Twelve years ago in June we met at the Singles One ministry of First-Centenary United Methodist Church. Singles One was a younger singles group the church sponsored. People in their 20's-30's gathered to share life with one another and to have fellowship. This group heard from speakers on various topics, ate many meals together and celebrated being single. Well some of those singles paired up and married like we did.

Today we will be celebrating that time together at a reunion at the church. Singles One is a great time in our lives. We look forward to seeing old friends and remembering. Singles One...you are only a stranger once.

One year ago we adopted 90lbs of fun and fur. Cody, a mixed Lab dog. came into our lives on August 21, 2009 and we are happy he is with us. This dog is bigger than life and full of love. We got Cody boy from one of Laura's co-workers who just had a baby and couldn't keep a baby and a dog at the same time.  We were looking for a dog after the death of Mikey our 16 year old cock-a-poo and this dog became available. He was so big and we were not expecting the size of him but he has so much to love. Today we celebrate our year of living with Cody. 

"Time After Time" is a movie released in 1979 featuring Malcolm McDowell, Mary Steenburgen and David Warner. McDowell plays H.G. Wells who builds a time machine and Warner plays Jack the Ripper. Jack steals the time machine to travel into the future in 1979. Wells goes after the famous serial killer and while visiting a bank to exchange funds he meets Amy Robbins played by Steenburgen. Wells becomes a detective of sorts and finds Jack The Ripper who goes on to kill people in 1979. Eventually H.G. Wells is able to find Jack who has abducted Ms. Robbins and tries to escape in the time machine.

This is a great romantic tale with good effects and plenty of action. One funny part is H.G. Wells in McDonalds ordering food. An observation is the dress of the McDonalds workers and the size portions they give. Wells has difficulty adapting to 1979 technology such as TV, Telephones and Motor Cars.

Laura has enjoyed this movie and has said great things about it. She is right and it was a great Sunday afternoon flick.

"Flywheel" is a movie produced in 2003 by Sherwood Pictures a division of Sherwood Baptist Church in Albany, GA. This movie is about a used car salesman when he reached a point in life that he realizes the errors of his ways. Through God's love and grace Jay Austin realizes that going into business for God in all he does would change his life. We really enjoyed this movie for its depiction of how a life lived with God is better than one in constant conflict. This movie shows how being a Godly man in community could impact the lives of many. This movie is the first in a line of movies produced by Sherwood including "Facing the Giants", "Fireproof" and the upcoming "Courageous".

Here is Laura's interpretation of what our dog Cody says when he barks.

We get deer in our yard on a weekly basis, almost daily. Cody is so funny -- we can now tell from his bark whether it's a deer outside (woof WOOF! WOOF WOOF WOOF! which means "that thing is bigger than me, I must assert myself as the top creature here!") a cat (Grrr....ruff! Ruff! Ruff! which means "who does that cat think it is, walking through ... MY yard?") or the chipmunk that lives under our back porch (Whine! Whine! Arf arf arf! which means "please let me out of here so I can rid our home of that nasty vermin that torments me with its cheekiness!")

We have watched a ton of movies this 4th of July weekend. Its been a cinematic adventure. We have had fun too. Some have been on DVD, Netflix and at the Theatre. Here's our list.

• Thank God It's Friday (Jeff Goldblum)
  
• National Lampoons Vacation (Chevy Chase)
  
• Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Kristin Stewart)
  
• Independence Day (Jeff Goldblum - Will Smith)
  
• Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell)
  
• Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (Will Ferrell)
  
• Peggy Sue Got Married (Kathleen Turner)
  
• No Reservations (Catherine Zeta-Jones)
  

These are our activities for this summer. As our readers check back to see how we are doing and what is happening.



AT HOME:
Watch at least two movies per week (doing well with this goal)
Get caught up on TV that we missed during the regular season (also doing well)
Keep the new flower bushes weeded & watered (not doing so well, need to improve)
Read at least five books (Laura's past 5, Tony's working on his list)
Spend at least one evening in the office scrapbooking (Laura) and working on media (Tony)

IN TOWN:
Visit the International Towing and Recovery Hall of Fame and Museum
Visit Ruby Falls
Eat at Nikki's Drive-In
Eat at the City Cafe Diner
Eat at Mom's Italian Villa (DONE 7/3)
Eat at Julie Darling's Doughnuts or takeout
Eat at Blue Plate Restaurant
Eat at Bea's Restaurant
Eat at Sugar's Ribs
Eat at The English Rose

TRAVEL:
Take a three-day vacation to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge (scheduled for September)

MOVIES:
Shrek 4 (DONE 6/6)
Twilight Saga: Eclipse (DONE 7/3)