Holla Back At Ya Girl

Hello?
Is anyone still out there?

It's me, Mel.
Do you remember me?
Two dogs, two chickens, and an old house...

Is this ringing any bells?

I took an unplanned hiatus from blogging. A sabbatical, if you will.
I went to work at camp for the summer with every intention of blogging while I was there. That, however, was not realistic. My apologies.

So to catch you up on our summer and to reacquaint myself with my own blog, I give you...(drum roll)...

The Dark Summer Top 10:

1. Going back to work at Camp Desoto was amazing, as always. More on this later, but I spent the month of June teaching arts and crafts girls on the mountain and speaking on Sundays. David came up on the weekends...mountaintop romance...mmm hmmm.

2. When David wasn't at camp with me, he was in Fitzgerald working with my Daddy and hanging with my fam. I wasn't there...everybody missed me and cried all the time and told stories that began "Remember that time Mel..." Just kidding.



3. Our garden flourished this summer. Cucumbers abounded! Potatoes galore! Pepper-palooza! Nana, Mama, and I made amazing dill pickles and I made lots of pesto because our basil plants are huge! Recipes are coming your way.

4. We went to the beach with David's family for a week. We laid on the beach, swam in the ocean, got sunburns, and watched a lot of TLC. It was awesome. I, unfortunately, used aerosol spray sunscreen and came home with some pretty weird tan lines. I have streaks and spots and lines everywhere. My 16 year-old-self (who meticulously turned over on her towel every 30 minutes to have a perfectly even tan) would be extremely disappointed in me. 16 year old me was very tan conscious. 27 year old me falls asleep when she sits still too long.

5. We went to see Larry Crowne at the movie theater. We ate popcorn and Butterfinger bites. Really good night. It doesn't get better than Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks for my money.

6. We ate at our favorite restaurant, Canyon Grill, on one of our dates when Dave came to visit me on the mountain. It is the absolute best food anywhere...by far our favorite place to eat.

7. David and his Dad and sister, Amy ran a Father's Day Race in Atlanta. I wasn't there, but I heard they were all super fast.

8. David rediscovered the joys of Cherry Coke.

9. We went to a Braves game or two and tomahawk-chopped our hearts out. Braves games, hot dogs, and Cracker Jacks are always top ten material in my book.We just went to a game last night with some peeps...mucho fun-o.

10. And finally, we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary this summer. Can you believe that? I know! It feels like we've been married forever and like we just got married. Both. At the same time. Being married is the best.

I missed you guys lots. I'm glad to be back. My family came to our house today for what I thought was a friendly visit...it was evidently a blogging intervention. They said I had to return to blogging. They said that people were sick of seeing the chickens. My Dad kept saying "We KNOW what's behind your gardenia bushes...we're all ready to move on!" I promised them I would blog tonight.

I'm back for good. Pinky promise.
mel