He's a Teacher, too!

I think that not only is Wes a great husband, he is a great son and a great man as well. Wes does so many things so well, and I always feel so blessed that he is my husband. Today I got to see him do one more thing very well. Wes taught our Sunday School class today, and he did a great job. He worked so hard preparing for this lesson, and I was so proud of how much effort he put into this job.
Wes did a great job actually teaching the lesson. He was so organized, and he had a great plan for the direction the lesson should take. He also did a great job of involving the class and asking questions. Sometimes this can be a difficult thing to do, and some teachers talk without pausing to bring the rest of the class into the lesson.
Wes taught on Exodus 19, as the Israelites are preparing to receive the Ten Commandments. This is a chapter that I usually would have skimmed through without taking much with me. Wes made a lot of good points in his lesson and we focused a lot on the Israelites' overzealous acceptance of God's law. They saw no problem in totally fulfilling God's law and they never thought that they would fall short. My favorite part of the lesson was when Wes paralleled this with Peter's disagreement that he would deny Jesus three times. We also talked about how so many times we think that we can do exactly what God wishes, but we always fail. However, with Jesus as our mediator (as Moses was between God and the Israelites) we are still granted access to God. I thought it interesting that God is also constantly reminding the Israelites what he has done for them so far. Even from the beginning, people keep forgetting exactly how merciful and gracious God is.
Wes is my new favorite Sunday School teacher!

Anyone Need a Dentist?

I haven't had a dentist in awhile because my last dentist had some scary assistants that I didn't like to be around. Wes had been telling me for some time that I should go to his dentist, especially since they had televisions on the ceiling. I finally bit the bullet (or the chicken nugget that broke off part of my tooth) and decided to make an appointment. I still hate going to the dentist, but it's not because the people aren't nice. The lady that works with new patients is wonderful! I've dealt with many different people there, and only one of them was not my favorite. I was glad that I finally went to the dentist, although the visits are not that fun.
About a week after I went, we received a prize that made my visit even more worth it. One Friday, I had been thinking all day about going to a movie with Wes. We really wanted to see Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but we didn't want to spend $20 on a movie that we weren't sure about. We were especially hesitant to spend so much money when there are so many other movies coming up that we want to see. Plus, it was the Friday between paydays, and we usually try not to spend too much money between paydays. Our problem was solved when I found an envelope in the mailbox addressed to Wes from the dentist's office. Inside were two movie tickets as a thank you from the dentist to Wes for referring me to them. We were able to go to the movie for free! We really enjoyed it, and we realized that we would have paid to see it anyway.

When Wes is Away

Early Tuesday morning, Wes headed to the airport to catch a flight to Nashville. He wasn't coming home until late Thursday night, so I had three whole days to fill up. We are still the couple that hates to be apart, especially for several days. It's strange when we are apart because we do so much together. Surprisingly, while Wes was gone, I had plenty of things to take up my time.
On Tuesday night, I went to a wine tasting at American Grocery. Lauren asked me to go with two of her colleagues. It was just the four of us, and the woman doing the tasting was so nice! I've always been intimidated at the idea of going to a wine tasting, but this was so casual, and the lady was so patient with us. We got to taste three different wines and learn all about them. We even tasted the white wine out of a crazy bottle thing that you pour into your mouth as you lean back and hold it over your head. I had to leave early to go to dinner with my mom and my sister. I met them at Wild Wing, and we stayed there long enough to see Spencer play several songs. Skip even got there in time to buy our dinner and to see Spencer, too.

On Wednesday, Lauren and I ate dinner at Compadres before meeting Peter, John, Jeff, Craig, and Beth at the Furman / Clemson game. Clemson played really well, and I even got a picture of John with the Tiger. Lauren and I also enjoyed our swirl ice cream in a helmet.

On Thursday night, I met Bess, Julia, and Becky for more Mexican at Monterrey. It was so nice to hang out with those sweet ladies. We never have a chance to get together and really talk. We actually stayed there for two and a half hours!

I was so glad when Wes came home, but at least I had plenty to do to take up my time.

Our First Time

This past weekend, Wes and I went to our first church retreat in Bonclarken. We are so glad that we decided to go! We arrived late on Friday night because I was busy enjoying the Blythe Blast. We ended up missing a bonfire, which I think would have been a lot of fun. Everyone was in for the night when we got there, so we all sat in the Young Adult sitting room area and played the biggest Catchphrase game ever. Note to competitors: a bigger Catchphrase game does not necessarily make things more challenging. People tend to not take things seriously when there are twenty people playing the game.
On Saturday morning, we skipped camp breakfast and enjoyed sweets at the Flat Rock Bakery. After eating breakfast outside with friends, we went to three sessions with Dr. Kruger that were pretty cool. He did a really good job of making parallels using The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. Wes and I both decided to crack open The Chronicles of Narnia again.
After our lessons, we had Chick-Fil-A for lunch in Convo. We then all trooped out to the hill to take a group picture of everyone at the retreat. Wes and I went back to our room after that, and I tried so hard to take a nap. Wes went to play softball, though, and I thought that maybe I should go down there with him. I'm so glad that I did. I sat with Becky, who happened to be babysitting the cutest nine month old boy ever. He definitely gave me the fever. We had fun watching everyone play around on the softball field. When everyone was done, Wes and I drove into Hendersonville for a little bit. I was then able to take my wonderful nap. Bonclarken is so beautiful that I felt badly to hide away in my hotel room. However, when I need a nap, I need a nap.
We woke up from our deep sleep just in time to get ready for dinner. We headed down to the Youth Activities Building for a cookout. Once we were done eating, it was time for Contra Dancing. I had the best time dancing with Wes. We really got a workout! Wes is a great dancer; he's got a really good sense of rhythm. He is a much better leader than he thinks. What he doesn't know is that he is definitely going to be taking dancing lessons with me.
Once everyone was worn out from Contra Dancing, the Young Adults slipped out. Since the following Monday was Cinco de Mayo, we all went out to El Paso, a cute little Mexican joint. There were 20 of us all at one long table! We had a great time hanging out with each other. We stayed forever until Scott realized that we'd been there thirty minutes past closing. Oops!
On Sunday morning, Wes and I went to breakfast as late as we could and still get something to eat. We hurried back over to our Sunday School lesson, where Matt did an amazing job. We quickly packed up our room and went to the chapel to listen to Frank Reich preach. Lunch was a typical southern Sunday meal. We saw a cute slideshow of the weekend while we ate.
I'm so glad that we decided to go this weekend. It's hard for me to give up my weekends, and I tend to shy away from going on small trips. I was so glad to get away and to truly not think about school, home, or anything else stressful!