Last Post for a While

While my mom was here, we had neighborhood/family dinner at our house. This is about half the people who were here. We had Julie's white bean chicken chili, salad, garlic bread, cherries, watermelon, strawberries, and sweet tea. My mom tried the sweet tea and said she could feel her teeth rotting. :)


This is Nathan looking very nervous about an upcoming tornado. He moved all the cars under our big trees, in case the hail would damage them. So sweet... The storm didn't quite make it to our house.
This is my mom (looking nervous about the tornado as well) and our new neighbor Jonathan. He makes beer as a hobby. :) You can check out his blog at mondaynightbrewery.com
Well, Nathan and I are off to Israel on Sunday night. Hopefully we will get on the flight. If not, we'll try again on Monday. This may be the last post for a while, as I'm not sure how internet access goes around there.
Also, I will be away from my school computer all summer. If you need to reach me, you can try my hotmail address. I can't really promise prompt returns, but I'll try my best! Nathan and I should probably get a computer at home, eh?
Today is the last day of school, and I'm all checked out. Happy summer everyone!

The Text

While hardly anyone ever comments on this blog, I got a random text last night from my sister, Kristen (a.k.a. Twine). "Update your blog foolio!" it read. I guess people do read this blog on occasion. I haven't been posting recently because I haven't been taking any pictures recently. I wanted this blog to be more of a scrapbook than a journal. However, I'll take some time to let you all know what's been going on lately, if only so you can create some mental pictures.

My mom has been visiting since Saturday, but I haven't taken a single picture yet. However, I've been planning on doing so tonight! You see, we're having the Parker clan and some neighbors over for dinner. Anyway, Mom and I have been very busy watching Pride and Prejudice, eating Kettle Corn, shopping at T.J. Maxx, taking walks, and generally "making memories" (as she would say). Today we hope to get pedicures and continue shopping at the mall. It's funny... I hardly ever go to shopping, but I've enjoyed going with her and picking up a few new treats. She leaves tomorrow, and I probably won't see her again until Christmas.

Right now I'm proctoring a science final exam at school. I gave my Language Arts and Spanish exams yesterday, and now I'm procrastinating on grading them all. Thankfully, my sister-in-law, Joy, is ready and willing to help me grade them. Bribing her with Starbucks couldn't have hurt. I have to finish them all by Saturday at the latest because...

Nathan and I are going to Israel on Sunday! I bought some new shoes just for the occasion. I'll have to take a picture of those too. Anyway, we're going to visit Tim and Kristi Knipp (check out their blog by clicking on their link to the right) and to scope out the land. Tim, Kristi, and I studied together in Jerusalem when we were students at Taylor. It's been seven years ago now, and Tim and Kristi went back to continue schooling there in January. Kristi and I, as roommates way back when, dreamed of a time when we would "bring our husbands back" to Israel. Well, WE'RE DOING IT! Actually, Tim was there when we started dreaming our dream, but we didn't know that they would be getting married. :)

Nathan and I are going up to the attic today to dig up all of my old study material from that semester in 2001 to get our minds prepared. Nathan has been voraciously reading the New Testament again to have it fresh in his mind when we arrive in Jerusalem on Sunday. I am just so excited to see my friend! Kristi and I were in each other's weddings, we were roommates for two years, and I miss her. My mom and I were just yesterday talking about how valuable she was just before our wedding. She literally helped me pack up my entire house and pull the last minute wedding details together.

Anyway, I'm seriously rambling now. I must go and start grading my exams! If you actually check this blog often, thanks for reading. :)

The Symphony

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._3_(Górecki)

Nathan and I went to see the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra perform Gorecki's Symphony No. 3 (also known as "Smyphony of Sorrowful Songs"). GO, GO, GO to the Wikipedia site and listen to a sample. It's amazing. It was the first piece of classical music Nathan and I listened to together. We laid on the couch in the glass room in silence, looking at all the bare trees in the dead of winter, and we were totally moved by this piece of music.

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day everyone! I was away from my mom this Mother's Day, but she is coming to visit on Saturday, so we will celebrate then. Yesterday Nathan and I hung out with his mom, Susan, and the family. We had a picnic at Chastain park and tried to keep from blowing away... Clockwise from the top: Jim, Andrew, Joy, Philip, me, Susan, and Hannah.


Since Nathan was the family photographer for the previous picture, he took this postmodern picture of himself. I'm not sure how I would categorize his expression.



In the evening, I went to the Jackson's house to hang out with my spiritual godmother, Kathy, who was visiting her kids for Mother's Day. It's always so refreshing to see her. Remember the cute little Anna Grace who was in the dance off video? Kathy is her "Grammy." Anna Grace was, again, the photographer.

Big Canoe with the Kijankos

This is a picture of Nathan and his $5 grocery bag full of books and videos. We happened to be in Big Canoe during the Tour of Homes (my treat) and annual used book sale (his treat). These were actually the spoils after round two through the book sale area. If you couldn't already tell, the bag was about to break.

This is the trunk of our Matrix (Reloaded) filled with books! What are we going to do with all of these?! Among them are lots of theological heavyweights next to the movie Commando, with Arnold (The Governator). I picked three books and a movie (You've Got Mail).


We had some good time with Tony and Dee Kijanko, who were mentors of mine in college. They led a missions trip I went on to Trinidad and Tobago in 2002. Dee is the vision of the hostess I'd like to be someday. It was awesome!

Bishop Fred and Mexican Food

This image is of the fabulous dinner (if I don't say so myself) I made for Nathan, Hannah (Nathan's sister) and Bishop Fred, the Anglican bishop visiting from Nigeria. I stood on my chair, which is kind of uncouth, but I couldn't pass up this shot! On the left you'll see black bean soup with sour cream, salsa, avocado, and cilantro. On the right is a salsa chicken salad with all kinds of toppings: cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, cheese, sour cream, olives, and cilantro. I also served corn on the cob. Yum!


Bishop Fred enjoyed his meal with some fruit punch Gatorade from a glass (no ice) and then asked me for a toothpick. He proceeded to pick out the corn from his teeth and spit the remants on the dining room floor. Cultural differences, perhaps?
We enjoyed having Bishop Fred with us. He had Bible study and prayer both nights he was here, washed his underwear in the sink, told me I looked "cute and lovely" in my work clothes, had Nathan wipe his bare back down with Vick's Vapor Rub, and prophesied that we'd have a male child crying in our house within a year's time. We shall see about that.
Really, aside from all of the funny anecdotes, we really enjoyed his encouraging and affable spirit. He really loves the Lord, and he wants the whole world to come to Jesus!

Tootsie Pops

So, I forgot to bring the camera to school again, but something funny happened last night that I wanted to bring back to the frontal lobes of your brains. Nathan and I went out to pizza with the Culpeppers last night and with our bill came some Tootsie Pops. I was greedy and grabbed the cherry one (the only kind I like) and immediately looked for the Indian with the shooting star. The waitress then said to all of us, "Be sure to look for the Indian with the star!"

I said with a smile, "I was just doing that!"

Nathan said, "Huh? I've never heard of that!"

She said, "Yeah! It used to be that if you buy one at a convenience store and you get the Indian with the star, you get a free Tootsie Pop. You didn't know that?"

It's probably been 10-ish years since I've had a Tootsie pop, but I guess there are some things you just never forget.

From Wikipedia...

Urban Legend

At some point, a rumor began that the lollipop wrappers which bore an Indian aiming his arrow at a star were redeemable for free candy or even free items like shirts and other cool items. The rumor was untrue, but some shops have honored the wrapper offer over the years, allowing people to "win" a free pop.


A raspberry flavored Tootsie Roll Pop wrapper with an Indian aiming a bow and arrow at a star.