3 Things

Believe it or not, I have three things to post about today and NONE of them have to do with Emory! For all you Emory Fan Club members, I am sorry, but, believe me, she is getting cuter every day.

#1. I did it, I actually got my nose pierced! I know to most of you this must come as a shock, but we can get through this together. It's definitely not like me to do something like this, but I have always talked about wanting one, and I finally decided to put the words into action. Why has it taken me so long? Here is a convo I had on the issue with my dearest dad:

Me: Dad, I think I want a nose ring

Dad: Don't you think that will hurt?

Me: Not anymore than when I got my ears pierced.

Dad: I didn't mean when you had it done, I meant when I ripped it out. (No grin on his face)

I'm sure I will regret doing this when I have a teenage daughter... Let's everyone keep this a secret from her, ok?

See? It's very small, no need to worry :)

#2 Chris bought me these beautiful flowers yesterday. Why? you might ask. Well, I will soon be a published author in the journal Current Biology. This means, one step closer to graduation, one step closer to me finally being done with school after 20 years! I was very excited when I found out that the paper I had submitted to Current Biology was accepted yesterday. We have to make a few minor changes, and then my name will be in print!

#3 I had a lot of fun hanging out this past week with some friends of ours that were visiting from France, the family Verdier. I got to practice my French A LOT, which was good. There was also a lot of smiling and nodding and blank stares going on. While we were in Columbus for the weekend, we went to the brand new infantry museum, and I got to practice shooting a real riffle that soldiers use in combat (it wasn't loaded with bullets, it just had a microchip in it). I felt really cool. Chris shot a bigger gun than this one, but I was too consumed with my own glory to take a picture of him, sorry Chris.

Can you tell that Chris is wearing an Obama shirt? He has so far chosen to wear it in back woods hick town North Georgia and in Columbus, Georgia to an infantry museum. Can you see why these might be inappropriate times for him to flaunt his political leanings?

In the above picture, we are at the Coke museum in Atlanta. I am standing with Nathalie, the daughter of the Verdier family. We were good friends when I was 6 years old living in France.

This is me in front of the BEAUTIFUL orchids. Thankfully, my shirt matches. I think Mr. Verdier is making me laugh. Oh yeah, we were at the botanical gardens in Atlanta. Chris and I already had 4 free tickets to the gardens so we didn't have to buy many more. For the story on how we came by these free tickets, you'll have to ask me in person.

This is the whole Verdier family. They are a bunch of clowns and super fun to be with... even if your French isn't too good.

I just had to show some of the beautiful flowers we saw there. God's creativity never ceases to blow my mind. I love how much he cherishes beauty. His beauty is all around us, and isn't that what we seek when we are at our lowest? When I'm down, nothing lifts me up like God's beauty, a colorful sunset, a breathtaking view from a mountain top, the endless ocean, and my favorite... flowers! I've been reading the book Captivating, and I love how the author describes the traits of God that are only revealed in femininity. One of these is his beauty and his love for beauty. It may have no "practical" purpose in the western worldview, but I believe God created it for a reason. Sometimes we just need to soak it in!

Six Flags, American Idol, Sarah/Chris weekend out

SIX FLAGS WITH STACI AND JORDAN

A few weeks ago, some of Sarah's old friends, Staci and Jordan, came from Tuscaloosa to visit us (i.e. Go to six flags). Friday night was really fun; we had a great dinner and had a lot of time to catch up. Saturday we woke up early and started the day off with an essential breakfast at Dunkin Donuts. We arrived at DD around 9:00 and the temperature was already in the high 80s. This should have been my sign that the day was going to be very long. I realize now I should have politely pretended to have a terrible head ache and a stomach bug. I must admit that I am not the biggest fan of roller coasters. When we arrived at Six Flags, the park was already packed. The temp was rising quickly and the lines were extending even quicker. We were at SF for a total of seven hours and rode a total of...hhmmmm...4 rides (one of the rides twice). I should emphasize that we thoroughly enjoyed the time with Staci and Jordan but will probably opt to a cooler venue next year.

AMERICAN IDOL

Okay so I did it...I tried out for American Idol. My friend Mark and his girlfriend Jennie drove down from West Virginia to see us (i.e. try out for A.I). I must say it was a very interesting experience. There were a total of about 15,000 people that tried out that day. As most of you might guess or already know, very few people get to try out in front of Randy, Simon, Paula, and the new girl. Everyone registers two days before the tryout at which time you get a wrist band and ticket. On the third day, everyone that has registered shows up ready to be a star. Needless to say we met a lot of interesting people. Some people had flown in from all around the country. For some, this was their 9th or 10th tryout. At 8:00 a.m. (after sitting outside since 5:00) they herded everyone into the stadium.

First they have a song that the entire crowd sings while the cameras pan over faces. Our chosen song was "Oops I Did It Again." We had to sing through this song probably 20 times. The song actually sounded pretty good. There were even some people harmonizing in the crowd. I figured there must be some other COC people among us. After that little segment the waiting begins. There are rows of tables with a couple of producers at each table. As stated earlier, we arrived at the stadium at 5:00 a.m....we tried out at 3:00 p.m.!! With American Idol and Six Flags, I had the longest two days of my life within one week. The judge lined everyone up in groups of four. Once you get to your assigned table, the judge points to a person and says, "sing...okay stop...you sing...okay stop...you sing" and so on. The judge either tells everyone they suck or they let one person move to the next round. As you know if you have seen American Idol many people make it through that are TERRIBLE! These people go through rounds and rounds of producers before they get to see the famous judges. I know people wonder why a lot of these people that are so bad look so surprised when they see Simon and the gang and are told, "they have the worst voice in the world." Well, by this time, they have had dozens of people tell them they are awesome...tragic really.

Here is a bad pic taken with my phone of all the wanna be stars...I was directly in the middle so there is an equal amount of people on the other side.

We had a few days....

Because of the 4th of July holiday Sarah and I rented a cabin in North Georgia for a few days. The place we stayed was called Cabins and Coffee. We had a great time. We got to the cabins late Thursday and went straight to bed. On Friday Sarah, Emory and I spend the day hiking to a couple of waterfalls. The day was absolutely beautiful and the hike was easy but really fun.

Friday night Sarah and I were too tired to do much so we decided to go see a movie with some of the locals. Now remember...we were in RURAL Georgia...very different from Atlanta. I made the mistake of wearing an Obama t-shirt. When we arrived at the theater, I quickly scrambled to find a jacket after observing the company. The movie was very cheap...we got two tickets, popcorn, drinks, and candy for $17.00!

Over all the weekend was great...we relaxed, slept a lot, had fun, hiked, ate comfort food, and enjoyed a heart shaped Jacuzzi (cool i know).

4th OF JULY

So 4th of July happens to by my favorite holiday. I think this is for a couple of reasons. One, the only expectation is to find somewhere to hang out and have fun. Yes, people spend a lot of money on supplies but no one expects presents and people just want to see a good fireworks show. Also the 4th introduces things that I love (cook-outs, fireworks, watermelon, and homemade ice-cream). We spent our second year with the Touchton's. Not only are Ryan and Cheryl the coolest people ever, they also have the ideal place to celebrate the 4th. The live near the Old square of Marietta. There is a parade, lots of people, a pool, and there is an awesome firework show. It was a ton of fun. We really enjoyed spending time with everyone there and we hope that this becomes a tradition.

Happy belated Independence Day!