I searched for a good one all last summer. I went to 3 different Kroger stores. I hit up the Farmer's Market. But they just weren't the same. They were small and spongy.
Back in AR, the best watermelons come from the back of an old man's truck. Dadio knows it and picked me out a watermelon last week while I was home. The old man said *insert slow Southern accent here* "Now, that rain warshed away some a' the sweetness but it'll be good in a couple a' days."
So I waited. That watermelon called my name the whole way back to Atlanta. But I waited. I looked at that thing in my fridge everytime I opened it. But I waited. Last night, my wait was over. I cut into that fat, juicy, sweet watermelon from Hector, Arkansas. And. it. was. amazing.
Nobody else wanted any right then so I sprayed myself with some bug spray, went out to the porch with my salt shaker, and ate my AR watermelon right on my porch in Atlanta. All was right with the world.
I woke up Thursday morning and decided to hi the road to the Rock. Did I have a house to clean before the inlaws come? Yes. Did I need to work on my classroom? Yes. Did the thought of staying home and being a little bit lazy sound really good? Yes.
But
I decided to leave all that behind and squeeze in a quick weekend trip home. I did lots of fun things.
Like play with Camp.
And squeeze Grace's cute little cheeks. A lot.
Of course I had to have some El Porton with the girls.
And take pictures like the old days.
And...
I got to meet the newest member of the Johnston clan.
Check out sweet little Emma Rose.
Plus, I got to visit with both sets of my grandparents and do you know what my sweet Nana did?
She cooked a southern supper and made it gluten free! We had fried okra, hush-puppies, fried chicken, butter beans, black eyed peas, tomatoes and onion and I could actually eat all of it!
It was a fun trip. Super rushed but a fun trip for sure.
Seth's whole family will be here Wednesday night. Somehow, before then, I have a house to clean, one more online class to take plus the final, laundry to do,a grocery store trip, a school "retreat" all day Tuesday and a classroom that seems to hover in my mind reminding me that school starts soon and nothing in my room is ready. I plan on soaking up the last drop of summer the best I can!
Today, it has been one year since my good friend G.W. passed away.
Most of ya'll know most of this story but some of you might not.Today I want like to take a minute to remember G.W. and reflect a little bit on some of the things I know now... one year later...because of him. This might get long-but it is a story that needs to be told and remembered.
I guess I met G.W. when I was in the first-grade. His wife passed away just before I met him and from what I understand, she was a wonderful woman. I know G.W. loved and missed her a lot and he would pull out pictures and show them to me every chance he got.
Somehow, through the years, it got to be my "thing" where I would make sure to go hug G.W. as soon as I walked in to church. Sometimes he would sit with us and sometimes we would stop by his house and visit with him and sometimes, on occasion, he would come out to eat with us. He even came to my dad's 50th Birthday extravaganza.
When I was about 14 and decided to give my life to the Lord, I knew that I wanted G.W. to baptize me. I didn't realize then how much that meant to him... or to me.
Flash-forward through 11 years of hugs at church, visits to his house, talking on the phone, visiting him in and out of hospital visits, and tons of cards. You see, G.W. sent me an encouraging card almost every week for 11 years.
There is something I haven't told you about G.W. though. He had cancer. Terrible cancer that he struggled with for years and years. Cancer that left him and came right back. Through all of this though, his faith remained stronger than it ever was before.
I remember I was home from college one Sunday at church and he sat with my family. We sang When We All Get to Heaven and G.W. belted that song out with all of his heart. I couldn't even sing because I realized at that very moment that G.W. was ready to go home. He was ready to see his wife. He believed in Jesus and knew that there were greater things ahead. He wasn't afraid for his time on earth to end. It made me think about a phrase G.W. had told me time and time again-the Lord said he would take care of you.
After Seth and I got engaged and knew we would be moving to Atlanta, G.W. was seriously worried sick-as we say in the South. He worried about me doing all that driving, and not knowing anybody, and being so far away from home.
He was also worried he wouldn't be able to make it to the wedding because of his cancer. He never explicitly told me this but I knew he was sick. I guess, thinking back, I did but I didn't if that makes sense. He told me how much he wanted to be there and his daughter, Mona told me how much he wanted to be there but I knew he might not make it because of the cancer. I'll never forget -right before the wedding started- him coming in that back room and giving me the biggest hug. He looked at me and said, "Kaci-I wouldn't miss it!" We took this picture that day.
Flash-forward to July of 2009. I knew he was getting sicker. I could tell on the phone. The words in his cards got shorter and shorter-but they still came. My dad called me on a Tuesday and said that I might want to come home earlier than I had planned and I am so glad I did. I checked the mail on Wednesday before I left and sure enough-there was a card from G.W. It was a hot pink card about friendship. It had this verse written inside:
You have a very special place in my heart.
We have shared together the blessings of God.
Philippians 1:7
G.W. underlined the phrase: You have a very special place in my heart.
That was the last card I ever got from G.W. He passed away that Monday. I was in the hospital room. I held one hand and Mona held the other. I witnessed a man who loved the Lord go home. He had no fear. He knew there were better things ahead for him.
I've thought about that very moment a lot over the last year. I thought about how I can relate that experience to my own life. My dad led the final prayer at G.W's funeral and said the perfect words that summed up his life. I can't remember all of it but I remember that it ended somewhere along the line that G.W. made a choice a long time ago. A choice to live his life for the Lord. I have thought about that a lot over the last year as well. A choice. A choice we all get to make. In the end, we can all have the peace G.W. had.
I don't really know where to end this. There is so much more I want to say. The bluebird of happiness, G.W. being a firefighter, becoming good friends with Mona, visiting with G.W. for the last time before he went to the hospital and the hug he gave me from the bed when he couldn't get up, being involved in planning the funeral, Mona asking me if there was a song I would like for the congregation to sing at his funeral... can you guess what I chose? That's right. When We All Get to Heaven. And just like before, G.W. was in my mind during that song. Only this time, I fought back the tears and sang. I could sing it like I meant it-because I did.
So now you know a few pieces of G.W.'s story. Thanks for listening and helping me remember him today.
After a fun weekend, my momma and Kelsey left yesterday. We pretty much took it easy and watched about a bazillion movies. (How hilarious is The Hangover, by the way? I can't get the "Tiger Snooze" song out of my head!) We drank a lot of coffee, ate some good food, and laughed a lot of laughs. Sadly, I didn't get a bunch of pictures but here are a few.
I'm working on the before and after pictures from the house and will get them on here soon. Happy Monday!
Just got back from FL and thought I'd fill you in on the past couple of days. I'm tanner in some places and redder in others but had a fun time, none the less.
I have to say that I really enjoyed hanging out with my bro (hey Garrett)... that boy is a trip. We laughed, hung out, and he introduced me to Geocaching. We actually found 5 while we were there and got hooked up with some funny stories (like the smoking EMT woman asking us if we were looking for "that treasure hunt thing").
We even walked 2.6 miles to Wal-Mart but that's a different story for a different day.
We all ate shrimp and drank margaritas and enjoyed people watching. We dodged alligators (okay, we didn't see any but I'm pretty positive they were there) in the lagoon on the way to the private beach and some of us got henna tattoos.
We played in the water and sat in the sun. There is always something about having your toes in the sand that is good for the soul, you know?
Here are some pictures to sum up the trip. Oh, in case you are wondering, Panama City is oil free.
Here our some pictures of the Geocaching action...
This one was hidden in a palm tree.
Check out my new blue swimsuit cover up. Wal-Mart special, thank you very much.
My good man couldn't go but lets throw in a picture with him anyway.
That's better.
My mom and Kels will be here tomorrow so the party won't stop for a while.
Enjoy the pictures.
P.S. I just realized two things.
1. I still haven't posted before and after pictures of all the renovations. I'll try to get on that.
2. I still haven't changed the time stamp on my camera. I'll get on that too.
You know we went to the U of A. You know we love Razorback Games. You know we live in Atlanta...far far away from Fayetteville. Well, the GA, Auburn, and South Carolina games are "away" this year. These "away" games are a lot closer to us!
We just ordered tickets to the GA and Auburn games through the Atlanta Chapter of the Alumni Association. Evidently, there will be about 95 Razorback Fans from Atlanta going to the GA game to tailgate and sit together. I'm pretty exited about it! Here are a couple pictures from games in the past. Woo Pig Sooie!
This was the AR/TN game in 2006 when ESPN Gameday came. We won!
Let the Hog Calling begin.
Hmm. I just realized that some of ya'll might not know what it means to "Call the Hogs" or how to do it. Do yourself a favor and go here.
The video isn't the best but you can definitely hear the Hog Call.
Thanks for showing America's Funniest Home Videos tonight. Watching people fall off treadmills and slipping on ice made me laugh out loud. After a day of priming and painting the bathroom it was just what I needed.
No, I don't have toes in the water or anything in the sand but things are still pretty dang good right now.
We've had a nice weekend hanging around the house working on things here and there.
We had a fun dinner at Olive Garden last night (I got my very own GF menu and and Italian Margarita) followed by an expensive trip to Sam's.
We grilled out today and had a few friends over for supper. I made a peach and blueberry cobbler/crisp that I found here and ate way more than I should have. We took a long ride on the scooter around the neighborhood and watched the fire works from Turner Field (where the Braves play) from right in front of our house.
Dad, Jennifer and Garrett will be here this weekend and my mom and Kelsey will be here next weekend.
