A numbered list

When my brain thinks, it often thinks in numbered lists. Does anybody else's brain do that? I sure hope so.

1. I had a lovely birthday spent with my family. So blessed!

2. Everybody willingly ate my Whole30-friendly birthday supper. Thanks, fam!

3. One of my favorite parts of my birthday supper was my Bubba singing his own special, very high-pitched version of the birthday song while everybody else sang the normal version. Bless him. A priceless moment that still makes me giggle.

4. I wanted to take a family picture, so I propped my camera up on the TV and used the timer. The first picture was absolutely hideous. This one would be perfection, only it looks like it was taken in 1982. Not sure why my camera did that, but the picture makes me smile. I love these cool kids.

5. Every two years, the Olympics make my world go 'round. The Winter Olympics are always fun, but the Summer Olympics make me especially happy.

6. You know what's a bummer? When you're really, really excited about watching the USA women's gymnastics team compete in the team final, and you find out the results on facebook hours before the competition airs on TV. That makes me very grumpy. Anyway, I'm very proud of Team USA's gold medal!

7. I feel very sad for the athletes when they don't do well, especially on such a worldwide stage.

8. I used to want to be an Olympic gymnast. Or a figure skater...I would've been happy with either one. Don't mind the fact that I have no talent in either sport. I was gonna win that gold medal! Maybe it's not too late...

9. I went to tutor for the first time yesterday. I was very nervous about tutoring an adult versus teaching a child, but I loved it. Absolutely loved it!

10. I've got less than eleven more days of summertime left to my name. I'm determined to enjoy the stink out of every single one of them!

Whole30 : Day 8 & 9

Day 8 (7/21):

• breakfast -- leftover Spaghetti Squash Carbonara (Now would be an excellent time to tell yall that I have absolutely no problem eating non-breakfast food for breakfast. No problem whatsoever. Can we still be friends???)
• lunch -- pork chop bites, wilted kale, roasted green beans (Thanks for the super duper lunch, DennyJ!)
• snack -- Blueberry Muffin Larabar (This one was way yum!)
• supper -- sesame stir-fry with pork, zucchini, red bell pepper, and onion (Thanks for feeding me twice today, Paw! I'm a lucky gal.)

I felt good today. I was definitely hungry by the afternoon, but the Larabar kept it under control. Yay!

Day 9 (7/22):

• breakfast -- scrambled eggs (2 whole eggs, 1 egg white) and leftover green beans
• lunch -- leftover Spaghetti Squash Carbonara
• snack -- handful of walnuts, slightly thawed frozen cherries
• supper -- green smoothie (water, spinach, flax seeds, frozen mango chunks, frozen blueberries)

I didn't feel very good today. The headache was back and my energy was at about -16% by about 2:00. I'm not sure what was going on. I'm wondering if I'm not eating enough, or maybe I'm not getting enough protein/fat. I'm full after all of my meals, but I'm significantly hungry again usually within 2-3 hours. I definitely feel like my food is digesting much faster than back when I was eating the way I used to. I seriously need to work on my lunches/afternoon snacks. They're not keeping me full, and I'm tired of counting down the minutes until I can eat supper. Any ideas?

My goal for this coming week is to eat less fruit and fewer Larabars. I know the sugar in those is natural, but it's still sugar. I'm nervous about cutting back on these tasty treats so think good thoughts for me!

Here's to Week 2 of my adventure!

*A big THANK YOU to Morgan who reminded me that green beans are indeed Whole30 compliant! This makes me happy because I'm in a green bean fan club. Well, not really, but if one existed I might be!

Independence Day...with a bang

I had a lovely time celebrating America's birthday and our independence with my family. We had a fabulous lunch, shared lots of laughs, and enjoyed some time just chillin' and relaxing. What a delight!

One of the very best parts of the day, however, came early in the morning. The University of Alabama had made plans to implode the Rose Towers dorm building to make way for newer, more updated dorms. While it made me sad to think of Rose Towers not towering over the river anymore, I couldn't turn down the opportunity to see a building implode right in front of me. I'm all about experiencing new things and knew this one was a must-see.

*I will add: if this had been a building on Auburn's campus, where I spent four glorious years of my life, I certainly would not have been a spectator. That might actually break my heart into little bitty pieces. I had some sad friends on facebook today and it really made me feel for them. While it was just a building to me, it was home to them and the setting for fun college memories. I hope they don't think I'm insensitive by sharing this here. It's much easier and more fun to watch something like this if you have no attachment to it.*

I made a very early journey into Tuscaloosa so that we could make it to the viewing spot by 7:15. I had great company and enjoyed my time with some of the fam. We were all pumped. Grandad has decades of experience as a construction project manager, so he was little-kid-on-Christmas excited to see something that is directly opposite what he does on a daily basis.

{Mimi describing the details she'd read in the newspaper...I'm pretty sure she now knows enough to implode a building herself}

{I don't remember what they were talking about but I do know that this is one of my favorite pictures I've ever taken. Ever, ever. A keeper for sure.}

{one last shot}

Having never seen an implosion (other than on TV), I didn't quite have a feel for the logistics. There were firetrucks spraying the building to minimize the dust, I learned. Makes sense. I also learned that no charges were placed higher than the eighth floor to ensure that the building fell in on itself instead of exploding from the top. Good to know. Getting hit in the head with a brick-turned-missile would kinda put a damper on the Independence Day festivities. Super glad I'm not in charge of something like this.

We got a one minute warning so I set up my camera (on my tripod). I have a great action setting that enables you to press the shutter once and take 25 consecutive shots in 25 seconds...way faster than you could ever do it manually. I had big dreams of getting spectacular implosion shots.

However, I learned something else yesterday. When you hear the charges start sounding, and you immediately press the shutter on your camera, you've jumped the gun too quickly. You see, the building hovers for a few seconds after the charges fire. THEN it collapses. If you do what I did, you won't get a single picture of the collapse...which is exactly what happened. I have 25 consecutive pictures of the building standing completely upright just BEFORE it fell. Ha! I've laughed and laughed over that. Things like this happen specifically to keep us humble, right? Now that I've told you all this, if you need a photographer for a pivotal, life-changing event such as a wedding, graduation, or championship game, call me :)

Thankfully, I got to see the implosion with my eyeballs and was able to film with my phone. I debated not putting the video on here because, while the implosion is amazing, I sound like an absolute goober. I had no idea I would be that excited seeing such a thing, and it's all caught on video. Thanks for being my friend anyway. And if you have ideas for any suitable alternatives to the word "cool", please let me know ASAP. This is apparently something I need to work on.

Isn't that incredible? Just a poof of dust and an entire massive 12-story building is gone. I am absolutely fascinated by people whose brains think this way, because that is the COMPLETE opposite of how mine functions. I would, without a doubt, make the world's worst engineer. 

{Nothing left but a cloud of dust and a gigantic pile of rubble. Twenty seconds and DONE. Boggles the mind.}

I hope you and yours had a thrilling...or totally relaxing, because that's great too...day of celebration yesterday!

Tunica for two

Last week, Mom and I made our way to Tunica, MS for what's becoming an annual girls' trip. After our journey last year, we figured we knew what to expect this year. Thankfully, Tunica still had some surprises up its sleeve.

Last year, Tunica seemed nearly devoid of people. Almost creepily so. We were the only ones (besides the owners) staying at our hotel. We were the only customers at The Hollywood. We were the only ones on the road. Weird. Quaint and rural, but weird.

This time, we actually got to interact with some real humans. Yay! We both very much enjoyed our trip and were happy that Mom's doctor's appointment went so well.

{the lobby of our hotel...attached to the Horseshoe casino...way fancier than we anticipated! We had such a great stay there.}

(sunset over the Mississippi River...ain't my mama purty?} 

{beautiful}

{Mama gave me the idea for this shot. A gorgeous sunset and a beautiful setting can make even weeds look pretty.} 

{We saw these little birds' nests made out of mud under the roof of the casino by the river. At first we thought they were enormous dirt dauber nests, but then we saw a bird fly out of one. See him there, in the bottom left corner? We just marveled at the thought of those birds managing to get that mud all the way up there and build those nests. Birds are clever little critters.} 

 {the entrance to our hotel at night...quite a welcome}

 {We decided against the side trip to Memphis/Arkansas this year. Instead, we explored downtown Tunica on our way home. It was the perfect, quintessential downtown you'd expect from a tiny Southern town. So cute.}

 {loved this shot...and the shade :)}

{We stopped for a few pictures on the way out of town. It's such a pretty, rural drive...fields as far as you can see.}

{love all that green}

A fun little getaway is good for the soul.

Why my daddy is simply the best

I am blessed to have two tremendous men in my life. It just occurred to me that, while I've written a special post all about Grandad, I don't think I've done one for Daddy. My bad! Since it's Father's Day and all, this is how I know my dad is simply the best.

*He thinks I'm awesome. He takes an interest in my interests, even if he doesn't share them.

*He's a stellar cook. Seriously. He doesn't often use a recipe; he's one of those who can just see what's on hand and make a feast out of it. I want to be more like that.

*He's been my knight in shining armor more times than I can count. He has tracked me down on the interstate to change my flat tire on the side of the road. He has helped me move nearly a dozen times, even though moving is one of his least favorite things to do. He has talked me through more than one tearful conversation when I'm at a loss about what to do. He's helped me salvage many a meal when my cooking skills were no match for the recipe. He's drawn sewing patterns for me because he can draw proportionally and I can't manage a straight line. He's helped me set up 3 different classrooms over the span of 5 years. He has saved the day more times than he knows!

*He doesn't mind when I call him Paw, because he knows that makes me feel like Laura Ingalls. He knows that I like to feel like Laura Ingalls, so he just rolls with it :)

*He sends me funny text messages.

*He taught me how to drive in the cemetery when I was 14, he took me to get my learner's permit, he taught me how to drive on the real roads, he never laughed at me when I drove well under the speed limit because I was so nervous, and he took me to get my license on my 16th birthday. When I passed the test and drove him back home, he stood on the porch and waved at me when I backed out of the driveway for the first time by myself.

*He loves my mama bunches. He's set a great example for me, and I'm not settling down until I find that for myself.

*He taught me everything I know about exterior illumination. {Name that movie.}

*He's wise and, I think, completely brilliant. Seriously...there's nothing he doesn't know. And if he doesn't know it, he'll make it up so fast you'll never know the difference :) I think he gets that from Grandad. The internet has made it very easy to check up on his facts and wouldn't you know it? He's always right. Sometimes to our frustration, he's always right :)

*He is the hardest worker I know. And he never complains about it.

*He gives great advice, and I value his opinion over most others.

*On my very first ever day as a teacher when I left the house at 5:30 AM, he woke up extra early just to tell me good luck and that I was going to do a great job.

*He calls me every night to check in and chat about my day. He tells me he loves me every time we talk.

*When he sends me mail, he usually puts a pet's name in the return address. I always laughed when I thought about the campus mail people at Auburn sorting through my mail from "Tiger Johnston".

*He would eat glass and walk through fire for Bubba and me. Granted, I'm sure he would prefer not to do either of these unhappy things, but if we needed him to, he absolutely would. He has always put us before himself and in case he thinks we don't notice, we do.

*He brought Prairie Home Companion, Cool Hand Luke, Mollie B., Car Talk, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, and bluegrass music into my life.

*He has the world's best sense of humor. I rarely have a conversation with him where we don't laugh. He can get more laughs out of me than just about anybody else. I like to think that I inherited his weirdo sense of humor.

{This is my favorite picture from this past Christmas. Daddy was a huge fan of Meerkat Manor when it was on the air. Mom bought him this meerkat statue as kind of a joke, and Daddy LOVED it. That look right there is one of pure, unbridled joy. He's named his meerkat Flower and refuses to put her outside...where she belongs. She now sits right beside the computer so he can see her when he works. Seriously.}

I am certainly blessed to have this cool kid in my life. I'm excited to see him today...happy Father's Day to all you papas out there!

Ladies who lunch

Many moons (aka, several weeks) ago, the women's group at Mimi and Grandad's church held their annual tea party. I've been going to the tea party with Mimi since I was wee, aside from some years in college when I was too far away to make the trip.

Helping with something like this really makes you appreciate all that goes into it. Packing up your finest tablewares, carting them to the church, setting them up, packing up all the dirty dishes to wash at home (ick), hoping and praying that you make it home with all of your mama's silver and your great-grandmother's teacups...yikes. This is high stakes stuff, folks!

It's such a lovely event. Every hostess is in charge of her own table: inviting people, decorating, providing place settings, serving tea and dessert. China sparkles. Big hats abound. It's a fun time.

This year's tea party was especially crowded. Since Mimi and Grandad's church was destroyed by the tornado last year, another local church has offered them a temporary church home. This year's gathering served two churches...about 150 ladies. That's a lot of tea! And chicken salad...don't forget the chicken salad. Fact: you absolutely cannot gather a group of Southern ladies for an event such as this and not serve chicken salad. I can't even imagine the riot that would result if you tried.

Cousin Sarah and I kept each other company since Mimi was serving as one of the head hostesses. I love these two girls!

{Meems and me}

What a fun day! This girl loves any excuse to wear a gigantic hat. :)

Thank you letter to my mama

I am beyond blessed to have my mama and my Mimi in my life. I wrote a post for precious Mimi on her birthday, but neglected to write one for my mom's birthday only 5 days later. My bad, Mom! Your slacker daughter will attempt to make up for it today since it's Mother's Day and all.

Dearest Mama,

Thank you for calling me every December to ask me, "Do you know what today is?" I always do, but I act like I don't so you can tell me your story again. Thank you for birthing me and for reminding me that, despite the hours and hours and HOURS of excruciating pain, I was worth it. {Did I tell the story right? I couldn't remember if it was hours and hours and HOURS of pain, or if it was days of pain, uphill both ways, and on the hottest day of the summer. Please advise.}


Thank you for being such a faithful prayer warrior.

Thank you for sacrificing many of the things you wanted so that Bubba and I could have such wonderful childhoods.

Thanks for loving me through my teenage years, when I was very often not a joy to be around.

Thank you for helping me to set my priorities, and thank you for the frequent reminders to keep them straight.

Thank you for going with me to get my makeup done at Dillard's on the day of my junior prom. Thank you for telling the lady it needed to be redone when you knew I was on the verge of tears. Thank you for never once mentioning that I looked like a drag queen, even though I knew I did. Thank you for letting me wash it all off and helping me redo it when we got home. Thank you for holding off on pictures until I no longer resembled like a drag queen. I will be forever thankful that there is no photographic evidence of that makeover gone wrong.

Thank you for driving three hours to sleep in my dorm room at Auburn, just to keep your freshman daughter from being lonely on a roommate-free weekend.

Thanks for making me feel like the most beautiful, most talented, most incredible creature that ever walked the planet. It's nice to know there's at least one person on the planet who thinks I hung the moon.

Thanks for teaching me to be good to my skin.

Thanks for reminding me you love me every, single time we talk.

Thank you for being such a lovely example of a wonderful wife and mother. If I ever get to take on either of those roles one day, I'll be using your example as my guide.

Thank you for not slapping me silly all those times I rolled my eyes at you.

Thanks for letting me go my own way, try new things, and make my own mistakes, even if you don't agree with what I'm doing.

Thank you for introducing me to gardenias. Thank you for always picking some for me to take home since I'm gardenia-less here. Because of you, they're my favorite flower.

Thank you for being my gardening guru. I'm only just now developing my green thumb, but it's thanks to you and your love of plants.

Thanks for bringing the Golden Girls, Steel Magnolias, and Agatha Christie into my life.

Thank you for never saying, "I told you so", even though you've had 718,530 opportunities to do so.

Thank you for helping to mend my broken heart on more than one occasion and for reminding me to keep on keepin' on.

Thanks for putting together the world's best Easter baskets and Christmas stockings.

Thank you for teaching me that a little goes a long way when it comes to makeup, perfume, and laundry detergent.

Thanks for encouraging me not to settle, ever, in anything.

Thanks for not being afraid to tell me NO during my growing up years. It made me very grumpy at the time, but I sure am thankful for it now.

Thanks for being a goober, so that I feel more comfortable being a goober myself. We're two peas in a weirdo pod.

Thanks for refusing to pay for me to have that awful dye-in-a-box color stripped out of my hair when I was 16. You warned me not to do it, I did anyway, and I was stuck with it. Good call...lesson learned!

Thanks for rubbing my feet and shoulders without ever being asked.

Thank you for mailing me funny cards. My love of snail mail comes honest!

Thank you for fighting like you do every day, just so Bubba and I don't have to be without our Mama.

XOXO,
Doodle Bug

She said YES!!!

I. Am so. Excited. Reallyreallyreallyreallyreally excited :) My brother and his lovely girlfriend of three and a half years got ENGAGED yesterday! I was beyond honored to be asked to take pictures of the big moment. Bubba and I had been chatting over the phone about this for weeks, so I felt like I was prepared...until yesterday. Trying to figure out exactly where he wanted me to be without seeing the spot ahead of time was nerve-wracking. The texts were flying fast and furious while we tried to coordinate things without tipping off Olivia (who was right beside him). Bubba told me where to go, I had a hiding spot squared away, and my camera shot was all set up. This whole plan was riding on me being hidden because Olivia would surely be suspicious if she realized I was in town...and randomly at the same park they were. I thought we'd gotten everything figured out, but Olivia threw a kink into the plans...

Me: U here yet?

Bub: Come on and look out for us. Kinda hide I guess.

{Me: Kinda hide??? What the heck does that mean?}

Bub: She wanted to come the opposite way so we'll be coming at you head on. Get in position and look out. Hurry!

{Me: Sheer panic. Wait...what is "the opposite way"? Where will they be? Am I in the right spot? Am I going to miss it? Or worse, are they going to see me and the whole thing'll be ruined? Where do I go???}

Me: I see u! (unbeknownst to me at that moment, that couple with the dog I was looking at was NOT them)

Bub: Ok, here goes.

Me: (realizing my mistake) Wait, no! Not u! Not u!! Where are yall???

I didn't hear back from him and I felt sick. I was going to miss it. Either that or I was going to be spotted and ruin the whole surprise. Finally, I saw them come around the bend and, sure enough, I was directly in their line of sight. I frantically looked for a place to hide and, finding nothing suitable, had to lay flat on my belly in the dirt and mulch behind a tree. Excellent. 

Thankfully, I ended up getting some great shots and Olivia never saw me until Bubba pointed me out. I am so thankful that he was able to totally surprise her. She had no clue whatsoever! What a special, precious moment in time! Completely worth the stress and my scratched up legs :)

{The only thing I heard during this moment was Olivia squealing, "Are you kidding me???"}

{She said yes!}

{She was completely floored. I'm so happy Bub was able to pull off a total surprise!}

{She couldn't stop giggling...it was precious.}

{coming to help me brush the dirt off}

{calling her mom and surveying the goods}

{She literally couldn't stop giggling.}

{Love them!}

{Bub put SO much thought into that bling on her finger. Gorgeous!}

{It's not official until it's facebook official :) }

Looks like we've got a wedding to plan!

Jam. Packed.

Many moons (or a month) ago, I had a killer weekend. We had Bubba's birthday lunch, Grandad took us cemetery hoppin', and we went to see the Blue Angels fly. I meant to post about the weekend right after it happened, but then I left my camera cord at the ol' homestead. And then the cord got lost in the mail. And then I ordered a new one. And then my old one and my new one both arrived in the mail. And then I was grumpy that I'd bought a new one. And then I got busy packing, and then I went away on a road trip for a week.

Life's been a bit busy lately, so the blog has just had to wait. Patience is a virtue, dear blog!

 {Love these two cool kids}

After Bub's birthday lunch, Grandad took Daddy, Cousin Jerry, Cousin Jerry's girlfriend Molly, and me out to China Grove and Pleasant Hill. We're all big family history buffs, so we were sopping up all the info Grandad could throw our way. It was a lovely, lovely afternoon spent with some of my favorite people.

{a "snake stick" is necessary this time of year...FYI, I'm the president of Grandad's fan club}

{love this shot of my dear grandaddy and my dear cousin}

We capped off the weekend at the Tuscaloosa Airshow. We got there early enough to watch lots of other demonstrations, and we had a blast. The highlight, of course, was the Blue Angels. Have you ever seen the Blue Angels fly? Completely thrilling and mind-boggling Watching planes fly directly at each other at 800 mph, flying within inches of each other, and performing such incredible tricks is truly an experience. Do yourself a favor and go see them if you ever have a chance!

{The pilot of the #6 jet is an Alabama native. Woohoo!}

{loved this shot}

Enjoy your weekend, friends! Get out there and live it.