I think he's finally settling in...

To the new home. One thing I know he misses is being able to look out the windows like he could at the house on Heritage- some of the windows went down to the floor. But this morning I came out of the bathroom and found him sitting like this. He can't really see much of the outside from this view but I guess it's OK with him!

I've also added a few more pics to my Boston post.

Have a great Wednesday everyone!

PS- Please excuse all the mess in the picture!

Rain, Rain...Go Away!

It's rained in Opelika for the past 3 days and I'm tired of it! Friday night we cooked out with some of the southside folks and then went to the bar. We braved the elements Saturday while doing some errands and were drowned rats by the time we got home. Saturday night we went to dinner at Arricia (at The Hotel) and the power was out in all of the hotel rooms! Luckily, they had everything running in the restaurant, well except for the a/c, and dinner was fabulous! We woke up around 3:45 am Sunday morning to the tornado sirens going off for the 3rd time. I checked the weather and thought I heard something dripping. Philip went on a search and found some water dripping from the crown molding in our guest room. Oh yippee! Needless to say I didn't get much sleep after that. However, after speaking with some of our friends, we found out that we were not the only ones! Apparently 5" of rain in about 2 hours isn't good for anyone's roof. Our builder says there are no holes but that it was just raining so hard and so much, the gutters overflowed- or something like that. Either way, I'm ready to be done with Fay!!! And can't wait until the first Auburn game on Saturday. War Eagle!

Just back from Boston....and boy do my feet hurt!!

Waiting on our taxi outside UMass. It will be a LONG time before I carry that dang camping pack again! Finished!!!! Now where are my flip-flops! And can someone find me a beer??

Boston skyline in the background.
They had these signs that you could carry while walking. So I carried one for Gran!
We went to the Sam Adams brewery for a tour.
(***Warning: Could be lengthy post!)

Wendy & I made it back in one piece! Boston was so much fun and the walk was one of those experiences I don't think I'll ever forget. We made it to her friend Amy's apartment about 9 pm on Thursday night. Amy & her husband, Ashley, have recently moved to Boston from Birmingham and live in the Fenway neighborhood. We were pretty pooped by the time we got there but not too tired to go eat some Italian and drink some wine at a great little place about 25 yards from their building. Little did I know it would be my last edible meal until Sunday night!

We got up at 4:15 am Friday morning (which is really 3:15 for those of us in the central time zone!) and headed out to Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots play, to start our walk. We had an Opening Ceremony and we were off! Wahoo! Until about 5 minutes later when it started pouring rain and our rain jackets were in our bags. Booo!!!! Neither of us can remember why in the world we left them in there but anyway....So about 30 minutes in to our rain soaked walk, we came upon a grocery store where we made a dash for it and bought some ponchos. They helped a little bit but by then we were already soaked and FREEZING! But eventually the rain stopped and we dried out. Friday we walked a total of 18.5 miles. Unfortunately for about 80% of the walkers, the early rain resulted in hellacious blisters that made many of them resort to just walking in flip-flops b/c it hurt too much to wear tennis shoes. I was one of the few that managed not to get any blisters. Thank you Jesus!

Just as we were finishing up and walking in to camp, the skies grew dark again and they made us all go in to the school. We grabbed our bags- even though they told us not to- and began the 2 hour "lock in" at the middle school. While we sat in the hallway and watched it pour, we made the executive decision to just sleep in the school Friday night rather than put our tent up and take our chances outside. Eventually, they made everyone sleep inside because it was supposed to storm all night. Note: The spaghetti dinner they served us Friday night was the only meal I can honestly say was OK.

Lucky for us walkers, we woke up to a nice day on Saturday. Otherwise known as "so hot" to the people in Boston. I think it might have broke 90 but I'm not sure. What a bunch of wimps:) Saturday's walk was pretty uneventful, except for my short ride the the "Support Shuttle" due to a little bought of low blood sugar. Nothing a lift to the next pit stop for some food couldn't fix. Saturday we walked 20.7 miles (I think this number will be ingrained in my memory forever!). About half way through Saturday is when I started experiencing mega pain in my feet! We got to do the whole tent thing Saturday night. It was pretty cool, except if you had to pee in the middle of the night. The potties were a little bit of a walk.

Sunday was the last day. We only had to walk 15 miles, what a relief! When I got up that morning I almost fell I was so sore! But I was so excited it was the last day that I just kept popping Motrin and walked through the pain. With about 2 miles left, we came upon a bunch of the walkers sitting on a patio outside a restaurant having cocktails. Not ones to be a party pooper, Wendy & I stopped for a beer and joined the fun! Eventually we got back on the road and finished the walk. It was such a neat experience, definitely one I will never forget!

Sunday night we headed back to Amy's apartment, showered and went on the hunt for edible food and wine! After some searching and an inpromtu tour from a recent Harvard grad, we ended up at this italian place in Little Italy. It was the best fettuccini alfredo I've ever had! We befriended the guy sitting next to us, drank wine, cleaned our plates and Wendy caught her hair on fire. By the time we made it back to Amy's, we were spent and looking forward to sleeping past 5 am!

Monday, Amy took us around the city of Boston. We ate breakfast in Cambridge, drove through Harvard & MIT, attempted to go on a Duck Tour, visited the Sam Adams brewery and saw Amy's studio where she makes awesome clay jewelry (I bought 3 pieces!-http://www.olariastudio.com/). After an hour delay at the airport, we finally took off for Atlanta. By 11:45, I was finally sleeping in an actual bed for the first time since Wednesday!

I encourage everyone to consider the 3-Day walk. It was such a great experience and so moving to see the survivors and people currently undergoing treatment have the energy to do the walk. Definitely made us think twice when we were complaning about our sore muscles and blisters!

Pictures coming soon. Hopefully I can steal the computer for a few minutes this weekend!

Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho...Off to Boston I go!

I leave today for Boston! Me and Wendy (my neighbor in Birmingham) are doing the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk. I'm a little nervous about it but excited too! We will walk 20 miles a day for 3 days and sleep in a tent. Yeppers, ole Mer is going campin'! I'll be sure and post a pic of that when I get back.
Here are a few of the funny/interesting things on our suggested packing list:
1. Fanny Pack- seriously!
2. Body Glide
3. Tarp- just in case it rains, we can cover our tent with it. wait...what???? you mean if it rains we still have to sleep outside????
4. Blister band-aids- can't wait to use these!

I'll post pics of our adventure when I get back! If you are interested in learning more about the 3-Day walk, go to www.the3day.org. They have these all over the country and have just announced the cities for 2009!

New Home!!!

Well, we did it! We've officially moved in to the loft...hooray! With the help of my parents (they came Thursday and packed all our crap!) and Philip's parents- and 2 Men & A Truck- we got it done fairly easily. We're both so glad that it's over and very grateful to our parents for all their hard work this weekend! Last night, we had some of the "south side" crew over for pizza and beer- a tradition for the new folks that come in to the neighborhood. Even though we were exhausted, it was so nice having people over...something we haven't done since we moved here really.

Here are some pics of the new pad. I am honestly proud to say there are only a few boxes left and most of them are pantry items that are anxiously waiting on the shelves to be installed in the pantry (hopefully tomorrow!). Let us know what you think and come visit!!!!!!!!!!!

Anniversary!

Some of our favorite pics from 2 years ago today!



These are the flowers Philip had sent to my office today. So sweet!

Today is our 2nd anniversary! I can hardly believe it's been 2 years already. It's definitely been a fun 2 years for both of us with lots of football games, trips, school, graduation and moves! Since this week is so crazy, we had our anniversary dinner last Friday at the beach and our present to each other was our trip to the beach. Probably the best gift we could have gotten each other right now! I love you very much Philip! Happy Anniversary!

Here, There & Everywhere!

The Bride & Groom
It has been a crazy few weeks for us! Weekend before last, we headed up to Birmingham for one of my bestest friends, Julie, wedding. It was so much fun! We got to stay with Philip's BFF and his wife who just moved to Birmingham from Mobile for his residency in ER medicine. Then, Sunday morning we got up early, and I mean early, and headed down to San Destin for a week at the beach with Tony, Britney & Nick. It was sooooo nice and relaxing! We definitely did not want to come home:( We laid on the beach, ate a lot and just relaxed. It was a much deserved break for the both of us!

Saturday we got back home rejuvenated and ready for the big move this week. When Philip got upstairs with our suitcases, he looked down at his legs and they were covered in fleas!!!! Not exactly how we had pictured our return home after being gone for 9 days. So after 7 flea bombs, a mega bath for Charlie, dinner at Amsterdams (to down our sorrows), a night spent with friends and a Capstar (the pill that will kill fleas within 30 min) I think we have gotten our house back! Needless to say we are VERY ready to move this weekend.

On that note, we got most of our kitchen stuff moved in on Sunday with the help of my parents. The contractor is putting in the finishing touches this week and the moving van is coming on Saturday for the big move!!! This week has been pretty crazy so far and it's only Tuesday but it will be worth it in the end. Please pray for good weather on Saturday- right now there is a 40% chance of rain!

Pictures for this post coming soon!