In light of this weekend’s patriotic celebrations, I thought it would be a good time to share a more sobering experience I had recently.

While we were back east a few weeks ago, we visited Arlington National Cemetery. It was my first time to visit and there are few experiences like it.

We saw the Tomb of the Unknowns and were able to watch a few different groups lay wreaths there for the fallen.

The memorial for the victims of the Challenger explosion was something I wanted to view. Some of my earliest memories are of this tragedy being on TV and my family talking about it. I know it sounds unbelievable, but I wasn’t yet 2-years-old when that happened.

Both Kevin’s Pop-Pop and my Uncle Mike served on the USS Forrestal. Pop-Pop was aboard during the tragic fire that killed so many men. I got a picture of Forrestal’s grave before we were removed from the grass. Silly us, we didn’t know that you weren’t allowed on the grass unless you were there for a family member. It certainly wasn’t listed in any of the information we picked up at the visitor’s center.

Luckily, one of the graves that Kevin wanted to see was accessible from the path. This is the grave of Audie Murphy, an actor from the post-WWII era and the most decorated US soldier from WWII.

We had come to Arlington for a reason though. I have an uncle buried there and he was in the same section as Audie Murphy. We had found his section and grave number before going to the cemetery and Kevin and his parents waited while I trudged down the rows looking for his number.

It was hotter than blazes that day and I don’t handle the heat that well. I was glad that the first row I tried was close to his number.

268, 269, 270…

I skipped the big monument and went to the next single because it seemed logical to me at the moment.

287…What?

I couldn’t figure out what I’d missed. The only thing between the two single headstones was that big monument. I walked around the other side.

And there he was.

You see, my uncle, William Henry “Bill” Arnold, was on a plane about to head home. It crashed before they made it out of Vietnam. Wasn’t shot down. Just crashed.

He and 15 other men are right there. Together in death as they had been the last moments of their lives.

He was 29. Never married. No children. My mom was just 5-years-old when it happened, but she remembers being told.

And as far as we know, I am the only person in our family to ever visit his grave. (Not by choice, certainly, but distance makes it difficult.) I can’t help but be a little sad about that.

Imagine. If we’d never declared independence from the British we’d (likely) never have had the south, big hair, tacky sequined vests, and the great American creation — Glamour Shots.

Have a great, safe weekend!

Back home with my coffee. But I haven’t been to the grocery store yet so we don’t have any cream *pout*

• Have you seen Juvenile Justice starring Annabel?
• Honestly, I’m not sure that I think it’s too far out of line to threaten to kill someone with an ax for playing the vuvuzela. Just sayin’. I mean, I could see myself doing that. Threatening that, not actually going through with it. So far in my life, empty threats have been enough.
• How To Tell When Meat Is Done (Brilliant!)
• Brownies! Bars! …Battlestar Galactica!
• Number 11. Read #11 and try not to cry. (And then read The Bwue Neckwace for a good giggle)
• A Royal Seal of Approval (h/t @jennifrwhite)
• Need a Peace Retreat? from True Woman
• Stories like this make me realize why I never would have made it in the armed forces. I would have fallen in love with my commander (à la the video to “The Heart Won’t Lie” by Reba McEntire & Vince Gill, see below) and then he would have made me cry.

• Edward Mariohands

Rose tagged me to answer a few questions so I thought I would include them here.

1. If you had to wear one color every day for the rest of your life, which would you choose and why? Green. It’s visually pleasing and I own a lot of it, so I wouldn’t have to do too much shopping.
2. What’s your favorite not-for-profit? Autism Speaks
3. You’re at the Farmer’s Market. Which veggies are you most excited about? Squash, tomatoes, and potatoes.
4. Share the city you most want to visit and why. I don’t like cities. I would prefer to visit the highlands of Scotland.
5. I’m a HUGE cheater! Read this entry of mine. What are some of the things you’d take with you if you moved across the world? Hmm…shall we have a list?
   • MacBook – There’s no way I’m leaving this behind.
   • Roku Player – We don’t watch a lot of TV that we keep up with on a regular basis, so having the Roku has been nice for watching what we want, when we want to. I get my BBC serial comedy and period drama fix this way!
   • Blanket – Enough said.
   • My parallel Bible
   • Pillow mist - I use a few different scents depending on how the day went and they really help me fall asleep. It would be nice if I could have the same scent to go to sleep with half a world away.
   • Calphalon cookware – It’s too good to give up.
   • My library – You know I can’t part with my books.

It’s that time again. Every 2 years we have to pay our hosting bill and it actually costs quite a bit for the storage space that the podcast, blog, and the GodlyGals community requires. However, if just a few handfuls of you all were able to spare $1 or $2 we would be able to cover all of the hosting for two years in no time. Our total cost for 2 years is $190.

Money only changes hands once. Your donation goes directly to our web host and ONLY covers our hosting bill.

If the GodlyGals ministry has touched you in any way over the years and if you would like to see it continue, please pray and consider donating whatever you feel comfortable with.

Thank you so much for your support!

We fly Southwest. Always. Always always. Kevin does not believe in paying extra for bags and hey, I’m right there with him. So I’ve only ever flown Southwest except for that one time that we had to fly Delta. Thankfully our experience looked nothing like what Colleen usually deals with, but still. I prefer our usual.

Long before I stepped on my first flight (3 years ago at age 22) I was a fan of the A&E show Airline (it’s streaming on Netflix so go check it out!). It was an early reality-based TV show that actually showed what the people of Southwest Airlines did on a day-to-day basis and not some cooked up drama. I love flying through BWI because most of the time I see one of the ladies that I used to watch every week. The show is really entertaining (to me at least, but you have to keep in mind that at the time I wanted to be a flight attendant) and can be hilarious at times. I mean, drunk people in an airport, trying to get on a plane. Or drunk people who have missed their flight. Or drunk people who swear they aren’t drunk and if you don’t let them on that plane then by George you’ll regret it because they are missing their own wedding to a person they met in the bar at this very airport one month ago (actual plot from an episode). Common denominator here — drunk people. Coming from a family of teetotalers, drunk people are hilarious to me, especially the ones making royal fools of themselves in public.

The thing is I’ve never run into anyone drunk in an airport. Ever. Haven’t witnessed a scene of any kind. But Airline had prepared me for what I might encounter, so whenever I was boarding the plane in Denver to fly to Philly and felt someone bump into me and sort of get all up on me, I tried not to react because I had an idea of what I might be in for. Well, then this woman started shaking my shoulder and saying, “Excuse me, excuse me please, can you tell me where I need to be?” Her voice sounded familiar and I turned to check out the number on her boarding pass to help her find her place in line.

Oh. My. Lands.

It is a drunk.

It’s Meredith from The Office.

DRUNK MEREDITH.

Okay, it was Kate Flannery, but in my mind I am thinking DRUNK MEREDITH FROM THE OFFICE IS RIGHT HERE. I am not sure how many different faces my countenance contorted into at that moment, but I know my eyes were as big as saucers. Somehow I remained composed, checked out the number on her boarding pass, and told her that she was in front of us.

All the while, Kevin is deep in conversation with this guy about the Big 12 and what’s happening to it and yada yada, he doesn’t even notice that DRUNK MEREDITH is standing right in front of him. She is a pretty tiny lady, but still. So I’m kind of jabbing him but he doesn’t really respond because he’s used to me doing that sort of thing. And because I’m afraid he’s going to miss this or that the internet won’t believe me when I return with my tale, I dig around for my phone and snap the best picture I could get in that lighting. My real camera is a little too serious looking and I didn’t want to scare her or think I was some weirdo.

He finally responds to all my poking and prodding by turning around and saying, “Do you see who that is?!” And I’m thinking, No, I’ve only been poking your ribs for the past minute in a half to annoy you. But I just nod. By this time, Ms. Flannery has started eating an Egg McMuffin and I was really really hoping that Kevin would just let her be. But do you know Kevin? Okay. And the thing is, he’s sneaky. Quiet. Almost a creeper, but not quite. He’s very good at jumping out and scaring people. And really, his cunning is rivaled only by that of some African jungle cat. I’m pretty sure we put it on the table during our premarital counseling that he is never allowed to sneak up on me or scare me in anyway. Like my mother, I am highly susceptible to those types of attacks.

And what did Kevin do? He leaned down next to her and whispered, “We’re really big fans of the show.” She turned, smiling, enjoying her Egg McMuffin and said, “Aww, thanks.” That began a conversation between the two of them that I listened to but really didn’t participate in because it’s DRUNK MEREDITH and all my life I have wondered what I would do if I encountered a celebrity of any caliber and what I did know was that I would not be annoying. Shoot, sometimes I hate it when people start talking to me out of the blue. Imagine if people did that everywhere you went. That sounds like my worst nightmare (next to the movie Breakdown, but you know what I mean).

She was gracious and very pleasant, answered Kevin’s questions about her favorite episodes to be in (The Wedding), and went on her way to her seat. Whenever we got off the plane 4 hours later I asked Kevin not to bother her again, even though she didn’t put off the vibe that he was bothering her. And what happens? She approaches him while we’re waiting for our baggage and strikes up a conversation! What a nice woman.

Kate, you’re the only celebrity I have ever accidentally run into. And only the third famous person I’ve met in my life (the other two being Nicholas Sparks and Tom Lester aka Eb from Green Acres). And it was really nice to meet you. Thank you for putting up with us crazy Office fans.

And the best part, by far, is what she said to Kevin when they first started talking. “Sorry I’m just eating an Egg McMuffin and not drinking.”

There are a few things you need to be prepared for whenever you head out to pick blackberries. And since now is the time to be plucking those delicious dark fruits, I thought I’d share a few tips with you.

1. Silly hats, long sleeves, and long pants are a requirement. Chiggers, yellow jackets, spiders, little wormy bugs, and just about every critter you’d like to stay away from loves blackberries. And it’s gonna get hot out there so protect your head, face, and neck with a floppy hat. Or in my case a hat that is one size too small and makes me look like I belong to a back-to-basics religious community.

I have a big head.

No, not in a conceited way. In a “no-hat-ever-fits-my-head” way.

2. While you’re at it, spray yourself down with some OFF!

3. Wear decent shoes. You’re likely going to have gravel roads and definitely some briars and brambles to make your way through.

4. Make sure you have a good container to hold your berries. We like to use Rubbermaid containers that we fill with water as soon as we get back home. It’s good to rinse out all the sticks, leaves, ants, and little worms that might have made their way into your spoils.

5. Don’t forget to stop and enjoy the view. Blackberries are often found off the beaten path and this time of year there are tons of wildflowers blooming in Oklahoma. Be sure to take a moment to treasure the beauty that’s around you.

I find a lot of beauty in old barns. Blame it on my roots, I don’t mind.

6. Remember — all this sweet goodness comes at a price. You’re gonna get scraped, scratched, poked, and pierced. You may even be picking out the stickers days later (I was and always am).

(after a while, it’s hard to tell where the blackberry juice ends and the blood begins — yuck.)

But in the end, it’s worth it.

…and Happy Birthday, Dad.

(what I’m anxious to get back to)

♥ puppy dog
♥ my recliner
♥ my morning coffee (cause let’s face it, elsewhere it’s just not the same)
♥ watering my garden
♥ checking for blossoms & fruits
♥ snow cones
♥ the sound Penny (guinea pig) makes when Kevin wakes up in the morning
♥ the smell of home
♥ mail
♥ clipping coupons (I have a problem)
♥ the rare day w/ dry heat
♥ sunlight through our french doors
♥ …and puppy dog. again.

Here’s where I’ll admit to you that the Blues Festival going on in town wasn’t exactly our cup of tea. There were lots and lots of bikers. Really, the town was over run. There was a lot of stuff you couldn’t get to or see because of the large crowds this festival drew. I would love to go back and check out what I missed.

The one photo I took of any bikers.

Later that evening went a little ways past our cabins to The Rowdy Beaver.

Kevin had a steak. I had what I always have, given the chance…

…a pound of cold shrimp. Yum.

I wonder how much I would have to eat to get The Gout. That’s what we call it around here. I had an uncle one time who came down with The Gout. Not “gout,” The Gout.

Then we drove down some winding mountain roads to go see a natural bridge that it turned out you had to pay for and we weren’t into paying to see it. I mean, you couldn’t see what was on the other side so you didn’t know exactly what you’re paying for. This isn’t my first rodeo. I’ve been to the state fair and have seen the sign for the “Man Eating Chicken.”

I did take a picture of a rock though.

And then I had Kevin stop alongside the road so I could get a shot of this house. Because it looks like the same house in my favorite children’s book — The Year of the Perfect Christmas Tree by Gloria Houston. The illustrations by Barbara Cooney are fantastic.

By the end of that day I was ready to get back to our cabin, relax, and enjoy a long bath, a cup of tea…and a Slim Jim.

• Aww, shucks, Matt. I don’t think anyone has ever said anything so nice about my husband and I.
• THIS. Exactly. “The best part about Facebook scam pages is that it helps announce to you which of your Facebook friends are dumb.“
• Say “I Do” to the name change
• The Dirty Dozen and The Clean 15 — read it!
• Burger King Crafts: Twilight Edition
• Colleen’s brief thoughts on the LOST finale
• Man, a baby hippopotamus looks like a great pet.
• The Traveling Red Dress, from The Bloggess
• 45 Things To Do With Fresh Sage – If you’re in the situation I was in a few years ago (planting one tiny plant of sage and having it stay forever and ever and multiply everywhere) then this will be really helpful.