Today.

Today was my brother's surgery... and it went very very well! Thank you so much for all the prayers. The toughest part is yet to come. The eight hour surgery is nothing compared to the recovery. Please continue to pray for him.

I am with my sister at my aunt's home. Clare is staying here with her until my parents come home, but this weekend my aunt and uncle had to go out of town. As a result I got to come up to hang out with Clare, and Brandon was able to join!


We drove here last night and have been hanging out. This morning we made whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and played chess. Then we decided to make the trip to Sewanee. We thought a picnic would be a wonderful idea since The University of the South is eye candy... it's like a really big dark chocolate bar of beauty.

Our picnic menu:

• Salmon paninis with a mustard spread, Swiss cheese, tomatoes, and sauteed red onions.
• Clare ate a turkey and cheese panini with onions.
• I made a red kidney bean salad: It consisted of a can of red kidney beans drained and washed, 1/4 of an onion finely chopped, 5-10 minced green olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and crumbled blue cheese. I just mixed it all together and refrigerated it. Very nice!
• Honeydew melon.

We ate our picnic on the campus and then went to explore the town. We went to a very sweet cafe called The Blue Chair Bakery and Coffee Shop. I got a 7 layer bar and their very yummy house blend coffee. Clare got a chair shaped sugar cookie made in the likeness of the famous blue chair with lemonade and Brandon got hot cocoa.

They also have a market/ restaurant adjacent to the cafe. It was a charming place, and today was a bit misty and it was a perfect place to spend some time up on the mountain. After we ate we spent some time exploring the town even more. They have plenty of cute shops and cafes, it's absolutely charming.

Then we headed to the campus to peruse. It is the most beautiful campus I know of. Their crowning beauty is the All Saints Chapel. (It's an Episcopalian church.) I'll let the photos do the talking.

We walked around for about an hour then we headed to a lookout to take in the very pretty views from the mountain. (Thanks Clare for the awesome photography!)

On our way home we stopped in another small town town, Cowan. It was also very quaint.

Now we're back, and a little tired! We just online ordered Papa John's Pizza... Isn't that the epitome of laziness?! I didn't even pick up the phone or stop my blogging, I just typed the numbers into the computer. Whatever, I don't care, I LOVE PJP! (And that garlic butter sauce... YUM!) I will make up for the laziness by making some banana bread per Laurin's recipe. I can't wait for breakfast tomorrow!