Shoes...Clubs...Now All I Need is a Lesson!

Bag and shoes
my new Cleveland golf bag

They are here! My golf shoes came in on Thursday and they were just as cute in person! Since I had the shoes now it was time for MY clubs. I had been hitting at the driving range with a set of Richy's old ones, but they were to long and not mine. So, Friday night we set out to purchase my first set of clubs. We arrive at golf headquarters and I was on a mission. I told the man that I had no idea what to even ask to find what I needed. He and I decided that I needed the cheapest set in case this was something that I was not going to stick with. After picking out the Nexus clubs (the cheapest in the store) I was ready for my next purchase. Now it was time to purchase the bag. For a man this is probably a simple task but for a bag collector like myself, this was not so easy. They had some very nice pink and purple bags but my favorite colors are black and white so that was what I wanted. (plus they would match my shoes) It took my a while to find the "perfect" bag, but I found it and I was ready to check out. They men in the store know Richy by name and one of the men was actually a principal at our high school when Richy and I were there. So they were very nice and we always have a good time when we visit the store. I guess the men wanted my arrival to the sport to be great so they gave my a free 5 wood and a towel. Now I was ready. Richy and I took the clubs to the range the next night and I got to break them in. I didn't hit very much. I was scared to develop habits that would be hard to break and I want to do this right. I watched Richy try to hit the big van at the range and then we left. It was a great weekend for golf and.....I have my first golf lesson Tuesday at 4:00 with a man at Creeks Bend. I will let everyone know how it goes!

Wednesday Night with the Bates Family

The boys staying busy

Richy after dinner Richy and Mason
Relaxing after everyone left

Wednesday night church was cancelled because VBS had taken over the whole campus. This being the case our Young Adults class met right up the street at the Bates' home. Brittney B. ( i have to use the first letter of the last name because out of 5 women present three of us have the name BRITTANY) made some yummy rotel dip and rice crispy treats and Melissa provided us with a grand main course of spaghetti! We talked and ate. The boys then decided to hit the driving range....my guess this was the idea of Richy and Derek since the other three men are not nearly as obsessed as these two. This was fine so the women stayed and talked and played with the two beautiful babies. I have to say that I was a huge baby hog that night! It was a great evening and thank you to the Bates Family for having us over!

Four.....

Richy loves to play golf and I am going to start joining him. I know that golf is usually a time for men to get together with men, and he will still have his "man" time but I have decided to take up the sport and play with him. We have often thought that we would like to do some sport together and I think we have found it. I have had no experience with golf but I am very excited to learn. I made my first purchase today, and I hope they will get me started. I didn't buy clubs, or balls, or a sky caddy..... I bought.... Nike black and white hounds tooth golf shoes ( I have to look good). This evening we went to the golf store and their selection of women's shoes were not age appropriate so I came home and started searching online. I found the cutest pair. Now I understand that the look of the shoe in no way improves your game...but whether I am good or bad I will always have cute shoes!

Lock In Time!

Friday the college and career hosted a lock in for the youth group. It started around nine and was kicked off with an intense game of volleyball and then moved into an even more intense game of capture the flag. Around midnight we gathered to eat pizza and have a devotion. Dewayne did a great job and used a great illustration. Once the devotion was over the kids went back out to play capture the flag. Some of them stayed inside and played what I call "Nintendo" but I am often reminded that is not what they all are...but they are all the same in my book. Richy fell asleep on our aero bed around 1. Around 1:30 I went on a hunt for the perfect sleeping spot. In the hallway of the church we have these benches that are about 4 feet long and 2 feet wide (that may actually be a little smaller than that). I decided to put three of them together. This was one of the best sleeping spots I have ever had at a lock in. I woke up around 8 and an hour later it was all over. It was the most successful lock in I have ever been to and I am truly enjoying the time I am spending with the youth.

Conquering The Mighty Ocoee

Sunday Richy and I took a trip down the Ocoee with the youth group from church. We left the church around 1:30 and arrived at the Ocoee around 2:15. Richy and I had the pleasure of driving five of the youth up to the river. This is the first time Richy and I had really participated in any events with the youth, so I was actually a little nervous about the ride up. The kids were great and the trip up went very smooth. I did tell Richy when we got up there that I started to feel kinda old and not very "cool." The conversations they were having with each other kinda dominated the ones I tried to be apart of, but that was fine I needed to make sure Richy focused on the road :) . Once we arrived at High Country Outfitters we had to wait about an hour til we could head up to the river. Before getting on the big green school bus we were given the proper equipment needed for the rest of the day. This included a very smelly life jacket, a helmet, and a paddle. The trip leader gave us a quick tutorial and then we were off the the river. Once we arrived at the top we got in groups of six. These six people would be in my boat and assist greatly in the trip down the river. In our boat was Richy, Yancy, Kari, Dewayne, and Ethan. Our guide for the day was actually a guy that Dewayne went to high school with. Knowing the guide really made the experience that much better. I felt like we got to do somethings that not just everyone does. Not to mention our guide was a seven year veteran and really made the trip so much fun! We all made it down the river safely. We truly had a great time!

Some of my favorite moments from the trip....

The first time I saw Richy in his life jacket and helmet. It was the funniest thing I have ever seen. Sorry no pictures of it..but trust me.

Richy and Dewayne falling out of the raft. Yancy yells where is Dewayne and we look and all of the sudden this large arm comes from underneath the raft. Dewayne finally surfaced and with the help of Ethan I pulled him in...or with my help Ethan pulled him back into the boat. The guide pulled Richy in before we pulled Dewayne (so no I did not leave my husband in the river :).

The guide let Kari and I sit in the front of the boat. I had never sat in the front and it made the trip that much better!

The whole trip was amazing and sadly the only picture I got was of the kids in our car.

What was lost is now found!!

Richy and I have been married for one year five months and seven days....but whose counting! We were so blessed during our wedding season by gifts and gift cards. We were able to stock our house and then some. I have to admit however, that I lost about 300 dollars in Bed Bath and Beyond gift cards and about 160.00 in cash. I had it all in a zip lock bag and I lost it....well I thought I lost it. I was cleaning out my car on Monday and reached in the passengers seat back pocket and to my surprise pulled out a baggie with gift cards and cash! I almost cried I was so excited! I began to think what perfect timing it was to have found those. Richy and I just bought our house and there is lots to be done. The gift cards and cash will help so much in the decorating process. So I now like to say that I did not lose the money and gift cards I was just saving them!

Happy Birthday Lou!

The beauty of divorced parents is two birthday parties....since I was two or three everyone's birthday party at my grandparents consists of a picture taken just like this. Happy 20th b-day Lou!
Now... my mom's house for her birthday cookout!

Richy scaring Lou with the bubble wrap!

In my last post I talked about Lindsay's birthday. These are some of the great moments of the night!

Three day weekends never felt so good....

I love that this year the Fourth of July fell on a Friday! Richy and I closed up shop Thursday and put a sign on the door that said we would not be open til Monday... that felt so good! This has been a very relaxing weekend. Friday I spent time out by the pool at my parents house while Richy spent some time on the golf course. Then we were invited to a cookout hosted by the Oscai family.We had good food and a great time!Thank you Oscai family for the invite and the great time! Saturday Richy and I both headed to be pool for a day of relaxation. Saturday evening we headed to my mom's for a birthday cookout for my sister. She turned the big 20. It is so hard to imagine that she is 20 years old! Richy and I challenged my mom and Kel to a game of badminton and sadly came out defeated... unfortunately my badminton skills are not as good as my softball skills! Sunday we went to church and then out to lunch at Steve's Landing with Yancy and Kari. We then spend the rest of the day doing things around the house that needed to be done! It was such a great weekend and we are so blessed to have our lives filled with people that are truly amazing!

Oh....I have a job interview Monday at 9. I am very nervous because it is at a very desirable school and I really hope it goes well. Please be praying that all goes well and I will have a teaching job soon!

WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

After a rough season the Ministry Center "Pink Panthers" (as some of our fans like to refer to us as) got first place in our league tournament. This is the second time for us so we were very excited and it felt good to be able to take our famous team picture holding up our number 1! This season started out a little rocky and contained a few more let downs that hoped for but we stuck together, worked together, and pulled through! I was especially surprised at our performance in the tournament. We won our first game, lost our second, won our third, and to win the championship we were going to have to beat the same team twice.... during the first game we weren't playing as good as I knew we could but we stepped it up and pulled it out in the last inning! This win allowed us to play the team one more time for a chance at the plaque. The second game went much better than the first and we pulled out an 11-8 victory. Everyone played great and it was a BLAST! I hope next year we keep up our streak!