Charleston, SC

After our trip to Fort Sumter we decided to head to downtown Charleston to see the sights.  We had a tourist map that we used that to navigate through the historic district and to help us find the cool buildings.

First we walked along the water and found this cool fountain.  The weather was perfect.  If I lived in Charleston I would just sit at the waterfront and people watch.  Say cheese!

Then we wandered through the streets and spotted these neat buildings.  I thought the area was lovely and would like to go back again sometime.

We had a delightful dinner and then drove home.  I'm glad we could give my parents a little taste of the south (that isn't Sumter).

Fort Sumter, SC

While my parents were visiting we decided to go to Fort Sumter, where the first shots of the Civil War were fired.  The fort is located on a man made sandbar in Charleston Harbor.

To get to the fort you have to ride a ferry about 30 minutes across the harbor.  We departed from Patriot's Point where the USS Yorktown is housed.  We decided not to go in and see her, but she looked pretty cool from the outside.

On our ferry ride across the harbor we saw some pretty cool birds.  You know, pelicans and the like.  Then there were these seagulls that followed the boat the whole way there (and back).  Probably they were looking for fish in the wake, but I did see a Dorrito or two tossed from one of the upper decks.  I did have a video, but I'll have to work on getting it uploaded later.

The fort itself was pretty cool.  There was all kinds of artillery, shell fragments, and historical memorabilia, like the flag.  Lots of information to take in and facts and tidbits to remember, which I'm never very good at.  Paul and I had a good time looking at the canons and imagining ourselves firing bombs at the enemy. 

A good time was had by all!

Jacksonville, FL

On our way home from Fort Walton Beach we stopped in Jacksonville to pick up my parents who were staying with my aunt and uncle.  For whatever reason I felt like the weather in Jacksonville was so much nicer than Fort Walton Beach.  So, we went down to the ocean and played Bocce Ball.  I had never played Bocce Ball before and wasn't very good at it, but it was pretty fun.  Paul and I also rolled up our pants and splashed in the water.

It was fun to visit and talk and soak up the sun on the porch.  While we were visiting we also saw Mission Impossible III at the IMAX theater.  I liked it, but it made me a little bit nauseous. 

Florida

It has been a long while since I sat down to write a blog post and many exciting things have happened in the meantime.  But let's take it slow . . . one exciting thing at a time.

First off, Paul and I spent the month of January in Florida!  Exciting, right?  I was lucky to be able to go with Paul while he did some training at Hurlburt Field in Fort Walton Beach.  I watched a lot of HGTV, The Big Bang Theory, and The Australian Open.  Let's just say the weeks went by slowly.  But we took full advantage of the ocean and the Florida sunshine on the weekends.  Our favorite activity was biking along the Gulf National Seashore near Navarre Beach.  Pretty sure we went to that spot 3 different times to explore, and it kind of made me want to buy a beach house.

Our next favorite thing to do was going to Twirl Frozen Yogurt in Destin.  We regret not getting a punch card because I'm sure we would have gotten at least 1 free cup-full.  Mmm, frozen yogurt.

We also hit up a store closing sale at Blockbuster and got 13 DVD's for about $30.00.  And since I know you're thinking, "Wow, Abby, that's a steal!  And so exciting!  Did you get any other great deals while you were there?" I will let know that we got Paul the running shoes that he wanted for half price.  AND got him a super awesome flannel shirt for like 7 bucks.  AND got me a new dress and a new skirt for less than 20 bucks total.

And that was the excitement that was Florida.

Merry Christmas Tree

Two other Christmases have taught me and Paul that fake trees are the way to go.  The most awesome thing about this tree is that it's the first tree we've had that hasn't been leaning on a wall for support.  It's just hanging out in our front room by the awesome curtains that I made and stenciled (woohoo!), strategically placed so you can see the (mismatched) lights from outside, and standing straight up even with the weight of all of the new hand-me-down ornaments we got from my mom (thank you mom!).

Merry Christmas!

Songs

Pretty sure this is most depressing Christmas song ever, but it has been stuck in my head ever since I heard it on the radio and then made Paul listen to it.  He likes to put it on repeat when we're in the computer room together.  Isn't it so depressing, and hilarious?  But I like ballads, even when they're so ridiculous, and also love/hate the saxophone at the end.

This is the other song Paul likes to put on repeat when we're in the computer room together.  But this video is like the opposite of depression.  We've danced the dance a few times already and even taped ourselves . . . you wish you had as much fun as we do.  ;)

PS Christmas is awesome.

mlovies

Winter is the best time to watch movies.

Crazy, Stupid, Love.  I saw this over Thanksgiving break at the dollar theater in Boise.  Dollar theater, I miss you.  It was funny, I think Emma Stone is so cute and Ryan Gosling is fun to look at, but the movie overall wasn't my favorite.

Contagion.  Dollar theater again, and I actually liked this one!  There were some disturbing parts where I'm sure everyone in the theater was thinking, "was that necessary?", and it made me feel like I shouldn't touch anything and needed to wash my hands ASAP, but I got over that after a few hours.  It definitely wasn't a feel-good movie: more of a thinker/attention-grabber.  And Matt Damon was in it so . . .

The Next 3 Days.  I only caught the last half of this movie, but if the whole thing is twice as good as the last half then I should probably try to watch it all sometime.  It was thrilling.

Limitless.  Maybe I should have payed more attention to this movie instead of working on a puzzle, but I wasn't a fan.  I thought the constant narration was a little weird, and I have to disagree about the "sexiest man alive" thing.  Sorry Bradley.

Thor.  Umm, this one is difficult to assess. I typically don't love super hero movies, but I think they are starting to grow on me.  It was okay.

Captain America.  And another super hero movie.  It was okay too.  Better than Thor, I thought.

X-Men.  SUPER HEROES!  Maybe I'm actually looking forward to the avengers movie.  Ya know?  All of the marvel comics in one movie?  That's happening right?  Well, whatever.  This movie was okay too.

Winnie the Pooh.  KIDS MOVIE!  This movie was a welcomed change of pace from all of the other movies I've seen lately.  It was super short (I mean really short, as in not long enough!) but I guess that's good for kids movies.  It was simple, and cute, and funny, and made me feel happy. 

Cars 2.  I'm still wondering how any child could follow the plot of this movie.  I thought it was WAY too complex and equally un-thrilling.  Kind of a dud of a Pixar movie, if you ask me.

and in case you were wondering about the title of this post and why there is an "l" in "movies" . . . let's just slay I've bleen doing that to a lot of words lately.  Just for flun.  Or to ble annoying.

Magnolia Plantation and Gardens

We enjoyed another weekend adventure with our friend Tyler and his girlfriend Kendra down in Charleston.  We took our bikes and went on a little ride through the Magnolia Plantation along the Ashley River.  The plantation was founded in 1676 and boasts an intense history having survived through the Revolutionary War and the Civil War and is still owned by the same family: The Drayton's.  The nature trail was fun to ride and the day we went was the most beautiful day; even the alligators thought so!  And yes!  They are wild!

That night we had dinner with Kendra and Tyler at a local burger joint called Sesame Burgers and Beer.  We didn't have beer, and I actually ordered chicken, but even so I thought it was great.  The best part was the dessert, which we had as an appetizer (a Carr family tradition).  It was the absolute best brownie sundae anyone has ever tasted!  You must get it!

The next day we went back to the plantation and walked through the Audubon Swamp Garden.  We saw more alligators as well as a crane, otters, fish, and birds.  Swamps are just pretty cool, but they are kind of . . . icky . . . and green and kind of smelly too . . . but also awesome and nature-y.

After the swamp we wandered the garden paths, around the old house, over bridges and through the woods.  We climbed the wildlife observation tower and found our way through a rather difficult horticultural maze.  More pretty pictures:

 Doesn't it make you want to come to South Carolina?  It really is beautiful!