Where's Abby (+ Dylan and dogs)

Holy mackerel guys, I knew I'd been failing miserably at this whole blog deal, but I didn't realize it had been since MAY. Since then, I said "Yes, of course!" to a man with a ring on his pinky in the Atlantic Ocean. That man and I trekked around Costa Rica and Panama for two fantastic weeks. I jumped back into the craziness of Lindamood-Bell and am thoroughly enjoying it. We have the most intriguing, fun kiddos. In July, I witnessed another of the Bests become a wife to her very comical hubs. Such a fun wedding, as you can see from a snapshot below. One weekend, I finally visited Ms. Leslie Wiles in her new Georgia home and had our senses overloaded at the Buford Farmers Market . That place is nuts. We filled our cart with fruits we never heard of that needed intensive cutting instructions and safety warnings. I started on my track to GRAD SCHOOL for speech language pathology. Now I've covered four types of colleges: private Christian college (King Colle...

1. Throwing away pictures quickly turns into hours of laughing at old selves and bringing back so many memories. High school friends and I have often wondered what we did in high school since we weren't the typical partying teens. After this picture raid, I realized... we took pictures. In dressing rooms, walmart, cars, kitchen islands...  2. My parents are awesome. I didn't learn this this weekend but it was definitely reinforced. They are just such dedicated, good people. We're also surrounded by some amazingly supportive friends.  3. My dad is so cool. I mean really... Cool guy on the right... Can he get any more awesome? Not to mention that crazy guy on the left, aka Uncle Dennis. I never did get a straight answer about whether he dressed like that on the reg or not. So was that a regular occurrence, Dennis?! ;) 4. Sleepy babies are one of the sweetest things to see.  5. Having adult conversations with toddlers is so amusing to me. Brooks and I d...

Run River North : My new obsession right now. I mean listen to that voice! So, I finally had a night of not only realistic, practical thinking, but I also finally got back to my dreams, values, and opinions. For a while there, I felt like I didn't have a strong preference to any option and lost sight of what I even wanted. I'm still not 100% set on one goal (which is not my way of thinking anyway, as I've learned that just makes disappointment so likely). But I do have a better idea of what I want, how to get it, and where to do it.  For a while, I was so set on Colorado and wanting to make that happen as soon as possible. But with my economic and job situation right now it was simply not possible. So, I was thinking of just getting whatever job to save and move there ASAP.  BUT, this monumental, practical, clear thinking set in the other night, and I realized that I need to just go ahead and get grounded here. I actually ruled out the NYC/Chicago nanny option ...

I realized I've left out a lot of good stories in the last month that have made unemployment not so bad! ;)    We'll start with my cousin's wedding. Her and her hubby celebrated their marriage at their perfectly decorated lake house. It was  such a fun wedding with the (fully clothed) wedding party jumping in the lake, delicious food, one of the best wedding cakes I've had, and an awesome atmosphere of friendly people. The wedding party in the lake on the bottom left because... "Well, why not?!" We took a quick pitstop on the way to the wedding to see Falling Water State Park. One of (or the only) waterfall in Florida. Definitely worth it. More great memories at The River with Mark, Denise, and some extra family members one afternoon. Dad and I had a nice, quick kayak around, we all chilled by the river, got an unexpected spray by an air boat, and had a delicious meal at Swampy's. (Where else?!) Photo credit: Cindy! My first s...