Sweet Home Alabama...

where the skies are so blue...and the air is so humid...and the tea is so sweet...and family and friends are so near....

It was so good to be in Alabama for a long weekend, and I certainly covered a lot of ground and saw a lot of people I love. Thankfully, I was able to fly home this time (the eight hour drive leaves me utterly exhausted). My sweet college friend, Megan, picked me up at the airport in Birmingham. We spent some time catching up and then met (lifelong friend) Rachael for lunch. Rach was kind enough to drive from Auburn to pick me up, and after lunch we headed back to AU. I really felt somewhat nostalgic when we drove into downtown Auburn. I hadn't been there since before I got married (1.5 years ago), and I just have so many wonderful memories with precious people from my four years living in this little college town. It was good to be back, spend quality time with Rach, and see another close college friend, Marci. The next day, Judd (lifelong friend and practically brother) and I headed to Montgomery for the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner of our good friend Jake. Judd was a groomsmen in the wedding, and he took me as his date to the rehearsal since (girlfriend) Amanda was home in Texas. It was good to catch up with Judd and celebrate Jake and Sarah's wedding weekend. The wedding was beautiful and it was an absolute treat to spend time with (lifelong best friends) Rachael, Mallory,

Jake, and Judd. The five of us were best friends from high school.

Of course, it was also wonderful to spend time with "the madre" who made the trip from Jackson for the wedding.

After the wedding, I rode back to home-sweet-home Jackson, AL with Mom and Judd's mom. After one night in my bed at home and church at First Baptist the next morning, Mom, Dad, and I loaded up in the car again to head to Hattiesburg, MS. My Aunt Kevin married Perrin Lowry on her front porch, and I enjoyed more sweet fellowship with (grandparents) Papa and Grandy, aunts and uncles, and a few of the cousins. After the wedding we headed over to (other grandparent) Granddaddy's house for a quick visit. While I was there, Granddaddy insisted that I go through some of (late grandmother) Mama Grace's books and pick out some to add to my library. Mama Grace was an academic, a college English professor, and an avid reader. She collected books from all of her travels, and her library is absolutely enormous. I pilfered through her shelves and found a couple of my favorite classics (and others) to add to my collection. Here is my loot...

Several of these books have Mama Grace's name (Grace Smith) penciled across the front, and I love that I have inherited them. What a neat heirloom! I picked out a few more but had to leave them at home because I ran out of room in my suitcase. After visiting with G-daddy, the parentals and I headed back to Jackson for my last night at home. Mom was gracious enough to drive me to Birmingham today, and I caught my flight back to Lou with Whitney Alexander! It was a busy but fun trip home!

In other news...

While I was gone, Adam traded in his Honda Civic and got this....

It's a 2002 with only 55,000 miles and in excellent condition. Because Adam works at Carmax, he got to buy it at wholesale price, so we cut our car debt in half! Even though we will pay more for gas, we think it is a smart move to get out of our car payment quickly. Now we don't owe much at all. Thank you, Carmax!