Tennesseans Take Florida

This past weekend my Tennessee high school friends arranged a fun getaway in Grayton Beach, FL. The 5 of them drove from lovely Nashville, TN while I drove a brief 4 hours to the beautiful sandy white beaches. I had never been to Grayton Beach before and thought it would be a very touristy scene being that it was so close to Destin. Fortunately, it was much much better, the area was very quiet and relaxed with private beaches and small locally owned shops and restaurants.
Thursday we arrived at our little condo on the water and after much discussion about who would sleep where, I volunteered to sleep TOP BUNK! Of course being the shortest one of the group, this was a small challenge every night and morning getting in and out of (without a ladder!). Regardless, I enjoyed my little nook and glad I could entertain everyone with my child-like technique of getting in and out. :)
Unfortunately, Friday was a gloomy rainy day but it was great to sit around in our pj's, drinking coffee, eating birthday cake and catching up on lost time.
Saturday the sun finally decided to make an appearance and realizing that we had lost an entire beach day, we knew it was our last day to clean out the fridge.....3 12 Packs of beer, Sangria, and Boozie Bears had to be consumed! After 8 hours on the beach, the coolers were empty. Mission. Accomplished! For dinner we all got gussied up and headed to Red Bar. The girls had been talking about this place since we arrived on Thursday and I'm glad they took me! It was a fun place for seafood and amazing mojitos! Not only did I get an awesome crab cake dinner but my brother-in-law who had been in Destin for the weekend drove over and surprised us! It definitely made my night and I couldn't ask for a better brother. It was sad to see him leave however, knowing that I wouldn't see him or my sister, and their two baby girls for a while since they will be moving to Hawaii in just a few weeks.
The visit put a great ending to our special getaway weekend. I'm so lucky to have such great friends who even though I don't see very often, always seem to pick up right where we left off. I look forward to many more girls' weekends in the future with these special ladies!

                             

                                             

Charleston Nugget to the Rescue!

Last week my sister-in-law called and had a serious infection in her hand so I thought it was necessary to come to her rescue! (any excuse to spend time with my favorite little nephews!) Luckily, she was out of the hospital when I arrived but was in desperate need of some sleep so I was there at her beck-in-call. Now, I knew those little boys were busy bodies but actually being there and having non stop action will quickly make you realize just how old you are!!
One of my favorite parts of the week was prayer time. Hearing all the things the boys are thankful for (like their dog Summer who mistakenly did not get let out of her kennel an hour after we had all gotten home...whoops! Sorry Summer!) I also really enjoyed reading to them. Green Eggs and Ham is one of their favorite books right now and if you asked me to recite the entire book by memory, I probably could--not would not forget all those rhyming words...not with a box not with a fox not in a house not with a mouse...

I'm so glad I was able to be there to help Laura in her time of need. I couldn't ask for a better family!

Since I was already in town, you know I had to also see my two favorite nieces ;) who will in just a few weeks be little Hawaiian girls. So, here are some extra cute pictures from my week in Charleston

Xoxo
Nenna