baby goat

i don't have enough pictures of just the two of us

RDLJ

  http://youtu.be/pf6TR-mqC_4

Too sad to write.

Don't judge his favorite song.

Endurance

Wow. Today my faithful X-terra rolled over to 200,000 miles. I've seen it coming, and have had it on the main odometer so I wouldn't miss it. I even knew it was going to happen TODAY on the way to or from church--so I've been planning how I'd capture the 199,999 and the 200,000. Funny thing is, I don't normally drive to church--Charlie does. But today I did drive--and I totally forgot. I noticed at the gas station that I had missed this monumental occasion by 8 whole miles.

My parents bought me this vehicle the summer after my Freshman year at JBU. My dad helped me look at cars... test-drive cars... price cars. He asked me what my DREAM CAR was if I could pick. I told him a black X-terra. He looked it up--he priced them... he read reviews and issues with the different models... and guess what my daddy bought me? A black X-terra. In great shape.

I can't remember how many miles it had on it at the time, but I test drove it and he drove it, and then he made an offer. The dealer accepted.

I've been driving this car now for almost 10 years. It has been the most reliable, faithful, dependable car there is. We've had very few issues with it, and it was paid in full when given to me--so it's given me a level of freedom some others don't get a experience. I haven't had to worry with car notes or constantly breaking down.

When I was staring at my odometer, I was thinking about how incredibly thankful I am to my parents for getting me this car. And how, on Father's day, I am thankful for the parallel way this car reflects my relationship with my father. When I was younger and living in closer proximity, my dad took the things he knew to be true and trustworthy and dependable and taught those things to me. More than anything else my father has given me, he's given me the wisdom of his life. He's given me the tools to use--now that I am no longer under his roof--to help me endure.

The car he gave me has gotten me 200,000 miles. The lessons he taught me and the example he set will get me infinitely further.

Thanks Daddy! I love you!

case of the wednesdays

A girl backed into me yesterday at a 4-way stop. she was trying to avoid getting her front-end smashed by an 18-wheeler when she bumped into me. she must have been thinking so hard about the truck that she didn't look behind her. i saw the whole thing happening--i even thought about backing up, myself, but she had enough room and i definitely never thought she would hit me.

when her mother arrived at the scene i assured her that it wasn't her daughter's fault and that she was trying to not get hit in the front when the mom looked at me confused and said, 'what? you hit HER!"

uhhhhhhhhhhhh

she asked her daughter again what happened and she said "i don't know! she hit me from behind!"

seriously?

someone had even tracked down the semi-truck and given the girl his license plate number.

but nooooo i guess the only thing that happened what that i rear-ended her.

i was so annoyed. and i thought i was holding it together until the police officer came and went and i started driving home and got semi-hysterical. why? i was fine. she was fine. this is why we have insurance.

i felt like such a loony-toon.

i had a bad headache today and can't decide if it's related to the "Accident" or not--she was driving very slowly when she bumped me, so it wasn't high impact. i was looking straight ahead watching the entire thing happen. so i don't know if it's related or not.

in other news, goofy went to the vet yesterday. they said he's not paralyzed. they did electric-stim-acupuncture. he's going 2 more times. we have exercises and supplements to do with him. he's the best doggy ever. and we hope he gets better. but we're tired. it's just a lot.

sooooo annoyed.

a car backed into me today (to avoid getting hit by a semi)--and then LIED ABOUT IT to the police and her mother.

seriously.

annoyed.

the next thing

I was thinking about it on my way home last night.

well, let me start by saying I missed 3 days of work last week for a nasty cold-turned-sinus-infection, so i was in some major-need of work-catch-up. i have one of those jobs where i am the only person who can do my job at my job. it's me. that's it. so if i'm not there, the work doesn't get done for me. (i know probably a lot of you have jobs like that. charlie's job is like that.) so i was feeling some major pressure to get a few things done so next week i will have time to deal with the catastrophes that happened at work while i was laying in bed dying. (yes, i'm being dramatic).

so after several hours of playing catch-up on a Saturday i had a meeting to get to for church. we just re-launched our church in a permanent building, which is lovely. the church (the body of believers) is still the same, but it's really nice to have a permanent building to meet in. but we had a meeting for volunteers to go over some of the changes to the service and to let us know how things will work in the new building.

after that, i headed back to our side of the river for charlie's debut farm-stand-on-the-river. there was a lot of interest--people goose-necking to see what we were doing--and several cars who turned around further up the road and came back to purchase things. it was a great first afternoon--i think a sign of good business to come.

i put it on facebook, but i'm SO proud of charlie. he is a man who is true to his word. if he tells you something, you can believe it and count on it. i love that about him. i love how incredibly dedicated he is to being a hard-working, honest business-man. he -truly- does not want to rip anyone off. he wants to give people the best deal he can so everyone can enjoy and afford quality produce (or pecans or crawfish). and i love that about him. ask him a question about his business or business practices. he'll tell you. sadly enough we've run across some people in the business who aren't in it for the same reasons--we've run across lies and deception and... greed. i pray to God He keeps both charlie and my heart pure. i have a feeling that's just how God made charlie's heart. i, on the other hand, am fairly certain it's a lesson God will have to teach me at some point or another.

wow so anyway. anyone still reading? to the point i was originally going to make. as i was driving home from the farm stand i was thinking about all of these things--me having a real job. charlie growing his business with sweat and love. having a church family we love and fit into--and are a part of! spending hours taking care of our paralyzed dog (with SO MUCH gratitude to charlie's mom for bearing the brunt of that!) (we owe you!) I even checked out a double cab truck on my drive home because i know sometime in the (nearish) future, we're going to need both of our vehicles to have a back seat! for things like booster seats or car seats for biological or foster children!

it dawned on me on that ride home that we're entering into that "next phase"--that part of life we've been dreaming about since we were married--before we were married--since i was young. i feel now, more than i ever have before, that we're adults. that we have--earned our right?--as adults. responsible people. contributing to our community.

i want to blog.

i have a cold.

we went to a wedding last weekend in texas.

It had "light savors" as Fox called them. light savors and super-hero shirts. it was fun. aaaaand i got to see my beautiful friend Amy!

okay. that's all i have the energy for.