Gary and Kim's Blog

Time for our bi-annual post!

2008-06-01T16:50:00.002-04:00

Well, it is no longer snowing! :) Really, I only do one post per season except for summer. I am only posting now because I should be grading my end-of-the year math tests.

We had a super Memorial Day weekend, with time to see both of our families for BBQs and to plant flowers and our vegetable garden. I insisted on yellow tomatoes, even if I couldn't rationalize my reasons to Gary.

This year, I even did an herb garden that will hopefully last past the summer--I used small pots thinking they could line the windowsills in the kitchen.

I tried full-sun flowers this year for the front row since I keep killing the others. These are pansies and marigolds, but some sort of variation on both. Cross your fingers!

I have 4.75 more days of school (I didn't count the two I took off this week) and then summer vacation officially begins!

Tomorrow is our 2nd anniversary. We are celebrating two years of wedded bliss with a shared day off!! We are taking the dogs to the park and then going out to dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Snow Day!

2007-12-17T12:05:00.001-05:00

What a perfect day for a snow day! A three day weekend just before Christmas is exactly what I need. I am ridiculously proud of us this year, though, because we are virtually done with our Christmas shopping, and all of the presents are wrapped already! Gary wrapped 100% of our gifts. He also shoveled for at least 2 1/2 hours yesterday while I made soup. He is a dream husband!

Yesterday, we spent our snowy day inside, wrapping presents, baking cookies, and watching Christmas movies on the laptop while we worked. Gary's favorite is:I finally tried out my cookie press, which I got at our bridal shower! I made snowflake cookies to give to my students, and then three-fourths of a sheet of trees for us. Today I am baking Snickerdoodles for my students and cleaning the house. What a great weekend! Four more days of school, and really only three days of teaching since Friday is snowflake-making (buy paper coffee filters and then get patterns and instructions from http://www.papersnowflakes.com/ for hours of fun) and a party.

The dogs are thrilled about the snow!!

Happy Halloween!

2007-10-31T17:44:00.001-04:00

Okay, even though I HATE Halloween because it has become WAY too much of a big deal, I have no choice but to dress up since I work with 8-10 year olds. The eight teachers on our team go all out. Every other year, we are substitute teachers. We tell the kids the night before that we are all going to a professional developement meeting and that they will have subs on Halloween. They are all disappointed and wonder HOW we could miss Halloween. When they come in on Halloween morning, here's who they see. (We are normally pretty trendy dressers, for elementary schoolteachers, that is.)

I was somewhat dorky and was Professor Mcgonagall from the Harry Potter series. This is me and my teaching partner, Tom. He went by the name of "Mr. Disco" and taught the kids the word groovy.
We taught until 1:00, the kids changed, and then we had a whole-school parade. About half of the parents come in. It's chaos.
At the very end of the day, my room parents threw the biggest, most extensive party I've yet seen in a classroom, with six stations worth of activities, including three food stations, two craft stations, and a game station. This is our engineering technology teacher, who was my next-door neighbor and teammate when I taught Spanish.

Gary's wore an orange polo shirt and black pants to work today. He said that he was in the minority today and got a lot of comments on his festive attire. I told him that his work makes me sad.

Gary and I are staying home tonight and passing out candy to the trick-or-treaters. It's the first time that we have ever done this together, since last year we went trick-or-treating with Emily, Pippin, and Frodo. Our cognitively impaired neighbor (he really is) just told Gary that we all have to pass out candy to kids "to keep them in line" so they don't "throw sh-- bombs at our house." We have never heard him swear before. He then suggested that we take our DOGS trick-or-treating. Ay.

I will be asleep by 9:30!

Somewhere to Dine!

2007-10-21T13:10:00.000-04:00

Our kitchen and dining room are gorgeous! We finished painting this weekend and I tackled the curtains alone (without my mom). The sewing machine cooperated, once I figured out the "how to load the bobbin" diagram to figure out what was wrong! (Don't worry Mom, it's not broken--thanks again for your ungrounded faith in loaning me your sewing machine!) The rods are on order and should arrive before next weekend. Since we had done two coats in both the dining room and kitchen, including the ceilings, we hung the chandelier in the dining room (it was simply too dark without it). As nice as this room now looks, we still ate our frozen-pizza-dinner on the couch tonight. Next comes the floor--which we can't even describe how excited we are about that. Once we get the floor, it will be time for a dinner party.

My curtains are at least straight! These colors photographed terrible in the dark. We hardly ever take photos during daylight hours.

We even took some time to enjoy the gorgeous weather. We took the dogs on a really good walk on Saturday night after dark; our new favorite time for walks.

MEAP Scandal

2007-10-11T18:32:00.001-04:00

Okay, every licensed educator in every district in the state reads hundreds of pages full of ethics rules every year for the MEAP.

This week, Jackson Public Schools allowed their students to be interviewed by the newspaper, and the reporter's story told what the kids wrote about on this year's MEAP. The prompts are TOP SECRET. Teachers aren't supposed to read them, and we are prohibited from talking about them. Our licenses are at stake.

Here's the "Media Breech" from the Jackson paper. (Yes, that's the MI Dept of Ed's term for what happened.)

Here's the Free Press story about the ramifications.

Here's the reporter's response to the scandal.

Wow--if the reporter is telling the truth and not just covering himself, that school screwed up. Big-time. I stopped counting how many details of that story were "against the MEAP law" as I say to my eight and nine year olds. That is NOT the tone in any building I have ever been in for testing. Now the "teachers don't take this test seriously" fire has been fanned.

If you're bored by this post or think "What a huge amount of bureaucracy" or "What a waste of money," welcome to the world of single-measures of accountability for schools. And these tests don't even represent what professional educators want for kids.

My opinion is that this district should face paying the cost for reprints, mailings, etc. (Not that any MI district has that kind of extra money.) This scandal will only hurt the kids. Thousands of children will be re-doing the Writing from Knowledge and Experience prompt, and I hope you all realize that a large number of children CRY while writing for MEAP. Now they will twice. High stakes testing--what a great idea.

(I think this is one of the first times in my life that I actually sound like a disgruntaled NEA member!)

A REAL Kitchen

2007-10-11T17:51:00.000-04:00

We have been so busy with the kitchen, I haven't had much time to post the progress. It's nearly done. All that is left is: a second coat of paint on the walls, curtains, cabinet enhancements, moulding, floors. Gary will post if I forgot anything from the list. My mom came over last Sunday to help me sew the curtains. It was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. I have more hems to sew, and I am trying to be brave enough to do it on my own. I keep reminding myself that the worst that will happen is that I will have to remove a seam and start over. We LOVE having a usable, mostly-clean kitchen!!! The countertops are such a luxury--and I am not talking about the granite--I just mean a place where you can set stuff! We haven't had them in forever. Moving our stuff into the cabinets was pretty nice, too.

Some of the cabinet work includes building a pantry to the left of the fridge and building a small cabinet above the microwave.
Do you think we have enough bowls? Gary thought this cabinet was hilarious when he saw it filled!
I love the faucet, the extra big sink, and these cool organizers that Gary found at Lowe's. (Only $15 in case you want your own--the bins and the hinges come in a set.)On the 22nd we went to Canada for Gary's cousin Megan's wedding. It was a beautiful drive thanks to their fall colors--way ahead of us, not so much in this photo, though. We got to stop by and see his cousin Jordan's house that he and his wife are building--as someone who only remodeled a kitchen, the scale of their project awed me. All they had was a shell of a house. It will be gorgeous! Yes, they are drinking beer in the church parking lot (after the ceremony).

With all of our house work, we gave the dogs bones (an extra-special treat) one day while we were busy. Frodo finally figured out how to destroy a bone. This is one of my favorite photos of Pippin, ever.

School is going great--you would not believe the class I have this year. These kids are amazingly sweet and mellow. Math work time was so tranquil today that I almost fell asleep! I am not used to a group this calm.

Countertops!

2007-09-15T20:14:00.001-04:00

Saturday morning we went to the dentist. I have had a tooth that the dentist has been watching for almost two years. Today, I got my very first filling EVER. I was quite proud of my perfect dental record, and now it's spoiled. She didn't think it was deep, so she tried to drill it without a shot. I was feeling all tough, and was down-playing my minute little cavity to one that was so small it didn't even hurt. Big mistake. I had to get a shot. Gary had to extend his visit, too, and now he feels better that he's not the only one with cavities.

I am a patient lady. We started this kitchen project in DECEMBER. Here are some snapshots from our weekend of work:

Cutting the backsplash tiles was a Monday night project for Gary (after working 9 hours). I was too tired after school (9 hours). Those numbers don't add up.

The front tiles aren't glued, just layed out.

In addition to being Gary's assistant over the weekend, I also finished writing a 50 page science unit's student packet. I have moved up as his apprentice, because this weekend, I was allowed to: draw the cut-lines on the boards, use the trowel, AND I followed along in the 123 Tile book. He WAS very meticulous with the level!

Big Girl!

2007-09-02T11:39:00.001-04:00

Abigail is now one year old! It is amazing how quickly she has grown up. Brian and Sarah hosted a great first birthday party at the city park where Sarah, Jeff, Raquel, and I all used to be parks and rec day camp counselors. The city has really made a lot of improvements to the park in the past few years. The weather was just gorgeous on Saturday, so it was a fantastic day for a 1st birthay picnic.

Gary and I got her the Little People's Noah's Ark. My dad seems to like it , too.

She was having a blast playing with the paper and bows, until she got a new doll!

Michelle and James came with Andrew, and we all had such a good time with him. He's six months old already. Michelle and James just celebrated their FIFTH wedding anniversary!Andrew really likes Gary (like all babies).

Jeff and Raquel drove in for the party and then drove home. This month they celebrated their first anniversary. He starts his very first year teaching on Tuesday!!!!! He says he isn't nervous or anxious at all, but me and my teammates are every year and we have been teaching for years!

Here's my Aunt Cindy with her grandson, Andrew and my mom with her granddaughter, Abby.

I even got my grandma Doris to be in a photograph.

The food was delicious! Here's my grandpa George and me.

Fun and Games

2007-08-26T19:48:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, Gary and I both went back to work. No more lounging around the house together. It's quite sad.

One weekday last week, we both went to Meijer at 1:0o in the afternoon. Whenever I have a day off during the work week, I am always shocked to see how many people are out doing errands. I always wonder what kind of jobs they must have to have daytimes free, or wonder if they work at all. So what must people have thought about the two of us, dressed in sweats and old t-shirts, shopping at 1:00, buying three board games and six frozen pizzas?

We spent the beginning of this past week playing our newly-purchased Sorry, Trouble, and Connect Four games. Now we finally have some games at our house! The new Connect Four is so much fancier than the Connect Four from childhood. I liked that the checkers all stay inside the ring when you empty the board. Gary liked that the board wasn't as shaky. Does anyone have any favorite childhood games?

While I am happy to start the school year, I DO wish I could keep sleeping late and having the whole day to myself!

Next weekend, we have Abby's first birthday party, and the other three days of the long weekend, we are attacking the countertops and staining the cabinets! Yay!

10 Years

2007-08-19T15:13:00.000-04:00

Friday night was my ten year reunion. Scary how old I am and how quickly time passes. I was quite surprised how many people were there that I COULD NOT remember for the life of me who they were. And of course our poorly planned renunion did not include nametags. Amazingly, I had quite a bit of fun. It was pretty funny how, at first, people were standing around in the same groups as in high school. Later, when a lot of people started to leave, the crowd mixed. It is a weird time for a reunion, because a few people are married with kids, a few people are married with no kids yet, a ton of people are single, and two people said they were divorced. I stayed until after 1:00 a.m. (WAY past my bedtime) and enjoyed talking with some old friends. I may even "get back together with" my high school best friend, with whom I stopped keeping in touch with after a few years of college.

Gary went with me, but ended up leaving for my parents' house because his feet couldn't take all the standing. He took this photo of his feet on Saturday morning. Another doctor's visit on Monday! He's getting sick of me babying him, but look at those incisions!!

Today is my dad's 58th birthday!! Happy birthday, Dad!! We're headed over to my parents' to go out to dinner.

Check out Angie's blog (college friend) later today for an exciting announcement.

Ratones con alas

2007-08-16T00:23:00.000-04:00

The title is credited to Meredith, I think, and it means "mice with wings." We use this phrase to describe two things: seagulls and bats.

Now, no one tell Grandma Doris this, because my parents aren't, but my mom and dad had a bat get into the house the other night.

Mom was downstairs on the computer. She saw the bat flying around the basement. She swore. The bat flew upstairs. My dad, sleeping in the recliner, awoke to a bat swooping over his head and my mom shouting. My dad screamed.

Now, Angie, Meredith, and Carrie remember our own bat-in-the house experience in college. Our parents were full of wise advice like "Bats won't hurt you" and comments like, "It couldn't have been the size of an eagle." And some of them laughed! Imagine this guy flapping circles over YOUR head!

The tables were turned!! Here's how it went when my parents told me the story yesterday:

Parents: It was HUGE! It's wings were THIS far apart!!!
Me: It only looks bigger inside in your environment than outside in the night sky.
Parents: It was SO scary.
Me: It was more scared of you that you were of it.

Not so helpful, huh, mom and dad?? Dad played the role of Carrie. Carrie got our bat out by steering it out the front door with a broom--Dad used a tennis racket, covered in a garbage bag, just in case he squashed the bat, he wouldn't get guts on his tennis racket. I'm not sure if my mom screamed as much as Angie and I did, though. At one point, we wondered why our upstairs neighbors didn't call the police. Our whole saga inspired the sample memoir I wrote as a model for my students when they had to write a memoir of their own. The class laughed so hard. Maybe I'll make it a picture book!

Couch Potato

2007-08-10T11:22:00.000-04:00

We are not doing much this week. Gary can't wait to get off the couch, and I have been busy with the end of the semester grad class work. He goes to the doctor on Monday the 13th and most likely will lose his stitches that day and be able to shower! He is dreaming of a three-hour-shower!!

We have a TON of veggies and fruit coming out of the garden. I went out to pick beans for dinner on Wednesday, and persuaded Gary to come ouside with me. Here's what we ended up picking. Keep in mind that Gary was the foreman and I was the picker.

Besides the beans, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and cantalope, you will notice that we have temporary countertops! Actually, it's the first layer (wood) and when Gary's back on his feet, we'll install the backer board and tile. Do you love the vinyl tablecloth that is currently protecting the untreated wood? It fits my big buffet card table and I thought it would be the perfect (vinyl) addition to a picnic.

When I went to Bath and Body Works to buy more handsoap, I learned that they no longer make our scent. Here is our new one. There have been quite a few jokes about the name, since I am friends with an Amber. Amber, your ears should be ringing!

It's hard to read, but the scent is Sensual Amber. Try the soap. You will like it!!!

Bilateral Bunionectomy with Double Osteotomy with Internal Screw and Staple Fixation

2007-08-02T17:12:00.001-04:00

Sounds pretty scary, huh? When the surgical nurses asked Gary in pre-op for the millionth time what his name was and what procedure he was in for, he rattled that off with only one pause in it. You would of thought it was a test, and if he failed it, he would have to keep his painful bunions!

Gary's surgery went very well on Wednesday--thanks to everyone who called to check on him. Beaumont is quite the hospital. It was a pleasant experience for us both. Everyone was really nice and the procedures were quite seamless.

His surgery lasted for about 70 minutes and went very well. The doctor said that his bones cooperated very nicely. The doctor took some chunks out of the bones and put in a staple on the top pink bone and a screw on the bottom pink bone. Now Gary has titanium in both of his feet for the rest of his life, but it won't set off the metal detectors at airports.

I will admit that I was slightly nervous about Gary going under the anesthesia, but not as much as Gary thought I was. He was a riot waking up, though, very funny behavior and small pupils. As strange and doped-up as he was acting, the nurses asked him pretty quickly if he was ready to go home. Gary was DETERMINED to overcome the sleepy effects of the medicine that was still in his bloodstream and defy medical science. Fortunately, his reactions were still slow, he didn't answer, and I said he should stay for 15 more minutes. By then, he was back to his normal self and I wasn't afraid to take him home.

Gary says his feet hurt, but he is able to walk 5 minutes per hour. The painkiller seems to be doing its job. He is on an ice regimen, his feet are all wrapped up in bandages, and he has to wear some lovely surgical shoes for the next few weeks. He can't drive for at least a month and we get to have a temporary handicap pass. We'll see how long he will be off work--his note says 4-6 weeks!

We will see the first glimpse of his feet when we go to the doctor's office on Saturday morning. The doctor said it will be bruised, swollen, and pretty nasty looking. He says that a lot of patients don't even look that day. We both want to see them.

Just in case you were curious, if you Google "bunion" you will see some scary photos!

Not Bad...

2007-07-29T12:24:00.000-04:00

We had a productive weekend. Friday night we sanded and stained all the base cabinets. Saturday, we started out with a trip to Home Depot for a sink, a faucet, and some lumber. Then, we divided and conquered. While Gary installed all the base cabinets, I finished sanding and staining all the drawers and started the tedious process of hand-sanding the cabinet doors. (Gary's dad later lent us a power hand-sander when he found out I was hand-sanding. Yay!) I gladly stopped to make pierogies with a side of zucchini, yellow squash, and onions and the best yellow wax beans I have ever had in my life. I am in love with the garden!

Sunday, we did something unprecedented: we went to very early 8:00 a.m. mass instead of our usual 10:00! Afterwards, we went out for breakfast at Ike's and back to Home Depot for counter-top plywood and cement backer board. We worked for hours, then went BACK to Home Depot for plumbing pieces, two extended electrical boxes for under the sink, and countertop installation tools and sealer. Here's how far we got:

We decided a few weeks ago that my impatience from this do-it-yourself renovation is because I keep watching t.v. shows on HGTV or TLC where they re-do an entire house in 30 or 60 minutes. After we quit working, we ate frozen pizza and watched the Flip This House marathon. Not a good idea!

We took a short break on Sunday to meet Emily's new dog! Yes, Gary's parents got a dog!! She had a hamster, Pinball, but he passed away on Gary's birthday this past Thursday. Her name is Daisy, she is a 9-week-old Bichon/poodle mix and she is super cute. Emily and her mom came over because we wanted to see the puppy, and Gary's mom wanted to see our kitchen. Gary wanted to introduce our dogs to their new cousin, so they had a nice meeting in the backyard. Pippin was very gentle, and Frodo was really excited and wanted to play with her when she ran. Daisy has to grow a bit first! She should grow to 15 pounds.

The dogs followed Daisy around the yard the whole time. It was so funny.

Gary is having his double bunion surgery on Wednesday, so he's hanging up his tool belt for his recovery on the couch. I think he plans to watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy while he recuperates (he has the extended versions if you're thinking the ones you saw in the theater were long). He also has a J.R. Tolkien book that I bought for him a while back that he hasn't read. I saw a review for it in Time, and LOTR fans love this other book. We'll see how tired the painkillers make him. Maybe he'll let me take before and after photos of his feet for the blog...stay tuned!

Ratatouille!

2007-07-25T09:45:00.000-04:00

Wow---the garden produced a monster basket-full of food yesterday night:

When we were telling my family at Tuesday dinner what we had just picked, Aunt Cindy suggested making ratatouille.

Here's tonight's dinner recipe for Ratatouille, modified from Cooking Light. They used tempeh instead of eggplant, but I'm using eggplant. I have the basil and parsley in the garden. I am so excited to use the stove--all we've made so far is frozen pizza.

Gary re-wired the thermostat last night so we could turn the air on, and he also re-connected the doorbell. Of course, I had to ring the bell a few times to test it. The dogs didn't bark like they usually did, because they could see me on the porch, and that's not exciting. Frodo figured out where the sound came from (on the hallway wall downstairs), so while Gary and I were finishing up the thermostat, Frodo sat on the stairs and hunted. Notice that Pippin couldn't care less--it was almost his bedtime.

Slow But Steady Progress

2007-07-23T22:39:00.000-04:00

After a 3-day weekend's worth of work, our kitchen now looks like this:After much debate, I decided to do the wall-mount microwave. I wasn't sure I could reach it, but I am definately in favor of the saved counter space. Here's the opposite wall.We have 6 recessed lights and one central light fixture. There will be 5 undercabinet lights as well. Bright!

Well, we only worked for 2 days because we went to the air show at Selfridge Air National Guard Base on Saturday. We forgot the camera, and Gary would be the better commentator on this type of event. I did get to see a tank up close and personal, though. Gary's parents, Emily, Ashley, and her boyfriend Matt went, too. We all got sunburned. Next time I will pack sunblock. Afterwards, we went to my aunt and uncle's for an air show BBQ. We spent a nice afternoon/evening with Brian, Sarah, and Abby.

Tonight we went to my parents' house for dinner since my cousin's kids are down from the U.P. Here's some photos--I remembered to take the camera. The appetizers were a hit for the baby, because Abby loves cheese!

...and she loves Grandpa, who babysits one day a week.

My mom got an ice cream cake for my cousins' birthdays (9 and 11 years old). Kelli and Sarah made this message with the random leftover candles that my mom had (there were lots of vowels). The "A" on the end is read "eh" like Canadian/UPers say. (The kids live in the UP.)

Disarray

2007-07-09T18:33:00.000-04:00

Whew! Gary was off from Tuesday to Sunday for the 4th of July, and we did some major kitchen work. We finished tons of tasks on the checklist, including all the electrical and plumbing updates, adding a gas line for a future gas stove, and insulating the exterior walls.

We also took several trips to Home Depot and Lowe's. We went to Lowe's on the 4th of July for undercabinet lights, and ended up buying this from the clearance section:

SOOO exciting. Now the future gas stove isn't years off, but weeks off. This is exactly the stove I wanted, and we got it for an unbelievable price because someone bought it, had it delivered, and then returned it. Thanks to Gary's dad and brother-in-law Craig for hefting it onto the truck and then lugging it into the kitchen.

We also got a great deal on granite tiles for the counters. The sales guy decided that we deserved the contractor discount and we paid 60% of the sticker price. Yay!

Our last big purchase will be cabinets, when we get to the point where we are ready for them. And I want a new sink..$79.90 online including shipping...not bad.

Now we just have to finish so I can start cooking! Here's where we stand as of today...

Gary is having bunion surgery on August 1, so that's our deadline! The dogs are already bored with our preoccupation with this project. They are being VERY good while we work--staying out of trouble so far. Our garden, however, is looking great. Angie saw it when she was in town for the wedding and told me that I HAD to blog it. Our favorite by far are the cucumbers. We don't have beans yet, which I guess is good since we don't have a working stove, although they would be delicious in the microwave.Here's what we picked today (plus the one cucumber I picked and ate while Gary was at work.)

Gainfully Employed!!

2007-07-03T15:02:00.000-04:00

All this blogging in one day--how crazy!! Jeff just called me to tell me that he was just offered a math department position at the high school he student-taught at!!!!!! I am so proud of him AND so happy for him. He will make a great teacher!!!!!! He will sign his contract on Thursday. Now Jeff and Raquel will have MESSA, too, at least until the state decides that teachers should have cheap health insurance, when they will once again have whatever health insurance Raquel gets.

I will have to post some photos of their new house--maybe they can send me some??

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!

Happily Married!!!!

2007-07-03T12:40:00.000-04:00

Meredith and Adam got married on Friday, officially making all of my college friends married! It is very strange to know that I am all done being a bridesmaid and will no longer spend a large percentage of summer weekends at weddings.
Their day was "fabulous" to quote the florist's promise. Meredith was absolutely beautiful. I just could not stop looking at her, or stop telling her how wonderful she looked. It wasn't even the MAC makeup artist or her hair stylist or the killer dress; it was her joy at being with Adam.The ceremony was perfect. Meredith's aunt sang a beautiful song about everyone gathering together that made Amber and I (the weepy ones) cry at rehearsal. Meredith walked down the isle, on her father's arm, behind two of her family friends, kilted, playing bagpipes. Her friend Carla (who also went to Spain with Meredith, Amber, and I) read a moving poem that she wrote called "You Just Knew." It echoed what Meredith has said to me so many times about just knowing that he was the one from the very beginning, even before they were officially dating. The pastor is a family friend, and he gave a very personal reflection about their relationship. He also talked about the three words for love in the Greek language and how our one English word "love" should incorporate all three loves in a marriage: romantic love, brotherly/sisterly love in Christ, and I can't remember the last one. Whoops! (Maybe Gary can add it.) Gary and I have loved this reflection on love since we first heard it when we were engaged in a Sunday homily by the priest who officiated at our wedding. Meredith's favorite part of the whole day came when the pastor asked her and Adam to turn around and look at all of the people who came to be present at their wedding. He had them make eye contact with the congregation while he reflected on our love for them. They exchanged vows in their loud teacher voices as they looked lovingly into each others eyes, while Amber and I wiped tears from our faces. Meredith's step-dad and long-time family friend Cindy sang a beautiful song called "The Prayer" while they lit their unity candle. The newlyweds exited the church behind the bagpipers. Very moving. The reception was super fun and it was gorgeously decorated with pink orchids. We had appetizers outside on the patio to the sound of steel drums by a live percussionist. I loved their head table--a HUGE round table that they specially rented. Of course, it was all decked out with orchids and candles. My favorite part of the reception was not her sister Chelsea's touching toast nor dancing with my friends, but was watching their first dance. Meredith is a dancer (her mom owns two dance studios) and Adam is athletic/coordinated. They danced to Louis Armstrong's "You Give Me Ideas" and her mom had loosely choreographed it. Meredith said they hadn't practiced it in a long time, but it looked like professional ballroom dancing. The dance radiated love and joy to finally be husband and wife. What made the wedding so special, though, was the phenomenal guy Meredith married. It made me so happy to see all four of our husbands together and know that I truly like them as people and consider them great friends. We are all so lucky to be friends AND to have such wonderful marriages. I wish we all lived much closer!!! From left to right: Gary, Kim, Brian, Angie, David (college friend), Meredith, Amber, Mitch. Adam isn't in this photo because this was taken before the ceremony in the bride's room. I love this picture of Adam about 20 minutes before the reception ended.

At brunch the next day, Meredith's bridesmaid Jen made two leis out of the orchids she took home from the reception. She made them at 1:00 a.m.!! Adam had already taken his off.

We didn't take many photos with our camera. My battery was dead before Gary came with new ones and we were taking a ton with Meredith's camera for her. Angie's blog has more--keep looking on her blog for a link to her husband Brian's flickr account--he took many photos and is going to post all of them online. The photographer's pictures will also be online.

Congratulations, Meredith and Adam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, happy 5th anniversary to Amber and Mitch on July 6th!!! They were the first in our group to get married. Their 18 month old son Nolan was in town, too, and you should see his sign language and hear him talk!! He is so big! We took cute photos of him but on someone else's camera.

Better Photos of Andrew

2007-04-25T18:33:00.000-04:00

Michelle emailed me these pictures and they are certainly cuter than the one I had on my computer.

Jim has two brothers. They all had babies within a few weeks of each other. On the left is Sophia, Andrew is in the middle, and Luke is on the right. Do you see how much hair the other Italian babies have? Michelle's family thinks that Andrew has lots of hair, but he looks bald compared to his cousins!

Andrew James

2007-04-17T12:04:00.000-04:00

Sorry, Michelle and Jim, we TOTALLY had a great reason to blog--your little cutie! Here he is! He was born way back on February 25th (our grandma's birthday) and he was 6 lbs. 10 oz. and 20.5 inches. I can't get enough of him! They say he is a really good baby; not too much crying, just a habit of projectile vomiting after a good meal. Michelle looks FANTASTIC--she's back in regular jeans as of two weekends ago!

Ya mon

2007-04-17T10:40:00.000-04:00

Yes, a new blog! What can we say, we have been so busy with day-to-day things and haven't been inspired to blog, but thanks to our extravagant trip, we finally have a good blog topic.

We just spent 6 nights in Jamaica. It was fabulous!!! We arrived at the Sandals Grande Ocho Rios resort too late on Tuesday to swim, but my sadness was quickly overcome because our room was upgraded for free! We booked THE cheapest room possible--inside the main building (hotel style) facing AWAY from the ocean. Our key let us into a 4 room villa with a bedroom, bathroom, a kitchenette, living room, and a patio/pool that we shared with the 3 other suites in our villa. The front desk lady called us when we got to our room to see how everything was, and I thanked her for the upgrade. She looked at what we had paid for and what we got and said, "Ooo--let me call you right back." I think they overbooked the cheap rooms, because we were allowed to stay in our mini-palace. According to the Internet quote, the villa was over $100 more expensive per night!! This is a photo of our patio.

Overall, we were ridiculously pleased with Sandals and feel like we got our money's worth there. I called the resort "summer camp for adults without counselors." The Jamaicans are SO unbelievably kind and the service was the best I have ever seen. The food was AMAZING. We ate some really spectacular things--my favorite meal was a Jamaican chicken dish made with coconut milk and this vegetable called cho-cho. Gary can't even decide on his favorite. I loved all the fresh fruits and vegetables. I might not have "made money" off the liquor, but I did off of how much fruit and vegetables I ate! Don't think everything I had was healthy--they also had some great cheese fries by the pool.

What did we do on our vacation? Not a whole lot! We were very lazy. Here was an average day for us (not that we had a watch)

8:30-9:00 get up and leave villa for breakfast buffet
9:00-9:45 breakfast buffet--YUM. We had the French toast every day and LOTS of fruit.
9:45-1:00 sit at pool or at beach, drinking fresh fruit smoothies from bar and reading books
1:00-1:45 lunch
1:45-5:00 sit at pool or at beach, drinking fresh fruit smoothies from bar and reading books
5:00-6:30 get ready for dinner, watch tv (Gary)
6:30-9:30 dinner
9:30 decide between going-out entertainment options and going to sleep (I told you we were lazy)

We learned some important lessons, namely that you can burn in the shade in Jamaica. I am convinced that the sun was so strong that we must have got sun through our suits--I don't even have a ring line and I wore my ring the WHOLE time. Gary barely has a ring line, either. We are a lot less red than two days ago, but we definitely burned. We used a lot of sunblock--another lesson learned is that I can't wear 15 SPF in the Caribbean. We sat under the umbrella the whole last day, and it did us in.

On Saturday we embarked on our ONE adventure: we climbed Dunn's River Falls. We didn't take any pictures of our own because we didn't feel like buying a waterproof camera, so the photos are ones I found on Google images. It was CRAZY. We came around a few bends and I looked at Gary and said, "Seriously--we're climbing that?" How it works is a group of climbers (about 20 for us) are assigned to a guide. Our guide was E. Paul. He walked barefoot ahead of us and we followed him, all holding hands in a big chain--it was boy-girl-boy-girl at the guide's instruction. I thought he was being cute, but it was actually so the guys could pull the women up these huge rocks.

We ascended 940 feet over the course of about an hour. We went on a day when no cruise ships docked, and our guide went slow, so we got a chance to look around at the scenery and frolic in the pools along the river. Another guy came with us, too, and he filmed our group and made us sing the "hot, hot, hot" song and say "ya, mon" on cue.

We loved the resort and the people we met. The country is poor and a lot of houses we saw were pretty run down. We weren't so fond of those people who we met outside the resort who just wanted every last cent we had. You just have to say no, but it made us uncomfortable. It didn't spoil our vacation, though; we just lived it inside of our resort's walls like the American tourists we were. We highly endorse Sandals resorts!!!

The dogs spent 8 nights at the local pet resort. They had a blast and are spending the day recuperating from all the running around that they did. I'm not sure they missed us or their home. Gary didn't miss the dogs or the house. I missed the dogs, but not the house.

Don't fall out of your chair--it's a new post!!!

2006-10-22T22:17:00.000-04:00

I am SO sorry to have disappointed all you faithful bloggers who optimistically log on to our site. Gary had the cable guy come out last week and now our Internet is ALWAYS running, and boy is it running strong! For those of you who believe that this is the only reason I haven't been blogging, then you will have faith in weekly blogs from me from now on. For those of you who know the real me, you know it will be every other week.

Our biggest news in the MONTH since I've blogged is that Michelle and Jim found out that they're having a BOY!!! We are so excited for them! This is the parents-to-be sharing our couch with our doggies--yes, we're breaking all of our rules now and letting Pippin and Frodo sit with us. We had a birthday party for Michelle with Jeff and Raquel a few Saturdays ago. We gave her a gift card to buy maternity clothes, and Jeff and Raquel got her pasta bowls that go with her dishes since she liked theirs so much at the wedding shower.

Oh my gosh, what else have we done this month? I have been doing very well teaching and cooking dinner. Tonight I made stuffed peppers and chocolate souffles. Yum! I honestly thought that I was going to throw up when we were done stuffing ourselves, but it was delicious!

We (Gary) have been enjoying all the baseball games. Gary debated buying World Series tickets, but I told him that taking me would be a waste of money and he should find someone else to go with. He said that he would only want to go with me. Awww...we're sounding like newlyweds. Besides, it's too cold for me to go to a Tigers game in October! After we watched game one last night, Gary said how mad he'd be if he paid all that money to see them slaughtered that badly. I'd be mad to have spent that much money on something I wished were over so I could get into the car and turn the heated seat on.

House projects have been exciting this fall. Gary gave the lawn some love, finished setting up the garden for next year, took down and cleaned up from the last of the trees, installed a new garage door opener that won't close down on a dog or car (with help from his dad--thank you again!), and we got some marble tiles for a STEAL when we were looking at Home Depot. We were there to buy something else, and we saw some gorgeous marble on clearance for $1.00 a square foot--seriously. It's grayish tan with streaks of redish brown. We spent about $110 and got enough for the entryway, both bathrooms, and a mantle for the fireplace that will eventually be downstairs. I have yet to plant the bulbs we bought because the weather has been too hot. Check out my flowers--this was taken on October 8th and they're still going strong! I read in my Better Homes and Gardens book that begonias are actually a bulb that will come back if you dig them up after a few frosts, store them in the garage, and then replant them after it's done frosting in the spring. Will it work? We'll see next summer. Next weekend I think it will be safe to put in the tulips and take out the begonias.

My kids this year are fantastic, and I have an equal number of boys and girls!! I go to school, make dinner, check a few papers, watch a little tv while I do it, and then I'm done for the night.

Michelle sent me this photo from Jason and Jen's wedding. It's one of the best photos of us, ever. Gary decided that he has to have a few drinks to look relaxed in photos.

That's mostly it. We are too boring to have anything to post. Sorry. Aren't you glad you read this?

See who can come up with a creative answer to this one: everyone asks us, "How's it going being a newlywed?" We usually just smile and say fine or great, but who can think of a better response? (Appropriate or I will delete your comment!!!)

Bad Blogger!

2006-09-20T19:21:00.000-04:00

You must be an optimistic person if you're still checking our blog! I have actually been working and our internet service is spotty at night. Take those excuses and translate them to my truth: I have been exhausted at night! Last night I fell asleep at 8:30 on the couch while Gary had the Tiger's game BLARING and the lights all on. I woke up at 10:0-something with terrible neck pain, brushed my teeth, and went straight to bed underneath the pile of laundry he was folding on the bed, with the lights on. I passed out instantly and didn't wake up AT ALL until Frodo needed some attention at 4:30. The wild thing is that some of my students go to bed at 11:00 or later. Ahh, to be 8 again! Crazy kids!

We had an amazing weekend; so amazing that we kept forgetting to take pictures for the blog.

Friday afternoon, I left work early to get all prettied up for Gary's friend Jason's wedding. (Jason was in ours--he's the one with glasses who walked with Meredith.) It was a gorgeous wedding. The funniest part was when they were exchanging rings: the priest broke up the words for Jason to repeat like this:

Priest: Jennifer,
Groom: Jennifer,
Priest: (quickly) take this ring as a symbol of my love and fidelity
Groom: take this ring as a symbol of my love...(a look of "oh crap, I'm forgetting my vows and ruining the whole wedding" crosses his face)
Priest: and fidelity?
Congregation: (giggles quietly as Jason repeats)

Poor Jason. Jen did really well and didn't hammer out the word fidelity at all like I would have. The reception was a blast. Gary looked suprisingly great in his neon-turquoise-vested tux. I told him how nice he looked. Nothing in return, and I had gotten all dressed up and left work early to do my hair and make-up to go hang out with all of his college friends when all I could think about was that I was tired. In his defense, he was quite distracted by the open bar and his "wild" college buddies. I sat alone with his friends and heard the same three stories that he always tells me about his "crazy college days." They were even quoting movie lines.

Saturday afternoon we went to Ashley's Powder Puff game. It was CRAZY. I had no idea how huge this whole thing was. The whole thing wouldn't have even fit into my camera lens. She played really hard. Some of the other players got injured--we're talking bloody faces. Fortunately, Ashley only bore bruises. They have been practicing since early August and she missed her family vacation to Florida for practice, so I guess I should have expected it.

Then we hightailed it out of the Detroit area to make a late appearance at Angie and Brian's housewarming party in Holland. We had a blast, and, again, forgot to take pictures. Amber (from Georgia) is in Michigan this week for a wedding this Friday, so she was able to be there. We wish she lived in Michigan! Gary was SO sad when he found out that Mitch wasn't coming.

Sunday we drove home and went to Gary's parents to pick up the dogs. You should have heard his dad describe Frodo's 20 hour stay. Needless to say, he christened their new carpet in a puppy sort of way and cried endlessly all afternoon because he had to be tied up in their yard. He almost chewed through his leash! That dog is cute, but stubborn! They had Lucy, Breana and Craig's dog, on Saturday night while they were at a wedding nearby and babysitting three dogs makes them our heroes! Thank you for taking all of our dogs!! (We were told that they charge less for grandkids!)

We did get to see Ashley get picked up for her homecoming dance, though! Isn't she gorgeous! The guy seemed very nice, of course, and was very nervous! We heard she got home by 11:00, and Gary and I had joked to ourselves on Sunday night that we probably would be asleep by the time she got home...and we were.

We're working in the yard this weekend, and we'll post some photos of our progress. Sorry this post was boring!

It's a boy....AND a girl!!!!

2006-09-08T22:24:00.000-04:00

Aunt Emily is ready to babysit (and to change diapers for the first time in her life).

Ethan William (top of photo)
5 lbs. 6 oz.
19 inches
6:48 p.m.
September 8, 2006

Audrey Angela (bottom of photo)
4 lbs. 14 oz.
18 inches
7:03 p.m.
September 8, 2006

Renee and Dan had the twins today!! She did a great job and the babies are absolutely gorgeous. Mommy, Daddy, and babies are all well. Their families filled the waiting room: Grandma Jo, Grandpa Gary, Aunt Emily, Aunt Breana, Uncle Craig, Grandma Melinda, Grandpa (oh my goodness, I forgot his name!), then Uncle Gary and Aunt Kim came right at the end. We were joined in their room by Aunt Ashley and Aunt Sarah (Dan's only sibling) once they head the babies were here. Ashley came straight from practice and still had grass hanging off of her socks.

Aunt Kim with Ethan--doesn't he look like Renee?

Uncle Gary, Ethan, and Daddy

Grandpa Gary said, "I've been waiting 9 months for this!" while he was posing for this shot.

"Can you believe they're ours?" Grandma Jo asked Aunt Ashley.

Aunt Breana waited all afternoon in the waiting room to hold this little one! (I think it's Audrey.)

We're going back tomorrow to see the new family again, and we'll have to get a photo of Uncle Craig--sorry we didn't have one of you. Craig bought new shoes--they're the same ones Gary has, so now they have matching brown Steve Madden shoes!

More Abby

2006-09-04T19:43:00.000-04:00

I take it back, Abby looks like Brian. Check out his baby photo.

We spent the day at my parents. Gary and my dad took down a 40 feet tall ash tree and my mom and I went over to hold Abby.

Abby's Here!!!!!

2006-09-01T22:33:00.000-04:00

Abigail Eve

September 1, 2006

around 5:40 p.m.

8 lbs. 1 oz.

19 inches

Sarah and Brian went to the hospital last night and Sarah was induced this morning. Brian called us and we all met at the hospital before visiting hours were over to meet Abby. She is adorable! She has a bit of blonde fuzz on her head and light, almost transparent eyebrows. She was only 3 hours old when we saw her, so we'll gather more details about her as we get to see her more. Abby looks a bit like her daddy, and a lot like her mommy. Sarah's mom said that Abby looks a lot like Sarah's baby photos. We are all SO excited to finally have her here. My parents are way older today because now they're grandparents! Jeff, Raquel, Gary, and I are happy to add "uncle" and "aunt" to our names, too. (Yes, Gary and I have nieces on his side of the family, but now we're Aunt Kim and Uncle Gary on both sides!) Sorry our photo is kind of bad; we didn't want to use the flash on her brand new little eyes!

My classroom is officially finished being set up--I was half-way home when Brian called me to tell me that Abby had been born. Gary took down our pine tree today with Ashley. Raquel asked if we're paying Ashley for all this work she's done for us! Tomorrow Gary has rented a stump grinder so we can finish up the yard. We have plans to see our families for some last of summer BBQs, and then it's back to work for me. I vow to keep up the blog while I'm teaching--I know there's been some doubt.

Renee is getting induced next Friday (September 8th). Ethan was 4 lbs. 9 oz. and Audrey was 4 lbs. 4 oz. at Renee's check-up last Monday. We can't wait to meet them, too!

Tomorrow is our 3 month anniversary--very exciting! We're celebrating by grinding stumps and then with tuna noodle casserole.

Here are Michelle's photos from Jeff and Raquel's wedding. Happy 1 week anniversary, guys!

I have to add this adorable photo that Amber sent of Nolan. Gary calls this Nolan's GQ shot.

We hope that you all have a fun, relaxing Labor Day weekend. What is everyone doing?

Goin' to the Chapel

2006-08-26T17:08:00.000-04:00

We officially have a new sister-in-law! Jeff and Raquel had a beautiful wedding day. The rain held off and, just like in the movies, the sun came out right after their ceremony. We had a blast all day, and especially enjoyed the reception.
Raquel was very passionate about the cake. It turned out just like the photo she found in a magazine.

The bridal party had a lot of fun together!

We got in trouble for taking this photo because the photographer needed us.

If you look in front of Gary, you will see mashed potatoes in a martini glass. We were SO excited that the mashed potato bar was still open when we showed up.

Hopefully the next post will feature Abby. Sarah had contractions all day yesterday but they weren't doing it. They stopped before she went to bed. Gary and I felt Abby jumping around today, and we all gave her quite the pep talk. These are my cousin Kelli, me, my aunt Carol, my cousin Amy, and Sarah (and Abby).

It's a jungle!

2006-08-23T08:41:00.000-04:00

Picture posting isn't working right now--check back later because I'll try again!

This past rainy Saturday, Gary was watching tv and I was in the kitchen. I was in front of the sink doing dishes, turned around, and when I turned back, saw that half of our tree fell down! Gary noticed the noise but I guess I missed it. We LOVED that tree--it was the only one that we wanted to keep in the yard. Before we went out on Monday night and cleared it up, we had all of these crazy theories about why it fell. I won't post them, because you would laugh at us. Our neighbor (the one who is mentally challenged) asked Gary if it was termites. When Gary chopped down the part that was hanging, we could look at the inside of the branch. A lot of the main branch was really dry and dying. Sad. It was raining too much on Saturday to clear out the tree, we were busy on Sunday, so we didn't get to it until Monday after Gary got home from work. In the meantime, about a third of our yard was covered in tree--the dogs had a blast hiding in the branches. Frodo liked to wedge himself in spaces too small for Pippin to get into. It was hilarious. Thank goodness our albino skunk friend didn't decide to hang out in the tree, too.

On Sunday, I went to the last shower that I was invited to this summer. My friend Lynne from work is 5 1/2 months pregnant and her mom and sister came in from England to throw the cutest shower ever at an English tea room in downtown Rochester. We ate little sandwiches, scones, and tea. It was too cute!

Sunday we went to Breana's and Craig's to celebrate their new fence! I somehow only got a photo of the chainlink part, but the other 3 sides are gorgeous wooden shadowbox. They have been working hard, and invited our dogs over to run free in their backyard with their golden, Lucy. As you can see, Frodo is a lap dog--the other two dogs were running too fast for him. The dogs even got barbequed turkey hot dogs from Breana! We told them that this was their last moment of being the center of attention, because once the twins get here, no one will pay any attention to the dogs! After dinner, we went on a walk: Emily and Frodo, Gary and Pippin, Breana and Lucy, Renee in a wheelchair, Gary's mom, and me. We looked like some kind of parade! When we got back, I felt Ethan jump around and I was really excited because it's the first time I had ever felt one of them move and really know it was the baby, instead of wondering if it wasn't just Renee talking. He was going crazy!

Monday was tree removal night. While Gary chopped and hauled the heavy stuff, I collected all the little sticks and burnt all the dry ones (most of the tree).

Tuesday I gave myself a gorgeous French pedicure (I am very proud of myself) and did my nails forJeff and Raquel's wedding, which is on Friday. Later, my mom and I picked up our dresses. Then we went out to Tuesday dinner with my mom's family. Today I am up early so I can go over to my parents' house to work on place cards with Jeff, Raquel, her mom, and my mom. Then, tonight, my class is having a picinic and I get to meet all of my new kids and families! I am so excited! Our school building is closed until Monday, and I am itching to go set up.

Sarah is showing many baby-is-almost here signs that, once again, are too personal for a blog. We're all hoping that the baby doesn't come on Friday so that Brian and Sarah can be at Jeff and Raquel's wedding!

Georgia, Part II

2006-08-18T19:29:00.000-04:00

The rest of our Georgia trip was “sweet” to borrow a phrase from Mitch. We didn’t want to leave! Amber, Mitch, and Nolan are such a wonderful family and they are great friends. They are the cutest parents and are the perfect blend of protective, scheduled, and relaxed.

Monday we went to the next town over for lunch, to try on bridesmaids’ dresses for Meredith’s wedding, and to see some of the historic Southern town. Apparently Monday in this town is the weekend—they take Sunday and Monday off. The main bridal shop that we went to see was closed, the place Amber wanted to go for lunch was closed, about 2/3 of the cute downtown stores were closed, and the plantation we were going to tour was closed. We drove around in the car and saw lots of cool houses and went into a few shops. At the first store, the friendly owner talked with us for 10 or 15 minutes. She was so sweet. She even held Nolan! We asked her where to go for lunch on a Monday. She told us all about the economics of the town’s “should we open on Mondays” debate, and then called a restaurant to see if they were open. She even gave us a map and drew our walking route to the restaurant. We didn’t even buy anything and she was that nice to us! The strangest part of the south is the fact that really nice, religious people are really racist. She told us that this place would be open on a Monday because the owner was an Orthodox Jew and he wouldn’t miss a day to make money. She didn’t say it in a mean way; it was just a fact to her. This is after she talked with us about religion and how big Christianity is in the south. Weird.

We went to the cute lunch place she recommended. Some friendly ladies in line helped us choose foods for the “southern experience.” Amber had a shrimp Po’ Boy sandwich and cheese grits, I had a chicken salad sandwich that came with extra mayo on the bread and fried green tomatoes, and Gary had an amazing looking cheeseburger. Nolan dined on green beans and a bottle. He was STARVING and acted like he hadn’t been fed all week. Amber started feeding him his baby food and usually stops to make his bottle, but she had me finish feeding him while she made the bottle because he wanted to EAT! What a cutie! The grandfather-aged man next to us talked to us for quite a bit while we all ate. When he asked me what I did in Michigan and I told him I was a teacher, he asked me “if the schools up there are integrated.” I replied “yes” but also commented that in the city of Detroit, the schools have more black kids, and in the suburb where I teach, it’s mostly white kids with a good number of Asian and Indian kids because their parents work in the auto industry. He said that they have Asians and Indians down there, too, and that he would send them all up north to me--HA HA, he laughed. Wow. I don’t hear stuff like that every day. We stopped at the farmers’ market on the way back and I bought some delicious, huge peaches—my favorite fruit.

Monday night we went with Mitch to see his workplace. It was like being on a movie set. On the way out, we drove around the “lake” where there are several alligators to see if we could spot any. Amber saw one from the car, and she, Gary, and I got out (with our cameras, of course) to see the alligator up close. I said that it was like being at the zoo but there was no glass! We had amazing pizza for dinner, chatted, and then we went to sleep. Amber got us on a parent’s sleep schedule—we got up around 8:00 and went to bed before 11:00. That is not what Gary and I are used to on non-work days, and Amber was up even earlier than us with Nolan! It was easy to get up, though, when it was to Nolan making cooing noises. Have I mentioned yet that we LOVE Nolan and almost brought him home with us? We threatened to pack him up in our suitcases. He is such a happy baby and was so much fun to play with. Gary and I even fought over who got to sit in the backseat with Nolan when we got into the car. We couldn’t get enough of him.

Tuesday morning we went to the pool, got lunch at Sonic (yum), came back to the house, took showers, packed up, and it was time to leave for the Dave Matthews Band concert in Atlanta. We checked in to our hotel and made it to the concert before the opening band started. Gary got us great seats under the covered pavilion top. Good thing he did, because it was raining when we got there and during the opening band. By the time Dave took the stage, it was just HOT. Musically, the concert was amazing. He did some songs that he doesn’t usually do—some Gary had never heard live before, like “Crash into Me.” He also did “Dream Girl,” one of our favorite newer songs. I had a hard time enjoying the concert because I was so claustrophobic. It was too hot, sticky, and stinky for me. It smelled like sweat, puke, smoke, and I was sweaty. Not the best venue, but a great concert none the less. Gary’s point of pride is that we exited through a back exit and were back at the hotel 8 minutes after we got in the car. I was a little scared to go out another way because we were in a bad neighborhood (I didn’t even post about the crazy things we saw on our way to the concert) but we followed a bunch of people with Georgia plates and made it back to the freeway without getting lost.

Wednesday, we drove around downtown Atlanta on our way out of town. It was really pretty. We didn’t stay and do any touristy things, because we had 12 hours of driving and it was already 10:30. (We couldn’t get up early on our own without Amber and Nolan to wake us up.) We ate lots of junk food. Did anyone know that they make dark chocolate M&Ms now? I’m in heaven! We were going to stop at Big Boy for dinner to get away from fast food, and then Gary saw a Red Lobster at that exit! We had a delicious dinner. We got home around 11:30 at night. Gary drove the WHOLE way down and the whole way back. I offered to drive, but he kept saying that he was fine. Isn’t he wonderful?

Thursday morning, I picked the dogs up from the kennel. They were briefly excited to see me, and then they passed out all day. I unpacked, did tons of laundry, and accidentally took a two hour nap.

BABY UPDATES: Sarah is moving along and her doctor told her “any day now.” Renee is bored, but the babies are getting big. Both mommies to be are having contractions, so we’re looking forward to holding all three healthy babies soon! Michelle went for her first ultrasound on Jim’s birthday and all was well. She goes for her second ultrasound on her birthday on October 12th, and that will be the day they find out if it’s a boy or a girl. I’m officially calling girl. If you count the fact that I said that Renee would have a boy and count that as being correct since it’s a boy and a girl, I have been right for Amber, Sarah, and Renee. Watch, Michelle, you’ll have a boy and blow my psychic streak.

Georgia on my mind

2006-08-14T09:27:00.000-04:00

Did you know that saying is the official motto of Georgia? We learned a lot from reading the very informative booklets that we got at the first rest stop of the state, namely that Gary and I stink at crossword puzzles. The ride was long, and Gary drove the WHOLE way! We only stopped four times--so for everyone who knows how often I need to go to the bathroom--this was a miracle. So our whole Saturday was spent driving.

Sunday we went to church with Amber and Mitch. We went to the swampy nature preserve and walked all along the wooden path. It had a metal grate all along the sides so that the alligators can't come up on the path. Gary and I were a little bit freaked out. Amber said that she was at first, too, but they have never even seen an alligator there, so she feels fine now. The water level was very low, so we had resigned ourselves to the fact that we would definately not see an alligator there. After we had walked the whole path, had turned around, and had walked about a quarter of the way back, Gary's hunting eyes spotted a little alligator!! Mitch said, "NO WAY." But yes, here is the alligator we saw. He/she was about 3 1/2 feet long and just sat in one place. Gary and Mitch tried to throw little sticks and handfulls of Spanish moss at it because we wanted to see it swim, but it wasn't having any of it. How exciting!

We came back home for Nolan's nap, and Amber made dinner. It was an old recipe from Cooking Light! The best part is that the recipe used zucchinni, which we had brought down from Gary's parents' garden. Amber could not belive how big it was! We only used half of it during dinner, and we wanted a photo of Nolan with a cross-section of the massive vegetable. He is teething, and loved to suck on the zucchinni. After dinner, I was holding Nolan and he was playing with a cloth napkin. (Amber brought out the fancy stuff for us!) I tossed it over his face and started playing peek-a-boo with him. He was laughing and screaming. So was Amber, because that was the first time that Nolan got the game of peek-a-boo.

Today we're going to try on bridesmaids' dresses for Meredith's wedding and then we might go into a plantation. They don't let babies in, so we're not sure if we'll abandon Amber and Nolan. After Mitch is done with work, he's taking us to see his work--and maybe we'll see bigger alligators!

Some of these are Amber's photos since we couldn't upload ours on her computer. Doesn't she have an artistic eye?

Mom--I saw that you commented!! I was so excited!

The last shower of the summer

2006-08-08T23:25:00.000-04:00

Sorry, the photo post isn't working right--I have two more to post. I will try tomorrow.

This weekend my mom, Raquel, and I hosted Sarah's baby shower. I love baby showers because all of the presents are so adorable. We saw the baby's room afterwards, and I should have taken a photo of the way Sarah and her mom painted the room. Now all they need is a baby!!! Look how cute Brian looks with the new diaper bag!

Raquel cut and colored my hair before the shower. It's super short--it hasn't been this short since we got engaged. I love it, but it took a few days for me to get used to it. Raquel and Jeff's wedding is two weeks from this coming Friday! Crazy!!! She and I hung out a lot this weekend and we had a blast. She even spent the night last night, so with her, Ashley, and me, it was a sisters-in-law fest over here.

Gary is out of town for work all week with Rodger. They are in Utah on an army base. Gary's cell does not work on the base, so it's one of those trips where we don't talk much the whole time he's gone. He's staying in a "hotel" on base, but it's really army barracks! He's sharing a bathroom and eating in the cafeteria.

We went out to dinner on Saturday after the shower with Rodger, his wife (Pria) and their two gorgeous little girls. The five year old is very verbal and amazing with chop sticks--she ate fried rice very adeptly! The two and a half year old is really cute and got put in a Super Nanny time out by her mom. It worked! She was screaming, "I'll be nice!" a few seconds after she sat on the steps. Pr ia says she likes the show because the kids on it are always so much worse than her girls!

Gary and I can't wait to leave on Saturday for Georgia! We have grand plans to spoil Nolan and Amber said she'll take us on a walk to the swamp where we might see an alligator! If we see one, a photo will DEFINATELY make the blog.

I am coming down with Raquel and Jeff's cold, so I better get over it before Saturday. Right now I'm drinking tea and whiskey--Jen told me about it for sore throat prevention, and it works wonders. I also made a massage/adjustment appointment for tomorrow at the chiropractor. I know people are skeptical, but I haven't been sick hardly at all in the year and a half that I've been going, and when I'm coming down with something, it kills it!

The doggies have reservations at the kennel. They are so excited (clueless)! They have become best friends. They nap together--this morning I woke up and they were both spooning in Pippin's bed. Frodo has figured out that we go potty outside (not on the carpet, behind the dining room table). He only has two problems (1) He LOVES the couch. He perches on the arm, overlooking the entrance to the living room (2) He eats his poop. His breath STINKS. However, he is mighty talented. Frodo has caught on to many of our commands and routines, and he can climb the ladder that goes into the attic. Pippin can't, and he wishes he could. Whenever Gary goes into the attic, Pippin puts his front paws on the ladder and cries. Frodo cries, too, but he just climbed that ladder like it was stairs. He would have gotten the whole way up, but I kept carrying him down. Sorry the photo is blurry; Gary was up in the attic, looking down, shouting, "He's going to fall!"
I just realized that it wasn't my last shower of the summer--I have a baby shower for Lynne, a friend from work.

Baby, Babies, Baby

2006-08-01T11:58:00.000-04:00

This weekend we celebrated Renee and Dan's baby shower. It was a "really nice shower" to borrow a phrase from my mom. They got so many cute things! We all are so excited to meet Audrey and Ethan in a few weeks! Look how great Renee looks--no belly photo on our camera from the shower day--we forgot. I am posting a recipe from Cooking Light that Gary and I love and that I made for Renee and Dan last week. They loved it too. It's not too hard and it's delicious!!

Chicken Scaloppine with Spring Herb Salad Recipe (Some of the salad ingredients are hard to find--I make mine with fresh regular green beans (not haricots verts--small green beans), spinach, parsley, chives, and the dressing. It's still wonderful.)

Big announcement from Michelle: she and Jim just told us that they are expecting their first baby around March 1st!!!! We are thrilled for them, and thrilled "to spoil it and then give it back to them" as Gary said. I love babies and am glad to have so many joining our family lately!

Sarah and Brian took their last baby class at the hospital, and their September 2nd due date is almost here! Sarah's shower for baby Abigail is this Saturday. Renee said her doctors said she might have her babies as early as September 1st (her official due date has been said to be September 15) so mabe we'll have 2 nieces and 1 nephew on the same day!!

Yesterday Emily came over for the day while her mom was at work. The dogs had so much fun with her and slept all night after she left. Emily baked cookies ALL ON HER OWN! She's an excellent baker and she is good at doubling fractions.

This week Ashley is staying with us while her parents are in Florida with Emily. We are watching her like a hawk (thought I'd include that in case her parents are reading this from Florida). She's reading her summer homework novel at this very moment!

One great thing about Ashley being here is that I had a deadline to finish cleaning out the green room, which I was calling "wedding gift purgatory" since it was the place where all our gifts went before we either put them in the kitchen or returned them. It's actually a spare room now--look at how clean it is! There is only one box I have left to unpack (not in the photo, of course!) and when I get my desk from my parents, I want to repaint it and put it along the wall under the window (to the right of where the bed is). That's all I'm doing this week, besides finishing up my projects for my grad class--2 weeks left!
Our wedding proofs are due to arrive any day now. Here are a few jpgs that Jennifyr Slater sent us. We even like the one of us under my veil (we both thought we'd hate it.)

It's a boy!

2006-07-28T09:16:00.000-04:00

We picked up Frodo from the vet on Tuesday afternoon after he was neutered. The poor little dog was so drugged and sluggish. Pippin seemed to love him, even if all they were allowed to do was to take a nap with Gary while I was at class.

Wednesday, Frodo learned where NOT to lay in the kitchen while I got ready for Gary's birthday party. We had invited a bunch of people over for a BBQ with hot dogs: his immediate family, my parents and grandma, and some of his friends. Well, everyone was supposed to show up around 6:00. At 6:00, Gary, the dogs, and I were standing in the garage watching it POUR outside. We had quite the thunderstorm. Gary barbequed the hot dogs in the garage, and we all had to be in the house or in the garage. Not exactly what we had planned; we wanted to be outside around the chiminea. We still had fun!

So what does Frodo do? He wants to be held, so this means that if you're on the couch or in bed, he wants up too! We don't let the dogs in either place (yes, we're heartless) so we've been pushing him and saying "down" a lot. Okay, except for those two times when, each of us, alone in the house with the dogs, has given in and let Frodo nap with us on the couch. Gary said the only reason he gave in was because it was the day Frodo had surgery and also his first day with us, and if Gary was holding him while Gary napped, he knew the dog wouldn't be pooping or peeing anywhere in the house. I did it because I was watching Oprah and taking a half hour rest before Gary's birthday party, and I had shoved him down about 7 times, when Frodo made a flying leap and landed right on top of me, where he instantly layed down. I couldn't help it. He likes to jump onto the couch when I'm on the other end and he's instantly curled up along the back of the couch and burried in all of the pillows. I DON'T give in to that, because I know how hairy the couch will get. (We used to let Pippin on the couch when he was a puppy, but then changed our minds.)

Pippin and Frodo are getting along very well. I can't say that they love each other yet. Frodo loves people better than he loves Pippin, and Pippin is a little ticked with Frodo being such a naughty little listener. They love to play together, but it's hard to let them go for long on full speed, because Frodo is supposed to be on "restricted movements" for 7-10 days with his stitches. He apparently doesn't care, but mean old Kim does. I came back from class yesterday and Gary was watching Caddyshack and letting them go full at it after I worked so hard to keep them relatively calm all day. While I was writing this blog, they were playing "toy keep away" with a stuffed dog that Jim brought over for the birthday party. I went to check on the toy because Pippin destroys toys quickly, and sure enough, they had pulled out about half of the stuffing. At least they were working together.

Honda Camping

2006-07-24T11:31:00.000-04:00

This weekend we took the first vacation trip of our marriage--to Warren Dunes State Park to camp with some of my friends. Angie and Brian brought their CRV, Carrie and Matt brought their red Civic, Carl and Jessica brought their CRV and their adorable 3 year old Aaron, and we brought our red Civic.

Wine tasting was a blast--Gary had never been before, and it's something that I love to do. We found a wine that we both like, Gewurztraminer. I learned to pronounce it for the first time ever, and we bought a bottle for Gary's big birthday bash this week.

We DID plan to have a bit of alcohol at the campground that night, but when we were making dinner after wine tasting, our neighbors got kicked out because they were loud and had alcohol. It was really surreal--there was one DNR truck, two police cars, and about 6 or 7 officials total watching this poor family pack up. Needless to say, we were too scared that we would have to break camp in the dark and drive 3 1/2 hours home that night. The beer stayed in the cooler.

My favorite part of the trip was the beach. Gary is laughing at me because I made him wear sunblock (all we had was 45) but I claimed that I would be fine without any myself. The fact that I had a base from tanning before the wedding was aparently untrue. I'm a bit red.

We also climbed the huge dune for which the park is named. When you got to the top, we could see Chicago. It was also a great calves workout!

Pippin stayed at the kennel. He probably had more fun than we did. We saw a cute beagle-basset hound mix that is up for adoption. We had been discussing getting a second dog, and we want this one. We applied!

Click here to see Carrie and Matt's online photos of the weekend.