changes - all fixed

had to make some hosting changes with this site, so there's been a little downtime... but I think we're all set and back to normal now. lemme know if there's any trouble with the site, so I can fix it.

An Amazing Trip

Chris and I took a few days off from normal life recently and went to see a couple of shows and visit friends in Gainesville, FL and Atlanta, GA. The Lord really blessed our time. We caught up with a BUNCH of old friends, some of whom we'd completely lost touch with, and others that we just don't see often enough. We had some amazing time of fellowship with so many old friends, and the Lord used many of them as an encouragement to us.

When we first talked about going down to Gainesville to see Less Than Jake and visit some friends, it was going to be about 2 or 3 days out of town, and I could justify that in my mind as something that we could do. But then when we talked about going from Gainesville up to Atlanta to see Sufjan Stevens as well, and visit friends there, I was torn between really wanting to do this (it was the week I had off from teaching, after all), and feeling guilty about the idea of playing when I have so many things to do, and when money has been tight lately. But in truth, there are always a million things to do, and money always feels a little tight. And there are times when we need to play. We need to fellowship. And the Lord really confirmed that in our trip. We really needed this, and there was nothing to "feel guilty" about.

Anyways, the short recap of what we did... we played with the Geary's in Gainesville, and even went to Paynes Prairie to see some alligatorss (big ones- yippee!). 3 year old Cyris made us laugh a lot, and Baby Izzy is learning to walk. We stopped by the Christian Study Center and caught up with Dr. Horner and Nora Wickam. Later that day we got a call from our friend Amy who was in town from Orlando, and found out from Nora that we were in town. So we go together with her and Heather for dinner. That night we went to see Less Than Jake, had a good time, and got some sleep.

The next day we went up to Atlanta. Got there in time to spend a couple hours at the High Museum before they closed for the day... they had a bunch of photography that Chris wanted to see. Found a hotel, took a nap, then got together with my old art-school friend Beth for dinner. She took us to a most amazing restuarant called R. Thomas, with yummy organic food, and took us to her apartment to see her paintings. We had a great time with her, then went to a most awesome teahouse (11:11 Teahouse) to chill and check some email in their herb garden. I got some great tea, and we were harassed by random cats (real fuzzy cats, not hip slang for people). While we were there, our friend Stefan called... he, too, was in Atlanta! (he lives in Charlotte) HE was hanging out at a restaurant waiting for Brooke's shift to end. He gave us directions to here (including directions like "when you get to the end of this road, men in red coats will take your car away"). We got lost a couple times, but eventually made our way. We had drinks with Stefan and Brooke there until they kicked us out, then Brooke took us to another place where we hung out until THEY kicked us out. Then we went home to sleep.

The next day we met up with Brooke and Stefan again, and we ran around Atlanta all day, went to the Flying Biscuit for lunch, wandered into shops, learned that hanging a bag of water with a penny in it in your doorway wards off flies, and had an encounter with The Granite Curbs of Atlanta, which, we learned, pop tires if you get too close. That evening we got together for dinner with a bunch of friends who were going to the Sufjan concert, including 3 more Savannah people, 2 people who drove in from Gainesville, and a friend from Chattanooga. It was fun to see this concert that brought all of us together from all over the place.

I could also go on and on about how amazing the concert was, and how great Sufjan's music is, and how honest and joyous and beautiful it is, but I'll stop now.

Anyways, now we're back to life and getting work done and it turns out although I have a lot to do, it's manageable. And being out of town for a few days didn't mess anything up. And... it was awesome. The End.