South Carolina Trip, Part One

On the first of August, we woke up 15 minutes before my alarm... that's right, we were up at 3:15 in the morning. We'd planned to leave at 4:30 to visit my family in South Carolina but since we were up, we gathered things quickly and hit the road at about 3:45am.

Our trip to South Carolina wasn't mentioned here before because it was a surprise! We arrived at my parents' at around 3:30pm and quickly greeted the little ones (the dogs) before changing to go surprise Dad at his work. 

I'd planned to take pictures of the surprise, but didn't get a chance. Mom called and got someone to take Dad to the back of the dealership because she had a surprise for him. When we walked in, there were a bunch of people gathered around. "Are you the surprise?" they asked. I smiled, and quickly noticed Dad standing there talking to the person who'd had him go to the back. He looked over at the commotion in the entryway and did a double-take. I saw his jaw go slack as he gave me a confused look. I waved and then he shook his head and walked over. I've never seen him that surprised! 

We stood around and talked before he had to get back to work, and Mom assured him that there were no more surprises in the works. Mom lied. Sunday was the big surprise.

We went back home, ate dinner and played with the dogs. Mini bit me. 

We were there to observe the nightly "Daddy's home" ritual that the dogs excitedly enjoyed.

And then I snapped this freaky picture. Alien dog.

Once the excitement was over, the dogs had a little nap.

The next day, my sister came over and we headed out. We had lunch at Moe's... Carson's first time there and he liked it a lot. He and Scott went off to purchase some last-minute birthday gifts for Dad and Mom, Becca and I went to downtown Beaufort and walked around.

We too had some last-minute birthday preparations to shop for, and headed to the dollar store. We found things for Dad's party and also these hats.

The next morning, these losers woke Dad up to wish him a happy birthday.

And he went out to mow the grass.

We gave Dad his gifts, which included an ice cream maker that we put in the freezer immediately.

Then we got cleaned up for a trip to Charleston.
We had lunch at the Mellow Mushroom and just walked around downtown, showing Carson King Street, the Battery and the Market. We drove around past the Citadel and Rainbow Row on our way back home.

Everyone else made an ice cream run at Chic-fil-A and Dad FaceTimed with his sister.

Back at the house, Carson and I formally met Scott's six goats. They are the funniest looking animals.

 
And after the goats were safely in the pen and dinner was finished, we had cake and our homemade ice cream.

While we ate we watched an episode of Aerial America, a really neat show on the Smithsonian channel.

The REAL surprise was to come the next day...

50

One of my favorite smells is the smell of freshly-cut grass. It reminds me of Fridays growing up. 

When I was younger, my dad would have Fridays off. On Friday, Dad would spend time under the lawn mower, tinkering with the thing to get it to work correctly, then spend awhile mowing the grass. To this day, the smell of grass or sound of a puttering lawnmower makes me think of my father. 

Today is his birthday. He's 50, which is apparently VERY young for a dad, though I don't think that he's very worried about how his age is perceived. I've known him for 24 of those years (we calculated and it's next October that I'll be exactly half his age) and I'm going to be honest: I've got a a great dad. The best? I'm going to go with yes. 

Here are a few little memories and things:

That the lawnmower mentioned above was around before I was and until recently (for what I know) was still kicking, thanks to a lot of Friday tinkering. 

I remember nights where we'd walk out on the golf course and he'd show us the stars, pointing out planets and constellations. 

To this day, he calls me a couple times each week to talk as he drives home from work. 

He's way more techy than I'll ever be, always the one to troubleshoot my computer, point out the best laptop to purchase, and show me the best iPhone apps. 

We'd go on bike rides of a decent distance when I was in high school, getting up at 6am to ride over both bridges in Beaufort, stopping at McDonalds or Hardees to celebrate that we were halfway. 

Since I've known him, there have been only three days where we did not have a dog. My dad is a dog lover... father to the most spoiled toddlers dogs on the planet. They love him and he loves them. 

Could I say more? Always. 

I am thankful, so thankful, to have a dad like I do. I wish that everyone reading this knew him and could read this, smiling as they said, "Yes, I too have fond memories of this man". 

Here's to the remaining half-century that's before him. 

(now he sounds extra-young)

Love you, Dad

Our Story: The Roommate Conversation (Part 3)

Part One: Background
Part Two: How We Met

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At the end of the fall semester, we were reminded to bring back any formal attire that we might have, for a spring formal in May. I grabbed the only formal dress I had, a long blue gown I loved and had worn on a cruise with my family when I was 15. It mostly still fit, but I'd filled out a little in the five years since, so I took to running and walking a little more, just to squeeze into a dress so I didn't have to buy a new one.
My roommate Molly and I would often walk circles around inside the complex. It was about a 1/2 mile loop, and we'd spend hours walking around, talking to each other, or on the rare chance that we were alone, hours talking on the phone, just walking in circles.

Anyway, the formal.

Spring formal was very hyped up. It was announced in chapel with skits or slides, and talked about in the hallways. It was the very first spring formal the school had ever held, so nearly everyone was expected to go. From the very beginning, the roommates and I had decided that we would be in attendance.

Now for some reason, and I can't remember why, I was certain that all my roommates would be invited to the formal and I would be the lonely one without a date. I was fine with it if we all went together, but I was SURE that they would be asked (they were super outgoing) and I would be the lame third wheel.

One day, Molly and I were discussing this sad "fact" as we circled the parking lot of Cedar Springs. I lamented how I didn't want to be left alone and that I didn't really want to go if they were going to have dates. So Molly made a very sensible suggestion.

"What if we pray about it?" She said.

She added the concern to her prayer journal, along with the date, and though I'm sure we talked about the formal incessantly still, I felt better that Molly's prayers were being said for my ridiculous fear.