Mudmaids

On our way back from St. Louis, JM and I stopped at my Aunt and Uncle's house near Chattanooga, TN for the day. They were the closest family to me while I was in school, so I spent most Sunday afternoons with them. JM got very close to them too when he'd come to visit me. I had some painting for Uncle Roy's workshop I had yet to finish, so I offered to finish my job in return for an antique window. I hope to restore and decorate with it.

JM left me in TN to stay with a few of my college roommates for the rest of the week and weekend. I enjoyed walking around campus, reading - currently "Three Cups of Tea" - on benches under trees and grabbing coffee with some old friends. I drank a lot of COFFEE! {Basically I pretended to be a college student again for a few days} And, I also got a chance to visit Dr. Moodley's class and get coffee with him after [my former adviser and professor]. It was really great to just talk about future plans! I really enjoyed being in the college atmosphere again... especially being in walking distance from almost everything. I felt at such a peace (probably because I didn't have a trillion assignments crawling down my back). I love Lee's campus because it changes every semester. There's always something new to look at.

I specifically stayed for the week to celebrate my dear friend Kyle's bachelorette weekend. My old roommates and I signed up for the Knoxville Marine Mud Run in honor of the upcoming wedding. We bought cheap dresses and gave Kyle a lovely wedding dress to wear for the occasion (calling ourselves the Mudmaids). This is the first time since being married that I've spent time with just girls. Yes, I missed my husband dearly, but I really enjoyed spending time with some amazing friends and godly women! We stayed up too late, laughed until we cried, danced and sang the night away, hiked the mountains, participated in the 5k mud run in our wedding attire and most of all prayed for *Kyle and Kahlin's* journey with their wedding just a month away.

What a lovely weekend. I was definitely ready to see my husband after 4 days without him and ready to be home after a week and a half of traveling. 

I flew home Sunday, Sept 11 and had plenty of time to ponder and pray over the day that changed our country so greatly 10 years ago. I was a freshman in chorus class as I watched the second tower get hit.