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I'm in Charlotte this week for a class I'm taking... and I'm just thankful that I'm able to stay with Karrie Elliot's family. I've just had the best time with her mom and cousins (she's been working and so we keep missing each other).

Thankful for this week... study time. I got lost today when  the instructor started getting into the nitty gritty of muni bonds. Sound like fun? :)

Thankful for a brain and that God is faithful... "Faithful is He who has called you, and HE shall surely do it."

I have an awesome God.

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Happy Memorial Day!!!!

:)

(thankful... it was a great day!)

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I WENT TO THE COCA COLA 600 TODAY THANKS TO ROSS AND BRIENT... and it was SO much fun! My dad sent a text that said... "My redneck daughter. Dad."

I think it makes him proud that I would attend such an event and LOVE it! ;)

Seriously though, I've been dying to go to a Nascar race for a LONG time, and I'm so thankful I had this opportunity. Ross hooked us up with some incredible tickets and we just had the best time. I learned a lot about racing (considering I didn't know much before the race...).... and I thought I'd share some interesting facts with you.

1. You have to get to the race early... there are 15 different ways to get there, and usually 14 of those routes take 2 hours and 1 takes 30 minutes. We took the 1/15 30 minute route and got there REALLY quickly. Great driving skills, guys!

2. The more you weight the less you wear. (dress code motto... atleast that's what Katie warned me about and it was confirmed on Sunday)

3. Guys are supposed to have 15 tattoos and aren't supposed to wear shirts (and a beer belly makes the  "look" even more attractive... atleast that's what people think...)

4. Everybody hates Jeff Gordon because he's a "pretty boy" (which in the terms of NASCAR fans this means that he fixes his hair and wears nice clothes.... hmmm)

5. Everybody LOVES Dale Earnhardt, Jr. He hasn't won in 3 years. Everybody was very depressed as they left because he ran out of gas on the last tenth of a mile...

6. Kevin Vandam is not a race car driver. He is a professional fisherman. (This is who I thought I was pulling for until the drive over to the race when we looked him up to find his number and realized he was a professional fisherman)

7. You go to the race for the wrecks and the fights. And girls fight more than guys. 

8. You will definitely get beer on your neck. I did. It just happens. Thanks guy sitting behind me!

9. WOW... it's SOOOOOOOOOOOOO loud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wear ear plugs and make sure that you learn to read lips before going!

10. Curly fries are really hard to find.

11. There is a reason that people in America are fat. Turkey legs at 11:30 at night... washed down by a big coke or beer... I mean, come on people! Let's think about this one!!!

12. It was kinda fun.... ok REALLY fun! Awesome experience and I'd definitely go again in a heart beat. 

Corn hole.... MUST!

Brient playing cornhole with a guy who was randomly tailgating beside us. notice the apparel. Told you.

Ross, Brient and me.... about to go in! THIS IS REAL!!!!

They had an awesome pre-race show in honor of Memorial Day... it was awesome! Phantom Bomber...
it was CRAZY because you couldn't hear it until it was past the stadium. Incredible!

Oh oh oh oh... first fight of the night!!!! Come on big mama!!!

I think I would get dizzy driving in circles.... over and over and over and over....

This was Brient's favorite car. And Katie McLeod's apparently. It's kinda cute...

Thanks for a FUN TIME, Ross!!!

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Thankful for my friends...

Started the day off with the (new) Saturday morning run/kayak. Today was a lot of fun because we added a few to the group! It's always fun to take new people out kayaking who have never been... and it's SO nice to have people to run with!!

Then enjoyed a nice, relaxed afternoon... AH!

And ended the day with a little get together at the house. Had a few friends over and just had a blast thanks to Rachel and Bryan Burton for letting us borrow their wii games. :)

I thank the Lord for fun Saturdays!

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Thankful today for a FUN night with Brient, Carrie, Dan and Little D. BBQ and Rodeo :)... how much more fun can you have? (Other than the fact that the clown needs to retire. He isn't funny. I wish somebody would tell him!)

:)

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We have really been missing Benton around here, so in order to keep him close we've been eating lots of meals in honor of him. :)

Last night Stephanie Richardson and I decided to make dinner in honor of Benton. We ate mac'n'cheese and corn dogs, and of course had to eat off of Thomas plates and bowls. :) (Not to mention that we even SAT at the little kiddo table!! It was tough getting down and back up but WELL worth it....)

Ready for the feast!

Nothing healthier than Mac'n'cheese and Corn Dogs!!!

The only redeeming element of this meal was our water...
(the salad was really wilted and after three bites I just
couldn't eat any more!)

This morning we lit a candle in honor of Benton as Daniel ate 3 BOWLS OF LIFE CEREAL! He wanted to eat plenty for himself AND for Benton...

Daniel really liked the idea of lighting a candle in honor of Benton. He even talked about Benton to the candle...

Tonight we were supposed to play tennis with friends in Clemson, but we had terrible storms move through. Caleb had driven from Anderson so he came on over for dinner. He wanted to enjoy a nice meal in honor of Benton... so out come the plates, bowls and juice cups... mac'n'cheese and this time a peach. :)

BENTON, we miss you!!!! (and the rest of y'all out there!)

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Thankful for my sweet friend Tori Hine. Today I had the privilege of going to her riding lesson and taking some pictures of her and some of her favorite horses. I was able to meet KK (which is the horse she is riding in all of these pictures) which was so much fun! Tori did a GREAT job during her lesson and I was very impressed at her ability to do the jumps. We had a great time feeding all of the horses "treats" (carrots) after her lesson, and then stopped to get a treat of our own at the gas station... Code Red Mountain Dew and Whoppers. Oh to be young again.... :)

Tori spent alot of time brushing KK and getting her all ready for her
photoshoot.

She even braided her mane!

Needs to brush those teeth!

Great Job, Tori!!

Thankful for this sweet girl and her family... we love the Hines!

175/365

Drowning our sorrows with Milky Ways... (And might I add that Little D came and grabbed my 1/2 FULL  Dr. Pepper, disappeared, and about 20 minutes later brought me an empty bottle... before I realized it! That boy.....)

Thankful for this little guy and his ability to keep spirits up here in Clemson. We will miss Rach, Benton and Kathryn (and Matt) but are SO SO excited about their move and what God has planned for their lives out in Arizona.

All I know is that they better be prepared for many EVENTFUL family visits to Arizona! :)

174/365

We've spent A LOT of time at Chick-fil-A, and wanted to go on a few more trips with Benton before he moves to Arizona. (We are pretending that he is moving with Matt and Rach in case one of them reads this blog. Don't want them to get wind that we're locking Benton up at Gigi's and Bopa's and we're not letting him move...) :)

Daniel used to be scared of she SCHLIDE... but now he loves it and you can hardly get him to stop!

This is SO TRUE.

Auntie Alli: "Want to go to Chick-fil-A?"
Benton: "Yes! Fwench fwy, chicken, car."
(Car because there is a little car they climb in on the playground...)
I love these boys! What fun memories we've made!

BEST part about this trip.... I didn't realize Benton was in his BOXERS. SO, all of those looks from people that I thought were because the boys were SO CUTE were really looks from people who were disgusted that I would bring "my child" (Because they always think I'm the mom when I take them to Chick-fil-A :)) to a restaurant in boxers. Heaven forbid! :)

Thankful!

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Rachel Sute has been visiting and today we spent the afternoon out on the kayaks. What a GORGEOUS day in Clemson, SC... and I'm so thankful Rach could be here!

172/365

Thankful for today. So many great things took place from early morning run and kayak to the ladies tea at church to a fun party in Greenville at Jules' apartment. And the best part is I only studied about 5 minutes (then I took a nap instead). :)

Thankful for a restful (well, eventful but FUN) day, and thankful that my head is about to hit the pillow.

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I'm pretty pumped... I get to wash my hair in an hour.

I did a Keratin Treatment on Tuesday and couldn't wash my hair for 72 HOURS! I've been going crazy. I have come to a new appreciation for dry shampoo. :)

After my hair-washing session, I'm going to dinner at Just More BBQ, then out on the kayaks with my best friend Sarah Louise and the one and only Brad Glenn. Great day of studying (for which I'm VERY thankful), and fun night ahead. God has blessed me A LOT!

Now... to wash this hair...

170/365

Pwwwaaahahaha... Sarah backed into a ditch! Thanks to our brave hero BRAD for coming to pull us out! :)

Oops... while backing out of Carrie and Dan's driveway Sarah realized there was a ditch. She is bright.
:)

Thanks to BRAD for saving the day... he always does!

Oops... Rach was pretty concerned about the vehicle as you can tell!

Funny end to the day. Can't but help make you laugh.

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They love to do anything we do... These boys are just TOO much fun!!!

ROW... Row... row... (too bad we are sitting on concrete!)

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Happy Graduation, Sara Margaret!


My sweet cousin graduated from Clemson University last week, so we decided to have a little girls night out to celebrate. We went downtown Greenville to the cutest little cupcake shop- Chocolate Moose, and then we hit up the "ladies night special" at Rio Grille (A Brazilian steak house).

Too many choices and ALL so delicious!!

"Call Jo-el Bieber..." (*if you have grown up around here you've definitely
heard this commercial... too funny)

Green means GO!

Filling up the plate... SO good! All you can eat... 10 different types of meat... GOOD stuff!

Red means STOP. Sarah was full... monumental occasion. Doesn't happen often. :)

Thankful for Sara Margaret and proud of her great accomplishment! And thankful to spend this evening with three of my best friends!!

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Graduation day pictures... so much fun!

Thankful for this day in so many ways, and those of you who know me know what I mean. :) God is so good and is taking us all through these milestones to build us and grow us to be more prepared for the work He has called us to do. Awesome.

Matthew is secretly in the secret service.
Just throwing that out there.

Congrats Jon! (and Matt who is not pictured above)

Jon is so cool that we had to fight off the masses of people...
we did our job well.

For some reason we all felt so protective of Jon this day.

Thankful for her :)

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Matt drove away in the BIG truck today... gonna miss him so much! What he doesn't realize is that the doors to this house lock and I have the key... Rach, Benton and Kathryn aren't going anywhere! :)

Thankful for Matt and the encouragement he has been to me since the first day I met him (when he attempted to steal my sister... 3 times... finally won her over! ;)). Love you, Matt... and Rach, and Benton and Kathryn. :)

They LOVED the truck... the poor neighbors all got to hear the horn multiple times. :) We love our neighbors...
they are all like family to us!

I can hear Benton and Daniel now...
"Bundrick... truck!"

Daniel wanted to drive "Bundrick" in the big yellow truck. He loves
Mr. Bundrick- and all of the Bundricks! We are so thankful for that family!