Prayers for Boston

It just doesn't make sense.  I don't know why someone would take advantage of a joyous occasion and turn it into a place of destruction.  My prayers go out to all of the runners and spectators and the people of Boston. I can't imagine what the runners and their families were feeling when this was going on and in the aftermath. I can't even let my mind go to what I would have done if this had happened during the Chicago Marathon this past fall, when my mom and uncle were running.  I would have been a complete mess, as I know so many people were yesterday.  I've come across this picture on facebook several time in the past 18 hours and I think it says so much about the human spirit and the way so many people react in crazy situations.

source: unknown

Random Thoughts from my Head

Wooo Wednesday!  I am happy to report that we've made it to the middle of the week relatively unscathed. Let's hope the rest of the week goes the same way.  I have a couple of busy days at work ahead so I am thinking it will, well hoping any way.

And now for a few random thoughts from my head.....

#1 Spring

I think it is safe to say that Spring has finally officially sprung in Alabama. It took us a little while to get there this year, but except for one night this weekend in the 40s, it looks like we are well on our way to warmer weather.  We actually turned the AC on 2 nights ago for the first time this year.  The pool is still covered, but if we keep having warm days like we've had I don't think that will be the case too much longer.  This time last year we'd had the pool open for almost a month because it got so warm so fast!

#2 Crappie

Warm weather in our house means the beginning of crappie season.  AKA, the month or 2 when Eric and I barely see each other (hard to believe given that we both coach at different times of the year and this is not one of our seasons) and tend to have time for nothing more than a hey-how-was-your-day in the hour and a half between when I come home from work and when he goes to bed.   This time of the year it's like he works night shift and therefore goes to sleep shortly after I come home from work.  Why?  Because he get's up somewhere between midnight and 2AM to go fishing, of course!  Doesn't everyone? Just kidding.  I am well aware that most sane people (like me) do not do this.  Why does he get up in the middle of the night to fish?  That's easy, so he can get back in time to put in a full day of work, of course!  Not my cup of tea, but it makes him happy.  And it means we'll have fish for fish frys all summer.  I have actually gotten to the point that I don't even hear him get up any more.  If it weren't for having to take the dogs out in the morning (which is usually his job) it would not really affect me.  Although I think he realized how little time we'd seen each other this week and walked the dogs with me last night. When I get my morning call with the catch report and hear the sheer joy in his voice, I know that it's worth it!

3. Green Onions

I have decided to grow my own green onions from ones that I have already used.  Mon told me about it a few weeks ago and I found a pin on pinterest that basically said put the bottom of the green onions in about and inch of water and they will grow.   I am anxious to see how well it works.  We go through green onions like crazy so it would be nice to not to have to buy them as often as I do.

4. VeryJane.com

I have a new shopping site obsession.....www.veryjane.com. I randomly stumbled across it a few weeks ago and it has quickly become one of my favorite sites.  The best way I can describe it is groupon (another favorite site of mine) for boutiques!  I have never been one to jump on trends (I've always a couple years behind on fashion because I hate spending a lot of cash on things that will be in season for just a year, plus it takes me that long to figure out how to wear them!), but thanks to pinterest that time frame has bene drastically reduced.  That's where veryjane comes in handy.  I can get trendy pieces for less! Can't beat that!  I've bought a couple of things, and been tempted to purchase several more things!

#5 College Basketball

 Last but not least, I am sad to report that the 2013-2013 college basketball season is officially over.  I really enjoyed watching both tournaments this year.  There were tons of great games, intriguing story lines, and of course exciting upsets! Every year they do a tournament recap to "One Shining Moment" that highlights some of the more emotional and spectacular moments of the tournament.  I am not going to lie, I tear up ever year when I see it.  This year was no different.

Happy Wednesday!

Weekend Recap: It's Wedding Season!

Warm weather in the south means the start of wedding season, and we dove into it head first this weekend.

Clockwise from top: All of the HC couples @ Taber and Grace's Wedding.  Eric and I on the rooftop. One of the bridesmaid bouquets....the wedding colors were GORGEOUS!

Since we knew we had a lot going on we decided to stay in Friday night. Eric fried some crappie, and we had an eclectic dinner of fish, coleslaw, pimento cheese (recipe coming later this week!), and baked Brie. Apparently I did not get enough of the good stuff at the beach last week and have been craving some pimento cheese and Brie all week.  Eric had fishing plans first thing in the morning, and by first thing I mean 2AM, so he went to bed any and I watched Rock of Ages (finally). I give it 3 out of 5 stars.  The music was phenomenal, but the story could use a little work.  I am not going to lie, Tom Cruise as an 80's rock icon was intriguing to me.  He reminded me A LOT of  Bret Michaels, I guess it was the bandanna placement.

Clockwise from top: My Brie log.  Pimento on pita chips.  Crappie!

Saturday afternoon we headed to our first wedding of 2013! It was an absolutely perfect day for an outdoor wedding...mid 70s with no humidity.  The ceremony was at the bride's family farm, and it was absolutely beautiful!  They had a short reception at the farm where they had hors d'ouevres and cake, and left in a John Deere Tractor!  It was adorable! That evening they had a second reception downtown, where we danced danced and danced some more.  The band was awesome, and they even sang the Fresh Prince of BelAir theme song to a rock song ( don't remember which one). I was a GREAT time! We called it a night when the reception was over so Eric could get up and go fishing Sunday morning (shocker, right?).  We'll get to see our football friends again in a few weeks for the 10 year event, so I was not too disappointed that we headed home early.

The girls and the guys.

Sunday the wedding-ness continued for me.  I went to a shower for the bride of Eric's "little brother".  He isn't really Eric's little brother, but he might as well be.  It was a beautiful shower and I can't wait to go to their wedding this summer!

We decided to finished up the weekend at the lake.  It was our first lake trip, and it did not disappoint. Several of our friends rent a condo there so we tend to go up there from time to time for some pool time (since our is not open yet....it's been too cold!) and cookouts.  We got a little sun and had a delicious dinner!  It was all fine and dandy until I looked a the clock and realized it was already 8:15pm!  For some reason I got really tired after that and was ready to head home...it's a 30 minute + drive home, so as soon as I looked at the clock I started doing the math in my head of how much sleep I would be able to get if we left that minute.....I know I am a dork, but 5:30am comes REALLY early on Monday morning. We ended up leaving shortly after that and were home in plenty of time for me to bed in bed by 10.  Eric was of course sawing logs way before I was in bed.  It really amazes me how he can just decide to go to bed and be asleep 5 minutes later.  It takes me at least 30 minutes from the time I say I am going to bed and when I actually get in bed.  Am I the only one this happens to?

It was definitely a successful and busy weekend....you know it is when I don't have time to remove the layer of dog hair that builds up on the floor during the week....oops!  Guess you know what I am doing tonight!

Have a great week!  I am hoping it goes by as quickly as last week did!

I will be imagining I am here all week =)

Spring Break at the Beach

I really wish I was back here right now!

We spent nearly all last week spring breaking down on the Alabama Gulf Coast last week.  Neither of us is a teacher or works at a school, but given the time of year and the people we were with, I'll call it spring breaking just for the fun of it.  My Chicago relatives told us that they were going to be down on the Gulf for Spring Break when we were all together for Thanksgiving, so Eric and I have had this little getaway planned for quite some time now (shocker I know when dealing with the king of can't-make-plans-more-than-a-week-ahead-of-time).  It just happened to fall on the same week that out SIL was out for Spring Break as well, so we made a fun trip of it!  The weather did not exactly cooperate the way we were hoping, but we still managed to have a blast and ended up doing a lot more than we would have otherwise if we had laid on the beach for 5 days straight.

We got there Saturday night (because Eric HAD to go fishing in his new boat on Saturday morning).  It was kind of nice not to be rushing out of town on Friday afternoon and being able to take my time packing and getting the house ready. Since we pulled in late, we opted for a late dinner, which was a great idea considering all of the spring breakers in town.  We ended up at an Italian restaurant called Cafe Grazie and had the most amazing dinner.  The bread/olive oil mixture was the best I have ever had, and my pizza was delicious!  We'd gotten in touch with my Chicago family earlier in the day and had planned to meet up with them after dinner since they were getting into town a little after we were, so we headed to the place they were staying to say hello and hang out for a little bit.

Row 1: Eric and I on the balcony. Tera and I at Bellingrath Gardens. Eric and Faith. Lily and I (You know we had fun when those are the only pics we have in 4 days with my Chicago family!).  Row 2: Bobby, Tera, me, and Eric on the dock on Bon Secour Bay.

The next day my SIL and I were DETERMINED to get in some beach time. It was warm and windy, although we did not realize exactly how windy it was until we got out to the beach.  Let's just say we felt like we were in the middle of a dust storm in the middle of a desert.  It was not pretty, but we were going to lay dangit! After a couple of hours of being beaten by the sand and having our towels buried in it we gave up and went home to lay out on their deck.  It was just as warm with 100% less wind.  I have never had as much sand on me as I did when we got back.  It took FOREVER to get it out of our hair.   When the boys got back from fishing we got cleaned up and headed back to my aunt and uncle's place for dinner.  We spent the evening hanging out and playing the most hilarious card game I have ever played.  I am pretty sure I have not laughed that hard in a long time.

Clockwise from top left: Pizza from Cafe Grazie. Fried Shrimp and beer from Sea and Suds in Gulf Shores.  Chocolate pie and homemade whipped cream (made by my SIL). Chicken Salad and Pimento Cheese with pita chips....YUM! 

Monday the wind was still hanging around and our warm weather decided to go away making the beach impossible, so we did what any level-headed women would do....we shopped!  We took on the Tanger Outlet Mall in Foley, and scored some GREAT deals!  40% off everything at Old Navy and 60% everything at Ann Taylor...don't mind if I do! That night we went to visit one of the guys Eric coaches with and his family and check out their new camper. They just happened to be staying at and park right across the street from my aunt and uncle, so after we hung out there for a couple of hours we headed back across the street for some more cards and good times!

Tuesday was a little less windy but just as cold. The boys set to work painting the house (one of the reasons we went down there in the first place), so my SIL and I decided to find something else fun to do. We ended up at Bellingrath Gardens right outside of Mobile, AL.  We were hoping to catch the azaleas blooming, but were about and week late to see them at full force.  Don't worry, we still got to see lots of beautiful flowers! That night we drove over to Pensacola to have dinner with Eric's aunt and uncle. We had not seen them since last summer so it was great to spend an evening with them.  His aunt is an amazing cook and we left there with full bellies!

And now we interrupt our regularly scheduled SB recap post for some beautiful garden pics....post resumes below =)

Clockwise from top:  Mirror Lake.  Orchids in the green house. Hydrangeas, hydrangeas, hydrangeas (and a baby pineapple)!

Clockwise from top left: Decorative cabbage...who knew!? One of the surviving azaleas.  The backside of the garden entrance.

Clockwise from top left: Cow koi! Not sure what these pink flowers are but they were so pretty! I thought this tree trunk looked like an elephant foot...so cool!

Clockwise from top left: Me by the lake.  Pretty waterfall pod. Tera and I with the azaleas. 

Clockwise from top left: Bamboo trees. A really cool succulent. The azaleas may have been finished blooming, but the tulips were still going full force!  

Ok non-flower lovers are you still with me?! As promised....the rest of the recap:

Since it was still not quite beach weather on Wednesday we opted to just hang out while the boy finished up painting. I think the most productive thing we did was make some homemade pimento cheese (which is one of my new favorite things to eat).  Eric and I were actually supposed to come home on Weds, but they boys had to finish up the painting while we were there, and they were not quite done, so we stayed.  That night we went to Eric's coaching friend's camper again for a crawfish/shrimp boil!  The food was AMAZING and the company was great.  We even got the boys to take some sunset pictures with us on the bay (We bribed them for beach pics, but ran out of time to go to the beach before we had to be there.  We got much better pics on the bay with the sunset anyway!).

Clockwise from top left: My new coozie:  A Little Bit Yankee, A Little Bit Yall...I am pretty sure it was MADE for me!  The Carnival Triumph (aka the poop ship) is STILL docked in Mobile (although it apparently started floating away yesterday after it hit something!).  A horned owl and one of it's babies in their nest in the RV park we went to.  My beach towel after our windy day at the beach...I was LAYING ON IT while this happened.  

Since we like to prolong our beach trips as long as we possibly can, and since we're just 3.5 hours from there, we took full advantage of the only decently warm, non-windy day we had.  My SIL and I headed to the condo where my aunt and uncle were staying to lay out at their pool and get to see them one last time while the boys did some fishing.    We got packed up and headed home around 5pm.  As much as we enjoyed our trip, nothing compared to the 3 wiggly butts that greeted us with happy whines and barks when we got home!

Sunset on the bay.....absolutely beautiful!