Aloha Friday - Character is Important

In Hawaii, Fridays are the day to take it easy so Island Life is hosting Aloha Friday again - ask an easy question and answer it and wait and see what neat answers you get. If you want to link up, just visit Island Life and add you question to the list.

I love TV on DVD - am just addicted to it b/c I can stop and start it at will which is good with a three year old. I can also enjoy it while my husband works away for three weeks at a time. I've been watching Ally McBeal lately and I was thinking what a crazy, nutcase character she is. So, that eventually brought my loose associations to this question for this week:

Question: If you could be any character (from a movie or tv) who would it be OR who is your favorite character (from a movie or tv)? If you have time, tell me why.

Answer: Most like to be - Lorelai Gilmore from the Gilmore Girls just b/c I love her witty personality (well, maybe Rory b/c she's much younger:)

My favorite character - I have so many but I'm going to go with Michael Scott from The Office b/c it's my favorite show right now.

Understand that on any given day, my answers could change:)

Have a great, relaxing Friday and a wonderful weekend!! Aloha!

Wednesday's Walk - What Jack Learned Last Summer

I've come to realize that most of my posts are about lessons learned lately, but I think that's because God has shown me that He's always trying to reveal Himself to me in new ways and help me learn more about who He is and His mission for my life. Anyway, I thought for my walk down memory lane today, I would blog about some of Jack B's lessons from last summer. We are getting ready to go the beach FOR A WEEK (I'm a little bit excited:) so I've been thinking a lot about all the fun we had last summer.

Jack learned so many things! He learned...

...that if he made this cute face, Mommy would laugh!

And that if he hid his face from me...

...I would take a picture anyway!

He learned...

...how to drive a race car...

...that mom and dad pick some really great resturants and...

...the food is worth having to deal with the photo outside the resturant.

He learned that his big new yard...

...would be really great for playing ball.

He learned that he loved the water...

...and the sand...

..but when he's done...

...he's done and READY TO GO!

He learned that Sesame Street...

...and Thomas and Friends...

put on a pretty good show!

He learned that riding on Thomas the Train....

...wasn't all he expected it to be, but...

...Sir Topham Hat was a lot of fun!

He learned that the moutains...

...was a pretty fantastic place to visit.

He learned that Daddy gives the best rides...

... and is by far the best water companion...

...cause Mommy gets tired doing these kinds of games really fast!

Most of all he learned that the summer is full of beach fun...

...but what makes it really great is being there together!

If you want to know what I learned last summer, you can read this post.

I wander what we'll learn this summer?? I can't wait to find out!

Post It Note Tuesday # 3 - The ABCs - Part 1

...More ABCs of Life with Jack to come... Maybe next Tuesday!

Aloha Friday - Leaving on a Jet Plane

I'm linking up with Island Life for another Aloha Friday. Because Friday is a day to relax in Hawaii, I'm going to ask a question that takes very little thought for you to answer.

I love to travel and in a genius move, I married a man who loves to travel as well. Another genius move - we put our son on his first plane at three months old so we are developing in him a love to travel as well.

The problem is I'm not very organized in my desire to see NEW places. To rectify this, I'm making a list - a list of our Future Destinations!!

So, my question is this:

What has been your favorite vacation destination and why should I add it to my list of places to go?

Answer:

My favorite trip since I've been married is St. Simons Island, Georgia. We went on our honeymoon and again a few years later. Beautiful beaches, great golf (a must for my husband), and only an hour from Savannah. My favorite trip overall is Greece and you can read about why in this post.

Have a great, relaxing weekend - go on an adventure somewhere!!

A Tale of Two Daves

This post is a sequel to my post about Jack's Favorite Friend - Dave the Giraffe. If you haven't read that post, you may want to click over there and check it out first.

So, Jack takes Dave everywhere and he's become an important member of the family. If you are close to my family, then you know who Dave is and you also know that when you invite us to do something, you're inviting Dave as well.

A few weeks before Jack's 3rd birthday, he and I were in a children's store and THERE HE WAS - a BIG DAVE hanging in the store!! Jack COULD NOT BELIEVE HIS GOOD FORTUNE!!! Of course, we had Dave (who immediately become "Little Dave") with us and Jack began introducing the two and never took his eyes off the new "Big Dave" the entire time we were there.

An aside here: Big Dave was actually an infant rug, but he did look exactly like our Dave and Jack just knew that he had been placed there just for him!! He was hanging right on the front as we walked in the door - there was no way NOT to see it! I almost thought the store owner knew us and had done that on purpose:)

Well, since it was an infant rug (and I couldn't imagine why my child would need an infant rug), I somehow (being very creative about Big Dave's needs or something) got out of that store without bringing Big Dave home with us. We were relaying the story to my parents and guess what Jack B got for his birthday from Grandaddy and Granny San?? Oh yes, we now have "Little Dave" AND "Big Dave" and my three year old just thinks this is the coolest thing ever!

The day he got Big Dave:

Now, this is what I'm dealing with:

They really do look just alike, don't they? We have determined that Big Dave doesn't like to go places with us but prefers to sit in the car. He's very shy!! :)

And before I go (b/c Carrie is obviously never going to post these pictures), here is a cute one of Jack (on his birthday Sunday) and Ella Charles (on her baby dedication Sunday):

I know - they're both pretty spectacularly adorable!!

Wednesday's Walk - Walking Through Greece

I'm linking up with Jenilee at The Goodwin Family again for Wednesday's Walk - a walk down memory lane.



I took a biblical sites tour to Greece right before I turned 21 with one of my oldest and dearest friends, Karen. Her college was taking a trip and they let me tag along. To this day, that is one of the best times I've had and one of my most favorite memories. It was a great, but small group of people and we just had a blast!! Our leader had been to Greece several times and he was a pro at knowing where to go and what to see. We stayed off the beaten path most of the time and it was just a time that I cherish so much. Here are a few (really a whole lot) of pictures from my trip:

Our group at the Castle at Kavala - Benji (not my Benji:), Emily, Mark, Karen, and me (our fearless leader, Dr. Browning, must have been taking this picture)


We had a long layover (which you can see that I love in this post) in Amsterdam and got to visit there for a day as well. This above picture is the Anne Frank house and below is me sitting in some random wooden shoe. (Those are McDonalds french fries in my hand - having been to three foreign countries now, I can say with some authority that McDonalds fries are universally GOOD!!)

The Acropolis - Athens, Greece

temple at Corinth - "Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchrea because of a vow he had taken." Acts 18:18

Here is a group picture at Corinth - the big mountain behind us is Agracorinth and it was there that a viper snake crawled very close (or on top of) my foot. Dr. Browning found that event very entertaining since that was the type of snake that bit the apostle Paul. I was not as thrilled with the lesson.


Fairhavens - "We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea." Acts 27:8


Orchomenos - such a great day!!


waterfall at Edessa


Meteora; with Varlaam monastery in the background; Greece, 2003



On the walls of the Mycenaean citadel of Gla; Greece, 2003

At the Hall of the Double Axe, Knossos, Crete; Greece, 2003

I am so thankful for this trip and had such a good time with this today!