10. Welcomed my wonderful family (two parents, two sisters, two brothers-in-law) to our home in Ironton. This involved eight bottles of wine, three giant fallen tree limbs, two cornhole boards and one amazing chocolate cake (the link reveals an awesome, awesome, blog, BTW...). Thanks for coming, ladies; it was incredibly special to host you here. Come back soon!
9. Nursed a very sick dog back to health. No more munching crab apples for this beast! Said tree also was felled along with its neighbor, who suffered from the incident described above. Sniffle. Our lush backyard is now little more than grass and chain link fence. Sniffle.
8. Harvested my first efforts from our little garden. More pictures and thoughts about my garden to come!
June 11th...
July 18th...
7. Drove from Ironton to Columbus to Ironton to Ft. Loramie to Columbus to Ironton to Columbus to Ironton to White Sulphur Springs to Ironton. Whew. This type of vehicle is looking so good right now...really, I want this car so bad!
6. Finally got my wedding invites out, much to the thanks of grand efforts from my mom and sisters. Thank you so, so much, girls!
5. Read a fantastic book: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, by Barbara Kingsolver. I can't believe I hadn't read it sooner -- thanks, Kaye. I had read a number of books by this author (The Poisonwood Bible is my favorite!). As many of you know, food production science and agribusiness, and the ethics and sustainability thereof, is one of my pet interests. Jeremy calls it most recently, "my latest obsession." Ha. But really, over the past years, learning about what really goes into making my meal or McBurger (and I'm not talking calories and fat at all) has influenced to some degree the way I buy and prepare food. I think part of it stems (pun intended) from growing up in an agricultural community, but another part is certainly social conscience. Think about your neighborhood farmers the next time you get the chance to make a choice for your dinner table.
Incidentally, I learned Ms. Kingsolver is #73 in one of my dad's coffee table regulars, 100 People Who are Screwing Up America. Who knew?
You be the judge.
4. Visited one of West Virginia's jewels, the Greenbrier, in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. The drive to this classic hotel and resort was nothing short of spectacular. Amazing mountain vistas, blue skies, and well-maintained roads made the lonely traveling hours a breeze (NPR helped, too). In one day, I made the six-hour roundtrip drive to attend the West Virginia Pediatric Dental Association meeting. After the meeting, I did some nosing around the hotel and grounds. The hotel and grounds were simply amazing, like taking a step back in time to a place where substance wins over convenience. Too bad I forgot my camera (photos below from my iPhone). While staying at this five-star hotel you can enjoy or take lessons in golf, off-road driving, hiking, white-water rafting, kayaking, equestrian activities, movies, and my favorite, falconry (no joke). Customary swimming pools and dining as well (no falconry involved).
Jeremy's dad, Randy, told me that the hotel was constructed in part to house our President and Congress in case of nuclear winter. Yikes. Read all about that here.
If you can swing it, visit the Greenbrier!
3. Cleaned the entire house. It was still recovering from the Schafer-Miller-Rindler visit and the simultaneous Incredibly Sick Dog.
2. Made a very, very long list entitled, "Things to Do Before Our Wedding Day."
1. Counted my blessings for a rested body, clean house and happy attitude as our special day rapidly approaches, and the coming weeks fill up, up, up with preparations!
