South Carolina-- a detour from North Carolina

Bob and I took a red eye flight to Charlotte, North Carolina. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep and the time change bumping us 3 hours ahead didn't help. This is a picture of our sleepy faces after we finally arrived.


We were given a "sports car"-- an eclipse for our rental car. While it is not truly amazing, it is the closest thing we will have to a sports car, so we thought it timely to take a picture of Bob and his hot rod.


We were really hungry by the time we arrived and after passing about 4 waffle houses we decided to stop at one. Well, you sure get quantity for your money. Now I am able to say I ate southern cooking including grits, which were very good. After we left, we passed other waffle houses about every exit. These things are placed here like Starbucks are where we live!

It started pouring on our drive to Charlston, South Carolina. It is a humid rain, but wet nonetheless. I was determined not to let it ruin our day.

Here is the church and here is the steeple...

Here is a picture of our room that we are staying at in Charlston. As I write this we are resting here in the air conditioning getting ready to walk the town in a while. What we have seen on our drive is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to explore! I will post more pictures later.

Travel Pants

We all know that every traveler has to own the right kind of pants. For me, jeans just don't cut it when I am taking an airplane. Especially overnight. I don't want to try to be sleeping in an already uncomfortable place in jeans. And since it would be weird to wear pajamas on a flight, I rely on my trusty travel pants. They are pants with a purpose. It sort of reminds me of Friends when Joey wears his Thanksgiving pants (Phoebe's maternity pants) so that he can eat whatever he wants and they will keep stretching. These pants are made of stretchy material so that they move with me and I feel oh so comfortable in them. If you are a traveler and don't have travel pants, you need to spend some significant time thinking about investing in a pair. They make the experience quite a bit more pleasurable. So when I leave for North Carolina on a red eye tonight, you can be sure I will be cruising in comfort in my travel pants. Now for the hard part: do I choose black or brown?

Jessie Woods is now Jessie Gipson!

We just went to Jessie's beautiful wedding in Crystal Cove. It was on the cliffs overlooking the ocean. It was wonderful to see old friends and to see the new lives that everyone is making.

One of my favorite parts of Jessie's wedding was the mariachi band. Since we were right next to the dance floor where they performed, we got front row seats... except from behind. You can judge whether or not it was the better view.

Congratulations Jessie and Craig!

trees

There is something so deeply spiritual about a tree. You cannot look at one without thinking about how much it represents life, growth, and hope. A strong tree leaves me feeling peaceful, and to think that they all started so weak and small.

I especially like flowering trees with bright yellows, oranges, pinks, or even white. God's creativity is so amazing and there is nothing so beautiful as nature. This is a tree in Carpinteria that caught my eye.

farmer's market

I love farmer's markets and one of the things I was really excited for this summer was to go. They have them all over the place in OC, one for each day of the week. Have I gone down here once though? No. The only one I have gone to is when we went to visit my brother in Carpinteria. The best peach I have ever had.

tennis

Tennis is emerging as the sport to be pursued in our household. My mom and I decided to take tennis lessons to improve our skills so that one day we can beat my dad and Bob (who already have the basic skills). We went to buy tennis rackets and I knew I was in love when the lady pulled out a pink and red one. Nothing else mattered except I knew it was cute and it would make me happy. My mom got the same racket in blue and I constantly remind her how much cuter mine is. We then attempted to try on the tennis outfits in which my mom mostly laughed at, but I was smitten over a pleated tennis skirt. However, I departed with it sadly, coming to the conclusion that although very cute, I would feel rather silly playing in it. Especially because most of the other people at our lessons wear sweat pants.

Anyway, I am loving the sport, and am loving it even more when my shaky back-hand happens to go right in the spot where my husband can't reach it :)

card party

For the last couple of years, I have (sort of) been in to making cards to send to people. One of the moms whose son was in my class was part of Stampin' Up and she made amazing cards. She got me started on my own kit but my cards never turned out as lovely as hers. I resorted to buying the cards that she made to give away.

My friend Gina also really likes to make cards and she has taught me that if I go simple, they might not turn out as beautiful, but I actually enjoy doing it. Many of our "play dates" involve me going to her house to borrow her amazing stamps and other fun things.

A few weekends ago one of her friends planned a card-making party where each woman brought her own supplies and taught the others how to make the card she had planned. With about 7 different women there, we each walked away with 35 new cards. What a great idea it was and so much fun!

lull

Okay, so I went through a blogging lull for a while. Perhaps that is because there is only so much that stands out in life. I guess I will just have to start looking at things in a new way. I have completely avoided blogging for a while and now here goes again...

I joined facebook today at the prompting of my mom (above all things). I am feeling a little bit guilty and shameful about joining for a few reasons.

1. I swore I would never be that person. I don't know what bugs me so much about myspace and facebook, but I always felt like it was a waste of time, which it proved to be since I spent the last half hour looking up people I haven't talked to in years. Gee, let's think... isn't there I reason I haven't talked to them in years?

2. I actually convinced myself that I will use it to talk to my family but I don't really think that I am going to have the drive to navigate doing that and the blog. And apparently I am back to enjoying the blog again.

3. I don't know if I want people looking me up, but I signed up nonetheless. I just think it is sort of sad that our major contact with others is through posting pictures and typing. But, I guess, here I am doing the same thing on the blog. And it's better to be connected in some sort of way than none at all, right?

6 quirky things

A couple of my friends blogged about some quirks that they had, so I thought I would follow suit. It was really fun to think about and I encourage you to do it too.

So here goes...

1. I am a water snob. I don't drink tap water and I can tell when restaurants serve it.

2. I hate food or drinks to go to waste. I am not of the type, however, that believes you have to clean your plate. I just save everything. I have been known to nurse a Starbucks' drink for 3 days.

3. It bothers me when people use certain grammatical statements incorrectly. The two main ones for me are when people say they need to "itch" themselves (instead of scratch) and when people refer to geographical locations as "up" or "down" incorrectly. For example, if someone said they were going "up" to San Diego from Orange County instead of "down". This quirk is so bad that I have been known to correct people I hardly know.

4. I hate the aftermath of showering. While I enjoy the shower itself, I hate having to get ready. It just takes too much time to do hair and makeup. And I refuse to put on my clothes for the day right after I get out of the shower. I usually put my pajamas on again while I get ready.

5. Going to bed after 10 makes me cranky. To me, 9 or 9:30 is the perfect bedtime. I start feeling angry and nauseous after 10 and I cannot focus.

6. I have a passion for peanut butter. In high school, I went for a month eating peanut butter and jelly for breakfast and lunch. My passion has translated to my husband and now he eats it more than me. It has to be natural peanut butter and my favorite is Trader Joe's crunchy. However, I do not like peanut butter in cookies or shakes, etc.

the dreaded alarm clock

Why is it when you don't set your alarm clock knowing you can sleep in, that your body decides it wants to wake up? Yesterday I chose not to walk so that I could get some extra z's, so I didn't set my alarm. I even went so far as to ask Bob not to set his either. But like clockwork, my body decides to wake up at 6, even earlier than it would if I had set my alarm.

But today, when I did set my alarm, I could have slept forever. It was enough work just to have to reach over and turn it off. It's like my body is playing a cruel joke on me.