30

That's a 30-year-old me at my McDonald's birthday lunch.

It's the only place we can go with James because he can run free after he eats.

My external hard-drive isn't wanting to give away any of my other pictures, but Sunday really was a nice day...except for it being my last day with KJ for a week.  He had to leave for the airport at 4:45 a.m. yesterday when he left for Haiti.  My sweet husband made the day special before he left, though.  He coordinated a surprise party for me at church Sunday night and then surprised me with my family meeting at my brother's house that night.  It was all very sweet and encouraging.  

Honestly, it's hard at this exact moment to remember how good and encouraged I felt by fellowship with others, because I just miss KJ SSSSSOOOOOOOOO much right now.  I am never prepared for how it feels for him to be gone, and the feeling just gets worse every time he goes.  Maybe it's because the longer we're married the closer we've become?  

I keep starting to write something and then changing my mind.  I think I might be in need of an early bedtime.

20s Highlights, a picture-heavy post

In my 20s, I...

graduated from college.

I am honoring that memory here...it got eclipsed by a wedding 21 days later.

I got my first digital camera.

My photography professor in college said the world would never go completely digital.

I lived in a place where there were blizzards on Christmas.

I was a maid of honor and got my first sister.

I kept a pact to watch all the new episodes of Star Wars with these people.

I ate lots of lunches and dinners at this coffee table, watching lots of movies

with my new husband, who accumulated a vast collection during his time in China.

I hosted Thanksgiving dinner for our two families out of this minuscule kitchen. 

I prepared for my first baby, a girl.

I experienced labor pains and a great thankfulness to the Vietnam war vet

who gave me an epidural and told me stories and that everything would be alright.

I held my daughter for the first time.

I became a full-time, stay at home mommy to this little beauty.

I went on a Kentucky photo-shoot with my brother.

I saw my husband graduate seminary.

I moved back to Alabama and into the bosom of family.

I introduced Ella to the ocean.

I got to see my college roommate married.

That's the sweat of a South Alabama summer on our brows.  Gracious.

I saw a childhood best friend married.

took Ella to her first movie

got my first Murphy sister

I unraveled the mysteries of the island.

I had a son.

saw another childhood best friend married
(slightly out of order...I'm pregnant with James in this picture)

a family trip to Disney World

another new sister!

Wait, and then one more!

went camping with my husband

took pictures in the snow

took a week-long vacation just us girls

I got my hair highlighted for the first time.


And you guys remember I went to England, right?

Friday's Flashback: The Streets of Arundel

I realize I am blogging my way oh so slowly through our trip.  The truth is that I am blogging at the pace that I have time to edit pictures; therefore, it is sometimes slow-going.  

I showed you the lovely door that led into the castle garden.  Here's KJ strolling by the ever-present English hedge.  I love those hedges, though they do prevent you from having a place to pull over whilst driving through the countryside.

I shared the picture of our first glimpse of the castle while we were on our trip, but I'll share it again.  We were still pretty far away, but it filled the camera frame and was amazing.  Parts of this castle have been around since William the Conqueror.  This is a super-old place.

I really love this picture. 

It looks so stately and majestic, defending the village.

According to KJ's research, William the Conqueror gave this land to one of his nobleman on the condition that he build a castle to defend it.  The nobleman delivered.

These pictures just look like paintings to me.  How could such a place be real?

There are no "Yield" signs in England.

another doorway 

the High Street

I'm glad I took this picture of KJ walking down the High Street to the castle.  We got a little sidetracked (okay, I got a little sidetracked) at this point because there was this little used book store (except they like to call them antiquarian or something sophisticated like that) that I couldn't resist.  Like so many of the stores we went into, they are tall and narrow, so little winding staircases just keep appearing, and you keep climbing up and up.  

I bought an old copy of all the works of William Cowper and an Anne book for my mom.  There were so many books I would have liked to buy there, but KJ made me wait until we got to Wales and the town of books.  Our side trip into the bookstore only gave us an hour and a half to walk through the castle and grounds, which was really pushing it.  But I don't regret it.  My only regret is I didn't take a picture of that little bookstore...

A Slice of Life

Ella came home from school today with her jacket tied around her waist.

"All the girls in Kindergarten who wear jackets put them like this, and somebody showed me how to do it, too."

Asking for a snack at bedtime..."Mom, I only had four meals today...".

James tucked Ella into bed tonight of his own accord.  He directed her on where to put her head and then covered her feet with her blanket.  Sweet children.

The end.

The Most Life-Altering Decision of my 20s

I realized that writing about the "highlights of my 20s" felt really broad.  What exactly constituted a highlight?  The times I felt happiest?  The times I learned the most?  The most life-changing?  When I did something fun?  

Instead of a top ten list like I originally imagined, I decided to go with the top moments in a few smaller categories.  So obviously the most life-altering decision of not just my 20s but my entire life came when at age 21, I said, "Yes," to marrying Keith Harrison Pugh, Jr.  Nothing in my life would be what it is today without him.  There would be no Ella, no James, and I doubt I'd be living in Tuscaloosa.

James climbed up in my lap while I was editing the above picture, and said, "Da-da!  Mama!"  The people in the picture aren't the same people they are today in a lot of ways.  We didn't know what was before us, and we couldn't imagine our life now.  But...maybe KJ could.  I didn't think about the future much then.  I was living in the moment.  As KJ  was to learn, my idea of planning for the future consisted of, "Hey, let's buy a car!" and going out that week and buying it.  His idea would be to think and plan it all out a little farther in advance.  We balance each other out a bit.

The thing that comes to the forefront of my mind about the decision to marry KJ is that I had no idea how good the gift was that I was getting.  It was a decision that I made trusting and believing that it was God's plan for me, and it has been a better plan than I could ever have imagined...if I had actually sat down and imagined what it would be like, that is.  :)  But truly, from the moment my emotionally-overwhelmed 22-year-old self cried on his shoulder at our bed and breakfast over the sheer overwhelmingness of it all on our wedding night, leaving mascara stains all over his white button-up, and he was all graciousness and comfort, I knew I'd somehow gotten way better than I deserved.  (And don't worry, our wedding night did get better from there.  In my defense, it had been a very long and busy day on very little sleep.)  I'm so thankful for the gracious providence that directed my 21-year-old self to say, "Yes."

And I'm thankful I've spent every birthday of my 20s with KJ Pugh.

To counteract the sadness from my sickness I created something that made me happy.

The company that printed our Christmas cards is having a sale on their postcards, and since I just finished using my cards that said Lynn Murphy, I thought I'd make myself some more.  The above will be cropped to a 4x6 size, and I can't wait for them to arrive! 

An account of my day from a somewhat feverish mind

I am siiiccckkk....ugh.  My fever is spiking again.  It did this last night, too.  It stays in the 99.somethings all day long and under control but for some reason at night moves into the 100s and even went to 101 last night.  Writing about being sick is almost as boring as writing about the weather, so...I'll move on.

Maybe you'd like to hear about what I did today while I was sick?

• Worked on potty-training James  I've been setting the timer and sitting him on the toilet regularly, trying to catch him at the moment of needing to go so I could praise him and reinforce what he was supposed to do.  I never succeeded in catching him at the right moment, but...
• We read a lot of books today.  Instead of turning a movie on for him while we waited for him to go, I decided to read him a few books.  This was a good idea because he wanted to sit up on the potty and read all day.  It was also a bad idea because he wanted to sit up on the potty and read all day.  He would run up to me, grab my hand, and pull me into the bathroom, saying, "Book!  Book!"  I persevered in reading because I'm happy to encourage his love of reading, and now he obviously thinks the toilet is the place to do that.
• I took Tylenol every four hours.
• I took Mucinex for chest congestion every four hours.  
• I coughed a lot.
• I blew my nose.
• I finished a birthday DVD for Hillary!  Her birthday is Friday.
• I washed the dishes.  Dishes still have to be washed even when you're sick.
• I made the bed and cleaned up the den.  It felt good to move around a bit even though I felt bad.
• I put in a load of laundry.
• I've read some of The Hound of the Baskervilles.

Maybe that's it?  Maybe that's slightly boring, but we're surviving around here and hoping I'll be feeling even better tomorrow.  I have a birthday to celebrate!