PHEW

What. A long. Summer.

From March until August I worked 60ish hours a week, which was... ridiculous.

But even with all the work I managed to have some fun! It was a really productive summer, all our families enjoyed the activities, and I think I have a better idea of how to plan for next summer when we get to that point.

So, get ready, I'm about to start posting again! At least for a little while...

I lied...

I'm laughing at myself right now-- I apparently thought that the summer would slow down! What a joke!

I am, however, in the last week of Camp and this weekend we get to go to Savannah on a Camp Staff retreat! WOOHOO! Now, to get through the next two days...

Oh, Summer...

Summer is so tricky. You would think that my third summer as director and fourth on staff would have me expecting the amount of work on my plate buuuuuuuut no. I just had to grow the program and change things up! AAARGH! Oh, and the new state requirements... that totally helps! Right? Wrong.

Aaaaanywhoo, we are finally getting to a slower part of summer and I'm hoping to catch up with all the insane things that have happened in the last few months! We're still rockin' and rollin' through life, enjoying our friends and family, and settling in to our wonderful new house!

Stacy Turns 40! And gets engaged!

Stacy had an amazing oyster roast for her 40th birthday party! And then, partway through, Greg proposed! There are a lot of pictures of the dessert table because OHMYGOD these were hands down the most amazing desserts I've ever had. Everyone there had a little bite of everything and nothing was bad! We were also glad to see Della since two days later baby Gideon showed up!

More cuteness!

Since we don't know if/when on that baby thing, we're so happy to have friends with adorable babies! Also, friends who will let us play with their adorable babies! This is Wyatt, John and Paige's baby-- they lived next door to us on E. Lake when both of us were newlyweds and remain one of our closest couple friends to date. Can't wait to play with this little guy some more and watch him grow up!

Bye bye EB's!

On a very sad Saturday in March, I said goodbye to a restaurant I grew up in-- Everybody's Pizza. They shut down the VaHi location a while ago, and we were left with Emory Village. Well, now there's no EB's. I'll miss the delicious pizza, the memories, and the beautiful patio but I'm so grateful we got to spend one last afternoon there!

Me and my Uncle Andy, the owner and operator for over 40 years!

Iconic red cup

Nashvegas!

In March my father in law was awarded at an industry conference for his work in... well, doing stuff with trucks. That kind of sums it up... also, being a super decent guy! In the trucking industry. If you want to read the full article and see why I love my father in law so much, you can check it out here!

We stayed at the Opryland Hotel, which was... insane. I mean nutballs. I mean, what. the heck. We all got there Saturday and by Monday morning we were kind of figuring it out. I realize now why a friend of mine who used to work there would play hide and seek with his buddies! 

We were in the Delta section which as "old south" and pretty interesting. There's a little river that runs around it and for $9 they'll give you the boat ride-- it was alright, but I would have been just as happy with a little blurb on the map to tell me about the wildlife and the fish. 

Sunday morning, while everyone slept in (yay daylight savings!) I went to an adorable little cafe called Sky Blue Cafe in downtown Nashville to meet a classmate from Rhodes and his gal for breakfast. The food was amazing, the staff was great, and it was all in all the perfect Sunday brunch. After I got back, we went over to the Opry Mills mall for lunch with Jan, Josh, and Sarah and wandered around shopping for a bit. There was a LEGO store there with an entire wall of Star Wars stuff that Josh was drooling over. 

Sunday night was the dinner for Marc. It was an absolutely amazing meal, and seeing him be recognized for all his hard work was so wonderful. His mother and stepfather were there as well and it was great to see them!

I'll leave you with a taste of how huge this place is-- this staircase is just as large as you think it is, and it's minuscule in the setting of the building!