Chinnys!

I haven't blogged about the chinchillas in a while. They're good. They're the same. They eat, tear cardboard off of their "house" and take dust baths. Once and a while we let them come out and play ;) Here's a couple pics.

Here's one of the chubster's sitting on the other one's head.

Here's another view. They definitely eat well :)

Saturday Morning Soccer

One of the main reasons Tom and I moved to a different apartment a little over a year ago was the view. In our first apartment, we looked out on the parking lot and another apartment building ~30 feet away. Now we look out on a field and more land and in the very far distance, a church.

Earlier this spring construction crews started working on the field across from us and we (okay, mainly I) became very nervous that something ugly and annoying was going to be built right across from us. Much to our delight, they were making a soccer field. Every Saturday morning and sometimes in the evenings during the week there are kids out there playing soccer. It's been nice to sit on the balcony, sip some coffee, and enjoy some kids running in circles around a ball (or doing cartwheels like I used to do ;).

$60 for $20

And "people" are saying that grocery costs are on the rise. Pssshhhhhhhhhhhh. Whatever. I feel the need to blog about this because I think it's a PR (personal record). Today Tom and I went to Publix for our weekly grocery shopping trip. My total spent was $22.72 (including $2.97 worth of taxes) and my total saved was $37.34. So we got $60.06 worth of groceries for $22.72 (technically $19.75 before taxes). Weeeeeeeeee Go Me! :)

Someday I'll let you in on all of my secrets O:)

Yay for Tom!!!

Tom just found out yesterday that his thesis project has been recommended for funding by the Department of Defense for Breast Cancer Research! It is essentially a predoctoral fellowship that he applied for a couple of months ago and he got it! I'm so proud of him :D

Destin 2008. Best. Vacation. Ever

Well, maybe not ever. I don't think anything can compare to our honeymoon (You can't really beat an all-inclusive resort in Mexico). But it was still a very relaxing vacation and we had a good time. We left Friday morning and drove the 4 1/2 hours to the gulf coast. We passed a giant peach along the way.



For lunch we stopped at Bates House of Turkey and enjoyed some yummy hickory-smoked free range turkey sandwiches.



We finally got to Destin Friday afternoon, checked into our hotel, and headed down to the beach for a little while. After the beach we went to our complimentary "Manager's Reception" aka "free happy hour" at our hotel. Then we went out to dinner at Pompano Joe's. We ended up going out a little later for dinner so we didn't have to wait at all, and we even got to sit on this tiny little deck right on the beach!


Saturday we spent the whole day at the beach. We were under a beach umbrella all day but somehow I managed to get burnt and I looked like a strawberry swirl popsicle for the rest of the trip. Saturday night we went to The Back Porch for dinner. The food was really good and it was another restaurant that was right on the beach.



Sunday we tried to go to the beach, but the double red flag was up which means No Swimming. Some guy came by on a 4 wheeler and said if you even touch your toes in the water you can get a $250 fine. I guess the undertow and the water was just really bad from all of the storms on Saturday. So instead we spent the afternoon lounging at the pool. Sunday night we went out to dinner at The Crab Trap. Here's a pic of us before dinner.



On Monday we woke up and went to Bad Ass Coffee. A coffee chain from Hawaii. It was pretty good. Then we swung by the outlets before we headed home. All in all it was a good trip. Of course the beach looked the prettiest on our last day there. Here are some pics of the gulf on Monday.










Click here to see the rest of our pictures. Scroll to the bottom for "Destin 2008."

To Kill a Mockingbird

So if you're anything like me, you haven't read or thought about this book since high school. But boy do I have a story for you!

My friend Connie, (who is also my boss) has lived in Alabama her whole life. Her parents are from Alabama, and very Southern. Her dad is a minister, and he is doing some traveling work in Monroeville, AL. Her parents have been staying there for a few weeks, while he preaches there. Recently Connie and her sister went down to visit them for a weekend.

For those of you who don't know, Monroeville, AL is home to Harper Lee, author of To Kill a Mockingbird, and her friend Truman Capote. Now, I don't know if you're aware (I wasn't, until hearing this story from Connie) but there is A LOT of controversy over whether Harper Lee actually wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. A lot of people theorize that Truman Capote actually wrote it. Apparently there have been books written over this controversy and discussions as to who the true author is.

Regardless, Monroeville, AL is still home to Harper Lee, and every year there is a To Kill a Mockingbird Re-enactment in front of the Monroeville courthouse that then moves into the courthouse. My friend Connie went to this and said it was really good, a lot of the same people have been playing the same parts for years, apparently.

So I should mention that Connie's parents had befriended an older couple from Monroeville while they were there (I think they were actually staying in their guest house). Ms. Timp and Carl Ray. (VERY southern). WELL, it turns out that Ms. Timp knows Harper (who I will now refer to as "Nelle," because that's what Ms. Timp knows her as) from way back. Apparently Nelle used to play with Ms. Timp and her sisters growing up, Nelle would always be over at their house, according to Ms. Timp.

So Sunday for brunch Connie and her sister, her nephew (who's 12), her parents, and Ms. Timp and Carl Ray all went to this little old country restaurant for some good southern home-cooking in Monroeville. While they were there eating, Ms. Timp started going on about how Nelle used to come to this restaurant and also how it happened to be Nelle's (82nd) birthday that weekend. But Nelle has been in an "assisted living facility" for a couple years now. Connie and her sister and nephew were joking and asking Ms. Timp if she thought Nelle would come to the restaurant and Ms. Timp was saying that Nelle had been acting very strangely the past several years and would most likely NOT be going out to eat, even if it was her birthday.

Well, Connie and her sister noticed a little round table in the back of the restaurant, that was full of people. Ms. Timp looked over and recognized Nelle's sister (I think this is when she mentioned that it was Nelle's birthday). So a little bit later, Connie looked over at the table again and they noticed this little old lady in a wheelchair at the table with her back facing the rest of the restaurant. They pointed her out to Ms. Timp and she was like "Oh, it's Nelle!" So Connie and her family tried to convince Ms. Timp to go over and say HI but Ms. Timp said that Nelle hasn't been very nice lately. She wasn't going to go over but Connie's nephew convinced her to go and take him with her (and trust me, from what I've learned so far, it takes a lot to convince a southern woman to do something once her mind is made up!). So Ms. Timp and Connie's pre-teen nephew went over and said hi to "Nelle" aka Harper Lee. Then they came back. Apparently Nelle didn't have too much to say. Connie said she couldn't believe all this was happening. Her nephew shook her hand and Ms. Timp said "Hi" and "Happy Birthday" but that was about it. Nelle wasn't one for small talk.

So Ms. Timp continued to tell stories after they had met Nelle. She was talking about her 80 year-old older sister and how she needs to retire. Connie asked Ms. Timp what her sister did for a living and Ms. Timp replied "She's the mayor!" and Connie said "I'm sorry Ms. Timp, the mayor of what?" and Ms. Timp said "The mayor of Monroeville!!"

Hahaahhahaha. So the mayor of Monroeville is an 80 year old southern woman. And my friend Connie was in the same restaurant as Harper Lee, who may or may not have written To Kill a Mockingbird.

I think Connie likes to share these Southern experiences with me because she knows I will appreciate the absurdness of all of this. Remind me to tell you the story about her trip to a furniture store in Mississippi in the middle of a thunder storm with the mysterious cat...............

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

I love this day. I think mostly because it gives me an excuse to drink one of my favorite beers.......Corona :) On the balcony......in my new favorite chair.........Feliz Cinco de Mayo!!!

Baby Shower # 5

Yes, that's right, I've been to 5 baby showers in the past 3 months, and I have 4 more friends/family who are due in the next 3-6 months. I guess it's just that time! I feel like I need a disclaimer with this blog so you all aren't thinking I'm writing this because I'm going to make an announcement (Dad!).

*Disclaimer: Tom and I are NOT, I repeat NOT ready for babies yet.*

Good, now that that's out of the way, I do have to say how CUTE baby stuff is. There was a 2 year old at the baby shower I was at today, and he's been to quite a few baby showers per his mom. Every time Amanda would open a present he would say "oooh, cute!" There were also margaritas (and limeaid-my new favorite southern beverage) at this baby shower today. Here's a couple of super cute things I got for Amanda.

The onesie says "Just Hatched" heehee.

"Hi Beeeeeeee" (That's from homestar). This little bee was sooo cute! He fit in the "C" pocket of the activity worm. Tom and I both agreed he should have been in the "B" pocket though.

Activity worm close-up

I also bought this little onesie that has a picture of the earth on it and it says "Hi, I'm new here." Soooo cute! I should also take this opportunity to announce that our good friends Carrie and John are pregnant with a little baby girl. Carrie was one of my bridesmaids in the wedding. Also, please keep my friend Kristine in your thoughts and prayers. She's 35 weeks and has been in the hospital on strict bedrest for almost 2 weeks now. They're trying to make it to 37 weeks and then they'll do a c-section. Please pray that their baby is born healthy and that Kristine doesn't go out of her mind in the hospital on bedrest!