Under Pressure

Laura and I had lunch yesterday at the Greek Corner Deli downtown with Hannah, the President of the Cooperative Student Fellowship at Mercer University. I have been given the great pleasure of serving the group as it’s campus minister this year. The opportunity to sit down and not only get to know more about Hannah, but also talk shop about CSF got me excited for the fall semester!

After returning home, I stepped into a slippery situation, Apparently the pressure washer guy who had been washing the breezeways around the apartment complex got a bit too happy with the sprayer. There was a thin layer of water in the entryway that then seeped into the carpet. At that point I was forgiving. I mean a thorough job is nothing to complain about and a little water doesn’t hurt anything.

I then proceeded to sit on the couch along the entryway wall, which turned out to be soaking wet. I looked up to find that there was a line of water that had come down from the ceiling and soaked everything on the wall. There was a small puddle of water sitting in my sandal that I dumped out and then a little later realized that our potpourri bowl had also been filled to the brim.

We immediately called the office and a few hours later had a man and his son who own a carpet cleaning company come to clean the affected areas as well as leave us a fan to run throughout the evening to continue to help in the drying process. The man was nice and helpful, but I had flashbacks to Seinfeld’s cult cleaning service as the man handed us a bag of information with how to be saved with a request card for a DVD on the process. What is it about cleaning services and religion?

The gentleman moved on to the many other apartments that had been graciously given the same water carpet and couch problems from our pressure-washing friend before we could engage further in that conversation, but I am wondering what the rest of the week may bring. Just two days ago we received a message in the mail that we had a “sealed prophecy” with an attached paper Jesus prayer rug, and we could only open the message if we promised to do what God told us to do. Opened it and still waiting for blessings and/or judgment. Yesterday may have been judgment. Will keep you updated.

The Ghettoburger.

A few weeks ago a CBF/GA staff retreat found us in Atlanta, so we decided to stay a few days longer to enjoy some time in the city.  Carson and I thought and thought about what we could do during a free Saturday in Atlanta - maybe something a little touristy that we had yet to do or see.  Finally, it occurred to Carson: we had not yet experienced The Ghettoburger.

For those unfamiliar of such cuisine, The Ghettoburger is found on Memorial Drive at a small diner named "Ann's Snack Bar."  But more notably, it has been named by the Wall Street Journal as the best burger in America. 

The restaurant itself only has 8 barstools at the counter, so the wait time can be long.  As we walked up, we heard Miss Ann yell from the kitchen for two men to get out of the restaurant who were waiting for seats.  The four of us sat outside on the patio until we were summoned.  After about 30 minutes, Miss Ann walked out, called us over to take our orders, went back inside, and called is in a few minutes later.  We waited another 30 minutes for the burgers to cook and watched the magic happen.

The Ghettoburger itself is two quarter pounder patties, cheese, chili, bacon, lettuce, tomato, grilled onions, ketchup, mayo, and mustard, all on a toasted bun.   We opted for the combo, which included a full plate of fries.  As I took a bite of the glorious burger, I felt as if I were on an episode of Man vs. Food.  The meat was cooked to perfection, and the cheese had melted its way through the patties.  That day, food won as we both decided to eat only half the burger and saved the rest for lunch the next day.  The leftovers were just as good, and I can attest that it is the best burger I've ever had.

A few days later, I went to the doctor for a physical and bloodwork.  As I got my results back this week, my cholesterol was higher than normal and my doctor wanted to put me on Lipitor.  Never thinking I would hear those words as a 27 year old woman, I talked the nurse out of the prescription and vowed to change my diet and increase my exercise.   We'll know at my checkup in 8-12 weeks whether the Ghettoburger may have been to blame, but if I ever have one again, it will not be before a doctor's appointment.

Trip to the Lowcountry

I got a call from Jordan, my brother who lives in DC, last Thursday checking to see if Laura and I wanted to come up to watch the Braves vs. Phillies series in Philly this past weekend. After checking on flights, we decided it wouldn't work. We decided instead to meet up in Charleston, SC where Andrew, one of my best friends from childhood and Jordan's roommate at Appalachian State lives and stay with him.

Jordan worked the overnight shift at his job in DC and got on a plane at 9 a.m. in Baltimore expecting after a stop in Philly to be in Charleston by 3 p.m.  All the while, Laura and I expected to come in hours after him and settle in for the night at Andrew's apartment around 8 p.m. We held up our end of the deal, but weather did not agree with Jordan's travel on Friday and had him grounded in Philly for over six hours. He didn't arrive til nearly 10 p.m. at Andrew's place. The trip was a bit frustrating, but nothing a late night trip to Waffle House couldn't cure!

Andrew lives in Mt. Pleasant, just a few short miles from Sullivan's Island where we spent the day lounging on the beach and soaking up sunshine, rain clouds, and enjoying some great boiled peanuts we picked up on the roadside! We were joined by Brian, another friend from Statesville and roommate of Jordan's from App, as well as his new bride Ashley. We of course did the wedding reviews throughout the day full of sitting, bocce ball, and floating in the tide pool. It was not until after the day out on the beach that I realized that I had actually forgotten to put sun tan lotion on my face, but hey the peeling will do me good...right?

After short naps and watching the Braves take the Phils in 11 innings (Go Bravos!), Andrew, Jordan, Laura, and I went out to dinner at Shem Creek Bar and Grill for some great seafood. Hushpuppies, crab cakes, jambalya, shrimp and grits, and steak were consumed among the group leaving us happy and tired. It was off to bed for Jordan soon after as he had an early wakeup for a 6:30 a.m. flight back to DC to get to work in the early afternoon.

On the way in from Macon, I realized that the section of Highway 17 that we travel on north from Savannah came across the turn to Kiawah Island south of Charleston that my family took for years to go to the beach! In an attempt to be adventurous, Laura and I set out some time on the island that was a big part of my youth. This of course was not without a stop in for breakfast at Bojangles!

I was able to show Laura a place that holds a great number of memories for my family and friends. We toured around on the short visit, but hope to get to visit together again soon (Christmas present anyone?!)! I was heartbroken to see the Kiawah Inn had been torn down. I knew it had been closed, but apparently for now the plan is to build a parking lot for the 2012 PGA Championship and then go from there so it was plowed over. The Inn pools and beach access had been our hang out spot. Hopefully they will put up something nice there for folks on the West side of the island once the tournament is done!

The journey took us through the villa neighborhoods my family used to frequent as well as Night Heron Park, and finally a visit to the new Sanctuary hotel on the island. We are hoping to get our families to visit together soon for some more memories!

The weekend was short, but it was great to spend time with friends and family. This week we head to Atlanta as Laura has a staff retreat and I am going to work for Student.Go out of the Atlanta office. We're hoping to spend some time with friends in the ATL and maybe even catch a much needed live Braves game!

Waterfalls, Grilling, and the Big Screen

This Fourth of July weekend marked my one year anniversary living in Macon.  As my parents helped move me into our apartment this time last year, my mom will forever remember July 4, 2010 as one of her first Independence Days without fireworks.  That's right, the city of Macon, to my knowledge, does not provide fireworks, but instead leave it to some of their neighboring towns like Forsyth.  For the second year in row, there were no fireworks for me, but here are some snapshots of how we spent our weekend:

Saturday: Waterfalls

As TLC so prophetically and hauntingly taught us to not go chasing waterfalls, we decided to anyways.  About 30 minutes north of Macon is High Falls, a state park with a legitimate waterfall and hiking trails.  We enjoyed a nice hike and view of the falls.  And since our parking pass got us into every Georgia state park for the day, we hopped over to another park, Indian Springs, for some lake swimming.  We were only slightly deterred by the high capacity of folks within the small, roped off, contained swimming area and the "warmth" of the water, but we found ourselves happier along the edges and finding some cooler spots.

Sunday: Grilling

Thanks to some dear friends, we received the gift of grilling.  To celebrate the weekend, Carson diligently put together our grill and we invited Rusty Grace, a friend from McAfee who is a minister in a nearby town, over for a meal of steaks, baked potatoes, and grilled corn on the cob.  Even in the midst of a thunderstorm and hail that brought the grilling inside the apartment breezeway (don't tell the apartment management company), we enjoyed a wonderful meal together!

Monday: The Big Screen

So, we kinda love Disney movies, and we decided to check out the renovated movie theater in town to see Cars 2.  It's way cute, but the most interesting part was the advertisements before the movie.  As we watched various ads for local businesses, we watched an ad for "Refuge and Hope" - the same name as the non-profit organization run by Jade and Shelah Acker in Uganda, where Carson worked two summers ago.  And as we watched, there on the big screen were pictures of one of Carson's trips there, including a picture of Carson holding hands with one of the Ugandan children.  Better yet, the movie theater collects donations for Refuge and Hope.  Small, small world.

We hope your July Fourth weekend was as fun as ours!