CLEARLY, I do not believe in slideshows!

So far this summer...

First trip: Cary, MS. Our church takes an annual mission trip to Cary Christian Center every year. God save the Delta!

Kurt and my favorite girl, Shaquita. I wanted to bring her home. She is a doll and a wonderfully sweet girl whose father is in prison. Pray for her if you get the chance.

Look what Shaquita wrote! ("I love you Marty")

My girl and me.

Kurt's mad sidewalk chalk skills.

Kurt and Gracie in their Brewers hats.

Hanna, Katie, and Caroline resting after a day of painting.

Sweet VBS boys going to their baseball game.

Madison, D'andre, and Gracie hanging out.

The new slang. JUNT. Can be any part of speech.

***

Our next trip was RYM Jr. High at Laguna Beach, FL. Our team won the Megarec competition. Go Team 11!

Team 11 boys from the front.

Team 11 boys from the back. Don't front.

Team 11 gals.

"Best times are beach times." Well, it's true!

Having a moment with airbrush Jesus. He apparently loves breadsticks.

Joannah loves good ole airbrush Jesus.

Our girls: Gracie, Emily, me, Joannah (our intern), and Madison.

Joannah and me in the water!!

My favorite pose.

Our team won the sand castle contest.

Go team 11!

***

Then, church cook out!

Mine and Kurt's nephews Warren and Josh came to visit.

Mother and daughter: Coppie and Anna Catherine.

The Hollands: Adam, Kate, and Lucy.

Our Sr. Pastor's children: Luke, Anna, and Jordan.

Graci, Rachel, Mary Blake, and Collins.


Katie and Jan Ireland.

Greg and 2 of his 7 children.

The Brashiers.

The Lockes minus 3 daughters.

Emory and I enjoying the cook out.

The Tates, sans Forrest.

Four fun children: Kurt, Mary Blake, Rachel, and Collins.

More pics to come! The fun has only just begun!

Pollen Magnet

Apparently I'm a pollen magnet. Or Tupelo is. For the past 5 or 6 weeks I've been sick off and on, and I believe I'm allergic to something in Tupelo...perhaps to Tupelo itself. What could it be?

I felt sick in mid-May -- sore throat, fatigue, achy, sneezing, etc. (I got tested for Mono and do not have it.) However, the last week in May I went on a mission trip to Cary, MS, with our church. It is in the Detla...you know, crop country. [pics to come] Shockingly, my allergies got better while I was there. Lo and behold, upon my return to Tupelo the first week of June, I felt sick again.

My throat became so sore that I could barely swallow (and I don't even have tonsils anymore -- a surgery I had 2 years ago to get rid of this problem!!). Then I left for Jr. High RYM (Woot woot! Megarec champs! [pics to come]) last Monday and felt fine the whole time I was in FL. However, when I got back to Tupelo, I began sneezing, my throat began to close, and my glands are swollen again. Yuck.

I'm leaving for Sr. High RYM in 2 weeks [pics to come], so I will hopefully have some relief then. As of now, I am making an appointment with an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor tomorrow! [Candace, if Marcus can't get me in with Dr. Berry, will you??? I need the hook up fast!]

Other than that, Tupelo is great. Our summer has been very busy. Our cousins are moving back to Starkville this weekend, and I'm so excited! Also, my precious grandmother is having her knee replaced this Friday, so please pray for her if you think about it. She has a difficult recovery ahead.

This is the first blog where I haven't tried to be funny, but I just took a Benadryl and will hopefully be in a coma in a few minutes. (Cheers, Sarah!) Better go before before I ..... zzzzzzzzzzz.

"I'm dead sexy!"

Well, not in the "Get in my belly" kind of way. But wait 'til you see my hair!

To the naked eye, it doesn't look much different than it usually does (the usual look, by the way, is what I call Jennifer Aniston casual. You know, just flowin' -- simple but elegant). But, this week, I've been sexing it up! Seriously.

One of my favorite stores is TJ MAXX. I love love love treasure hunting. I went there this week for some new sunglasses (Designer frames at CHEAP prices!) and left with a few other items. One of those items was some new conditioner: TIGI Catwalk Body Building Sexed Up conditioner. TJ Maxx sells salon products at a discount, so I go there to get my hair products. I'm so excited about this conditioner. Kurt was a teeny bit shocked at the title, but he'll love how good I make him look, so it evens out.

Kurt and I are taking our youth group to Reformed Youth Movement (RYM) next week. Beach bound! I might not be sexing my hair up there, but I'll be bathing in sunscreen for sure!

And you call yourself my friend...

There I was on Monday afternoon, in the Old Navy dressing room. I pushed the Old Navy baby stroller/shopping cart, scaled the sale racks, and filled it to the brim. This is my normal custom, you see. I grab almost every item in the store to try on, but I only end up actually purchasing a few things, and they are always always always on SALE. Like, big time sale.

I had been in the dressing room for about 10 minutes trying on this and that when I noticed that the next item up was a tunic-length black tube top. So cute! I slipped it over my head and to my dismay, there were some sort of sleeve-like openings that I had no idea where they went. I took it back off, studied the mysterious garment, and suddenly realized what it was. AN ADULT ONESIE. It was a swimsuit cover up. You know, a tube top with shorts - all one garment.

Ever heard of such? I have. In fact, I used to own one. It was a light bluish-green color with pockets on the front. During my freshman year at MSU (go Dawgs!), I put it on each time I exited the shower. Whereas most girls had wraparound towels with Velcro and their initials monogrammed on them, I had this creepy adult terry cloth onesie. Every time I wore it, my roommate laughed at me. Can you blame her?

I even wore it over my swimsuit at RUF Summer Conference...in front of boys! Unbelievable. And guess what? My friends just let me do it. That's the thought that ran through my head as I confused that onesie for what would've been a very cute tube top in the Old Navy dressing room: "Why did my friends let me wear this same item in college IN FRONT OF OTHER HUMANS??"

Another embarrassing item my "friends" let me carry was what I have deemed the Hairy Bag. I noticed when I was a sophomore at MSU (go Dawgs!) that people started to carry their books in large purses or bags rather than the usual back pack. Of course, I wanted in on that trend. I had a purse that was medium sized, a mix of braided brown colors, with 2 round handles for toting. It was also really fuzzy, and it got fuzzier as I stuffed TOO MANY books in it and stretched it out!

As you can imagine from the description, this bag wasn't that great to begin with, but it got even uglier as the semester continued. It went from Hairy Bag to Snuffleupagus Bag because it got hairier and bigger and stretchier. The 2 handles weren't even big enough for me to carry it on my shoulder, yet I continued to carry it and look LIKE AN IDIOT the whole time! Meanwhile, none of my "friends" told me to "stop carrying such an idiotic bag and wearing that terry cloth onesie around!"

When I left Old Navy on Monday, I called this friend and this friend to ask them WHY they let me walk around and look stupid in public in college!?! The only answer I got: laughter. I should've asked this friend and this one, but I would've likely gotten the same response.

To all my friends, please don't let me do that again! If you see me wearing or carrying something that is absolutely atrocious, please tell me lovingly. And always have a cute replacement garment or item handy so that my feelings won't be hurt.