Babies, Babies, Everywhere!

About three years ago, I began to notice a baby infestation. Has anyone else ever all of a sudden been snapped into this realization of the world of babies? It must just be me, I suppose. It seemed that just about everyone I knew was either about to have a baby, trying to have a baby, or had a small baby (or two). I was consistently getting baby stories pushed at me in casual conversation left and right by my girlfriends!! (To be fair, circa 2004 was when I began to casually accumulate a few girlfriends here and there. Prior to that, I had maybe two and a half other than my sister)…

Anyhow, back to the story…at the time that all of these baby stories were happening around me, I began to ponder the pregnancy topic. After much thought, I determined this was something that had constantly been happening around me more than I realized. The only difference between then and now was that before I simply discarded any information regarding this topic from my memory bank. I had other things that were more important such as personal goals, responsibilities, etc.

Then came the day someone close to me began their pregnancy journey. Once a close friend was pregnant, all I could see was a sea of pregnant women everywhere I turned. It was quite entertaining and fascinating to me! I so much enjoyed seeing my friends delight in joys their children. It was also amazing to me to see how quickly someone could change and how much they could learn to love, more than they ever knew they could before.

Aside from the observation side of things, the kids were cute, cute, cute! I had a standard routine for dealing with these circumstances: kiss the little faces (only of the closest friends of course), hug and squeeze, oooh and aahh, hand the baby back, go home and not think twice about babies until the next time. I thought I pretty much had it down pat as to how things should be when dealing with other people’s babies…until this year.

Earlier this year, we learned that my own little sister was pregnant! Now that the year is almost over, J-Bug is really really pregnant. She is about 3-weeks away from having a little one to take care of and love. We are all expecting a little girl, Luciana Marie. At first, I pretty much kept myself at arms length. As time has gone on, I have grown more and more excited for her and her husband. It really hit home when she came to visit me the other day. She is so beautiful (and round, of course) and looks very happy. She had 3-d photos that clearly showed a healthy chunky cheeked little nugget. She has done all sorts of planning and preparation and is just a short time away from her whole world changing. I am fairly certain that my mom, other family, and I will have our whole world change as well.

Here is to the next few weeks of waiting!

Random

A few things that make me happy...

Brightly colored tulipsLargely oversized floppy hats

Dance numbers from old black and white movies

Balsa Wood

The smell of lavendar in my hair as I am falling asleep

Christmas time in New York

Collecting random pieces of sheet music

Rain puddles

Children's books and poetry

Holding hands with E3

Where the "Fire" at?

We just got back from our annual trip to Montreat, North Carolina! E-love and I take this trip each year as the coordinators/chaperones for our church’s youth group. This year we had four youth and four adults attend. I was part-time house mom and part-time runner this year. E-love was a full-time runner.

The trip is a week long excursion. We left early Saturday morning, June 13th in the trusty church van. It was a long, but good trip up. It took about 11-hours to get there considering the 15-passenger van did not exceed 70-mph. We pulled off in Atlanta to get a quick bite at the Varsity. If you have not been before, you should go. The Varsity has some of the best fast food. Very Tasty! We arrived in Montreat late Saturday afternoon. Our rental home this year was new to our group. We rented a beautiful home, Bit O’Heaven, from the Dimmocks family.

Our home away from home...

This year’s theme was “World on Fire”. Approximately 1300 Youth and Youth Leaders attended the conference, and the energy from all of those people was definitely evident throughout the week. Each day we would start the day off with energizers, music, keynote, and small group. By the afternoon the youth went back to small group, followed by recreation activities, and evening worship.

The group on the way to Lake Susan

Lake Susan - watch out for those swans! They are tough birds!

Anderson Auditorium - location for keynote and worship

Inside Anderson

We learned a lot, but we did have a lot of fun too…each night the youth had recreational event including a glow in the dark disco dance party, movie night, a talent show, etc. Also, we took the kids white-water rafting. E-love had a special trip down the rapids all by himself this year that had our rafting guide yelling and blowing whistles!! We also went rock-hopping one day before it started to rain! When the rain came, we ran and danced in the rain all the way back to Bit O’Heaven.

The glow in the dark disco dance party!

Last night in Montreat, lighting candles around Lake Susan

Overall we had a wonderful trip. The kids were so great this year. No arguing or complaining, no drama like you may expect teenagers to could have…they were really just angels. Another great thing, E-love and I were able to make time to go down the mountain and check out our favorite local wine shop. That is always a plus! The least favorite part of the trip for me was the weather. It was so perfectly cool and comfortable in Montreat that I was deceived into forgetting how hot and humid it is in Alabama! Other than that, it was wonderful. I look forward to next year’s trip.

Continuing Concerts – Summer Edition

If you were a teenage girl in the mid 1990’s, you know exactly what I am talking about when I say the name Gwen Stefani. For me, she was pretty much the ultimate: semi grungy but completely in touch with pop, very tomboy but totally feminine, fun and talented vocals but not overly much that you could not sing along with the songs…

I was excited when I heard the news that No Doubt was going on tour this summer. There is no big album release this year, just a tour for fun. The ticket prices were fun too, only $10 per person for general admission. The only catch was the closest touring town was Atlanta, Georgia. So, what did we do? Gathered up six other friends and made it a road trip! A bit of luck for the trip, we have an Uncle and Aunt who live in Marietta that could accommodate all eight of us. Thanks Uncle Phil and Aunt Kay! We love you guys and appreciate your hospitality!! Now, on to the show…

The traffic getting there was more than awful, but the concert was great. Paramore opened for No Doubt. A friend had given me a copy of Paramore’s first album about a year ago. I liked their music, but was not really expecting much for a live show. I must say, they were really good. The band was great and Hayley William’s voice did not waiver. She can really belt out those notes just as well during a live performance.

Paramore performing "That's What You Get"

Then it was time for the main event…

No Doubt's big entrance

When the screens pulled up the silhouettes of No Doubt, the crowd went wild! I knew going into this that I would know several of the songs, but I did not realize I would know almost every one played.

Gwen Stefani doing her thing...

They did not play anything from Gwen Stefani’s solo venture. They focused on the songs that made them famous in the first place. Very old school, very energized, very good.

My favorite...

I am so glad this concert was not ruled out just because of the distance. We had a great time and look forward to what else the summer may unfold for the “oldies but goodies” from my teenage years.

The last hurrah...what a great show!

Port and Starboard with a Tiller pointing where?

Man, it has been a while since I have made a post! I have a lot of catching up to do…

The weekend after E-love and I returned from Colorado we had the opportunity to see a good friend of ours, John (a.k.a. Juhn). Juhn and I used to work together. He, E-love, and I are all Auburn Engineering Graduates…WAR EAGLE! Every year we try to get back to Auburn and have fun reminiscing together. Juhn is a dear friend and is pretty much family to us.

Now, back to the weekend at hand…..this particular weekend we went sailing. Juhn has a boat, the China Blue.

The China Blue is a fine sail boat. She was born to the Juhn’s family in 1983 and has been around the world (well, if you consider the world to be Fairhope). China Blue was loved and well sailed for many years until one fateful day in 1996. That year she was placed on land and had not felt the cool waters beneath her belt for several years. Last year, Juhn had finally completed his restoration of China Blue to her once celebrated disposition. It was then that she was reunited with her long-lost love, the sea.

We had tried a time or two to coordinate a trip out on China Blue, but it had not seemed to work out until recently. Our time spent on her and with Juhn was a lot of fun. I learned a good bit about sailing and had fun watching Juhn and E-love work to prepare the boat.

I hope you enjoy a few pictures from our adventure…

The Marina

China Blue and her glorious and well celebrated sail

E-love soaking in the view

Juhn being happy to be on China Blue…and yes ladies, he is super cute and single…call me!!

Sad Beer (with a Happy Ending!) aka A Trip to Denver

Wow! It has been a while since I’ve been able to make the time to blog. I stay busy with various activities the majority of the time. So anytime I get free time at home to do things like blogging, I usually just end up snuggled on the couch with E-love spending quality time just relaxing.

I will pick up from where I left off with my last post. The last post was detailing the Whirlwind of a Weekend I had a few weeks back. Well, that weekend had nothing on my next adventure!

My new job has been a great learning experience for me. It is a completely different field of engineering than what I have been used to practicing for the last four years. That being said, I have a lot of squeaky wheels that need to be adjusted…and my next weekend was just for that! I was super excited because this weekend, I would be heading to Denver, Colorado!!

I had never been to Denver before, so I did a good bit of research. The hotel in which I stayed was right in the middle of downtown, which meant plenty to do. First, I had to get through a week full of training sessions (you know, the real reason I was up there in the first place). I checked the weather and everything seemed great for a trip. Then I booked the hubby a flight so we could spend an extended weekend vacationing. All that was left to do was pack and get on the plane!

So, I headed to the airport Sunday morning. Everything got off to a bumpy start. The incoming plane was delayed and had a maintenance issue. I only had a short layover in Atlanta, so I suppose you can guess what happened…right? That’s right! I missed my connecting flight. No worries though, the airline had already booked me on another flight once I reached Atlanta. Instead of an hour layover, I now had a +5 hour layover. Needless to say, I finally made it to my hotel room in Denver at 1:30am (MTN) instead of the anticipated 5:30pm arrival. I was exhausted. Plus, I had to be up and ready for anything in class the next morning.

Seismic Design Class went by without a hitch. I met several interesting people and overall had a good time by myself; however, I was anxiously awaiting the hubby’s arrival Thursday evening. It didn’t take too long and he had arrived. He got in later than expected, and we were both so hungry…so we immediately took to the 16th Street Mall to find some grub. We ended up dining at Maggiano’s. It was excellent! If you get a chance to eat at this Italian restaurant, you should try the Rigatoni "D" or the Chicken Saltimbocca. Everything was served family style (my favorite way to eat), so we shared and enjoyed as much as we could until we were stuffed!

View of the front of the Hotel

16th Street Mall

Downtown Area

On Friday, I had a half-day of class. E and I had a nice lunch (and happy hour) at Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery. We walked up and down 16th Street taking in the sights as well as taking pictures. We also stopped by Marlowe’s later that afternoon and had some appetizers (and happy hour) and people watched for a while. There was also an art festival that lined the streets adjacent to 16th street mall area. We enjoyed viewing the diverse creations of local artists. We hoped to purchase something for our home to remember our special time there…but alas, could not find anything that felt like it should be ours. We soon headed back to the hotel room to take naps (not needed due to the multiple happy hours) and prepare for a semi-late night. In all of my researching for Denver, I noted that there were several dinner theaters and cabarets in the area. One especially well noted and planning to have a show of interest was Lannie’s Clocktower Cabaret. This weekend was the opening weekend for Altar Boyz! I don’t know if any of you have heard of this award winning musical, but it is was hilarious! It’s a musical comedy based on the boy-band-meets-christian-rock. Google it. Enough said.

We are the Altar Boyz, we're coming to your town...

It was pretty late after the show, but we still walked around a bit downtown just to check out the night scene. We stopped in Coyote Ugly. Yes, like the movie, but not nearly as impressive. I was so sad leaving there upon the realization that I did not enjoy it and think I have outgrown it. I mean, for a special occasion it is warranted…but just to hang out regularly, I just can’t hang anymore (small tear). After that realization, we found ourselves at an adjacent music scene known as Jazz at Jack’s. It was much more my speed…until my speed wanted to find a pillow. Thus was the conclusion of Friday.

Saturday we rented a car and headed toward the mountains! Our first stop was the Miller-Coors Brewery.

Miller Coors Plant! Yay!

It is in Golden, Colorado - - only a short drive from Denver. One thing I noticed about the Denver area, there where several breweries and wineries. So just about everywhere we stopped we wanted to try at least one just to see what made them all so different. After touring the Miller-Coors Brewery, I will be hard pressed to casually drink another brand of beer. I was completely impressed by the plant presentation. I was equally impressed with the lengths that are taken to recycle waste. Did you know that Coors recycles 95% of all of the waste it produces? Well, now you do! Leftover ingredients turn into animal foods. Aluminum and glass are reused and manufactured for other uses. “Sad Beer” (beer that has expired or spoiled) is turned into ethanol.

What I envision when I reflect on"Sad Beer"

The plant is committed to preserving and conserving. It is pretty amazing what all I learned about the process while I was there.

The free samples at the end weren’t too shabby either!

If all this still hasn’t convinced you, then tell me what else you think could beat a silver bullet on a hot day in the middle of summer?

After the brewery adventure, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and headed up the mountain to see Buffalo Bill’s grave. This was a huge tourist spot, and since we were nearby we had to check it out.

A view from the top!

The most impressive part of the trip up the mountain was the runners, bikers, and hikers all over the place. Take it from this southern girl (not that I typically refer to myself quite like that), it was quite the altitude! There were times that I had to catch my breath as we were traveling not only for the beauty of it all, but also for the elevation change. It was simply amazing to see people trucking it up the trails as if it was the flat sidewalk from my neighborhood.

Yes, my friends, he is trucking it up the mountain on a unicycle!

We also went up to Mount Evans. A local had mentioned it was nearby and was the highest paved road in North America. I looked it up online and discovered that it had just opened on Friday, so we were excited to go and take a look. It was substantially cooler the higher we climbed. The temperature went from low 70’s at the base of the mountain to low 40’s toward the top. It had also been raining a little here and there on Saturday. By the time we got up the mountain, the light rain had turned to fog and ice.

Starting to see a little bit of ice...

Just too foggy and icy to go any higher! Maybe next time...

We opted not to go any farther and went to play by the stream instead. Although we did not get the great views we were told about, the hubby and I had a great time sight seeing in the area.

One playground we explored before leaving Mount Evans

That evening we went out for a very special dinner at the Samba Room in Larimer Square. The Samba Room is well known for its Latin fusion cuisine of grilled meats and fresh seafood. It is also well known for its mojitos, which were very tasty! After dinner, we stopped by a local chocolate factory to get some treats. It was then back to the room for some shut eye.

Larimer Square in the Evening...very nice!

The next morning we headed to the downtown park. We had a few hours to spare before our flight home and wanted to check out the other side of downtown that we had not explored yet. It was such a beautiful morning. The park was green and bright.

Entrance to one side of the park

It was then off to the airport. The trip home was no easier than my trip in to Denver. There was bad rain and thunderstorms as well as tornados in the area. What was supposed to be a 2-hour flight was closer to a 4-hour flight… I suppose you can guess what happened…right? That’s right! Again, I missed my connecting flight. To make matters slightly worse, there were no more flights back home that day. E is convinced that I am bad luck to travel with after this ordeal…but I made up for it. I quickly talked the airline support staff into setting us up on a flight to Biloxi, but we only had 10 minutes to get across the airport to catch the flight!! The airline guy basically said, “Run!”. So, run we did. It was pretty much like a scene from a movie (slow motion in my case since I am not at all fast runner). We were moving as fast as we could with all of our bags in tow trying to make it to the other side of the airport before the take off. We made it with a moment to spare…and before you knew it, we were home.

What an exciting week! I am so glad the hubby was able to make it up to spend time with me. It was wonderful to be in Denver, in a nice hotel, with beautiful scenery, but there is no place like home. When my head finally hit my pillow late that Sunday night, it was the best sleep I have gotten in a very long time.

Parting photo for your viewing pleasure: A monument in the park...Little Bitty Horse, Big Red Chair

Poppy Seed Chicken!

Not too long ago, I received a recipe from an amazing lady that attends my church. Her name is Clara and she is very special to our church family. She is a wife, mother, grandmother, volunteer, ding-a-ling chimer, choir member, and great cook just to name a few. Did I mention she and her hubby Ken used to be bikers? You couldn't know it just at a glance, but that was a past time of hers and she has the sexy biker pants to prove it!

Anyhow, this is an easy and tasty entree that I hope you can enjoy!

Poppy Seed Chicken

Yes, this is my creation that I promptly ate and then had a second serving!

Ingredients:
8 Chicken Breasts, cooked (I boil mine)
1 Can Cream of Chicken Soup
1 Can Cream of Mushroom Soup
8 oz. Sour Cream
1 Stick Butter, melted
2 Stacks Ritz Crackers, crushed
2 tbsp. Poppy Seed
1 pk. Slivered Almonds

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix chicken, soups, and sour cream and place in 9x13 baking dish. Cover mixture with crackers, butter, poppy seed, and then almonds. Bake for 30 minutes. Serves 10.

I hope yours tastes as good as mine!

Whirlwind of a Weekend...

This past weekend was pretty great. It was action packed and super fun. My new camera tells the story of my weekend much better than I can...so, here goes....

First up was the 311 concert Friday night at The Wharf Amphitheatre in Orange Beach. 311 has been around for a long time. Out of all the concerts I have been to over the years, these guys always seemed to slip past me for one reason or another. My first memory of 311 includes one of my best friends, Carrie. She moved to Alabama from Michigan when we were just getting started in high school. She sort of got me hooked for the band since they were bigger in the North than down here at that time, and it didn't hurt that the lead singer was super dreamy (right ladies? you know what I am talking about!).

Not long after E-love (and the special sauce) and I were married, 311 had made their way back to the Gulf. We had other obligations that weekend and opted not to go, but I vowed if they ever came back again (whether it be 2 or 20 years) I was going to be there. Here we are, just a few short years later...with a great night to remember filled with excellent old school 311 tunage.

Jamming to Beautiful Disaster

This is my favorite photo. They did this really cool number mid-way through the show. I was always a wanna be marching band groupie in high school...

The final wave goodbye...thanks fellas! It was one heck of a show!

I would like to say a very special thanks to extended family members Harry and Heather who organized the event for us all. We love these two people very much and are so glad we have them to share fun-packed weekends with...

Next up was Saturday! It was mostly non-eventful during the day, but the evening was fun! E and I had dinner with some special friends, Shannon and Ryan. Shannon and I became friends at my previous job. Although I would not trade my new job for anything else, I do miss being able to see Shannon (and a very select group of others) every day around the office. Shannon is a bright spot and an encouragement for me. She is also a bag of crazy fun! She just recently ran and completed the Boston Marathon and has the coveted jacket to prove it...Congrats Shannon! It was so good to see you this weekend!!

Anyhow, back to the other story, my buddy Evan and I auditioned for a play back in March. I didn't make it this time (even though I personally believed I nailed that musical number!!), but my sweet, funny, stylish, cake-baking, dog-loving, teen book reading, No Doubt fan, super awesome friend did! So, I did what any friend would and went to watch her shake a leg in fishnet stockings and sexy satin things. Did I mention she was in Cabaret?!?

Don't worry Evan, I will be back for Chicago next spring!

My mother is the one responsible for my love of musical theater, and since it was Mother's Day (weekend) I invited her and my sweet step-father to join us. Mom seemed to really enjoy the show as well as the yellow roses I got for her to enjoy on her Mother's Day. Mom, if you are reading this, I love you so very much and am thankful each day that you always provide me and little sister with love, understanding and support in all that we do.

Then it was time for the weekend to come to a close. We spent the early afternoon with the in-laws. We gave my mother-in-law a set of garden gloves and a special treat...

Black Mountain, NC Summer 2008 Memories!

Last summer E, his mother, and myself took our church youth group to a conference in Montreat, NC. It was a wonderful, and tiring, experience. One night the adults went down the mountain to do a small bit of shopping and saw a local wine shoppe was having wine tasting that evening. We stopped in and bought a several bottles once we had a taste of the exceptional selection! We saved these particular bottles to share at a later date. This is a wine spritzer made from an Italian Prosecco (white/champagne wine) and a local vineyard's Blackberry wine. Mix the two together and you have a glass of Wow! It was so nice to each have a glass and remember what a special time we all had together last summer.

Last, but not least, I attended a cast party for Cabaret at Evan's house Sunday evening. It was so nice to meet the local actors/actresses who worked hard to put on the show. I had a great time.

So, you see...this weekend really was a whirlwind. Looking back at this post, I mentioned several close family and friends I was able to spend time with this weekend. I am grateful to have such a great circle of people!

What could possibly top this weekend you may be asking yourself? Well, I fly out for Denver for a week of business and a weekend of pleasure. I will be sure to fill everyone in on that when I get back!

The Birth of the Blog

Today was a great day.

Work was fun and productive. I am still working out the kinks of my new job, but today I felt really good about the strides I made for design. I was giddy like a young school girl when my final wind load analysis calculation had been computed. Anyhow, I got home from work at approximately 3:30pm and began my usual Thursday evening routine...

Yes, nerdville = where I reside.

when I received a phonecall from the hubby....you see, we had some friends over this past weekend (Paul and DeAnne) and the hubby said the friends had called and left something at our house. He wanted me to search the guest bedroom and see if anything of theirs was there. So, I did as a good wife would and dropped what I was doing to go rummage around the room. I am looking and searching and scratching my head because I don't see anything! The hubby tells me I should go and look on the back side of the bed, so I did. I noticed a couple of bags on the floor and was excited to find the missing prize!

Yay! The prize!!

But then I was immediately confused...the bags were from Best Buy. We nor our guests went to that store over the weekend. I look inside the bags and saw the word "Rebel". I am still confused and wondered to myself, "Why would Paul have a box with the word Rebel on the side?" Well, he wouldn't...the was all part of my love's more than borderline genius plan!! It was a surprise present for me!

Complete with camera, two zoom lenses, tote bag, and deluxe memory card!

Yes, the camera I have been waiting for a long while to purchase! I was planning to get it around Christmas, but I guess Santa sees how good I've been already...so what did I do next?

That's right folks, it was picture time!! Now for your viewing enjoyment, pictures from my small garden...

Grape Tomatoes, Blueberries, and Geraniums

The excitement from the pictures made me want to do things I've never done before! I wanted to dance a jig on top of my coffee table (a major no-no typically), or beat Level 65 in Dr. Mario (basically Dr. Amazing if germs were totally expelled!), or catch a flight to Forks and see if I could find a certain pale skinned family to adopt me (no more beach without sparkle!)...but instead of all of those possibilities...I began this blog.

Thus the Birth of the Blog. Hope you enjoy!