This week's events

This past week was pretty exciting in Columbia and elsewhere! I apologize that I don't have any pictures from the events, but I forgot my camera for one of them, and I didn't carry one to the other.

The first exciting thing was Cousin Date Part II. Matt and I met up again in Orangeburg, which is about 45 minutes away for each of us. We avoided a repeat of the shady restaurant issue by meeting in a different area of Orangeburg. This was still no gourmet experience, but Matt did get to find out what the famous Calabash chicken at Fatz was all about. It's basically just fried chicken tenders, but apparently they were tasty! It was great to catch up again, and we're going to try to do a repeat soon, whenever he comes back into town again.

The second big event was a trip to see Pat Green play in Charleston. When I was in high school, I looked forward to the night Pat would play at the HOT Fair and Rodeo each fall with incredible anticipation. I made some great memories during those concerts, like two-stepping and maybe even stealing a kiss or two (first names only: Tyler and Justin - Mom, you can guess) during the slow songs. This was the one school night each fall that my parents let me stay out past ten because they knew how important it was to me. I made it to a few perfomances during college, but it's been 5 or 6 years since I saw him play live.
That's why it was so exciting to get to see Pat play this weekend. I had a friend who was already going, along with her little sister, and they invited me to come along. Thanks to my grandmother we were able to meet Pat and get his autograph before the concert. I enjoyed hearing him play some new stuff, but my favorite moment was hearing "Take Me Out to a Dancehall." When I hear that song I think about my standing lunch date with Rebecca and Adrienne junior year. We listened to that CD and the Dixie Chicks Fly album almost every day that fall, or at least that's how I remember it.
Pat announced at the concert that he wanted to come back each spring so hopefully Nick will get to go next year.
Speaking of Nick, you're probably wondering how he's doing. Understandably, he's tired. The schedule of 4:30 wake-up and 11pm bedtime is not helping matters. He continues to have a great attitude, and remains as positive as possible. Specific ways you can pray for him are:
That he gets enough rest and has energy
That he will continue to develop and be confident in his leadership skills
That he will find time to complete all extra projects assigned to him
That he is able to remain positive
That he will be affirmed in his abilities by his superiors
That he will continue to grow physically stronger through training
Thank you all so much for your thoughts an prayers for him as he goes through this new challenge.
Have a great week everyone!