Summer, Summer, Summers Time Wednesday, June 13, 2007

You know you’ve got the old skool Will Smith song in your head now. “Here it is, a groove, slightly transformed. Just a bit of a break from the norm. Just a little sumthin’ to break the monotony of all that hardcore jam that has gotten to be a little bit out of control. It’s cool to dance, but what about a groove that soothes and moves romance...” You know the rest...leave it for us in a comment. This’ll be awesome. Go until you can’t remember, then somebody else can pick up where you left off. AND NO CHEATING!!! I did that from memory (and it’s probably a little wrong, but oh well).

Anyways, my REAL reason for posting is to share the awesome time that we had with our friends Curtis and Crystal Summers. We met this awesome couple in Michigan [Erik breathes a sigh and sheds a tear for his home state] after we moved back from Harding. They attended Grace Bible Church in Ann Arbor and were the first couple that befriended us when we visited there. And the rest...is history.

They now live in Texas. The only other state where a persons love of home rivals that of our fellow Michiganders. While here, we caught up on everything that’s happened since the last time we hung out...which was THREE years ago. We’ve kept in touch via phone, but it’s never the same as getting to be in someone’s presence. We went on a short hike through the Knoxville Arboretum, then went to see My Fair Lady at the Historic Tennessee Theatre. It was a wonderful weekend. Now, we just need to plan some time in Texas.

Chud, Shmon, and Shmal Monday, June 04, 2007

I was blessed to be able to spend a whole weekend with Shawna and Ali in Nashville over the last few days! I cannot begin to explain how precious this time was to me. We had so much fun laughing until our pits started sweating, staying up way too late, eating entirely too much cheesecake, and playing with Shawna’s son Gaines. We took him to the Nashville Zoo (which is actually a pretty cool zoo) and went swimming. It was a fabulous time with my girls!

Memorial Day Hike Monday, May 28, 2007

We spent Memorial Day hiking 10 miles on the Appalachian Trail to Charlie’s Bunion. In 1929, this hike was named after Charlie Conner who paused for a rest on the rocks, took off his boots and exposed a bunion or two that rivaled the surrounding stones! His friends promised to get the site named after him! We found Charlie’s Bunion to be one of the most beautiful hikes we’ve done this year.

When one gets a blister while hiking in the Smokies, whatever is one to do? Why, stuff a huge leaf in your shoe, of course! At least, that’s what Erik does...

The Honoree Monday, May 07, 2007

Today, we honored Sonya as an Exceptional Nurse of Tennessee. She was nominated, along with only a handful of people from her hospital, and even had her picture in the Knoxville News Sentinel.

The actual night of the event was really cool! There were dozens of tables set up in the Convention Center and they had a wonderful meal for everybody and their guests. After the meal, they even had 2 different kinds of dessert to choose from; an ama-za-zing chocolate cheesecake and some strawberry weird thing. I’ll bet you can’t guess what I chose to eat?!

After our meal, we had a guest speaker talk to us about how to deal with the emotional stresses in the workplace and a few other things. All in all, it was actually entertaining and even pertinent to my job. When she had concluded, they then announced each honoree and flashed their picture on the BIG screen for all to see. They presented each nurse with a rose and a certificate. We had a great time! Here’s a picture of Sonya with her Nurse Manager, Sandy.

Love For The Emersons Saturday, May 05, 2007

A few weeks ago, Erik and I took off for Alabama in search of our long lost friends, the Emerson’s. They were back in the states from Africa, and it was SO good to be with them again. They have committed the next few years of their lives to living with and ministering to the Kabiye people in Togo, West Africa. God’s spirit is moving and working through them, and it was such a beautiful thing to be able to share stories and hear about their work over there. We were thankful to nab some quality time with them amidst their busy schedule. They also have announced that they are expecting baby #2! Please remember Brett, April, Caden, and Baby #2 in your prayers.