All in the Family

July 8th is a busy, busy day in our fam!

Happy Birthday Mom!
Happy Anniversary Mom and Pops! Here's to 20 Happy Years!


Happy, Happy Birthday to my fabulous SIL Wendy! Ole!

In honor of my mom and Bill's 20th anniversary us kids are each creating a list of 20 reasons why our lives are better because of their love for each other. My list is written to sweet Bill...a man who willingly volunteered to take on round 2 of parenting just as he finished up round 1.

Here are just a few reasons why I am proud to call him "Dad":

• It all started with a Shoney Bear and a ballerina mug.
• He once drove 75 miles in the middle of the night just to pick me up and bring me back home after driving 75 miles just to drop me off at 7-year-old-sleep-over. (I was a big ol' baby waaaaay past the point of it being acceptable.)
• When I claimed that I didn’t know how to turn on the faucet in the bathroom of our new house, he turned it on for me. This went on for months as I exclaimed "What? I'm new here!"
• He once bonded with Waverly Designs and made my 8 year old interior decorator dreams come true.
• I once bonded with him in Belk as he purchased me my first 9 year old pair of $40 blue jeans. Mom nearly stroked. Funny, come to think of it, she never sent him back-to-school shopping with me again.
• He hung a yellow swing on an old plank in the backyard and gave me a place to play and a place to dream.
• He not only adopted Christopher and me, but also a neighborhood of stinky, sweaty, bickering kids. He had no idea he was signing on to open a community shelter, but he weathered the storms with grace.
• He implemented “Room Time” and “Lights Out Time”. To this day, I still participate in these rituals every night before bed.
• He spent many consecutive years of his life at clogging exhibitions at the Yellow Daisy Festival, the Festival of Trees, and Lake Winnipesaukee. He still displays the pictures as evidence of his love and support.
• It is because of him that I know how to accurately make left hand turns whilst maintaining my own lane. I can not only achieve this goal in small sedans, but in large blue Dodge Caravans as well.
• He taught me the importance of managing my finances as well as my relationships with others.
• He taught me how to love Jesus and to strive to be more like Him.
• He spent an entire afternoon covered in yellow and blue paint in my third floor un-air-conditioned Myers Dorm room in Athens. All he had to show for it was an empty nest and a long car ride home.
• He inspired creativity in me. Like that one time in Nashville when I discovered the beauty of sleeping in the bathtub.
• He cheered for me loud and proud while I crossed the finish line at a regatta at UGA. Well, ok he thought it was me he were cheering for, but…details, details…
• He proudly walked me down the aisle one hot, sweaty, smoldering Saturday afternoon in August. He gave me away and made it clear that I was a non-refundable item. (Sorry hubs).

So there you have it. A glimpse of how blessed I am to have a dad who hand picked my mom and subsequently my brother and I. Just another testament to God's greatness and plans for us.