Back to Reality

Well, it's a sunny but sad day in Charleston as Spring Break has come to an end. So many good times had and memories made, however! It's safe to say mom will be missed by more than just me around here...Yesterday, Day 5: Mom learned to blog, we watched '27 Dresses' (I knew mom would love it since we love chick flics), then got ready for a night on the town. We walked Meeting and King, did some window shopping, then stopped for more Mexican food since we can't get enough! We stopped for some Starbucks, talked on the phone with Mamaw and Papaw, then trekked a few blocks to see an improv comedy show!

It was a blast - mom had never been to an improv show, and I had yet to see this troupe here in Charleston, so it was a new experience for us both! It was nice to end such a fun week with 2 hours of non-stop laughs!

Day 6: We woke up and headed for Sullivan's Island, just a quick drive up the highway, out to the beach! We took Luther to run and play, as well as enjoy the view, before heading to lunch and then the airport (boooo). We love you and had a great week with you, mom! Thanks for spending Spring Break with us!

The Walk!

Hi, again, folks, day 4 was fun-filled as well! We finally walked, Shannon jogged, of course, the Ravenel Bridge of Charleston. The incline was literally BREATHTAKING! HUFF AND PUFF, FOR SURE! But I did make it 2 miles in 3o minutes, Shannon says "not bad, mom", ha ha! But it was great! The temp at that time wa about 72 degrees, very nice, with a light breeze, which is very unusual for Charleston, usually it is very windy here by the ocean!

The Scenes of Charleston

Day 3, this is Sue, hey everyone, I cannot begin to tell you all how much fun I have had, while being in Charleston with my Shannon Leigh and my granddoggy, Luther, "the sweet lab boy"! Charleston is just breathtaking everywhere you go here! We are catching up,Wednesday, I was extremely surprised, when I thought I was going to go walk the Ravenel Bridge with Shannon, BUT she had other plans! Here we drive up to where it says on the sign, HARBOUR TOURS. She said SURPRISE, we are about to take a boat out into the ocean, where you will see DOLPHINS and many other wonderful sights of Charleston from the beautiful Atlantic Ocean!On the tour we saw some of the beautiful mansions in the distance, as well as going out to see Fort Sumter! The dolphins were in full view, swimming alongside the front of the boat, the sight was totally awesome! There were 4 of them, they would surface frequently, then go back under the water.

Here are a few more pictures of the tour:
We ended the day, by meeting Shannon's good friend, Donna, and her mom Jean for dinner at "The Fig" restaurant. The food was delicious, Shannon and Donna treated us to this very elegant dinner! The atmosphere was very nice. Donna and her mom are originally from Massachuetts. They are very sweet people. Donna was one of the first people Shannon met in Charleston, and they have become the very best of friends. Donna is expecting a baby boy in May, and her husband is a dentist in downtown Charleston.

Spring Break in Charleston - Day 2

I'm not sure that we're "breaking" as much as Spring Break intends us to! We had another full day; here's the breakdown:

Morning: breakfast where mom tried my almond milk and...liked it! We walked 3 miles around the Daniel Island trails from the river front park back to the main drag and then home! Afterward, I dropped mom off at the local Curves, where she has travel passes to workout anywhere in the States! In the meantime, I went to a class at my gym less than a mile away.

Afternoon: after a morning of exercise we were quite hungry, so I made mom some homemade nachos! They're super easy and so yummy - jalapeno cheddar wrap tortilla broken into pieces, baked, topped with grilled corn, black beans, white cheddar, and onion.

Mom was then kind enough to accompany me to my active release therapy appointment, where she learned what kind of treatment I get regularly for my low back and shoulders.

Evening: Then it was off to see Slumdog Millionaire! It was excellent and we both thoroughly enjoyed the sweet story that was told so well through film. I finally got to treat mom to EVO (Extra Virgin Oven) pizza - a local favorite I take everyone to experience when they visit :) Mom enjoyed eating at the bar, drinking her Root Beer on St. Paddy's Day!That's all for now...tune in tomorrow after mom gets another Charleston-themed surprise!

Spring Break in Charleston - Day 1

I'm so honored that mom chose to spend her Spring Break in Charleston! It gives me an excuse to be a tourist in my own town all week, which is always fun.

Mom got in around 11am, and I officially went on vacation for the rest of the week. We started with a quest for lunch on Daniel Island, where we ran into two of my work buds - but since the Mediterranean restaurant didn't have ranch dressing for mom's salad, we ended up having Mexican food lunch! We then took a rainy driving tour of Mt. Pleasant, which is where I go to the gym, church, doctor/dentist, and shopping, so it was fun to show mom a 'day in the life' of me.

Next, I surprised mom with a trip to the South Carolina Aquarium right on the shore of Charleston Harbor in downtown! The perfect rainy-day activity. Afterward, more driving tours of downtown, the Market where I showed mom the unique-to-Charleston sweet grass baskets, and we finished with a delightful cupcake snack over on King St.

Dinner will be back home on Daniel Island tonight - I'm so blessed to be able to cook dinner for the woman who has cooked countless meals for me in her time. I love having mom here and am looking forward to a blessed week with her!

Nathan's BIG B-day Surprise!

As ya'll know, we've been planning Nathan's Big 33rd Birthday Surprise for awhile.
We were so looking forward to all the plans becoming reality and a piece of our family history. And, thankfully, they did just that.


I first have to thank Kathy for giving birth to Nathan, her gift from God, 33 years ago.



We had a week of family fun! We celebrated Nathan's birthday dinner at Ghiddotti's. The food, the ambiance and the evening were delightful.

Jessica truly enjoyed our special "surprise" visitors too!

The surprise was a success! Nathan was absolutely shocked! His birthday week was so much fun! Thank you Kathy & Chuck for helping us make this extra special for Nathan. I think if you asked him, he'd say this was one of his most memorable birthdays.


Oh, yeah, my gift to Nathan was dinner and Disney on Ice tickets for the whole family. My dad went home to CA, which left us with an extra ticket. As a result, JR invited her friend, Ashley, to join us. We all had a blast!

I'm so proud of my Grandmommy & Granddaddy

Awana is a Wednesday night activity that mommy volunteers at and I attend. I'm in Cubbies. Since this is an important activity in our lives, we wanted to share it with Grandmommy & Granddaddy. My mommy had called our church's youth ministry director to ask if they could volunteer at Awana. To our surprise, they were asked to be the Counsel Time guest speakers at Awana!!! This is a B I G job and impacts many Sparks (k-3) and TNT (4-6) youth. Grandmommy & Granddaddy accepted this H U G E task. They prayed and prepared amazing lessons about prayer. Granddaddy supported Grandmommy and reassured her that this was a task she was gifted to accomplish. Grandmommy captured the audience and touched so many young hearts. Everyone commented about how amazing Grandmommy was and how supportive and encouraging Granddaddy was to her. I think that too!!! I'm so proud of them!

March Birthdays in the Family

Happy Birthday to Nathan, Jennifer, and Ryann~

Happy Birthday to Nathan, Jennifer, and Ryann~

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday~

Happy Birthday to Nathan, Jennifer, and Ryann!!

God bless you all ~ Nathan, March 13th
Jennifer, March 18th
Ryann, February 23rd (sorry we missed putting it on February's)

We love you all so very much!!
Have wonderful, blessed birthdays!!!