Janna's Ugly Wedding

This weekend I drove many miles for yet another wedding. But this wasn’t just any normal road trip and it wasn’t just any wedding. The road trip was a long one by myself. Turns out Georgetown, SC is not the most direct place to get to. The roads of corn or rice or whatever was growing in them were plenty, the gas stations were few, and there was literally a church on every corner. I passed a sketchy building that had a sign on the side that said, “Hell is no joke. Turn to Jesus” with a joker picture on it. What is that? I passed through several towns that I didn’t know existed such as Delzell, and when not having my glasses on thought it was Denzel and got really excited because I love him. Georgetown, however, is a lovely little town and Janna and Jonny Sharp had a lovely wedding. Before the wedding, Grace and I had lunch out by the waterfront on the roof of the restaurant, looking out at sailboats and listening to Jason Mraz on the radio. That’s what I wish my life was like every single day. The coolest part of the wedding was how the pastors told stories about Janna and Jonny, about how they served together at 6am at church, how he waited 2 years until her Dad told her she could date and they’ve been together since. All the stories of how God worked out the actual wedding day process was just unreal and it made it even more clear that the Sharps are a couple that God sees as better together than apart. I love to be at those weddings. To watch two people who aren’t walking down the aisle to happiness or in worship of each other but to yet another way to glorify God and in worship to Him. Because for two people who put Jesus first, that’s what marriage is. It’s a way to show this messed up world how much God loves it, and the Sharps are going to do that. I was excited to see the start of that and to be reminded of what God intended marriage for (because I’m not so secretly getting tired of weddings these days.) One of my best pals in the world, Brooke Currie, got engaged last weekend and I can’t wait to be a part of that day as well. To watch her marry a freaking awesome dude and be the hottest and most fun wife ever. Weddings are sometimes brutal and I never want to do the electric slide again in my entire life, but marriages that please Jesus are the coolest. Not only will their kids have superhero names (because their parents do), but I’m pretty sure #SharpWedding was trending nationwide on Saturday.

quote of the day

What a great friend...
Caitlin: "When you bring Cali to Wilmington, she can swim in the ocean while you're out on the surfboard! Ok, I'm going to make all of that happen for you."

As We Go On, We Remember...

Hey friends, remember that time we all graduated from college and got real jobs and then our souls died a little bit?  I just keep reading facebook post after tweet about the upcoming graduations and how sad life is.  Leaving roommates, leaving friends, leaving town, leaving Kinard.  It's all sad.  But it's funny how for 4 years you do nothing but complain about school and how much sleep you lost and how much you hate it, except for when it comes time to peace out.  Then you realize college was the best years of your life, you met the coolest people you'll ever meet, and that exam really didn't matter that much.  A year ago today, I graduated for the second time and I remember feeling like I could breathe again.  I was so proud of myself for literally just surviving those two years and glad that somehow the chair of the department found my thesis worthy of graduation (truth is, she probably didn't. She just likes me).  Still a year later, I never want to see another scholarly article on sports law again in my life.  What I've noticed lately is the typical american/human who can't wait to get it all over with but then cries for days after it's over.  I remember thinking that the real world couldn't come soon enough.  And when the real world slapped me in my face with bills, no job, and no roommate, I wanted college back so fast.  I'm pumped for the kids that are graduating in the coming hours/days.  And I wish I could stand up at graduation and tell them that the real world is scary at first (job or no job) and that you more than likely will be more poor than you were in college but mostly everyone survives.  And to all the parents out there, don't go spend all your money on a beach house in Florida on this big day.  That college grad will still need your wallet for years to come.  Not that I'm speaking from experience or anything.

quote of the day

Me: "I'm going to be Mayor one day."
Amada: "I would vote for you! I don't even live in Rock Hill but I would find a way."
Me: "But what if I really was Mayor one day?"
Amanda: "Yes and we would have awesome Mayor Parties!"

Friday Favorites

It's been a while since I've shared some favorites, but today I have just the thing.  Props to my Dad who sent me this link from a photographer who took pictures of his furry friends jumping in a pool after the ball.  Awesome.

Year Reflections

As I watched the Come-See-Me Festival fireworks go off on Saturday night, I thought about last year actually. During this weekend last year, was the most stressed I'd ever been in my life and I'm pretty sure I'm still catching up on sleep. I had just started my job full-time, it was my first festival as a team leader (I had NO idea what I was doing...), I was teaching classes as a GA, I was trying to finish my thesis and actually graduate grad school. And just for fun, I brought home an 8 week-old puppy. I was just thinking about how great of a year it has been since then. Cali has made my life frustrating and for some reason STILL chews all my stuff. But she really is my favorite thing in the world and sometimes I don't understand how I can love her so much and how anything is that cute. I loved living with Brittany and Grace and I realize I could've never made it roommate-less without Cal there to protect me and eat all the bugs that Brittany would normally kill with her shoe. With Cali's help, I've met most of my neighbors and over the past year, I've grown to love this town even more. It's things like the festival that remind me of what a blessing it is to live in a good, thriving community. Not many towns are like this these days. It's annoying how much I love my job and the people I get to work with everyday and the fact that I can say that while working in a government job is crazy at best. Rock Hill is a small but great place to live and go to college, raise children, raise dogs, raise chickens, play sports, watch sports, go to church and play in a park. But even with all this stuff that I love around, it's good to get up out of here sometimes. And after these last 10 days, I need a vacation.

quote of the day

Stephen: "Are either of you going to Audrey's to watch Jane Eyre?"
Erica: "Oh is that with Anne half and half?"