Day at Animal Kingdom

We haven't had too much excitement to report lately. I told my friend, Melanie, on the phone yesterday that I prefer to post when I have pictures because it's more fun, but of course, we don't take pictures every day!

Anyway, things are just business as usual around here. Things have slowed down a little bit at work for me, which is good because it's giving me a chance to catch up.

Congratulations to my parents, who are in the process of moving in to their new house! I can't wait to see it, but unfortunately that probably won't be until July. Mom, remember to send me pictures!!! Then I can put them on here. I know it's so beautiful, and it will be a great place to get away (as if going to Mom and Dad's wasn't already)!

So, to the weekend. We have annual passes to Disney World! I know, I know, you're jealous. OK, maybe some of you are. Anyway, that is one of my consolations for living far far away in steamy Orlando. I love Disney, so we find a way to fork over the money for passes every year to keep me happy! Actually, it's a good thing for us to have because we have people coming into town to go to Disney pretty often. With our passes, it's easy to go out and see them, spend time with them, and play tour guide a little bit.

So on Saturday, we spent the afternoon at Animal Kingdom!

This is a picture of us in front of Expedition Everest, which is a pretty fun roller coaster that goes backwards! We got to ride a few rides, including the Safari, which I love every single time. You ride around in a big "Jeep" and see all kinds of animals. Here's some kind of bull type animal that was very close to us.

After our fun day, we went to Boma restaurant at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. It's an African Buffet, and the food is so good. Plus, the hotel is amazing. It has its own savannah where all kinds of animals roam. We had to wait an hour and a half because we didn't have reservations, but it was worth the wait!

Well, I guess that's it for now!

Weekend Getaway!

Well, even though it was a tough week, it came at the perfect time! Last weekend (actually on Thursday), I flew up to Greer (God bless Allegiant Air that allowed me to fly for $120.00!) to go to a Beth Moore Conference with my mom and sister-in-law, Heather! It was a wonderful weekend.

Actually, the conference was just on Friday night and Saturday morning. So Thursday I got to spend some time with my parents at North Greenville (where my dad works) and, of course, at their mountain house. It's almost done, and I regret that I don't have any pictures. It's so beautiful!

The conference was on persevering through trial and it was based on James 1. I've actually never done a Beth Moore Bible Study, so I was overwhelmed by what an amazing teacher she is. The topic was perfect for me. There are lots of blessings in my life, but there are some pretty big trials too (see last posting), so it was a wonderful reminder for me that God is doing great things! It was also so fun to be with my mom and Heather! The picture below is of us at the conference (with the 17,0o0 other women - lots of control issues in one place)

After the conference, I got to go by Newberry to see my best friend, Melanie and her daughters. She was at her parents house for the weekend because she ran a race that morning. I haven't seen her since last May, so it was wonderful to stop by even though it was a very quick visit. Anna was feeling a little tired, so she was not eager to be in the picture!

After that, we headed to Greenville to meet Chris's family for dinner. We ate at Trio, which is so good. I don't think I've eaten there since before I moved down here. Below are pictures of us at dinner. Haegen Lee and Jake are so cute!

What a beautiful niece I have! After all that, I was very ready to get back home to see Dan, who stayed here for the weekend. He and his brother, Dustin, worked hard doing stuff around the house, which made the weekend doubly good! It was amazing to see all the people I got to see this weekend! I sure do miss SC! There's something so special about it!

Very Sad News...

Well, today was a big day because Alli had a vet appointment to get a check-up and also an x-ray to find out how many puppies she's having. The vet did her x-ray and came back in to inform me that she's not pregnant! He said she definitely has some external signs, which of course we have been noticing, but she has something called a false pregnancy. I can't really explain it all here, but the bottom line is, no puppies for now.

That news would be very disappointing in and of itself since it's something we have invested a lot in and have really been looking forward to, but it's even harder on top of our own struggles to have a baby. We've been trying now for about two years. It was a good thing that I had the day off today, because I've definitely been doing a lot of grieving.

I know in the bottom of my heart that God is good and faithful, and he's in control of all this stuff. But it's hard to face this kind of disappointment over and over again. Anyway, I'm sure we'll give it another try with Alli when her next heat comes (in five months). I guess we won't have to do all that work with puppies over the next couple of months, which is one bright side!

So just keeping those of you who read this posted!

It's been a while!

OK, so it's not as easy to keep writing on this blog as I thought it would be! Plus, we've both been so busy lately that I don't even have the energy! This week, I had the most sessions I've ever had: 23 - and that was after two cancellations! Needless to say, I'm very happy to be home, and I'm glad it's the weekend!

Two weekends ago, we got Alli's whelping box built! That was a fun project for us because we've never built anything together before. I would put a picture of it on here, but I'm too tired to get up and do that right now! I'm sure you'll see it when the puppies come! Monday, Alli goes to the vet to get a check up and an x-ray to see how many puppies she having! Hopefully, she will cooperate!

Last Sunday, I made my first big Florida mistake. I've lived here for five years, and I've been really good about using sunscreen! I haven't gotten burned the whole time I've lived here. But Sunday afternoon, I went to Dan's soccer game, and I forgot the sunscreen. My legs got so burned that I really could have stayed home from work the next day! But I didn't! I certainly learned my lesson! Now I'm in the wonderful stage of starting to itch before I peel. I have learned that we need to keep sunscreen in our cars!

This weekend, we'll spend Easter with Dan's family. Our church does a Saturday night service, so we have started going to that, and then we are able to go to his parents' church on Sunday. We're looking forward to a great weekend!