Happy 17th birthday, Ashley Beth!!!

Before you were born, we loved you. Every day since then our love for you has grown. You bring such joy to our lives. Enjoy your day, Sweet Pea!

The Lurnus Gude family has returned from the Bahamas!!

I cannot tell you how wonderful the cruise was! The best part was being with my sister's family and my parents. It was good to reconnect. Our lives are just too busy. I would recommend going on the Carnival ships. They are top notch, especially the meals. Here are some of my thoughts regarding cruising:

-It's probably not a good idea to lay out by the pool for 3 hours. We were in open waters the last day and for some reason, ultraviolet rays have greater powers on ocean water.

-Piano bars on cruise ships are just not the same as the ones in New Orleans. They couldn't hold a candle to JB at Lafitte's Blacksmith Shoppe on Bourbon St.

-You can get knock-off name brand purses at the straw market in Nassau for NOTHING. If you are careful, you can keep the label on for at least a month. (Between my sister and myself, we bought 7 purses and 3 wallets.)

-The only downside to cruising, according to my husband, is the schedule of things to do on the ship. He has no desire to do anything on vacation except rest. I agree with him on this one.

-Men should NEVER wear Speedos unless they are competing in the Olympics. I am still nauseous from the image of the 50+ year old man in the hairy chest contest wearing one of these.

-Fresh fruit in Freeport was unbelievably mouth-watering. Yummy!

-I don't know how I am going to do it, but my son fell in love with the Warm Chocolate Melting Cake on the cruise and now he wants it for his birthday. I got the recipe but I think I need a blowtorch.

-While I am laying out, I can concentrate on what I am reading much better with songs like Sexyback and Low blaring in the background. My mom and sister could not.

-You can find a Starbucks anywhere!! I found one as soon as we got off the ship at Nassau. They won't accept your gift cards, though.

-You can make a living on a cruise ship with the fine art of towel origami. If they like you, you get things like a stingray, an elephant, or a dog. If they don't like you, you get a snake.

-Losing a camera on vacation is like losing an appendage. We did find it, though. It was NOT my fault this time.

-Having your birthday on the cruise is number one!! Thank you to my sweet husband and children for the pearl necklace and bracelet.

-While you are away, the kennel will calm your dog with sedatives. I hope we don't have to watch him go through detox.

-We are already planning to do this again.....to Jamaica!!!

Here are some pictures from the trip. We were not able to capture the third day, due to the camera being in the bag of scotch from Nassau.

Bucky from Relief, Kentucky writes......

Hey, Lurnus!! I wanted to share my senior portrait with you. What do you think?? I had my hair done special just for this day. I heard your daughter is getting her portraits done. How did it go?

Bucky

Bucky,

You are looking good, my man. Business in the front, party in the back!

Ashley had her senior portraits done today. Wow, I can tell you it isn't like the old days. We stood in line in the hot sun to get our ONE picture taken in the lunchroom. We had the generic drape picture. Well, nowadays they have many poses, many locations, and many changes of clothing. We drove to the photographers (shout out to Scott Buttram) and guess who forgot to get all of her outfits?? We had to go back home to get them and then head back to the photographers.
Ashley was beautiful. In fact, the lady taking the photos took way more than she was supposed to because Ashley was taking such beautiful pics. We got to the Civitan Park here in Trussville for her "outdoor shoot" and one picture was taken under a bridge. Ashley leaned up against some concrete that had been covered in graffiti. I thought that was a strange place to take a photo, but it actually looked really cool. I will post the pictures when they come in. In the mean time, here are a couple I shot. Sorry about the blurry and bright images. The flashes in the room interfered with my flash. I can't believe my little girl is entering her senior year. It seems like just yesterday when I was getting my senior portrait (1) made. Please time, STOP!
Lurnus

Happy Father's Day!!

We met my mother, father, sister, and her family for Father's Day lunch. We went to a Super Buffet that has over 300 (yes, that's what I said) items including seafood, fruit, Chinese, pizza, salad, ice cream, and other items I didn't venture over to. This was Dad's place of choice and we all wanted him to enjoy his day. I can tell you that the fruit was delish.
I cannot begin to tell you how blessed I feel to have such a wonderful husband as Mr. Lurnus. He is an incredible father, who shows his love for Ashley, Jon, and me daily. They have gotten all their good qualities from him. :) I am also blessed to have a wonderful father as mine who has been married to my mother for 50 years. Here's to all the fathers out there who have been a godly role model for their families and whose impact will be felt for all eternity.
P.S. I hope you feel better, Honey. I am sorry you were feeling sickly on this special day.

Much love, Lurnus

Act of Congress- My Favorite Local Band

Act of Congress - ''In the Middle'' and ''Clocks'' live at City

Act of Congress - ''The Well,'' live at City Stages

City Fest in Alabaster

Jeff and I went down to Alabaster today for their annual City Fest. Jeff is a prosecutor for them and we also wanted to see the band, Act of Congress, which has Adam Wright as a member. He is our church pianist/musician extraordinaire. While there, we dropped by the CBS42 station and got a picture with their morning meteorologist, Charles Daniel. They had a poster of Jeff's friend Mark Prater, who is coming back to 42. We thought we would get a shot with the poster as well and email the pics to Mark. He loved them!! We are looking forward to having him back in town. When he gets here at the beginning of July everyone needs to start watching the weather on 42.
Lurnus

Ernie from Slapout, AL writes.........

Lurnus,
I heard you have been busy these days. What's up???

Ernie,
I am doing two weeks of administration residency at my school and I am actually working principal hours. AHHHHHHHHH!
I have learned so much about running a school and this is a great way to find out if you are meant to do it or not. I will blog in a couple of weeks and let you know if I think I still do. : )
Well, tomorrow I have to be there at 7:30AM and I have class until 9:00PM. My poor children have been super sweet. I think they are like animals and they smell injury or maybe a nervous breakdown. :)
Thank you for your note. Take care and thank a principal.
Lurnus

Happy Birthday, Mom Brumlow!!