Photogenic Friday: Octopus

I love visiting aquariums. As in, I love it so much that Andy told me to calm down. Multiple times.

I think he wanted to pretend like he didn't know me, but he didn't, bless him.

The ocean is totally terrifying to me. And the things that live in it are even more so. That's what makes the aquarium so great. It scares me to death and I love it.

All the little sea creatures are so creepy.

This guy was no exception.


The way he moved around in that water made me glad there were thick walls of glass separating us.

Embracing stereotypes

This morning in our kitchen:

Me: (At the sink doing dishes) Can you unscrew the blade from the bottom of the blender for me please.

Andy: (Takes the blender pitcher from me) Have you ever been able to do this yourself?

Me: Sometimes, but it takes me longer and if you're standing right here why not have you do it instead?

Andy: But what if I'm not here?

Me: I'll just wait until you get home.

Andy: But what if I'm dead?

Me: Well, then I'll marry someone else. But first I'll make sure he can take apart the blender for me.

Photogenic Friday: Ginger

This is what Andy looked like every time he set foot on the beach last week.


Oh, wait. This was before he found a hat, so imagine him with a baseball cap on too and that is what he looked like the hand full of times that he came to the beach with me.

I spent as much time as humanly possible basking in beachy vacation time. I got a little sunburned, but nothing too bad.

If Andy had spent as much time in the sun as I did he'd still look like a lobster with no end in sight.

He's sensitive people. An hour in the sun with or without sunscreen and he looks like his skin has been set on fire.

So he found other means of use for his time. He tells me he enjoyed himself and I'll just have to take his word for it. I think what he really enjoyed was not being at work for a week. I can't say that I blame him.

We're back

Saturday evening we rolled up to our apartment; refreshed, but weary from travel and coming down off our vacation high.

It's good to be home.

It's especially good to be tan, even though I have the strangest tan lines known to mankind.

I could tell you about every detail of my trip which is exactly what I had planned to do throughout the week while we were there. Turns out the advertised wifi in our rental house was only a stolen and weak connection from one of the surrounding houses.

Barraging you with the whole week's events in one post is more than I can handle and I'm sure more than you want to read.

Suffice it to say we had a lovely time and I was sad to leave. I'm glad to be home, but I'm always a little down trodden when I leave the coast and I usually bid farewell with a tear in my eye.


Until next time...

Photogenic Friday: My bags are packed, I'm ready to go

But I'm not leaving on a jet plane. I'm leaving in a car.

Also, my bags are only halfway packed at this point, but whatever.

We're going to the beach for a week!

There aren't enough exclamation points to tell you how excited I am.

I love the beach!

Here is a picture of the last time I was on the beach:

This is the date that photo was taken:



It's been four and a half years.

It's ridiculous that I've let so much time pass between visits. Especially considering I live in a coastal state.

I'm sorry Mr. Ocean and Mr.Sand. I've neglected you for far too long.

I'll see you in just a few short hours!

I'm a philanthropist and I can prove it

Rewind to tax season 2008.

For a large portion of 2007 Andy was considered self employed. So our taxes for that year were not pretty. It could have been worse, but it could have been a lot better.

We had to pay federal taxes, but we did manage to scrimp out a refund from our state return. A whole, whopping $7.

I know, how exciting is that? We left the tax office with big plans for our rebate. We were going to treat ourselves with a feast from the nearest dollar menu as soon as the check came in the mail. Anticipation was high.

A month or so later the check came. Whoot! I remember taking it out of the mail box, but after that things get blurry. I think I may have told Andy that it came, but who really knows? At the time gas was through the roof and the bank wasn't exactly close, so I just planned on cashing the check whenever I was in town again.

Maybe a month after that we had a conversation that went something like this:

Andy: Hey, did you ever cash that rebate check?

Me: Oh! No I don't think I did.

Andy: So what did you do with it?

Me: I'm not entirely sure. It'll probably turn up and when it does I'll take it to the bank.

Andy: Well, whatever. It was only $7.

Fast forward to last Saturday.

It's a woman's prerogative to have as many purses as her closet will hold and then stuff in a few more just because she can. Last week, before the family picnic, I decided it was time for a change. So I went into my closet to pull out one of my summer bags. The one I had in mind was a little bigger than my current bag; it had been a birthday gift from my inlaws last year. Plenty of room for my wallet and sunglasses and a book of course and lot's of other completely unnecessary items.

If you're anything like me every purse in your arsenal is storage for a bunch of crap that you never cleaned out. You know, stuff that doesn't really have a home, but you don't want to throw it out, but it isn't worthy to transfer to your new bag. Or you're just lazy, like I am, and it's easier to take out the necessary things and cram the rest of it back in the bag and into the closet.

So I rummaged around for a minute until I finally found my desired tote and I pulled it out. Of course it had to be purged of all the "stuff" still in it. I pulled it all out to sort it into trash and keep piles.

Guess what was in it?

The $7 rebate check from the state of North Carolina.

"Huh." I said aloud and then laid it down and went about my business. It was only $7 after all.

I forgot about it (again) until last night when Andy comes in the living room holding a piece of paper and says, "So how about this tax rebate check? Where did this come from?"

I laugh and tell him where I found it. Then he actually gets defensive and wants to know why I didn't cash it. I remind him of that conversation we had a year ago and that he knew all along that I didn't cash it.

Of course the deadline to cash it is long past due. So I guess I've done my part for the economy. I donated our $7 back to this glorious state.

You're welcome North Carolina!

Like pulling teeth

This past Saturday Andy and I joined my family for a picnic and "half-way to Christmas" get together.

As always, it was a lot of fun to see everyone and catch up. It seems like as we all grow up and start lives of our own getting the whole group together is difficult. Even on Saturday there were some people missing; my brother and his brood and two other cousins.

When I was a teenager I missed a lot of these family time things because I was working or "had more important" things to do. Then I grew up a little bit and lost a couple of family members and realized how much they all meant to me and that we wouldn't all be here forever. This has become even more clear to me since my accident in April. My friend Whitney said it best when she said, "We're all young and in our twenties and think we're invincible, but any day it could all be taken away from us."

I don't mean to sound so gloomy, but it's the truth and sometimes it takes a traumatic event to make you realize what's important.

So whenever an opportunity comes up for me to see my family or friends I like to do what I can to make sure I'm there. I also come with camera in tow because I think it's important to document these activities. If we don't get to do it again for a couple of years then we'll be totally different, there might be a few new family members, or maybe even one or two less. So I've made it my mission to capture everyone on film at every opportunity.

No matter where we are I take our tripod with me and I make everyone line up for a group shot. There is much moaning and groaning and someone usually points out that we did this the last time we were together. But I don't care.

One day, maybe years from now, they'll be glad I made them do it. And these pictures will probably be most meaningful to the biggest complainers.


Left to right, starting in the front:

Aunt Lea, Aunt Pam (with Sophie), Uncle Todd, Me, Andy, Mamaw
Wes (Luke's friend), Caleb, Luke, Bekah, Elizabeth, Hannah
Uncle Tony, Aunt Donna, My parents - Julia and Terry

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On a completely different note!

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Take a look and if you like what you see head over to The Meanest Mom's site because she is having an awesome giveaway this week!