there's no place like home

I went home a couple weekends ago courtesy of my lovely mom. Justin was 10,000 miles away and Abbe was having a baby shower, so I decided to surprise her and make the trip. Fun times were had by all. But first....

Note to self: always check to be sure your flight is on time. My flight out of nashville was delayed 4 HOURS!! UGH. Plus, since I had a friend drop me off, I didn't have a ride back home. So instead of chillin with Riley for a few extra hours I tried to make myself comfortable in the freezing airport. We finally landed in KC at 12:25...AM! My poor parents had driven up to get me so we started the trek home. I think we pulled into the driveway at 3:45 am. Not so much fun.

Saturday morning, I surprised Abbe and took her to get pedicures for her birthday, which was also that week. It was fabulous!! Massaging chair, ice water and a small Asian woman massaging your feet and legs. Doesn't get much better. After our pedis we went and grabbed lunch and stopped off at Hobby Lobby. Fun afternoon. I was pretty much pooped after that. I headed back to Mom and Dad's to hang out with Aaron and Jessie. That evening we had a big ol family dinner and just hung out and talked. The little boys are so much fun and we had a blast.

Sunday we went to church and then Mom, Dad, Aaron and Jessie and I went to Picadilly for lunch. So yummy!! Abbe's baby shower was that afternoon and the girls all went to that. Best baby shower ever. No dumb games, just yummy treats, cute gifts and a prayer time. Abbe's so excited for a girl and I think the boys might be a little overwhelmed by all the pink. :) Sunday night, Mom and Dad drove me back up to KC. I stayed the night with Kirk and Marisa in their awesome new house and Marisa took me to the airport first thing Monday morning. I was super tired at work Monday and came home and crashed. Poor Riley, I wasn't much fun. Anyway, fabulous trip home!

justin in jakarta

well, for those of you who aren't in the loop, justin has been in indonesia for the last 10 days. he finally comes home tonight! i'm so excited!!

he's playing with don moen, who's pretty much wrote every worship song ever. they left on the 11th and flew from nashville to la, la to hong kong and hong kong to jakarta. they played multiple concerts and each musician also hosted clinics to teach the students who signed up how to play their various instruments. it took him a while to adjust to the time change. jakarta is exactly 12 hours difference from nashville. they also traveled to batam, which is on another island in indonesia and took a day trip over to singapore. this trip has been difficult because for us to be able to talk, justin has to have an internet connection and those have been spotty at best. needless to say, i'm so pumped he will be home tonight.

here's a view of jakarta from justin's hotel room

this is surabaya, another city they visited from another hotel room vantage point

randomness

Well...I just have a bunch of random thoughts.

1-- I bashed my shin really really hard tonight on one of the dumb stools in the dining room. In my defense, it was dark! I'll take a picture of what I'm sure is going to be a heinous bruise.

2-- Justin leaves on Friday for almost 2 weeks to Indonesia. Sad for me. :(

3-- Dale finally has a new home. I dropped him off with his new family on Saturday night. YAY!

4-- We had a Labor Day BBQ and I made home made ice cream and it was awesome.

5-- I realized I forgot to blog about my amazing trip to New Hampshire to visit my best friend, so check out Meaghan's blog. She posted here and here.

6-- I got poison ivy...AGAIN!

7-- Today at work we had a one minute party today at 9:09 on 9/9/09. Fun!

That's all. I hope you enjoyed this session of random thoughts.

don't mess with justin, he's smarter than you

so justin is trying to sell an amp on craig's list. here's the exchange between him and a potential buyer. no part of the email has been changed:

I live in southern Illinois. If I paypal you, could you securely
ship it to me? If not, could you meet me half way??
Would be Paducah since I live in Mt Vernon, IL. Say either add the
price of shipping or $50 bucks for meeting me to the final price.
Let me know if you're interested. Been looking for Princeton Reverb
for awhile now..
thanks
-Ryan

Ryan--

I'm sorry man, but I don't have any time to drive four hours to meet
you, and I bought it new in town, so I don't have a box to ship it
in. I can really only sell it locally.

Thanks,
Justin

It's actually two hours, 139 miles, but I understand.. Also, you
really must not be that sharp if you aren't aware that USPS has
boxes.. How did you figure out how to plug the guitar in???? Did
someone show you? haha
Good luck selling, buddy. You made my day.
-ryan


Let's do a little simple math: 2 hours to Paducah + two hours back to
Nashville = FOUR HOURS worth of driving.

I don't have the original manufacturer's box (because I bought it new
locally), and I don't have the time to go find both a box and packing
materials, pack the amp up properly, and ship it out. Hence the
phrase, "LOCAL SALE ONLY" in my ad on Craigslist.

And which one of us isn't that sharp?


check mate, ryan!!

hard headed

So, the other night I was working out in the back yard. Our garage is about 5 feet away from the side fence and there's a little pond back there and some overgrown bushes that desperately needed to be pulled out. I was minding my own business, bending over weeding, when...WHAM!! Riley plowed right into me at full speed, closely followed by Dale. I think they were playing keep away and she wasn't paying attention to where she was going til it was too late. She got me right in the temple and knocked me completely over. dumb dog. It hurt to open my mouth wide for 2 days!