I'm Alive!

Just a quick note to let my faithful reader's know that I'm alive & I think I have finally quit swimming! It's been a long and at times overwhelming month, but I am happy to report that I have survived. Today is my first day back in the office and I can honestly say that it feels good to be back. Here's a quick snapshot of the last few weeks with more details and pictures to follow:

July 25th - last day in the office, pack up and load the truck!
July 28th - said good-bye to Dan & headed to Estes Park, CO
July 29th-August 2nd - Set-up and preparation for our event
August 3rd - 8th - Music in the Rockies!! (you have no idea how loaded those 4 little words are...)
August 9th - Finally - we headed HOME
August 10th - last Sunday for Kingdom Kids (no sleeping in for me!) & a good-bye party for our dear friends Tyler, Annie, & Sam
August 11th - Back to the office to unload the truck, then finally some down time with Dan
August 12th - up early for a trip to the chiropractor, a fun day of hiking with Dan, then our final good-bye dinner with the Jones' -- a very tough good-bye
August 13th - CLEANING, cooking, etc....Mamma Johnston & sister Mandee (Dan's sis) arrive
August 14th - off to Anderson, South Caroline to move Mandee into college! A long but fun day of traveling
August 15th - Orientation Day for Mandee, switch hotels, rent a car, and Wal-mart for school supplies
August 16th - Move in day! Lots of re-arranging, Target-shopping, & putting-together a dorm room...then off to North Carolina for a beautiful wedding & reception in the mountains!
August 17th - Enjoy a beautiful breakfast at the Inn, some pool time, then back to South Carolina to spend some time with Mamma J
August 18th - Finish some final details for Mandee (buying books, Financial aid office, etc.), final lunch together, then the 3 of us hit the road back to Nashville
August 19th - FINALLY HOME...until we leave next week for Shelby's wedding!

Whew! That made me tired all over again just thinking about everything :-) But even though it has been crazy, there were certainly some fun times in there and some very memorable experiences which I will try and recap for you over the next little while. I probably have enough blogging material for a year, but we'll see how much I'm able to catch up on before life speeds up again.

On another note...Dan takes his boards on Friday!!! Please be praying for him as he continues to study and make his final preparations for that big scary thing. While I was away at MIR he spent a week in Chicago in an intensive review course and did quite well on the practice tests he took every night. He feels like he'll be ready by Friday - but it's still a little nerve-wracking when everything you've put into the last years rides on a single test. Anyway - I have confidence in him and I'm sure he'll do great! But we'll both be relieved to have that ugly thing behind us.

Okay, that's all for now. But don't worry - I'll be back this time :-)