Ana’s Wedding!

We were so excited to celebrate with Ana for her wedding day! And even giggled in seeing how close the wedding was to Talledega, we stopped for a selfie on the way.

Costa Rica 2014

Pablo and I were 4 years overdue for a adult only vacay and opted for Costa Rica this year with our friends A+A.

 

We enjoyed our first night in Tamarindo for dinner.

 

We relaxed day 1 and then hit the ground running day 2 with a white water rafting trip with brothers Chuta and Gorge.

Day 2 was Barinque with Atv rides and panoramic views.

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The boys decided to take a dip in the waterfall, but A and I decided it was way too cold. Smart girls.

Next up horseback riding to the zip lines

After zip lining over 500' ravines, we had lunch and then missed each other up with volcanic mud.

Breakfast nearly everyday looked like this.

 

We wrapped the whole week up with a catamaran sail and paddle boarded before watching the sunset.

 

Our reservations were lost, so we caught a late taxi ride and listened to the best music of all time. Starting with Patrick Swayze’s and then this…

 

Monster jam 2014

Pablo and Scott took the boys to see the monster truck show. They got there a little early and walked around on the dirt. I think the Popcorn was definitely a hit.

Pablo’s New Car

Pablo was very excited this Summer after months of research in trading in his gas guzzling SUV for a brand new Nissan Leaf. 

We were all expecting that it would be here December 2nd, but Wednesday night Pablo got a call that another owner opted not to take delivery of his vehicle and it was the same color and features that Pablo had chosen.

Not only was Pablo excited, but the folks at Regal Nissan were also very excited. Want to know why? Well, this Nissan Leaf was the 1st Leaf in the state of Georgia! So they all enjoyed taking pictures for Facebook pages and promotions.

Creeping Fig, how we love thee…

Pablo and I took a belated anniversary trip to Charleston, South Carolina this weekend.

Our trip was filled with passion, we had an historic downtown Charleston tour with Ed Macy. Ed, a native Charlestonian discussed the slave trade which made Charleston the richest city in the US.

These circular spiked bars below were to protect the white folk in the event of a slave uprising.

This is a typical slave quarters where the kitchen is the lower level and the upper level is where the slaves lived. The kitchen and slave quarters were separated from the main house to prevent fires. Today this building would be worth $750,000.

 

This house sits on East Bay street on the Battery, so called because of the battery of cannons launched at this part of Charleston during the Civil War. This house shows the beautiful architecture of the homes. Look at the difference columns as you get closer to the sky.

A typical home in Charleston has two porches with a door covering the entrance. The homes all face the ocean and are narrow to allow for blowing winds. The door covers the porch so that when Charlestonian’s are only partly dressed, they are still covered from plain sight.  We loved the plants on the ledges.

We heard a fun saying while here: When you meet someone from Macon, the 1st question they’ll ask you is what church you go to. When you meet someone from Charleston, the 1st question they’ll ask you is what your grandmother’s maiden name was. When you meet someone from Savannah, the 1st question they’ll ask you is, Dah-ling, what can I get you to drink?

Similar to Venice, there’s many alley ways filled with many plants and pieces of art, like this address plaque. 

After our walking tour, we stopped into Bakeshop for a drink and I really liked the walls which were covered in various sizes of trim, all painted white. It gives a really cool effect and depth.

We dined Saturday evening at Hank’s Seafood at the corner of Hayne and Church St.  Neither Pablo nor I were very hungry, but we tried the fried mashed potatoes and both had a delicious seared grouper over risotto. Dessert, because you know we have to have dessert, was chocolate croissant bread pudding. Deliciously unique!

Saturday night we had a personal tour with Kevin McQuade, the impressively passionate concierge from the Courtyard we stayed at downtown. Kevin was phenomenal, from planning our whole trip and then including this private walking tour of Tradd Street at night. We peeked into private courtyards to listen to the owner’ fountains and the lighting on the private gardens was magnificent!  It was a treat not only to be guided through this area at night, but also to have our own personal photographer. The photo below is us between two boat posts. The ground we’re standing on used to be water and the owners would tie their boats to these posts.

Our walking tour was lit by this gorgeous full moon.

A famous house with crawling jasmine. Apparently in the Spring, this tree has a phenomenal display of white flowers.

Sunday morning we met Ralph Earhart for a kayaking tour of the Edisto River Ricefields, Ted Turner’s rice fields to be more exact.  The most exciting part during the trip was when it started to rain. Just the 3 of us on the water listening to nothing but the rain – it was heavenly.

Sunday evening we had plans to dine at the Middleton Place restaurant and sadly, we didn’t get a chance to eat there (I wasn’t feeling well) but we did get to walk the grounds.  The oldest landscaped gardens in America, was beautiful and serene.

Monday morning we walked to Queen Street Grocery where we had crepes in a small corner market.  On the way back, we stopped at 161.5 King Street to walk through a couple of graveyards. What we learned is the a graveyard is burial site attached to a church. Cemeteries are ones that stand alone. In this graveyard, there’s a famous tombstone with a skull and crossbones.

Pablo and I love the creeping fig that we’ve learned climbs up brick and stone, but does not penetrate like ivy does.  We’re thinking of some more rain barrels around the house to save on water for our new lawn and covering those barrels in wire and training creeping fig to make them more colorful.

Monday afternoon we ventured out to the Morris Island Lighthouse with Gresh Meggart. He and his son took us out to Morris Island where we collected over 8 sand dollars and a handful of shells.  We saw 3 dolphins as we were headed to the island and watched them gracefully dance in the water.  On the way he pointed out many birds, some of which are currently endangered.

We also self-snapped this picture of ourselves, however, neither one of us thinks it’s quite looks real, but it is.

So surreal!

5 years?

My how time flies!

It feels like yesterday we spent our 10th month together in Aruba, shaking our butts for that bottle of wine.

It feels like yesterday we learned more about the UGA campus and Athens.

It feels like yesterday we were freezing our butts off searching for a cab in NYC with Jonny Z and watching Janet Jackson’s boob on TV.

It feels like yesterday we had a 2 hour tour of Chicago and listening to bagpipes on Lake Michigan.

It feels like yesterday we jumped out of the hot air balloon in Tuscany to sit down to Champagne and cheese.

It feels like yesterday we bicycled thru Ny Haaven in Copenhagen and cheered on the local Capoiera group.

It feels like yesterday we traveled to Dublin and England for our 1st anniversary, to root on USA in the World Cup and had a train go “Kaput.”

It feels like yesterday I took us in the wrong direction at Versailles, but you walked with me anyway.

Can you believe we’ve been to Hell and we came back?

It feels like yesterday we enjoyed Slurpees every day and visited with Mickey.

It’s true – every day I love him more and more. I’ve been blessed, not only do I have a kind, gentle and loving husband – he’s also a great father.  I was overjoyed watching his face light up when our little guy entered the world. Pablo was just glowing. 

There’s a song by Brad Paisley that makes me cry every time I hear it.  He sings about the first time he met his wife, then proposing to her, then seeing her pregnant and having their first child. The main theme in the song is “and I thought I loved you then.” Because at each different season of his life, he loves his wife more than he did the season before.

Pablo, I thought I loved you then…..

“Then”

I’ve been update our blog this evening, making sure photos are right and listening to the radio. One of my favorite songs just came on and I had to share, especially since Pablo’s not here for me to hug right now – I’m thinking about him….

Then by  Brad Paisley

I remember, trying not to stare the night that I first met you
You had me mesmerized
And three weeks later, in the front porch light
taking forty-five minutes to kiss goodnight
I hadn't told you yet
but I thought I loved you then

And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
Like a river meets the sea,
stronger than it's ever been.
We've come so far since that day
And I thought I loved you then
And i remember, taking you back to right where I first met you,
You were so surprised
There were people around, but I didn't care
Got down on one knee right there once again,
I thought I loved you then

I could just see you, with a baby on the way
And I could just see you, when your hair is turning gray
What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more
But I've said that before
And now you're my whole life
now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you, girl
We'll look back someday, at this moment that we're in
And I'll look at you and say
And I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then

Weintraub’s take Best Couples Award

Connie - Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Kelly is Gem

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paul and I opted to go with costumes that I could show off my belly.

I had to stick it out a little more than it is, but little WIP was up for the challenge.

We even had orange tic tacs and a bottle of Sunny Delight.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Evan loved his Buzz Lightyear costume and his lollipop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks like Nathan, Sadie and Sean got a jump start on Nathan’s upcoming 1st birthday that has a pirate theme.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Hosts: Mark and Ashley Young, their friends Matt and Julie and Connie and Dave (Hazmat)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cowboy Gary, Guineviere Mindy and Clown Around Jay.