Halloween 2011 style

This is my first attempt at taking pictures with my new phone. Clearly, I need some practice. Here we have our costumes this year. Lame, I know. We arnt good at Halloween. By that, we dont take the time to do some creative thinking about costumes until the day of, and we always end up scrambling. Luckily, Jordan's dad the doc has lab coats on hand and we didnt have to do much for me. 

Our friends are so much more creative. 

Say hello to: Uncle Eddie, Nicki Minaj, a busted pinata, emo gal and guy (note they are too cool or distressed to actually look at the camera), and dr. gaston obgyn

here we add James Bond and a vampire from true blood to the mix. 

Laura's annual halloween party is always a good time. This year I couldnt celebrate in complete regalia, but just wait until next year. I'll be back...

Verizon Success

I hate having phone troubles because it means I spend at least an hour standing at the Verizon desk begging for some type of resolution. This weekend was no different. On Saturday my blackberry started stalling and then calling the letter "Y" on repeat. Im pretty sure my phone was just questioning life, but it cant do that on my time. So, I head over to the 280 store on Sunday and find the reps watching football on tv. Then, one of them in a Eli Manning Colt's jersey comes to help me. I tell him what the problem is, and he just takes out the battery and puts it back in. Clearly, I had gone down this path already. I rolled my eyes because I knew this phone would now take at least 20 minutes to boot back up. When it finally does, he tells me nothing can be done. Brilliant. I gave up and walked out. (the Colt's lost by like 60 points that night to the Saints, boo ya)

Yesterday, I decide to take a different approach, and by that I went to a different Verizon store. Different karma, no? Turns out the Summit has a Verizon store, so I head in there and am presented with the same scene. No one in the store, but lots of attendants. Me and a glaringly obvious gay man walk into the store at the same time and are asked to "check in." If you havent done this yet, it is verizon's way of keeping order, even when there is no line. After a few rolled eyes and huffs, we both sign in and sit down. He starts telling me how he just came from the 280 store and that everyone there is an idiot. I clearly agreed, and we became friends.

Despite being the only two customers, neither of us were helped for at least ten minutes. When I finally see someone, I got my issues worked out. My phone was def jacked up, but luckily I was eligible for an upgrade. Which brings me to my fun news and why this story is one of Verizon success and not fail. I have decided to play for the other team. Yes, i'm switching to an iphone.

sorry blackberry. It's been a fun five years, but it's time to move on. 

(For you Verizon peps, if you have issues, go see Shawn at the Summit store. He is awesome, and his wife is pregnant with triplets. I liked him.)

Twin craziness

This twin thing continues to amaze me. Check out this article about twin boys in Great Britain. One black, one white. One gay, one straight. Genetics is an amazing thing.

Bokeelia Wedding Weekend Part II

A view of the Tarpon Lodge, our humble abode for the wedding weekend. 

We were all just hoping the rain would hold off so we could have the ceremony here, and not inside somewhere. 

The morning of the wedding, the guys played on the boat and I chilled with the bride and bridesmaids at Liz's parent's house. We snacked, (they) drank mimosas, and watched Bridesmaids the movie. The lovely wedding party.

Then we had to do what all Floridians do to celebrate a wedding day. 

Fish!

I wanted a picture of me being a pregnant and fishing, but I couldnt stop laughing at the mullets popping up everywhere, and im not good at fishing without a bobber. So, you get J getting his fish on. We didnt catch a thing, but it was a fun little activity. 

Before we knew it, the event we all flew down to see was underway. It was amazing that the weather held out. 

 I love Florida. 

 Zach waiting for his bride. Note the Rabbi and the Presbyterian minister in attendance. Coolest mash-up ceremony ive ever seen. 

 In true sailing style, Liz came to her wedding via boat.

 Off the dock and walking with her dadda

 The Bridesmaids in some stylish Lilly Pulitzer

 Liz's fam

I didnt get a pic of our fam, cause i was in the pic

 The wedding party. 

They took pics while we cocktailed. 

Then it was onto a sit down dinner at the lodge. The whole experience was a great mix of New England and the American South. For instance, at the dinner only the maid of honor, best man, and father of the bride toasted. It was great, and J did an amazing job. He brought me to tears (which isnt hard to do these days...)

Loved all the Tarpons

 A map of the island for everyone to sign.

 take one

take 2. (jeris needs a drink)

Congrats Zach and Liz!

Bokeelia Wedding Weekend, Part I

I was so excited when I got the "go ahead" from the doc to attend my brother-in-laws wedding in Florida this weekend. Lord knows I need a break from reality, and what better way to do that than heading to Florida with cool people and taking part in a wedding festivities. 

After a very uneventful flight to Fort Myers (unusual for me), we drove the 45 minutes to Pine Island and then Bokeelia Island. a.k.a. Paradise. This is the scene when we arrived at Liz's (future sister in law) parent's house.

 Hey Liz.

These people sail ya'll. 

Liz's brother in law, Pete, is on the the left boat (which he built himself) and her dad is on the right one. It was super impressive to see them maneuver these boats. Their family is actually in the sailing business. Later I had a great conversation with one of her uncles about how he finds it simply amazing that in today's reality of motor speed boating there is still a desire for their sailboat product. A passion ingrained in New Englanders and sailboat enthusiasts alike. I have a lot to learn. But, since im totally preggers, I'll have try out one of these bad boys at a later date. 

Back to the fun. Liz's parent's have been amazingly accommodating, and Friday night we had a shrimp boil/bbq/party at their house. All the out of town guests and family that were already there got together. 

The highlight of the night: Zach's tarpon fish cake. It was pretty amazing. (carrot cake on the inside)

 scene of the party

 Jordan: ready to party. Me & boys: ready to call it a night

 Mad scientist Windblown Bob: Also ready to party

Yesterday we relaxed by the beach/pool, watched football, and some people went on boat rides. It was a super awesome lazy day. In the evening, we all got together for a boat ride trip to their rehearsal dinner at Cabbage Key. 

(where were we?)

This map shows Bokeelia on the right side, and the "A" is cabbage key. Above both of these is Charlotte Harbor and Boca Grande. All of these look so close on a map, but it was a 45 minute boat ride (in boat below) from Bokeelia to cabbage key. Luckily a storm had blown through earlier that day and flattened the water. 

 "We're on a boat!"

In case we got stranded in a sandbar, the festivities could continue

Once at Cabbage Key (also known as the location Jimmy Buffett supposedly wrote "cheeseburger in paradise") we enjoyed the unique atmosphere, watched a little football, ate cheeseburgers, fish sandwiches and had the coolest rehearsal dinner on record. Yes, those are dollar bills all over the ceiling. This night was so Zach and Liz. 

We headed back to the Lodge on a trip that was slightly too reminiscent of  Riverboat formal (AOPi memory). The rain had returned, so it was a bit cold and damp, but we survived and headed to the bar for more football, drinks and company. The wedding is today, so more to come!

Cat Fail

In the past few months we have transitioned our pets to different lifestyles to prepare for the babes. The dogs are no longer allowed upstairs and the cats have been banished to the basement/outside. This has worked well for the past few months. However today we reached a whole new level of banishment for the cats.

I worked from home this afternoon to rest and prepare for our trip to Florida starting tomorrow afternoon. We had some carpet guys come to replace the pad in our finished basement. Long story short- the lady we bought the house from said she had all new carpets put in, but she must have neglected the pads, because before we moved our cats down there,we had the carpets steamed and it smelled like 100 animals had peed all over that carpet. Nasty.

So, I walked the carpet guys downstairs to show them the room that needed the pad replaced. As I opened the door all I see are feathers, Everywhere! Damn those cats and their killing instinct. So, I find the bird, get rid of it, and start vacuuming up feathers (which doesn't work in case you were wondering) Meanwhile, the guys start moving furniture out of the room so they can do their thing. As i'm vacuuming one of them taps me on the shoulder and points to the other side of the room. Dead squirrel. Really dead squirrel. SO GROSS. Im frantically trying to figure out how to get rid of this thing the most sanitized way possible, and also apologize to them for the grossness. Clearly, we dont use this room nearly enough.

Needless to say, the cats are now banished to the outdoors and the unfinished part of the basement. No carpet for cats. Although I have a feeling with Ellie's hunting need, we havent seen the end of special presents.

Farm Livin

Today Erin and I ventured out in the wild blue yonder (a.k.a. far west Alabama) for some fun on the farm. One of our running buddies and his wife bought a ton of land complete with a house, barn, barn cat, and is only 2 hours from Bham. It was also a great chance to wear our dogs out real good. It wasn't easy getting them in the car, but once we did, it was smooth sailing. 

Beau & Bentley

Mac & Mia

Pretending like they are angels

Red Barn!

View from the barn

One of the reasons we love these people

While Erin and John went for a 4-wheeler ride with all 5 dogs following (they have a dog as well), I chilled and enjoyed the scenery. I assumed 4-wheeling wasnt an acceptable pregnancy activity. 

Guns are acceptable. 

(I didn't shoot it, calm down people)

Dont mess with us.

We successfully wore these dogs out. The car ride home was very quiet. 

Thanks to John and Leslie for such a fun afternoon in the great outdoors. Thanks to Erin for driving to east budda Alabama.