Battle of the Bugs!!!

This year we are doing Thanksgiving at our house. I'm loving the idea that I don't have to travel during the holiday and can stay in my own home and relax. Of course, I wanted the place to look as nice as possible for when my in-laws arrive. The past few days has been a marathon of detailed cleaning. We even painted the sunroom so that it has a clean, fresh coat. (that's something we've been meaning to do for months anyway, this was the perfect excuse to stop putting it off!) Today my task has been cleaning the outside of the house. Now, keep in mind that we live back in the woods. It gets dirty here, y'all. And there are bugs. And there's not exactly a home owner's association to make sure our house stays pressure-washed and sparkling. Also, we rent, so there isn't the same level of pride in caring for every minute detail of the home. Now, don't get me wrong. Our house is not disgusting or overrun or anything like that. But the outside just hasn't been scrubbed in...Idk...maybe ever. So, today I took to it with a bucket of soapy water, a scrub brush, and the hose. So far I've done most of one side of the house. It's the carport side and the side which we use the most often for entering, exiting, and hanging out. Aside from the manual labor, the dirt, and the fact that it's 80 DEGREES here, the worst part of this whole ordeal has been the BUGS! And you know how I feel about bugs. (If you don't know--I hate them!) It seems that between each piece of vinyl siding lives a spider. And that spider is not too happy about me spraying and tearing down his home. Really I only saw about 4 or 5, but I know there are others out there...too scared to show their evil little faces! I opened up a box of Frisbee horseshoes and found two massive cockroaches. I couldn't even bring myself to step on them because they were so big. If they were in the house I definitely would have done it, but since they were outside...I just shrunk away and watched them scurry off into the yard. Yeah, I know. They'll probably come back for me later. Great.
So, I'm scrubbing, spraying, sweating, on guard for a bug to appear at any moment, and there are gnats buzzing in my ears! GNATS! In NOVEMBER! What, do they hibernate under ground when it gets cold out? I was pretty sure they had all migrated or died or whatever they do when the weather dips below 50 degrees. But wherever they went, it obviously wasn't far, because now that it's 80 out here, they are back in action. Ridiculous.

Well, I guess I better get back to it! Still have the front porch to deal with. *sigh* And then it's time to shower and look presentable before the in-laws arrive this afternoon. All I can say is my husband better be impressed with how clean the house looks! (He had to work today...I guess I should give him SOME credit!)

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all! :)

~Christy~

My CRAZY, weirdo, random thoughts...

Do you ever wonder, in a given moment, 

how many bugs are in the same room, building, or general vicinity as you? 

How many of them are lurking behind walls 

or tucked away in the nooks and crannies of your room and furniture?

Or you do you ever wonder what you would see

if you could rewind your life

and see from a different perspective

all the close encounters with bugs that you didn't notice before?

How many times has a GIANT spider been hiding underneath the patio chair you were sitting on?

And how many times has a roach crawled across the wall behind your head while you slept?

Yeah...I'm crazy.

I really don't like bugs.

And thinking about these crazy, somewhat morbid, possibilities

really makes me shudder!

Do you have any crazy, weirdo, random thoughts like this? 

(not necessarily related to BUGS)

~Christy~

It's Complicated

Occasionally I have to remind myself why I love living in South Georgia. Because every now and again the reasons why I HATE dislike it seem to pile up and seem overwhelming. This especially happens in the summer. Boy, do I hate summer! The muggy, suffocating heat! We've been on a heat advisory for the last week or so. That means it's DANGEROUS to be outside here! That just isn't right. And as if the life threatening danger weren't enough, there are BUGS. Lots of them. Gnats mainly. Buzzing around your ears and eyes with that annoying, high pitched drone that can send anyone into a temper tantrum when combined with the awful heat. And we're far away from so many people who I love and miss like crazy. Our nearest family member lives 3 1/2 hours away. My niece is growing up super fast, 4 hours away, and I miss all the wonderful little milestones along the way. My sister is racing through her teenage years and has a father who makes it extremely difficult, if not impossible, for me to spend any real time with her. And I have grandparents who are aging, their last years going by, and here I am...seeing them once a year, if that.

When all these things pile up, it puts me in a bit of a funk. Stupid summer.

So, I have to remember why I've been here for the past 7 years and have no real plans to leave anytime soon. And it's not just because of school. It's because this is my home. It's more my home than any other place in the world. Even the town I grew up in is not my own anymore. And I really do love it.

We're within driving distance of the beach! 

We are super blessed with a wonderful house
complete with a pond
and sunsets to die for

I have lots of friends.
I know it's weird that I put up a picture of just one friend.
And me in toilet paper.
This was a for a bridal shower.
I like the picture.
Deal with it! :)

We're only an hour away from Savannah

And I do love Georgia Southern.
With all my heart.
I can't imagine attending or working for a different school.
But I am willing to work somewhere else.
maybe.
One day.
If the timing and opportunity is right.

And perhaps most importantly, we have a wonderful church family here.
We actually rent our house from our pastor's parents.
We are very close with the family.
We've made lots of great friends.
And the message and worship music is the best we've found.
I would be afraid to move somewhere and lose it.
but I know if we are called to move,
God will provide an anointed church for us to join. 

How about you? Ever think about moving? What keeps you where you are?

~Christy~

Day 11--BUGS!!

Day 11 is a picture of something I hate. Well...I hate bugs!! Pretty much any type of bug is scary to me. I would say that spiders, roaches, bees, and wasps are the most terrifying. There's nothing worse than unexpectedly walking through a spider web, finding a cockroach in your house, or that eerie buzzing that bees make as they relentlessly hover around you! Eeek!

I don't really own any pictures of bugs b/c...gross. So, I just found these online.

Ugh! Just searching for these pictures gave me chills....particularly the spider pictures. 

So, for the story of the day, I'm going to tell you about Bug Haters. When Scott and I started dating, I teased him about some of the silly Facebook groups he was in. One was called Bug Haters. It had 3 members. I gave him a hard time about it, even though I myself hate bugs. One day we decided it would be funny to try to build the group up--invite all our friends to join it, make up cool officer names, and post discussions of some of our most unpleasant bug stories. Most of the work was done by me, Scott, and my friend Chris (reference Day 10), but my sister-in-law Erin helped out, too. I think we finally got it up to 23 members. I just checked it today, and it has dropped to 17. haha! 

To go along with the bug theme, I thought I would paste in the discussion stories from Bug Haters for your reading pleasure! Enjoy! (PS--I cleaned up the language to make sure it was all family friendly!)

Scott Curley

So this one time I sat on a wasp and it stung me. This is where my disdain for bugs began. It was 1989, 96 degrees outside on a scorching South Florida afternoon. I decide to get into my mothers car to beat the heat, and much to my surprise ( and the wasps as well) I happened upon it, crushing him once and for all. His death was not in vain though, oh no... he got me. He got me good. We\'re talking 3 days of benadryl people. Feel free to post some stories up about your close encounters of the bug kind. we have over 300 % growth in 24 hours!! Awesome work guys, I'm very proud of each and every one of you. Invite your friends, and remember- the only way we can live our bug free lives is through getting the word out. Much like in Gladiator : Stand together, die alone. Thank You

Christy Murphey Curley

So one Spring Break in high school my friend Kaitlin and I went to New Orleans. We stayed with one of her mom's friends in a really old house. We had to sleep on the floor, and in the middle of the night one night I felt kinda itchy between my boobs. I was wearing a tanktop and I look down as I'm about to scratch and there's a HUGE cockroach just chillin' between my boobs! I freak out and frantically dig him out and fling him somewhere. Kaitlin wakes up (very grumpily) and asks what's wrong. I told her and she didn't even care! I didn't want to go back to sleep without finding him b/c I didn't want him crawling in my ears or nose. I expressed this concern to Kaitlin and she quite rudely suggested that I simply wear headphones and go back to sleep. So I did wear headphones, and I tried to sleep but it took me at least an hour b/c every little tickle I felt I was sure was a giant bug! I think I even had nightmares about roaches that night! Hopefully he was as scared as I was and had retreated into the wall somewhere. UGH! I HATE roaches!
So basically, I was in New Orleans, the bug got to see my boobies, and I didn't even get beads out of the deal! One more reason to hate bugs, they don't pay up! haha.

Chris Ahearn

A double header:
1. Alright, so I am walking on the beach and I run into a spider web...what the flip! it's the dern beach. No flippin' trees, no shrubbery, not even a dern pine cone!

2. So, i'm walking through the wilderness with the keeper of divine seal action (my awesome officer title) and we are walking when BAM! a dern spider web all up in my face and junk. We had just trecked this path five minutes ago, it was a flippin' ambush!1111

Christy Murphey Curley (in response to Chris)

I officially do not walk through the group of trees between your house and your neighbor's. I walk all the way into the road and then up your driveway. What I want to know is: why are there hardly any webs in all the wilderness behind my house, but in that group of like 6 trees in your yard, there is one everywhere you turn??? It's like a NIGHTMARE! yep, the keeper of divine seal action don't mess with spiders! I'll just walk a little farther to see the questor of royalty action. ? haha. I don't have the gift of making the names cooler.

Chris Ahearn

That is a very valid point Christy, the trees behind my house...flippin' evil. Remember that dog across the street? They got him. Poor little puppy didn't even see them...planning, stalking, thinking malicious thoughts....God help us.

Christy Murphey Curley

the spiders ate him???? Oh boy! That's rough!

Okay, so that's the end! Hope you enjoyed these silly bug ramblings! Forgive me for taking you through inside-joke land. I know that can be annoying if you aren't on "the inside." 

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend, and happy Mother's Day! (too bad this post didn't line up with something that could have been dedicated to my mom. But...things that I hate was just not the one for Mom!)

~Christy