Summer of 2008 - a recap, or even better, a "summery"

So, we're nearing the end of summer, even though it is now starting to get a little bit warmer. But don't worry about us, it's only going to be in the upper 80's and still in the 60's at night. We're fine.

But anyway, since it's close to the end of August, I thought I would list all the things I loved doing (and when) in the Summer of 2008.


Our new car (Dodge Caliber). Purchased June 13, 2008.
















The Dark Knight. Seen opening night and a couple weeks later.















Bethany Beach. Vacationed Memorial Day 2008 and July 24-26, 2008.

















The weather. Enjoyed all throughout the month of August 2008.
(yeah, I'm really obsessed with this month's weather, but we do need rain!)

















The Olympics. Viewed August 8-24, 2008.













Family in Oklahoma. Visited July 11-15, 2008.

















Cakes. Baked & decorated on various dates.

































My mom's birthday. Celebrated at Outback, 7/28/08.


















These crazy cats. Played with, everyday.

























The GVPC Youth Group and their Leader/Director (soon to be their Pastor!!) Spent countless hours with, all of 2008.

























And last but not least, Brad Paisley. Seen in concert, August 17, 2008.

Photobook

Recently I came across what I think is a great idea for a keepsake, memento, souvenir, etc... It's a photo book from Shutterfly. I wanted to give the kids in our youth group something to capture our memories from our trip to the beach last month and I remembered seeing Currie & Abby's cool book from their Grand Canyon trip a couple years ago, so I shopped around and found this. At the time when I started the project, they were on sale for $10.89, but of course when I finished and checked out a few days later, the price went up to $12.99 each. Oh well. I took all the kids pictures and compiled them into this creative little album. We presented the books to them yesterday and they all seemed to really love & enjoy them. I know I love ours! I wish I could post it so you can see how awesome it turned out, but can't do that b/c of the privacy of the kids. But trust me, it looked good!

Drive-In

I have not been to a drive-in movie theater in forever. I can't even remember going to a drive-in, it's been that long, I was probably less than 5, who knows? So when we moved to Greene County and started attending church (and working) in this town called Carmichaels, I was thrilled to see that they have an old (everything is old here) drive-in theater. Well, it took The Dark Knight to come out for us to get there and we're so glad we did. It was awesome. And clearly I'm not just talking about the theater - we love TDK! We've only seen it twice so far, and there will be more to come. I think we've seen Batman Begins (the first of the good Batman movie with Christian Bale) close to 100 times, I'm not kidding.

So here we are, pulling into the Sky View Drive-In. Notice the very nice welcoming sign below, "NO OUTSIDE FOOD ALLOWED."

















Waiting forever for it to get dark enough to start the movie.



















Even the Caliber was happy to be there.



















Oh, and something cool happened during the movie. Not only did it start storming, not bad, but there was lots of lighting, but BATS were flying in front of the screen. How cool is that?!? Bats flying in front of Batman!

Hiking

The weather has been so beautiful here lately. I mean, absolutely GORGEOUS, Danielle. If you don't believe me, here is the most recent 5 day forecast. Yes, I like to rub it in.


















Anyway... this past Saturday, Bobby and I, along with a girl in our youth group, drove to Coopers Rock State Park. Of course I'm going to provide you with the Wikipedia link - here. I didn't have grand intentions for hard-core hiking, I just knew it wasn't going to be too hot and I wanted to do something outside. So I researched the park, printed out copies of maps and trail descriptions, etc., and as it says on Wiki, "Coopers Rock is home to a well-developed system of nearly 50 miles (80 km) of hiking trails." We found the park just fine, but could we find a trail? Nope. We spent the first half of our time there walking on roads and driveways, but there wasn't any traffic so it wasn't bad. Then we started looking harder for a trail and gave up and walked down the side of a mountain until we remembered that we were going to have to walk back up this incline to get back to the car, so we sat for awhile, chatted, and trekked back up to the Caliber. It was a really nice time, but next time I want to really find a trail!

Me, looking bad but having fun, with Julie.

Let the Games Begin

I always get so excited about the Olympics. I just love them. Maybe it's because I have to wait 4 years for them to come around again and the hype just keeps building. I really don't know which I enjoy more, summer or winter. I think summer because there are more events that I really get into, whereas winter, ice skating is really my only passion. But with summer, there is gymnastics, swimming, diving!, synchronized swimming, tennis, trampoline, beach volleyball, equestrian, and who could forget badminton?!? Little known fact about me... I once aspired to be an olympic diver. yep.

I practiced my swan dives, jacknives, and back dives off of my parent's diving board for hours and hours when I was kid.

Unfortunately I never took my skills beyond that.


As for swimming, I do a nasty kickturn. Watch out Michael Phelps.

Can't complain about this forecast

Not bad for mid-August. Not bad at all.

Bobby 101

This post is all about my husband...


















I found these questions on a friend of a friend’s blog. Sorry that I didn’t request permission, but I’m sure you’ll never see this so I’m not too worried. I'm just curious to see if that friend recognizes it. Actually, I'm most curious to see if Bobby even will see this post. I think he rarely checks my blog.


1. Who is your man? Bobby Glen Griffith, Jr

2. How long have you been together? Married 5 years & 5 months. Engaged for 6 months before that. Knew each other 6 months before that.

3. How long dated? We didn’t really date since we were 1100 miles apart

4. How old is your man? 31

5. Who eats more? Bobby (and WAY faster too!)

6. Who said "I love you" first? Me!

7. Who is taller? Him, by about an inch or two…

8. Who sings better? Definitely Bobby. But that’s really not saying much since I’m tone deaf.

9. Who is smarter? Bobby. See, I’m humble enough to admit it.

10. Whose temper is worse? The answer is Bobby again.

11. Who does the laundry? Me, all the time

12. Who takes out the garbage? We share, but usually me. I have to clean out the cat litter box too.

13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Uh, is that when you’re in the bed, or looking at the bed? I guess I do? For now.

14. Who pays the bills? Me (mostly)

15. Who is better with the computer? Neither

16. Who mows the lawn? Neither usually. But he does more than I do, since I’ve never done it.

17. Who cooks dinner? Bobby

18. Who drives when you are together? Bobby 70%, Me 30% (I always have things to do in the car, like put on makeup, etc., but I don’t mind driving at all)

19. Who pays when you go out? Gift cards

20. Who is the most stubborn? I don’t know… I think me.

21. Who is the first to admit that they are wrong? Not sure about this one either. But since I said that I was most stubborn, I guess that means I’m not too good at admitting when I’m wrong. So it must be him. And no, it’s NOT because he’s never wrong, believe me!!

22. Whose parents do you see most? Mine, they are closer. But even when they weren’t, they came to visit us more.

23. Who kissed who first? Hmmm, not sure, I think he did.

24. Who asked who out? Not applicable

25. Who proposed? Duh, him

26. Who is more sensitive? Me

27. Who has more friends? Right now, neither of us seem to have any friends. L But normally, when we’re living in a place where 20- or 30-somethings actually have a presence, I think he does. He’s better with picking up the phone and calling people. I’m always too worried that I’ll be calling at a bad time and will bother people. Seriously, that is the real reason that I’m so bad with keeping in touch!

28. Who has more siblings? Him. He has one, I have none.

29. Who wears the pants in the family? I have to say he does, but I feel like the silent, undercover leader sometimes. heehee

30. What does your man love most about you??? Probably the fact that I am ok with him working several jobs, still being in school at age 31, playing in a band with teenagers, and that I take out the trash. (see #12) haha

My alma mater

The 2009 Princeton Review College Rankings just came out and I love to read these things. Of course, the first place I check is to see my alma mater, Grove City College's rankings, and here they are:

Rank	List
#6	Alternative Lifestyles Not an Alternative
#11	Don't Inhale
#7	Everyone Plays Intramural Sports
#2	Future Rotarians and Daughters of the American Revolution
#4	Got Milk?
#3	Homogeneous Student Population
#14	Is It Food?
#4	Scotch and Soda, Hold the Scotch
#5	Stone-Cold Sober Schools
#19	Most Conservative Students
#4	Most Religious Students

Oh, and I have to mention that while GCC is #5 on the Stone Cold Sober schools list, WVU (where Bobby works & takes classes) is #4 on the Best Party schools list. Don't worry, he's NOT proud of that.