Time Out for Women & Mother's Day Shout Out

First item of business...HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY TO ALL YOU MOTHERS OUT THERE! Mothers are so dear and special and deserve the very best on this day. Well, they actually deserve the very best every single day, but come on, we're not perfect.

Anyway...I wasn't able to see my mother today on Mother's Day, but I did get to see her this weekend! My mom, Tiffany, Heather, and I attended a conference called Time Out for Women. It's sponsored by Desert Books...you get to hear music, listen to inspirational message, laugh, enjoy each other's company, and just leave everything else in your life behind for a little bit. Paul and I drove to Columbia together on Friday where we met up with Mom, Tiff, and Heather. We left Paul and Matt behind at Matt's house (they decided to have a Time Out for Boys playing video games and going to see Wolverine). Even though it was Time Out for Women, we did have one little guy with us...

LIAM!!!!

I was so happy to see him because I hadn't seen him since Christmas and he was only a month old then. Now he's 6 months and he's so huge! He is so adorable and is such a smiley baby. Anyway, we girls had a great time and I really enjoyed listening to the presentations on Friday night and Saturday. My mom was so happy that weekend because she was able to spend time with most of her girls. She was only missing one...Rebecca. Unfortunately, Rebecca wasn't able to come up from Florida, but we did think of her and miss her.

Now a shout out to my wonderful mother: She is the best mom in the whole, wide world. I'm pretty sure everyone says that about their own mom...and they should...everyone should feel like they have the best mom ever. But I really do have the best mom ever! My mother has been such an inspiration to me. She has taught me so many things and I hope that I "grow up" to be just like her when I become a mom. My mom is more than just a mother to me, she is my friend, my best friend. I call my mom up all the time and just chat with her like she was my best friend in high school. I feel so blessed to have a mom who I can talk to like that. Okay, I don't want to get too sentimental and mushy, so I'll leave it at that. So...thanks mom! I love you!

I'm also now blessed to have a wonderful mother-in-law. I have come to see that Jayne loves her children fiercely and will do just about anything for them. And even though I'm an in-law, she treats me the exact same way.That's one of the best feelings in the world: to know that someone loves you that much. So...thanks Jayne! I love you!

I also have two wonderful grandmothers: my Grandma Stalvey and my Grandma Dutridge. They are wonderful examples to their family and I appreciate all they have done to raise my wonderful parents. Thank you Grandmas! I love you both so very much! (Oops, I don't have a pic of me and my Grandma D. on the computer to post.)

Family, Food, & The Braves...

What more do you need? Haha! Well, Matt and Heather came to visit us this past weekend. They arrived in Atlanta just a couple minutes before I got home from work on Friday night. After Paul got home we all went to eat at The Cheesecake Factory...yum! The food was really good and we decided on what we each were going to get fairly quickly. Now the cheesecake was a different story. Paul and I were going to share a piece and Matt and Heather were going to share a piece, but Matt and I wanted to try a different kind of cheesecake than Paul and Heather wanted (even though we would be fine with the ones they wanted), so we finally decided to order three pieces for all four of us to share....and it was totally worth it! After we ate, the four of us stayed up late talking until about 12:30am or so. Heather and I decided to go to bed, but Paul and Matt stayed up for a little longer goofing around on the computer.

I sadly had to work on Saturday until 1:15, but they managed to entertain themselves without me. When I got home we headed to the MARTA station to ride down to Turner Field to watch the Braves play. I was soooooo excited. We sat in the all-you-can-eat section where we got to eat all the hot dogs, nachos, peanuts, burgers, fries, ice cream sandwiches, and frozen lemonades we wanted! We didn't get to enjoy the food as long as we hoped for because there was a rain delay for 1 1/2 hours, so they had to cut the food off around the 4th or 5th inning instead of it going until the bottom of the 7th like is was supposed to. Oh well....that doesn't mean we didn't eat our money's worth...cuz we did, especially Matt!!! Hee hee! Unfortunately, the Braves lost (thanks to Chipper's 2 errors...grrr), but we still had a blast. Here are some pictures from the game...


Paul and I under the umbrella at the game

WHAT?! They're putting the tarp down?! A little rain never hurt anyone!

I was bummed about the rain

They're taking it up!

I'm so haaaaaaappy!

The four of us (and little Nathan in Heather's belly!)

After we got home from the game, we were all pretty pooped, so we just hung around and talked again about all sorts of stuff before eventually going to bed. After church on Sunday, we drove around and showed Matt and Heather a few of the massively huge homes in this area. Then we came home, ate some lunch and dessert, then Matt and Heather had to head back to Columbia. I'm always sad to see family leave, but I wasn't too sad this time because I knew I would see them in a few days (I'll see them tomorrow). It was a quick weekend, but it was a fun weekend. I love having people come visit. We always have a good time!