Friday the 30th: DAY 2

So after sleeping in Memphis in the wonderful Hampton Inn we got up fairly early on Friday and headed out for Bolivar, Missouri where we were to stay with one of Jamie’s best friends, Beccy and her family. Jamie started out driving to at least get us out of the city, but she actually ended up driving the whole day. We stopped a lot though so she was totally fine. I promise I did offer to drive J

Our next state we entered was Arkansas, again another state we did not realize we would be going through. On our morning travels we listened to our new and Joe inspired Elvis CD. We loved it tender. As we made our way through the beautiful rolling hills of Arkansas and Missouri we decided to Antique shop. We stopped and found a nice blanket, Indian Wedding Jewelry (Jaime loves the Indian culture), and lots of children’s books for dirt cheap(I will soon have an abundance for my classroom). We stopped in Cabool, Arkansas for lunch. It was a very quiet and small town and they had a nice Mexican restaurant which is where we decided to eat lunch. Here we did some more antique shopping finding more children’s books, movies, and Jamie found two crystal potpourri dishes which were of the exact make she inherited from her grandmother.

Along our route we also found a huge camper/ trailer turned into a pink seashell. We wanted a picture but our camera died before we could get the picture. Our camera dies quite often L While in the car we were able to listen to Eat, Pray, Love which Jamie and I are both loving.

Finally after much driving and a few wrong turns (Dale helped us out), we made it to Bolivar where Beccy and her beautiful family were waiting for us. We visited for a little while with them and then we headed out for dinner. Beccy took us all out to Bandanas which was a local bar-be-cue place. It was really good and it was so nice for Beccy to take us out. Jamie held Evelyn the youngest girl all evening because she just could not get enough of that sweet baby. Nelly who is two was such a cutie and loved her butterfly wings Aunt Jamie brought her. That night was filled with Jamie and Beccy catching up and visiting. It was nice to see them together and meet one Jamie’s very best friends, We went to sleep fairly late that night even though we needed to have an early morning. We thought we would be just fine…

Thursday the 29th: DAY 1

Our goal for today… Memphis TN where we were to see Elvis! On our way through the great state of Alabama where we discovered the Talladega Nascar track. We say discovered because we had been seeing Talladega signs for the last 30 minutes. Talladega Forest, Talladega home cookin’, Talladega yada yada yada. So when there forest breaks to reveal the race track itself, clear as day, Jamie was uber excited. You see, for Jamie’s Birthday she got a Dale Earnhardt Jr. GPS to have a little Southern with her on the journey home. The “Dale Earnhardt Jr.” actually speaks the driving prompts to us and we are even a racecar on the screen as our arrow. We ate lunch at the Race City Diner where we had the pleasure of enjoying a truly southern lunch buffet which consisted of fried chicken with gravy, green beans with bacon, sweet potato soufflé, franks and sauerkraut, fried okra, rice cake, succotash, and best of all CHEESECAKE!

Back on the road (and anticipating many more detours) Jamie decided to put in an audio book she had burned for the trip. It was Sense and Sensibility and Sea monsters… I fell asleep through a good portion of this because it was not really my kind of book. We are going to try to listen to Eat, Pray, Love soon which I am excited about! When we were not listening to the book, we were both singing “ I put on my blue suede shoes and boarded the plane…touched down in the land of the delta blues in the middle of the pouring rain.” We could not get it out of our heads, it seemed our Memphis theme (though ironically, not written or ever performed by Elvis).

In Mississippi (which we did not realize we would be going through, another Talladega like reaction) At a Mississippi rest stop we had our first sighting of Elvis (a paper cutout). I gave him a kiss on the cheek! I took the wheel after this rest stop, me driving is something you may not hear about often, not that I don’t offer, Jamie is just crazy obsessive about her truck. We passed through one horrendous rain storm (Jamie has named the storm “the 3 minutes of terror”) until we started getting close to Memphis. (Really it was just off and on rain showers, Jamie is too dramatic). Keeping in theme, Memphis surprised us too! One minute we were driving along the interstate, the next we were surrounded by cars and halted at a stop light. There was not a great place to stop the truck so at the next stoplight we did an old school Chinese fire drill and she took the wheel again. It was quite exciting. It has been a while since either of us have done one and never with such urgency.

So we were finally in Memphis! Yay! We found the Rock n’ Roll Café easily which is where our Elvis would be performing and decided to tour around the sites until the show. We were not allowed to go up and look at Graceland, having missed visitor hours, so we took a picture by the gate, and then our camera died. After setting up the camera to charge we did what any self respecting set of girls would do…we went shopping of course! We bought an Elvis CD and Elvis postcards. Jamie got some Elvis matches…she likes to get matches wherever she goes. Oh and we found these awesome gold sunglasses which I wanted real bad. They looked super cool. Don’t cha’ think!

The Joe Kent Show (dinner included) began at 8, we arrived early to snag great seats and order dinner before the show. We were pretty hungry and ended up ordering a lot of food, which included the famous Elvis Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich. Then I got a Turkey Melt which was not as great as I thought it would be. Jamie got the Hunka Hunka Burnin’Burger which was HUGE! Then we settled in for our Elvis Impersonator, Mr. Joe Kent!

He was Fabulous! He was funny and a pretty good singer (lucky for us). We were right up front and in the action. Jamie had a love song sung to her by him and I got a kiss… let me explain. He was giving out these scarves and I wanted one of course, so after several other requests had been given to him that night. Jamie wrote a request for a scarf for me to take to him. He said “well of course you can have one. I just need some sugar on my cheek.” So I went to give him some “sugar” on his cheek and he totally turned his face at the last second, giving me a kiss on the lips. I was totally embarrassed and all Jamie could do was laugh. Oh Elvis! It was a great show though.

(This picture was taken as he stood on our table. . .)

We are having a blast so far and it is just the beginning. More adventures to come J

The Goalmitemoilneutidwa Road Trip!

That's right friends! The title of this adventures is the the Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois, Nebraska, Utah, Idaho, Washington ROAD TRIP (other wise abbreviated above). Each post will be written in the car as we go. So far, so survived! We will update with details tomorrow!

xoxo

Jamie & Ashley

"I can't name it, because then you'll expect something."

I move away next Thursday.

Two years ago, I thought that statement would be followed by a couple billion exclamation points, now, however, I can only muster a period. Please don't get me wrong, today's 106 degree weather remains my biggest nemesis in the South, but other complaints have been smoothed over.

Once I ached over the distance between me and my closest friends. I prayed and begged the Lord for friends in the South; true, constant, and inspiring friends. Let's be clear, I tantrumed to the Lord, pouted, and screamed. He didn't listen to a bit of it. I wanted to fit in, to be "apart", to create my special group, just like I had before. *Breath* While reflecting, I see two truths: 1) You can never replace your old friends, and 2) God knows better. I do not fit in, I am not apart of that imaginary group of friends I though I was missing. Instead the Lord gave me the friends I never knew I needed, and they are gold to me. To my new family-friends, work-friends, and special-adventure friends, thank you. Thank you for being an answer to my prayers. Thank you for making me love where I have been, it is for your sakes that I love Georgia. Lastly, thank you for the years to come.

WARNING: I don't lose friends, we just may not talk for a while. Sorry.

I am moving to Washington, to a new stage, and new adventures. I have made a commitment to be a better blogger so that I can K.I.T. with the people I love (middle school style). I will also try to be better at charging my camera, taking pictures, and posting them. (I am nervous about that one) And, I look forward to learning how to write stuff that is more interesting than word-y.

MID-MAY

So, it's mid-May and so much is going on!!! I don't even know where to start. But I intend to, soon.

xoxo
Jamie

Taken from the doppelgänger from April 18th 2008. . .

So, the answer is, Yes: I have curly hair. However, what makes my situation worthy of a blog rant is that I have a straight hair haircut. This is on my mind today because I woke up late, not having the time it takes to fix my hair, I more and less ran out the door. The result is an early 20's-esque mess, which given the right lighting is passed off as a statement not a last resort.It started last December, with my first haircut in a strange place. I told the stylist I needed something cute and quick, and “WACK”, it was gone. I admit that hair wasn't the only thing to fall to the floor that day. (personal identity, tears of frustration, trust in the greater good of man) I had lost what felt like a Jamie Icon and gained a snooze button inhibitor. The first three weeks where horrible, and the results where mediocre at best, and I burnt through three flat irons.Since then, I have become quite a proficient with a ceramic straighter, 40min. is the best look, 20 min, is mostly respectable, 10 min. . . well, that's the kind of hair I avoid. Yes, I understand this is trivial. I understand I am vain. Nonetheless, my feelings persist otherwise.

So. . . the ants have subsided, and yet I am still awake. The "Athens" bugs have just hatched, and they are crawling up my walls and across my ceiling. I fear more will fall on my bed as I sleep, and it forces me to sleep with one eye open (otherwise known as not sleeping) I am supposed to run a 5k tomorrow and work has my head on the chopping block. . . .still they creep. Those jerks!

I promise, when it is not 5:17 in the morning, I really do have nice things to say! I hope to add some merriment to this space soon.

xoxo