Camp Chestnut Ridge

This summer Calvin is working as a Chaplin at Camp Chestnut Ridge. Yes, I just said Chaplin. As my dear friend Margaret put it "Man, he's legit!"

This past Saturday was Family Camp, so I had the pleasure of going to camp with my husband for the day. After breakfast Calvin led worship speaking about the fruits of the spirit and how they are consistently coming and going from our lives. While we strive to have them all, during certain phases some of the fruits are stronger than others. This changes over time and that's ok. He also pointed out that as families, if we do not let our family members "grow and ripen" like fruits on a vine then we will miss out on their full potential. This goes for kids of course, but also for parents and grandparents too. No matter what age you are, we're all ever changing and need room to grow. Then he smashed an unripe watermelon on the floor to prove his point.

After worship it was time to play! So off to the zip line we went! Calvin went first and was waiting for me at the bottom. His job was to catch his lovely wife at the bottom. Instead he thought it would be funny to help slow me down for safety but otherwise just let me go. (He thought it was funny anyways - me on the other hand - not so much) It was still a fun ride and the first time I've ever done anything like that.

After the zip line we paddled around on the lake in a canoe and we tied 1-1 in archery.

The Camp Chestnut Ridge curriculum is Food, Faith and Farming. It really is a camp after my own heart.

Carowinds: The Thrill Capital of the Southeast

Calvin and I have been having a lot of fun the past couple of weeks. It's been filled with summer busyness. There has been pretty much something going on every night of the week between visiting with friends, hanging out with family, or playing soccer or softball. And this has already been the start of another wonderful weekend of doing the same.

The big event last Saturday though was our trip to Carowinds! I have to say our relationship is very much theme park compatible. We had a lot of fun together, and we really stayed on the same page as far as what we wanted to do next. It wasn't 5 minutes into the park and we had already been on the first roller coaster. I think between 1pm and 10pm we rode 8 roller coasters and 7 water slides/rides that were available. We also had frozen lemonade and chili cheese fries. yum!

My question is: how do you get to be a roller coaster engineer or designer? That seems awesome. I mean I would love to pat the person on the back who came up with the idea to lay you down as you ride Nighthalk so that it felt like you were flying. What a cool idea, and it was definitely one of the most popular rides there.

As far as the new "Intimidator" goes. It was very intimidating to me just looking at it, but it turned out to be one of our favorite rides all day. I think it was one of the longest roller coaster rides there and definitely the smoothest.


Afterburn was the first ride we rode and (since there were no lines at 9:45 p.m.) we rode it a couple more times on the way out of the park. The last time though, Calvin insisted that we get in the front so we could see out ahead of us. Such a great idea. Now I see why all the lines are longer for that front row! What a perfect way to start the day and end the night.

Of course, Calvin is a trooper for driving home after such an eventful day. Also, thanks again to Jason and Brandy for keeping Rascal while we went to go play.

Let Freedom Ring

Calvin and I just had a wonderful long weekend celebrating Independence Day.

Friday night we enjoyed a baseball game and fireworks with my family. It was perfect weather. Not too hot. We sat in the lawn area of the stadium on blankets. And after a wonderful Mexican dinner I also indulged in a soft pretzel and fresh lemonade. (Seriously, if you're in the Winston-Salem area you have to go to Las Estrellas on Silas Creek Parkway. Its the best Mexican food we've ever had - aside from a few places in California that Calvin keeps near and dear to his heart.)

Saturday Calvin treated me a American Dance Festival performance at DPAC where Pilobolus was performing. It was a great show. I'm so glad we went. They painted beautiful pictures in their pieces that kept me thinking about it on into the next day.

Sunday we really started feeling old when we opted to stay home and watch fireworks on television verses going downtown. Our tv is just too awesome to try to deal with a crowd. And who puts on a better show than D.C., NY, and Boston?

Here are a few pictures from the baseball game:

Brandy & Andrew - 6/12/10

My best friend Brandy recently married her long time love, Andrew. She put a lot of hard work into the details of this event and it really paid off. This was the perfect southern wedding. Brandy was absolutely beautiful. Here are a few of my favorite pictures so far taken by Pam and Lucia. I have to say, we had so much fun at this wedding. Brandy treated us girls to a day at the spa on Friday including manicure, pedicure, and 30 min massage. Saturday we spent all day getting pampered with hair and make-up. That night Calvin and I danced more than we've ever danced before thanks to a fun group of people in the wedding party and a great DJ.

Congratulations Brandy and Andrew! We love you and wish you the best!

The view from the Childress Suite where Calvin and I stayed. The girls also got ready here.



I requested a Rachel McAdams hairstyle from The Notebook.

Headed back in for pictures!

The couple's first dance to "The Way You Look Tonight" from Father of the Bride.

Don't we look good here? I wish I had a hair and makeup team every day!

Let's see if I keep this up.

Ok, so on a whim I decided to start a blog. This idea was inspired by a couple friends and one afternoon organizing pictures. I think it will be a fun way to invite family and friends across the country into our home. We'll have to wait to see if I keep this up though. I currently do not even have an up-to-date facebook picture posted. However, if I fail, at least I know I would be in good company. Apparently there are a lot of blogs out there with 1-3 posts and then they are abandoned. No judging allowed either way.

Calvin and I do have a many fun adventures planed for the summer so check back in each week or so to see what we're up to!