Adventure 17 - Last Trip

So this past weekend I took my last travel trip "far" away to Memphis. I plan on sticking around the East side of the state for the last 6 weeks just in case Molly decides to come on out pre-August 10th. I had an appointment the Tuesday before I left for the trip, and I asked my doctor if he "thought it would be safe for me to go to Memphis this weekend". His response was - "what part of Memphis??". hehe..I assured him I would be safe and he let me go with no worries.

Drove down with mom as fast as I could Friday night in hopes that I could catch the tail end of the VBS program. Sheryl was the director this year! (a job I'm sure I would have shared with her unwillingly if I would have been in town. That's the craziness she'll drag you into you know.) Sounds like they did great though. Missed the program but everyone was still hanging around the church so I got to see a few folks. Spent the rest of the night catching up with Sheryl and them and crashed on the futon in Brandon's old room.

Headed to Memphis the next morning with Leita. Promptly got stuck in traffic in Nashville, then at exit 101, then again b/c of some bulldozer or something in road. So a 3-4 hour trip turned in to 5-6. Met Leita's momma and took a quick shower. Then the festivities began.

I love weddings!!! What girl doesn't I suppose, but they're always so nice. Makes you think of yours and gives everyone a little refresher on love. Becca looked amazing, Aaron's dad managed to get through the service without tearing up (go dad!), and I even think Aaron got a little teary-eyed. hehe..so sweet. Reception  was really fun. Tons of people dancing and seemed like everyone had a great time. Stayed up till 1:30 chatting with Aaron afterwards.

Good last travel weekend. Guess it's hunker down time in Maryville where I'll attempt to get stuff ready for Molly to get here.

Adventure 16 - A Sad Day

I guess that you should probably get the bad with the good so I'm counting Linda's funeral as adventure number 16 even though it's an adventure I would have rather not had.

Josh's stepmom Linda Davis passed away last week after some complications she had during surgery. She had been in pain for a while. In and out of the hospital. She made it through the surgery but had lost a lot of blood in her liver. It just wouldn't start again so they pulled her off the respirator Thursday night. Turns out she had cancer as well, but they didn't know that going in.

So this past weekend Josh and I (and Molly) spent time with Josh's family and doing funeral stuff. I've never been that close to a funeral and all that's involved. Lots to do and lots of family time. Found out that Josh is exactly like his dad. Down to the being ridiculous positive and rational in times when you're just allowed to be sad (dang it).

Anyways - so Molly you won't get to meet your Mamaw Davis. She was definitely a character. Short lady who loved to give presents. We didn't see her very often since we have just now moved back to East TN, but when we did you always knew something big would be going on. She loved garage sales (which they mentioned in her obituary and she even had "underground" yard sales in her garage b/c they aren't allowed in her neighborhood. Now that's determination!). She was surprisingly good at Wii bowling. It was always fun to watch Dennie tease her and get her all riled up over nothing. Her fussing at him and then him off grinning on the side. He loved her a lot, and I'm sure he'll tell you all about her when y'all hang out. She asked about you all the time and bought you tons of stuff even before you were born and before your first Christmas so she loved you too.

So...if you ever read this and care to know more about Adventure 16 ask Papaw Davis. He'll fill you in.

Adventure 15 - Fireflies at Elkmont with Kyoo

So we had our high school reunion last week (AH HA! Maybe that was adventure 14). Anyways I ran into Kyoo Jackson (BFF from Kindergarten), and as we were talking we found out that we were both interested in seeing the synchronized fireflies at Elkmont up in the Smoky Mountains National Park.

After a few days of rain and not catching each other at the right time, we ended up meeting up for dinner at Panera (yumm illegal deli meat) and a late night run up to the mountains. It was a great time to catch up as we drove the hour up to Elkmont from Maryville. The distance isn't so far, but those curvy roads at night can be a beast.

Found parking not too far from the trailhead and stumbled our way up the trail in the dark. We were a few days late of seeing the mass of fireflies, but I still have never seen so many in my life. And they don't all flash at the same exact time, but they do cut off and on at about the same time. So it looks like a million tiny photographers out in the woods flashing their cameras. Paparazzi! Or magic! Like little fairies. There were tons of people so it kind of runs the magic mood, but I can only imagine the first people that got to see these fireflies before the crowds discovered how cool it is.

Guess you can't really see the lights from my belly Molly - but I will tell you that it was beautiful and a great opportunity to catch up with an old friend. :o)

Adventure 14

Josh's sister threw us a baby shower in Knoxville and mom hosted it at her house. Everything looked really cute and despite my lack of church and tons of friends in East TN we had a good group at the shower.

Adventure Number 13 - Isaac Time!

I never manage to get a picture when me and Isaac hang out, but I'm counting our kayak adventure as number 13. Before Josh left on his trip, I made him leave me the truck just in case there were any nice weekends, and I could convince Isaac to load up the boats for me so we could go kayaking. Lucky for us - this past Saturday the weather looked like it was going to cooperate.

Once we figured out how to open the garage door, we loaded up the boats and headed to a spot close by our new house in Maryville. It was perfect! Just floating around on a great day without too many boats. We tried to be brave and float down a small creek area, but we decided to turn back when the spiders started jumping off the tree limbs onto my boat and I freaked out. Like I said, we tried to be brave. hehe...

After the creek incident, we stopped along one of the edges to do a little swimming where I learned that big beefy Isaac has "tender" feet. hahaha...So we were quite a pair attempting to swim. Me trying to get out of my boat and on to the rocks without falling and knocking Molly senseless, and Isaac tenderfooting his way around the rocks before he jumped in. :o)

Finish off the weekend with a movie night to see Robin Hood, and I call Adventure 13 quite a success.

Adventure Number 12 - Murfreesboro Visit

Again a delayed posting, but still an excellent adventure. Josh was gone to some place for guard so I headed up to Murfreesboro with mom.

Saturday the crew headed up to Long...Hunter I think it was State Park for a day at the lake and a fabulous picnic. Rode up in the Jeep, and it ended up being the perfect day. Brandon and I played a little soccer. Gotta get Molly used to the idea. Hopefully she'll enjoy playing as much as I do b/c I'd love to watch! Anyways - so some folks floated around in the kayaks and some just swam and some sat in the sun talking. Relaxing and fun at the same time.
Later that evening we had a cookout at Aaron's house (of course! what's a Murfreesboro weekend without a cookout at Aaron's). Then headed over to Sheryl's house for a few games. A standard evening, but so fun.

Sunday was a big day at church. Steve and Aaron joined Trinity. Confirmation Sunday. And my shower! I was overwhelmed by the gifts from so many folks at Trinity. Even after 6 months of being away, they are still as supportive as if we had been living in the Boro. So nice. Got lots of great presents and played some fun shower games. Then headed back to Knoxville with mom.

Got stuck in traffic for about an hour and half extra and got home super late so the week started off SLEEPY.

Adventure #11 Slightly Delayed Reporting

Adventure number 11 happened forever ago, but I've been busy and lazy so I never posted.

Me and Josh headed out to Norris Dam to do some fishing. We, of course, didn't catch a dang thing, but we had a great time.

Brought a picnic lunch and ate next to a mill or something. I don't remember now, but it was a typical lazy Saturday kind of day we haven't had in a while (and haven't had since come to think of it.)

Picture is me sitting on a rock while he's fishing b/c I'm too lazy to actually fish. hehe...what who says adventures can't be restful?