Road Trip

Ill be the first to admit, I am not very spontaneous. I like things planned and in my agenda.
that being said- I am so glad we went on this spur of the moment trip.
We got up early Tuesday morning and started our journey:) I knew it was going to be a good trip when we stopped for breakfast and I got to try Hardee's new fried bologna biscuit. DELICIOUS. a must for those who love bologna, as i do. we spent the rest of the ride talking about random stuff. one of them being what I was going to name my new car. Since I am incapable of doing anything other than stare ahead when in a car (motion sickness), Philip looked up names and read them to me. We both decided Vito was the winner:) Vito the Volvo. We also talked about how blessed we are at this point in our lives. We are so thankful for all God has and is doing in our lives. We are so excited about upcoming changes for us and are praying that God will use us in big ways.
So, 8 hours later, we are pulling into the Charleston Volvo dealership. We see Vito and i am so excited. We take him for a drive, test out all his features, and decide that yes, this was the car we wanted. So the 3 hour process began. Because we had no idea buying out of state would be such a hassle. and you know what else i had no idea about? how sad I would be to sell my car. I named him Babe the Blue Ox. from the story of Paul Bunyan.

similar color, right?

So as we were signing our lives away, I told the salesman " my car's name is Babe. like the blue ox. from paul bunyan". he sort of looked at me and smiled. I should have stopped talking. but i said "could you please make sure he is taken care of?". he politely said 'of course'.

like i said, 3 hours later, we are driving away Vito and saying goodbye to Babe.

After the grueling car buying process, we were starving! well that, and we had skipped lunch.
From some recommendations from a friend, I had already chosen our restaurant for dinner. I picked Magnolia's and what a good choice that was! they had the best fried green tomatoes. and the best creme brulee (which I am becoming a connoisseur for). Philip said their crab cake was also amazing, but I wouldn't personally know about that.

I let Philip pick the place we were going to stay that night. Which at first I thought was a mistake (his taste is a little more extravagant than mine). but it ended up I was so happy i let him be in charge of this. We only stayed there for one night, so why not stay somewhere fun?! He chose Vendue Inn, a little Bed&Breakfast downtown. It was so charming. They served a yummy breakfast in the morning (this mornings special was pumpkin french toast-yuumm). They set out milk and cookies at 9:00 every night. and they turned down our bed for us while we were out walking around town. The building and rooms were so old and it was such a fun and different atmosphere.

entrance to our room

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Charleston chews on the pillow:)

After dinner we walked around downtown. I have never been to Charleston before, and i was shocked at how quiet it was there! I dont know if it was the incoming hurricane, or that it was a Tuesday night. but it was just so peaceful. We walked down the pier and looked over the ocean, then walked down the cobblestone streets looking at the historical houses. We stopped in a brewery where Philip tried a local rye beer. It was honestly the worst thing I have ever tasted. I can't believe he finished it. But he loves trying different beers.

on the pier

We slept in this morning, ate our scrumptious breakfast, and started our journey back home. the trip home seemed much shorter than the trip down there. which usually it is opposite. I guess it could be the fact that on the way down there, there were random rattling noises, loud wind and not the most comfortable seats. The ride back was absolutely quiet in the car. no rattles, no shakes, no wind through the windows. in super comfortable seats. with lots of new gadgets and remotes to play with :)
So what a wonderful and relaxing two days that we had:) Someone else had a good two days as well.

passed out after spending two days on the farm with grandpa :)

Philip's mom sent us this text on the way home, and I thought it was so funny.

New Wheels

Last winter Philip had to take to take me to work a few times because my little Saturn could not fare the ice and make it out of our road. It is such a good little car, but it just wasn't strong enough. So we decided before this next winter, I would be getting a new ride. which makes me a little sentimental. My saturn has been good to me and I have loved it for the past 5 years.

For those of you who know Philip, saying he is interested in cars is an understatement. He loves them. he loves looking at them, reading about them, driving them, researching them. it's one of his hobbies. So i let him get to work on finding a suitable car for me.

Over the past 9 months or so, he has been quizzing me every time we drive around. 'do you like that car?' ' what about that one?'. and we have gone back and forth about what kind of vehicle to get. did we want a car? an SUV? what would fit our family the best? finally we decided that yes, we would get an suv. one decision down! for the past several months he would look up cars every day online, then show them to me to see what I thought. While his thoughts were on safety, mileage, features, etc. Mine were more on the color, the feel and the price. :) needless to say, we have been going round and round about what kind of car would be best for us.

I am happy to say, a decision has been reached! last month we decided that a Volvo SUV was a car we were both very happy with. He was happy with the hundreds of safety features and ratings, and I was happy with everything about it really. So we went to the dealership and played around with several of them making sure that this was what we wanted. And last night-- he found the deal of the century! ok, maybe not. BUT, a really good deal. it has all the extra features he was wanting it to have, and it is navy with tan interior and minimal wood grain for me. too bad it's not for sale in KY.

I was able to switch my schedule around a day- and we are off tomorrow morning for a mini road trip to SC to trade in my car for our new one!:) I am excited to not only get to spend hours there and hours back with my hubby. But to be bringing our new car home with us:) and maybe have a fun little dinner somewhere different.
~ I will admit this morning when all of this was going down, i did think I was going to puke. I don't do well spending money OR making big decisions.but I am feeling much better about things thanks to my fab husband, friends and family :)
I'll let you know how it goes!

Thankful Thursday

I am linking up with Meg for her Thankful Thursday post! I dont get to join in often, but I am home and able to this time!!

~ I am thankful for the opportunities God is giving our family. We are about to make some big decisions and God seems to be guiding us the whole way, which is what we are praying for. on that note, I am thankful for my husband who is taking the time to ask God what He wants us to do at this point in our lives. SO THANKFUL.~

~I am thankful for our 'babies' Jackson and Maya. We missed them a lot when we were in MI this past weekend. Poor Jax somehow developed hives and was covered and swollen for 2 days! but they keep me such good company and I very thankful to have them~

still thankful even though I woke up to this last week. RIP pillow.

~ I am thankful for healthy babies, both in the belly and out! Jeff and Sarah welcomed baby Emma Clark early wednesday morning and she is the cutest little thing! I also thank the Lord that he has His hand over : Emma Wilhoite, Harper Burton, Lily Birdwhistell, Jack Armstrong and baby girl Edwards.

                            ~I am thankful for my wonderful parents and family. I love them so much.~~

and to end on:
"The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. And be thankful." Colossians 3:15

Michigan

It has been a whirlwind of 2 weeks in the Overall household!
Philip's cousin, Courtney, stayed with us for a week so she could shadow him at work. She is a soon-to-be junior and is wanting to go to med school. She thought it would be a good experience to follow her cousin around and see what life is like in the emergency department. She saw some crazy things! her favorite experience was when Philip let her put her hands in a patient's chest cavity that had been opened to keep them alive. She got to see lots of good stuff and hopefully has some fun things to brag to her friends about:)

on the dock of his grandparents lake house

Friday morning we got up and headed up to Michigan. Philip's grandma turns 80 in September, but her family planned a surprise party for her this weekend (since it was the best weekend for the most people). It started out Saturday night when she was supposed to be having dinner for Courtney's birthday with her family. Little did she know we were all right outside the door and came parading in when she entered the room. We came in single file line yelling 'surprise!' and she said she ' never thought people would quit coming!'. People traveled from all over, even California! It was well deserved for a well loved woman.

The next day we had an open house at her and papa's house. we had 85 people stop by to wish her happy birthday! I was blown away by how many of her friends and family came by. That night we stayed there and grilled out. We finished the night by playing games and just having a good time.

It was a good weekend for me to get to know Philip's family better.They are such good people and I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with them.

3 years

Last night marked 3 years from when Philip and I went on our first date. 8-8-08. easy for me to remember, because I'll admit, I am bad with dates. 
But months ago we decided we would go back to the restaurant on the day where it all began...

How the date went depends on who you ask. Philip thinks it went 'great'. I, however, thought it was incredibly awkward. Maybe I had just built our first date up so much that my expectations were unreachable. because let's be honest, I worked HARD at getting this boy to ask me out. pulling out my best moves for weeks, flirty emails for over a month- he made me work for it. but alas, he caught me off guard at work, in the hallway and asked me out. for that FRIDAY. it was thurs. I used to never say yes to a date without more notice than a day! but, like i said, caught off guard. so we went. I wore my 'first date outfit' (philip hates that I even had a first date outfit) and it was nice. I definitely didn't think it was going to be my last first date ever. but it was :) and God knew what He was doing (of course).
So last night was fun seeing how far we have come in 3 years. And how different our conversation is now compared to 3 years ago. Ahh memories:)

As a souvenir of our 'anniversary date' I have this beautiful medley to gaze at

JP!!

I am so happy that Ashely and JP got engaged!!! I have been pulling for him since day one. I mean, look how cute he is!

I did however feel bad for Ben. He got down on one knee, proposed, and honestly expected her to say yes. He was floored when she said no, and i felt so bad for him. But I did like his reaction. Because normally the men are so classy and unemotional when they get sent home and 'wish her the best'. but ben got pissed. and I liked that about him.
But anyway, enough about Ben. JP and Ashley are engaged and she is moving to NY!!! Her and JP are moving in together and I am so excited!!! I love the chemistry the two of them have:)

Rock Climbing

Philip used to rock climb a lot in med school. When we started dating he got me into it. This is us at our first climbing experience

April /09

look at me- such an amateur:) THIS time that we went, I had all the right climbing gear, instead of just borrowing Philip's.  Philip got me all kinds of good stuff to climb with for Christmas. So Saturday when we went I felt like such the little climber:) I had my hiking shoes, hiking pants that zipped into shorts, my own cute harness, my own climbing shoes, and my own cute pink and orange chalk bag:) AND his brother got me a camel back bag that had a whole bladder of water in it for me to drink on all day, and also hold my stuff!

so proud of myself

 We went with two friends Perry & Nikki. Philip and Perry used to climb together a lot but haven't much lately. We hiked out to some climbs that were 'suitable' for us girls and got to work. We had a lot of fun and were getting ready to climb the one in the picture above, when all hell broke loose in the skies. It started pouring and storming something awful! So we burrowed down under this little overhang and hung out for about an hour until the storm passed. well, mostly. it was still sprinkling for our hike back.

While were waiting, we all dreamed of Miguel's. the pizza place at the Gorge that we all obsess over. Philip gets a whole large pizza to go, so he can eat on it for days:)
It was such a relaxing day. The Gorge is the one place Philip can go and not think about anything else. Where he can put work, our future, responsibilities aside and just have a good time. That's the main reason I love going.