Game Day

It is Tuesday of our last week here in Georgia before we head off to Virginia for some training.  It seems so crazy!  Time has flown by.  I think i am so overcome with the fact that we're leaving, that I don't know what to do.  We have already gotten all of the really big hard stuff done, so there is not much left for us to do.  But of that stuff left to do, I don't know where to start.  Today I did a little bit of sorting of the things that we didn't get rid of as well as put together into one list all of the emails of people who have said they want to receive our newsletter.  We've just got a bunch of little things like that that we need to get done before Sunday. 

Tonight Andrew is going to play in the first (and only for him) softball game in our church league.  A few of our friends are going to be there, so I am excited to have another reason to hang out.  Silas is going to be accompanying us tonight as well.  He's been resting up all day for a big night out :)  Silas is definitely the hardest possession of mine to say goodbye to.  I've had Silas for longer than I've even known Andrew.  When I moved to Texas, for a while he was my only friend.  But I know that he will be happy here in his new home.  It will be tough for me, but I know he will be better off.  And isn't that what love is?  Doing what is better for them not what you want.  It's amazing the things that God can use in your life to teach you about His truths.  Well, Andrew is hurrying me up so we can leave for the game.  Hope you all have a great day!

We're Back!

Andrew and I made it safely all the way back from West Texas.  It was quite an experience though.  I have never been delayed on a flight for wind before!  We were delayed a whole hour out of Lubbock and Dallas because of the wind.  Andrew and I were so thankful to have been able to fly out to Texas on our American Airlines Frequent Flyer miles. We were both able to get free round-trip tickets, all we had to pay for were our bags.  What a blessing!  But, because we got these free flights, our flight options were very limited.  We could either take the first flight of the day or the last flight of the day.  On the way out, we opted for the first flight of the day.  We left Macon about 5:00 am and arrived in Lubbock around noonish. Not too bad at all.  Unfortunately, on our trip back, we only had one option time to fly into Atlanta.  Our flight was to arrive at 11:40 pm but due to the delays, our flight did not arrive until 1:00 am which put us in Macon at 3:45 am.  I am so thankful to my parents who came to pick us up at such a ridiculously late (or early) time!  I think my dad is usually getting up from bed at 4 in the morning rather than just going to bed.  We debated the whole Groome transportation thing so my parents wouldn't have to drive all the way to Atlanta so late at night.  After a little bit of research, we discovered that Groome runs untill 1:00 and then starts up again at 6:00 am.  We would just miss the 1:00 shuttle and then have to wait until 6:00 for the next one.  My parents were gracious enough not to make us wait that whole time in the airport.

Thankfully Andrew and I are finally back and all in one piece.  It was a really great time to get to spend with Andrew's family.  It was very hard to say good-byes.  We are thankful to be back for one more week here in Georgia.  Our schedules are getting booked up by the minute.  Later this morning we are going to play to Frisbee golf with a couple from our small group.  This afternoon/evening, we are going to a movie with another couple from our small group.  I have numerous coffee engagements this next week (not too disappointed about that).  All the while we have to finish up cleaning out our house and packing things up. This really should be a breeze though, we've got the bulk of it done, just a little more left.  We are excited about all that the future holds!

New Mexico

Andrew and I have spent the last five days in New Mexico with Andrew's family.  We have had a lot of fun getting to spend time with family and friends.  Saturday night Andrew's mom threw a party for us.  I think there were about fifty people over.  Philip, Andrew's brother, had a roasting of Andrew.  I was a little worried about this...I mean, there is nothing bad you can say about Andrew.  Which in the end was true, their roasting ended up just being some funny stories from Andrew's childhood.  It was actually quite funny but it was sad at the same time.  It is so hard to let go of everyone and say goodbye.  I am thankful though that Andrew's parents and brother and hopefully sister-in-law will come out to Georgia to see us off at the airport.  That way we don't have to say good-bye now, but can put it off for a little bit longer.

Well, I don't have much  time, but I just wanted to write a quick blog since it has been a while since I've written anything.  We've been busy here hanging out with different people, but I will try to continue keeping everyone updated even when I am busy.   :)

This is the Wheat family Easter photo

Travels

We made it to Texas!  Yesterday morning we left our house 5:15 Georgia time (4:15 Texas Time) for our 8:20 flight to Texas.  We had to leave extra early because we did not want to get caught in all the Atlanta traffic.  Thankfully we did not.  Both of our flights were completely uneventful which is definitely a good thing for a flight :)  We made it out here to Lubbock, TX at noonish.  Andrew and I are both so excited to be out here and get to spend some quality time with family.  Last night we hung out with Andrew's cousin Adam and his fiance Stephanie, at Main Event playing shuffle board and bowling.  Neither Stephanie nor I had ever played shuffle board before or even knew how to play it but we beat the boys by a long shot in both of the games :)  Tonight we're heading up to Spring Lake, TX to speak at Andrew's Grandparent's.  Then back down here to Lubbock Thursday to pick up the brother and sister-in-law, Phil and Nina.  So much to do, but we're having such a fun time doing it!

Cherry Blossom Festival

For those of you in the Middle Georgia area, you are well aware of the world renowned International Cherry Blossom Festival.  People come all the way from Japan to celebrate with us as the Cherry Trees begin to bloom in the spring every year.  I still haven't figured out how they know exactly which week these Cherry Trees will bloom.  Occasionally in the past, they have gotten this week wrong and we celebrated without seeing any Cherry Blossoms, but this year they were exactly right and it was beautiful!  I remember when I first went to college in Virginia, I was talking about the Cherry Blossom festival like everyone clearly knew what it was.  It was then that I was struck by the fact that not everyone knows about this beloved Festival of ours and it's not quite as world renowned as we central Georgians like to think it is.  I was even more disgraced to learn that Washington D.C. has their own Cherry Blossom Festival!  The audacity that they would compete with our Festival.  I have never been to this so called Cherry Blossom Festival in D.C., but I know without even going that it is nothing compared to ours.  Do you think in D.C. they dye their poodles pink?  I think not.  Do you think in D.C. they have an International Food Fair with the best Greek food (the only international food available) outside of Greece?  I think not.  Do you think in D.C. there is at least one Cherry Tree on every street, even outside the city limits?  I think not.  And do you think in D.C. they give away Cherry ice cream, Cherry Coke and Carriage rides every morning of the Festival?  I think not.  These are just a few of the reasons I hold that the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival is the best Cherry Blossom Festival in the world (outside of Japan) and should be just as world renowned as we think it is.  If I have not convinced you by my very persuasive argument, just look at these photos and put your mind at rest that we do have the best Festival.

(I am experiencing a bit of technical difficulty...this Cherry Blossom outing, was my first with my camera.  I was excited to post some of the pictures that I took of the festival, but they are not loading properly. Andrew is out at the moment buying stamps, so I will have to wait till he returns to help me out.)

Toms Shoes

I got some toms for Christmas. And they are my favorite pair of shoes I have ever owned. I really like that they are global minded and that for every pair purchased a child who has no shoes will be given a pair of shoes.

So Toms Shoes has an event coming up this April the 8th that I am participating in, and hopefully my wife will too. It is called One Day Without Shoes. Its quite simple really. On April the 8th, do not wear shoes. Check them out at www.onedaywithoutshoes.com/

On April the 8th I will be shoeless. I hope you will be too. And be thankful just for having shoes.

Camera

For those of you who do not know, my husband is an excellent photographer.  Best in the world if you ask me.  He has a new website/photo blog called lightlyfocused.com, you should definitely check it out.  Andrew just got a new camera, it's very high-tech and professional.  I couldn't take a picture with it if my life depended on it because everything is completely manual.  Andrew's original intentions once he got this new camera was to make his old camera an infa-red camera or something crazy like that...but, I talked him into letting me have it :)  I think it's only right that a photographer's wife have a nice camera too.  So, this afternoon will be my first outing with "my" new camera!  I am so excited!  My friend Melissa and I are going downtown to the Cherry Blossom Festival.  Unfortunately it is not the sunniest day, but hopefully I will be able to take a few shots and at least have fun trying it out for the first time by myself.  Check back later and hopefully I will have posted a couple of my first independent shots :)