School

I know I haven't blogged in awhile, but the week right after we got back from Tybee Island, I went to work at school getting things ready. Then last week was our official week to be back and school started this past Monday. I have had a good 3 days so far. I started with 18 students, Monday I had 14 and yesterday I had 15 and today 15. Four of my students moved over the summer and are either out of state or have moved to a new place and new school. I got one new student (new to Kelly Edwards) yesterday. I'm sure as the next 3 or 4 new students come, they will come to me because I have the least. I'm not complaining about only having 15 students, it's nice. However, it's hard getting new students throughout the school year. They just never seem to fit in because they didn't start with the rest of the kids. But we will see by the end of next week what my total will be. Things are always up in the air the first 10 days. I have been very busy as to be expected, but so far, things are going well. However, I am tired, because I'm not use to standing on my feet all day and my voice is going in and out due to talking all day, but it doesn't take long to get back in the routine of things. So, as of now I have 177 days till summer break again! Ha, or maybe we should just focus on the fact that its like 3 1/2 months til Christmas! Crazy!

Tybee Island, Georgia

July 24th-31st; Kevin and I went with my parents to Tybee Island, GA to spend a week. Kevin and I visited Tybee last year on our 1 year anniversary when we went to Savannah. We thought that it was a nice beach, so we decided to go there this summer. We had a good trip, however, it was very hot and Kevin and I both decided that next year and the years after, we would not be going to the beach the last week of July; it's just way too hot. But other than the temperature, it was a great week. My parents celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary while we were there. I think they enjoyed their anniversary trip and dinners. We were not sure of this place at first because we were or I should say I was mislead to believe it was right on the Atlantic Ocean, but we really liked it and we all said we would stay there again. While I was there, I read the book The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, the movie was all filmed last year in August on Tybee Island and in Savannah. I haven't seen the movie yet, but I want to, to see if I can recognize any places we went to. By the way, it's a really good book, yet sad, but it does have a happy ending. I would recomend it.

We stayed at the Savannah Tennis and Raquet Club. It's located on the bay; with a view of the Atlantic Ocean and Savannah River. We were in the middle on the top floor. The condo was super nice and clean.

All week long, we watched the shrimp boats go in and out. When they would come in for the night, they would throw something over to the dolphins. I had never seen so many dolphins as I did on this trip. The dolphin tours would come right in front of our place. The dolphins would follow and jump in the waves. It was so neat!

Not every night was a sunset filled night, we had lots of storms at night, but we had a few beautiful sunsets.

Since were were on the bay, we would drive up to the beach and park for awhile to be on the acutal Atlantic Ocean. It was so neat and different to be able to see a lighthouse on the beach.

On Tuesday, we went to Savannah for the day. My dad had never been. We ate lunch on River Street and walked around. We also made a shop at the Peanut Shop before we left. They have this awesome chocolate covered peanut brittle. So, of course, I had to get a can. (And which I am proud to say, it has been 3 weeks since we got it and I still have half the can.)

We went inside this cathrdel, I have never been inside one before, and it was stunning!

We had to make a stop here, for Kevin.

One night we walked along the beach at the pier (that's where the crowds were) and saw several people doing this I guess it's some form of wind surfing.

On Wednesday, we went back to the beach. The YMCA, for the summer, has a surfing camp. They bring the kids to the beach every day and teach them how to surf. We had a good time watching them. The smaller the kid, the faster they could get up on the board.

However, Wednesday, Kevin and I were in the water, cooling off...(we knew the jellyfish were really bad. We had watched the kids come out like every 10 minutes because they were getting stung.) So, we were making our way out of the ocean, when this wave came and crashed into the back of my right knee and must have of slammed the jellyfish into me, because it wasn't long before I realized I had been stung. Oh, it hurt. It was the second time I had been stung. I think I was like 10 or 11 the last time. And of course, it was all swollen and red. By Friday, it was just about gone, but it got me good.

Kevin and my dad went fishing a few times during the week. One night we went to the pier for them to fish. Kevin caught a sand shark, my dad also caught one and 2 other little fish. The craziest thing was this guy had his rod in the water and he was messing with another one, when he caught something and it took the rod over the railing. About 10 minutes later, this other guy caught the rod and once he got it up he starting rilling it in and realized that the fish was still on it! It was a stingray. However, the guy that it belonged to had already left. But I mean, in a million tries the odds of him catching the other guy's rod and the fish too?


That same night, the lifeguards got a call that a child was missing and they thought he was in the water. It was about 9:00 so it was dark. They called the CostGuard and they were all searching in the water. Thankfully, they found the child; he had gone back to the hotel room without mom and dad knowing and he was okay. However, it was scarey watching them search through that water at night.

We ate out 2 different nights; had great seafood as far as Kevin was concerned. I don't eat seafood, so my chicken and veggies was just fine with me.

I wanted Kevin to catch something each time he went fishing, but that didn't happen. However, our last night he did catch a stingray.

Not Guilty by Mandisa with lyrics

Prayers for Some Special Ladies

"I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed." Psalm 57:1b

1. Yesterday, Kevin called me about 2:00 saying" mom just called and told me to get to Grandma Kitty's house, because they found her laying in the flower bed. Say a little prayer." Mrs. Kitty was outside messing with her flowers, turned to step out of the flower bed and fell on the driveway. Kevin's uncle had sent some guys to her house to drop off a truck. She called out to them, they didn't see her. By the time Kevin got there, she was already in the ambulance and on her way to the hospital in Aiken. Last night, after Kevin got off work we went to the hospital. (She had a cracked hip, they did surgery this morning at 10:30. They put some screws and a rod to put her back together. The surgery went well.) When we got there, they said that she was getting ready to be moved to a room and that we could just go to the room. However, that turned into a hour and a half of us waiting on her, but we didn't want to leave until we had seen her. She was in a lot of pain last night. So, hopefully, she will recover fast. Pray for her a fast recovery and thankfully she did lay there long before she got help.

2. My great aunt, Ann. Five years ago she was diagnosed with lymphoma and had surgery to have a mass removed from her stomach. Since then she has taken some mild treatments. Well, this summer, it's back, and it's not good. She has another mass in her stomach and it has gone into her esophagus. She is taking kemo this time and is in so much pain and is very sick. Pray that the kemo will work, some relief from the pain, and for God's will to be done. It's hard to watch someone lose the battle of cancer, but I think it's harder to watch them lose it in a lot of pain.

3. My aunt, Felicia. At Christmas, she found this lump in her throat. Found out it was a mass that was wrapped around her thyroid. In May, they took out the mass and her thyroid. Found out the mass was cancer. Her treatment process is nuclear radiation that she swallows. She has started to prepare for her treatments. She has two weeks to prepare were she has to be on this special diet-no salt, nothing from a can, frozen, prepackaged, nothing that is red, everything she eats has to be fresh. The week she has the actual treatment, she cannot be around anyone. From sweating, and the oils that come from your fingers, can greatly endanger anyone. The younger the person or animal, it could even kill. Pray that the treatment will kill any cancer cells that the surgery didn't get and that they won't find any other cancer cells, that it hasn't spread anywhere. Pray for her comfort and peace during this time.

A Day at Edisto Beach

Some of Kevin's family is at the beach this week. Monday, I went down to the beach for the day with my sister-in-law, Katelyn. Tori, Jared, Lily Kate, and Mrs. Katie were down there with us. They had gone Saturday and some of the family wasn't able to stay the whole time so they have been going back and forth. We got there at 9, just in time for breakfast. Katelyn wanted to make sure she didn't miss breakfast. Which I have to be honest, Mrs. Katie's grits are the best. So, after breakfast we all headed to the beach. We had a tent to sit under which made it nicer, even though it wasn't too hot of a day. After awhile of sitting, I played in the water with Lily Kate. She wasn't afraid of the waves, she would just drive right into them. After lunch, I got back in the water with Lily Kate and Jared. It was high tide, so the water was rougher this time. However, that didn't stop these two, they would take the biggest wave with ease. If it was a really big wave, Lily Kate would grab my hand or I would reach for hers, just in case. We headed back home about 5:30 that afternoon. We traveled the whole way home in rain, but thankfully we didn't run into a storm, because it was storming all around us. And also thankfully, we had had a very nice sunny day at the beach.

Jared and Lily Kate building a sandcastle.

Sunday Pool Party

Sunday, July 11th, Kevin and I went over to my sister-in-law's house, Heather and went swimming with Kayla and Geoffery. Heather and Michael also go in the pool with us. This was the first time we had been swimming in their pool. They have a very nice pool and a beautiful setting too. The pool has salt water instead of chlorine; which was neat. It didn't dry out your skin or give you a headache. Ever since the snow mountain Kevin made, Kayla has been "in love" with Kevin. She calls him "Super Uncle". She kept wanting Kevin to throw her again and again. Kevin was sore after our 2 hours pool play date. But as you can see Kayla greatly enjoyed herself, as did Kevin.

Geoffery wanted his mom to throw him, he wasn't big on Kevin throwing him. But this little guy is 3 years old and is a little fish in the water. He swims under the water and goes down to the bottom with nothing to help him. We were just amazed at how he can handle himself like a big boy in the water. (I would have of zoomed in, but Heather wanted to make sure I showed off her pretty flowers in the background.)

Happy 4th of July & Happy B-day to Me!

The weekend of the 4th of July, Kevin and I got to spend it with my family at the lake. I had told Kevin that for my birthday (which is July 6th), I wanted to go to the lake and spend time with my family. We were able to get away Thursday afternoon, once Kevin finished working and got to stay until Monday. That was the longest time we had gotten to stay at the lake. Friday, it was cloudy and raining so we just spent time relaxing. Saturday, Ann, Bobby, Papa, Keith, Felicia, Emily and her BFF Mary, Susan, Dan, Tim, and Amanda all came down for the day. Then Sunday, Susan, Dan, Tim, and Amanda were there. It was such a nice weekend. You couldn't have of asked for better weather.

I love these dailies! Their color is so rich. I have plans to bring one home with me sometime. Shhh! Don't tell anyone.



The water is majorly up; the water comes to your knees, well actually over your knees at the end of the dock. So you have to wade through the water to get to the dock.


We have always seen Canadian Geese at our lake place. This summer they have had a friend join them.


He is what I call a "bless his heart" duck because wasn't blessed with looks.


Isn't this peaceful! And this wasn't created by man either. But there is a house that sits next to this waterfall. The only downfall, is when the water goes down they don't have any water because it's only about 10 feet deep in this cove.


Emily brought her BFF Mary to the lake. This was Mary's first trip to the lake. My dad was helping them get on the tube. We realized that they would each have to ride by themselves to fit.


Emily had a lot of fun screaming on the tube.


I love the look on Mary's face; just pure delight. She has the best time. She kept yelling faster!


Kevin is in heaven!


Me and my hubby!




My mom had a special surprise for my birthday. She got the lady who made our wedding cake to make a birthday cake for me. It was just as delicious as I had remembered! And we topped it off with some homemade peach ice cream. Now, what could be better. I can't believe I'm 29 years old. I feel like 25....but I have been so blessed in my 29 years, way beyond what I deserve. I am so thankful for my family and friends, and my wonderful Husband and his wonderful family. But most of all, I am so thankful to have a risen Savior that in Him I know I have forever to praise and sing His name. He is always there and has never let me down, and He truly knows my heart and my desires and has always provided what I need when I need it.