Walk On By.

Yesterday, we had two - count 'em, two - therapy appointments. Believe it or not, neither session included a couch and memories of my childhood.

No, we had two different physical therapy appointments for Annalyn. I was actually excited for them since we've had the major stroller development.

The first appointment went well until the last 10 minutes. That would be the time when Miss Judy (as we call the therapist) decided to force Annalyn to take a few steps toward me. She even provided a sticker to motivate her. It had Hello Kitty on it.

But strangely enough, after an hour of showing off and playing with the therapy toys, and about two hours past her normal naptime, my sweet, calm daughter was not interested in taking a few more steps.

And she, ahem, let us know about it. Loudly. I'm sure you know what I mean.

So that wasn't the best end to Therapy Appointment #1. But overall, Miss Judy was appropriately impressed with Annalyn's progress.

The second appointment was a full evaluation by a state therapy program that we've heard great things about. They actually come to your house for therapy sessions, and of course, as a state program, it's a lot cheaper than the top children's hospital in our area.

It turns out that I really don't pay attention to my child. Because if I did? I'm sure I would have known how to answer questions like "How many blocks can she stack?" "Can she follow two consecutive commands?" "Can she match an object to its picture?"

By the end of that appointment, I felt like I didn't even know what "object" and "picture" even meant anymore!

Thankfully, I didn't have to reflect long when asked, "Does she share well? Take turns with toys?"

Ummm, not so much.

Anyway, the good news and bad news is that Annalyn does qualify for their services. Good, because I'm anxious (to say the least) for this walking progress to continue. Bad, because the eval confirms that she is, indeed, very far behind in her development.

On the bright side, her cognitive development is above average. As if I needed a test to tell me that!

(C'mon. I'm telling you about how my 20-month-old can't walk. Let me talk about how smart she is for a second at least!)

Anyway. Therapy Day went well. And in just over a day, I will have the privilege of hearing a legend sing. At least that's what I'm told. Leroy Van Dyke is known for, among many other things, what Billboard magazine calls "the biggest country single of all time": Walk on By.

I know it's going to be a fun concert. But the thing is . . . I don't actually know this song. I don't think it's the same as this Walk on By. And it's definitely not this Chicago song that I keep thinking of, which apparently does not even share the song's name.

So this week, from pushing a baby stroller named "Beep Beep" to listening to an 80-something-year-old man sing the Auctioneer Song, walking on by works for me.

What I Learned from Summer Vacation

Why do I feel like I should be sitting in a classroom with my fading tanned legs sticking to a hard plastic chair as I type that? Oh, yeah, maybe because learning from a vacation is that ultimate essay prompt that takes most of us back to middle school.

Thankfully this post does not include acne, big bangs or angst-ridden crushes on boys six inches shorter than me.

Anyway.

After traveling out of town for an entire week and taking a few days to recuperate reflect, I’ve come up with a few insights into myself, my child and the world.

Yup. I’m deep that way.

1. As much as I tell myself I’m over my worry problem, really, it’s just around the corner, waiting to consume me. After my parents picked up Annalyn, I was knocked over by anxiety. The combination of leaving my daughter for four days and knowing that she would be flying on a plane without me was just too much.
2. Praying and leaning on Jesus is still the answer to my worry problem.
3. Taking motion sickness medicine (at least the over-the-counter kind) does not keep me from feeling nauseous when flying. It turns out reading SkyMall is the only way to distract me from the motion sickness.
4. Mark and I are mountain people, not beach people. Please don’t get me wrong! We are so very thankful for our vacation, and we had a great time. And the ocean? Even on a rainy day, it is beautiful. But I think most people tend to enjoy and appreciate either the beach or the mountains – and we’re the put on sturdy shoes and hike up a trail kind instead of the fling off the flip flops and walk in rocky sand kind.
5. I could have been a dolphin trainer. Seriously. I realize an overweight Midwestern girl who just admitted she prefers the mountains may not be who you think of when you think “dolphin trainer.” But not too many years ago (okay, many years ago), I thought a lot about pursuing a career in training dolphins for children’s therapy. Since I don’t enjoy the science, though, I assumed that career path was not for me. Turns out that having a psychology degree qualifies a person to train dolphins, though. Psychology, as in the subject I once majored in and actually did minor in. I don’t think I still want to be a dolphin trainer, but this realization kinda, sorta rocked my world.
6. Cheese grits are good stuff. (This is less something I learned on vacation and more something I knew but had forgotten.)
7. I am the only person in my family without an unlimited texting plan. Therefore, I am the only one whose phone bill will be unusually high next month, since my brother and mom decided texting was the easiest way to communicate between our hotel rooms.
8. Traveling with three people means a lot of luggage. And when one of those people is too little to carry her own suitcase and diaper bag? Well, let’s just say we did not have enough hands in the airport! (Three suitcases, three tote bags, one purse, one stroller, one car seat – and no, we cannot juggle.)
9. I love the timber industry. Okay, not really. But I love seeing the tall, skinny pines lined up in perfect rows. Even though I am fully aware that companies who make paper or something have planted those trees, I like looking at those trees and imagining that God is just as concerned with straight lines as I am.
10. It does not matter how clean you leave your house and how often your friend checks on your cats. If you neglect them for 8 days, they will pee on your kitchen counter.

What have you learned lately? This post is linked to OhAmanda’s Top Ten Tuesday and Musings of a Housewife’s What I Learned This Week.

Me, Myself & Lies Recap – Week 4

I searched for a photo of a group hug, because I thought that illustrated tonight's chat. When I found this photo of beautiful little girls, holding hands and dancing, well, I thought that it might just be the perfect picture of how God sees us. What do you think?

Thanks to all the ladies who joined us tonight. What a great conversation we had!! I know a couple of you mentioned looking forward to my recap, but to be honest, I’m still processing a lot of what we talked about, so I’ll keep this brief.

First, if you’re just now joining us, you can read all the posts about our online study of Me, Myself & Lies (including weekly recaps). We’ve got a great group of ladies going through the book and discussing it each week, and we are always open to anyone who wants to jump in.

To purchase the book, you can get it at your local Lifeway store or on the Lifeway website. And if you’d like to download each week’s video (there is a cost), you can also get that on the Lifeway site. And if you have the book but not the videos, you can still get the answers for the last page of each chapter by downloading the (FREE) listening guide answers.

As for tonight’s discussion – wow. On one hand, it’s clearly no accident (duh!) that we are studying this topic. As we laughed about during the chat – all God’s women got issues, and this group is not immune! But on the other hand, these Monday night chats are really turning into a great, supportive environment where we can come and work through the issues that our study is addressing.

Thank you to the women who are participating. You are awesome, and I just love you!

One of the first things we discussed is that most of us are behind in the homework. Part of this (at least for me) is due to life’s circumstances and busy summers. But most of the reason is actually that this study is so dense, so full of material and truth to chew on, that it takes longer than just one day to process one lesson.

And I think that’s okay.

We talked about a couple different topics tonight. Rather than repeat all our words verbatim, I’m going to throw out a few bullets here and ask that everyone join in the discussion in the comments.

• Dealing with self-talk issues is overwhelming and, at times, feels impossible.
• But, we know that we can do all things with God. And it’s less overwhelming if we take this growing and changing process one day (or baby step) at a time.
• God has made each of us, giving us individual personalities. Some of us are more passionate and fiery than others – but we all need to make sure that “fire” is the righteous kind of passion God wants.
• We must be alert, guarding our souls (thought closets) to keep out the negative stuff.
• If we don’t pay attention, we might not even notice the bad stuff that’s in there. But the scary thing is – even if we don’t know it, everyone around us can see it.
• This is why we need a true accountability partner – something that none of us in tonight’s chat have at the moment. Our prayer this week is that God will lead each of us to a person who will support and encourage us in our walk with God. And as we discussed, we have to remember that accountability is serious business and we shouldn’t jump into a relationship without seeking God’s guidance.
• Questions that accountability partners could ask (per the study video): What do you see in my life that encourages you? What do you see in my life that you’d like to caution me about? Is there anything else you’d like to tell me?
• Week 4 talks about speaking peace to ourselves. Most of us on the chat admitted that we are no good at that! So rather than dwell on that as a failing, we agreed to search the Scripture this week and find a verse that will help us speak peace.
• We also talked briefly about how we present ourselves to the world as having it together, being happy, being perfect – both online and offline – and how that’s hurting everyone. Being authentic will not only free us to be ourselves and experience true growth and real intimacy, but it will also allow our friends to have perspective and be authentic themselves.

Do you have an accountability partner? Does trying to work through your issues get overwhelming? How do you speak peace to your soul?

I do not have an accountability partner, and to be honest, I’m scared to open myself up to someone like that. Working through my issues is always overwhelming, and my typical reaction is denial. I just push the issues down – with food, with TV, with internet, with talking – and pretend like they’re not there. And speaking peace? Well, sometimes I can do this – remembering truth and reciting scripture. But more often, I am much better at speaking fire and getting myself all riled up. So, I’m going to be finding a verse this week to help me calm down and listen to God and accept His peace.

What about you?

Hello, Monday. How did you get here so fast?

I realize it would be better to write, “How did you get here so quickly?” but I really felt like saying fast.

How was your weekend? Mine was busy, so as usual, I don’t have much blog brilliance for you this morning. Let’s just go with a list . . .

• First, we will have a live chat tonight at 8 p.m. CST to discuss Me, Myself & Lies. ALL are welcome, and you’re welcome no matter where you are in the study. Let's get back to cleaning out our thought closets!
• This weekend's scrapbooking retreat was a success. I finished 26 pages, or 13 layouts. Oh, all right, fine. So I still need to go back and journal and fancy them up, but the pictures are slapped down onto pretty paper. So I still call that a success!
• And wow, the facility we were at was fantastic! I’ve done a handful of scrapping weekends, and this place was by far the best I’ve been to. If you live around these parts and like to scrapbook (or craft something – it’s for quilters, cardmakers, seamstresses, anyone!), I highly suggest you check out Maple Memories in McPherson.
• Since I consider chips and salsa to be our fifth food group, it’s no wonder Annalyn also appreciates the salt and the spice. But it always cracks me up just how much she loves chips and salsa – or, as she was calling them last night, “bips and dotdot.”
• And speaking of my baby girl – we’ve had a major development. Starting on Friday night – and huge thanks to her Aunt Smitty – Annalyn started walking behind her baby stroller. She even let Smitty hold her hands and walk her around the house – something she’s refused (complete with going limp, flailing around fits) to do with us for these last 8 months. Then on Saturday morning, she decided that she actually enjoyed walking behind her “beep beep strawer” (that’s the stroller, to those of you who don’t speak toddler) and hasn’t stopped since. Honestly, after months of frustration, this feels like a miracle. Especially since it’s happened just days before we go back to the physical therapist to see if she’s made any progress!
• Last – and probably least – I had a 3-hour drive between the scrapbooking retreat and my house. And after several nights in a row of not nearly enough sleep, I needed help. Of course that included a gigantic Coke from McDonald’s, but I also found a burst of energy by listening to my Mamma Mia soundtrack. I just love that movie.

And that’s all. How’s your Monday? Manic? Monotonous? Mild? Moving? Something that doesn’t start with “m” or make me think of an 80s song?

Photo of bips and dotdot by Photo Mojo.

Saturday Review: Sunset Beach by Trish Perry

Sonny Miller is tired of not knowing who she is. Soon she’ll begin graduate school to earn her masters in Psychology. But how can she counsel future clients about their identities when she isn’t even sure about her own? To that end she has cooked up a little meeting at a certain beach house in San Diego.

Sonny’s mother, classical soprano Teresa Miller, isn’t aware she’s about to be reunited at the beach house with her sister, Melanie Hines, after 25 years of estrangement. And Sonny isn’t aware her mother has invited a surprise guest of her own. Russian adoptee, Irina Petrova, finds herself dragged along on a trip so tumultuous she summons her handsome concert violinist brother for moral support.

The four women converge on the funky little beach house in San Diego, each with her own disappointments and hopes about family, identity, and love. For Sonny, the trip reveals all she expected and more than she ever dreamed.

When I signed up to review Sunset Beach by Trish Perry, I was excited because I’d read two other books by her and loved them. I remember laughing out loud more than once while reading them. And you know how I like the funny.

When I received the book in the mail, I started wondering if it would be as good. After all, the cover art may not be worse than Perry’s earlier books, but it was certainly different. And not really my style, to be honest.

Then I started reading the book. And I noticed that the author was using multiple points of view (POV), a writing style that I’ve been learning about in my never-ending (seriously, who knew I had so much to learn?) research into the world of writing, editing and publishing.

And I decided I didn’t like multiple POVs.

But I kept plugging along, partly because I’d signed up to read the book and couldn’t back out on that commitment, partly because I’m weird that way and just can’t stop reading a book in the middle.

I’m so glad I kept reading. Eventually, I realized that the only reason I was stuck on the different points of view was because I was seeing the story from the perspective of three different women – whereas the books I normally read focus on a man and a woman. (Yes, I like romance. Sue me.) Once I got that figured out, I felt much more comfortable.

Plus, I decided that I’m nowhere near an editing expert yet, so I’d better leave the point of view critiquing to the experts.

To sum up my long story, I liked Sunset Beach. I think certain Iowan friends – and those who love them – would like it because despite the duplicitous premise of the book’s plot, the characters were actually upfront and forthright with each other. At least, more so than characters are in most books in this genre.

If you’d like to get your own copy of Sunset Beach by Trish Perry, you’re in luck. It came out last month, and you can get it at your local Amazon store. (Just kidding. I know Amazon isn’t local. Ha!)

And in case you’d like to read other books by Trish Perry – funny ones with sweet stories – check out Too Good to Be True and The Guy I’m Not Dating.

Now, because I’m a giver, here are a few questions answered by Ms. Trish Perry herself. (And for more information about Trish, visit her website!)

If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

Well, hands down, I’d have to be able to teleport. Frankly, I’d travel a lot more if it weren’t for airports! I would have chosen the superpower of flying, but who wants to carry all that luggage in the air? If I could teleport, I could have my luggage in my circle of teleportability (you have heard of those, yes?), and it would teleport with me, free of luggage searches and additional-baggage fees.

What has God been teaching you lately?

I’ve been blown away by how clearly He forgives my weaknesses. Things have occurred in my life over the past 18 months for which (right or wrong) I carried a burden of guilt. You know, that feeling of “how did I contribute to this mess?” Yet He has blessed me so abundantly in the midst of my feelings of conviction, that He amazes me daily with His obvious love. The blessings keep me humbly aware of how much I need Him. And they instill in me such a strong desire to serve Him and to follow His guidance and will.

What part of the writing process do you enjoy the most?

I love writing dialogue. What a control freak’s dream, to have control over what everyone says, including the antagonist. If only life were that easy, LOL! But truly, sometimes a scene simply shapes itself right before my eyes when the characters are engaged in dialogue. I don’t know quite what will be expressed sometimes, and I love it when it flows even faster than I seem to be able to think it.

When you write do you generally know where you’re headed or are you sometimes as surprised as your characters about the way things end?

There is always surprise, no matter how well I plan out a book’s progress. I was just talking with my editor about that the other day, the fact that the initial summary I write might change a bit as events unfold around my protagonist. I think that’s happened with every book I’ve written. I typically write a summary, which tells me generally where the story will go, and then I write a sentence or two per chapter idea, and then I start hammering away on Chapter One. As I write actual chapters, the events between “Once upon a time” and “The End” evolve in more significant ways than I expected in the first place. It’s an exciting process!

What would you say to someone who wants to become a published author?

Give the endeavor to God first. And daily. When doubts arise (and they will), you must be able to fall back on the knowledge that your efforts are for Him. And know that He will never show you the way by crushing your efforts with rejection and desolation. If He wants you to do something other than writing, He’ll lovingly draw you to that other endeavor.
That said, take all the practical steps to learn the craft and the business. Read (both how-to’s and novels), write, network, and submit. Over and over again.

Where did you get the idea for the book?

The setting (the funky little house on Mission Beach) and time frame (one or two weeks’ time) were already established for me by my publisher. All of the books in The Beach House series fall within those parameters. But the characters and their stories formulated over time. First I dreamed up Sonny—a young woman who had lived her entire life devoid of details about her family background, thanks to her secretive mother. Sonny had reached a point where she wanted to take control of her own life. Her mother was the barrier to that, so Sonny needed to both go around her mother and barrel headlong towards her. The hidden details about Sonny’s past arose as I created each new character. Even though my own family is close and forthcoming about our family history, there have always been fuzzy areas about which I’ve wanted to know more. I imagined how difficult it would be if your entire family history were fuzzy. I know I’d be compelled to act as Sonny did.

What are the major themes of the book?

My books always end up having a broad overall theme of the importance of seeking God’s guidance in everything. That’s never been deliberate—that’s just the way my stories work out. But for Sunset Beach, the most important theme entails our personal identities and how we determine them. Upon whom, or what, do we base our beliefs about who we are, what we’re worth, what our purpose in life is? A subtheme in the book has to do with the struggle to approach romance and passion appropriately. I think that’s a tough one for every single person I know, and it brings us right back to that whole seeking-God’s-guidance-in-everything theme.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

First, I hope they’ll find the book entertaining. I want them to enjoy Sonny’s journey and the way her discoveries uncover secrets and feelings for the people around her. I hope they’ll be amused, but only when I mean them to be! On a grander scale, I hope readers will be touched by the whole issue of personal identity and how God factors into that. I never want to write a preachy book—but I certainly enjoy hearing when my books are inspiring. My prayer before every book I write is that God will give me the story someone somewhere needs to read in order to feel more of what He wants them to feel. Then I leave it up to Him.

Disclosure: I received my copy of this book free from the publisher, as part of a project with The Blog Tour Spot. However, for whatever it’s worth, I would have read it anyway, since I’ve read this author before and liked her. (Of course, I would have checked it out from the library, so I suppose that doesn’t really help the publisher anyway.)

I'm late, I'm late, for a very important date!

More specifically, I've taken procrastination way too far this time. And put off printing photos of Annalyn way too long.

I'm going to a scrapbooking retreat with my cousin Sarah this weekend, and I haven't printed a single picture since October.

Nine months ago.

And apparently, sorting through hundreds of photos, editing them and sending them to print is not the easiest thing to accomplish the week after a week-long vacation.

All that to say . . . I need to spend my Thursday night blogging time on this "little" project. So how about we take a litlte poll in the meantime?

How do you print your photos? Every month? Once a year? On your printer at home? With an online service like Shutterfly or Snapfish? At the drugstore or scrapbooking shop? Tell me - obviously my system isn't working so well!

Did you say photos? Vacation photos?

Well, since you asked.

Seriously, I found out after posting the link to Flickr that you have to sign in with a Yahoo account. And since not everyone has that, I figured I'd better put the pictures on here.

I wouldn't want you all to revolt. Or protest. Or whine. Oh, please don't whine as you beg for just a peek at my 367 vacation pictures.

Brace yourself. Here they come. (A few dozen. Not 367. I promise.)

A flamingo was just waking up as we entered Sea World on Monday.

I don't remember where this was in Sea World. But it sure was purty.

Yay! The dolphin show! Or, as we found it to be: the dolphin and people and birds show. Seriously, we didn't expect the acrobats and birds, but they were all incredible (if a tad bit cheesy).

Would you laugh if I told you that I cried during the Shamu show? Because, um, I totally did. Mark mocked the sappy "Believe" theme, and I can't deny that it was a bit over the top. But I'm a sucker for sap, I guess. (Oh, please, who am I kidding? This is not news.)

On a side note, the Shamu show is also where we thought we lost our video camera. When we went to pack the camera on Wednesday, we couldn't find it anywhere. We just knew that it had fallen out of my purse (stupid hobo bag) or been snatched. I sat on hold with Sea World for half an hour, only to learn that no, nobody had turned our camera into Lost & Found. Thankfully (thank you, God!), it was just buried in the backpack. Still not sure how it got there . . . but I don't even care. I'm just so glad our camera (and videos of Annalyn) didn't disappear.

Back to the pics.

What, you thought I went to Florida to take pictures of palm trees?

My friend Kevin told me about Celebration, Florida, a planned town built by Disney. Unfortunately, we planned to check it out on our beach day. The one where it rained a lot. What we saw from the car, though, was beautiful.

I think this is self-explanatory? Unless, like me, you don't know what Downtown Disney is. So, I guess I should explain after all. Just in case. Downtown Disney is essentially an outdoor Disney mall. It's a strip of stores and restaurants, and it may or may not include Pleasure Island. I wasn't quite sure. But I am sure that it was a lot of fun. We didn't actually go to any of the Disney parks, so I was glad to get a little bit of time in the world of Mickey. (After all, we needed to buy a Mickey shirt for Annalyn somewhere!)

This would probably be a good time to tell you about the ferry adventure we had on the way home from Downtown Disney. But . . . no. I think I'll save that one for later.

Do you see this? My brownie sundae? It was ridiculous. That's about all I can say about it. We tried to eat a light dinner (this was an unsuccessful venture, since we ate dinner at a delicious pizzeria), because we'd heard about Ghiradelli's ice cream shop at Downtown Disney. Don't worry - we walked off at least a tenth of the calories we ingested as we shopped. But it was sooo worth it!

I was real excited to visit the Lego Store. I'm not sure why. It was pretty cool. But I'll admit: we were darned tired by the time we reached it. So I snapped a few (a lot) photos, and we headed home.

Well, we tried to head home. But like I said, I'll tell you that story later.

More Legos.

I have never wished more that I had a good camera phone with e-mail capabilities. Because I would have Twitpic-ed this for sure. As this motorcycle passed us, I noticed the couple was not wearing helmets. But before I could even open my mouth to start my usual rant about stupidity and helmet laws and all that, I saw the milk crate on the back of the bike. With a DOG in it. A dog! And that dog didn't have a helmet. Or a seat belt. Or anything to keep it safe! I was appalled! I wanted to call PETA! Or the police! Or the Ghostbusters!

But instead, I asked Mark to speed up a little so I could take a picture.

On Tuesday, we drove to Clearwater. I'd read all about the incredible sunsets, the white sand, the dolphin cruises. What I didn't read about was the thunderstorm that covered most of Florida that day. We kept hoping that we'd outrun the storm, and for a couple hours, we did. But it never really got sunny, and halfway through our walk on the beach, it started raining again.

Fortunately, I was prepared. With a big black umbrella in my purse. I'm not sure who looked more silly - Mark, trying to do his best Baywatch run back to the car, or me, sauntering along the sand, proudly holding my umbrella with a broken spoke.

But you know what? We still had fun. We drove down the coast (or was it up? I forget.) and found a great Italian restaurant in Tampa and overall, had a great day.

The Gulf in Clearwater. Can you see the sun shining? Wayyy back in the corner there?

Our little bathing beauty.

On Thursday, we drove north to meet my parents, my brother and sister-in-law, and our sweet baby who we hadn't seen in four days. And I'm not quite sure who was more excited - her or us!

The second we set her down on the sand (after a picnic lunch and lots of sunscreen for her and me - except my back, which is officially peeling today), she plopped down on the towel and popped that leg up in the air like some sort of beach model.

I have no idea where she learned such a thing.

Annalyn was excited to see us, but she loved spending so much time with her A-ee and Bompa (otherwise known as Allie and Grandpa). I think she's gone into withdrawal since we came home!

What is this? (I promise, several of us were within arm's reach. I just cropped us out.)

Once she got used to the warm ocean water and the gritty sand, Annalyn was perfectly happy to sit in the ocean and let the water rush over her as she played with her bucket.

So happy that she pitched quite a fit when it was time to go. But who wants to talk about that?

After all, who would believe this happy girl would throw a fit?

Oh, how I wish I'd had my camera handy when that happened, though. My sweet daughter, who hasn't sucked her thumb or pacifier for about 18 months, curled up in the fetal position, stuck her thumb in her mouth and sobbed her little heart out.

All because I didn't want her to get sunburned.

(Did I mention that I forgot to put sunscreen on my back that day? And that I had to go buy a loofah on a stick at Target today?)

Ahem.

Annalyn would not tolerate the very cute and comfy (cloth) floaties we bought specifically for this trip. She did, however, put up with the baby floating ring that - as we discovered a couple days later - was built for babies a few pounds lighter than her.

For a baby who loves taking baths, she wasn't all that impressed with the swimming pool. She was a little more energetic the day we swam in the afternoon, but the morning swims? Not so exciting, I suppose.

Long story short, my great uncle - who we went to visit - ended up in the hospital on Friday. So while my parents spent the afternoon visiting him, we went with my brother and sister-in-law to visit the only plantation open to the public in Thomas County: Pebble Hill.

It was beautiful, and even though it was blazing hot that day, we had the chance to take some great pictures on the grounds. (Kids under 6 weren't allowed in the main house, so we wandered around outside - and enjoyed the air conditioned snack shop - while James and Lauren toured the house.)

When my mom called the hospital to find out what was going on with my uncle, she found out that the lady working the information desk was from Pavo, the same small town my great-grandad (my mom's grandad) was from. As a matter of fact, she taught at the elementary school - and taught my aunt way back in the day. Later that afternoon, when Mom and Dad were at the hospital and trying to track down my uncle, the security guard went the extra yard to find him because he knew him, too.

So, as we chatted with the info guy at the plantation while we waited for James and Lauren to finish their tour, I thought I'd give it a shot. I told Mr. Taylor how we were in town visiting my great-uncle and great-aunt, but that my uncle had gotten sick and went to the hospital. I told him their names, and he said, "Oh, yeah! We're in a club together. We went on tours together!" Turns out "a club" was Kiwanis Club, and tours had something to do with their church. So as we waited and finally stopped sweating, we swapped stories about who in our family and his cheats while playing cards.

"Small world" deosn't even begin to describe that place.

We didn't see a sign saying not to climb on the ancient carriages. So we took full advantage of the old-fashioned photo opp.

"Are you finished taking pictures yet?"

Sorry, baby, no.

This photo was taken at the plantation, not on the plane we took home. But if you can imagine taking this face, adding some hysteria and lots of ear-splitting screams? Well, then you might be close to imagining what the passengers of our TINY (34 passenger) plane between Tallahassee and Memphis endured.

Reportedly, Annalyn was an angel for my parents on the flight down. And I am so thankful. Honestly, I really had to pray myself down from overwhelming anxiety about the whole leaving my daughter and she's going to fly without me thing.

But my, oh my, I probably should have spent some of that time praying for our flight home. Because the first hour of the first flight? Complete torture - for Annalyn, for us, for the other passengers and for the kind flight attendant.

It was so bad the flight attendant moved us from the back of the plane to the front. It was so bad that not only was my body covered in sweat (I get sick when flying and did I mention the turbulence?), but I also ended up sobbing myself. It was so bad that the pilots could hear her through the door and sent ear plugs back for the other passengers.

It was bad.

But we survived. And I promise you, we will nev-er fly with a toddler again, barring any life and death emergencies, of course.

And that, is the end of my vacation photo show. Hope you enjoyed it. I know I did!

And now that I see Jill is saying she loves vacation (as I do, obviously), I'm linking up to her. Go check out Things I Love Thursday!

Hi, may I help you?

Here in Kansas City, we have a chain of BBQ restaurants that is famous for the greeting each customer receives. As you walk up to the counter, the energetic folks at Gates BBQ will shout, “Hi! May I help you?”

Although, to be honest, it sounds a tad bit like, “Hahmehaheppyou!”

Last week, we spent several days in the South. And I lost count of the times I was asked, “May I help you?” The difference down there? It wasn’t followed up with some smoked meat and fries tossed onto a platter and pushed down the cafeteria line. No, what came next was outstanding customer service and, more often than not, amazing food.

(Not that I’m complaining about Gates by any means. I’m just saying that our Southern eating experiences were something completely different.)

I’m so accustomed to mediocre or even lousy service that for the first couple of days, I honestly thought we were “lucking out.” It actually took me about four days to realize we weren’t just reaping the rewards of some good restaurant karma; we were experiencing that wonder we hear about, but rarely get to see firsthand up here in the, ahem, North.

We were experiencing Southern hospitality.

And ooooh, I loved it! Southern hospitality – from the friendly waiter at Chevy’s and the apologetic waitress at Flipper’s who gave us a discount after the cook put sausage on the sausage-free pizza we ordered to the helpful hotel desk guy who drew me a map of (wrong) driving directions from Orlando to Tallahassee and my Aunt Roz who welcomed us into her home and offered “something cold to drink,” which meant apple juice or Coke – works for me.

For more tips on what works, visit We Are THAT Family.

And for a few vacation photos, check out my Flickr albums.

Here's the thing: I like muffins.

But I don't like baking. Well, that's not true. I don't mind baking. It's just that it takes so much time. And measuring. And ingredients.

Okay, I don't like baking. Cooking, yes. Baking, not so much.

I manage just fine, though. Don't be feeling sorry for me. Brownies from a box mix are delicious enough to be my specialty (quit laughing!), and rice krispy treats don't require me to turn on the oven at all. Neither do chocolate pudding pies.

But there's something about a muffin. Or a biscuit. Or a roll. Really, any bread will do.

My dad is a big fan of bread. So growing up, our meals were never complete without some sort of bread. My mom taught me how to make biscuits from scratch, several kinds of muffins, garlic bread, banana bread and more.

But, sadly, I've abandoned my cook from scratch ways.

Thankfully, I'm obviously not the only cook who prefers convenience over scratchiness. Because you can get a mix for just about anything.

And my favorite is the muffin mix. Specifically, the one that says "just add water." At less than a dollar per mix, it's easy to stock up and have them on hand.


I was glad I'd done just that last night. Mark had the night off, so I actually had to got to cook dinner for us. And a packet of muffin mix was quick and easy - and rounded out our meal.

Please, don't ask about a vegetable. Surely the onions in the cheesy chicken count?

Do you like to bake? What's your favorite type of bread? Or you a non-carb type of person?

For more kitchen and cooking stuff, check out A Southern Fairytale and Balancing Beauty & Bedlam.

Me, Myself & Lies, Week 3 Recap

I missed you all on tonight's chat! Here are some questions. Let's discuss in the comments.

• Do you have issues? (I sure do!)
• Does your issue define you or refine you?
• How can your relationship with or your understanding of God make a difference in your self-talk, when it comes to your issue?

In the video for this week, Jennifer talked about a survey she took of her 3,000 newsletter readers. Those women responded about their various issues, and the top two were self-image and rejection (or a desire to be accepted). Can you relate to that? (I sure can!)

Tell me what you thought about these last two weeks of the study. I'll be honest: I haven't finished the homework for Week 3. But I really want to hear about what God's been teaching you over these last couple of weeks. Please chat with us in the comments!