Movin' On Up!

I've moved to WordPress. Hubby made a lovely new website for me, and I think I am really going to like it over there. Come & see - it's pretty! :-)

All our posts from here have been imported, along with most comments, and as a bonus - all of our initial posts surrounding our wedding extravaganza, from engagement to honeymoon are available on the new blog, which is why we started a website in the first place.

As always, thanks for taking the time to stop by and keep up with what's going on in our lives.
Now click, click, click away... :-)

P.S. I have no beef with Blogger - it's been good to me! Just moving on to something new :-) And, I'll still be around checking in with all my favorite blogs, and browsing Blogs of Note - which is how I've discovered some of my favorites in the first place. Ok, ciao for now!

Carbon Footprints

Our carbon footprint is 52. The average US household of two is 53. The average world household of two is 11. Ouch.

We think we do more than some people, but still we are nearly right on par with the rest of the US. I think some changes are in order...perhaps that is a great daily goal, and a New Year's Resolution, as well. Yes...it is time to begin thinking of those again.

What's yours?

100 Years

Tonight we will celebrate our beautiful historic home's 100th birthday with a belated housewarming, complete with cocktails, cake, and ice cream!

Wisdom?

I heard one of the funniest, most awesome things ever this morning.

After my morning stretch class at the gym, the instructor was showing off photos of her baby, and one of the older ladies in the class happened to look my way and ask if I had any children of my own. I replied "no, just a husband for now" and before I could say another word she smiled at me and said "I'm sure something will come out of that".

Freaking awesome. :-)

Silly Cute Love

A clip from spring of 2007, recorded during our Spring Break trip in Greenville, SC. We rediscovered all kinds of video clips when J finally repaired our Flip video camera. Score!

Fondue Flashback: First Dip!

Hotel

Getting ready to go out for REI, dinner, and the concert.
Good times!

5 Years Together: Now & Then

Now
Celebrating our past and future - September 12, 2008.

and

Then
Our second date, taken at Stone Mountain - September 27, 2003.

5 Years!

Today J and I are celebrating 5 happy years of being together. On this date in 2003, we met and begin our relationship, which has blossomed through dating, engagement, marriage, graduation, buying a new home together, and much, much more. The fact that we continue to grow and blossom together is by far the best accomplishment of all.

Pictures and an update on how we plan to celebrate to follow.

XOXO to my Sweet J!
:-)

Update:

After a long bike ride together, we undid all that good and had a delightfully unhealthy dinner at Fondue: A Dining Experience. We had the works - a five course meal complete with drinks (martini for me, beer for J), an appetizer course of Old World Cheddar fondue, caesar salads, a main course full of yummy tidbits for dipping into a red-wine broth including lobster tail, mahi-mahi, vegetables, shrimp (and more!), and finally for dessert, a tray full of goodies ranging from brownie bites and cheesecake to fresh fruit and oreo-encrusted marshmallows to complement a dark chocolate fondue spiked with Grand Marinier. Indeed, we were stuffed to the rafters...but it was something new and different, and a lot of fun to dip and drizzle our way through a special meal.

Yeah, We're a Bicycling Couple Now! :-)

So, J has found a fabulous new way to stay in shape, and now I am completely into it too! Of course, the journey has already been horribly rocky after he was hit by a car less than two weeks after purchasing our fancy bikes, but he recovered well and has been brave enough to get back on the bike, back on the road, and back to his commitment to health and fitness. We have a sweet set of Treks - Lance rides a Trek, too!

We had a great time cycling the trails in Townsend, Tennessee during a wonderful family visit with J's dad & Sharon. That was my first feat - 10 miles. A few days after that, I successfully completed and actually enjoyed a 20.9 mile group ride with the cool dudes from The Bike Store. I even kept up with the boys! :-) Since then, J and I have been out together for a challenging yet fun 15 mile ride in a less trafficy section of town. Now, hubby has been doing these crazy 33+ mile rides, but he's a machine! I just hoping to keep improving - cycling is so much more fun than running, and it's nice to be outside while the weather is nice, rather than indoors at the gym.

So, if you happen to be driving around our town and see a bike, or several bikes, please be cautious and feel free to wave hello! :-)

Too Much Togetherness

How could this be possible, you might ask? :-)

Now, don't get me wrong - I love my hubby and I love to share nearly everything with him. But he is being much too generous lately, and has passed his germy bugs right on to me. Not only have I never had a cold in the summer, but my symptoms have now officially outlasted his. It's just enough to be annoying, and it seems we have had exactly the same thing, whatever it is.

It all starts out with a little tickle in the throat, followed by a full-blown sore throat, then sniffles complete with a simultaneously stuffy and runny nose. Lovely, huh?

Ick. Blah.

On a happier tone - today was a good day. J's iPhone arrived in all its glory, and it is just as amazing as we expected. Worth the wait to get the best one, for sure. I went shopping with my mom, my aunt successfully completed her first chemo treatment, my grandmother won a quarter playing bingo (too cute!), and we celebrated Sarah's birthday in style at the yummy Bonefish Grill. See - I can't complain forever when I am this fortunate :-)

We Got New Bikes Today!

In a flash of Jerry-inspired hype, we purchased two awesome Trek bicycles from
The Bike Store and the guys rocked - they built our bikes in record time, included deals on helmets, water bottles, future services, info on group rides, the works - even a sweet little bell to make my bike complete! :-)

We found this resource so far, and look forward to getting used to our bikes and then getting involved in some of the local cycling adventures. I am always afraid for the street bikers safety (I am an ortho trauma nurse, after all) but now I think I might want to be one of them. How'd that happen? :-)

Busy week - we had overnight company and hosted a fabulous Cocktail Hour on Thursday with lots of great food, beverages, friends, and laughs.
Good times!

Honeymon Video

Since we just celebrated our second anniversary, I put together a video of our honeymoon photos — finally! — featuring "Doin' Everything with You," by Chuck Mangione. Happy anniversary, babe. Enjoy!

Day Five: Home, Sweet Home

Made it home safe and sound, pulling into the driveway around 3:00 pm. We shared the driving duties, traded off iPod time, and traveled under a cloudy gray sky for the entire 350 miles home. That type of icky weather made it a tiny bit easier to leave Florida behind, but already I am accosted by calls from work with scheduling questions, have unpacked us both and started a load of laundry, and J washed the car. Blah - we're back to reality. But it was a BEYOND SWEET trip and we are always thankful for safe travels. I already can't wait to get away again soon, but it's nice to be back to our own bed for now. We enjoyed lots of amazing seafood, fine adult beverages, beautiful beach memories were made, and we discovered Siesta Key together, which is now officially on my list of top beach destinations. It was truly swoon-worthy, refreshing and recharging. And now we are relaxing on our couch catching up on the American Idol season finale: home, sweet home. The End.

Update: Yaaaaaay, David Cook! We were so sure this finale was not going to go the way we hoped, but it did! :-)

Day Four: Early Morning Sunshine (of course)

I set our alarm to go off early so I could run down for one last visit with the beach, weather permitting. Of course the sun was shining brightly since it was our last day in Siesta Key, but I couldn't feel too betrayed since it also meant I could squeeze in one more hour of tan time, water time, and general frolicking on the beach time. Besides the hardcore deeply-tanned local beach joggers, I was one of the first people on the beach, snagging a beach chair and a prime spot to enjoy the panoramic view of the ocean. I finished my book, snapped a few final pictures, and collected two of the most perfect shells I've ever seen - they washed up right next to my beach chair, so really, they found me. The water was more clear today than ever before, and I waded around before returning to my chair to bask in the sun until the last minute possible. I took it all in and then returned to the room to find Starbucks waiting for me while I packed. (Thanks, hubby!)

We leisurely made our way up to Tampa and stopped in at the International Plaza Mall, which is my new favorite! Lunch at Champp's and shopping at the Apple Store for J, Forever 21 for me. Let me just say I scored majorly in the fashion department - yay! :-) We checked into a hotel for the night and took in an IMAX movie at MOSI, Roving Mars = way cool. We ventured down to Ybor City for beer and some of J's all-time favorite fabulous pizza at Demmi's Market on 7th. After returning to our hotel to doze along with the HBO movie channel and reading in the cabana by the pool, we hit Bennigan's for a late dinner to split a sandwich and dessert - no less than Death by Chocolate to serve as our vacation grand finale meal, oh yes. Then we cozied up and watched Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer...predictable, but decent. Tomorrow brings the journey home, whether we are ready or not.

Day Three: Rain and More Rain

Anniversary Day!

Our anniversary started off with a fantastic breakfast of eggs benedict at First Watch, my first visit to Whole Foods, and some shopping in downtown Sarasota - used books for J and special anniversary earrings for me - our tradition. :-) We drove through St. Armand's Circle, but it wasn't as easy to appreciate it's bevy of beauty through the torrential downpour. We circled through, pointed out all the things we would have liked to see and do, and turned back toward Sarasota. After an enjoyable and extended pitstop at Borders, we left with a sack full of books and got soaked outside once again. A light lunch at The Hub/Baja Grille with draft beer, salad, chips & queso was just what we needed as we waited the rain out, and now we are back to the room where I am ready to hit the beach despite the little rumble of thunder that just sneaked through our hotel walls.

Just like the day before, the clouds parted by late afternoon, and I spent the rest of the day soaking up the sun until it was time for it to depart. I lounged on the beach for hours, walked with J to the rocky point at the end of the shore and collected more shells until he grew jealous of my seashell obsession (indeed, it's a new favorite thing of mine!!) and retreated inside to clean up for dinner and read books. I stayed outside a bit longer, checked out the pool for a few laps, then showered up for our nightly ritual of cocktails and sunset appreciation before dinner. The clouds that had rolled in parted briefly for some final pink sun rays and then the hazy and lazy neon-glow gave way to the gorgeous full moon that accompanied our entire trip, and we made our way back to St. Armand's to dine al fresco at The Columbia, which never fails to wow. We split a famous "1905 salad" with the mythically tasty crusty cuban bread, tapas for two, and a side of Valencia rice. This "light" alternative to full entrees was far more than enough food for two people, and we made a pact then and there to share more food since it's often wasted with the gigantic portion sizes that are the unfortunate norm. We strolled the circle and stopped in at Kilwin's for a cone of banana-fudge-pie ice cream that rocked my world before heading back for one final night at our beloved little beach resort. This area of Florida intrigues me - we've run into families today from both England and Germany, and our hotel neighbors have interesting European accents that I can't quite place. And I thought our drive was a long one... :-)

Day Two: Rain, Rain Go Away/Rainy Monday

Huge storm rolled through around 4:00 am and woke us, but it's fury passed quickly and we were able to sleep in until Starbucks called and wanted us to donate to their cause. And we did. Mmm, caffeine. :-)

After a lazy morning, we decided to hit the beach and got all suited up only to discover it was drizzling outside. We decided to wait it out a little while before giving up, and parked it in the cabana with books in hand. After taking a couple of polaroids and reading exactly 1.5 pages, the small but mighty swarm of mosquitoes chased us back in to our room. We changed clothes again and decided to do some driving and sightseeing in our dry, bug-free car. There are tons of beautiful sea-mansions around here, and lots of them for sale! We scouted out a few more places to eat dinner, checked out Siesta Key Village, and headed into Sarasota for some shopping. I got the awesome pair of shoes I've been pining after for the past week at Dillard's while J browsed a cool kitchen store, and after a couple more shopping stops, I grabbed some Rain-kissed Leaves lotion and Dancing Waters body mist from Bath & Body Works (perfect beach purchases!), and we set out to find lunch. Sweet Tomatoes was our pick today, and I was in veggie heaven. Rows and rows of salad stuff, soup, pasta, and bread with nearly zero meat in sight - yay! I loved it, and took pictures to remember it by. By this time the rain had ceased, and we could see little patches of blue sky...but my heart didn't sing for long, as the drops started to fall again as soon as we turned in the direction of our hotel. Still, this weather makes for a nice afternoon siesta, and I'm starting to understand why they named this key so aptly. Maybe my sunny dreams will come true when I wake, and I can finally lay on the sand...until then, yawn.

Fast forward to about 4:30 pm:
Beautiful afternoon on the beach, breezy and sunny = perfect for tanning! I picked up a gazillion shells, each more lovely than the last. J retired to the room a bit earlier than me to browse photos and such, but I stayed out until my skin started to turn pink, then after showering up, purchasing postcards (loved ones watch your mailboxes!), and enjoying some super-delish mixed beverages, mango rum (for me) and Maker's Mark (for J) , we returned to the beach for sunset pictures and enjoyed the sights. Dinner at S.K.O.B. - that's Siesta Key Oyster Bar for you non-locals ;-) It was fabulous! Grouper bites with buffalo remolaude, a Vampiro for me (a margarita with lots of bells & whistles, including hibiscus and ginger!) and a Lobster Pot Pie, with LongBoard on draft for J and a jerk-seasoned shrimp & scallop skewer dinner that looked great. Yum-O!

Anniversary Trip Journal - Day One: We Made It!

(To catch anyone up to speed who doesn't already know, J and I are celebrating our second wedding anniversary in Siesta Key, FL.)

Loooong drive for us both, due to my lack of sleep and the fact that J's drive actually started in TN, making it a 12-hour trip. Still, we enjoyed the ride, shared the driving duties, and are digging all the space in the CRV.

We stopped by ABC for some goodies before arriving at our destination, the lovely gulfside Tropical Shores around 7:30pm catching a couple of sunset rays on the way to check in. It's beautiful here! Our room is nice and clean, very cute with it's little kitchen and lighted cabana out front, complete with a giant grill, table, and decorative jungle setting. I highly recommend this place - great rates and a great place to stay. Yay! :-)

Dinner took us to Captain Curt's for Crabby Red draft beer, crab cakes, fried shrimp for J and a yummy Cheese-Snapper-in-Paradise sandwich for me. Cute atmosphere, and within walking distance. After dinner, we walked down to the beach and J laughed at me as I snatched up beautiful seashells. Tonight we greeted sleep early and eagerly, in preparation for the fun to come.

Night In - aka Homemade Pizza and Beer! :-)

Yay!
Home - April 2008.

Mountaineers

Travelers on the Road to Nowhere.
Bryson City, NC.
April 2008.