Trip to Tennessee

Wow, I haven't updated in a long time!  Things have been pretty busy lately.  On Saturday, February 12, I drove to Dayton, TN, to visit my friends at Bryan College for a week.  I made a pit stop in Knoxville for a short visit with my friend Michael, then completed my journey after a total of about 9.5 hours.  It was a long day, but God helped me stay awake pretty well for the whole trip.  I spent the first few nights at the Tromanhausers' (where I lived last year), then moved down to the new town houses on campus to stay with my friends Alicia and Stacia for the rest of the week.

Here's a rough break-down of my week:

Sunday ~ Attended Westminister Presbyterian Church and saw all my friends there, had lunch back at the Tromanhausers' with the girls who are renting rooms there this year, enjoyed a relaxed afternoon, and went swing dancing on campus that evening (ohhhhhh, how I've missed the chance to go swing dancing every week!).

Monday ~ Visited my former film professor Chris Clark, sat in on chorale practice, visited with some friends in the cafeteria, had dinner with the girls at the Tromanhausers', and watched "Independence Day" for the first time (we figured that an action film would be an appropriate way to celebrate Valentine's Day).

Tuesday ~ Sat in on Mr. Clark's photography class, visited with a friend working in the Alumni office, had lunch with a friend from chorale, went ballroom dancing with the group of friends pictured below (minus the girl on the left, whom we met that night), then moved down to the apartments at about 11:00 pm.

Wednesday ~ Had lunch with the Clarks and met their new baby, then drove to Chattanooga and visited with my friend Eve for the afternoon (who graduated with my class in '09).

Thursday ~ Enjoyed the beautiful weather with Erin, Rob, and Steve while munchin' on some yummy triple fudge brownies I had just taken out of the oven, then spent a quiet evening in the apartments while the girls were in rehearsal for their Showcase. 

Friday ~ Had lunch with a friend, visited with my former theater professor, Mr. B., briefly chatted with another professor, Dr. H., and finally got to see the long-awaited, highly-anticipated, SENIOR SHOWCASE!!!  My friends Alicia, Stacia, Emily, and Jason (the latter two are newlyweds, by the way!), did a fantastic job performing songs from a wide variety of Broadway shows.  It was very entertaining!

Saturday ~ Spent the afternoon with my friend Jenni, who was house-sitting for a couple who are part of a yacht club!  Ohhhhh, how I love the water...and sailboats!  It would be so fun to belong to such a place.  :-)  Then I returned to Dayton just in time for the second and final performance of the Senior Showcase.

Sunday ~ Drove most of the way home, and stopped to spend the night with my dear friend, Stephanie.  It was wonderful to visit with her and her husband Joshua, and their two little children, Gideon and Tirzah.  I was delighted to meet 3-week-old Tirzah for the first time!  My maternal heart thrilled at the feel of holding such a little one in my arms.  And isn't she just the cutest little girl you've ever seen???  :-)

Monday ~ Enjoyed the incredibly warm weather by walking around the property with Stephanie, Gideon, and Tirzah.  I hadn't noticed this johnny house across the creek before...

Monday afternoon I drove home.  And that, my friends, is a brief accounting of what I've been doing during my absence from the land of blogging.  Stephen is very glad I'm home, since he had to carry the full weight of caring for the puppies while I was gone.  We've bought a second crate and separated them into our respective rooms, and that is going surprisingly well.  The Lord has really blessed us!

Also, Stephen apparently got the puppies on a new sleep schedule - 8:30 pm to 6:30 am.  After such an exhausting week, I wasn't quite thrilled about starting to get up so much earlier than I would like, but perhaps it's God's way of getting me on the sleeping schedule that I have desired for myself all along, but haven't been disciplined enough to start following.  My biggest problem is getting myself to go to bed early enough, since I love the quiet evenings after my family goes to bed, and that's usually when I do most of my writing (whenever I'm working on a story, which isn't all the time).

Speaking of sleep, it's high time I went to bed.  The puppies will be waking up in just over seven hours (if they don't get me up at 4 am, like they did last night).  I hope everyone is doing well!  May the Lord richly bless each one of you!