Thursday, July 24, 2014

This Song

I really like music. I listen to it a lot. There have been many songs in my day that I can relate too, but this song in particular has hit me hard and its easily my most favorite song of all time. Unlike most songs, this song will never get old and will always remind me of a time in my life, and I wanted to share the lyrics with you can explain why this means so much to me. 

Most of you might already know the song because its pretty popular in country music right now. 

Its Tim McGraw's Meanwhile Back at Momma's

Runnin round in this new truck
Bank lets me borrow from month to month
I'm runnin out of credit, find a little Cash on the radio
Standin still they're blowin past, numbers on cars goin NASCAR fast
What I wouldn't give for a slow down, don't ya know?
Cause where I come from, only the horses run
When the day is done, we take it easy


Basically, if you've been reading my blog for awhile you know we just moved back from Austin Texas. We were there for 2 years for Mr. Hunt's job. It was a wonderful time and I don't regret going at all, but I was home sick the ENTIRE time. Especially after we had Jane, I couldn't wait to move back closer to home or "Momma"

This verse reminds me of being in Austin (which is a big city) where everyone is moving so fast....you know, the city life. I would often wish I was sitting on a dock on the May River in Bluffton (which is where my parents live), where its quiet, slow, and calm. Everyone still goes to work and does their business, but when the day is done, everyone goes home, relaxes on their porch or with family. I know not everyone does this in Bluffton, but its what I picture and its what my family does.

This is the chorus:

Meanwhile back at Mama's
The porch light's on, come on in if you wanna
Supper's on the stove and beer's in the fridge
Red sun sinkin' out low on the ridge
Games on the tube and Daddy smokes cigarettes
Whiskey keeps his whistle wet
Funny the things you thought you'd never miss
In a world gone crazy as this


This is pretty much exactly how it goes at my parents house. My parents always have the front door unlocked and the lights on when they are home (hopefully you don't know where they live and won't rob them..haha). My Mom is ALWAYS cooking something good and beer is ALWAYS in the fridge (the fridge in the garage to be exact). If there is any sort of game (especially football) it will be on the tube and my Dad does smoke cigarettes as well. Whiskey doesn't keep his whistle wet unless its a special occasion, but beer keeps his whistle wet.

Then this last sentence in the chorus gets me every single time. Funny the things you thought you'd never miss In a world gone crazy as this When we moved to Austin, we were so excited for something new. Once I started to get homesick, it was the little things that always made me miss home. Like the beer in the fridge and Momma's cooking. All things that I wouldn't have told you I was going to miss when we first moved.

Well I found a girl and we don't fit in here
Talk about how hard it is to breathe here
Even with the windows down can't catch a southern breeze here
One of these days gonna pack it up and leave here


It was hard to fit in in Austin. The famous saying "Keep Austin Weird" is not a joke. There are some weird people there. Being born and raised in Hilton Head and SC in general, people were very different. Sure, I could have changed myself to fit in and it really wasn't a big deal, but it was always like I was in a foreign place when we would go somewhere where there were a lot of people. People watching went to another level. Plus, being back in SC you just feel like HOME and you fit there.

Definitely can't catch a southern breeze in Austin. Yes, Austin is technically south of SC, but no southern breezes were in Austin....actually no breezes were in Austin. It was so freaking HOT!
One of these days gonna pack it up and leave here This is something Mr. Hunt and I said to each other very very often while in Austin.

Oh I miss yeah a little dirt on the road, I miss corn growin in a row
I miss being somebody everybody knows, there everybody knows everybody
I miss those small town routes, walkin around in muddy boots
The sound of rain on an old tin roof
It's time we head on back


Obviously this is just everything (all the small things) you tend to miss when you are gone. Funny, because in Hilton Head people always say its so small that everybody knows everybody. Its true when you live there. I of course, have no clue who people are anymore because Ive been gone for 10 years. It's time we head on back This is when the tears always come during the song. Every. Single. Time. Maybe I'm a baby, but this song does it to me every time.

That's basically all the lyrics. Like I said, I don't want you to feel like I hated Austin. Austin was wonderful. It was different in a good way. I learned a lot. I became closer to God there. Jane was born there. The distance made me cherish the times with family more. I made some good friends there.  I ate lots of good food there. and many many more.

The very first time I heard this song, we were still in Austin and trying to get back. We were in the process of trying to find Mr. Hunt a good job somewhere, ANYWHERE closer to home, so the song always made me miss home more and I could relate well. Now that we are back, every time I hear it, I say a little prayer thanking God for getting us back. Tears of joy always fill my eyes and Mr. Hunt always looks at me weird.

It might seem crazy that a stupid song relates to me so well, but just to prove that this song describes my family to a T is that my little brother Dylan (who is getting married soon) is thinking about dancing to this song with my Mom for their Mother/Son dance. Lord help me if they do. Ill already be crying seeing them dancing, add that song, and I may have to excuse myself.

So, do you have a song like this? One that you can relate to word for word? Thanks Tim McGraw for making a song about my life....I couldn't have done it better.

Love
Jennifer




Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Just Some Thoughts on Jane

As usual, we have a lot on our plates right now. Ill share when I can. But, in other news....Jane is growing up too fast! I can't stand it. I know I say this all the time too. But, she is just cuter and cuter everyday, she learns at least one word a day if not three or four, and she has the best personality.

My brother and his fiance came into town this past weekend. I'm sad because I didn't get ANY pictures because I was busy filming for a few videos on my YouTube channel with them. Anyway, they wanted to take Jane to the Aquarium here in Charleston, so on Saturday morning we went. Jane loves fish so I thought she would have a great time.

She had a great time alright, but the fish weren't it for her. She just liked looking at other people, other babies, and running around. Every once in awhile she would point and gasp at the fish, but not as much as I thought she would.

The best part though was when she saw the big guy dressed as a chipmunk or beaver (not entirely sure what it was). First let me back up though...we already ran into a big guy dressed as an albino alligator that she loved. She gave him a kiss, hug, blew kisses, and a high five. She also tried to hand him her beloved Elmo, but he didn't see. So, when we were getting off the elevator and Jane spotted the Beaver guy, she let out a squeal Ive never heard before and I thought something was wrong.

Turns out she REALLY wanted to see this guy. Funny thing is that every single other kid in the vicinity was screaming or crying to get away from it. So we were able to roll Jane right up in her stroller to him since he seemed to be out in the open after the other kids ran away. First thing Jane did was smile and wave hi. Then she shared her pretzel stick. He pretended to eat it, gave it back, and then Jane ate it. Then she blew him kisses and high fives. Then she felt like he might need some water so she gave him her sippy cup. He pretended to sip it and gave it back. Basically it was the cutest thing. Not only was her not scared, but she was sharing.

Sometimes the fact that Jane pretty much likes everybody and isn't shy kind of scares me because I don't want her running off with a stranger, but I also love it because she learns a lot from other people. Its not just me that she's stuck to all the time. She goes off and explores on her own. Se figures things out on her own. She makes mistakes and fixes them (obviously small things like you can't climb up the playground slide while someone is trying to come down) on her own.

I'm also wondering if she will continue to stay this way, or eventually be shy once she realizes most other kids are shy. Either way, I love her, I love her personality, I love seeing her little brain work, and I love her love for people.

Love,
Jennifer

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Jane's Best Buddies

If you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know this cutie with Jane....Cameron. She is one of my best friends daughter and recently she had another baby girl. Cameron is 1.5 years older than Jane and Jane is 1 year older than Kendall. Jane and Cameron are finally at the age where they can play together. Brandy, Bev, Cameron, and Kendall came to Charleston and stopped by for dinner and a short visit. I couldn't help but snap a few pics of them together. 

Both smiling, but Jane is blurry.


So cute


Jane was into the hugs


They were playing so well and I kept saying "cheese" and distracting them.


Now kisses. Cameron kept saying "don't bite me" haha


More hugs


All three beauties


All smiling! a miracle



Then they read for awhile, it was so cute! They were reading to each other and looking at each other books




I hope they are friends forever just like their mom and I. 

Love
Jennifer

Thursday, July 10, 2014

4th of July Weekend

We had an awesome 4th of July weekend. I took Jane and the fur babies to Bluffton and Mr. Hunt went to Beaufort to go fishing with his Dad. The best thing is that Bluffton and Beaufort are only 45 minutes apart so Mr. Hunt made some appearances throughout the weekend. 

On the 4th, we woke up, got Jane dressed, decorated her stroller and headed to downtown Bluffton for the parade. 


I love this picture of Jane and her Pappy, especially because this is where my parents got married and where Mr. Hunt proposed to me.



When we put Jane in the stroller after decorating it she said "mmmmm messsyyy" haha


It was a fun small parade, but it was strange because everyone was IN the parade and nobody really watched.


It was hot


Here's the game minus my Mom who was taking the picture.


Uncle Dylan playing with Jane



Jane is very lucky to have my brothers as her Uncles. She will realize soon :)


The 4th of July is also my grandpa's birthday so we went to go visit him. This isn't a good picture, but its the only one I got of my grandpa.


I tried to get some pictures of Jane on this red chair while still in her 4th outfit, that lasted two seconds.



Bomb Popsicles are a must for the 4th. This was Jane's second Popsicle ever so the first bite she didn't know what to think...


But she got the hang of it.




Having fun in Nana and Pappy laundry hamper


  Boooo


We kept Jane up way past her bedtime so that she could see the fireworks. Mr. Hunt decided to drive and meet us. What a fun surprise for Jane. She was super tired though and watched them just like this.


The next day, Mr. Hunt went back to Beaufort to fish again and my Mom, Dad, Jane and I went to my grandmas house to take a swim.



We found a bunny in the pool drain, and I saved him. You can watch my YouTube video if you want to see the whole thing ;)


blowing bubbles with Nana


riding in the boat with Pappy


The golf course that my Grandma lives on was closed for repair so we took the opportunity to let Jane run around. She LOVED it!


The super soft grass and the hills made for a good 30 minutes for fun before her nap.



That night Mr. Hunt came back and my parents watched Jane while we went on a date...which is rare. We went to a nice dinner at the Old Oyster Factory and had plans on going to the movies since we haven't been to the movies since before Jane was born....but we were both super tired and the next movie showing was an hour after we were done with dinner, so we passed. It was still a nice and realizing dinner with my hubby!

The next day, Mr. Hunt took the dogs and Jane back to Beaufort for the day and I drove up to Columbia for one of my best friend Adrienne's baby shower. All of my friends are having baby girls and I can't wait until I see what baby Cadence looks like at the end of August


Then I drove over to go meet McKinley. I'm sad because I didn't get any pictures, but at least Kelly got one.

It was a perfect long weekend filled with a lot of fun activities. I ended the weekend just thinking about how much I'm so thankful to be back on the East Coast so that we are able to be with all these special people.

Hope y'all had a great 4th of July weekend as well.

Love,
Jennifer

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

Baby McKinley

Little Miss McKinley Kate made her appearance on July 1st and I couldn't be more excited for one of my best friends Kelly.


As you may or may not know from reading her blog or me mentioning it before, Kelly and Brad had a tough time getting pregnant. I prayed and prayed (along with many other people) and they finally got pregnant. Now, they are blessed with a sweet baby girl McKinley.

I'm so proud of them for keeping strong in knowing God's plan and also so proud of Kelly for being so tough while getting an unexpected C-Section.

Most of all, I love McKinley so much. I was lucky to get to go visit her this past weekend and I held her for about 30-45 minutes while she slept peacefully in my arms. I could have held her all night but I'm sure Kelly would want her back at some point. She's pretty, little, and so well behaved. She didn't make a peep the whole time I was there.

Kelly and Brad,
I'm so excited for y'all. Your lives have changed forever, for the better and there are so many good times to look forward to. I can't wait for Jane to meet McKinley and for us to always stay close while our families keep growing.
Love,
The Hunts
 

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