Children's laughter

I've talked before about the two sweet girls I have the privelage of taking care of each Monday night. It's time for me to show them off again. This video is a few weeks old, but since I laugh out loud each time I watch it, I think it deserves a post. These sweet girls are growing up so fast. What a blessing it is to watch!

Prepare for takeoff...

I wouldn't call myself a seasoned business traveler, but over the past year I've lost my "rookie" title. However, none of those flights prepared me for the "fun" I encountered last night.

We arrived at the Raleigh airport around 3:30 and decided to see if we could get on an earlier flight. One was available, but there weren't enough seats for everyone. No worries, our original flight was set for 5:30 so we would still be home by 7:45.

We proceeded to the gate for our 5:30 flight and boarded. Thirty minutes later, we were back at the gate due to severe weather.

Everyone knows that the third time's a charm. So, for the second time of the night, we boarded a plane. As I settled in my seat and prepared for takeoff, the pilot came over the speaker informing us of an engine failure. He said the back-up was still good, we just needed to wait for the maintenance crew to sign off on it. A few minutes after they appeared, the smell of something burning began to overtake the cabin and the power went off. We were instructed to leave the plane immediately. Apparently, the plane had gotten struck by lightening.

Never fear, another flight was set to leave out at 10:15. I boarded, hoping for the best, but still not expecting much. At 12:01, the wheels touched down in Atlanta. Gotta love business travel.

Wedding fun

In addition to getting a chance to spend time with Natalie this weekend, I was also able to attend a friend's wedding. Here are a few pictures from the big day. Isn't my niece beautiful?!

The Best of Friends

Have you ever been with someone who has the ability to rejuvenate you just with their presence? I spent this past weekend with my bestest friend in the entire world and that is exactly what she did for me.

So why is Natalie so special...here's the short list:

• She loves the Lord---She knows that every part of her life should be offered as worship to God and strives daily to honor Him. Over the years she has been there to keep me grounded in The Word and keep me on track spiritually.
• She is easygoing---Whenever I'm with Natalie, life is simple and fun. I love how when I'm with her, we can make anything fun. Regular trips to Target and TJMaxx are anything but normal. She has taught me how to find joy in the simple things in life.
• She is always tuned in---She has a way of knowing when I want to talk and when I just want to sit and is always respectful. On top of that, I love how when something needs to be said that she doesn't shy away from even the toughest situations.
• She has the best laugh---When Natalie laughs, she doesn't hold back. In fact, her whole body laughs. I love that. If you want to see what I'm talking about, just mention the name Eric Shane Taylor and you'll see what I mean.

Just a few more things...she is the best person to share a secret with, is always up for a late night movie, gives the best hugs ever...I'd say more but it's WAY past my bedtime!

To sum it all up, I love Natalie to death and can't imagine life without her. Here's to hoping that one day we'll be living in the same city again! Thanks for a wonderful weekend, my sweet friend...can't wait to do it again soon!

To America...

Why do you love America? That question was posed by someone last night and our group came up with quite a few reasons: Michael Jordan, Punky Brewster, scrunchies, cotton candy, George Washington, The Olympics (not totally ours...but we figure since we're the melting pot we can claim it), Kevin Costner, peach cobbler, The Peachtree, checks and balances, Thanksgiving, Lousiana Purchase, The Flag, Francis Scott Key...the game went on for 3 hours. So, I'm fairly certain that we named everyone and everything that ever had anything to do with America. It was great!

After playing "Why Do You Love America" it was time to pile into a few cars to see the fireworks. Now when I say pile, thats what I mean. I think there were at least 15 people in one of the trucks! We managed to get a really good place to sit...front row for the fireworks and the burning bush! Yes, I said the burning bush. It was a bit scary, but no one was harmed...and I got a picture! The show was definitely the best fireworks display I've seen. One person from the group even commented that it was better than the show he had seen at the Washington Mall last year. Way to go Atlanta!

All I all, I couldn't have asked for a better 4th...here's to wishing that next month they'll let us have the day off to celebrate the 4th of August!

How do you spell P-E-C-A-N?

Question: What do Pluto, watermelons, gold fish and tongue thrusting have in common?
Answer: They all bring a smile to my face



I love hanging out with friends and meeting new people. Last night was great because I got to do both. What made it even better was the fact that we were all pretty close to delirium, making the conversation livelier and laughter more frequent. The evening was capped off with a rousing game of Catch Phrase. It sure is helpful when you are on the same wavelength as your teammate. Seeing that Katie and I were both out of brain cells, we had that covered. So, if any of my blog readers are intersted in playing Catch Phrase and don't mind being losers, let me know...Katie and I will be happy to be the winners!

Birthdays are overrated...

I'm not a big fan of birthdays. Instead, I choose to celebrate half birthdays. They are fun because it's still a day about you, but you don't have to get any older! Since my buddy Sholcomb is always up for a fun evening, she cooperated and let me take her out for her half birthday. Time spent with her is always loads of fun and she definitely did not disappoint tonight. Sara is ridiculously cool and I love her for so many reasons. If you don't know Sholcomb, you should get to know her. Until then, here's a brief bio.

• She is allergic to metal. This can be a problem if there is any metal on clothing or if you are asked to wear a metal nametag.


• If you want a salad, Sholcomb is your gal. She DOMINATES the salad bar!


• Even after 2 years, she still thinks she is a camp counselor, and continues to wear Chacos all the time.


• Her favorite item of clothing is a white cami. If you can find her a "half cami" she'll be your friend forever.


• She has an obsession with a guy named Bruce. The love runs so deep that she often pretends to be him.


• Excel is her favorite Microsoft Office program. She loves spreadsheets!

So many reasons to love Sholcomb. The only problem is that she keeps telling me that she is moving to Boston at the end of this month. Good thing Airtran flies non-stop to Boston for less than $100!