The Big Apple

We were in New Jersey. Phish was playing two nights in Holmdel. Whit's aunt & uncle live in Holmdel. We had one day with nothing to do until 6pm. The train from Metro Park (30 min. from Holmdel) to Penn Station was $40 and a one-hour journey. We did it. We were only in the grand city for the short side of 3 hours, but we saw Times Square and Central Park and booked it in order to get back in time to catch our train (not without an all-out run in the train station to make sure we caught it). We even managed to grab lunch and buy an item from a street vendor (a magnet). I had never been to New York before (let alone New Jersey) and it was different from what I imagined (aka the movies). It was hot, stuffy, third world-ish (ugh, too many tiny stores selling cell phones and electronics), and the people fit into our genre more (young, white, wealthy). I didn't hate it, but I definitely wouldn't consider it the picture of "America," as is assumed by Hollywood. It was quite a trip though and I would love to go back to explore it more. Next year!!

The Beach!

The story of our vacation to St. Mary's, Georgia. It was our first vacation as a married couple besides the honeymoon - just us two!! It was so fun to be able to do whatever we wanted to do and not worry about anyone else's plans.

I couldn't resist these beautiful peonies. Unfortunately they died in two days due to the heat. :/

We stayed at my parents' house in St. Marys. This is the beautiful backyard on the 4th hole.We played at Fernandina Beach in Amelia Island. We had a lot of fun crashing about in the waves on this float.Downtown Amelia Island. We got dinner one night at "Toppings," a pizza restaurant. The girl rang us up for one SLICE of pizza instead of one pie. Our bill was cheap but they let it go. Then about ten minutes later this woman wearing a cami and had her hair in a bun comes over to us and explains. She's the manager and wasn't even working, just happened to be nearby. The two girls working the register called her in because they were too scared to come out and tell us that they rang us up wrong and we needed to pay more money (about twenty bucks more - lame). We thought it was hilarious that she described the cashier as "brand new...we hired her out of emergency." Ohh maybe you should have just gone without someone instead of hiring someone fairly incompetent. Oh well, it's the beach who cares. They made up for it by bringing us two beers since they had to teach the new girl how to work the tap. OH and our white sauce hawaiian pizza and sweet potato fries were DELICIOUS.This picture shows but a fraction of the seagulls we saw throughout the week. The first day I had a traumatic experience when Whit thought it was funny to throw food to the birds after I begged him not to. This resulted in not him but me being chased by the enormous flock of 60 seagulls (no kidding - I counted them after the fact). I ran to the water and cowered as I protected my pepperoni sub. It was quite hilarious but I also did not appreciate it at all. Fortunately now I am back on good terms with the gulls. ;)

A slue of posts

...is sure to ensure. I have been absent from the blogging world the past few weeks due to a multitude of trips, plans, and activities. So much has been going on! Now that I'm settled in Colorado and won't be leaving for the next six weeks, nay, one week, I will be using my downtime to refresh by documenting my journeys on my blog. YAY! So get ready.

Up first - weddings! Everyone loves weddings, so they get the first call. In May we went to four weddings in two weekends. It was as crazy as it sounds, but since we were able to go to all of them, we did! We felt so loved and connected to be invited to all these weddings. We're going to 8 in 2011 and got invited to 2 that we are regrettably missing. Sometimes I feel like I value my friendships more than is reciprocated, but being chosen to attend all these weddings has graciously shown me how much people do appreciate mine and Whit's friendship. We love our friends and value them so much, and have been so happy to celebrate these momentous occasions.

Joey & Ashley, Blacksburg VA We actually got to go to two weddings in a row with this great couple. Love them! Whit discipled Joey. It was really cool for him to see Joey (and Trey) get married after talking with them about itand giving them lots of advice. Adam & Crissen, Virginia Beach VA I'm not gonna lie, this one was my favorite! It was on the beach, everyone was barefoot, the sunset was beautiful, and all our friends were there. PERFECT. We all stayed in a room together... we are crazy but it was really fun! I love this group of people - everyone is so ridiculous. Unashamedly. Our whole crew. :) :) We actually danced. Big WHUT! Mary Catherine's face basically sums up how much fun we had. Love these reunions! Ben & Monica, Northern Virginia

They had the most beautiful tropical blue flowers Monica is of Latin descent, so they had salsa dancing!! Too bad I never learned how to do it in VZ

Trey & Meredith, Charlottesville VAThey had a light-hearted balloon exit. So colorful & fun!
And the next wedding is...my brother's!! Evan & Courtney get married in 10 days!! We fly back out to Baltimore in one week - crazy! Can't wait!

Sunny with a Low of 75...

Forecast for the week: Perfect Beach Weather. I love when it's so hot you HAVE to get in the water. It's the only way I want it to be. Now on to relaxing, reading, bike riding, eating, and having an excellent vacation!

EP

I haven't browsed the iTunes store in awhile, but I am glad I did tonight. Just two days ago Dispatch released a new EP!! I don't know how long it would've taken me to hear about it if I haven't stumbled upon it tonight. And, I don't even know why I searched for Dispatch, did I really think they would have any new music? Who knows, I am just glad I found it. If you're a Dispatch, reggae, funk, chill, or jam fan - check out their new stuff! I really like "Con Man."

:)

What's Been Going On?

So what's been going on with team Piranha Jackson lately? (By the way, that was the name of our team that we led on spring break - we did not make it up, but we do endorse it.)

We had guests for a few nights - Adam & his girlfriend came up from Texas for Abbie's graduation. It was great to meet Liz and see Adam again.

My little pig got stuck to the roof. I accidentally spontaneously bought a bunch of meat from the grocery store when it was on sale a couple weeks ago, so my freezer has been reminding me that I actually need to cook so that we don't have to throw everything away when we move. I made Chinese Fried Rice and it was delicious! I was so impressed with how easy it was to make - including and in spite of the fact that I suck at making scrambled eggs.We are getting ready for weddings, the beach, and a couple of Phish shows. Our first shows are a week from Tuesday!! We are so ready for tour now - we bought a sweet tapestry. All our tickets are for the lawn (lame) so we will get to sit on this groovy blanket instead of something boring.
Our tickets came in the mail!! In two weeks we will be in New Jersey grooving to some funky tunes.