Valentines – Part II

I love technology – I am stuck in the car right now, yet I have plenty to entertain me. First off, there is always my Nintendo DS or I can get on the Internet on my phone if I get bored. Secondly, Travis has a Bluetooth device that lets you listen to music that you have stored on your phone in the car. It’s so much easier than remembering (and charging ahead of time) an MP3 player. His music started to repeat, so I am now in charge of the music selection.

Wondering about the first sentence of the blog where I said that I was in the car? Yes, I am now sitting in the car typing up a blog on my netbook (an Acer Aspire One). It’s basically a smaller version of a regular computer that I got for Christmas (thank you Santa!). I can even load my pictures easily because Travis took them on his camera and the memory card from his camera fits into the SD slot on my computer. Here are some pictures we took on our drive through the mountains today:

My computer is great for traveling… speaking of traveling, Travis and I are now on our way back home from snowboarding at Sapphire Valley. Yes, snowboarding – and nothing is broken – I can still type with both hands and walk around without crutches.

We went on Valentine’s night from 5:00 to 9:00 (it was a better deal than going all day and we figured we would be tired after four hours anyway). We were right; practicing on the bunny hill was exhausting! It took a lot of work to get back up to the top each time for 20 seconds of attempting to ride down. I’m just glad that I am good at falling without hurting myself because I fell a lot! It wasn’t too bad though, it seemed like a mix of skiing, wake boarding, and skate boarding – all of which I have tried before.

I don’t know what was scarier, the first time I went down the bunny hill (not knowing what to expect once I started moving) or going down the big hill later that night. I guess it was the big hill because I was so nervous that I felt like I was going to puke as we were going up the lift. Travis said that is how he feels before giving presentations… I’m glad that doesn’t happen to me because it would be really hard to be a teacher.

Anyway, the big hill seemed easier than the bunny hill. I don’t know if it was because I was too scared to not do well (there is only so much you can mess up on a bunny hill, but I could have really hurt myself on a big hill) or if it was because I finally had a chance to take a break and recover from walking up the bunny hill. It was probably just that the snow was softer and that made it easier to control your speed and turns. Travis seemed really surprised once I got on the big hill – he looked at me and asked “Where did this come from?” He was good at turning and slowing himself down on the bunny hill, but I wasn’t very skilled at that until the big hill.

So there’s my new adventure – and I survived. I’m a little sore (and jealous of Travis for not being too sore – he picked up on it after about an hour when it took me about two hours, so he fell a lot less than me), but it was fun and I learned how to do something new.

Now if I could only post the blog… maybe Travis will drive past somewhere with free wireless, or I guess I could transfer this to my phone and do it from there – I do have Internet as part of my phone package. Nah, too much work, I’ll just post it later on tonight.

My Valentines

Travis and I have already gotten our Valentine's Day gifts. Yeah, it's not for a few days, but we didn't wait to play with them since they weren't a surprise. He wanted new bike tires (which I couldn't pick out) and I wanted a bike trailer, so we already knew what we were getting and opened them when they arrived. I know we won't have any gifts for the actual day, but I'm OK with that - the holiday is really used anyway as an excuse to buy something for the other person that they will like.

So, Travis' bike tires aren't that exciting (at least to me), but check out what I got!

Yep, that's right - a bike trailer to haul Bailey around in. It should be a lot of work to pull a 100 pound dog behind a bike, but Travis has an electric bike (notice the battery over the back wheel). It's great - I push a lever and Bailey and I are zooming down the street! So now there's one more reason for the neighbors to stare at me, but look at that big smile on his face...

This was the second trip that Bailey took in the trailer (I didn't take a camera the first day). As usual, I hyped him up about going before we left. Travis and I do this all the time when we are taking him for a ride or walk; and Bailey bounces around and barks. Before our ride today, I ran into the back yard while talking about "going" and Bailey chased me so that I wouldn't leave without him. Unfortunately, he was so excited about going this time, that he jumped through a window in the screened in porch!

Notice that the door on the right was propped open. Why he felt compelled to take a shortcut through the screen (and bushes), I'm not sure. He can run so much faster than me that catching up with me isn't a problem. Apparently, his brain wasn't running fast enough though... he seemed a little shocked when he landed in the bushes (as were Travis and I). Here he is checking out his demolition once he came back in the porch (using the door):

Well, at least he likes the new bike trailer...

I (Almost) Have a Niece and Nephew!

Courtney (Travis’ sister) just had a baby girl! While we’re technically not related yet, I am very excited about the prospect of having both a niece and nephew. I have never really watched anyone grow up from birth. I have seen my students age from 10 year olds to 16 year olds (which is a big change), but that’s not the same as knowing someone from the time that they are a baby and then getting to watch them become adults.

Here is a picture of Tamzyn…



… and I can’t forget to include the new big brother Boston in this post, he’s just too adorable!

Cumberland Island with the AOC

Travis and I went to Cumberland Island for New Year's with the AOC.

We camped out for a few nights and had a lot of fun with the group. But don't worry, we weren't roughing it... the weather was great and we took plenty of stuff to have all the comforts of home!

And if you got in the right spot, you could even get cell phone reception and the Internet (which was good for the boys to keep up with the football games).

Even without the Internet, there is so much you can do there! First off, it's an island - so obviously, there is a beach.

There was also plenty of wildlife to look at... and for - I found 12 shark's teeth.

The most memorable event though was when we went on a 14 mile bike ride to the north end of the island (28 miles round trip)! I still can't believe I made it back to the campsite.

After the ride, hanging out at the campsite with the group was especially fun - I was really tired and didn't want to move too much!

And at night, we found plenty to keep ourselves occupied...

Fun B-Day Weekend!

Instead of a birthday gift from Travis this year, I decided that I wanted a day to do whatever activities I wanted. We picked Saturday (Dec. 13th) because it was one of the few full days that we had open. It turned into an entire fun weekend becuase we had other events going on Friday and Sunday. Here is a brief re-cap of the weekend:

Friday Evening:

We went to the Street Smarts holiday party. It was very laid back - a potluck event at the new office. I was worried that I would be uncomfortable or bored, but I enjoyed myself. We sat beside people that I knew from his office and others that I didn't know were really nice and funny. The white elephant gift exchange also ran very smoothly (sometimes those can take forever becasue people keep "stealing" gifts)... we took a singing fish and brought home a tin with playing cards and plastic poker chips.

Saturday (My Day):

1) I got breakfast in bed (thanks Travis) from McDonald's. It was funny when he gave it to me because he bought several options (not knowing what I would be in the mood for) -so we split them all.

2) We cleaned the house. I know, this isn't exactly fun, but it was nice to have it done and it was much faster than usual becuase I got Travis to help.

3) Travis let me win putt-putt at Peachtree Golf Center. He almost always wins when we play mini-golf, so I'm convinced he either changed some of the scores or he intentionally missed some putts.

4) Travis made lunch.

5) Break time - we played on our computers, watched TV, and lounged around.

6) We went to Dave and Busters to play video games. We also got our picture "sketched" in a photo booth... it wasn't too elaborate, but it did turn out better than when we combined our photos to see what our "child" would look like.

7) The day ended with cosmic bowling at Brunswick with Heather and Scott. Unfortunately, I didn't do well with actual bowling... so I think I'll stick to Wii bowling for a while.

Sunday:

I bought Falcons tickets a long time ago because the 8th graders at the school I work at were going to play at the Georgia Dome. Our seats were pretty far away for the Falcons game, but we got to move up close to see the 8th graders play. It was a lot of fun to see them there!

Afterwards, we went to the Varsity to have dinner. I wanted to go there for lunch on Saturday, but the traffic was more than I wanted to deal with. It worked out on Sunday though, since it wasn't too far out of the way on our way home.

"Christmas Tree-ing: 101"

Step 1: Put up other decorations around the house so that others become aware of the fact that you are ready to go get the tree.



Step 2: Go to the Tree Farm (or Home Depot, that's what we did) and pick out the first tree you look at in order to not upset those that you convinced into going with you. If you can, convince them to pose with the tree while holding it up for you to look at... this can probably only be achieved if you really do get the first tree you inspect.

Step 3: Securely tie the tree to the top of your car... then get the next victim to pose with it (notice Bailey being a good sport too).

Step 4: Attempt to not argue with each other about the angle of the tree as you place it into a stand. After getting it situated, you will probably need to vacuum up the pine needles on the floor (from moving it 2 inches back and forth) and water the tree.

Step 5: Light a fire and put on Christmas music in order to get into the mood for decorating the tree. If others aren't getting into the mood, send them out to replenish the stock of spiced rum for the egg nog.

Step 6: Mix drinks, then put decorations of your choice on the tree. We used white lights, blue and silver balls, white sparkly snowflakes, and a silver star on top. (Expert Tip: If you've had too much egg nog by the end of decorating, I would recommend waiting until the next day to put the topper on the tree.)

Step 7: Put dumb reindeer antlers on those that have been drinking the nog and take pictures.

Step 8: Admire the tree!

Turkey Day

Thanksgiving is nothing fancy for my family, but the food is really good (thanks Dad). Here's what happens...

We all sit around before eating - notice my mom lounging (in the first picture) while my dad is working in the kitchen in the background. Travis and my grandparents are also sitting around, but since I was taking the pictures, there's no proof that I wasn't working hard (smart, huh?).

Then, we all grab food and head to the table...

Eventually, Lucky enjoys his 8th meal of the day (my dad gives him tons of scraps).

Finally, my mom and I clean up the kitchen and then get back to sitting around. I know, there's no "picture proof" that I did any work, but unfortunately, that is my job every holiday that involves food.