Memorial Day Weekend

Well, it was a busy one for us. My friend, Sharon, was getting married just outside Greenville, SC on the 26th (my 3rd wedding to be in in a year!). So, my friend Kellie and her husband Pat, drove here from Indiana, and Kellie's sister Jenny and her husband Marc, flew here from Minneapolis on the Thursday before the wedding. Friday morning, we got up and the girls took off on the 8-hour drive. The husband left about an hour after us. I've never taken this drive before, and I'm so glad I did. We went through Kentucky for the longest stretch, which is just a beautiful state. Then Tennessee, North Carolina, then finally South Carolina. It was a beautiful drive from start to finish.

Once we got there, we headed straight to the church for the rehearsal. We were kind of sweaty and nasty and tired, but so excited because we would be seeing college friends for the first time in about 5 years! Here are some of us at the rehearsal dinner.



One thing I can say about the whole weekend, when you get about 20 people together, nothing is organized, and it takes forever to decide what's going on. So after the rehearsal dinner, we went back to Sharon's family's house to decide what to do. Ultimately deciding that the girls would stay at the house, and the guys would go to Chief's - the local (very classy) biker bar.

The next morning, we woke up and headed for the church bright and early. Here is a picture of just some of the bridesmaids (there were 9 total). This was basically the group that I hung out with at college. We must be growing up, because we're all married, and 2 of us are pregnant.



And here's Sharon, right before we went to the church for the big event.



The wedding was beautiful, flawless, and quick - just the way I like them...especially when you're standing in front of 350 strangers wearing the world's most uncomfortable shoes.

The reception was fun, because we could finally relax, and I could take my shoes off. Here are all of the PCC kids that came to the wedding. I couldn't believe how many of us showed up! Sharon does a really good job of staying in touch with everyone she knows. Again, with a group this big, trying to get everyone to smile at the same time is quite a feat.



And here's us with the happy couple.



After the wedding, we did some more sitting around, trying to figure out what to do. Then finally "agreed" that we would all go to the fabulous Chief's. I'm totally being sarcastic, by the way. Chief's is your typical Southern, redneck biker bar. Jenny's husband, Marc, was wearing a New York City t-shirt, and a very drunk redneck told him he better leave, if he knew what was good for him. Just because of his t-shirt. I guess he didn't want no city-folk in this classy establishment.

The next day was the pool party. Sharon and Austin rented out a local pool for all of us who stayed around to enjoy. We had a great time! I think Grant especially enjoyed himself, since he loves the water. Grant and a few of my friends decided that they would try to do a triple throw/catch with a frisbee. It never worked, but they had fun trying, and we had fun watching.




After the pool party, it was time to head back. It was great to reconnect with old friends. Most of whom I will probably never see again, unless Sharon organizes some sort of reunion, where I'm sure there will be plenty of waiting around, deciding what to do. Despite all of that, though, it really was a fun weekend.

Glen Helen

Now that it's warm enough to get out and enjoy nature, this past weekend, Grant, Watley and I went for a hike in one of the many parks in the area. In Yellow Springs (the town I work in), I believe they have 3 parks. I picked Glen Helen Nature Preserve, because that's where the actual yellow spring that the town was named after is found. I had no idea that behind all of those trees that I drive past everyday is a beautiful forest with streams and rivers and cliffs and waterfalls.













This is the yellow (orange?) spring. The rocks get their color from iron ore in the water.



Here's the stepping stones that we ended up going over 3 times, because we got a little lost. My only complaint about this hike, is that the trails are not marked at all, and the trail map is pitiful. Thankfully, we found some locals who led us back in the right direction.



While we were "lost" and walking along a trail, we heard something in the grass right next to us. I basically found out that I'm terrified of snakes in the wild. Several minutes passed before I was actually able to walk past where the snake was.

It was a great hike. And now that we know where we're going, we would feel comfortable taking people with us, and not look like idiots crossing the river 3 times to find our way back.

Slacker

I never posted about our trip to Grand Rapids a couple of weekends ago. I know, I'm a slacker.

Well, one of Grant's roommates from Florida State, Jason, just recently moved up to Grand Rapids, about the same time we moved to Dayton. We've been trying to make it up there, and it finally worked out for us. Jason's wife, Kerri, is 7 months pregnant, so the 2 of us talked about pregnancy alot, while Grant and Jason talked about theology, beer, and sports. It was a perfect weekend!

Here we are with Jason and Kerri at the BOB (Big Old Building) in downtown Grand Rapids. The BOB is a renovated building that has comedy clubs, dance clubs, restaurants, etc. We ate outside for appetizers, then went in for a delicious meal.



While we were in Grand Rapids, we were also able to see one of my friends, Ange (short for Angela, which I just can't seem to call her), who is at Cornerstone University. We went out for BBQ, then she gave us a tour of her campus.

She told us about this bell. The tradition is that when people get engaged, the guy has to climb up this pole, ring the bell, then come down and kiss his fiance. Of course, Grant had to climb the pole when he heard this.

Then, she showed us this statue of Adam. Since he looked lonely without Eve, Grant decided to cuddle with him.



Here's one of just Ange and I. Obviously, we didn't live up to Grant's funniness...



Then, Grant found a big stick, so he wanted to incorporate that into a picture.



Basically, my husband's a clown. But that's okay.

We had a great weekend. We're hoping to make it up there again before we move to Cali next year.

Someone back me up here...

Yesterday, I got a wedding invitation from my cousin, JR. I come upstairs and tell Grant, "JR's getting married." To which Grant said, "That's cool."

Then, about a minute later, as I was still looking at the invitation, I said, "So, you up for going to Maryland for a wedding in July?"

He then said, "Who's wedding?"

I looked shocked and said, "JR's. Who else's?"

He then proceeded to ask me if he was supposed to make that connection, and I very adamantly said yes! We hadn't changed the subject, we hadn't moved on from the fact that I just said JR's getting married, so isn't it obvious who's wedding I'm talking about?

Someone please give me some insight. Am I wrong for thinking he should've known whose wedding I was referring to? For any men that might read this, and somehow see how Grant could have been confused as to whose wedding I was talking about, your input is greatly appreciated as well.

9 Weeks

Well, I'm only 9 weeks along. I wanted to wait longer to tell people, but I guess I'm weak and I caved. The funny thing is, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, about a month ago, Grant wanted to tell everyone right away. This is the same guy that loves to keep things a surprise, and keep people in suspense. But for this, no. We are both very excited, and a little stunned, since this all happened a bit quicker than we were expecting. We are finding out that we aren't on our time schedule, we're on God's.

We told our families about a week after we found out. My mom (who was the last one to catch on) pretty much bawled. And of course, Grant's family is ecstatic, since this is the first grandbaby for them, and his mom has been wanting this to happen since we got married. :) She specifically wants us to have a girl, since she had all boys, and is desperate for a granddaughter. I guess we'll see in the coming weeks.

I've already seen the heartbeat in an ultrasound 2 weeks ago, which was amazing. I've only been sick a few times, thankfully. Overall, though, it still hasn't sunken in that there's a little person growing inside of me. It's like it's happening to someone else.

Jenn was indeed right in her comments on my previous post. This is the main reason I haven't been blogging that much lately. Besides being extremely tired all the time, everything I wanted to say was in some way tied to the pregnancy, so I just didn't post hardly anything at all. So, that was very perceptive of you, Jenn!

So that's the news. I joined the club that everyone else from Albuquerque has been in for months.

Am I being clear enough? ;)

For Mother's Day, I got a beautiful bouquet of daisies and orange roses from Grant's mom. I didn't take a picture of the real bouquet, but it looked something like this. Beautiful, isn't it? :)

Perfection...

That's what our weather has been lately. I love it!

Happy Anniversary!

This time 4 years ago, Grant and I walked down the aisle together...well, walked down the beach together. We've done so much during those 4 years, but we still have so much to accomplish. I'm so thankful that I have such a fantastic husband that I can look forward to sharing so many more wonderful years with.

It Couldn't Come Sooner

Lately, I've been thinking alot about Albuquerque and New Mexico. I don't know why, but images keep popping into my head throughout the day. So I think I'll definitely be ready to go back when it's time for my visit in just a little over a month.

Vera Bradley!

A couple of months ago, I heard about this huge sale that Vera Bradley has in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. Immediately, I thought about my friend, Kellie (gotta love that name!), who lives in Indiana, and how that would be such a fun way to meet up for the day. So we made plans, and yesterday was the day.

Basically, every year Vera Bradley uses the coliseum in Ft. Wayne to sell some of their products at very, very reduced prices. It goes from Wednesday until Saturday, 2 sessions per day. The First day, you have to buy a ticket to get in. Every day after that is free. Since I work during the week and Kellie works during the week, the only day that worked for us was Saturday.

So we met up at 10:30 (more like 11, because it took me longer to get there than I thought), went to the mall for a bit, grabbed a bite to eat, then around 12:45, we got in line at the Coliseum (the doors were opening at 1). This picture does not do the line justice, but it's the only one I got. I should've gotten a picture of the line that went outside, and started wrapping around the coliseum.



Since this was the last session of the whole event, I really didn't think there would be a lot of selection, but was I ever wrong! Granted, there was not as great a selection as there was on Wednesday (I've since talked to people who were there on Wednesday), but that's okay. The prices were cut more when we were there because they were basically trying to get rid of everything, so I feel like we definitely picked the best time to go. Again, I don't really think this picture does it justice, but this is inside the coliseum. There were rows and rows and rows of nothing but Vera Bradley everything - ties, umbrellas, coat hangers, cosmetic bags, and of course, purses.



I was surprised at how many men were there. All I could think about is how miserable Grant would have been, and would literally have to be dragged kicking and screaming to go to something like this. I love taking sneaky pictures where you act like you're taking a picture of one thing/person - in this case, Kellie - but, you're really taking a picture of a fierce mullet, or a guy randomly dressed up like Elvis, or in this case, a big, burly guy carrying a purse. It didn't really turn out, but it was worth a shot. We chased this guy for a few hundred feet, but he was just walking way too fast for us to be a stealth as we wanted to be.



We found some great deals. I got a purse for $20 that normally retails for $42! Most of the things I got will be birthday/Christmas presents for other people. Here we are on our way to check out, carrying all of our goods.



And here we are, showing off our newly bought why-would-we-ever-pay-full-price-for-another-Vera-Bradley-product-again purses.



But the best part of Saturday was just spending a few hours with my best friend. This was the first time since we've gotten together since she got married in December, so it was a great time.

Babel

When I was getting on the internet this morning, I saw a link on msn.com that had the following headline, "Moviegoers Warned of `Babel' Sickness." Since Grant and I recently saw the movie Babel and hated it, I was intrigued. This is what the article said:

"The Japanese distributor of 'Babel' is warning audiences the movie may cause nausea or headaches.

Gaga Communications has received 15 complaints since the film, starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, opened Saturday in theaters throughout the country, company spokeswoman Aimi Ichikawa said Wednesday.

Ichikawa said the company was investigating which scenes caused the illnesses, and hasn't ordered theaters to adjust sound or lighting.

The problem of nausea or headaches has only been reported in Japan, she said.

Some 300 theaters nationwide posted a note Tuesday saying 'Babel' contains scenes with strong effects and that some viewers felt sick after seeing them, according to a company news release.

Gaga Communications also ran ads with a warning in major newspapers Wednesday.

'Babel,' directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, depicts a saga of families on three continents linked by tragic events in the African desert.

The film was highly anticipated in Japan after Rinko Kikuchi received an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. Kikuchi, 26, played a deaf and frustrated Tokyo schoolgirl.

'Babel,' released by Viacom Inc.'s Paramount Vantage, received seven Oscar nominations. It won the Oscar for best original score."

Let me just go on record to say that I do not recommend this movie to anyone. It was terrible. It did have an interesting concept, and I thought Brad Pitt did a good job acting in it, but that's about the only positive thing I can say for it.

So if you haven't seen it, and were thinking about renting it - don't. Save your money and see a movie like Pursuit of Happyness with Will Smith, which I thought was a great movie.

Dave Chappelle, Part II

If you missed Dave Chappelle, Part I, here it is.

Well, I've seen Dave Chappelle a few more times since I last wrote about seeing him. He's always hanging out...and especially that the weather's been so nice lately, it seems like he's out everytime I go into town. But I've just seen him...no real chance for a photo-op.

Yesterday I needed to go to the little grocery store in Yellow Springs to pick up a few items during my lunch break. After I parked, I was walking up to the store, and there he was, sitting by himself on a bench outside of it. I had to take this opportunity, since I had my camera with me this time, and since he was by himself. So I asked him how he was doing, and then I just put it out there - "Can I get my picture with you?" - as dumb as that sounds. He then said he doesn't take pictures in Yellow Springs, which I can understand. I started walking away, a little disappointed, then he redeemed himself again, by apologizing and offering a handshake. So I talked to him for a little bit longer.

He really does seem like a nice guy. I don't know that he's really comfortable with the fame that he's recently gotten, because he seems to want to keep a low-profile, and live a normal life. I mean, there's a reason he's choosing to live in tiny little Yellow Springs, as opposed to LA or New York.

That's all I've got for now. Pretty sad, huh? :)