Candle on the Water

Come with me while we tour the Tybee Island Lighthouse. Some women like to be wined and dined or bought jewelry and fancy things. Not me. Take me to a historical site/museum and you're golden! And that's exactly what my sweetie did this weekend for me. I have to admit, I really enjoyed our tour of this beautiful piece of Savannah's history.

I've never toured the lighthouse before. Stacey, Brandy, and I drove past it one day when we were up in Savannah one weekend, but that's the most I have ever seen of it before Saturday. So I was one excited lady to actually get to climb to the top of this bad boy.

We began our climb up several, several flights of stairs, that my legs keep reminding me of today. It really wasn't that bad of a climb, but I dumbly had on a pair of wedge sandals that didn't really help our treacherous climb up 100+ feet. We finally made it to the top and I was glad that I remembered to grab the remote to my camera. David, on the other hand wasn't as thrilled.

The view of the island was absolutely stunning. I could have stayed up there all day and just peered out over the view.

The most memorable moment was when Elliot made his appearance at the lighthouse and I got David's picture with him!

Ha! Sorry about that cheesiness. But that's all I could think about when I was touring the lighthouse was the movie Pete's Dragon.  Hence, why I named this post Candle on the Water. :-)

The lighthouse was very interesting and surprisingly, so were the other buildings on the grounds. They had the caretaker's cottage all set up and decorated back to the 1930-1940s era.

1812 Summer Kitchen

1881 Caretaker's Home

Smile David!

I thought this was a really cool piece.

Creepy toys. We had a lot of old toys at the Museum in Thomasville that always creeped me out!

 We were pleasantly surprised that our admission tickets also allowed us to walk across the street to Fort Screven and tour the Tybee Island History Museum as well. Ding, ding, ding! Jackpot!!

It was very interesting looking at all the exhibits and really getting a feel for just how historic this piece of the United States really is. I really enjoyed the pirate displays.

David REALLY enjoyed that last photo! Especially since there were people walking all around us while I made him take this picture. Ha!
It was all good until we got to the last room/display. Since this museum is housed in the Battery, all of the rooms are concrete and really low. It's almost like being in a submarine or something, so my claustrophobia was on high alert. But when we walked into this room, I about flipped out. See, the room was pretty dark and quiet until you walked into it. Then I guess there are some kind of motion detectors in there, so when you enter all the lights come on and creepy fair music starts to play (which oddly enough, sounded a lot like Onward Christian Soldier...).

It was beyond weird! Especially when you factor in IT style clowns from the 1950s....

We high-tailed it out of there, but not before David took a turn at the still-working periscope.

That was our Saturday outing this weekend. It was lots of fun! Especially considering that we only went to the island to go get breakfast. Those are always the best days. Just stumbling on fun things to do. Hope you all had a fabulous weekend as well!

Friday Faves

It's hard to believe it's Friday already. But you will hear no complaints coming from this gal! Here are some of my favorite things from the week.

1. Oscar!! My little buddy is with me this week and it makes my heart happy to have him around. I miss my boys when I don't see them. So, Oscar and I have been getting in some good quality bonding time. He "allowed" me to do a photo shoot with him this week, you know, to test out my new camera gear. Which also brings me to one of my least favorite things of the week...Stacey mortifying me on Facebook! Ha!

She totally ratted me out! But that's ok. Oscar (ok-really just me) had fun! I would show you more pictures, but my hair was a hot mess that day-as you can see below. It was really more to test out how well my remote did so I can totally torture David with it later!

Today is day two of Oscar coming to work with me. He came yesterday because he had a vet appointment right after work. I decided to treat him to lunch for being so good all day :-) David called me completely ridiculous, but only because I brought Mox a cheeseburger home one day when I came to visit, so I like to spread the cheeseburgers around to all my canine friends.

 

And yes, I did totally buy Oscar a cheeseburger for lunch. I wanted to spoil him! Now he's back at work today, all ready for his first trip to Savannah!

2. This beach chair: I came across this bad boy and would love to make it mine. However, I just can't bring myself to pay $88 for a beach chair. Maybe it will go on sale and I can have it.

Image from Wayfair website

My biggest complaint at the beach is that it's hard to read laying on your stomach and I really hate laying on the actual beach itself. This chair would be perfect!

3. Summer Dresses: I love wearing dresses in the summer. They are just so easy to throw on and help keep you somewhat cool in this Florida heat! I love the Blue Door Boutique and all their cute stuff. I will have to get me a few dresses pronto.

Images from Blue Door Boutique

4. Surviving the great Thomasville flood- Wednesday was super crazy in Thomasville. We experienced a flash flood when it rained 5 inches in an hour. I had to drive around for 45 minutes trying to find a road open to get back to the house. Thankfully, the water receded enough on our road that I was finally able to go home. I was worried for a minute there!

Car under water on Clay Street

Another car underwater on Jackson Street

Seems like every street in the Dawson/Glennwood historic district was basically a river when I was trying to get home. I called my peeps at the Museum to give them a heads up as to what to expect and which roads were opened for them to go home. Just glad that the only thing at our house that was messed up were a bunch of limbs and pine cones in the yard; and the most tragic thing, Stacey's garden took a major beating.

But after seeing house after house flooded with 2-3 feet of water, I guess we should be thankful!

Well folks, that will wrap up my favorite things from this week. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

It's a Family Tradition

I feel that I need to brag on my cousin, Colton. This past week he officially "graduated" from 8th grade. He was the Salutatorian for his class this year. His older brother Brandon, was salutatorian for his 8th grade class as well, three years prior. (I was the valedictorian of mine, just sayin'; ha!)

I can't express how proud I am of these two boys.They have been such a joy to me since the day they were each born.

Colton (and Brandon) was awarded the Lamar Jones award as well at school. This is also a great honor, because it is an award that the faculty votes on due to the character of the student. My brother Brad received this award as well when he was in 8th grade. I can't claim that I received this award due to the fact that my sister-in-law, Nicole edged me out for that one!

These boys are such well behaved, smart, good boys who I know are going to grow up to be awesome men one day. I still can't believe that Colton will be in high school next year and Brandon will be a senior! It still seems like I should be their age and they should be Barrett's age.

Now Brandon is going off on dates and to the prom.

And one day soon, they will be journeying off to go to college and begin their adult lives. I'm glad that the family tradition of getting good grades is alive and well. However, there are probably a few that don't need to be repeated. Wink, wink.

The boys' father, Gary Wayne (my 1st cousin), my brother Brad, and I all went to Chipola {Junior, when we were there} College in Marianna, FL. I graduated from Chipola Magna Cum Laude, the boys on the other hand....not so much. In reality, I did a lot of goofing off and probably would have graduated with Summa Cum Laude honors if I had tried. I really thought Brad was the inspiration for them to turn Chipola into a 4 year college, because that was how long he was there! (Love ya B-rad)  You see, Chipola is our area's equivalent to grades 13 and 14. Pretty much all of my friends all went to Chipola after high school. So imagine a bunch of friends, going to school- with no one to make you go to class. Yeah, the temptations were much too great. I would tell some of my exploits, and Brad's as well, but I know my mother reads this and I just can't be giving all my secrets away. Ha!!

However, the reason for this post is to share a story about my cousin's exploits and to give a shout out to Colton-Lolton.

There is a Blountstown native who writes an outdoor/wildlife blog (Outdoors Down South) and he shared a story about my cousin Gary Wayne and his adventures one day while skipping school at Chipola.

Let's just say this story is told quite often in the Purvis household and we have teased Gary Wayne about this story for years. Go check it out!

The Chipola Frog Odyssey ~ By: Jim McClellan

Really makes me miss my days at Chipola and the impromptu trips to the Chipola River when I was supposed to be in class. Granted none of my friends hauled their boats behind their trucks every day to school like GW did, so let's just say we made a BIG effort when we skipped class. Ha!

I hope that Brandon and Colton may choose to go to Chipola one day and experience all that place has to offer. I don't regret going for one second and wouldn't trade those last two years with all my friends together in one spot for anything!

Wisdom Wednesday

It's been a minute since I have posted a Wisdom Wednesday for you! But I thought today I would share with you a special virtual meeting of some godly women that has really taken off.

Via She Read Truth

A few bloggers that I follow have started a small Bible Study and have invited all of their fellow sisters in Christ to follow along with them. Right now they are doing the study Soul Detox and I have been joining in along with them. It's amazing how things as simple as a blog can turn out to be a community full of people that love the Lord and want to share Him with their virtual friends. To be there to encourage other ladies that span across this great nation. I encourage you to join in with us and dive into the Word and seek Him together. Check out the website for more details on the Bible Study, where to get it, etc. You can follow this movement on Twitter, Instagram, or via the website/blog itself! It's a very simple and a quick study to do and I generally do it first thing with my morning coffee. Here is a sampling of the material. It consists of a quick devotional, then has a few verses for you to read and apply back to the devotional.

I have the Bible App that this study runs off of, so I do it straight off of my phone. Man, technology is great! I have been keeping account of my daily studies in my daily planner. I briefly answer the questions and then choose a Bible Verse that has meaning to me and write that down as well.

It's a great way to start the day and I think it would be wonderful if you joined in as well!

Taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man that trusts in Him. Psalm 34:8

Summertime Fun

Since it is now June, I will officially call it summer. It's sure hot enough to be! David was supposed to journey to Thomasville for the weekend and we were going to go down to Wakulla Springs to spend the day on Saturday. Well, he had some issues pop up on Friday at 5:00 at work with the phone lines and ended up having to stay in Savannah for the weekend. So I took my free weekend, and headed home to see my family and my puppies. Which is always a good thing! I had one thing on my agenda this weekend- to do as little as possible and spend as much time down at the creek as I could. I love watching the dogs swim and have a good time. They LOVE to swim! It's so cute! So be prepared for lots of dachshunds swimming photos!

Brutus and his obsession - fetching balls out of the water

The dogs love to fetch balls out of the water. They will do this for hours on end. As long as you are throwing the balls, they will jump in to go get them. Especially Brutus - he is majorly OCD in this department. He is obsessed with those balls. He can't rest until he has gathered every ball up and it is safely on the bank.

JJ likes to swim, but I think he prefers the boogie board.

Brutus eventually realized the redeeming qualities of the board. He could be "in" the water in the middle of the action, but without all the swimming.

Jack got his turn as well. My nephew Barrett had fun with his new "aquarium" aka, a blow up paddle boat that he filled with water and creatures like minnows, tadpoles, and crayfish. Here he is with his cup trying to catch his prey.

 He finally got one (with cousin, Colton's help).

He calls the crayfish lobsters. It's pretty darn cute :-)

This is for you, mother!! And you are welcome!

We put in two long days of swimming. I may have added fuel to my already sunburned skin. I need to be more careful! But it was fun. I got some good float time in, and also went off the zip line a few times, which is always a blast!

JJ was pretty funny. At the end of the day, he was tired and needed to rest. The ground wasn't good enough. I looked up and he had decided to take his nap on my chair and towel. Hope you all had a good weekend!

Friday Faves

Happy Friday morning everyone! I'm back today with this week's installment of my favorite things from this week. Let's see what makes the list!

1. Art Finds: I have been looking around to find a piece of art to go in my office. I wasn't really sure what I wanted, but when I came across a shop on Etsy that sold pretty watercolors of various dogs, I knew I wanted a dachshund one! Follow the link and check out the different prints!

Every week the artist let's you submit a photo of your pet on Facebook for a contest for him to do a custom art print for you. I submitted a photo of Moxley for David, since I have one of a dachshund. Thought it would be nice for David to have an original piece of art of his dog. So please go vote for Moxley! Hopefully we will win the contest this week. If not, then I may have to pay to have a portrait done of Mox for David. He seems to really like the idea and has started a campaign to get everyone he knows to go vote for Mox. It's pretty adorable to see him get all excited about this contest. Ha! So go vote!

While I was at it, I found a whimsical print for my bedroom to put on my shelf. It's cute and would be perfect one day in a nursery, if I ever have a little girl! This is from The Wheatfield another shop on Etsy. You should go check out her other prints. Very cute!

2. This Picture:

David sent me this photo yesterday. This is Mox waiting for his doggie ice cream that I bought him last weekend at the grocery store. However, with all of David's stuff packed and ready to go for his visit to come see me this weekend, it looks like Mox is going on a trip himself and saying "see ya later, loser!" to David.

3. Adapt and Overcome- With a Grill: Yesterday it was storming after work. On the drive home, I got an intense craving for some chili. Yes, I realize it is normally 90 degrees and not chili weather, but the dreary weather just got me in the mood for some comfort food. So, I got out and braved the pounding rain to run in Publix to get the ingredients to make chili. Then I got home to realize that the electricity was off. Totally my luck! I would not be derailed in my valiant effort for chili. That's where the grill came in. So I took my pot and my chili stuff and headed outside to cook on the grill. Needless to say, I got my chili. So take that Thomasville Utilities! You will not ruin my day with no electricity!

Although I was a little upset that after all that effort, I realized that we were out of cheese. Oh well! It was still yummy!

4. My New Necklace: I finally got around to wearing the necklace I had been stalking at Target that I bought a couple of weeks ago. Love it.

And..I also found a pair of shoes that I forgot I had. They are pink and purple, so I decided to pull those out and wear them too!

And if you are wondering why I am taking random pictures in my office, so am I! But it's only because I just got a new remote control for my camera and had to try it out. Which brings me to my favorite "fave" of the week!

5. Remote for my Nikon! David was my first victim this weekend. I will spare you all the pictures that I forced upon him because I set the camera up and then would randomly press the remote when he would least expect it. I have to admit I enjoyed this power way more than I should. We got pretty silly by the end of it all.

I even made Stacey have an impromptu photo shoot one evening in the kitchen. I asked her to look adoringly in my face. I got her "really?" face instead.

Love it! Anyways, those are some of my favorite things/moments from this week. Hope you all have a fabulous weekend. I know I will. I bought a tripod for my camera, so David will have more fun with the remote control feature at our photo shoot this weekend! (insert evil laugh here!) He's super pumped about it.