First Day of School

So I'm really doing it - I'm going back for my Masters. School starts today, but since my degree is 100% online, I don't technically ever go to class. Lee thinks I'm getting my degree via voodoo :)

He's thought about going back to school, too - he may start his MBA in January.

I'm a little nervous, especially since I haven't studied for a test or written a paper in over five years. But I loved buying new school supplies - Office Max is seriously one of my most favorite stores. (Yes, I'm fully aware of just how nerdy that sounds.)

And hopefully by December 2009, I'll have a Masters in Instructional Technology with a certificate in Human Performance Technology.

Wish me luck.

Weekend Getaway to Helen, GA and Charlotte, NC

Despite our best efforts to escape this miserable heat (even if just for a weekend), we couldn't seem to find a place that wasn't in the 80s in the daytime. We even looked at flights to Minnesota - St. Paul was still 85 degrees ...

We decided to drive up to Helen, GA and spend a day there - where the temperature was really comfortable in the morning and at night. Then we drove over to Charlotte, NC and spent a day there - where the temperature was not so comfortable in the morning, day, OR at night. It was very Pensacola-like. Eh, who cares. Lee and I get a kick out of road trips.

We played putt-putt on top of this big hill in Helen - it had been raining pretty much all day but the course was still open. Only a few holes had water hazards.



Can you tell that my golf ball is floating in water?


The view of downtown Helen from the course




Windmill across the street from our hotel


Our cute hotel


The morning we left, Lee wanted to stop at this model railroad exhibit.
I wasn't too keen on the idea, but it was really, really cool.


Bird's eye view


They even had a marching band :)


We hiked up to Ruby Falls before we left for Charlotte


The shiny-cheeked couple at the bottom of the falls

Sister Hazel!

Yes, I love them. And yes they've had more than that one popular song back in the 90s. And thankfully Lee agreed to go with me to hear them play when they came to Pensacola Beach last week.

I'm sure he'll deny it, but I've gotten him to like their music.

They had a great band called Ingram Hill open for them. I've never heard of them before that night, but they were really, really good.

Yay!


Lee getting himself pumped up for the show


Ingram Hill


Sister Hazel


It was an awesome, awesome show. It was well worth being totally exhausted for work the next day.

Midlife (?) Crisis

(I've really got to do better about only posting once a month ... thanks for the reminder, Jess :) )

Lee's birthday was this past Sunday. I won't say which birthday it was (but I will say he's older than 34 and younger than 36).

He was joking that he's hit his midlife crisis. But instead of getting the fancy sports car that's typical of a midlife crisis, he finally got his fancy TV.

He's so excited.

He named it Lee, Jr.

Spring Has Sprung

The woman who sold us our house was an impressive gardener. It was obvious that she had put a lot of hard work into keeping her plants look beautiful.

Little did she know that she sold her house to a plant killer.

I haven't had much experience with plants, but what little experience I do have hasn't been pretty. But when we bought this house, I felt like I should at least try to maintain what she already started.

And lo and behold it's worked (so far, at least)! They survived complete neglect for a few months - and all it took was some watering to bring them back to life.

I bought these $.88 petunias from Lowes - sort of as 'tester plants' - to see if I could keep plants alive that I bought myself. So far, so good. They've been sturdy enough to survive so far. I definitely didn't want to test that theory with expensive plants right off the bat. Maybe I'll graduate to grown-up plants one day.

The next pictures are of our plants in our backyard:

This is one of the coolest plants I've ever seen.
It wasn't until a few weeks ago that I realized that it wasn't fake!
It looks like a ceramic plant, but it's definitely real.

I think the official name is "Hens-and-Chicks". Or something like that.

Plants on our back porch:

My neglect affected this plant the most.
I had to remove every single leaf - all that was left was the vine thing.
I'm happy to see some new leaves growing.

And we just ordered our first piece of married furniture (minus the coffee table)
I'm so excited about it! (and I totally love the orange wall)

1 Down, 59 to Go!

I can't believe we've already been married a year. It's been such an awesome year.

Lee sent me flowers at work on Friday morning. So fun!

Before church on Sunday, we exchanged gifts. I gave Lee a Japanese Magnolia tree for us plant in our backyard. It was my roundabout way of keeping the 'paper anniversary' tradition.

close-up of the pretty flowers

Lee's present to me was the coolest paper anniversary gift ever - a customized print of the 17th Avenue Graffiti Bridge.
(look closely at the center of the bridge - !)

After church, we went to Sunday Brunch at Skopelos - the scene of the crime ...
Thankfully, the weather a year ago was much prettier than it was today

After brunch, we went home to take a nap (Lee knows me so well ...). When we woke up, Lee was telling me that he felt really sick, that something he ate must not have agreed with him. He asked me to run to Tom Thumb to get him a Sprite. I, being the concerned wife, happily obliged.

When I got back home, after getting him three different drinks AND crackers, I see Lee's April Fool's joke: all my luggage is laid out on the sidewalk, with a note that said "It's not me ... it's YOU". Thankfully the luggage was empty ... though he said that won't be the case next year :) Very well done on his part. Lee - 1; Suze - 0.

And we ended the night with a piece of the slightly freezer-burned, but still surprisingly tasty top part of our wedding cake. Kudos to J's Bakery and my mom's outstanding wrapping abilities.

I'll start thinking now about next year's April Fool's joke ...

Too Much Food; Not Enough Sleep

We're back! And we're totally exhausted. But the exhaustion is 100% worth it.

A quick recap:

• Karen and Mike's wedding was amazing. I have never seen a more stunning bride than my sister - she was the epitome of beauty.
• We saw the Blue Man Group after the wedding; what an awesome show that was. I've heard their shows are an acquired taste - it's not for everyone. But it's definitely for me. I'm pretty sure Lee liked them, too
• We ate some of the most amazing food we've ever tasted
• We saw some of the craziest people we've ever seen
• It took about, oh, 3 seconds before being bombarded with call-girl business cards got old
• Lee and I took an afternoon to see the Hoover Dam. And this is where it became apparent to me that I married someone who likes to read every single one of those informative signs. Seriously - every single one. And wants to take pictures of every single one.
• The drive up to San Francisco is absolutely gorgeous. In fact, it's gorgeous enough to keep us from paying attention to speed limits. Thankfully the CHP was nice enough to inform us of this. Ouch.
• Napa is breathtaking. The whole landscape looks fake - like we took a picture in front of a green screen and someone came in after the fact to add some gorgeous mountains
• San Francisco is awesome. The hills are absolutely insane. It gets up to a 45 degree angle in some places. It's actually like a really slow roller-coaster.

Here are some pictures - I know there are a lot; feel free to skip though them!

Vegas, baby!!

Mike and Karen's Wedding

The hilarious shirt Mike wore the morning before the wedding.

Karen, right after getting her hair and make up done.
She's so pretty.


Lee and me after Karen and Mike's wedding


Mike doing his toast. I love Karen's expression in this picture.

Blue Man Group

We tried to get him to smile ... no such luck

Lee posing with the background band members for the Blue Man Group

Casino shots

The view from the top of the Stratosphere


Lee on the ride that's off the top of the Stratosphere.

The Luxor, home of a delicious Sunday Brunch

The roller coaster in front of the NY NY ...

Yep, still don't like roller coasters

The water show in front of the Bellagio

Paris

Hoover Dam trip

View from one of the lookout points they have along the Dam

Hoover Dam big-horned sheep!

The white section on the rocks is where the water line used to be.

It's dropped 80 ft; they expect it to drop another 15 ft by September.

Lee pointing to the American Society of Civil Engineers sign.
He's such a nerd.



The Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay

Jellyfish are so pretty behind a glass barrier

Cute fish

Freemont Street Experience

It was NASCAR week, so they did a car theme for their light show.



California

Ouch.

The worlds tallest thermometer.

It's hard not to be jealous, I know.

Really cool windmills along the Interstate

Wine Tasting in Napa Valley

All the vines are dormant right now, so we didn't see any grapes, but even dormant vines are amazingly pretty. Hopefully we'll be able to go back when the grapes are out.

Nickel & Nickel Winery

Inside their cellar

Pride Mountain Winery

Lee playing King of Pride Mountain's Rock

The view from the picnic area at the top of Spring Mountain

Domaine Carneros Winery

Doesn't this look like a fake background?!

Me, Lee, and Christi ... I think you could buy a bottle that big (I think it holds a case of wine), but it's mainly for picture-taking purposes.

San Francisco

We just happened to make a turnoff from the main road,

and it led us to this little lookout point. What an amazing view.

There are gorgeous flowers like this all over Fisherman's Wharf

Sunbathing sealions! I had no idea how noisy these fellas are -

we could hear them inside the restaurant where we were for lunch.

A crayon portrait I made of us during lunch at the Sealion Cafe.

Pretty impressive, huh?

I didn't realize just how many pictures I took of the Golden Gate Bridge!

The famous cable cars. I LOVED riding them.

With all the big hills, it's like a roller coaster ...

but with them going at about 3 MPH, it was like a

really, really slow roller coaster - just my speed.

It sort of became a tradition throughout this trip to

take pictures of Lee "interacting" with different things.

It made us laugh the entire trip :)

Lee tickling Lance Burton's nose

Holding up the Port of San Francisco sign

Poking a sealion on the nose

Holding up the US Department of the Interior sign

Tickling Big Boy's arm on the World's Tallest Thermometer

I commend anyone who made it to the end of these pictures! Bravo!