Missing...

Today was an interesting day. Well, it actually started last night when I got home from work (I worked late) and Jenna told me that her filling had fallen out. Sure enough Steve confirmed that she had a hole in her little tooth. So, I left a message with the dentist's office to call me first thing this morning and let me know when we could come in. Since we are leaving on Sunday, it would have to be before Friday.

I had just dropped Jenna off at camp today when the dentist's office called. The dentist was going to be off tomorrow and Friday, so today was the day. In fact, they wanted us to come in right then so that it would be easier to work us in. So, I turned around and picked Jenna back up from camp and headed to their office. We waited about 45 minutes when they finally got us in. They looked at the tooth and said it was just the edge of the filling that had fallen off and they could just sand down the edge. BUT. Her two bottom permanent teeth were already coming in behind the baby teeth and those weren't even loose. In fact, I had an appointment scheduled for after vacation to have them looked at. But the dentist thought they should come on out.

They prepped her with some numbing shots and nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and I went to the waiting room. A few minutes later, they told me that while sanding the edge of the filling, the whole thing popped out and they were going to have to replace the whole thing.

All that to say, I have a very snaggle toothed little girl! She was so excited to have these teeth out and wasn't even scared that they were having to be pulled. And of course, she's looking forward to her first visit from the tooth fairy tonight. Oddly enough, her cousin Garrett (just 2 weeks older than her) had to have the exact same thing done just a few months ago. Something in the bloodline I guess! :)

Now, while all this craziness was going on, I got a call from my co-worker stating that a transformer blew at the office early this morning and there was no electricity, more importantly, no A/C at the office and they'd closed our building. Normally, this would excite me to no end, but I have a BUNCH of stuff that HAS to get done before I leave on Friday. So, I went ahead and went in after our dentist visit and worked. They got the power back up shortly after 10am so I had plenty of time to work and really accomplished alot. So, that's the excitement of my day. PHEW!

Hodge Podge of Things...

I haven't really spent much time on my blog lately, so this one is going to be a bit long and just a hodge podge of things I want to talk about.

First, let's get the third thing I learned out of the way...

3. What I do every day DOES make a difference: Before, when there was a need for someone to take a meal, I'd volunteer but I'd never think much about it or put much effort into it. But in the 3 weeks after Steve got out of the hospital and folks would bring meals, I realized what a big deal that is. Each and every person that would come to us, I'd want to hug them and tell them how much this meal they prepared would help us out. How much more important to others are the little things I do every day? I just have to remember that I never know the impact of even the little things I do on others. Gives me quite a bit of food for thought as I go throughout my days.

OK, now for some beach pictures and a rundown. First of all, if you go to Carrie's blog, she's got a really good summary from her perspective as well. But we both agree, we had a GREAT time! The girls got along...well, they got along like true sisters. When it was play time, they were best friends, but when it was quiet time and they were tired...they got on each other's nerves. But all in all, they were the best girls and so darn cute. Check 'em out!
We arrived right on time. Can't complain about Delta this time. Left on time and arrived on time during all flights. Getting on the plane in Nashville, the flight attendant asked if Jenna would like to meet the pilots. They were so wonderful.

Carrie picked us up in her husband's convertible. I think Jenna was way more excited about riding in a "car without a top" than the trip itself! We did run into quite a bit of traffic on the way to the beach, but all in all, the trip there was fine. Both full days we were at the beach, we did the beach the first part of the day, eat lunch in the room and then the second part of the day at the pool. I am amazed at how well Jenna can swim. She's been in the water since she was 9 months old and taken swimming lessons every year since, but I guess I've never really seen her in action. Check this little fishy out...

The girls were very sad when they dropped us off at the airport. But in reality, I think Jenna was glad to get home to her daddy and I think Sami was glad to get home to her daddy and little brother. Carrie and I are already trying to think about where 1/2 way is for our next trip!

OK, what else? Going backwards, we had July 4 and Steve's birthday. We spent some time down in Pegram with Deanne. Here is a pic or two from that...

Right now, we are just preparing to go on our cruise. I'm so thankful that we had this planned almost a year ago and paid off before this whole hip surgery. And speaking of that, Steve is still recovering. I think the biggest hurdle we've had to overcome is our idea that this would be a quick recovery like the kidney stones. He's about 7 1/2 weeks out from surgery and he's still experiencing a significant amount of pain, some swelling and of course, never far from his cane. They are saying about 3 months he will start seeing some glimpses of life before the surgery. It might be up to a year for him to be completely pain free and back to "normal" if we can even remember what that is by then!

I guess I'll leave you with a little something I wanted to share from our Sunday School lesson this morning. Our teacher, Rian, was talking about as a kid, remembering making those diorama's where you make miniature worlds with people in them etc. He said he remembered making one with a sugar cube igloo in which he put little penguins and eskimos etc. And he asked us to imagine we had made a diorama and then could choose to shrink ourselves down to that size...and actually enter into the world of the diorama that we had ourselves created (stay with me here). And then imagine when we got into the world that we created, that the penguins (or people...whatever you put into your diorama) were mean to us. They taunted us and told us that they didn't believe we were the one that made the diorama. How would we immediately make ourselves life-size again to just prove how big we were and that we were the ultimate creator of this world that these little things live in. I know it's a stretch to think about, but just imagine it for a moment. You made this little mini-world with your hands...put all the pieces together just so...and then...you liked what you made so much that you shrunk yourself down to get in it. And when you did, you got nothing but disbelief, disrespect and just plain ole' meanness. To these little things that you created!

But isn't that just what God did? He made this world with His own hands. He gave to us all the things to make our lives just so. And then...because He loved what He made so much, He came down into the world that He created. And all He got was disbelief, disrespect and more than just meanness. The creation that He so lovingly made turned their back on Him and then they crucified Him. And don't you imagine while He was on the cross listening to the taunts of "You bragged that you could tear down the Temple and then rebuild it in three days—so show us your stuff! Save yourself! If you're really God's Son, come down from that cross!" (Luke 27:40 The Message) that He might have wanted to say, "OK, that's it! It's time I show you who I really am?!" Wouldn't we?! Faced with what He was faced with, wouldn't we want to prove that we really were creator. I would. I would have brought myself down off that cross and called to my side a whole army of angels to defend me.

But He didn't.

In His loving mercy, He didn't.

And praise Him for that.

Things I've Learned...

The second thing...

2. I'm not as nice as I think I am: I always thought I was a pretty nice person. Until I had many people, many strangers, be extremely nice to me. I have never experienced the kindness of strangers until Steve's fundraiser breakfast. The Applebees where we had the breakfast was literally full of people, most of them folks we've never met before and yet all there to help us. Prior to this, I would not have considered helping a total stranger unless there was some type of connection.

Beach Fun

Just wanted to let everyone know that we arrived yesterday afternoon at Virginia Beach! We are so excited to be here. The girls (both sets!) are getting along well and having fun. You know a true friend when you can not see each other for 15 years and then meet up like you've never been apart. :)

We went to the beach first thing this morning and then we came in to eat lunch and we are about to head to the pool. You can check out Carrie's blog to see a video of the girls. Click here.

OK...OK...

Well, I've been promising a post for while about things I learned through all the stuff we've been through this summer. While I had jotted down a few thoughts on paper, it seems to be taking me alot of time to elaborate on them. I figured if I don't do something, no one will care about what I learned and it will be a mini-novel that no one will have time to read.

So, I decided every few days, I'll give a quick update and then post one of the things I've learned. And without further ado:

I have spent a while mulling over this post and know I have promised it for quite some time, so here it is:

10 Things I've Learned This Summer

(more specifically during Steve's stay in the hospital and recovery from hip surgery)

1. Humility: There's no way you can be taken care of the way we were and not be consantly humbled. I have tried to think of ways to adequately thank everyone and have come to the conclusion that there are just no words to do that.

I know it's been a while since I've posted and I apologize to my readers.


Life has kept the Taylors busy lately! Let's see...last week, thanks to my good friends Leigh Ann and Jamie, Jenna was able to attend her very first Vacation Bible School...BBC style! Those of you who go to BBC, know what I mean when I say "BBC style". For those that don't, let me explain...

1,582 kids enrolled to particpate in VBS this year. Did you do a double-take? That's fifteen hundred children! Attendance averaged about 1,300 a day. There were over 500 volunteers (Leigh Ann and Jamie included) that made this a success. And about 40 decisions made by children. Friday night was the big finale program and I've never been so proud to be part of the church as I was then. I'm just so blessed to be smack dab (as my mother would say) in the middle of where God is so obviously working. AWESOME!

The big thing going on with me is regarding my health. Sort of. Some of you may remember that last year about this time, I was experiencing severe itching on my feet which I attributed to some sort of fungus picked up in Thailand. We'll this year it's back with a vengence, and after several rather frustrating visits with the dermatologist, I think I (with some help from my mentor and friend, Sherri) have self-diagnosed myself with a type of eczema called dyshidrotic dermititis. It's not contagious, but it's making me miserable with the itching. It's now on my hands as well and while I'm on and using a multitude of medications, it's waking me up several times at night, which is no fun. I have an appointment with my primary care physician on Tuesday morning at 7:30, so hopefully I'll have even more information then. For the most part this is exacerbated by stress and is triggered by some allergen. My problem is that I don't know what I'm allergic to, so I'm seeing a visit to the allergist in my future. I just want the itching to stop. Right now, my feet are itching and I have to pause my typing to scratch my hands. If you want to see pretty much what I'm going through, just click here.

Steve celebrated a birthday on July 4. We spent the first part of the holiday with Steve's sister as is our tradition. Then we came home, rested and cooked out with our friends the Millsaps. We just sat on the deck and played card games and watched the neighborhood fireworks. It was so much fun!

I guess that's about it. This Friday, Jenna and I leave (at the crack of!) to go to Richmond to visit my friend Carrie and her daughter Sami. We are going to spend a long weekend on the beach as just a girls weekend. I so need it. I'm just praying that we get the itching under control so it doesn't ruin my trip. Now that the weekend is closer, I'm really starting to get excited!

Well, that's it for now. I have to go fold clothes!