This new world

We have met SO MANY new babies since the start of 2010. I'm sure I've mentioned it before, but the boom of births really amazes me. Even more peculiar, all of them have been little girls! Every last one...thank goodness one of my dearest girlfriends, Karah, brought me the news of her 2nd baby boy to be born in October! I was beginning to worry for the future generations of males.
Anyhow...there has been our church friends' twins (Gwen & Grace) born around new year's eve followed by cousin Reagan Joanne, dear friend Elizabeth Grace, my boss's daughter Zoey Grace, and our NIECE, Alyssa Faith!

The photo shown here is of my Uncle Rick and his new granddaughter, Taylor Sue. She is a lovely, long little girl who already prefers being outdoors to inside. I think what hits my heart about Taylor is how her tiny presence has affected our family, like a ripple on lake water. She is my slightly older cousin's 1st child & 1st grandchild to Uncle Rick. Her birth has been a huge highlight in an otherwise rough summer for my grandma (her great-grandma). I also simply adore both her parents...they are down to earth and oh so much fun to hang out with. It will be a great joy to watch these family members grow along with tiny Taylor.

In other news...Summer is chugging along here in the Ohio River Valley. It is hot...HOT...and humid here. Work is...going...its busy and hot sometimes...and full of incredible moments with incredible kids/co-workers. I know there are a lot of *opinions surrounding ABA Therapy, but I have seen amazing accomplishments in kids we work with. I love being involved in helping kids make those accomplishments. It rocks.

Matthew has been working part-time for the reception hall this month. He has also been making gains on our "home projects". The garage has been rearranged, the bushes trimmed up, the bench my Dad made for us is stained a beautiful cedar color...we are pushing forward. Matthew & I also bought our 1st newer, nice car this month. I get to drive it most and I LOVE it. Its funny though, how hard it was to say goodbye to old Ethel...my 94 Toyota Camry. I had her for many years...that car got me thru IU. She will be missed...as much as a car can be missed, I suppose. And now I drive a 2009, green Corolla named Lilo. I love her! Matt thinks I'm silly. I love him too.

Now - I could continue on to tell you the horror stories of our baby boy pup turned adolesent pup...but I think I'll wait for another time. I'll just say this...he ate nearly a full roll of toliet paper today. sigh. Confetti all over the bathroom. Until next time, peace!

THIS is how.

3/20 We drove up thru Indiana to Crown Point, IN to celebrate at a baby shower for our dear old college friends, Christina & Jake (yep, we hooked em up so we could all hang out together). MuahahaMuahahaha. But they are expecting their 1st baby and we wouldn't have missed it for the world - even - even when we were coming from 70 degree sunshine to 40 degrees + ice falling from the sky unpon arrival. 3/21 We drove back down through the state to Southern IN so I could work Monday and Tuesday. Lucky me. By the way -- I am positively FASCINATED with the wind mills along 65 in Indiana.
3/23 After work, hubby & I hit the road, taking the long way from Louisville to South Carolina because a rockslide from OCTOBER 2009 is still being cleaned up. Nutzo.

Turns out though, we like taking the longer route.
HOW can this be!? You ask...well, we saw lots of entertaining things along the way. Included in this list is the city of Chattanooga, TN which I definitely want to pass thru again sometime. I also enjoyed the markers along the road which pointed obviously to which states we were in. Here are some examples of how we pinpointed our location along the road:

Kentucky
Hills & Horses (well, duh.)
Dinosaur World !!!!!!!!!!!
Jim Beam & Bourbon Trail signs.
A billboard proclaiming HELL IS REAL just across from the Adult Depot.

Tennessee
Jack Daniel's Distillery Signs
Fireworks + Deli
Hee Haw Fireworks, Big Daddy's Fireworks, TN/Alabama Fireworks, Big Zack's, Big Steve's, Sad Sam's, and Battle Creek Fireworks/Chevron Station. (*Who EVER thought that combining the sell of explosives and gasoline would be a good idea?)
Bar-B-Cutie's
Pappy's bbq, Sugar's bbq, Smokey's bbq, etc.
Nashville :)
Appalachian Foothills

Georgia
Atlanta (eh...)
11 Cops on highway patrol per 80miles of highway...we actually counted 11 police cars either pulling people over or clocking speeds within about an hour.

South Carolina
Red dirt
Pretty trees along highways
Signs for Greenville
Tiger paws begin appearing on more and more (and more) vehicles along the way.
Clemson University

3/27 We had waffles (Matt's Dad makes a fantastic waffle) and drove home with a quick stop outside of Nashville for lunch with step-bro Randy. All in all, a really good mini vacation. OH and the Indiana State markers (for us coming up from the South) would be the river...the Kennedy Bridge signaling that within 20 minutes we would be turning off the engine and opening our big blue front door to see our loyal cats awaiting our return. It totally happened that way too....Caesar rushed to our feet like a faithful old dog (even tho he is actually a rather large cat).