Yesterday's City of Today, because Tomorrow is Soon.

Sometimes it seems like we've never left Maryland.

Jamie stopped through last night on his way back to Maryland (I know it was just for the food, but I like to think it's because he misses us). We then felt the need to take him to Southpoint mall, the mecca of all things Mall-esque. $9.99 cds at FYE, a quick run through Urban Outfitters where I proclaimed myself entirely too uncool to be even thinking about shopping there, and a CookOut run were all on the menu for the evenings adventures. We tried to go see Tarantino's new film, but alas, it's not out for another two Fridays (epic fail.)

Then today, the Thomas Clan (and Libby!) stopped through Burlington for a Steak N Shake lunch hour/dog walking. It was a shame Matt had to work, those Frisco Melts never disappoint! It was good to see them, all tan and beachy while I, in my pale working-in-an-office-all-summer skin turned green with envy. Come to think of it, both Lassahn kids looked pathetically Casper-ish next to the Thomas'. People probably thought we were sick with disease or something. But I digress.

Tomorrow promises to be equally as exciting as Jason and Jacy (and Selah!) are coming to see us on their own personal East Coast Tour of Williamsburg/Burlington/Sparta. Matt has already planned out our eating stops of All Things Greasy and Delicious. Nevermind that delicious spinach lasagna that I had planned :)

Work continues to be amazing. The new project is getting something like this built by the end of the year. This is going to take some creative negotiating judging by the looks of the budget but it's going to be worth it. We'll see. Maybe I'll win the lottery (you know, Matt and I play every night when it interrupts Fraiser, neither of us have ever guessed all the numbers correctly so we're not going to buy a ticket just yet. But we have a system, and it's ... still not working. Good thing we're too lazy to get tickets and just like to shout out random numbers at the TV instead.)

A Day In the Life

Bank of America sucks.  Don't ever bank there.  Ever.

Long story short, my old account was closed incorrectly and now my final Grace paycheck is currently floating out there somewhere in cyberspace.  This all starts because of the idea that BOA has regarding charging for checking accounts.  This, in itself, is ridiculous.  Everybody needs to move their accounts to a credit union that doesn't suck.  The end.

In other news, The Smallings are heading off to Blowing Rock, NC tonight to see the soon-to-be-famous Derek T. Pickens in Bye Bye Birdie.  This is exciting for a couple of reasons:  1) This is the summer Derek is getting his long-awaited equity card and 2) I haven't seen him since his bang-a-rang performance at our wedding!  Plus, who doesn't love an excuse to drive to the mountains and see a show?!

Laundry's done so this update is officially ended.  We love you all!

Routine

Life is finally settling in and we're getting back to "normal." That "normal" goes in quotations because for the Smallings, our life is anything but "normal." But for us, we're getting our routines and our patterns set. We're both now officially employed, Matt got his first paycheck! To my chagrin, it was only for a week's worth of work instead of two. Oh well, we should be back to our regularly scheduled money making by next Friday.

Last weekend was my official debut to the kids as SMC. They, unlike most adults, think I'm very funny. I guess part of my desire to work with kids revolves around the fact that they think I'm awesome. It's a self-preservation thing, don't judge me. I also had the privilege of meeting the SMC Consistory Board last night--excellently excellent people. It was nice to meet a group of people who are dedicated to trying all kinds of new things in order to reach all kinds of new people. THAT is what church should be about. I'm glad to be here!

Last weekend Matt and I went to Kingsfest with our MD friends Paul and Tiffany--awesome time filled with roller coasters, water rides, and awesome Christian worship music. It was a fulfillment of one of my lifetime dreams--see Switchfoot in concert. While I was standing in line right before Switchfoot was to go on stage, these two boys (middle school) behind me were wondering what was so great about Switchfoot. I wanted to turn around and explain to them what Switchfoot did for Christian music all those years ago. I wanted to tell them that Switchfoot was a part of this movement that made it okay for bands to put God in their lyrics. It's because of bands like Switchfoot, Newsboys, DC Talk, that awesome festivals like Kingsfest, Creation exist. Somehow these bands (and many others before and after) were able to bridge the gap between Christianity and Rock. I wanted to tell them that before these bands, our only options included Michael W. Smith--who, while an excellent singer and musician, is not an inter-generational artist--and others who had great music, but...may have been missing something that is so important to a teenage kid.

But, these kids were like, 10 and would not have understood a word I said. Plus, they probably would have labeled me as some "crazy old lady" because I totally lectured them at a concert. I guess as some point, you just wave your white flag of surrender and listen to "Breakfast" all the while thanking God that somebody understood you when you were 12.

The Great Outdoors or The Smallings are Out of Shape

Last weekend (well, I guess 2 weekends ago now since I haven't posted in a while) was a riotous good time had by all.  Since Matt hadn't started working just yet, we decided to go visit my Granny for her birthday in Clayton.  While there, Jamie acted as our personal tour guide for all things Nature-ous and practically killed us with two days of hiking and almost-dying.  Not surprisingly, Jamie was unphased by the treacherous mountain terrain and practically hop-skipped over the river crossing while we clung furiously to the rocky boulders protecting us from certain river-y death.

You think I'm kidding.  I wish.

This is Tallulah Gorge (oooh, aaahhh) and part of its appeal is the natural waterslide on the floor of the gorge (some 300 steps down and another 1/2 mile of trail-less danger hiking).  Apparently you needed passes to get to the floor and the first day we missed the last passes by about 39 seconds.  Not ones to admit defeat, we hiked to Hurricane Falls (you might know it as the "bottom of the stairs") and all the while challenging ourselves to not only hike back up the stairs but to do it all again the next day so as not to miss the wonder of nature's natural waterpark.  Totally worth it, but a terrible idea.  Especially considering I left my inhaler in the car that day.  Epic fail.

This is Hurricane Falls.  We only had one good shot because the kid behind the camera was a little... strange.  I was afraid to ask him to take any more.  This is also before the Great Sweat of 2009 began.  We still look half-decent.

To occupy our time until the next morning, we went to a little tourist shop called Goats on the Roof.  And no, it's not a metaphor for life or something, it's really just a gift shop/ice cream parlor/Amish furniture dealer with goats.  On the roof.  I think it's brilliant and this guy who owns it, Old Goat, probably makes a lot of money.  Maybe I'll start a place called Frogs on the Ceiling, or Flies in your Food.  I could be rich!  The most entertaining part was watching the kids pedal this bicycle that would send food up to the roof for the goats to eat.  I guess you had to be there!  Or just understand that it doesn't take much to amuse me.  Either way, this place was hilarious.

The next day proved to be equally as fun as we hiked not only to Hurricane Falls but to Bridal Veil (the floor of the gorge).  It was very hot, but very beautiful as long as you didn't fall between the cracks in the rock crags or touched anything that looked poisonous.  Both of which I managed to do at some point during our hike :)  The good news?  I didn't die.  The bad news?  I couldn't feel my legs for the rest of the weekend.  Awesome.

This is us, feeling very smug about ourselves.  Try to ignore the fact that Jamie is practically glowing.  We're a very fair-skinned family.  You're just going to have to wear your sun glasses when viewing this picture!

Even though Granny and Jimpop live in a sleepy little mountain town, every Saturday night there is an auction house in town and of course, we didn't miss it!  We went a little early to scout out the items--lots of beautiful old furniture and rugs--and I had my eye on several pieces.  Fortunately for our bank account, I walked out of there with just a table and a painting.  Both of which will become my prized possessions!  Matt thinks I'm crazy, but I'm ADDICTED.  Auctions are like garage sales on eBay.  Simply magical.

Sunday was Granny's birthday and we made sure we did it up in style.  We have bragging rights because we were the first of the family to go to their country club!  It was nice and dinner was really good.  Following dinner was an attempt at timed photography so we could have a nice family shot.  This of course took several attempts and resulted in some slightly strange photos but all in all, it was a great time for sure!

King of Pop

Sure, Michael Jackson might have been a freak this decade.  He may have had some legal, parenting, and nose issues but I like to remember MJ during the 80s and early 90s, when I thought he hung the moon and when I couldn't get enough of "Bad."  Somehow, as long as MJ was still pioneering new and innovative things in the music and dance world, everything kind of just worked for everyone else.  Yesterday, was a sad day for this fan in particular.

MJ was my first introduction to pop music, I used to watch him ALL the time--I even learned to Moonwalk in college (little known fact).  I defended him in my circle of friends and still faithfully listened to his albums as I drove with my windows down.  Artists today would have nothing to imitate if it weren't for MJ.  

In closing, I leave you with my favorite MJ video of all time.  10-4 good buddy.

Adventures in Driving

Mapquest sucks.  

Thanks to Mapquest (or as so I have aptly renamed, "GetLost") our adventure to the Chick-fil-A in Greensboro ended up in a 90 minute quest for impossibly hidden street names, endless games of "I know where we are, turn left! No, right!" and 4 roads with 3 different names.  We finally made it, battered and bruised but not defeated.  Turns out, this store is awesome.  The management loved Matt, wanted to hire him (yesssss!) and is willing to work around our crazy schedule complete with my church responsibilities and our family visitation promises.

Sometimes God even outdoes Himself!

In other news, the apartment is still shambly but the gym is fabulous.  I would also like to state for the record that Mrs. Smalling has held Mr. Smalling to his closest winning margin in basketball since our first game Summer 2006.  Either he's really rusty or I've gotten better--I like to think it's because I've gotten better AND he's a little bit rusty--but he only won our "first to 5" by 1 basket.  Lucky shot.  He thinks he's Kobe.  I, on the other hand, was also wearing tennis shoes--a true first for me--instead of some sort of cute flat, or wedge heel.

Further basketball updates and hopefully a potential win for Mrs. Smalling will soon happen! 

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes

We. Are. Officially. Moved.

((huge sigh of relief/exhaustion)

After a week that was... unexpected, we finally got ourselves moved down here and "settled."  the amusement began at 7am Saturday morning as we rolled out with 3 cars and a Penske truck.  Somehow I was nominated as the lead car and we began our journey.  MTOs at Sheetz and one, ahem, "alternative" route to find a gas station somewhere outside of Durham, we arrived at noon.  The St. Mark's Welcome Wagon made our moving in slightly less traumatic with a huge basket of goodies--from gift cards to toilet paper--which has proven to be quite the blessing.  In fact, St. Mark's has quickly proven it's awesomeness with a fabulous team of people that I am thrilled to be working with for... hopefully the rest of time.  Shout out to Shea for bringing lunch and hugs from the staff!

I found it incredibly amusing to wash clothes in our new washer and dryer.  The good news is that our new washer and dryer does NOT sound like a space ship waiting to take off.  The even good-er news is our loads are cut down because of the magic that is a "front-loading" unit.  In addition, our bathroom is the size of our previous kitchen and we have a separate area for both LIVING and DINING.  A true first for the Smallings.  I love North Carolina.

As I'm writing this, Matt and Dad are attempting to hang a key hook/mirror thing and may or may not have just drilled into the AC unit.  Even five minutes before my parents leave, we're still having the adventures.

Moving could have been terrible, but having Mom and Dad there to laugh with us (like when Matt fell off the ramp with a pile of boxes or when I forgot where we lived or when Dad almost backed into the car at Chick-fil-A) made things go a little easier.  Exploring the town, finding the Target and watching Dad and Matt bond over things like the Simpsons and Family Guy are some the things that make leaving them just a little bit harder.  We will never be able to thank them enough, but I hope they know that we are eternally grateful.  I hope they know that they are welcome ANYTIME.

Once we get the boxes moved out of the guest bedroom, we are open to visitors.  So, that's You, reader-of-this-blog.  The challenge has been issued, you are officially invited.

Pictures to follow.