis came back up the aisle escorted by her husband! </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">First dance to Brad Paisley's "She's Everything to Me" song that Wes surprised Tina with. </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Fetching the garter! </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Bouquet Toss! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">At the end of the reception, we ran upstairs to help her change into her getaway dress. </div><div style="text-align: center;">Snapped a quick picture of the last time I'll see her until Christmas probably! </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">Mr. and Mrs. Wesley Ellis! </div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">The car got decorated while they were inside dancing.... :) </div><br />
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And they're off! Headed to the Ritz in Atlanta, then to fly to Jamaica the next morning for their honeymoon! <br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">It was such a perfect day!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">(And I took lots more pictures, which I'll post to facebook as soon as I finish sorting through them all!)<br />
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Whew, that was a lot of wedding coverage. I think the Bama game is going to need a separate post.<br />
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To be continued...</div><br />
<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-4705873040993336772010-09-16T23:26:00.000-04:002010-10-21T14:48:47.559-04:00Bama comes to townGuest blogger again here. Erin is out of town for her cousin’s wedding as she previously posted so I thought it was a great opportunity to hijack her blog again. The last time I posted was almost a year ago so obviously I didn’t get the “blog bug” like a lot of people have. I was a bit philosophical in the last post so I think I will take a different approach this time with something a little lighter that we are excited about for this weekend!<br />
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Things have been pretty busy around here getting ready for this weekend. We have a pretty big weekend planned and have been looking forward to it for years. Yes, that’s right, I said YEARS! Ever since Duke and Alabama announced they would be playing a series back in 2004 or 2005 we have been really excited about them coming to Durham to play. The first game in the series was played on October 7, 2006 when the stadium was a mere 92,000 (now it’s over 100,000 with the new expansion). I was lucky enough to play in that game which was a big deal since I have grown up going to Alabama football games my whole life. <br />
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My dad played there from ‘69-‘72 when Bear Bryant was the coach. Since they just finished the expansions to the stadium and to celebrate the National Championship Alabama had all of the former football players come down on the field before the first game which was pretty cool. <br />
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The Alabama connection doesn’t stop there, however. My sister, Rachel, went to Alabama for college and met her husband, Jeff, while they were in school. The funny connection between Rachel and Jeff is that both of their/our dads played together at Alabama! Rachel and Jeff are currently on staff with Campus Crusade for Christ at Alabama and love living in Tuscaloosa. Another Alabama football connection is that my cousin, Charles (Dad’s side), played there a couple of years ago. We actually played against each other when Duke played Alabama in 2006. My other cousins, William and Julia, also currently go to school at Bama. So, as you can see there are plenty of Alabama connections in this family truly making it a divided household!<br />
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Since Duke traveled to Tuscaloosa in 2006, a return game was scheduled for 2010 in Durham. My parents, sister, and brother-in-law are all coming up for the game this weekend. We have a tailgate planned and will be having a good time before the game with all of the pre-game festivities. We’re hoping for a great game regardless of the fact that Duke is 24 point underdogs! The game starts at 3:30 and will be televised by ABC.<br />
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Some pictures from the 2006 game in Tuscaloosa:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">The whole crew before the game (from left):<br />
Dad, Mom, Aunt Lisa, Grandparents, William, Samuel, Jeff, Rachel, Jeff's Parents</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJLczDocWdI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/q6qY0sgKPCs/s1600/DSC_0045.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJLczDocWdI/AAAAAAAAA-Q/q6qY0sgKPCs/s640/DSC_0045.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
Coin Toss before the game </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJLbUbfG2PI/AAAAAAAAA-I/6HQpRwu4ouU/s1600/DSC_0067+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJLbUbfG2PI/AAAAAAAAA-I/6HQpRwu4ouU/s640/DSC_0067+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;">Me and my cousin Charles </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJLddcJEK0I/AAAAAAAAA-g/GPLXz_QHNOw/s1600/DSC_0505+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJLddcJEK0I/AAAAAAAAA-g/GPLXz_QHNOw/s640/DSC_0505+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">The crew coming up for Duke/Bama part 2!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJLdzKyGQII/AAAAAAAAA-o/dyx1GP1DvoU/s1600/DSC_0509+copy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJLdzKyGQII/AAAAAAAAA-o/dyx1GP1DvoU/s640/DSC_0509+copy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">-Ryan</span></span> </div><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-43014403345320032012010-09-15T17:07:00.000-04:002010-10-21T14:49:04.860-04:00TinaMy cousin Tina is one of those "near and dear" to me in life. We're only 9 months apart in age and grew up around each other alot, so really she feels more like a second sister, one that was closer in age to me than Jamie. <br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is Tina and me on my wedding day. </td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;">I have so many crazy childhood memories with her...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Birthday parties that involved dancing and singing to Spice Girls and pranking people who fell asleep...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Getting my first tooth fairy visit at her house...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Riding four-wheelers at my house all the time...it's all we ever wanted to do. Cops and Robbers in the field with the boys and Jamie and sometimes the Case kids. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Spending at least a week of every summer at her house, hanging out at her neighborhood pool with all her friends. I was such a tag-along, the grade below all of them... </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Trick-or-treating in her neighborhood...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Getting mad at each other over stupid stuff and banning each other from sleeping in our room. She'd kick me out and tell me I'd have to go sleep somewhere else that night or vice versa if we were at my house... usually we got over it before night came though and didn't have to go find some other room to sleep in. Once, when she got mad, Andrea (her older sister) took me in and bought me ice cream off the ice cream truck (we didn't tell Tina) and taught me the macarena until Tina got over being mad at me. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Hiding in Andrea's closet and spying on her when she was on the phone talking to boys (well, A boy...Jimmy) in high school...she'd always find us and make Steve kick us out...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Getting booted to pallets on the bonus room floor when all the family was there, so we made a slide by sliding off the table on a pool raft...in the middle of the night, waking everyone in the house up...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Getting grounded together...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Staying awake way past our bed time, giggling and talking til Uncle Steve would come down to check on us and we'd always hear him coming and roll over, pull the covers up and pretend to be asleep when he opened the door...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Deciding to be pen pals and play tic-tac-toe through the mail. Every time it was our turn to write back, we'd get a turn...</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Having such similar taste that one summer we ended up with the same bathing suit, after having the same kids bedspread we were shopping with our grandmother to redo our rooms and came around an aisle having both found a comforter that we loved to find that it was the same one, so we both had the same bedrooms in high school, then just a couple weeks ago I bought some bedding for our guest room and when Andrea and her kids stopped by to spend the night on the way home from DC, Alicia said "that's the same comforter that Tina just got!"...and we registered for the same dishes. haha! </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">We both always talked about living together after college (I got married and ruined that plan, sorry Tina!) and always said we'd have a red couch. I did end up with a red couch :)</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Spent a night in the bathroom once in sleeping bags and played cards, and I can't remember why, lol. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Anyway...that same Tina that I share all those memories, and a thousand more with, caught the bouquet at my wedding...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJDhChb3n0I/AAAAAAAAA8Y/wFcQYfEHNVU/s1600/tinabouquet.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" qx="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJDhChb3n0I/AAAAAAAAA8Y/wFcQYfEHNVU/s640/tinabouquet.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">...and now she is getting married Friday night!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">And I am so excited for her and honored to be a part of her special day!</div><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJE0Fo_n7YI/AAAAAAAAA8o/q90gcF_e0ng/s1600/DSC_0087%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJE0Fo_n7YI/AAAAAAAAA8o/q90gcF_e0ng/s640/DSC_0087%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cousins! Andrea and Tina with me and Jamie</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJE0NYV_MxI/AAAAAAAAA8w/ZqWakF7Uucw/s640/DSC_0113%28edit%29.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="426" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me and Tina at one of her showers</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJE0NYV_MxI/AAAAAAAAA8w/ZqWakF7Uucw/s1600/DSC_0113%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div> We love Wes, her fiance. He is great, perfect for her and fits perfectly into her family. Ryan and I both love hanging out with the two of them. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJE0VkSl0BI/AAAAAAAAA84/zHfRkVmb9oU/s640/DSC_0170%28edit%29.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="640" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Us with Tina and Wes at their couples shower</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TJE0VkSl0BI/AAAAAAAAA84/zHfRkVmb9oU/s1600/DSC_0170%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">I'm flying to Atlanta this afternoon so I can join in all of the wedding festivities over the next couple of days! Mom is doing her bridesmaid's luncheon tomorrow, then there's the rehearsal dinner tomorrow night and then the big day on Friday! Can't wait!</div><br />
I love you Tina!!!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-41303444017695644552010-09-14T00:26:00.000-04:002010-10-21T14:49:31.677-04:00Almost had those Deacs...We had a fun weekend! Mom and Dad and Joyce (my grandmother) came up for the Duke/Wake Forest game and to pick Sadie up...because they couldn't take it any longer without her, ha!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7w5RGsPOI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/AwmWKsZWohw/s1600/DSC_0379.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7w5RGsPOI/AAAAAAAAA7Y/AwmWKsZWohw/s640/DSC_0379.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Because the game was at noon and Wake is an hour and a half away, Joyce hung out at the house with Sadie and watched the game on tv from the comfort of the couch while we sat through the game in the drizzling rain.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7wsLiuKpI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/VyRjYSgU6k8/s1600/DSC_0533.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7wsLiuKpI/AAAAAAAAA7Q/VyRjYSgU6k8/s640/DSC_0533.JPG" width="426" /></a></div><br />
It was a great game which made for a heartbreaker of a loss. We hung in there and put 48 points on the board, but ultimately they got us by 6 points. 6 points that may not have made it to the board had the refs called a very obvious block in the back...<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7fZKzhusI/AAAAAAAAA6w/b2ge_65VrtY/s1600/DSC_0527.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7fZKzhusI/AAAAAAAAA6w/b2ge_65VrtY/s640/DSC_0527.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Matt says he knew he had him too... <br />
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ahh, woulda coulda shoulda... It was still a great game - offense is looking awesome this year with <b>two </b>great QB's. Next week against Alabama will be interesting though! I try to stay positive and remind myself that when we played them in Tuscaloosa a few years back we led through the start of the 4th quarter...wishful thinking, I know.<br />
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Matt had another big play on Saturday. And wouldn't you know that just as soon as the rain had just become steady enough for me to put the camera up, Mom says "oh look Matt's out there" and I debated whether or not I even had time to pull the camera back out and switch to the zoom lens. Sure enough, as soon as I decided I didn't, I thought to myself, now that I decide not to, he'll make a play. And he did, one that happened right smack in front of us. ugh, so frustrating! Thankfully, someone got a picture of it though because it ended up on goduke.com. So don't know who to give credit to and hope it's ok that I'm using it, but here's his tackle from goduke.com.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7fHVzuxPI/AAAAAAAAA6o/c3jmd92VgAE/s1600/59522_659089631944_1318601_37462808_4970931_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7fHVzuxPI/AAAAAAAAA6o/c3jmd92VgAE/s640/59522_659089631944_1318601_37462808_4970931_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">But wait, it gets better...</div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;">Later, he assisted on a tackle, and this is what I got...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7x5d95u0I/AAAAAAAAA7o/dmpAon5MGNY/s1600/DSC_0474.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7x5d95u0I/AAAAAAAAA7o/dmpAon5MGNY/s640/DSC_0474.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">...the lady 's arm in front of me who started cheering right when I snapped the picture. </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">Bad picture-takin' luck!</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7yFHCYcmI/AAAAAAAAA7w/3yzZPFee0Ms/s1600/DSC_0475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7yFHCYcmI/AAAAAAAAA7w/3yzZPFee0Ms/s640/DSC_0475.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">celebrating...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7yNaOPutI/AAAAAAAAA74/HDo3UdGP2_s/s1600/DSC_0478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7yNaOPutI/AAAAAAAAA74/HDo3UdGP2_s/s640/DSC_0478.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">high five from Hatcher and about to get one from Egboh...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7yyA--4NI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/bfObmwj1n-g/s1600/DSC_04792.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7yyA--4NI/AAAAAAAAA8Q/bfObmwj1n-g/s640/DSC_04792.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"> and celebrating with Robo (who had an amazing interception that game)...</div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7wkbBcgVI/AAAAAAAAA7I/3jOf_PHwE_4/s1600/DSC_0469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7wkbBcgVI/AAAAAAAAA7I/3jOf_PHwE_4/s640/DSC_0469.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">huddle </div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7xptpfczI/AAAAAAAAA7g/druG-jdN9-w/s1600/DSC_04082.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="425" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TI7xptpfczI/AAAAAAAAA7g/druG-jdN9-w/s640/DSC_04082.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
Then we came home and grilled out steaks and watched the Bama/Penn St. game! <br />
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It was one of those weeks where Duke and Florida played at the same time (and Georgia/South Carolina!...tv stations, you're screwing up my Saturdays!) AND Florida/South Florida wasn't on tv so we couldn't record it to go back and watch later either. TJ played against another high school teammate this week...Demetrius Murray, who had a heck of a game apparently. But, several people called and texted saying that TJ got a lot of playing time/tv time and had a good game. I miss that kid! Can't wait to make it to Florida to see him soon. On a side note, he emailed me today at work responding to a forward I had sent him and said "thanks for emailing me sissy" and signed it "yo boy". :) Sweet TJ... <br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-15770295964804562010-09-04T11:47:00.000-04:002010-10-21T13:34:43.929-04:00GAMEDAY!!We are so excited about the start of football season - my favorite time of year! Fall weather, tailgates, great games, two brothers playing...we just love it! And with way too many teams to cheer for (refer to right sidebar if you don't believe me!), Saturdays in this household are spent on pretty much nothing other than football. Most Saturdays, we're either at the Duke game or traveling for a Florida game. The weekends that get crazy are the ones where Duke and Florida play at the same time. Then you'll find us sitting in the stands of one game with satellite radio in our ear listening to the other game (or the Georgia, Bama, West Virginia game). We wake up to ESPN and it goes about all day. <br />
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Today, Duke has Elon for their season opener at 7 PM. With a high of 83, an evening game, and 4 different tailgates to attend, it'll be a beautiful game day at Duke! GO BLUE DEVILS!<br />
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Florida takes on Miami of Ohio at noon and TJ will match up against his high school buddy, Jaytee Swanson. My parents are there this week to cheer TJ on while we cover Matt at Duke. We're thankful it's on ESPN, so we can watch our #45 from a 550 mile distance. GO GATORS!<br />
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And Jamie's experiencing her first ever game day as a freshman in Sanford Stadium. GO DAWGS! Sic 'em!<br />
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Happy Football Season everyone! <br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/blog/Signature-1.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-25101693308560946432010-08-18T01:08:00.001-04:002010-10-21T14:00:06.673-04:00Sisters x2!<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Jamie Leigh's a PHI MU!!!!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">She's now my sister...AND my "sister". :) </span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtTOCJJYXI/AAAAAAAAA2o/Sq9nLa1FFjw/s1600/Jamie+Bid+Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtTOCJJYXI/AAAAAAAAA2o/Sq9nLa1FFjw/s640/Jamie+Bid+Card.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Her bid card matches mine from six years ago</span><span style="font-size: large;">!</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtN38I4YKI/AAAAAAAAA1w/RnkQrm6EH3w/s1600/CD+5+130%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtN38I4YKI/AAAAAAAAA1w/RnkQrm6EH3w/s640/CD+5+130%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of my best friends, Laura, and I met during rush week - she went Zeta and I went Phi Mu.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Jamie and her friend Mallory from rush week ended up in Phi Mu together</span><span style="font-size: large;">...</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtTIopUgCI/AAAAAAAAA2k/xUTIg5ctX94/s1600/Ladybug+nametag.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtTIopUgCI/AAAAAAAAA2k/xUTIg5ctX94/s640/Ladybug+nametag.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
<div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">and they got ladybug name tags on bid day just like ours from six years ago... </span></div></td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtOAio_FyI/AAAAAAAAA10/1uQGdU82qjk/s1600/CD+5+131%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtOAio_FyI/AAAAAAAAA10/1uQGdU82qjk/s640/CD+5+131%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="font-size: small;">When Jamie first found out she had been accepted to UGA, she called me at work right away to announce her news and I was soooo excited! When she started rush week, I didn't care what sorority she ended up in. But now that she's a Phi Mu, I'm way more excited than I ever thought I would be about it. Jamie and I are as close as any sisters are, so it makes it that much more fun that we share the same college campus, and now the same sorority house! I think I'm so excited because I know how many fun things she has to look forward to over the next four years...</span></span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Things like</span>...</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">meeting new friends during rush week...(check!)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtOe6iQg1I/AAAAAAAAA2A/3Wp79s-W-Ok/s1600/CD+5+137%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtOe6iQg1I/AAAAAAAAA2A/3Wp79s-W-Ok/s640/CD+5+137%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Big Sis/Lil Sis</span><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> - Alice Callahan...miss her!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtQVD_qHPI/AAAAAAAAA2M/cnzOKgM3bTs/s1600/DSC00906%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtQVD_qHPI/AAAAAAAAA2M/cnzOKgM3bTs/s640/DSC00906%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Christmas Formals...</span></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Themed Socials! (Rock Stars and Groupies...)</span></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">P is for...</span></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">School Girls...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtkXcJ5TYI/AAAAAAAAA2w/DpCEbGJf4mM/s1600/graham%27s+bday.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="306" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtkXcJ5TYI/AAAAAAAAA2w/DpCEbGJf4mM/s640/graham%27s+bday.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> followed by Graham's birthday on North Campus...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtiM3nJNbI/AAAAAAAAA2s/gDrfBXb2Ki4/s1600/DSC01378%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtiM3nJNbI/AAAAAAAAA2s/gDrfBXb2Ki4/s640/DSC01378%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Georgia/Florida weekends of course...</span></div><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">The whole gang that stayed at Mia's beach house...</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Meredith's birthday celebration on the beach...</span></td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">and the BIG GAME...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtnh88e2wI/AAAAAAAAA28/l61WgqpIFg4/s1600/DSC01569%282%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtnh88e2wI/AAAAAAAAA28/l61WgqpIFg4/s640/DSC01569%282%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;">Semi-formals...</span></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtOfiD0pRI/AAAAAAAAA2E/TsQWoPmcWM0/s1600/charlie%27s+angels%28edcit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtOfiD0pRI/AAAAAAAAA2E/TsQWoPmcWM0/s640/charlie%27s+angels%28edcit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">...and the picture proofs that you'll save to your computer, "PROOF" stamp and all, because they're like $3 each to buy...</td></tr>
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> DANCE MARATHON!!!!!! And raising lots of money for Phi Mu's philanthropy...For The Kids (FTK!!)</span></span></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Living in the Phi Mu "castle" on Milledge with all your friends...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtQoh-N_MI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/xq7DPPOAcr8/s1600/DSC01929%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtQoh-N_MI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/xq7DPPOAcr8/s640/DSC01929%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Room 6!!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtQxFiPGhI/AAAAAAAAA2U/9QZrxm1Phg8/s1600/DSC01333%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TGtQxFiPGhI/AAAAAAAAA2U/9QZrxm1Phg8/s640/DSC01333%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">and impromptu dance parties with our Room 5 neighbors...</span></span></div><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">She always knew Phi Mu was where it's at, even back when she was 12 and Melissa May was my ladybug...</span></span></div><br />
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<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">Oh good times! And good walk down memory lane...</span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"> You have so much to look forward to my dear little Phi...</span></span></div><br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/NC%20Mtns%20Weekend/Untitled-1-2.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-47169848899378904982010-07-20T20:05:00.000-04:002010-10-21T13:34:43.929-04:00ServeRDU<div style="text-align: left;">On our honeymoon 2 years and one month ago (2 years...what?!?!), Ryan informed me that he had signed us up for a service project through his church, The Summit. So, in my first week of living in Durham, during the unloading boxes and getting settled in phase of new married life, we went and worked alongside others from The Summit on a house with Habitat for Humanity for the "Week of Hope" (now called "ServeRDU"). </div><br />
It didn't take long to realize that The Summit Church is serious about taking care of the needs of its local community (Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill) and I've never seen or been a part of a church that has such a heart for serving others <b>all</b> the time. We are supposed to serve others just like Christ did, but we don't always do that. The Summit is constantly seeking out needs in the community and advertising opportunities for members to serve and gives lots of money to organizations that lack funding for their needs. God has really blessed Ryan and I and taught us so much through this church in the two years we've been here (six for Ryan - it's the same church he went to during college). <br />
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Cheesy as it sounds, Ryan and I made a list of goals one time soon after we were married on the drive back from GA (too many 5 hour drives up I-85...what else is there to do, ha!). It was a list of things we wanted to do over the span of three years and included fun stuff, serious stuff, etc. Like go to Italy...11 months left to make that happen...doubtful! :) Anyways, one of our goals was to participate in ServeRDU every year that we live in Durham, as well as other serve opportunities throughout the year. While The Summit is constantly providing ways to serve in the community, ServeRDU is a full week of service projects that a ton of people from the church participate in every year in July. So, our first year, we did the Habitat project that I mentioned above. Then last year, we along with our small group worked in a local park that was pretty run down - we painted the bathroom house, trash cans, playground, picnic tables, benches, grills; picked up trash; pruned the grounds etc. <br />
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This year, our small group was working on different projects instead of one together, so Ryan and I were trying to decide which one to do. One of the things The Summit did this year was partner with all of the local schools: elementary, middle, and high, and provided volunteers to meet whatever needs the school had in an effort to establish a relationship with each school in the community. One of the projects that Ryan discovered was working on one of the local high school's football facilities that needed some work, but didn't have the funding for it. He mentioned it to Matt, Wes, and Banks who got excited about it and Matt even announced it to the football leadership group which brought Patrick Egboh on board. <br />
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So, on Friday afternoon, Ryan and I took off work and we all headed over to Riverside High School to join about 15 other Summit members to paint lockers, repair broken locks, and clean paint off the floor with turpentine. The Head Football Coach, who was out cutting the football field grass himself in 90 degree weather when we arrived, had been wanting to hang some shelves in his equipment room/storage closet that he had not been able to get around to, so Ryan, Matt, Wes, Banks, and Egboh took on the project while I swept the mounds of dirt, trash, spiders and crickets that were hidden behind all the equipment we moved out of the way to make room for the shelves. <br />
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It was an outdoor storage room with no AC and it was HOT! We were all drenched with sweat and dirt after 10 minutes, but these guys were workers!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO19aUTbYI/AAAAAAAAAvA/eaKYqJIcSNQ/s1600/DSC02953%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO19aUTbYI/AAAAAAAAAvA/eaKYqJIcSNQ/s640/DSC02953%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>And managed to have some fun despite the heat... (Patrick Egboh...aka Egboh)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2KUfUZeI/AAAAAAAAAvI/6G_dVm3dAXg/s1600/DSC02961%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2KUfUZeI/AAAAAAAAAvI/6G_dVm3dAXg/s640/DSC02961%28edit%29.jpg" width="444" /></a></div><br />
I mean, how could they not have fun when they had power tools to play with? (Adam Banks...aka Banksy)<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2Vxxjz1I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/zEYQ7ifFyKg/s1600/DSC02964%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2Vxxjz1I/AAAAAAAAAvQ/zEYQ7ifFyKg/s640/DSC02964%28edit%29.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><br />
The Head Football Coach came in to meet the guys and thank them. He seemed to really appreciate their help. In high school football around here, it's a one-man show for the football coach apparently. He cuts the field grass himself, keeps up the facilities on his own, does the laundry, manages the equipment...all of it himself. So clearly, these much-needed shelves and the locker room repairs had gotten bumped down his to-do list with so much else to take care of. Made Matt and Ryan realize how special of a high school football program Buford is, where they have facilities as nice as Division 1 colleges athletics' facilities!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2gUyz38I/AAAAAAAAAvY/E93mVfUMP2c/s1600/DSC02968%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2gUyz38I/AAAAAAAAAvY/E93mVfUMP2c/s640/DSC02968%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>I don't think these guys would have even taken a break to sit had it not been for needing a tool and having to wait for someone to run to Home Depot. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2r2dDAnI/AAAAAAAAAvg/uqc8nBQFQeQ/s1600/DSC02976%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2r2dDAnI/AAAAAAAAAvg/uqc8nBQFQeQ/s640/DSC02976%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>I think it really meant a lot to the coach that these college football players that he watches play in the fall came out to volunteer their Friday afternoon to work on his high school's football facilities. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2228AHzI/AAAAAAAAAvo/Cqp__sj8CR8/s1600/DSC02979%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TEO2228AHzI/AAAAAAAAAvo/Cqp__sj8CR8/s640/DSC02979%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>And it was cool to see that these guys were so enthusiastically glad to do it. After grabbing water during the Home Depot run, they went inside and asked what they could be doing while they waited, so they got on hands and knees and scrubbed paint off the floors. Then they stayed an hour after the project was over to finish up and put everything back together that they had moved out of the equipment room. <br />
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All in all, when the week of ServeRDU was over, there had been 20 project locations, over 1,500 volunteers, 6,566 hours of service, and tens of thousands of dollars donated to the local community. <br />
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There were lots of projects at schools, charter schools, boarding schools, free medical/dental/eye clinics, cribs were built and baby showers were thrown for women at Pregnancy Support services, there was a Red Cross blood drive, and lots more...<br />
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Here's a brief video summary that was shown at church Sunday morning of this year's ServeRDU last week. <br />
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<a href="http://vimeo.com/13432238">ServeRDU</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/summitrdu">The Summit Church</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com/">Vimeo</a>.<br />
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It was a great week of The Summit serving and building relationships all around this community and I'm so glad we were able to be a part of it!<br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/NC%20Mtns%20Weekend/Untitled-1-2.jpg" style="border: 0pt none;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-69367010352512562132010-07-15T13:46:00.001-04:002010-10-21T13:57:01.199-04:00Surprise!If you know me, you know that I LOVE surprises. And I'm always scheming up a good one. So, a few weeks ago when I was able to get ahold of some Toby Keith concert tickets that happened to fall on the first weekend Matt was back in Durham after spending the first half of the summer at home AND his birthday weekend, I started scheming... :)<br />
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TJ has been talking about wanting to make it up to Durham for a long time since he hasn't been up here in over two and a half years - he hasn't seen where Ryan and I have lived since we've been married or visited since Matt first started school here. So, when we were all home a few weeks ago, I mentioned to TJ that if I could get Toby Keith tickets, he should fly up for the weekend and go to the concert with us and we could surprise Matt. Mom and Dad were standing right there and said they'd "sponsor" the trip with some skymiles, so we booked his flight and managed to keep Matt in the dark for the next couple of weeks.<br />
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Matt came back to Durham last Monday and brought Jamie with him to stay for the week. She had a flight back to ATL on Friday, so I planned to drop her off at the airport and pick TJ up in one trip and there I had my alibi. :) Matt and Jamie got to hang out while I was at work every day, then we'd all meet for lunch and Jamie and I got to hang out in the evenings, even got pedicures one night (Mom's treat - thanks Mom!), my first since right before our wedding - so good to have some sister time with her!<br />
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So, Friday rolled around and it seemed like the week had gone by too quickly and Jamie didn't want to miss out on all of the fun with TJ coming, so she decided to just stay until Saturday night instead. We didn't tell Matt though. :) I played things cool and even asked Matt if he wanted to ride with us to the airport to drop Jamie off with us, but quickly threw in that I had to run be fitted for a bridesmaid's dress on the way (not really though, just to make him not want to come), so he quickly opted out. So, Jamie and I headed to the airport. Ironically, Ryan was headed to Alabama for his grandfather's funeral and his flight was 30 minutes after TJ landed, so he joked about maybe seeing TJ in passing at the airport since he wasn't going to be around for the weekend anymore. As it turned out though, Ryan's flight left from the same gate that TJ's flight came into and Ryan boarded the same plane that TJ had just gotten off of! So, when we got to the airport, we had to circle a few times waiting on TJ because he got to catch up with Ryan for a few. <br />
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Now, for the surprise - here's how we pulled it off... :)<br />
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Matt wanted Kurama's, a Japanese steak-house for dinner, so he and a few friends were there and he was expecting me to join them for dinner since I had just "dropped Jamie off". On the way, TJ called Matt and Matt told TJ he was just getting ready to head to dinner with some friends for his birthday and asked what TJ was up to. TJ told him he and Sam (his roommate) were just getting ready to head downtown (Gainesville, Florida) to go find somewhere to eat for dinner too, ha! We had a few extra minutes to stop and grab a card and of all things, Jamie found one that sang a Toby Keith song when you opened it, so Jamie made imitation concert tickets to stick inside the card with each person's name that was going. Then the last one had TJ's name on it. So I was going to walk up to the table alone, as expected, and give Matt the card....<br />
<div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Here's Matt's cheesin' it face after opening the card and seeing the concert tickets, which he thought was the big surprise, not knowing that there was more...</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDuhXCEZOhI/AAAAAAAAAtg/JnCUqq6haSg/s1600/DSC02901%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDuhXCEZOhI/AAAAAAAAAtg/JnCUqq6haSg/s640/DSC02901%28edit%29.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I told him to take a closer look at the them...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">(beware of the poor quality...still a really fun video though!)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><strong><span style="color: blue;">Be sure and press pause on the ipod on the left sidebar first though!</span></strong></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><object height="385" width="480"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/_FgEAv0SHP0&hl=en_US&fs=1?color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/_FgEAv0SHP0&hl=en_US&fs=1?color1=0x5d1719&color2=0xcd311b" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>The next morning, all the guys got up and left at 5:30 AM for a bass fishing tournament, so Jamie and I just hung out by the pool until the guys got back around lunchtime. We then made some last-minute plans to meet up with Andrea, Jimmy, Alicia and AJ for dinner on the way to dropping Jamie off at the airport, probably our last chance to see them before they move to DC :( It's been so fun having them only a little over an hour away the entire time we've lived here, but that means we'll definitely be taking more DC trips in the near future! Amazingly, between Jimmy being deployed (Air Force) so much and TJ never being in NC, and having such short Christmas breaks due to bowl games, we realized that Jimmy and TJ hadn't even seen each other in six years! Jimmy hadn't seen TJ since he was a little ole' eighth grader! <br />
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In our concert attire, we headed out to meet Andrea, Jimmy, & Co., drop Jamie off at the airport (SAD!), then head to the Toby Keith/Trace Adkins concert. Where's your shirt, Matt? <br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDuhjNnW92I/AAAAAAAAAto/wxPqfMO8LqA/s1600/DSC02913%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDuhjNnW92I/AAAAAAAAAto/wxPqfMO8LqA/s640/DSC02913%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">yet again, family divided!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDuiWtWgLEI/AAAAAAAAAtw/EVToc5RhHtQ/s1600/DSC02916%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDuiWtWgLEI/AAAAAAAAAtw/EVToc5RhHtQ/s640/DSC02916%28edit%29.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Had to get a pic of the rare reunion!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TD9A_I9IsdI/AAAAAAAAAuo/vbQ6-sm5gz0/s1600/DSC02917(edit).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" rw="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TD9A_I9IsdI/AAAAAAAAAuo/vbQ6-sm5gz0/s640/DSC02917(edit).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Take 2...</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDuq88O4ZaI/AAAAAAAAAuA/ytcSmW1r-Xc/s1600/DSC02918%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDuq88O4ZaI/AAAAAAAAAuA/ytcSmW1r-Xc/s640/DSC02918%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center">We pretended we were headed to the concert, no stopping at the airport on the way...we were in denial that she was leaving really. </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TD9Cfq_OKaI/AAAAAAAAAuw/_qc-wkTVyyI/s1600/DSC02926(rustic).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" rw="true" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TD9Cfq_OKaI/AAAAAAAAAuw/_qc-wkTVyyI/s640/DSC02926(rustic).jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div align="center">COME BACK. I MISS YOU! </div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div align="center">But alas, we had to drop James at the airport before going to the concert. Lo and behold, she flew out the same gate as Ryan AND TJ. Poor Jamie, headed back home to be an only child again with all of her sibs five hours away in different directions. She'd had Matt there for the first half of the summer which was so fun for both of them while he was living at home during his internship in Atlanta for our Lt. Governor, Casey Cagle, a good family friend of ours. Bet she misses him already!</div><div align="center"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDurFgaowAI/AAAAAAAAAuI/nra84rmqgis/s1600/DSC02931%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDurFgaowAI/AAAAAAAAAuI/nra84rmqgis/s640/DSC02931%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">Why did I get so many "goodbye" pictures and not more concert pictures? </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDurRcG48II/AAAAAAAAAuQ/jblLCdbhvTI/s1600/DSC02947%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="470" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDurRcG48II/AAAAAAAAAuQ/jblLCdbhvTI/s640/DSC02947%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">I don't know, but here we are at the airport again (third trip in a weekend!), seeing TJ off on Sunday evening. Ryan got in late Saturday night from Alabama right after we got back from the concert, so we got up and went to church on Sunday morning, then had lunch at Tyler's, one of our favorite after-church lunch spots. It's a Durham place, so we had to take TJ there. Besides, it's his name-sake (TJ=Tyler James). :)</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDurrqUISZI/AAAAAAAAAug/dcdWE4wbZ-g/s1600/DSC02946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDurrqUISZI/AAAAAAAAAug/dcdWE4wbZ-g/s640/DSC02946.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="background-color: white; color: blue; font-size: x-large;">HAPPY 23rd BIRTHDAY MATTY! :)</span></div><br />
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<img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/NC%20Mtns%20Weekend/Untitled-1-2.jpg" style="border-bottom: 0pt; border-left: 0pt; border-right: 0pt; border-top: 0pt;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2635724921592274492.post-51685271349141627092010-07-12T12:59:00.000-04:002010-07-12T12:59:56.159-04:00We will miss Pa...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Gentleness. Self-control. If there was ever anyone who lived out the fruit of the Spirit (Galations 5:22-23), it would be Ryan's grandfather, Pa. Pa was one of the most loving, gentle, kind, peaceful people I have ever been around and thankfully, he instilled these qualities into his son Dexter (Ryan's father) who also passed these characteristics along to Ryan. As far as men go, these three generations of Woods are some of the most patient, kind men I have ever known. And as far as leaving a legacy goes, Pa left his through instilling these qualities into my husband and my father-in-law.<br />
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While I am so thankful for the legacy that Pa left behind and for the character traits of Pa's that are so evident in my own husband and in my father-in-law, I am so sad that we lost such an amazing man when Pa went home to be with the Lord last Wednesday morning. <br />
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When Ryan recieved a phone call from his dad when we were getting ready for work telling him that Pa had passed away during the night, Ryan and I both sat on the bed and mourned the loss of his grandfather together. My heart broke for my husband who just lost his grandfather, for Ma, his grandmother who just lost her spouse of over sixty years, for my father-in-law who lost his father, for Ryan's aunt Lisa who lost her father and for all of the Wood family, but it also broke because I lost someone who was special to me. In the nine years that I have known Ryan, I have grown to love his grandparents. They have always been so good to me and make me feel like one of their own grandchildren. They have so many first-hand stories of times they have lived through that I have only read about in history books. Every time I am around them, I wish I had an extended amount of time to spend with them because they have such valuable things I would just love to learn from them. They garden and can and cook and appreciate time spent with family without the distractions of cell phones, tv, video games. It's like a breath of fresh air to spend time with them and learn from these sweet people who have taught Ryan so many of life's lessons throughout his childhood. <br />
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The thing that makes me the most sad is that my (future) kids will not be able to grow up around Pa, learning life lessons from him that Ryan and Dexter were able to. That is why I am so thankful for the strong legacy he left behind in Ryan and Dexter so that my kids will know Pa through their own father and grandfather who are so much like him in so many ways. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDtIaD16QMI/AAAAAAAAAtY/BiH95-GVcP8/s1600/DSC00562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" rw="true" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDtIaD16QMI/AAAAAAAAAtY/BiH95-GVcP8/s640/DSC00562.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>I'm thankful for the time we recently were able to spend with Pa and Ma in Alabama when we stopped in for visits on our way to and from the beach just a month and a half ago. <br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDqINouM0-I/AAAAAAAAAtQ/sOOpTcdfMq8/s1600/DSC_0148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDqINouM0-I/AAAAAAAAAtQ/sOOpTcdfMq8/s640/DSC_0148.JPG" width="640" /></a><br />
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And here's a picture from a little over two years ago on our way home from the beach right before our wedding.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDqHUJw0CJI/AAAAAAAAAtA/zte5dL2grQY/s1600/DSC00563%28edit%29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="458" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_7me6ojxvwUE/TDqHUJw0CJI/AAAAAAAAAtA/zte5dL2grQY/s640/DSC00563%28edit%29.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">While I did not make it down to Alabama for the funeral, I'm so glad that Ryan was able to be there with his family to celebrate Pa's life. TJ and I had made plans a while back for him to fly to Durham to surprise Matt on his birthday for the Toby Keith concert and to spend the weekend. Jamie was also able to be here for the weekend so while I absolutely hated to not be in Alabama with Ryan and his family, I stayed behind to be with my siblings since this was TJ's first trip to Durham in the last two and a half years. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><img align="left" src="http://i560.photobucket.com/albums/ss48/erinpwood/NC%20Mtns%20Weekend/Untitled-1-2.jpg" style="border-bottom: 0pt; border-left: 0pt; border-right: 0pt; border-top: 0pt;" />Erinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11950701925531465133noreply@blogger.com3