Niceville High School class of '98...oh yeah...

We had a couple of fun visits with my family this summer...the first time we went down to surprise my mom for her birthday; a week later, my mom and dad stopped by (on their way to and from North Carolina); then a few weeks later, Amy, Jason and the girls came up for a week for Amy's birthday; a few weeks after that, Mark and I headed down again for my 10 year high school reunion. Clearly this was before Atlanta ran out of gas :) We had a fun time seeing the fam, and reuniting with my old friends. Some of the highlights...
Swimming in the Kelly's pool...Emma and MarkMaddalyn was making the funniest faces/sounds
Dinner at Jason's restaurantA bunch of us met up for lunch at Giuseppe's before going on the school tour
L-R: Amanda (yes, Amanda from The Bachelor...a real live celeb from little ol' Niceville!), Jenny, Ashley, Me, Sabrina, LinnChristina, Alyssa, Amanda, Me - reminiscing about the good times...Mark was shocked that we remembered where our lockers were. I had to tell him "the main hall was where all the popular kids' lockers were". Yeah, we were cool :)
The "prom picture" before we left for the official reunionTyler wanted proof that he had hot friends...his words :)
Jenny, Ash, Amanda, Courtney, me, ChristinaTyler, Mikey, Craig D (aka my prom date!), EricWe are pretty cute together, right?
Christina's husband, Brian, was quite the entertainment, as he karaoke-ed to Bon Jovi, and then followed it up with KC & JoJo.

Take me out to the ballgame...

I was really excited to score my boss's fantastic seats to the Braves game last night. We always have a great time (even if they don't pull through for us in the end) and it's definitely more fun for free! We brought our friends (and new neighbors) Griffin and Caitlin and, although it did get surprisingly chilly, we had a really fun time. The highlight of the night was Caitlin's dream come true of making it to the jumbo-tron...

5 Things...

Thanks for the tag, Melissa!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. Graduating high school
2. Working as a Cocktail Waitress at the Beachwalk Café
3. Moving to Provo to start BYU4. Living in the dorms with 5 great girls
5. Hanging out all the time with Katie, Becca and all the Alpine boys

5 Things on my To Do list:
1. Get caught up at work from leaving early on Thursday and taking the day off on Friday2. Finish cleaning/organizing our apartment from the big move last weekend
3. Go to Macy’s at Lenox– hopefully find a dress for my high school reunion
4. Go grocery shopping
5. Call Michelle, Shari and Chelsea

5 Favorite Foods (of the moment):
1. Sushi, especially a Super Crunchy Roll2. The delish “chocolate mousse with chunks of cheesecake” cake from Café Intermezzo
3. Crème brulee
4. Masaman curry
5. Papa John’s Pizza (with the garlic dipping sauce)

5 things I would do if I were a billionaire:
1. Quit my job (duh)
2. Buy a small home near a major US airport (to make all the travel easier)
3. Travel the world4. Help my family/pay off debts
5. Hire a personal trainer, personal chef and a housekeeper!

5 bad habits:
1. Being lazy and NEVER working out – I’ve got to change this one soon!2. Eating too much junk
3. Watching R rated movies behind Mark’s back :)
4. Not flossing regularly
5. Being too blunt...is that really bad?

5 places I’ve lived:
1. Yorba Linda, California (birthplace of Richard Nixon)
2. Niceville, Florida (home of the Boggy Bayou Mullet Festival)
3. New Canaan, Connecticut (home to Harry Connick Jr., and – according to Wikipedia – one of the most affluent communities in the US…“CNN Money ranked New Canaan first in the nation with the highest median family income”)
4. Hot-lanta (birthplace of not only Julia Roberts, but also Ryan Seacrest!)
5. Paris, France (like I need to say more)

5 people I tag:
1. Katie
2. Christi
3. Jennika (it’s about time you update your blog!)
4. Michelle
5. Anyone else who wants to!

Defying Gravity

When I lived in Connecticut, being right next to Broadway was one of the biggest perks for me. I got to see some amazing shows (Aida - twice!, Chicago, Mama Mia, 42nd Street, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Urine Town, Rent, Nine, etc.) and also had the opportunity to get tickets to the opening night of a new show...something you may have heard of called Wicked. Unfortunately for me (and the poor sap who paid for the tickets) production got pushed back a week and the tickets were refunded. Sad story, right?Then, a couple of years ago, Wicked made it's way through Atlanta. At the time, I decided that I didn't need to buy tickets for every show I wanted to see (it does get fairly pricey) but as I've grown older I've also grown wiser. I've rethought that position and am now living in the moment. So when I heard the show was coming to The Fox again, I jumped on it. Good thing our 2nd anniversary is next week so Mark can count the tickets as my present :)
This past Saturday morning I woke at the crack on dawn (Side Note: On a Saturday, the "crack of dawn" is anytime before 10 AM) and headed down to the theatre to wait in line for the 8:00 AM box office opening. Ticketmaster wasn't getting my $15/per person service charge! I got to The Fox promptly at 8 and was less-than-thrilled at the line that wrapped it's way down the street, around the corner, and down the side-street. But the next 2 1/2 hours ended successfully, with me scoring great seats, a goody bag of Wicked paraphernalia (tee shirt, magnets, stuffed monkey, buttons) due to winning a raffle (thanks B98.5!) and also free passes to The Rocker (thanks again to the radio station).
So as I'm anticipating the show, and trying to learn the songs, I'm hoping to take inspiration from Defying Gravity...especially as Mark and I move into our new apartment this weekend. Did I mention it's on the 4th floor? Wish us luck!

Bed, Bath & Beyond

Yes, it's that time again...moving time! I realize that many people like to settle down, buy a house, accumulate possessions, etc, etc. I am not one of those people. The thought of buying/owning a house is not something that crosses my mind very often...and if it does, it is not a happy thought. If I owned a home, that would mean I was tied down to one area for an extended length of time; I don't relish the day when that is true. For now, change is welcome and wonderful. So on August 9th, we'll be moving to a new apartment and we're really excited about it. No more upstairs neighbors, no more dirty carpet, and no more Brockett ward. Hopefully, the new place'll live up to the hype...racquetball court, brand new appliances/carpet/paint, even granite countertops! (I'll let you know once we're there!)
Since we're leaving good ol Amli at North Briarcliff, I thought I'd share some pictures to say farewell. RIP Amli.
Our first big purchase after we got married...our (little used) dining room table.
Sweet wall art, courtesy of Ikea (our office is through the door...it was too messy to make the blog).
The second big purchase was our bedroom set; we love it!
Just like on Cribs...where all the magic happens ;)
Yes, our TV is bigger than yours. Just accept it.Probably the cleanest our bathroom has ever been - sorry, Mark!

Tis the Season

A few weeks ago, we scored some free tickets to the Pro Wakeboard Tour at Lake Allatoona. We had a great time both days...we were able to see some pretty sick rides and get tons of autographs. It definitely put us in the mood to ride, which was good because a few days later, Stacey and I went to the Maven Sessions to start off the season. Stacey - she doesn't ride with her happy face, like I do!

It was a really fun day...we got to ride on a freakin sweet boat, with 5-6 other girls, and learn some tips from the pros. Kara Austin was on our boat, and she was super fun - and an amazing rider.Kara - she was only a bit better than me :)

We also met Melissa Marquardt (who has great bindings, if you're in the market) and Andrea Fountain. We had a photographer on our boat (thanks to the mom of the youngest rider) and she took about 500 pictures of us. Going through them, I definitely noticed one thing...everyone looks really serious (almost angry) when they ride - except me! I am smiling and loving every minute. Apparently, I don't care that I suck! Yea! I go both ways!

Puerto Rico!

At the beginning of the month, Mark and I took advantage of his week off between semesters and took a trip to PR. I'm always itching for a vacation, and when I saw tickets on AirTran for less than $100 one way, we jumped on them. The trip was seriously so much fun; if you want to see more pictures, click HERE. Otherwise, here's the abreviated version...

Day 1

- Arrived in San Juan at around 2:30 in the afternoon

- Explored Old San Juan

- Visited the Cathedral of San Juan Bautista, which really wasn't that cool. I couldn't even remember why I even had it on my list of "Things to See" until we got back to the car and remembered that Ponce de Leon is buiried there. So we had to go back later on and take a picture, of course.

- Got pooped on at Pigeon Park - bummer.

- Headed to Fajardo (on the east side of the island) to stay at the Passion Fruit B&B. The staff was super nice (and they made a killer breakfast). But don't ask them for directions...they were seriously challenged in that department.

Day 2

- Took the mini plane from Fajardo to Vieques (a small island about 8 mins flight away). Loved the views from the plane.

- Arrived at our next B&B. Realized we were the only guests; got upgraded to the best room.

- "Rented" a Hawaii-style car, which I think belonged to a staff member.

- Visited some amazing beaches, and saw tons of sweet lizards. And stray horses everywhere.

- Went on the BioBay Kayak Tour of Mosquito Bay. Definitely one of the most amazing things I've ever seen.

Day 3

- Flew back to main island.

- Went hiking at El Yunque Rainforest.

- Checked into our awesome apartment in Isla Verde. Loved the view - right on the beach!

Day 4

- Visited the forts of El Morro and Fort San Cristobal. Almost got blown away (seriously) by the crazy wind.

Day 5

- Drove to the west side of the island to see the Arecibo Observatory and the world's largest radio telescope.

- Visited the Rio Camuy cave park...were sad that the caves were closed, but still liked seeing the giant sinkhole and the huge cave openings.

Day 6

- Spent the morning at the beach

- Flew home; tried to get caught up on sleep!

Hope you enjoyed the pics...if you want to hear more details about the trip, give me a call!