July 4th Weekend

The long weekend started out kind of rough for Rebecca and I. She got a cold somewhere between here and Utah and in turn passed it on to me. The worst of my symptoms hit on Friday. Dad had planned a big work weekend at a Tornado house, owned by Cornelius. I attempted to go work, but had to tap out early. I came home, took a long nap, and felt much better. I returned to the house on Saturday and helped with repairs. A massive oak tree fell on the middle of his house so the goal for the weekend was to build a new roof.

Rebecca's parents came in town for the weekend. So after church on Sunday we all went to Cornelius' house. About mid afternoon Dad gets a call from Matt. He and Loren were on their way to Memphis on I-22 when his back left tire popped. The civic spun off the road and slid into an embankment. Fortunately they went off the road at the perfect spot and only received damage to one additional tire. Much like Rebecca and my wreck several years ago, they were very fortunate. Playing the "what-if" game can get quite scary. Mr. Chip and I went as the rescue team and pulled them out of the ditch. The donut tire got them to Wal-Mart as we caught the tire guys right before closing time.

On Monday we took Rebecca's parents on a drive around town showing them some of our different photo venues. About the time they headed out, the rain settled in and stayed through the evening. It stopped just in time for Thunder on the Mountain. The wet weather kept the early crowds away so we were able to get a fairly good spot without getting there real early. The rain cooled the air off just enough to make it quite pleasant outside.

Old Times

I'm going to back track a little. We had our first overnight visitors this past weekend. David and Emily came to spend a jam packed weekend with us.

As soon as they got here on Friday, we headed to Samford for a volleyball game. Rebecca had to shoot the final home game of the season. It was David's first volleyball game to see in person. The girls lost unfortunately. We then headed to Jim and Nick's. This has by far been the restaurant we've frequented the most. Partly because its so good, but also because we can walk to it. After stuffing ourselves with cheese biscuits we came back and settled in for the night. We ended up watching our wedding video since it was the only DVD we've unpacked and it was sitting by the TV.

We had to get off to an early start Saturday because Rebecca had to shoot the NCAA Southeast Regional Cross Country Championship at Spain Park. We got Panera Bread for breakfast. While their bagels are good, I don't get the "desiring of them" quite like the females in our group. Anyways, it was a beautiful day so I didn't mind going out there. David and Emily got their long run of the week in while we took pictures of people running. Also we got to see Matt, Mom, and Nathan and Ashley Taylor as they came to watch Matt's girlfriend, Loren, run for MSU. She did very well setting a new personal record and the MSU girls came in 5th overall. The Samford girls came in 10th. It lasted til about noon. After lunch and showers we headed to some furniture stores for the Franci to look at bedroom suits. Our evening activity took place at my parents house to watch MSU vs. Alabama, since they have cable. To make us feel like we were at the tailgate we took the TV on the back patio and watched the game as we sat around the fire. I had a blast combining the two settings. However, I did catch lots of flack for my split allegiance between the two teams. It is something I have dealt with since my freshman year and shows its head every November. I know in my mind it should be an easy decision to ditch the Tide for the Dawgs, since I spent 7 years at MSU and met my wife there, but in my heart the struggle is still there. My loving wife did not let my struggles go unnoticed all weekend. My determination to cheer for the Dawgs did not last long as the game got one sided pretty quick. Another year to work out my issue.

Some are cold than others

Rebecca's usual reaction to football.

We continued to put a dent in our bagel supply then headed to church. David Platt spoke on missions and evangelizing and how we are all called as Christians. Not just the gifted and not at some date in the future, but right now. Afterwards we tried a restaurant other than Jim and Nicks. Our final stop was Red Mango for frozen yogurt.

The fun and busy weekend quickly came to a close. It was like old times having them over for the weekend and I'm sure there will be more to come.