Bridal Dresses, College, and Being Social

Last week was pretty busy and not as lazy, which has been a good thing. On Monday, Bethany came over to spend the night with Miss Social Bug Mandy. The two borrowed "Aquamarine" and watched it then stayed up even later to watch another movie. Bethany's sister Brittny is engaged, and I am one of her bridesmaids. So, on Tuesday, Mandy, Bethany, and I went to David's Bridal with Brittny, her mother, and a few other bridesmaids and their kids to debate the bride's gown and the bridesmaids' dresses. Mandy and I have not been privileged to visit David's Bridal before, so it was a treat for us. There were beautiful gowns, and we sampled a few veils and dresses. The bride's dress may have already been chosen, but the bridesmaids' was difficult. There was the discussion of using a one piece dress or using a skirt and a top. So far, no decision has been made, as the bride-to-be has to sleep on it.


Well, to continue Mandy's social life. Bethany spent Tuesday night as well, and this time our neighbor Anna decided to join the two. We watched "Bridge to Terebithia," which was enjoyable. Once more, the three girls were up late and woke up early. On Wednesday, Mandy and Bethany went to a Bible study, where they would babysit some kids. While they were away, Mom and I had things to do. Mom took her midterm at Georgia Perimeter for her computer class and has an A for the class. While she was doing that, I went to Georgia Gwinnett for orientation. It was a new experience for me being in such a large school and being among total strangers. But, I survived. I have five classes for the Fall semester: Spanish, English, a computer class, history, and a stupid class on how to be a college student. And, we've figured out my HOPE thingy, so that's all squared away. And now, I can only wait for August 20th, the first day of college.



On Thursday, Mandy went with Grandpa Mike, Grandma Marsha, Cousin Sunny, and some other relatives to Lake Lanier Water Park. She had a blast. When she came home around dinnertime, Dad was shocked to learn how dark she is. No kidding, she looks darker than he is. Maybe I need to sun myself some more.

Friday was busy. Mandy babysat the Abraham girls, as she usually does once a week. We had the Allens from our church over, and we had a fun time. Sadly, one of the girls was allergic to cats, so it was entertaining to keep the cats away from her. We had a thunderstorm that night with lots of rain. Seth kept warning us when it would thunder, creating some laughs.

Saturday was busy as well. Seth and I went to a park with our youth group (today was extremely small with only five people total, including two chaperones) to mountain bike. I was the last biker, so I missed all the fun. Seth had two amazing accidents, which I missed, but the helmet saved his life. Being the man of steel that he is, he was fine. No broken bones and no stiffness the next day. I'm amazed at his toughness. I, on the other hand, had a sinus headache that day and wasn't too hot. After returning home from the park, Dad took me and my siblings over to Grandpa Mike's pool. Seth and Mandy swam, but I sat in the shade, tired and in pain. Later that night, I felt somewhat better after taking my vitamins. Those things really do work. My cold is winding down, although the cough has not.

As a small announcement, next Monday, Seth, Mandy, and I will be flying out to Arizonia to spend almost two weeks with Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom. There will be a large update when we get back, or I shall be able to keep up the blog from a distance.

Events of the Week

While babysitting last week, Mandy visited the Collins Hill Pool for the first time and came back talking about how great it was and that we ought to go. We decided to go Monday afternoon and planned to take Bethany Greer with us, but instead we took Anna, a next- door friend of Mandy's. The pool was fun. There were two slides: one blue, which was longer but slower, and one yellow, which was shorter and faster. There was a "river" where you just surf the current and a whirlpool, in which you go in wide circles. The slides were enjoyable, except for the long lines. There were lifeguards all over the place, ordering everyone to get out of certain areas a certain way, telling everyone to wait in line (which didn't always work), and warning everyone to move away from the bottom of the slides. When we first arrived, there were few people. As the two hours passed, more parents and their kids arrived to take over. While Mandy, Anna, and I swam and went down the slides, Mom sat at a table and studied for her midterm, which is coming up soon. All in all, it was a good afternoon.

This week has been pretty lazy for us otherwise. Seth finished his second week of work and is due to get a paycheck soon. On Tuesday, I went with some ladies from church to clean a family's house. It was nice to be productive and to help a fellow believing family. That same day, Mandy babysat the Abraham girls and then spent the night at Sunny's house (i.e. Uncle Josh's house). She went to a pool party for a toddler from our church and then ended up spending the night at Bethany's house. The two would have schemed to stay another night, but plans did not allow them to. It was odd not to have Mandy at home for two days of the week. That made chores interesting since we were all trying to figure out who should do Mandy's chores. Tonight, we are having pizza. A Little Caesars opened near our house, and we can get three large pizzas and crazy bread for about $15. Cheaper than eating out elsewhere. Nothing is on our plans for tomorrow except probably finishing up painting.

Oh, and small announcement. I believe we Cunninghams are seriously thinking about moving. We have a few more things to do, and then we will put our house on the market. If we move, that means Mandy and I may get our own rooms. This means planning decorating. It will be interesting to see what we will come up with.

Work and the Frightful Creature

Summer has kicked off to a lazy start for us Cunninghams. Besides reading, writing, watching TV in the evenings, and doing chores, we have done nothing else. However, lately, that has changed for Seth. Seth has got a job at Radiant Systems (where Dad works) putting together keyboards. He has been praised for his diligence and hard work, and he has been teased playfully for being the son of Jeff Cunningham. That leaves me, Mandy, and Mom at home all day. Mom cleans the church a few times a week, and Mandy has babysat the Abraham (a family from our church) girls twice this week.

And now, for something more lively. Last night, we girls were up late watching "X- Men" on TV. We were enjoying the movie when something large fluttered across the living room and to the wall above the laundry room door. At first glance, it looked like a large, dark moth. However, after landing, Mandy and I realized this was not the case. It was a large cockroach. Talk about panic and fear. Usually, Dad is the cockroach killer in the house, but he was asleep and there was no point in waking him up just to kill it. So, we had to sit there, nervously glancing over at the wall. The cats spotted the creature as well but could not reach it, even while they were on top of the bookshelf. Mandy and I turned away for a second then looked back and saw that the roach was gone. We were wondering where it had gone when Mandy's eyes widened and she told me, " Ashley, come over here." At first, I was afraid that it had landed on me, but Mandy said, " No. It's on the picture." I leapt up from the piano bench, and Mandy explained that the creature had gone under the picture that hangs over the piano. She armed herself with a fly swatter and nervously poked the picture, but the creature never showed his face again. When we went to bed, it had still not shown itself. We were nervous about the roach, but we have not seen it since. Hopefully the cats found it and used it for a playtoy.

Busy, busy, busy

Times have been busy for us Cunninghams, particularly over the past few weeks. Last Friday, I graduated high school from Geneva Christian Academy, and Seth received the award for Most Improved Student. After the ceremonies, I was whisked away from the food table and from socializing to take a million pictures. Then, Seth and I went to a friend's house to party. We played ping pong, billiards, and some card games before we left close to midnight. We ended up spending the night at the Greers' (some church friends of ours). There was a large grill out the next day and then a family dinner celebrating Grandma Linda Cunningham's birthday.

But, things would only get busier for us. On Monday, we attended the annual Memorial Day picnic at the Howland's farm. We had a good time in the boats on the pond, going fishing, playing some games, and enjoying fellowship with our church family. We left early so that we could drive up to Ellijay, North Georgia. We arrived just in time for dinner with Grandma Gail and Grandpa Tom from Arizona. The next day, we went to the Rec Center to go swimming and to play some free miniature golf. We discovered that Mandy is actually a mermaid when it comes to water, whether it be in the hot tub in the cabin or in the Rec swimming pool. On Wednesday, Grandma Gail, Mom, and myself went to Dawsonville (a long trip that took over an hour because of a sloooow truck in front of us) to get Mom's much in- advance Christmas present. She received a lovely set of crystal goblets. We also looked around at some clothes stores and ended up buying some cute shirts. After our return to the cabin, everyone went to Blue Ridge for bowling. We had a blast, and the alley was quiet. Grandma Gail beat us all, and Dad came in second place. On Thursday, everyone went to downtown Ellijay to browse around some antique shops. It was fun just to look around. We went to the library as well, which was under the ever- watchful eye of the hawk... I mean, librarian. She insisted on absolute silence, which meant no talking above a whisper and absolutely no cell phones, even if you're just listening to a voice mail. That night, we went to the Pink Pig, a local restaurant, for dinner. On Friday morning, we spent the time packing up everything and taking pictures. All in all, it was a lovely trip. It was nice to have the time to relax and not worry about graduation speeches, rehearsal dinners, and the like.

And now, we enter summer vacation.

Hello all!

This is the Cunningham blog for all our family members who do not have the pleasure of seeing us everyday. Here, we will post about our lives as we go to school, go on vacations, and enjoy family events. And so, welcome to our lives.