i loved flying over the clouds, looking down at the snake-like rivers, patches of farmland, and streams of cars that looked more like ants.
then as the light faded and the time grew later we began to see the city lights. atlanta. we were almost there.
i loved flying. i knew i liked traveling. i like going away, taking a break from the normal swing of things, but only for short periods of time. i wouldn't like to be away from home for very long, especially without my family. so anyways, first flight, good flight.
after taking groom to macon, we found the car with the help of a little map uncle ray drew for us, enjoyed some homemade peanut butter cookies aunt jeannie left for us, and made our way to mema's. she was waiting up for us and we talked til almost 2 am before calling it a night. i enjoyed having the upstairs room to myself, complete with a queen size bed. i love sharing with chels, but a break is nice too : )
mema's room is filled with jewelry boxes and drawers
a picture of mema when she was younger
the next morning we slept in and then enjoyed a country breakfast prepared with love by mema. she lives to serve other people food. it gives her such joy to whip up something delicious and she always finds little ways to add a touch of something pretty. her table is always set and rarely goes without a centerpiece.
so after breakfast, we made our way into milledgville, the place my mom grew up in and where most of her siblings and her mom, nanny, lives. we first stopped by ryal's bakery, the best bakery in the world, to grab some of nanny's favorite sweets.
the party cookies and petit fours are the best so we stocked up on those. then we made our way over to nanny's house to visit with her. we sat around the kitchen table catching up and chatting with uncle jeff. it was so good to see nanny. since papa passed away last april, i've thought about her so much more. her lifelong friend and love is no longer here on earth with her. what a tough thing to go through. it's sometimes hard to visit, knowing it will make me sad, but at the same time i'm so glad for every opportunity i get to visit with her. before long though, the visit ended.
next we ran by aunt donna's to see her but she wasn't home, so we said hello to uncle ray then made our way to walmart. mema needed a new dvd player and i wanted a hairdryer : ) so after walmart and a delish lunch at chili's we headed back over to gray. we made a quick stop at miss dottie's, mema's favorite place, picked out a birthday present for mom, and then drove home.
back at mema's, we ended the day with a bbq dinner and the king's speech it was a great day!
friday morning we took it slow around the house, my dad fished some. and i took some pictures...
mema's shed and tools
grandaddy used to pull us behind the riding mower in this little trailer. i loved bumping along through the woods with my sisters and tyler
mema's always had a little grape vineyard in her yard
the old oak tree in her back yard that used to provide a shady roof for our playhouse and held onto the swings we loved to fly in
her country house, built by my grandpa, uncle ed, and my dad. home to many sweet memories of mine
this heart shaped vine has grown on the chimney for as long as i can remember.
this bird feeder is just one of many in mema's yard. she loves, loves, loves birds
in the afternoon tyler stopped by and we all headed into s&s for dinner. it's our favorite restaurant in ga. delicious food. cafeteria style, though not cafeteria quality. aunt jeannie, uncle ray, matt, gina, anna kate, gina's parents, and the rest of us enjoyed dinner and then headed to the waters for dessert. it was fun spending time just talking with them.
mema cracked us up as she told jeannie that a little ornate container on her coffe table was so ugly. she told her it looked like an urn. it was so unlike mema to so boldly give an unkind opinion. haha it made us all laugh though. the best part is that the container came from mema's brother's house.
tyler spent the night with us back at mema's. the next morning my dad and i got up and headed back into milledgville. we visited furniture city, my grandpas's furniture store. we talked for a while with uncle david, who loves talking about sports, his dogs, and other fun stuff. it was good seeing him. we then went downtown and walked around. looking at some of the old houses that remain there
then we snuck across the lawn in front of the old governor's mansion.
the lawn was raised up above street level. just a unique touch
pretty flowers lining fence
downtown is filled with pretty buildings
after snapping a quick pic, we continued on
we strolled past the church my parents were married in
and then we made our way to the college they attended
considering it was almost 95 degrees and humid out this fountain looked so refreshing
i loved how every little corner was landscaped
and such homey details, like rockers on the front porch of a classroom building
pretty in pink, oak leaf hydrangeas
after walking around the school, we passed by the old theater where my dad got saved
we took a quick stop at the old home of flannery o'connor
there was the coolest old water tower in the backyard
and before visiting nanny, we took a couple minutes to quietly walk over to papa's grave site
it was so good to visit with nanny again. we even took some time to read some psalms with her and uncle jeff, quite an unusual experience to share with uncle jeff, the comedian of the family. with promises of visiting again later in the summer, we had to say goodbye
i so loved spending the day with my dad. just taking our time together having fun. that night, everyone came over for dinner and it was good to see them all one more time. we watched seven years in tibet later on with mema, which was on tv. the next morning was sad knowing we'd have to say goodbye in a few short hours. i asked mema about some of her jewelry, which she ended up giving me.
we took a few pictures and then headed into macon to enjoy s&s one more time with gigi and ray
after saying goodbye and riding the groom we found ourselves sitting and waiting at our gate. it was pretty watching the sun set
so glad we flew at night, cause i so loved going over the city lights!
and though i didn't get any pictures, we watched lightning out the window on our flight home. my dad loves stuff like that, and so do i.
i'm so grateful for the time i had in ga, visiting with family, spending time with my dad, and taking a few days to just slow down. i studied lots of scripture and finished persuasion and northanger abbey while there. it was a good end to my 2 week summer.
