Finding Tanna's Olympic Bricks

OK, I keep cracking up at that title because for some reason it sounds a little dirty. LOL! But I tried rewording it several times, and nothing seems to appeal to me as much as that one does. haha! Plus, it really is what this post is about--finding Tanna's Olympic bricks in downtown Atlanta.

We've actually been wanting to do this for quite some time--you know, locate the commemorative bricks Tanna bought in conjunction with the 1996 Olympic Games in the ATL. He purchased two back in 1995 (?), and he had never seen them! Last week on our stay-cation, we decided to venture downtown to see for ourselves if these bricks really did exist.

We got to Centennial Olympic Park, and there were lots of kids playing in the fountains--so cute. It looked like so much fun--I want to take Kate there to play in the water when she is a little older. At the park, there are bricks everywhere--we weren't sure where to begin. I hadn't done my Internet homework beforehand, so we didn't even know if there was a map or some way of locating certain bricks. Tanna did bring the paperwork that was mailed to him to confirm his purchases back when he bought the bricks. Yes, he'd kept it so he could come and see them in person some day. He got it out that morning before we left.

So we get there and are wondering how to go about this. We figure there has got to be some method to this madness--and, sure enough, there is! There is a little building there in the middle area (near the water fountains). In it, you'll find a little eatery, a help desk, restrooms, lots of touristy brochures and such ... and ... two little computer kiosk things that allow you to--among other things--search for and locate Olypmic bricks in the park! Yay!

I must say ... I was VERY impressed with this system. It was so easy to use--you can search a variety of ways. We quickly pulled up the information about the bricks Tanna bought. You can see an image of the brick right there on the screen--and you can even get a printout of location information to take with you!

It didn't take us long at all to find Tanna's bricks--they were side by side and not too far from the information center. It was pretty neat to see them after all these years!

(ETA: Oh my goodness! I am laughing my butt off right now because I just re-read that paragraph! I think I need to get my mind out of the gutter! LOLOLOLOL!)

Tanna using the handy-dandy computer at Centennial Olympic Park

There are several ways to look up bricks. I think this one was via Tanna's name. Another is by what is inscribed on the brick. Another is maybe by address? I can't remember all the ways, but I thought it was pretty thorough. I was very impressed!

When you pull up a screen for a specific brick, you see the information as well as an image of the brick itself! Here's the screen for one of Tanna's bricks.

And here's the screen for the other--pretty neat, huh?

You also can pull up a map on the screen, showing you where you can find the brick(s) in question in relation to where you are located.

You can even get a little printout to take with you when you're looking for your brick(s). How convenient!

Section 31--where Tanna's bricks are. It's actually not too far from the information center.

Tanna looking ...

They've been spotted! See two two bricks in the middle? That's them! One reads, "Praise God! Jesus Lives!" ... and the other reads, "Tanna Lim Tulane 1994." (That's where and when Tanna graduated from undergrad.)

Tanna showing the bricks to Kate.

Mission Accomplished! The Lim family is happy!

Message-Board Junkie

I am a message-board junkie! I am--I admit it. I was thinking about this a while back--how I like Internet message boards and spend too much time on them. Then I realized how much I guess I really do enjoy them--and for how long.

Over the years, I have "belonged to" message boards about scrapbooking, weddings, being newlyweds, babies, moms, children's clothes, etc. There are even more that I have visited less frequently--I guess I go through phases.

So as I was thinking about this ... I realized something else. This goes back much further than I realized. In 1986--yes, 1986 ... that is not a typo!--I belonged to a computer bulletin board back in East Tennessee. It was called Q-Link, if I remember correctly. I was in the sixth grade!

The sixth grade, people! 11 years old!

We had a Commodore 64--remember those? Remember the floppy disks? LOL! I was all about the Commodore 64--we got one when I was in the third or fourth grade, and I was so excited! Back then, I was pretty advanced for my age, if I do say so myself. That is hilarious to think about now because I am very behind the times when it comes to technology these days.

Anyway ... back to Q-Link ... the connection was S-L-O-W--all on dial-up, of course. I actually made a friend on there. I can't remember his name, but he was an Asian guy who was in high school. (It was completely innocent, so get your mind out of the gutter.) It was so neat to talk to someone on the computer like that back then. I actually met him in person at a computer-club meeting. My Dad took me to the meeting, which was held at Central High School's library. LOL! It's funny to think about now. There were all these computer guys there (my Dad included) ... and me and my sixth-grade self. haha!

Q-Link was a lot of fun. I was disappointed, though, when my friend Amy was trying to call me to tell me about our middle-school Valentine's dance and couldn't get through because our line was busy when I was on Q-Link. :o( I missed the dance because it had been rescheduled due to bad weather.

On a sad note, a very sad note: My Asian friend (I can't remember his name) was killed in a car accident when I was still in middle school. We had only talked on the computer (and not even that frequently--nothing like talking on the computer today) and met that one time at the computer meeting. I saw his picture in the paper with a story about the accident--I think his brother was killed also. :o( I think his dad worked at Eastman, like my dad.

Riding the Carousel @ North Point Mall

Earlier this month, when some of Kate's cousins were here, we hit North Point Mall--and Kate had her first carousel ride! Boy, did she ever enjoy it!

Here's how it went down: We were on a schedule and needed to visit some of the hot spots--The American Girl Store, Build-A Bear, The Children's Place, etc., etc. By the way, if you have kids, North Point is a VERY kid friendly mall. So anyway, we worked our way down the list of must-stops and then ate at the newly renovated food court--home of the infamous carousel. Even before Kate was born, we often hit North Point with our siblings' kids so they could enjoy the fun carousel.

A little mall walking

Well, after lunch, we walked over to the carousel. They've revamped how they do things. Now you have to buy a token (which is $2--a little steep in my opinion, but we paid it, of course). Well, there are only a couple of token machines, and there is a big traffic jam of kids and parents trying to get their tokens, etc. Of course, one of my stinkin' dollar bills kept getting rejected by the machine and I was in a hurry because some the girls wanted to make the cutoff for the next ride. Anyway ... bottom line: I think they should reeeeaaaaallllly re-think this new token process. (Used to, you just paid a real person and not some stupid machine. But whatever.)

So the girls--Rebekah, Riley, Abigail and Anna-Claire--are in line with their dads. Robin, Anne, Kate and I walked over to the side so we could take some good pictures. (Well, Kate rode in her stroller--'cause that's how she rolls, homes.) Well, Kate is just MESMERIZED by the carousel. She is just staring at it and acting all excited. I started feeling guilty because I hadn't bought her a token. :o( So ... at the last minute, I told Robin and Anne that I felt bad, and they encouraged me to run and try to make the next ride (with the rest of our group). We were scrambling for some change to get a stupid token, and we made it just in time. (I think I still owe Anne some money for that, LOL!)


KATE LOVED IT! She kept staring at all the lights and the different colors and mirrors--oh, there's just so much to look at and enjoy on the carousel. Aren't they magical?

Steven is actually holding Kate in this picture--he is crouching down to make it look like she's sitting on the horsey all by herself. haha!

I must say, however, that it was HARD WORK to keep holding her up on the horse--especially when it started going up and down. Steven (my BIL) came over to help me out after a while, and I was able to take a few photos while he was holding Kate. :o)

Rebekah

Riley

Abigail & Anne

Anna-Claire & Johnny

Anyway, North Point Mall is a fun mall to visit--especially if you have kids. There are a lot of fun stores for grown-ups, too. In fact, a new H&M just opened there earlier this year.

Random thought: North Point has some of the biggest, stroller friendly elevators I have ever seen. Also, I remember going there one weekday before Kate was born and thinking, "I don't think I have ever seen so many women out with strollers!" It was stroller city! :o) Of course, I don't have a problem with that. ... I'm just sayin'.

Here are a few more mall shots:

Walking in ... awwwwwwww ...

American Girls

Ri, Beck, Abs

Oh yeah--I met one of my Internet friends IRL that day--yay! It's Donna! It was sooooooo great to meet her--too bad her hubby and son weren't with her at that moment. But maybe we can get together one day soon!

Going Parking

Yesterday, Tanna left his pager at home, so we met him at the park in the afternoon to give it to him. (He had a meeting after work and was on call last night, so he needed it before the evening.) Boy, it was HOT! We put Kate in the swing, but she wasn't sure what to think about it. (Sometimes she likes it, and sometimes she doesn't seem to care.) But she still loves to play in the grass!

Fun In The Son--Jekyll 2008

It was great to be back at Jekyll Island last week for Fun In The Son. FITS is the youth conference Tanna and I attended back in the day--and by "back in the day," I mean "the late '80s." I think I attended in 1990, too. Anyway, we both went to FITS at Jekyll (I was there in '88), but we actually met at FITS in Panama City, Florida, 19 years ago. Man, that was a while back!

Here we are with Dr. Chuck Neder--the man who started it all. Chuck Neder is the founder of Fun In The Son. You can read about the history here.

So yeah ... the kind folks at Youth Conference Ministries invited us back to FITS as their guests. Wasn't that nice? We thought so, too. We decided to take them up on their offer for a few days. (We had planned not to stay for the whole conference because we thought it might be too much for the babe.) We got there Sunday night just in time for the first session.

Talk about the memories! It made me miss all my youth-group friends and family (hey, there were four kids in our family, so we made up a good portion of the youth group in our small church--LOL!). Plus, after a while, your youth group becomes part of your family anyway. This is such an important age to have a strong group of believing friends and leaders to help strengthen you in your walk with Christ. And conferences like FITS are awesome--they are soooooo fun and also thought-provoking and encouraging.

This year's theme was "collide"--how God chose to collide with us through Christ ... how we are to collide with the world, etc. It was explained a lot better than that, but you get the idea.

I felt pretty old being there and seeing all the high-school kids. (A lot of them were taller than me, though. haha) Tanna actually said that we met at FITS before this year's attendees were even born--wow, if that doesn't make ya feel like an old lady, I don't know what will.

Did you see Kate's shirt? It reads "Fun in the" and then has a sun! I just had to get it--I bought if off of a lady online. It's a Gymboree shirt from a year or two ago, I think. It was perfect for FITS--especially because the word "Son" isn't spelled out (because it would have been spelled "Sun" on the shirt, right? I actually bought her another shirt like that.) And because her middle name (Suna) is after Tanna's mom, Sun. So suns and sunshine things ... we like them.

FITS has changed in some ways and has stayed the same in some ways, too. Still the same great format--sessions in the mornings and evenings with free time and recreation in the afternoons. Great speakers and musicians. One of my favorite speakers from FITS back in the day was Ken Davis. I still remember his series of messages on "Super Sheep" and "Nothing to Hide ... Nothing to Prove ... Nothing to Lose" ... or something like that. He is so funny, too! This year's speaker at Jekyll was Chap Clark. He was great--well, what I heard, anyway. ;o) Tanna and I took turns watching and walking with Kate out in the convention center lobby/hallways during the "serious" sessions.

This ain't your mama's church camp.

Todd Fields holding Kate

Kate loved the worship music! We weren't sure how she would like the loud music--but she seemed to really enjoy it. Todd Fields from North Point Community Church was the worship leader. (Tanna and I used to attend North Point a few years back--it's a great church up in Alpharetta. Check it out if you get a chance.) Of course, we loved the old Freddie Langston days of FITS--anyone remember him? Todd Fields does an excellent job and was very friendly--the FITS kids loved the worship time and many actually rushed the stage kind of like they were at a concert. LOL!

One night, all of the conference peeps got to go to the water park on Jekyll--Summer Waves. Everyone ate dinner there, and the FITS folks had the park all to themselves. It looked like sooooo much fun. We left after dinner, though, because it was mostly for older kids and we had decided to hit the beach that evening (it was our last night there). The evening session didn't start that night until after Kate's bedtime, so we didn't attend that one.

Tanna and Kate backstage

Wednesday morning, the FITS crew had us up on stage to share just a little bit of our story--how we met at one of the conferences, kept in touch, and eventually married, etc. Of course, we didn't want it to come across as FITS being another match.com or anything--haha! We probably sounded like a bunch of old fogies. But I still think it is incredible to think about how God brought us together so randomly (but not) at a youth conference in high school ... then had us keeping in touch (sporadically) throughout the rest of high school, college and beyond ... and then eventually brought us back together when the timing was right. God's timing is perfect. Tanna is an awesome husband, and I am so thankful that God provided such a loving, intelligent and hilarious guy for me to grow old with. And I'm thankful for FITS for being a part of our story.

Yes, I am wearing a sweatshirt. You know me--always freezing. Of course, I remember freezing at FITS meetings years ago. LOL!

A lineup of church vans--this is just a few of them. Ahhhhh ... I remember the good old days of youth-group road trips! Ha! So fun!

Speaking of vans, I thought this was hilarious--had to take a pic!

I'll have to post beach photos and such another time. :o) Stay tuned!

Free Eric!

Our wedding photographer, Eric McCarty, is locked up in his garage. He's staying there until his Web site FellowTip.com gets 500 users. It's a neat site where folks can share tips. It's free to use and free to register, so go on over and help him reach his goal. Get him out of the garage!

Kate's on CNN!

Kate's on CNN! Do you see her?

Whew, I have a lot of catching up to do--on and off the computer! I was spoiled with Tanna being off last week. We had a great time at Jekyll--I'll have to post about it soon. We got back Wednesday evening and turned our vacation into a stay-cation. On Thursday, we headed downtown for some fun activities. After lunch, we hit the CNN Center. I believe this is Kate's first CNN visit--at least ... ex-utero (as Tanna would say--LOL!). Here are a few photos:

Tanna points out the Korean flag

I was almost on CNN, too.

Hey--Tanna's downtown. Sometimes you just find the right sign at the right time.

This nice lady offered to take our photo. She got most of us. haha

P.S. Yes, Kate has now figured out how to take off her sandals, so she is only wearing one shoe in these photos. That crazy girl--she keeps us on our toes.
And her toes, too.

My FIL's Second Birthday

I will remember the deeds of the LORD;
yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
--Psalm 77:11

Celebrating with Halmoni and Halabaji at dinner earlier this evening

Today is a special day--it's Tanna's Dad's second birthday! Some people might read that and think that it is the anniversary of the day he accepted Christ (because some people celebrate that day). But it's not. It's the anniversary of the day he was shot.

From left: Mike (Tanna's brother), Kymber (Tanna's sister), Tanna's Dad, Tanna

It actually happened 31 years ago. It was 1977, and he was working at a convenience store in East Atlanta. He was closing that night, and three guys came in to rob the place. He was shot twice and left to die. But God spared his life that day, and we are grateful.

Tanna's Family back in the day

I would say that he's a lucky man--but I don't think luck had anything to do with it.

_____

Actually, come to think of it, he is lucky, too ... because he did get a hole in one once while playing golf.