Summer 2013

Well, after hundreds of miles, pictures, songs, and memories, my summer is coming to a close.  This has been one of the best summers I've ever had.  I've been able to spend time with all my favorite people, see all my favorite places, and look at beautiful things.

As school ended, I started the summer with a visit to the mountains and Morganton.  It was a sweet treat to see my little cousin Stevie walk across her preschool stage!  They moved back to San Diego at the end of June, so I'm happy I got to spend some time with them.  During my time at home, I also celebrated with my mom as she ended her career in education.  33 years!  I can't even imagine being in education that long, though something tells me it's my fate to do so.  I'm proud of my mom, and I had a blast celebrating with her and her sweet friends.

After a trip back to school to work on some pacing guides, I ventured to Raleigh to wait on my nephew to be born.  Well, it was quite the interesting trip.  No baby was born, but I did manage to lock myself out of my friend's house while I was house/cat sitting.  Oh, I also had nothing but pj's on and nothing with me except my car keys - small miracles.  I ended up being able to spend extra time with my sister, and I don't trade those times for anything.  Once I was back in the house, I spent time with Caro and Kelly, so it was a fun trip.  My nephew decided to be stubborn (like the rest of his family) and wait us out for another week!!  However, I was able to see him dance and wiggle in Meg's womb via ultrasound.  Ah, what a beautiful treat!

Since the baby wasn't going anywhere, I continued on with summer plans to attend the AP Summer Institute at Wake Forest.  It also allowed me to spend a week with Em and Carrie!  I spent time with Linds and caught up with an old college friend, Mira.  It was really great to catch up with friends and also have a week of being challenged.  The institute prepared me for teaching the upcoming classes in AP Language that I'm teaching this semester.  It was a humbling and unique experience.  I was able to meet educators from across the state and hear some really awesome ideas and have intriguing conversations.  I will definitely be taking all I learned into my classroom.

I left the institute a day early and headed to Durham to wait on my nephew to finally make his debut appearance.  On Friday, June 21st at 11:48 am, my beyond beautiful nephew was born.  Rex was beautiful, healthy, and absolutely exquisite.  I'm probably slightly biased, but he has to be one of the most adorable babies ever born.  I'm sure all aunts are partial.  I loved spending time with Meg, Kyle, and Rex as they transitioned into their little family.  Watching my sister turn into a mother, my mom into a grandmother, and becoming an aunt...well, it was a once in a lifetime experience.

For my next stop, I headed down south to Atlanta and visited Case.  We spent a lot of time doing school work and just visiting with each other.  I was glad that Case had work to do because it kept me productive!!  However, the biggest highlight of my visit was going to the doctor and seeing her baby.  I later told Case that I didn't understand how anyone couldn't believe in God after seeing the miracle of a little baby in a womb.  The baby was already active and had a beautiful heartbeat! We shopped a bit, ate a lot, and just spent some quality friend time together.

The 4th of July was a lot of fun, as well.  I traveled up to Lancaster, SC with Case and Clay to visit his family.  We had a great time.  Lots of food, rest, and swimming!  Clay's family is so kind.  I'm so happy that Case has married into such a sweet, kind family.  We had a shrimp boil and also went to a big BBQ - GOOD STUFF.  This southern girl's belly was happy!

I headed back to Reidsville to help out at a workshop and spend some time with my Rockingham friends.  Then it was back on the road to visit Durham and Raleigh.  I spent the week with Caro, but also visit Megan, Rex, Kelly, Matt, and Amber.  I love that so many people live within a couple cities!!

Caroline took me to the airport for my next adventure: Philadelphia.  This was my biggest trip of the summer, and I had a blast.  Courtney was the best tour guide ever.  We saw and visited lots of places, and we ate a ton of scrumptious food.  Even though I'm a county, southern girl at heart, it was great fun to explore and take in the city.  I love having friends that live in exciting places!  Spending time with Court was a treat too.  We've been friends since we were little girls, so it's always fun to reminisce and catch up.  Highlights were walking up the steps to the art museum, made famous by "Rocky, "Love Park", walking around the University of Pennsylvania, and thinking a rat was a squirrel.  I'm anxious to go back and be a city girl again.

After coming back to the south, I spent a few more days in Durham.  Dinner with Caro and snuggles with Rex accompanied my stay, and I enjoyed my time.  I had to go back to Reidsville again for a few workshops, but then it was finally beach time!  I was able to spend a few days down at Ocean Isle with Case and her sweet family.  I enjoyed the relaxing trip so much!  It was a treat to spend a few days by the ocean and taking in the salty air.

A quick trip to Morganton allowed me to celebrate my grandmother's 80th birthday.  She is still young at heart, and I doubt you'd ever pick up on the fact she holds as many years as she does.  She inspires me everyday, and I hope I'm half the woman she is as I continue to "grow up".

Rare pic of my family!

One last trip to Atlanta to visit Case, Clay, and Hank finished out my "big" travels.  I helped Case get ready for her baby gender reveal, and we also relaxed and just hung out.  I love the little town she lives in, but it's also nice to be close to the big city of Atlanta too!  I got to go on another visit to the doctor and saw baby J in Casey's belly - so cute!!

I headed back to NC, but only for a night.  The next day was the big reveal for Baby J!  Clay and Case held the party at his parent's house.  It was so much fun!  Case put a ton of thought into every detail, and I think it was a HUGE success.  I had been convinced that Case was going to have a girl - team pink all the way.  I had already pinned girly stuff for the shower on Pinterest and picked out cute dresses, SO you can imagine my surprise when they opened the box and blue balloons popped out!  Another baby boy to spoil!  I'm getting the hang of this baby boy thing - they're so cute!  I'm thrilled that Clay and Case are going to have a son - they're going to be awesome parents.  Here's Casey's blog post about the reveal!

Back to Motown for a last visit with my family.   I love being in Morganton.  It's truly...home.  I had a great time spending time with my parents and also visiting Mrs. McKinney and Mrs. Hasty.  I also got some school shopping in...woop woop.

The past few days, I've wrapped up summer with dogsitting my furry niece, Lois Lane.  I'm SUPPOSED to be doing school work, but instead I watched the entire first season of "X-Files".  You know how it goes.  Soaking in these last hours of freedom!  I, of course, got in some snuggle time with my little nugget as well.  He's getting so big!!

Monday starts my workdays.  It's back to school for this teacher.  YEAR SIX - I can't believe it.  I'm praying for a good year, and I'm so happy and blessed that I was able to have such a wonderful summer.  A special thanks to all my friends and family for hosting me in their homes and giving me a happy, memorable summer.