Low Country Fun!

Vacation is still going great.  I don't care how many times I visit Savannah and Charleston, I always enjoy my stay. 

You may have seen on Facebook that we got to meet Cheryl Day, owner of Back In The Day Bakery!  I've been a fan of hers for years.  We ate lunch there and then returned for sweet treats on our way out of town today.  The "Old Fashioned" vanilla cupcakes  and Lavender cookies are wonderful.

Later we returned to Art Bash for another painting party.  Amy and I just happened upon the Art Bash studio last summer and discovered the owner is a fellow Texan.  We contacted her again this year and she was kind enough to schedule a Savannah Scene for Thursday night's class so we would have a great Savannah souvenir to take home. 

We stopped in a Flea Market that we passed.  It's called  - Two Women and a Warehouse.  They had some pretty fun things.  My favorites were this Retro turquoise phone and the beautiful Jadeite! 

We took some time to walk through some of the squares and see some of my favorite Savannah homes.  Most of all I'm glad I got a chance to spend some time with Dana again.  I'm so glad we planned to be in Savannah at the same time! 

We left Savannah this morning and headed to Charleston.  Over the years I've heard a lot about Boone Hall, a near by plantation.  We decided to check it out this trip.  I have to be honest and say that I really wasn't that impressed.  The grounds and gardens were beautiful and would be lovely in a cooler season.  The house however was built in 1936.  It's the third home to have stood on the that spot. We only got to see 4 rooms and seeing as the house isn't that old, there wasn't a lot of historic information shared. The most interesting thing I learned was that the TV movie "North and South" was filmed on the plantation.

We made it into downtown Charleston for a late lunch and shopping on Market Street. Once this cooled off this evening we ventured out of the hotel to explore the historic district a bit more.  We leave for Texas in the morning.  It's been a great vacation. 

 

 

Savannah/Charleston 2013 was a huge success.  Now on to Family Vacation in Colorado!

Savannah Smiles!

So far Savannah has been a blast!  As always, road trips with my BFFs Christa and Amy are great.  We've made it a little more than half way through the new Mary Kay Andrews book.  She one of our favorite authors, always setting her stories in the Low Country. 

We arrived Sunday evening and met up with my good friend Dana.  I met Dana in 2004 when I spent my first summer in Savannah.  He lived in Chatham Square where I had rented an apartment for the summer.  I was helpful with directions, restaurant suggestions, local insight and so much more.  He lives in North Carolina now, but Savannah is his hometown, so he decided to visit family and hang out with us a bit. 

Monday we toured the Davenport House.  I always love seen it before, but it's been years.  It's always fun to see some of the old houses in this beautiful city.  Afterwards we met Dana for lunch at SoHo South Cafe - one of our all time favorites.  We also visited the SCAD shop and E.Shaver Booksellers.

After dinner at Mellow Mushroom, we settled in at Starbucks for a card game!  Good times.

 Yesterday we headed to the beach at Tybee Island!

We cleaned up for dinner and ate at The Lady and Sons.  It was delicious as always.  Our evening tour was rained out, so we picked up some treats at Krispy Kreme and headed to bed early.  I think we'll go shopping on Broughton street today and maybe treat ourselves to pedicures.

A New Chapter!

I wanted to share the news for those who may not know.  I have accepted a new job in Brownsboro ISD for next school year.  I will be the counselor at Brownsboro Elementary.  The campus has never had an Assistant Principal or a Counselor and now they'll have both - so it will be a new chapter for the whole school in many ways. I'll still be able to live in Tyler. Brownsboro is about 13 miles closer to my house than Jacksonville, so I'll save on time and gas a little. 

 

It's been a crazy year for me in a lot of ways.  I'm very glad to have finished graduate school and my principal certification.  Thank you all for your prayers last Friday as I took my exam. They were heard!  In light of everything that has happened this past year, I think the change will do me good. 

Today is my last day of work in Jacksonville.  I have to say I'm a little sad, even though I know I've made the best choice for my future. I came to Jacksonville as a first time counselor 2 years ago.  It has been a great experience for me both personally and professionally.  I leave with a world of knowledge and a diary of experiences I know I wouldn't have had elsewhere.  I've made some wonderful friends and I'll miss seeing them everyday.  The events of the last couple of years have been life changing.  I know beyond any doubt that Jacksonville is where God placed me for that season of my life. But now He's opened another door and it's time to move on. I'm excited to what God will do as I start this new chapter. 

I'm headed to Nederland this afternoon for a little family time.  This summer I'll be all over the place, visiting, relaxing and vacationing.  Perhaps now I'll have time to blog a little more about my summer adventures. Please follow along!

Go Bears Go! 

You've Got to Have Friends!

The events of this past weekend were a great reminder of how lucky I am to have such wonderful friends.

This has been a rough year for me. I won’t mention why, because it’s not important to this story, but I knew Saturday June 1^st would be a difficult day.  I want to give a shout out to my best friend Christa for making the trip to Tyler to hang out with me and help keep me busy and cheerful!

Christa got into town just in time to have lunch at the Potpourri  House, one of my favorite places. Another friend joined us for spiced tea and good conversation. 

After lunch we didn’t really have a plan, but we ended up making lots of stops to gather some things we need for our Savannah road trip coming up at the end of June.  We stopped by the mall and I got 3 new pairs of summer shorts and capris – all two sizes smaller than I was wearing when school started this year!  Yay! We of course made it to Hobby Lobby, because it’s awesome.  Next we hit Marshalls where I got another pair of capris and Christa found a cute Donna Dixon make up bag which my awesome sister is monogramming for her.  Next we went to Bed Bath and Beyond in search for the perfect beach towel.  We also made it to a couple of other places looking for swim cover ups.  Lastly we went to Katie’s and Bjax for some cool summer accessories. 

 

We ended the day at Bruno’s Pizza!  It was delicious and we made a plan for Savannah while waiting for our food.  We’ve purchased several groupons for food and tours.  We want to be sure and fit them all in in the time we’re there.

 

I’d like to mention that my other BFF Amy Jane is also always there for me too – She would have gladly joined in the fun of the day – but she had to work.

So I stayed really busy and made it through Saturday without having a meltdown.  I have to say I was pretty proud of myself.  Then came Sunday. . . .

I decided I needed to hear hymns.  I grew up with hymns and there is something comforting about them.  The Bible church I attend in town doesn’t often sing them.  It’s a little more contemporary, which is fine most of the time. However, sometimes I’m in the mood for a more traditional style of worship.  With this in mind, I headed off to First Presbyterian Church where I visit often.  The service was good as always.  It was communion Sunday which was exactly what I needed after a reflective weekend.  After church I drove over to my land lord’s house, just a couple of blocks from the church.  I hopped out to drop my rent check in the box and when I returned, my car wouldn’t start.  Ugh! 

 

I called my friend Christy who headed over to help.  Originally I thought it was the alternator due to some particular signs.  After some less then helpful conversations with the Hyundai roadside assistant hotline, we decided we should seek help from someone who might actually show up.  Christy was able to get in touch with a friend who came over to help us out.  It turned out to just be the battery.  With a jump start, I headed to Wal-Mart for a new one and all is well.  Thanks CB!

So I’m reminded again how blessed I am to have such great friends who are always there for me.  I hope they know how much I love them.