A special treat...

for all you Atlas Shrugged fans.

We're not 21 anymore friends.

The calm before the storm

We were too cool to mess with that night

Its going to hard to focus while posting this because i'm trying to watch the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the same time (its genius to put it on prime time), but i'm going to attempt. Loosing focus is a theme that is was quite prevalent last weekend as I traveled down to Orange Beach for a beach weekend with my friends Kara and Meghan. It was wonderful to get away because it had been a exceptionally bad week, and i needed some time away from normal life. Where is the best place to do that: apparently Kara's beach house. Not only did her amazing mother cook and clean for us the whole time (who knew grits and chicken salad could be so addicting) but we let loose at a level i'm not quite use to, but is needed every once in a while. Here are our pics from our night at the infamous FloraBama bar. For some reason we thought it would be a great idea to get there at 7pm and mingle with the locals till around 2am. Hiliarity ensued, and all i'm gonna say is that you had to be there to expierence the quesadilla snagging, the "hen party" for John Campbell, and yes, dinosaur tatoos. I needed monday off just to recover. This weekend will probobly be a bit more subdued, but i dont know how much. We have Brooke and Paul's wedding in Cullman with most all of our friends, it should be good times!

Alright, its round 13 of the spelling bee, and they are using the championship words. i have to focus now.

My crazy Spence

Kitten spence trying to figure out the thing that makes too much noise and disturbs his sleepy time

Climbing up my leg, not a kitten anymore, I dont see how gravity allowed this.

In the laundry Hamper, and pretty content about it

Spencer's latest favorite place. In my nice handcrafted pottery bowl.

The aerial view for size perspective

Of our two cats, Spencer, the orange tabby, is by far the most adventurous and unpredictable. He also whines considerably more than any cat should, and is basically a drama king for attention. I think this drove Jordan close to crazy when he was home studying for the past few years. Spence seems to always get himself interesting and usually very cute picture taking opportunities, so I highlighted a few in the pictures above. Maybe i'll have an Ellie montage next. She's just much more serious, and usually spends her time staring at us with a scowl and her front legs crossed. These cats keep us incredibly entertained, I just hope they are as funloving when we add a puppy to the mix in the not to distant future!

Commencement

Saturday was quite a milestone for us. Jordan's completion of law school closes one chapter for us, and beings another exciting one. It has been a LONG three years of school for him and work for me. Anyone close to either of us knows it hasnt been easy, but somehow we made it. I cant wait for both of us to be working and quite possibly in the same line of work (more on that another day). That will allow us to do many of the things we have been waiting for: buy a house, get our puppy, start a family (hopefully in that order).

Seeing Jordan in his academic regalia was a wonderful feeling. Mostly because i'm so proud of his accomplishment, but also because I know our school is over. At the same time, it kind of makes me w ant to go back for my Ph.D...but i'm going to shelter those feelings for a while!

Back to Jordan. It was a great ceremony; short, sweet and to the point. Let's see those grads walk across the stage and go eat! See my vido of Jordan's moment in the spotlight below. Afterwords our families got together at Jordan's parent's house for a champagne toast and a delicious dinner. At the end of the day, Jordan continued the celebration with the boys, and I crashed. Oh the relief!

My work as an amateur filmaker.

Artistry at Subway

Today I stopped by Subway to get lunch for jordan and I, and of course to "eat fresh." This certain subway is by our house, so we frequent it regularly. This visit I found a new employee behind the counter, and when i ordered the usual ham and turkey foot long, i was quite surprised by the service i received. He didnt do the usually subway routine of throwing the meat on the bread, haphazardly placing the onions, peppers, and olives, and squirting the oil so that 80% of it makes it on the wrapping and not the bread. No. He was the most meticulous sandwich artist I have ever seen. Not only was he thoughtful of each placement of veggie, but he was patient, friendly, and just plain cool. So, not only did i get great service, but also a very organized sandwich. I hope he works weekends.

MLS

Finally after much work and deliberation, our house in on the market! Check it out:

530 Hackberry Ridge Cove

Pardon the Progress

Paul, Fergus. Daniel, me, and Mrs. Gaston at the Alabama Kidney Foundation walk-a-thon. Susie is on the board, so we were helping raise money, and walk for a great cause.

David (Lecompte) playing Cornhole at the Burns, Jones & LeCompte practice kickoff event at Oak Mtn. State Park.

Daniel (Jones) , my mom, and me at the cookout. The hamburgers and hotdogs were delicious!

The Trotman-Hinkle Group playing some amazing bluegrass tunes at the event. My sister Kimberly said it best when she described bluegrass as being the back-up music to life. We agreed that this band needs to just follow us around as we go about our day.

The front of our townhouse. My mission is to get our neighborhood associations coveted "Yard of the Month" award before we move. My hydrandias are almost blooming!

I feel a recap is in order. I cant seem to update frequently enough lately, so hopefully after this entry i'll realize how frustrating it is to recap several weeks, and will try to be more timely. First, myself and three of my coworkers (paul, fergus, and daniel) helped support my mother-in-law two weeks ago at the Alabama Kidney Foundation walk-a-thon. It was a great event and they raised over $100,000 for the foundation. Later that afternoon I had my coworker and friend carolyn's charity crawfish boil benefitting Parkinson's research. To top it off, Jordan and I ended the night at a casino night benefitting breast cancer research. WOW, that's alot of philanthropy. I love supporting a great cause and have an amazing time.

This past weekend, myself and my business partners, David and Daniel, hosted a picnic at oak mtn state park to kickoff our new practice. We had a great turnout, and the weather held up just for us. After totally crashing for the rest of saturday, I spent sunday cleaning our house with my mom and Jordan to get it ready for today when the realtor came and took pictures. Because of this, our place had to be spotless, and that was a chore. We also rearranged the downstairs to stage it, and i'll post the MLS link as soon as I have it. The new set-up is actually great, and makes me wish we didnt have to move, if only we had a backyard...