Congratulations Carly!

I'm really glad this girl is getting hitched. First, because she found a great guy and sounds so happy. Second, because I finally have a good excuse for a Utah visit. So mark your calendars for July 24-August 2. I'll be there.

You glad I stole a pic from your Facebook page, Carl? Hope your wedding dress is as phenomenal as this Vietnamese outfit! ;)

Noelle vs The Cockroach

This is a true story.
To set the scene, it was Sunday evening. We arrived home from a delicious dinner and a few rounds of Hand and Foot. Mark headed into the office to start on his homework. I thought I'd watch TV. Then, in the corner of the room, I spotted a bug. It wasn't too scary, so I tried to kill it with a flip flop. It kept rolling up into a ball, so I called Mark into the room. I thought I'd open the porch door and toss the bug out there, but wanted Mark to flip off the lights (so more bugs didn't come in). Mark mumbled something about not needing to turn off the lights.
So there I was, on my hands and knees, about a foot from the door. I open it to toss the small bug out and THE WORLD'S LARGEST - AND FASTEST - cockroach runs in directly for me. I swear it was sitting out there just waiting for the door to be opened. I screamed at the top of my lungs and jumped up and backwards right into our coffee table. I knocked everything on the table over and was literally screaming, crying and shaking uncontrollably. It took me about 20 minutes to calm down. And Mark didn't even make fun of me (because it seriously was SO BIG and SO CLOSE to my face).
The end result - one very dead cockroach (thank you Mark!) and one lasting impression from the coffee table. I told you I ran right into it!

Dear Fairy Godmother (and/or Fairy Godfather):

Mark and I want to say THANK YOU! We were definitely surprised to get your letter. This note was so thoughtful... as was the accompanying gift. Apparently we are NOT smart enough to guess who you are, so we'll have to hope you read this blog. We do really appreciate your generosity in this rough time we're going through.
Love,
Noelle and Mark

Spring Break 09

For spring break last year, we went to Chattanooga and then Puerto Rico a few weeks later. This year...not so much. Sad, especially since it's our last one! But we still had some fun. We went to the King Tut Exhibit (FYI they have 1/2 price tickets if you go Monday through Thursday after noon). We thought it was really cool - crazy to think how freakin old all the artifacts were. The next day we went to meet Sonny at the Capitol. (Mark's mom is in charge of Public Affairs for the Church for the southeast. She was having the gov sign a proclamation and invited us to be in a picture. You can see some more info - and the picture again - here.)
Mark and I also watched Gone With the Wind (his first time) and then went to check out the Margaret Mitchell House. I had it on my list of "Things to Do in Atlanta" and figured we should get it over with - it wasn't really that cool. I wouldn't recommend it unless you totally love GWTW. Or unless you can do it for free, like we did.Me and ScarlettIn front of the entrance to Tara

That pretty much wraps up the week we had. Oh yeah...and if you were still wondering which show was better (see post below) the answer is LARRY BY FAR! A Chorus Line was so lame and Larry turned out to be freaking hilarious. Yes, it was a surprise to us too!

The Fabulous Fox

So far, we're really enjoying volunteer ushering at the Fox Theatre. The senior citizens we work with are all super nice, and seeing shows for free can't be beat. This month we worked two shows...one that was fantastic and one that was barely worth the parking fee. Can you guess which was which?

Fun Things We Did in January

January was fun. Want me to prove it? Here's what we did:

1. Dialog in the Dark - Amy scored some free tickets and invited me to "see" the exhibit with her. It was really cool. I'd definitely recommend it. Go ahead and purchase the combo tix and see Bodies too.

2. Celebrated Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday by visiting his childhood home and the King Center. Welcome to Atlanta.

3. Checked out the boat show just like we do every year, but with free tickets. Visited JOA. Was happy to be remembered as last year's Wakeboard for Life winner. Picked out my new ride. Let's just hope I can get the new boots on a little easier.

4. Watched some Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. Paid closer attention when they said they were visiting a restaurant in the Atlanta area. Decided to check out they hype. Waited over 45 minutes to be seated (at a diner, remember). Was not overly impressed.

5. Enjoyed Stomp with the elderly (aka our fellow Fox Ushers).

Resolutions 2-4

I think one reason I've done so well on my New Year's Resolution #1 is that I've had accountability here on my blog. Since I never got around to blogging about the rest of my goals in January, I'll just list them quickly. It can't hurt, right?
2. Work out at least 3 times a week
3. Visit at least 2 foreign countries
4. Find a new job
Of course I have many others I could add, but these are the ones I REALLY want to achieve. I was doing really well with #2, until I lost my job. Then I was in "depression mode" for a week and did pretty much no physical activity (similiar to the activity I did in 2008 - no excuses, I'm just lazy). But I'm bouncing back this week and am trying to make up for lost time.
#3 was going to happen in August. I spent so much time over the last few months planning our 3 week trip to Europe to celebrate Mark graduating. Then I got laid off. But I can still dream, right?
#4 is the most pressing. As you've gathered by this point, I was laid off just over a week ago. I'm really not sad about losing my job, since I completely hated it. Just sad about the income. And the insurance. And the vacation that now can't happen. But I'm hoping something better is going to be found in the future. Hopefully, the very near future (or we may be moving into your basement).