Tool Man

Need something fixed?? I know just the guy!!

So Long....

Leigh Anne left for college and Noah and I took her out for ice cream to say goodbye!! We sure will miss her!!!

A day with friends....

We have been so lucky that we have seen our friends so much this summer. Here's Noah and Luke hanging on the swings!


And Padon is such a great big brother pushing Hall on the swing!
Noah could swing forever if i would let him!!

A Day at the Park...

I know I am way behind on posts but here are a few pictures to hold you over....

Noah and I went to the park a while ago and we were the only ones there (probably because it was 96 degrees) but we had fun playing on the swings...


and looking at cloud animals....
and climbing....
whew...it was HOT!!!!
what a fun day! Although I think I am ready for fall and some cooler weather!!

The Good Samaritan

Today Noah and I went to the pool. It was early afternoon and all the kids were still in school so we had the pool to ourselves. We have 2 pools in our neighborhood and we decided to go to the one up the hill because it is usually less crowded anyway. You have to have a key card to get into the pool because the HOA keeps it locked up. I opened the gate with our key card, we put all of our stuff down on a table in the shade and Noah and I jumped in the water. I quickly realized I needed my sunglasses that I left in my car so i made Noah get out and walk me to the car which i left unlocked since no one was around anyway. When we headed back to the gate i realized I left the key card sitting on the table with my keys, phone, and our clothes! We were locked out! Now, mind you, I am soaking wet and standing there in a swim suit wondering how the heck we were going to get back in. Luckily, the neighborhood mailboxes are right there and right about the time we got locked out a man pulled up to get his mail. Our neighborhood has apartment-like mailboxes where they are all together. I asked the man if he could help us and get his card and let us in. The man actually told me "No", said he didn't have it with him, got back in his car and drove off. I watched him drive 5 houses up the road and turn into his driveway!! I stood there in shock. I wanted to yell out several choice phrases but was trying to stay calm and positive since Noah was watching my every move.

A few minutes later a lady pulled in to get her mail. I asked her if she could help us, explaining i locked myself out and needed to get back in. She also told me "no" and gave me some dumb excuse about how she was late already for her gym class. I mean come on!! I am standing there with my child and we were locked out!! Both of these people live within walking distance of the pool (I know that because of where they got their mail) and neither would help us out. They both left us there.

As I am standing there stunned, another driver gets out of his car and heads to get his mail. He must have seen the look on my face that said 'I am so mad but if someone doesn't help us soon I am going to burst into tears with my 4 year old son watching as i am standing in the middle of the road in a bathing suit" and asked if i needed something. I blabbed out the story of me getting locked out and although he didn't seem thrilled to be helping me he did tell me to wait 10 minutes until he would be back with his key card. It was a long 10 minutes but we waited and sure enough he came back and let us in!

If that isn't a modern day version of the good samaritan, I don't know what is! Thank you dear man who helped us today and didn't leave us locked out any longer than we already were!! I hope someone helps you when you need it!!

My Playlist!

I know i am so far behind on pictures so don't worry (Aimee) they will be up soon. I am in the process of switching computers so when i get that all figured out I will be back on track. In the mean time I will share with you my new playlist. I am training myself to run a 5K in October and I know it doesn't seem like a big deal to most of you reading this but it is a HUGE deal to me. I have learned something about myself though.....my music totally manipulates me!! If i don't have the right music my feet just won't move!! Since I finally figured that out I realized I needed to make a running playlist to get me motivated. I have picked some songs to get me started (I am open to suggestions from all my amazing runner friends...and of course from my non runner friends too!). Here it is...

1. (Oh)Pretty Woman (The Van Halen version) just because i like the song and it has a good beat.
2. Come Together (Third Day)
3. Life is a Highway (Rascal Flatts version) ....Love this song and it is great for running!
4. Holding Out For a Hero (the workout version)...i find i start running really fast when this song comes on!
5. Long Day (Matchbox 20)...not only a great song but I used to listen to this album a lot in college and it reminds me of GREAT times
6. Real World (Matchbox 20)
7. 3AM (Matchbox 20)
8. Don't Stop Believing (Journey) ..I need a little pick me up about this time in my run and this song is great for that!
9. Only Wanna Be With You (Hootie and the Blowfish)...Again, love this song and saw my share of Hootie concerts back in the day!!
10. Tubthumping (The Hit Crew)...yes, you can laugh but the words "I get knocked down, but I get up again" do wonders when I want to stop and throw up from running.
11. Mmmmbop (Hanson)....even better memories!! ;)
12. Boston (Five Way Friday)...my favorite band ever!!
13. She Walks (Five Way Friday)....seriously, if i was ever stranded on an island and could only listen to one band for the rest of my life it would be them!
14. Astray (Five Way Friday)
15. Suspicious Minds (The King!)...great song!!
16. Summer of 69' (Bryan Adams)
17. I've Always Loved You (Third Day)...might be my favorite Third Day song
18. Livin On a Prayer (Bon Jovi)...if i am still running at this point it is only because I am livin on a prayer!!
19. Like a Child (Jars of Clay)....another great song with great youth ministry memories!!

so there ya have it...

Things Change....

Tonight marks the end of an era...well almost anyway. Over 9 years ago I became a youth minister. I had no idea what the job entailed and I am so glad I didn't because if i did there is no way I would have taken it. Most people think of a youth minister as "someone who hangs out with teenagers all day". Wow, if i have heard that once, i have heard that a thousand times. That could not be more far from the truth from what youth ministry is (pat yourself on the back if you are a youth minister, core member, etc. reading this and you just nodded your head because you have been told that too!).


I took the youth ministry job at Mary Our Queen 9 years ago and I will be honest, those are some of the best memories I will ever have! I wasn't much older than some of the teens, I was ON FIRE for my faith and could not wait to share it with the teens. My first week on the job was a week long beach retreat with 250 teens and i was in charge of 20 of them...nothing like jumping in head first! Those teens were amazing!! They made my job so easy!! Nothing like a week with 20 teenagers to really get to know them!! No one told me when i took the job as youth minister that I would love a group of teenagers so deeply. No one told me that I would develop relationships with them as a mentor and learn so much about what makes them tick. I POURED my heart and soul into that program because i loved them! I loved that so many of them would stop by after school and spend hours in my office just talking to me telling me about their day, their newest crushes at school, their upcoming tests they were stressing out about, what fight they just got into with their parents, etc. I loved that we would spend hours talking about our faith and why it is so awesome. I became friends with so many of their families and often went to their houses for dinners. It was hard to separate the job from life...it was all just one. And i loved it!


Of course, being as there is only one of me and there were lots of teens in the program it was hard. No one told me when i started as youth minister that because i developed these amazing relationships with these amazing teenagers that I would get middle of the night phone calls because some of them had no one else to call. I dealt with a lot the first few years of ministry. One teen was being abused by her dad, one teen was cutting herself because it felt better than the pain her parents were putting her through, several teens called me because they thought they were pregnant, and one sweet teen was diagnosed with Muscular Dystrophy. That's a big load! Of course there were always the little daily problems and if you don't know, to a teen there is no LITTLE problem...they are all HUGE! It is draining to take on such a load! I am not saying it isn't worth it, but it is draining!


I left Mary Our Queen not because I didn't love those teens (I was heartbroken to leave them) but because there were a lot of changes happening in the parish and i needed some stability. Afterall, I was newly married, buying a house, having some thyroid complications again, and my grandmother had just died. What i really needed was a break! I needed to recharge my energy but instead i jumped into another youth ministry program. This program I had to build from the ground up! And on top of that, a month after starting my new job at St Andrew's I found out I was pregnant! Youth Ministry was not top on my list anymore but what could i do? I stuck with it for 5 more years and developed more amazing realtionship with more amazing teens (and families)!

Well, My time as youth minister has come to an end. I am not exactly sure where God is calling me next but i know it isn't into full time ministry right now. I need that break! I need some time for myself and my family. I am going to miss so many things about youth ministry but most of all i will miss the teens!

Please keep me in your prayers as I find where I am supposed to go next. Please keep the teens at St Andrew's in your prayers as they transition youth ministers and please keep the new youth minister in your prayers as they transition too!

love,
Meghan

Day 4

Rockford was having a 5K race early Saturday morning to raise money for a little boy named Mitchell who was suffering from Muscular Dystrophy. There were 1,100 people running in the race and even more people who came to watch. In a town of 5,000 it was a big deal. We went to watch...

I have never seen Main Street filled with so many people!!

The winner of the whole race came in at just under 16 minutes...I couldn't believe it!!

Neil and Mary Blakeslee ran in race....

Neil and Dad grew up in Rockford together and have been friends their whole life....

After the race we headed over a block to the Farmers Market where all the local farmers sell their crops. There was everything from breads, fruits, vegetables, and the prettiest sunflowers i have ever seen!

On the way home we drove by the house my dad grew up in....

My grandma moved out of this house the summer Barrett was born and my dad lived there since he was born....

this is the garage behind the house and my grandfather built this garage!

One of my favorite pictures (and i need to dig through stuff and find it) is a picture of Alyssa and I sitting on this bench when we were about Noah's age. We were holding our little Annie dolls. I thought it would be fun to take a picture with my dad on the same bench 26 years later....

I think i would trade Atlanta living for small town Rockford living anyday!! We had a great trip and it was so great to see Grandma again!!

Michigan Trip...days 1,2, and 3...

This past week we went to Rockford, Michigan (one of my faorite places in all of the world). My 93 year old (almost 94 year old) grandmother was born there and has lived there (with all of her siblings) ALL of her life. I can't really explain Rockford to someone who has never been but to give you an idea it is a mixture between Bedford Falls (from the movie "It's A Wonderful Life") and Mayberry! My grandmother has lived within a 5 mile radius of where she lives now her whole life. How cool is that? My dad and his 2 brothers grew up in Rockford and what i love most is so many people that my dad knew as a kid still live there in the small town of 5,000. It is a slower pace of life and instead of people living to work like they do in Atlanta, people there work to live!! It is probably why people live past age 80 because the stress of life is much less!

It was Allen's first plane ride with Noah so they wanted to sit together on the plane. They spent most of the ride playing a miniature golf game on Allen's ipod.

We flew into Flint and drove 2 hours to Rockford...

Noah crashed on the ride to Rockford but we were all starving so we headed to The Corner Bar for some hotdogs. Dad was very excited for Allen and Aimee to try the famous hotdogs!

Noah slept through dinner and stayed alseep for the night!

Allen and Barrett enjoyed the dogs...

Grandma eating a dog...

Somehow I ended up with everyone's food in front of me...

The next day we woke up early because Dad wanted to take Allen around Rockford and show him all the sights...I love hearing my dad talk about this small town he grew up in. I love that when my dad talks about Rockford, you can hear the passion in his voice about the love for his hometown and memories of when he was a kid.

Rockford is so beautiful. I love the houses and stores....

Of course we had to take Allen to the famous Rockford Dam. One of my favoite stories is listening to my dad tell about the time that he and his friend, Steve Servas (who happens to be Rockford's judge) went slidding down the dam. It was illegal and they got caught but didn't get in trouble since Steve was there. What's funny is that i have heard the story a hundred times but for some reason always thought my dad was in his early 20's when it happened. I just found out this weekend my dad was my age when he did! Now I know where i get my wild side from!!!

We walked along the river on the path...it was so beautiful!!

How beautiflu is that??

Aimee wanted to take a picture of Noah next to this tree and as you know i never miss a good picture so i joined in the fun. Noah was getting annoyed with us taking so many pictures....so...

Barrett joined in the fun with his pretend camera which helped bring Noah's good mood back around...

Later that day we drove about 45 minutes to lake Michigan to see my dad's cousin, Patty, who lives on the lake. We picked up My dad's Aunt Shirley (Patty's mom) along the way so she could go with us. I will tell you what...I have decided if i ever win the lottery i am buying a house on Lake Michigan or one of the Great Lakes. It is soooooooo much better than the beach! Swimming in the frest water is amazing!! Grandma and Shirley enjoyed the sun...

While Patty, My dad, and Noah enjoyed the water.

Barrett and Aimee enjoyed the sun too...

The water was so cold at first but once you got in it felt really good!

Noah liked being pulled on the raft by Grandpa...

what a life...

Noah was a little fish...he was jumping in and under the water....

How beautiful is lake Michigan???

Barrett and Aimee walked up the pier...

The next morning we woke up early again because we thought it would be fun to take a canoe trip on the river. This picture is outside Grandma's place. I love this backyard, i used to play in this yard when i was Noah's age. I love that nothing has changed in 26 years!!

We didn't bring our camera in the canoe because we were afraid we might tip over. Barrett and Aimee had one canoe, Dad and Daine had one, and Noah, Allen, and I had one. We should have brought our camera because the only ones to tip over were Dad and Diane...

After our awesome canoe trip we were starving and tired so we headed back to The Corner bar for some hot dogs...

yum..........

We then headed to Robinette's, an apple orchard...

Noah found a wagon slide...

The apples were so good...

After Robinette's we went to this popcorn place that sold all kind of flavored popcorns. Noah liked the Blue cotton candy popcorn but i like the good old fashion carmel!

On the way home we visited my grandfather's grave. For some reason I had never been there before (or i was way too young to remember). My grandmother visits a few times a week and wateres the flowers on his grave (we moved them for the picture). My grandfather died in 1973 after 33 years of marriage to my grandmother...

We also went to another grave of a man who received the congressional medal of honor in WWII.

Later that night my dad's cousin, Tom made dinner for the family. My dad's Aunts and Uncles and cousins all came over so we could see everyone. Here's My grandma and her sister Aunt Elaine...

Uncle Chuck, Phyllis, and Aunt Shirley...

Doug, Kathy, and Tom...

Aimee, Barrett, and Allen...

what a group...

Noah was exhausted so he sat out on the porch watching a movie...

my Grandma and me...

The whole group (minus Noah who was not in a good mood and was hiding under Barrett)

The Aunts, Uncles, and cousins....

4 Generations...