3 days and counting

Just an update...we are three days shy of our 1 year anniversary.

September 30, 2007 here we come.

Let's just hope the year old wedding cake that's sitting in the freezer, still tastes halfway decent.

Home Improvement Time

So this weekend we did some home improvement and cleaning. We got quite a bit done, even though it really doesn't show it.

First, we took the old mirror from the half bath (remodeled shortly after moving in), and decided to frame and hang it in the guest bedroom. Robert went to Lowe's and bought a can of white primer, white gloss paint, some 1x3's, some 1/2" strips, and some picture moulding. After some cutting and painting, we had a new mirror to hang.

Afterwards, we removed two ceiling fans and a light fixture, then replaced them all with three new matching fans. Quite fun. After removing the old fans it was obvious why they shook and rattled so bad - they were installed wrong! Here's a picture of one. Unfortunatly we haven't taken a picture of the fans with the light globe on.

Next on the list was to unpack the office closet and redecorate that room. The closet still had boxes of stuff from the move 8 months ago. Several boxes went to the attic, the rest were unpacked onto bookshelves. Pictures were hung on one of the walls, and the whole room was just cleaner.

Once the chores were completed, we watched a little football.

Poor Auburn. A loss to Mississippi State making their record 1-2 for the season.

Way to go Alabama. A last minute win over Arkansas making their record 3-0 for the season.

A camping trip turned dayhike...

Bethany surprised me this weekend by mentioning that we should watch the football game on Saturday morning, then head out for a quick overnight backpacking trip at Oak Mtn State Park.

Since it was only a quick overnighter we quickly packed the packs and looked over the maps for some quick refreshing. The goal was to do a quick little 3-4 miles to the campsite, then spend a little time and do 5-6 miles on Sunday coming back to the trailhead. Nothing fancy, but at least it lets us get out and get the dogs some exercise.

The park is only a 20-30 min drive from our house to the trailhead so the drive wasn’t bad at all. The dogs loved the ride and were ready to go as soon as they saw us packing the bags. They were basically howling at us when we started packing their bag as well. It was just after 4:00 when we got to the ranger station to check in, which would mean we'd be hiking in the cooler weather - or so we thought. I asked the ranger about the water situation and if the creeks and streams were running well enough and she assured me that they were nearly full just a few days ago. I signed up for one of their designated campsites and we set out.

At the trailhead, we donned our packs, suited the dogs up, locked the car, took some photos and headed onward. We stared out on the wide mountain bike trail and eventually split off onto the more hiker-esq white trail. Along the way, we crossed a footbridge with nothing more than dirt powder and leaves underneath. This was the first sign we were in for a rough hike. Well, we continued on toward our destination noticing that the gulley on the side was dry too. It looked as thought it had been weeks, not days, since any water had been in there.

This made us a little weary about taking the dogs so far into the woods, then not having any water so we decided we would just hike to Maggie's Glen for a quick out-and-back dayhike. As we got closer, to our amazement we noticed that there was some water trapped in the low spots of the stream along the way. Once at the Glen, we let the dogs cool off a bit in what little water there was, we took a few pictures, and then we headed back out.
We went a little out of the way and made a loop back to the trailhead in which we started. After another 30mins or so of hiking, we reached the car and unloaded the packs. We took the last of the water and gave it to the dogs to cool them down, and prepared to head back home.

After stopping at the ranger station to tell them about the water and remove my name from the backcountry list she apologized and gave us a raincheck for next time.

Once getting back home, we brought the packs inside, and figured at least we had a good short little walk with the dogs.

Posted by Robert

So, it's been hectic

Well here we are trying to catch up with this blog. It's amazing how so much can happen in a weekend and then you have to try to keep up with it all.

First things first I guess,

Bethany's sister flew in from New Mexico on Wednesday. Because I was at work and Bethany was in Auburn, her parents drove up to meet Amanda at the airport. After some time wasting, we all went to the Mexican place down the street and Bethany met us there on her way in from AU. Thursday wasn't that bad. Bethany, her mom, and her sister all met me for lunch at the Black Pearl (Asian cuisine), which is very tasty. Then off they went to look at and get applications to day spas in the area.

That afternoon I spent some time trying to get the last of the tailgating box ready for the big game. Basically we took a garden cart, added a wooden platform, some small sides, and then painted it. It's supposed to carry all of the tailgating equipment in one trip - since we can't park near our spot anymore. What a load of pooey! I went to Lowe's to get the official paint and wouldn't you know the Oklahoma Crimson is supposed to be more true than the Alabama Red. After mixing up samples, they noticed that they are both the same color.

Friday was spent with the girls (Mrs. C, Amanda, and Bethany) doing some more job searching and apartment hunting. In case you didn't know, Amanda is considering moving back to Alabama and is trying to see what her options will be before she moves out here. Good idea. While they were out shopping, I was at work. Nothing too fancy there. Once getting home though, it was time to pack the cart, and sort all the tailgating goods. We even made a few cookies for the game. Let the fun begin. I staged everything in the garage and had it all ready to load first thing in the morning.
Well on Saturday it was the big day. The Alabama Crimson Tide was hosting the Western Carolina Catamounts and we were going to tailgate. The expected time of departure was 9:30am. That didn't happen. It's usually like that too! The truck was loaded, the people were ready, the directions were left behind for the second wave of visitors and we were off. Because of the dog situation and the fact that Dave wouldn't drive up until Sat morning sometime, he and Lisa were going to leave around lunch. Hopefully by then, the first wave would have been setup and ready to go.

We arrived a little after noon and used the wagon to transport all of the goods to the spot. Not a bad idea, but with the uneven terrain, it was a scary ride. I think we almost lost the load a few times. We got to the spot, unloaded rather quickly, and setup to spend the day on campus. Within a few hours of arriving, Dave & Lisa called saying they were nearby. Bethany, Amanda, and myself met them to help them carry what they brought along. It was all great until Bethany dropped the box of cookies off the wagon and onto the ground. Even though they crumbled, they were still edible.

Well Michael & I went to the game while Bethany and her family sat and watched the Auburn game. Michael ordered the game on PPV for them, but something messed up and the game didn't come through. Oh well. They're Auburn fans so it didn't upset their feelings at all. Man that Auburn game was a close one. Bethany was hoping we would leave early, especially since it was a blowout...but she didn't agree that 0:20 remaining was early.

I made the famous 'football chicken' as usual and we served it with potato salad out on the quad. Quite tasty, but late eating. It was a long day. We didn't head for home until around midnight and that still put us at home around 1:30am. Talk about a long day.
Sunday was for recovering and catching up on the tiredness. Dave and I did that well by playing Wii tennis for nearly 8 hours. What a bunch of crazies!

Posted by Robert

It's Feeding Time

On the last night of our trip to Exuma, we docked at Highbourne Cay. This was a simple little marina that had boat slips for big cruisers, little cruisers, and even the dingy's. There was the clubhouse, pool, spa, and of course beaches. Also at this location, was the cleaning table for fish.

After our last hunt, we returned to clean the fish. After Dallas pulled in the big groupa, it drew everyone's attention and everyone wanted photos. Well what do you do when you have a crowd at the cleaning table? You feed the sharks. Yep, you heard me...you feed the sharks. As soon as the water was turned on at the cleaning table, the sharks came from the deep to feed. Quite impressive.

A fellow crew member, Brett Allen, was kind enough to take video for us, and he compiled a little something for everyone to see. So, without any further delay, here is the video of the shark feeding at Highbourne Cay.



Things to note:
- Yes, that is Dallas hand feeding the Nurse Shark.
- No, there were no hooks on the lines when reeling the sharks in.

Posted by Robert

Happy Anniversary!!

Happy 30th Anniversary to my mom and dad....also known as Lisa and Dave!!! Wow...30 years of marriage :). I hope that Robert and I have a marriage that is as amazing as yours is. You guys have taught me alot about relationships and I will always apply the things I have learned from you two in my own marriage. We love you both. I have included a picture from a great family vacation in Pagosa Springs....we were all pretty sore at this point in the day :).

Fish, fish and more fish!!

We had a great weekend!!! Thursday night my parents came to Birmingham in order to go to a workay with some of my dad's coworkers on Friday, and we ended up hanging out and eating breakfast for dinner. It was sooo good.

Friday, everyone went to work, so I stayed home to get the house ready for our big cookout we had planned as well as bake some cookies. Also, we got the dishwasher fixed...yay!!! No more doing dishes by hand or using the dishwasher as a drying rack :). Once everyone returned from their hard days work, we got a quick dinner of pizza before starting on the cookie icing. Robert, my mom and I put all the base colors of frosting on the cookies before going to bed.

Saturday was the big day!! We spent the morning adding all of the details to the fish cookies. The rest of the afternoon was spent fixing side dishes to go with the fantastic grouper that we were able to bring back from the Bahamas. We managed to bring back almost 40 pounds of fish to split between Tamara and Dallas and ourselves. We didn't even put a dent in our share of the fish.....even after cooking about five pounds of it.


I'm so glad we were able to see Tamara's parents, Josh and Saharh as well as Robert's parents this weekend. We had soo much fun. While some people visited in the kitchen others were playing Wii and Robert was being the chef for the afternoon grilling the fish. He did a fantastic job. The fish was soo good that we didn't have any leftovers. The side dishes that everyone brought were also incredible......again we didn't have too much leftover :).


It was a fun afternoon, and we can't wait to do a "cookie" training party soon!!! We'll let you guys know when we can get something together.

Because my dad had been anxiously waiting to see the Bourne Ultimatum for two weeks (my mom wouldn't let him see it till he could go with Robert and I), we managed to get to the movies just on time Saturday night. It was a pretty good movie and I think it has probably been set up for a fourth movie.

Sunday morning, my parents took us out for Waffle House for breakfast. It was so yummy and we were stuffed!! It became a lazy afternoon with naps and a few games of Wii thrown in. My parents headed home and Robert and I continued on with the laziness :).

Hope everyone has a good week!!!

Bahamas Teaser

It has been almost 2 weeks since we have been back from the Bahamas, and we are still uploading pictures. We had an awesome time, and we are so thankful to Tamara and Dallas as well as Dallas' family. We spent a week in the Exuma Cays (pronounced keys) on a 45 foot house boat with 10 other people. We only knew Tamara and Dallas when we started out, but we met 10 fantastic people!!

I wanted to put a few of the pictures up...the first picture is of a storm that followed us from Nassau to Exuma. Once we anchored in the Cays, it rained for about 15 minutes and then it was bright and sunny again.
This is one of the views we had from the boat. This boat was owned by a guy that lived on the island that we anchored near.
The next two pictures are a couple of the critters that we encountered on the trip. The first is a baby conch (pronounced Konk). There were tons of these little guys where we were anchored. We actually picked up quite a few of the big ones, and several people helped clean them....sometimes people will skin them using their teeth :). And of course, you should try everything once....Robert actually skinned one of these things with his teeth :). We used several of them in conch salad, and then the waste also known as conch slop was used in traps to catch fish. The meat can be eaten raw (which is what we put in the salad) and has the texture of cooked chicken. Fortunately for this guy, it was a baby, so it got tossed back into the ocean after its photoshoot.
The second critter seen here is a crawfish. It is basically a lobster without the claws. In place of the claws are whips....which are spiny. These were caught using spears. They taste soooo good...just like lobster :). Behind the crawfish is a bigger conch shell.

Weekend Adventure

When I came home from Auburn this weekend, I had expectations of laying around the house, proofreading my thesis, and possibly cleaning up a little, but all of that flew out the window after Robert visited the Ford dealership on Friday to get a safety recall issue taken care of. We didn't plan on buying a new vehicle for quite a while.....even though Robert has tried to sneak the possibility of one into conversation every once in a while :). After finding out how much his truck had been appraised for, we decided we would "look" this weekend to see what was available. Well, we all know how "looking" goes, and we ended up saying goodbye to the old Ford Ranger. In its place, we now have a blue Chevy Silverado Z71 and Robert couldn't be anymore excited about it!!

A Year in Review

Well, we are jumping on the blogging bandwagon...Robert and I figured this would be a great way to keep in touch with family and let everyone know what is going on in our corner of the world.

To start this blog off with a bang, I wanted to do a quick review of our almost year of being married. Our wedding was sooo much fun!! We want to thank our families for making it one of the best days of our lives :). Here are a few shots from that fantastic day.

We were so thankful to spend a couple of days with family after the wedding before heading out to Disney World for our honeymoon. We had a ton of fun going to all the parks and our room was amazing. It was awesome looking out the window first thing in the morning to see giraffes and rhinos wandering around. We ate a ton of good food and saw lots of fireworks. One lesson learned though was to not get in the way of a mom pushing a stroller.....they'll run you down and not look back :). Here are a couple of pictures from that trip.

After the honeymoon, we returned to the normal grind....Robert working and me commuting to Auburn 3 days a week. During this time, we were starting to feel a little cramped in our apartment especially with 2 big dogs. The little dogs next door didn't appreciate ours very much :).

We started to casually look at houses in the area, but wouldn't you know it....when we least expected it, we found the perfect one for us.

Earlier this year, my parents were stationed at Maxwell AFB in Montgomery. That was a huge thing for me.....we haven't been in the same state in several years, and we were soooo excited when we found out they would be back. Another exciting note is that Amanda decided she missed us all too much and she is coming home as well. Who knew that Alabama would become home when we moved here so many years ago. I can't wait for Amanda to get back....we have lots of fun when she is around.....so much that she is worn out by the end of the day :).

Our new hobby we have picked up this year is photography. Robert finally convinced me to get the new Sony dSLR, and we love it!!! Hopefully in the next few years with lots of practice it won't be a hobby anymore.

Well that is about all the big stuff that has gone on this year. We will continue to update on our day to day lives.....hopefully we aren't too boring :). Hope you guys enjoy the blogging journey with us!!