Weekend Eight: Take a deep breath

Friday, I got home from almost a week in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.  Unfortunately, it was for work, and the view of the beach is pretty much all I saw of it until the last night we were there.  Fortunately, though, I did get to hang out a lot with Amanda, since we get to work together.

I think it's been since college that we've been able to spend that much time together at once.  It was really a treat!  {I have a few pics of us out at the beach, but they're trapped on my camera--I can't find the charger.  Boo.}

Claire was in Jamaica all week on a mission trip, and I didn't feel like going home to an empty apartment, so I came home and spent the night with my Aunt Laura.  We addressed wedding invitations (the first time) Friday night and Saturday morning.  She and I did get to catch up when she got home, though.  We spend a lot of time in these spots on the couch, talking and watching Gilmore Girls.  It was so nice to catch up, and hear all about her experiences in Jamaica with other teachers.  They gave a teacher conference all week to better equip Jamaican teachers with resources they're typically unable to receive.  

Saturday afternoon,  Adam and I finally got to hang out! He took me out for a steak dinner at the Yellow Rose Steak and Chop house, and we got to catch up in person.  He'd been in Colorado for his Bachelor Weekend with a buddy from home.  They hiked and camped and explored the mountains. Colorado was, of course, nice and cool, so I know he hated to come home to Texas in a massive heat wave.  

I don't have any photos of this weekend, and I honestly can't remember what I did, other than that.  I remember telling Adam that this was pretty much the last free weekend we had before the wedding, which was now exactly two months away! 

I know this wasn't a terribly exciting weekend post, but since I'm documenting the rest of them, I didn't feel like I could just skip it.  :-)  So stay tuned for the next weekend, which was the opposite of this: loud, busy and crazy!  But fun!

Photoshop Fun

I've been accused of being a slacker in the blog department lately.  I don't mind being given a hard time about this...it's just nice to know somebody reads this thing!  Here are a few photos from our Florida Family getaway that I never posted.  I also had a bit of fun in Photoshop.  Enjoy...

Troy decided that we needed to order Room Service one morning for breakfast.  So we did.  {He gets away with a lot!}  We enjoyed it out on the balcony of our room and had good conversations.  I especially loved this part of our vacation.

The Fab Four.

This was the night our family all met up for dinner together.   

Love them.

Family Florida Vacay

This weekend was spent in Florida with my family.  It was a weekend marked by sitting by the pool, eating, sitting in the pool, eating, reading and laughing on Ameilia Island.  It was a weekend for days without make-up and doing without fancy cameras.  And so we have here, a family trip documented by phone, capturing some of our sweet time together. 

Mom and I spent Thursday afternoon and the spa, and it was heavenly.  She told me I seemed really happy.  If you spent a weekday not thinking about numbers and emails and reports, I think you'd be happy too.  :-)

Troy and I sat on our balcony Saturday morning and had breakfast.  We talked.  And laughed.  One of the books I began to read this trip is called Cold Tangerines.  It is one of those books that I will shamelessly promote from now until whenver.  Because it's just.that.good.  I resonated with the author when I read this quote:

 "I want to hear every single little thing that my brother has to tell me...I can badger him via email and cell phone all year long about his life or his girlfriend or his job, and end up knowing very little, but on vacation, sometimes he gets on a roll, and I want to be there when he does, even if it means we sit on the dock till the sun sets and we're freezing, or even if I have to play basketball with him at the court in town."

{And lest you think that we have the most perfect brother/sister relationship, let me assure you that we do not.  We still disagree and "have words" with each other, sometimes.  But that's just part of life.}  :-)

I stayed in my jammers that morning until noon, just soaking up the balcony time, reading, listening to music and relaxing.  Have I mentioned that I was really happy?  Because I was totally soaking up this vacation!

 

Friday night in Jacksonville, we met up with my cousins, aunt, uncle and Papa for dinner.  We were all in town to see the Players Championship Golf tournament, thanks to Aussie's job with the PGA. 

Saturday was our day to go out to the tourney, and after battling traffic for 2 hours and getting to the course, it started raining, and they suspended play.  Not a great day for golf, but we made friends and memories, despite not having seen a single stroke played. 

  

We ate at Salsas Saturday afternoon after the rain cleared up and we could walk to our car without getting completely drenched.  You'll notice that Dad looks a little beat up.  He fell running a few weeks ago and broke both radius bones in his arms...major bummer.  He's in slings, but no casts and no surgery.  It makes doing simple things like opening a water bottle challenging.  Traveling is pretty much out of the question for now, unless he has help...which in this case, he did!

After Linner, we went to an outdoor shopping mall and walked around. 

Papa came with us and even found some shoes! 

A late night snack at Mickey-D's.  Dad was super excited because it was an original McDonald's and asked the casheir about its history.  She had no idea.  Ha.  But we looked at photos in the restaurant and Dad just thought it was one of the coolest things.  This makes me laugh.  :-)

We flew back Sunday afternoon and got to ease back into reality.  I did laundry, grocery shopped and made dinner for AMP, who I missed a whole lot.  We've got a wedding this weekend (and then the next one we'll go to will be our own!), and then Memorial Day weekend.  May is just flying by!

Weekend Letters

Dear Royal Wedding, I enjoyed watching you on Friday night while doing my nails.  To see a common girl become royalty is pretty fascinating, and I really liked Kate's bouquet.  It did bug me, though, that they kept making references to Charles and Diana's wedding day.  Does anyone remember how that worked out??  Just sayin'.  Dear AMP, you came and found me on Saturday afternoon in the most interesting get-up, including black socks and sandals.  Thanks for going to great lengths to make me laugh.  

Dear Girls' Night Out, you were much welcomed.  I'd be lying if I told you I wasn't more than a little sad about not having girl roomies after September 24.  I mean, it's not like I can wear Adam's necklaces and heels.  I'm thankful there will be plenty of opportunities for Fireside Pies and movie nights, still.  We will have to find a way to swap wardrobes on a regular basis.  Maybe we can build an underground tunnel?  King's Speech, you are the best movie I've seen in a very long time.  I'd watch it again in a heartbeat.  (And that's saying something.)   Sunday, who knew that May 1 would bring weather cold enough to welcome chili and cornbread for dinner?  It was a great ending to the weekend.  AMP, so excited we've booked our honeymoon to Hawaii.  Can't wait for beaches and Jeep adventures on the island!

We go camping!

I'm sure you've been in suspense waiting to see me camping, right?  Well it's your lucky day!

{See...here I am...camping!}

Adam and I met Sandy & David out in East Texas on Cooper Lake.  We loaded up AMP's truck and headed out for a little getaway.  On the way out there, we passed an IHOP, and I discovered Adam's love for their pancakes.  Who knew?!  I didn't!

It was beautiful weather, and we enjoyed being outside so much.  After we got there, we hung out by the lake, walked around, played on the playground, soaked up some sun and played catch.

I've discovered that camping is a lot of building fires, cooking and making 20 minute round-trip walks to the bathroom.  In between all of that, there's a lot of good and hilarious conversations that occur. 

{we laughed a lot}

{Adam discovered that I ate carrots, and tried to get me to do the "What's up Doc?" face. }

Sandy made pot roast for dinner--she chopped up veggies and a chuck roast and put a packet of McCormick's Pot Roast seasoning in it, and then made a foil pouch to put right on the fire.  It was delicious!

{Firemen love fires.  Makes sense, huh?}

After dinner we sat around and talked and played a game at the picnic table.  The moon was so bright that night (I think it's the brightest it will be in our lifetime or something cool and science-y like that).  

We had a "shelter" with four bunk beds, a small fridge and a microwave, so it really wasn't roughin' it too bad.  (But it was  still out of my comfort zone!)  I don't sleep a whole lot at night these days, so I was awake from 3 to 4:30.  I saw Adam get up across the room, so I waved, as if he could help me go to sleep.  Ha.  He sweetly offered to drive me to the bathroom, and Sandy heard us whispering about it and wanted in on the trip, too.  So off we went.  And I went right back to sleep--imagine that.

Sandy & David on Sunday morning cooking breakfast.  

They're getting married in May and asked me to sing at their wedding!

Adam and I waiting on breakfast to cook.  (It's a little trickier than dinner.  

What breakfast foods can you cook in a foil pouch?? )

Sunday was our one year anniversary, and it was fun to spend the whole weekend together.  We got back and hung out some more and went to Chili's for dinner.  (It's kind of "our place.")  Later, we danced to my iPod and kind of re-lived when we first met.  It was sweet.  

We celebrated with a romantic dinner on Monday night, and I'll have to do a whole other post on that!  It's hard to believe it's been a whole year--time flies when you're having fun!

The Clampetts go Camping

...oh wait, this is just MY stuff.  Yikes.

Adam and I went camping on Saturday with some friends from church, Sandy & David.  The last time I camped was for five days in Arkasas (in a tent) so that I could "graduate" from the eighth grade.  I survived that, so I figured I could make it one night in a "shelter" in the woods.  The "roughing it" part came when we made the 20-minute round-trip to the bathroom.  I was just glad they had a bathroom.  (And thankful that Adam took me and Sandy in the middle of the night--what am I, five??  He was sweet, especially at 3:40 a.m.) 

My biggest problem was packing.  Usually I'm a good packer--I can put more than enough stuff in a small rolling bag and go.  I even traipsed around Europe for a semester with only a backpack.  Somewhere along the way, it went missing, and I was a loss as to what to pack stuff in.  (Vera Bradley bags just didn't quite seem appropriate...) 

Claire was out of town Friday, so I spent the night with my parents.  It's a good thing, too, because my mom helped me go from an Olive Garden bag (wherever that came from--we don't have one near us!) and three small bags  that wouldn't zip, into a more compact version that included a duffle bag.  We laughed all morning as I tried to gather my stuff.  This was going to be a bit out of my comfort zone.  :-)

Whenever we have a lot of stuff to pack and load up, my family always makes a reference to the Clampetts:

source

I've picked up this reference over the years, and used it with confidence.  However, I just Googled "Clampetts" this morning and discovered that they and Beverly Hillbilllies are one and the same.   I might be a smidge embarrassed, but that's right up there with referencing "Who's on First" and not really knowing it's origin, either.  (I did that once...just ask my college roommates.)  Lesson learned:  know your idioms (or whatever they're called...).

More pics to come of really camping!  I just wanted it to go on record that I camped, survived and actually enjoyed it.

Five For Friday

Happy Friday, friends!  Here are Five things from my week:

1.  Wednesday's Girls' night with Gentry, Molly, Smoo and Claire was so much fun.  I'm thinking we'll have to make it a more regular occurance! {Photo coming soon} 2.  I loved this Valentine's poem and photos from author John Piper to his wife.  I realize it's only January, but I just happened upon it and thought I'd share.  3.  Thursday night, Adam and I ran the longest I've ever run!  And then we had spaghetti--it never tasted so good.  I'm getting ready to leave this afternoon for Disney World to finish the last 6 miles of my dad's marathon with him.  We are excited!  SMoo is coming along to run and be my roller coaster buddy--mom and dad opted out of that part.  :-)  4.  I designed my new blog header on Monday, and the Bible Verse in it is from the NET Bible.  I thought it was fitting for January.  {And if you want help desiging a blog-topper or just help with your blog design in general, let me know.  I'd really love to help!} 5.  MCP Actions is starting Project 52, where you upload a photo each week to  flicr account, in hopes that practice will help us improve over time.  I'm going to try it, so we'll see!

Mickey, here I come!

Viva La Mexcio!

Mom and Dad took us to Cozumel right before Christmas, and we each got to bring our "significant other."  :-)  So Troy bought his girlfriend Sarah and I got to bring Adam.  It was a lot of fun to all be together.  

We ate some good seafood, beach side.  

The water lapped up not five feet from us.  

Our waiter kept saying, "Ok, Familia!"  

We went back again later in the week because the Mahi Mahi was so good!

On Tuesday, we celebrated Mom's birthday.  She's always wanted to parasail, so we all went.  (I don't have photos of all of us in the air, but we were all up there at some point, I promise!)  It was A LOT higher than when we went to Key West this past summer, and I got a little scared, but the water was so beautiful and clear and blue.  Amazing!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

 

Silly Adam.

On our last full day in Mexico, Adam rented us a Jeep and we went all the way around the island.  He did a great job of navigating the city and the crazy drivers.  It was quite an adventure, as usual with him.  :-)  The other side of the island has bigger waves and deeper beaches, and it was just fun to see another part of Cozumel.

I've always wanted to ride in the kind of Jeep where you zip the windows off and ride with the wind in your hair.  It was really fun.  The beaches were beautiful and we just stopped along the way, played on the beach, grabbed a bite to eat for lunch and then went to another one of the beaches.  Adam played in the water for about two and a half hours, and I sat in the sand and read my book.  It was lovely!  I did end up getting in the water before we left, and it was a bit chilly.  After a huge wave came over my head and completely doused me, I went back to the sand.  But at least I got in!  It was a grand day!

The trip was wonderful, and we had a fun time and got back on the day before Christmas Eve.

Boston in the Fall

{In front of  a Fire Station on Boylston Street, right by Troy's school}

Hold on to your hats...this post is full of photos.  Bostonian photos, to be exact!  

Adam and I went to visit Troy in Boston this weekend and had a blast seeing all the sites and hanging out.  We each had a list of things we wanted to see in the city, and I think we accomplished almost all of them.  I kind of already knew this about Adam, but he's a great planner, and between the two of us, we mapped out everything we wanted to see, and he navigated us around the city.  (Because if you know me at all, I'm not the one you want doing that...)

{Hungry & Happy}

Our first stop Thursday night after dropping our bags off at Troy's tiny little a-p-t was Spike's Hotdogs.  They have THE BEST hotdogs.  So much so, that I crave them occasionally.  (And I'm not usually a hot dog kinda girl!)  

Troy was a great host (Boston hasn't stolen that Southern Hospitality from him!), and he showed us all sorts of things.  It was cool to be in his world and see what his everyday life looks like.  This is the practice room where his band practices about three times a week.  They also share this room with at least two other bands, and they coordinate their schedules using a Google Calendar.  (Troy let me ask him all sorts of questions, bless his heart.  I didn't even realize I was doing it until later that first night in Boston.  But he totally let me keep asking, and he was super patient with me!)  

Most of the time, Troy would meet us for brunch (sounds so adult, right?) or dinner.  He went on the Freedom Trail Tour with us Friday afternoon, and helped us charge our "Charlie" cards, the ones you use to ride the subway, and then Adam and I conquered the city.

Even though it was mid-November, the leaves were still on the trees, and it was b-e-a-utiful weather while we were there.  Loved it!  

We took a 90-minute Freedom Trail Tour, which is marked by a red line throughout the city.  It takes you through all the historical sites, and someone dressed in authentic clothing from the 1700s gives you all the interesting details.  

{Here we are on the "T," about to ride the Subway.}

I think this picture is so funny, because you really kind of have to look for Adam.  We went to the original Cheers bar Friday afternoon.  

Did you know that it gets dark at 4:30 on the East Coast??  True story.

There's a lot of fireman memorabilia around the city, so that was really fun to see.  This was a fire box,  where you pull the alarm on the street when there's a fire.  I think they're still in working order, which was pretty cool.

That photo was taken on our way to the Ghost and Gravestones tour.  We saw a lot of the same things we'd seen earlier on the Freedom Trail tour (like graveyards with famous people buried in them), but we rode a trolley around, and they told us ghost stories.  It was hard to know what was fact and what was fiction, but it was a lot of fun.  

We were in one of the graveyards listening to them tell a story, and we were in our own little world, making scared faces.  Two girls saw us and thought we were "precious."  It was kind of hilarious.

This was our guide...kind of creepy.  She totally had a thing for Adam, which was quite entertaining.  

Adam looks super hard-core with these graffiti walls we found on our way out to the Fire Museum on Saturday.

Neil was a volunteer who worked the museum, and we ended up with our own private tour, full of interesting stories and tangents.  

He left us to our own demise upstairs for a minute, so this is what we got ourselves into.  Thanks to the beauty of the self-timer, you can see that Adam is wearing more of a rain coat, and the one I have on is a bit thicker, but neither one compare to the bunkers Adam wears these days.  I've tried them on, and I thought I'd fall over, they were so heavy!

Neil let us climb on one of the old fire trucks.  There was one in there from the 1700s!  Pretty old stuff.

(And moving on to Saturday night...I'm telling you...we really packed it all in!)

We met up with Troy and his girlfriend, Sarah, to visit the aquarium.  They have a huge penguin exhibit, which was really cool.

I thought this was hilarious:  Troy and Sarah both trying to find our restaurant for dinner on their iPhones, and both having a bit of trouble.  

Troy heard the Parentals were treating us to dinner, so he ordered lobster.  (Hence the bib.  Although I'm certain he would've worn it anyways!)

The other bib-less side of the table.

{The four of us after dinner}

Sunday morning Adam and I went to see the USS Constitution, the oldest warship still in commission.  Adam knows how much I love my Baylor Bears, and insisted that I stop by this bear.  He was pretty cute.  (I guess I mean Adam and the bear.  Ha.)

We learned that each cannon weighed as much as an Escalade does.  Crazy!

It was so fun to share this weekend with Adam and with Troy, and seeing what his city life is like.  I really loved being up there with them.  We had lots of good food, lots of laughing, and obviously lots of history to see!