10.31.2011
10.23.2011
It's Dollars to Donuts
Well, we went to yet another state fair. We just can't resist.
As we had plans to scour the Sumter County Flea Market in the morning and barbeque with some friends in the afternoon, we didn't get out to the fair until around 6:30, just in time to snag tickets ($10!) to see Styx. STYX!
Paul and I have never actually been to a legitimate concert together; this is about as close as we've gotten. Of course, none of the band members were the originals (well there was maybe one, maybe) but it was still pretty rockin'.
We chose seats at the top of the bleachers so we could dance and sing like crazies and no one could bug us about it. Also because the seats that we were assigned were in an awful spot on the side. yuck.
Please watch the first 5 seconds of the first video and watch for the dancer behind Paul. He was into it! And watch the second video of "Come Sail Away", if you want. :)
For the encore we ran down to the front to get a better look.
After the concert we roamed the midway taking in all of the lights and sounds. And smells. We saw this intricate sand sculpture (yet to be finished) of the capitol building, and got our hands on some deep fried Reese's which were dangerously delicious.
And we plan on returning to the fair before it shuts down on Halloween so we can see the exhibits, and the animals, and any other shows they might be having, and also to maybe try deep fried cookie dough, maybe, because, well, fairs are awesome.
As we had plans to scour the Sumter County Flea Market in the morning and barbeque with some friends in the afternoon, we didn't get out to the fair until around 6:30, just in time to snag tickets ($10!) to see Styx. STYX!
Paul and I have never actually been to a legitimate concert together; this is about as close as we've gotten. Of course, none of the band members were the originals (well there was maybe one, maybe) but it was still pretty rockin'.
We chose seats at the top of the bleachers so we could dance and sing like crazies and no one could bug us about it. Also because the seats that we were assigned were in an awful spot on the side. yuck.
Please watch the first 5 seconds of the first video and watch for the dancer behind Paul. He was into it! And watch the second video of "Come Sail Away", if you want. :)
For the encore we ran down to the front to get a better look.
After the concert we roamed the midway taking in all of the lights and sounds. And smells. We saw this intricate sand sculpture (yet to be finished) of the capitol building, and got our hands on some deep fried Reese's which were dangerously delicious.
And we plan on returning to the fair before it shuts down on Halloween so we can see the exhibits, and the animals, and any other shows they might be having, and also to maybe try deep fried cookie dough, maybe, because, well, fairs are awesome.
10.14.2011
Myrtle Beach, SC
Last weekend we drove to Myrtle beach. Both Paul and I were still a little sick with colds so we thought it would be nice to just relax on the beach and soak up the sun.
We got an awesome parking spot on 79th street (a little north of where the parties happen) and picked a spot on the sand. Then, because the beach is sooooo long, we decided to walk along it, to see what we could see.
The beach is lined with hotels and vacation homes; the sand is busy near the hotels and quiet near the homes. We got a kick out of people-watching, got a little wet in the unexpectedly chilly water, and mostly just kept walking and talking. We picked up some shells then we walked some more. And some more. And then we stopped to watch a sand volleyball tournament. And then we sat down because we were tired and then we walked some more.
We ended up walking 40 blocks down the beach and then 40 blocks back up. 80 blocks? Yes. It was awesome. By the time we got back to our spot we were too thirsty to just sit and relax so we got back in the car and drove down the boulevard to see what we could see. More hotels, lots of shops, tons of people, restaurants, and some live concert. Looks like loads of fun!
We will definitely be going back to Myrtle beach sometime to check out all the places we missed but it was fun to explore a good length of the beach on foot.
We got an awesome parking spot on 79th street (a little north of where the parties happen) and picked a spot on the sand. Then, because the beach is sooooo long, we decided to walk along it, to see what we could see.
The beach is lined with hotels and vacation homes; the sand is busy near the hotels and quiet near the homes. We got a kick out of people-watching, got a little wet in the unexpectedly chilly water, and mostly just kept walking and talking. We picked up some shells then we walked some more. And some more. And then we stopped to watch a sand volleyball tournament. And then we sat down because we were tired and then we walked some more.
We ended up walking 40 blocks down the beach and then 40 blocks back up. 80 blocks? Yes. It was awesome. By the time we got back to our spot we were too thirsty to just sit and relax so we got back in the car and drove down the boulevard to see what we could see. More hotels, lots of shops, tons of people, restaurants, and some live concert. Looks like loads of fun!
We will definitely be going back to Myrtle beach sometime to check out all the places we missed but it was fun to explore a good length of the beach on foot.
10.04.2011
Waxhaw, NC
Paul and I spent the weekend in Waxhaw with Paul's aunt Karla and her family. It's so nice to have some family within driving distance and we had a lot of fun visiting.
On Saturday we went to this place called Aw Shucks. There was a pumpkin patch, hay ride, corn maze, petting zoo, games, and all kinds of wonderful fall things.
We pretended that Paul was stationed "Fort Shucks". He doesn't look too happy about it either! (Better than Kyrgyzstan, I say, which, by the way, was a real threat that we luckily deflected, thank goodness). We petted the ponies and goats and wandered through the far too easy corn maze. We also went on a hay ride. Yee Haw!
The proud owners of Aw Shucks would put your name in a drawing to win $100 if you could get a football through a tire 3-times in a row. Here's Paul trying it out. He got the first one in but you'll have to watch to see if he got the rest. (Don't turn your sound up too high; I'm cheering quite enthusiastically).
We all had a grand time, even though we didn't get $100. On the way back we stopped to take some pictures in someone's cotton.
Next we went to a friend of Karla's place to have authentic Chinese food. It was very delicious, and I even recognized a few dishes, but there was so. much. food. To give you an idea here's half of it:
We started eating at 4:00 and kept eating until we left at 10:30. !!! We counted 18 dishes, but I am sure we missed a couple. There were dumplings, pork, duck, coca-cola chicken, pan-fried potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed eggplant, tomato and egg, sweet and sour pork, dragon-fruit chicken dish (in the picture), tofu, more pork, more chicken, fried rice, pudding, and cake, and I know I'm still forgetting some. Alex and Dimitri even when to a soccer game and came back and we were still eating. and eating. and eating! It was crazy.
The rest of the weekend was very relaxing. We watched some conference and then drove home. Thank you Karla and Alex for putting us up! It was a lot of fun, and great to see them.
On Saturday we went to this place called Aw Shucks. There was a pumpkin patch, hay ride, corn maze, petting zoo, games, and all kinds of wonderful fall things.
We pretended that Paul was stationed "Fort Shucks". He doesn't look too happy about it either! (Better than Kyrgyzstan, I say, which, by the way, was a real threat that we luckily deflected, thank goodness). We petted the ponies and goats and wandered through the far too easy corn maze. We also went on a hay ride. Yee Haw!
The proud owners of Aw Shucks would put your name in a drawing to win $100 if you could get a football through a tire 3-times in a row. Here's Paul trying it out. He got the first one in but you'll have to watch to see if he got the rest. (Don't turn your sound up too high; I'm cheering quite enthusiastically).
We all had a grand time, even though we didn't get $100. On the way back we stopped to take some pictures in someone's cotton.
Next we went to a friend of Karla's place to have authentic Chinese food. It was very delicious, and I even recognized a few dishes, but there was so. much. food. To give you an idea here's half of it:
We started eating at 4:00 and kept eating until we left at 10:30. !!! We counted 18 dishes, but I am sure we missed a couple. There were dumplings, pork, duck, coca-cola chicken, pan-fried potatoes, stuffed mushrooms, stuffed eggplant, tomato and egg, sweet and sour pork, dragon-fruit chicken dish (in the picture), tofu, more pork, more chicken, fried rice, pudding, and cake, and I know I'm still forgetting some. Alex and Dimitri even when to a soccer game and came back and we were still eating. and eating. and eating! It was crazy.
The rest of the weekend was very relaxing. We watched some conference and then drove home. Thank you Karla and Alex for putting us up! It was a lot of fun, and great to see them.
9.30.2011
Mevois
It has been a while since I posted about movies. Here's the thing though, who is that? No, that was a Parks and Rec quote, sorry. Here's the thing though, we canceled our Netflix account before we moved (and before all of the re-workings and price upages (that's a new word, did you know?)), so we haven't been watching as many movies. "As many" is a vague term though because we still watch a lot of movies, just now we buy them and own them, or rent them from RedBox.
Movies we have bought since we moved to South Carolina.
- Alfred Hitchcock Classics
- She's the Man
- The Pelican Brief
- 27 Dresses
- Groundhog Day
- What About Bob?
- The Holiday
- Runaway Bride
- Young Frankenstein
Don't worry, I've apologized to Paul for the excessive amount of chick flicks on that list. At $5.00 each that's $45.00, which is about $15.00 more than we would have paid for 3 months of Netflix, but now we OWN them. Worth it? Discuss. Oh wait, also consider the following lists (and my one-word recommendations, because I'm lazy).
Movies that we have rented from Redbox (at $1.00 a piece).
- Source Code (no)
- Gnomeo and Juliet (meh)
- Something Borrowed (meh)
- True Grit (yes)
- Rio (yes)
- Just Go With It (no)
- The Way Back (yes)
Movies that we have seen in theatres (at, we'll say, $15.00 a piece).
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II (yes)
- The Help (yes)
Television shows that we have bought. You don't need to know how much these cost because the comedy is priceless.
- Parks and Recreation Seasons 1-3
- Modern Family Season 1
What about you?
9.28.2011
Dave + Jess
So, my big brother got married on September the 23rd at McMenamin's Cornelius Pass Roadhouse in Hillsboro, Oregon. Here are some pictures of the big day:
I didn't take very many pictures of the bride and groom, but the wedding was beautiful, David's vows were precious, and the dancing was crazy fun.
The next day we took a family trip to the coast, ate at Mo's, played on the beach, and successfully wore out Mckenna.
I love home.
I didn't take very many pictures of the bride and groom, but the wedding was beautiful, David's vows were precious, and the dancing was crazy fun.
The next day we took a family trip to the coast, ate at Mo's, played on the beach, and successfully wore out Mckenna.
9.20.2011
Camping Kinda
9.15.2011
Kitchen
I have such creative post titles . . .
Yesterday Paul had to work a 12-hr shift that he found out about last minute. Luckily, we had paint and I decided to paint our whole kitchen all by myself!
It was a ton of work to prep the walls. I had to do a lot of sanding and spackling and cleaning and taping that took me about 2 hours. I wish you could see the cobwebs and grime in these before pictures but my camera is doing this weird thing where it won't focus so it takes a while to even get a decent photo.
Once I got to the actual painting part it took me 4 hours more. Plus then I had to clean up. Whew!
BEFORE and AFTER:
That lovely dark wood 70s door is the blue door in the patio pictures from my previous post. And I'm feeling very amused by my inability to match . . . blue tablecloth, red rug, brown rug, green walls. Oh well. I still have lots of plans to carry out that will make it look fabulous.
And I'm also very much considering painting this side of the kitchen too. That dark blue is just so weird.
Yesterday Paul had to work a 12-hr shift that he found out about last minute. Luckily, we had paint and I decided to paint our whole kitchen all by myself!
It was a ton of work to prep the walls. I had to do a lot of sanding and spackling and cleaning and taping that took me about 2 hours. I wish you could see the cobwebs and grime in these before pictures but my camera is doing this weird thing where it won't focus so it takes a while to even get a decent photo.
Once I got to the actual painting part it took me 4 hours more. Plus then I had to clean up. Whew!
BEFORE and AFTER:
That lovely dark wood 70s door is the blue door in the patio pictures from my previous post. And I'm feeling very amused by my inability to match . . . blue tablecloth, red rug, brown rug, green walls. Oh well. I still have lots of plans to carry out that will make it look fabulous.
And I'm also very much considering painting this side of the kitchen too. That dark blue is just so weird.
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