Productivity and Pleasure

Today was a great balance of the two.  Woke up relatively early this morning to spend some time with Emma before she left for work.  Then Amanda made AMAZING Charleston style grits for breakfast.  I can say with great confidence they were the best I've ever eaten.  Period.

Because I'm staying at a house with lightning internet, I was also able to catch up on email, my blog, and last but not least, grading for my writing class.  Then, Jonathan and I went to Mellow Mushroom for lunch, had a Bible study, went and swam at the lake, and had dinner at Outback.  It was a great, amazing day =).

Fare thee well!

Tonight was Jonathan's farewell party for work.  I tagged along as the girlfriend in residence ;-), and it was nice to finally put some faces to some names of his work stories.  I most enjoyed his coworker's little 20 month old daughter, Lorelai, who came as well.  She is a vibrant redhead with a personality to match, but overall was very well behaved considering how little there was for her to do.  I enjoyed holding her for a bit and playing tossing and phone games with her.  Definitely made the evening far more enjoyable since I didn't know anyone other than Jonathan.  However, I was very thankful to have the opportunity to accompany him and just spend more time as the day of departure draws ever nearer.  Thankful for every moment in between now and then!

Sleepy Sunday

After a busy week of moving and doing many things, this was definitely a sleepy Sunday for me.  I took a brief nap before church (more like I shut my eyes while trying to write a letter and fell asleep), and then rested most of the afternoon and evening as well.  However, it was very enjoyable to go to church and see many familiar faces, and to have some guests over for lunch as well.  Jennie, Lauren (Rita's roommate), Kip, and her brother Isaac who is visiting, all joined us for the meal which was easily stretched to accommodate the increase in food consumption which was inevitable :-).

Once I finally woke up and ate some dinner around 9, I enjoyed watching the prelims for women's gymnastics with Rita and had a little awake time before heading back to bed for a wonderful night's sleep.  Hooray for rest!

Lunch and Lake!

Had lunch with Jennie today.  It was so good to catch up with her...feels like ages since we actually had a chance to sit down and talk.  Even though she is Grace's best friend, it has been really awesome to watch her grow into her own person and great to visit with the beautiful young lady she is becoming.  And, the time certainly flew by way too fast, but I still enjoyed every moment of it.

Then, off to the lake house to visit with Sarah, Lauren, and Trudy, as well as the rest of the Maguire clan.  So good to get a chance to have great conversation and just general catching up with them.  Especially glad to have the chance to talk to Sarah for a little while and get caught up on life since March.  Thankful for the Maguire's willingness to open up their beautiful lake house to us who enjoy the opportunity to visit immensely.  Came back to town in time to take care of the dogs and spent the night with them so that I could enjoy the fast internet as well as the peace and quiet.

The Games Night

After writing and swim classes and getting a little caught up on my blog, we went to Game Night for church.  However, as this was also the opening night for the Olympic games, the activities were moved to the Farmer's house so that those who wanted could watch the opening ceremonies.  It was highly amusing to listen to and be a part of light banter and discussion of the commentary and ceremonies, but for me the highlight of the evening was definitely holding Elijah Farmer for nearly 2 hours.  He is so cute and cuddly, and slept pretty much the entire time.  Happy Janet! 

However, it was also amusing to watch the ceremonies with such a great range of people in terms of age and interest level.  At the beginning, a large group of kids came in to join us.  As the ceremonies progressed, many started wandering off to play ping pong or other games, yet they returned for the procession of countries (which to me is probably the most boring part of the entire ceremony). 

As for me, my personal favorite moment in the ceremony was the Chariot's of Fire sequence.  First of all, I love the movie and the music to begin with, but I also found the humor of the comedy tasteful and amusing as well, and can totally relate to playing a boring minor role in an overall production leading to boredom and distraction...  And people wonder why I knit ;-)!

The great move (part 3)

The final day of moving!!!  The main focus today is to move the futon, any remaining random items, and to take a large load to Goodwill.  Rita, my most amazing sister, cleaned the bathroom to sparkling perfection while Jonathan and I cleaned the kitchen and bedroom, took the futon and set it up, and returned after renting a Uhaul hand truck to help with moving the very large television set I was donating.

Rita had to leave after one more load taken to the townhouse so that she could get back in time for worship practice, but Jonathan and I stayed to finish unloading, purchase a fan for my room, and try to fix the wiring for the lighting in my closet (which was unsuccessful in finding the solution, but we did figure out several things that weren't the issue).

Headed home after a long day, ready for sleep!

The great move (part 2)

Woke up this morning early to start the move.  Jonathan worked night shift last night, and is coming up to help so Rita and I needed to get my room cleared out as much as possible so that we can continue to make progress while he sleeps.  We started by going through all of my clothes and weeding out 2.5 trash bags full for donations and another half for Rita to take and use.  Then, we were able to load most of my closet into her car.  We left shortly after Jonathan arrived to unload the clothing and then started running errands in Rock Hill; a visit to the post office, the DMV, to meet a friend to retrieve my mailbox key, to school to give them my new address, to Subway to pick up lunch for two very hungry gals.

Back to the apartment to eat and pack up all of the bathroom equipment.  Took the load to the townhouse and started unpacking.  Our game plan has been to take a load and, after moving it all inside the house, to unpack and put away as much as possible as a break from the lifting and also to clear up space (and boxes!) for more work.  Just as we were about to leave, Jonathan texted to say he was up, so we were able to take 2 loads of larger furniture in the Expedition (which his dad graciously allowed me to swap with my car for the move).  So all of my bedroom furniture (except the futon) was moved, as well as 90% of my kitchenware before we had to get ready to leave for Journey Group.

It was so great to see everyone at JG tonight and catch up after 2 months of being away.  I am thankful for my family away from home--they truly play a huge role in keeping me sane during the crazy of the school year.  And, it was wonderful to introduce Jonathan and Rita to them as well.  Seeing Kadin was also quite fun...he is getting HUMONGOUS though.  Rita enjoyed holding him for the end of the meeting when he was getting antsy as well. =)