Life as an Old Married Couple

due to some technical difficulties

2006-08-02T10:05:00.000-04:00

For some strange reason, I am having a really hard time with blogspot lately. It's either eating posts or just not coming up for me at all. I've been trying to post pictures, but it's been whigging out. I'm kind of fed up with it, so ...

I've moved! Again!

I know, I know - I keep moving. AUGH! But I promise this next place will be my last. It's a newly launched blogging site, so not that many people have joined (i.e., you have to have an invitation to join, which I got from some random stranger that I found in a Vox community. Anyway ...)

So bookmark my new blog, delete this website, and then I'll stay put. Unless the new website starts acting flaky, too.

http://laughoutloud.vox.com/

free photo editing software

2006-07-31T22:23:00.000-04:00

For those of you who are now using digital cameras but don't want to spend a lot of money or time on the professional photo editing programs, I found a really good program that is completely free and easy to use.

In about 30 seconds, I took this picture ...

... and turned it into this.

Here is a link to the download - it is called Picasa. You can read about it before you download anything.

http://picasa.google.com/

It is a Google-based program, so you won't have to worry about viruses or anything like that sneaking in on the download.

Just thought I'd pass that along.

more animals eating

2006-07-31T22:12:00.000-04:00

I don't know why I keep taking pictures of animals eating, but here's Penny chowing down on a grape.

hungry?

2006-07-27T13:59:00.000-04:00

random pictures from downtown G'ville

2006-07-26T16:00:00.000-04:00

adventures in fence-building

2006-07-26T10:01:00.000-04:00

DAY.TWO

Got pretty much all of the posts up

Also have a future herb garden

One of my lavendar star flowers

DAY.THREE

Installed 5 panels

DAY.FOUR

Ken and Ken put up all of the horizontal posts

Working hard

I feel like we're living in a cow pasture with just the horizontal posts up

I finally got my crepe myrtle planted (it looks much better, now)

Grass is still dead

They got a bunch more panel boards put up yesterday, and they were working hard this morning when I left, so it shouldn't be too long!!

wedding pictures

2006-07-14T12:24:00.000-04:00

I interrupt this fence project to bring you wedding pictures ...

Note: we still do not have all of our pictures, so this is a very select few. I'm hoping to have many more to post within the next few days. Also, these were all scanned, so the quality is significantly lower than the actual pictures.

My JLo booty shot, lol:

Bride with attitude:

Da bling:

I haven't scanned in the "meeting for the first time" pictures, so I'll get those up sometime today.

This is one of my favorites so far

I was holding my hand out for the ring from Sydnei

Ken couldn't get the ring on, lol

Gorgeous shot of Becki

Love this shot of Chad grinning in the background

Me and my beautiful mom

Sydnei giving me marriage advice

We did it! (and we're so cold)

This picture is so us - I'm on my tippytoes, and Ken has a bunch of stuff in his pockets, lol

Like I said, we don't have all of the pictures back, yet. We're missing ALL of our family pictures, all the black and white pictures, all the pictures of Ken by himself (he's so sad), a lot of the ceremony pictures, a lot more pictures of just me and Ken before the ceremony, and all the pictures from the restaurant after the ceremony. So this is just a select few of the thousand or so pictures I already have.

FENCE - DAY ONE

2006-07-12T09:03:00.000-04:00

BEFORE

As you can see, it's all very wide open and completely unprivate.

DAY.ONE

Unfortunately, they can't use the panels that we bought, because they would have to take them apart and rebuild them to conform to the contours of the land - our backyard is uphill, so this would be a huge hassle. The good news is that we are going to use shadowbox instead. I am so.excited. about this, because I love the shadowbox fence, but it was $$ so we initially decided on the board-on-board. But now, we really don't have a choice unless we go with the plain panels, which neither of us like.

For instance, in this picture, the shadowbox fence is the one that's straight ahead while the plain panel fence is the one on the hill.

Shadowbox:

Ken wants to have the "step" look up the yard with straight across at the top of the yard:

I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I think this is one instance where I better just keep my mouth shut and let the men make all the decisions.

Fourth of July

2006-07-06T07:38:00.000-04:00

We had a great July 4th in Georgia. I didn't take any pictures while we were down there, but the girls enjoyed the ride down in the new "mommy mobile."

As Sydnei said, "She got a BIG tongue, Kiki."

more yardwork

2006-07-02T20:37:00.000-04:00

We got a lot of yard stuff done this weekend.

We bought our fence! We're having it installed this week, and we are so excited.

We planted 2 butterfly bushes and 2 lavender starflowers in the back.

And then we put a retaining wall up in the front and re-mulched everything.
We need more stones and more mulch, so please forgive the uncompleted look.

(As a reminder - here's the front right after we planted everything)

We also got a crepe myrtle tree that we'll plant once we get the fence up.

My gardenia plant is looking really really good ...

... and I have my first bloom! I was so excited to see|smell it.

So here's an overall view of our little backyard haven.

published picture

2006-06-29T08:35:00.000-04:00

Remember this post? Well, it looks like it's really going to happen!

Hi Keli,

Sorry for the delay. We are tying up loose ends and are in the midst of submitting to the Ministry for its final approval.

We are wondering how you would like us to credit you in the Acknowledgements Page? We would send you a .pdf of how your image is being used if you'd like.

Please get back to us asap.

Thank You & Best Regards,

Nur Hayati Binte Jumain
Educational Publishing
Marshall Cavendish International (Singapore) Private Limited
1 New Industrial Road, Times Centre
Singapore 536196
Tel : (65) 62139533
Fax : (65) 64875913
URL : www.marshallcavendish.com

2006-06-27T10:08:00.000-04:00

Ken and I ran the Greenville Candlelight 5K this past Saturday night, and what a fun evening it was. Mom + Daddy + Mema + Popee came to see us run, and we had such a good time together.

Mema emailed me some of her pictures, so here we are at registration ...

And right before the race.

I'm pretty sure Mom got some of us while we were running, so I'll put those out here whenever she gets a chance to have them developed.

Ken's knees were hurting from the previous weekend's marathon, so he agreed to run it with me. We were aiming for 8:30 miles but, sadly, we finished up at 28:38. The hills were a little tough and the last mile was all uphill. Needless to say, I wasn't prepared for that.

I'm not sure when our next 5K is, but my goal is 27:00 for the Midnight Flight this year.

wake-up call

2006-06-21T15:21:00.000-04:00

How would you like to see this on your way to work every morning?

I do.

A Cartoon Network spokesperson confirmed that these billboards, along with others, including "I'm a Hot Toe Picker" on Wade Hampton and "Clowns Hate Tangelos" on South Pleasantburg are in-house teaser ads that will promote a new summer programming announcment in a few weeks. All three billboards are clearly references to Cartoon Network shows "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" and "The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy."

Source: UpstateLink.com

good choice

2006-06-20T08:36:00.000-04:00

Hyundai Tucson Earns Highest Initial Quality Ranking in its Segment

J.D. Power and Associates announced today that Hyundai is the highest ranked non-premium nameplate in the 2006 Initial Quality StudySM (IQS) and is ranked third among all nameplates. Hyundai owners had fewer problems with their vehicles than any other non-premium car or truck brand.

In addition to Hyundai's strong overall showing, the Hyundai Tucson earned the trophy for the highest initial quality in the compact multi-activity vehicle (MAV) segment.

Hyundai ranks among the top three nameplates in the study for the first time in the history of IQS, according to the the 2006 Initial Quality Study issued by J.D. Power and Associates. Highlights include a top ranking for the Hyundai Tucson in the compact MAV segment, and top three segment performances for the redesigned Sonata and all-new Azera, as well as the Elantra and Tiburon.

The IQS study measures 217 attributes, including the overall driving experience, engine and transmission, and a broad range of defect and design problems reported by vehicle owners. Hyundai has been steadily improving its non-premium nameplate ranking, ranking third in 2005, up from fourth the previous year.

Read the rest of the article here.

they love me! they really love me!

2006-06-14T09:20:00.000-04:00

I came into work this morning to find this email waiting for me.

Hi,

We are interested to use your image of the effects of acid rain in our Chemistry books. We would therefore like to seek your permission to use the image.

We would appreciate very much if you could contact us at nurhayati@sg.marshallcavendish.com or simply reply to this mail.

Thank you & Best Regards,
Nur Hayati Jumain
Educational Publishing
Marshall Cavendish International (Singapore) Pte Ltd
URL : www.marshallcavendish.com
Email : nurhayati@sg.marshallcavendish.com

I checked the website, and it's a legit organization from what I can tell. I can't even believe it! I'm going to be a published photographer!!

I emailed him back and told him that I would be honored to have it used and that I would like a little more information on the project. (aka, will my name be used and can I buy the book? hee!)

I miss New Mexico.

2006-06-13T10:22:00.000-04:00

As I'm sitting here at work, I can't help but miss our amazing honeymoon spot. So ... here are some of my favorite honeymoon pictures. Hope you don't mind seeing them twice.

From downtown Santa Fe:

From Loretto Chapel:

From our day trip to the Rio Grande Gorge and the deserted Taos Ski Valley:

Just noticed the guy fishing in the middle of the river:

Man, what an awesome trip.

funny pictures

2006-06-12T17:07:00.000-04:00

Ken is going to kill me for posting these, but I thought they were too funny.

I was working late the other night and came into the bedroom to find this:

At least Mollie was where she was supposed to be:

To answer your question - yes, I had to sleep with Mollie in the pen. ;)

And just in case you missed it in the last post ...

HONEYMOON PICTURES ARE POSTED!!

Still waiting on our professional wedding pictures,

but they keep adding events, so hopefully, ours will be up soon.

another one?

2006-06-11T09:48:00.000-04:00

Just because we don't have enough ... we went out yesterday and bought the new Mac mini computer. We've been thinking about getting a new Mac for a while since we've been working a lot on our wedding DVD and pictures, honeymoon pictures, and the four hundred pictures I take every night. And the size of the Mac mini is just unbelievable.

So, say hello to our you-don't-want-to-know-how-many-we-have computer.

Looks Small, Acts Huge
The Mac that redefined what you can expect from a compact, affordable computer does it again. Mac mini now features the revolutionary Intel Core processors, more expansion options, and a new way to command your digital life — all in the same amazingly compact package.

Up to 4x Faster
Powered by the Intel Core Solo or Intel Core Duo processor plus a whole new system architecture, the new Mac mini delivers up to 4x the speed of the previous model. (2)

Music, Photos, Movies, Blogs
With the included iLife ’06, Mac mini makes it easy to organize, edit, and enhance your digital creations. With a Combo drive, you can burn your own CDs and play DVDs, and a SuperDrive lets you play and burn both CDs and DVDs.

Put on a Show
Use the Front Row interface and Apple Remote to browse through all the music, photos and movies on your Mac mini — from the couch across the room. In addition, Bonjour sharing now makes it possible to access shared music, photos and video playlists from other computers on your network.

BYODKM
At just 6.5 inches square and 2 inches tall, you can put Mac mini almost anywhere. And it’s easy to upgrade from an older system or set it up side-by-side with another computer. Just BYODKM - bring your own display, keyboard, and mouse.

Built-in Wireless
Bluetooth 2.0+EDR offers fast connections to peripherals such as cell phones, mice and keyboards, PDAs, and more. AirPort Extreme lets you connect Mac mini to any industry-standard, 802.11g-compatible wireless network.

More Expandable than Ever
Perfect for all your digital devices, Mac mini is now more expandable than ever, featuring four USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire port, and Gigabit Ethernet, as well as digital optical and analog audio in/out. It also supports up to 2GB of memory.

I used it today to create a new website with all of our honeymoon pictures -- click here to see it.

In other news, Penny is doing wonderful. She burrows all the way in the sand and stays all day long and then comes out at night. She's a cute little thing. Her and Cash seem to be getting along just fine - they pretty much keep to themselves most of the time. I finally got the tank regulated with the temp and humidity, and they seem happy. All is well in Hermit Crab Land.

I've got crabs! Again!!

2006-06-08T22:59:00.000-04:00

I took stinky June back to Petsmart to get a new crab and I really took my time to find one that's very active. I lucked out, because I brought home a beautiful new crab who is bee-bopping all over the tank -- even climbed up into the hammock, which Cash hasn't braved, yet.

Say hello to ...

♥ P E N N Y ♥

Yes, she has mirrors on her shell! How cute is that!?!

I only got one picture of her, because I don't want to freak her out with the camera flash. I'm trying to take it as easy as I can on her for the first few days. I also opened the lid a bit to keep the heat and humidity down since that may have been the cause of June's untimely death. She seems to be enjoying her new digs, though.

I also stopped by Lowe's and got a big bag of play sand so that they would have deeper sand in which to burrow. Cash has never molted, so he should be doing that soon.

Well, I better run. I've got more pics and videos to post, but I'll do that sometime tomorrow.

goodbye ... again

2006-06-08T09:52:00.000-04:00

Don't get too attached to June - she's dead.

My luck with crabs? Not so good.

June in June

2006-06-06T22:08:00.000-04:00

After reading everything I did wrong in a crab blog (yes, there's a crab blog out there - how funny is that?), I decided that it was time to keep Cash from dying. I also ended up getting a new crab as a companion.

Introducing ... June

Isn't she a cutie?

I went after work and spent way too much money getting a new habitat for Cash and June.
(Now, I kind of wish I had named the other one Johnny)

What I bought:
10-gallon tank and lid from Walmart ($16 vs $40 at Petsmart)
Drinking water conditioner
Salt water conditioner
New climbing stick
Reptile hammock
2 bigger and better water bowls (one for drinking water and one for salt water)
New sponge for the drinking water bowl (adds humidity)
Digital Thermo-Hygrometer to monitor temperature and humidity
Baby food (bananas/apples and carrots)

I bought an under-tank heater, but I don't think I'll need it until winter, so I'll probably take it back for now.

I also ordered a dozen paw print shells from Shell Horizons for $6.

June is already too big for her shell, so I need to give her lots of shells to choose from.

I went to get some play sand from Lowe's, but they were out, so I'll have to go to Home Depot tomorrow.

Anyway, won't you come take a tour of their new home?

(That's baby food in the orange dish -- Cash loved it! Haven't seen much movement from June, yet - it will probably take her a couple of weeks to get acclimated to her new surroundings)

The humidity and temp before (humidity is WAY too low)

And after I Saran Wrapped the lid (perfect)

More pics of June

Cash enjoying his new digs -- he is all over the place right now!

I checked the humidity and temp on the cage at Petsmart, and I was so disappointed. And of course, I wanted to buy every one of them, but ... Ken would kill me. If I get this thing figured out, then I'll get a couple more.

she lived a good life

2006-06-05T09:23:00.000-04:00

R.I.P. Henrietta

You were a good crab.

before and after

2006-05-31T19:48:00.000-04:00

Master Bath

Before

After

Fireplace | Mantle

Before

After

(We are going to replace the picture with a mirror)

Upstairs Hallway

Before

After

Front Yard

Before

After

Memorial Day Weekend

2006-05-30T10:56:00.000-04:00

We had another busy weekend.

I had the day off Friday, so I finally went and got my name changed at the SSA office. I was surprised when I only had to wait about 40 minutes. I'm all official now. I had planned to go to the DMV to get my license changed but I was starving, so I went home and waited for the fence guy to come to give us a quote. He quoted us a bit higher than we thought, so we got the name of a local fence company off of one of our neighbor's fences. We'll call them sometime this week and then go from there.

On Saturday, we went shopping at Lowe's and got 2 new outdoor plants, 2 indoor plants, and 8 bales of pinestraw. I planted all of the indoor and outdoor plants in various containers, planted my gardenia next to the back door, watered everything, and put down pinestraw around all of my new plants while Ken mowed the grass and sprayed the whole yard with weed killer.

Then, we gave all of the girls a bath, which is a huge job in and of itself.

We came inside, and I Swiffer'd the downstairs and dusted while Ken vacuumed the carpet. Then, he steam cleaned the living room, the front room, and our bedroom while I vaccumed the stairs and all the rooms upstairs.

I hung up about 20 pictures all around the house, after using the studfinder, which Ken couldn't use since it kept going off. Hahahaha.

I cleaned all of the bathrooms and then we moved the white cabinet that was in the downstairs bathroom into the master bath next to my sink.

I also treated the dining room table, and it looks much better. There are a bunch of nicks in the wood, so I've got to figure out how to fix those -- probably around the same time I have all of the chairs recovered.

We finished the rest of the yardwork yesterday. Unfortunately, the weed killer didn't seem to work, so we might have to call a lawn care company to come out and take care of our weeds, as well. Boy, it never ends.

I'm getting so spoiled. I had a 4-day weekend, and now I have 3 days of work and then a 3-day weekend. Can't beat that.

Speaking of spoiled, here are some recent pics of our girls (oldest to youngest) ...

Mollie

Jessie (waiting by the front door, as usual)

Macey

One of Ken's friends asked him when we're going to have kids, and we were like, "Kids? We already have three!"

And you can definitely tell that we haven't been married that long because I actually remembered yesterday that we had been married for a month. Give me a few more months, and I'll be like "April when? What day? How many months?"

I got a new car!!

2006-05-22T09:17:00.000-04:00

As many of you know, I've been wanting a small SUV for quite some time, and since I just sold my Mazda Protege, now seemed like the right time. After much deliberation and many miles of traveling around the upstate, I finally found the perfect car for me.

2006 Hyundai Tucson Limited

And since I haven't had a chance to get any, here are some website pictures of the inside.

So there she is. I absolutely love her!

more baking

2006-05-17T22:48:00.000-04:00

I know you all think I'm crazy for posting my food, but that's okay. I am crazy, so I might as well just put it out there for everyone to see.

I made these red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting tonight, and I must say that they are awesome. And I'm not bragging on my baking abilities. The recipe is simply *that* good.

They're not that pretty, but they're so yummy that no one will care.

And just to tide you over until I finish the honeymoon pictures and recap, here's a picture of Ken and I at the top of Sandia Peak.

Strangely enough, this is the only picture we have together on our honeymoon. Not because we weren't together, but because we didn't trust anyone with our camera.

yardwork this past weekend

2006-05-15T20:32:00.000-04:00

We were very busy in the yard this past Saturday.

Ken had a tennis match in the morning, so we got up and ate breakfast and then he went to the Greenville Country Club while I went to Lowe's. I ended up getting all perennials so that I won't have to redo it every year. Once I got all of my plants loaded and had the guys load up my cow manure and top soil, I went back home and got to work.

I pulled up 1 huge liriope plant and dug up 3 more - they've been there for 3 years, so their root system was out of control. I also dug up 2 juniper plants, because we had way too many. Once I finally got those dug up, I tilled up the clay with my hoe, poured cow manure compost down, and then watered it. While that was sitting, I dug up around the mailbox and planted a couple of arid condition groundcover plants.

By that time, the ground was fairly soft next to the house, so I got to planting.

The Plan:
2 assorted Azalea bushes (back)
3 East Friesland Sage
3 Fleabane
4 Lamium

Under the Mailbox:
Coral Reef Sedum Groundcover

Next to the Bushes on the Left Side:
Soapwort

Window Box:
2 Orange Gerbera Daisies
Coral Reef Sedum Groundcover

Unforunately, we have red clay, so I had to dig the holes, put cow manure in the bottom, soak it down, put the plant in, fill it up with cow manure, and then top if off with top soil. We must have carried away 4 trash bags of nothing but dirt/clay.

I also trimmed the big bushes on the left to make them not so much of an eyesore.

I still have to do one more window box, plant the rest of the groundcover in the back, plant my gardenia bush next to the back door, and hang the Boston ferns on the front porch - but I should be able to get that done tomorrow night.

Ken cut the grass, oiled up the bikes, did some trimming around the house, and dug 2 holes for me.

Here is the only before shot - this was taken early last year:

After:

You can't tell much of a difference now, but I think it will be a really good change next spring.

After I dug up all the liriope and juniper:

Anyone want some liriope or juniper bushes?

Our Boston ferns:

The groundcover I planted on the left side:

One of the windowboxes:

The back patio (I don't like where the chimenea is right now,
but we have to find a good place for it):

The whole house:

The mailbox:

The trimmed bushes:

And just because it rarely happens,
here are a few pictures of food I've made lately.

Penne pasta | summer veggie salad:

Cookies!

BLT Salad with Sundried Tomato dressing (tonight):

Yes, it tased as good as it looked:

zoo pictures

2006-05-15T09:33:00.000-04:00

Rio Grande Zoo in Albuquerque, NM

Chillin' out

This little guy was so cute rolling around in the grass

Walking over to what seemed to be one of his parents

Peek-a-boo

Then, this big guy started coming over to where they were

So they got up and left

He made is way over ...

... and sat comfortably in their spot

A preggers mama

The King Orangutan

Another walking over to sit in the shade

Wouldn't want to be stuck in a pen with one of these!

Big, sleepy pig

I don't remember what kind of deer these little guys are, but they were so cute

Lazy warthogs

"Get up, dude. There are people taking pictures of us."

Hippos

Sleeping monkeys

Rhinos in the shade

Zebras -- the great thing about this zoo was that you could see all of the animals from a bunch of different angles

A huge and hideous condor

I had to take a picture of these since my old school mascot was an eagle

"Pretty bird"

These reminded me of the R.odents of U.nusual S.ize in The Princess Bride

Pink flamingos

I love how the one in the middle is all twisted up like a pretzel

Gettin' some sun

And last but not least - the giraffes

The little baby giraffe was sooo cute

I actually have a lot more zoo pictures on my Fuji, because it was more convenient to get out on a moment's notice, so I'll have to upload those tonight.

Friday Fiver

2006-05-12T08:31:00.001-04:00

Five questions for this chilly Friday:

1. How many siblings do you have? 1

2. Do you get along with your family? I get along with everyone but Sydnei - she is just so hard to get along with :grin:

3. Think you look like anyone in your family? people say I'm equal parts of both, but my baby/little girl pictures look just like my mom's pictures

4. Do you want any children of your own? eventually

5. Special plans for Mother's Day? can't tell - my mom reads this

+++++

And just because I'm sure you are all wondering, I used my new Swiffer Sweep+Vac last night, and I thought I'd died and gone to Heaven. It is AWESOME! I think using it every other day will get rid of that extra dog we have floating around our house.

The homemade chocolate chip cookies were a hit at work - I think my boss ate about 5 yesterday and has already started out this morning with one. Little does he know that I left the second | softer batch at home. Mmmm.

+++++

For some reason, I forgot to post these pictures from Tuesday.

Our ride for the week:

Believe it or not, this was the slowest car ever made. Besides the Yugo. Seriously, it had no power whatsoever, and it was a huge joke to us by the end of the week.

This is a panoramic shot of Albuquerque from the top of the Petroglyph National Monument-interesting tidbit: this picture was put together from 13 different shots.

Click on the picture to see it full-size:

Wedding Pictures

2006-05-11T18:33:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures that I took on our wedding day as well as some that my good friend, Katie, took

Click here to see the slideshow!

Betty Crocker? Martha Stewart? You ain't got nothing on me!

2006-05-11T15:53:00.000-04:00

I'm rather enjoying the housewifing duties ... but don't tell Ken I said that.

Last night, I stopped by Target to get the new'ish Swiffer Sweep+Vac, and although I haven't used it yet, I've heard very good things about it. We've either got to find something to get up dog hair or ban them to the garage for life. I also got a whole box of Swiffer Dusters, and some Tilex Daily Shower Cleaner. Well, none of this is really surprising since it's broadly-known that I rather like shopping.

The surprising part of it all is that I made dinner (a yummy pasta salad), walked the two fat dogs for 30 minutes, pulled weeds for an hour, swept the porches and walkways, and then came inside and made chocolate chip cookies! From scratch!!

I just have to take a minute to give a shoutout to my Kitchenaid standing mixer. This is by far the best thing ever invented, and I don't know how I ever lived this long without it. Okay, so it's no secret that I was once a fan of the tube-o-cookies and box cakes, but never again! From now on, I'm doing it all from scratch.

So anyway ... that was my evening. Ken was running up and down the stairs the whole time.

In other news, we are going to be getting the back yard fenced in hopefully soon. This is going to be a very happy day for us, because we will no longer have to worry about |a| kids tromping through our yard |b| the neighbor's dog choking himself on his chain every time our dogs are outside, and |c| sneaking over to pick up any poop that "magically" appeared in the neighbor's yard.

We are also going to work on the front and back yards to rid our acreage of weeds. We have been blessed with both broad-leaved and grassy weeds ... lucky us. Once we get that under control, I am planning on turning the right front of the house into The Land of the Annuals. No more grassy plants with purple berries. For now, we're going to leave the shrubs that are in the left front of the house, but I would like to eventually turn that into a butterfly sanctuary. And I'm also planning to put some kind of groundcover around the tree that's in the front yard - jasmine? periwinkle/vinca? I also have to have lamb's ear somewhere, because that's one of my favorite plants.

So that's the plan.

And Ken doesn't know about the plants, so he's going to be sweating a little as he's reading this. Don't worry, honey, I'll pay for it.

On that note, I better get back to earning my keep. Be back later - hopefully with more honeymoon pictures. And I promise I'll post some wedding pictures as soon as I have them in my hand!

Attention all who attended the wedding with cameras:

If you had a digital camera
Can you please email me any pictures you have whenever you get a chance?

If you had a film camera
May I please borrow (or have?) one set of your prints?
I will be happy to return them to you after I scan them.

Thank you!

And now we return you to your regularly scheduled programming ...

where is it?

2006-05-11T15:39:00.000-04:00

Sorry about the lack of a honeymoon recap past the first 2 days. I've been busy around the house and just haven't had a chance to get all of our pictures uploaded. I will hopefully be able to have everything finished and posted sometime this weekend.

Thank you for your patience!

♥

honeymoon recap - part 1

2006-05-10T10:39:00.000-04:00

Monday, May 1, 2006
We left for the airport around 3:30pm and checked in with no problems about an hour before our flight left. The flight to Atlanta was a smooth 23 minutes, and then we were off to Albuquerque, which was a 3 1/2-hour flight from Atlanta. We gained 2 hours, so we were both exhausted by the time we landed in the surprisingly large Albuquerque International Airport. We took a shuttle to our rental car place, and got checked out of there in about 15 minutes in a styling Chrysler Sebring. ;) We finally got to the La Quinta Inn around 10:30pm, and I think we were asleep in less than 30 minutes after check-in.

Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Ken got up first and went to the lobby to see about wireless access to do some work. I got ready and met him for breakfast at 8:30 – 2 bowls of cereal and a cup of hot chocolate.

After breakfast, we checked out and headed out to the Petroglyph National Monument, which was really cool. We saw a bunny rabbit and several lizards but were disappointed to see no snakes. The carvings were super cool, and we were amazed at the huge boulders peppering the mountains.

Me at the top of the monument, and Ken doing what he does best:

Being funny with our cheesy "into the distance" gazes:

The far away car:

Cute bunny rabbit who was quietly chewing her cud:

Until a bunch of loud old people scared her into a little caved out area:

A big lizard:

These chiles were hanging everywhere - even at the visitor center for the Petroglyph National Monument:

That hike took about 45 minutes, so we headed over to the Rio Grande Zoo. Honestly, it was the best zoo we’ve ever been to, but it was packed with school groups – they must have had some kind of festival or something, because there were at least 100 schools there. Unfortunately, their constant screaming and yelling kept most of the animals under wraps, namely the polar bears, but we still had a lot of fun.

::pictures coming soon::

After the Zoo, we stopped by Duran Central Pharmacy in the Old Town for lunch, upon a suggestion from our handy Frommer’s guide. It was totally worth it! We had authentic Mexican cuisine, and my stomach has been reminding me of it all afternoon. ;) I had something called a Torpedo, which was a potato burrito with green chile. Wow, it was hot! Ken had the bowl of red chili, and it had a very distinctive flavor – a thousand times different than the chili we make at home. Overall, a very good choice for an authentic Mexican lunch.

On the way to Santa Fe, we decided to ride the Sandia Peak Tramway. Unfortunately, it was closed, so we just hiked around the base of the mountain for about an hour, got some amazing pictures, and enjoyed the scenery.

I loved these curly cacti:

Okay ... so I loved all cacti:

We left the Sandia Peak park area around 3:30 and drove up I-25 to Santa Fe. Man, I was just overwhelmed with the views out there. First of all, the surrounding mountains are unbelievable. We’re used to rolling green mountains, so the desert brown mountain ranges and mesas in the distance are just too cool. Due to lack of internet access, we didn't have any directions to anything, but Ken has this amazing sense of direction, so we found Las Palomas in about 20 minutes. It is unreal! I’m so glad we decided on this casita -- it wasn't fancy, but it was really beautiful. Wood floors, authentic New Mexican furniture, Southwestern-themed decorations and rugs, large living room with comfy leather sofa, flat-screen tv, and a small kitchen with stove-top, microwave, dishes and small refrigerator. There was also a fireplace in the living room, a beautifully tiled bathroom with Jacuzzi tub, and our master bedroom complete with a huge bed with feather pillows and comforter. Total A+! It may not be the right hotel for those who are looking for a fancy schmancy spa-type atmosphere, but we loved it.

Our veranda:

The living room:

The other side of the living room / kitchen area:

(we never used that fireplace)

The master suite:

(that a/c was a lifesaver at night!)

We had a skylight in the master bedroom, but I forgot to get a picture of it.

The bathroom:

So, as you can see, nothing super fancy -- but definitely comfy and cozy.

After we checked in, we relaxed for a little bit and then walked down to explore the Santa Fe Plaza. We stopped in a few stores, bought some postcards, an easy-to-use map of Santa Fe (and surrounding towns), and then had dinner at the Plaza Café. I had an unbelievable grilled chicken burger with cheddar cheese, guacamole, tomatoes, and onions. Yum-o! Ken had a New Mexican burrito with green chile, but it may have been a little too hot – even for Mr. Asbestos Mouth. For dessert, a sweet tortilla “pillow” (soapapilla) smothered with honey. I probably gained 20 lbs in just one week. Mmmmm.

We spent the rest of the evening relaxing in the hotel to get ready for the next day's adventure.

we're back as Mr. and Mrs. H!!

2006-05-01T12:11:00.000-04:00

I don't have a lot of time, because I need to finish packing for the honeymoon, but here's a quick highlight video that Ken worked on yesterday.

Ken & Keli Wedding Video

And now, we're off to Santa Fe!

last one!

2006-04-27T23:21:00.000-04:00

My last post as a single woman ...

In 2 days, I will be walking down these stairs to marry my best friend.

I could not be more happy or more sure of anything in my life. I love you, Ken, and I can't wait to be your wife.

did I ever post this?

2006-04-21T21:56:00.000-04:00

Here's a quick tour of my office.

My space

The wonderful view from behind my desk

Our kitchen (and fax machine)

The stairs to the big guy's office - my boss, I mean

I didn't take any pictures of the other people's offices, because I didn't want to invade their privacy, but you get the gist. It's a beautiful office in a beautiful part of downtown, and I love it.

+++

And just in case you missed it
click here for an update on our lives and a few pictures of the girls

+++

If you are out there reading, please post a comment and let me know you're there! You can post anonymously if you don't have a blogspot username. Just type your reply, select "anonymous" and then type in the word verification word -- just to keep those nasty spambots away.

what a crazy few weeks!

2006-04-21T14:31:00.000-04:00

Things have been crazy busy lately, so I thought I'd post a little update ...

Moving
I'm about 98% moved over to Ken's house, thanks to loads of help from Dad, Mom, my Big Bro, Ken's dad, and Ken. My brother "borrowed" a box truck from his office, and we loaded it down with all of my stuff. I really can't believe I had so much stuff! Goodwill is going to be very happy to see me.

We basically got it done in less than 5 hours, and now Ken's house looks like a box factory. But we have the rest of our lives to unpack -- and at the rate we're going, it's going to take us that long.

Wedding
We are 8 days away from getting married!! I've been running around so much that I am suffering from sore feet ... but no cold feet. We have a few more things to do beforehand, but it's entirely doable. I just can't wait to get down there and get it done! A week from today, we'll be in the process of getting our marriage license and spending our last evening as single peeps. Word.

Work
Now that tax season is over, we have it made. *wink, wink* Bossman left around 11:30 this morning to go to the lake, and the other girl and I aren't going to be here too much longer (it's now 2:45pm on Friday afternoon). I'm glad Bossman is taking a break -- he needs it way more than we do.

General Boring Stuff
Got 2 new books today - no, Mom, I won't take them on the honeymoon.

Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind

Miss Julia Springer, a proper Southern woman of a certain age, has had enough. And she's going to tell you about it whether you like it or not. Quietly coping with her husband's recent death and the burden of allocating the funds from his sizable estate, she receives an unexpected visit from one Hazel Marie Puckett, with a youngster in tow. Thinking this overly blond, spike-heeled woman must be selling something, she attempts to dismiss her with all the firm politeness that her Southern manners allow. Yet this perfectly practiced composure is quickly shaken when Hazel Marie unceremoniously announces her intentions: The child is Wesley Lloyd Springer's bastard son, and since the man left her penniless, she's leaving Little Lloyd in Miss Julia's care, relying on her "good Christian charity." Suddenly, this longtime church member and pillar of her small Southern community finds herself at the center of an unseemly scandal - and the guardian of a wan nine-year-old whose mere presence turns her life upside down. And she'll tell you, she's mad as a hornet on a rampage. With razor-sharp wit and perfect "steel magnolia" poise, Miss Julia speaks her mind indeed. She talks about the robbery, the kidnapping, and all of the other disgraceful goings-on that were precipitated by her husband's death - and the legacies he left behind. Even as she's driving the getaway car or lying to the police, Miss Julia always knows her own mind...despite what her pastor says - and she'll tell you about that, too.

Miss Julia Takes Over

When Miss Julia burst on the scene in her fictional debut, Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind, this proper lady of a certain age found her orderly world turned upside down when Hazel Marie Puckett appeared with her nine-year-old son, Little Lloyd, who looked disturbingly similar to Miss Julia's late husband. Now, in Miss Julia Takes Over, with her sharp tongue and iron backbone intact, Miss Julia must tackle another disruption when Hazel Marie doesn't return from a dinner date with a fund-raiser who, in Miss Julia's opinion, wears his shorts too tight. Frantic and unable to persuade the local police that Hazel Marie is in danger, Miss Julia hires J. D. Pickens to investigate, despite her reservations about his taste for beer and women. She and Little Lloyd help search for Hazel Marie, running into adventures ranging from a most indelicate display of fisticuffs to a high-speed car chase on the track of a NASCAR Speedway, all the while standing strong ...because if Miss Julia doesn't take care of things, who will?

Fast paced, funny, and full of colorful characters you'll want to meet again and again, Miss Julia Takes Over is a zany race through the South you'll not soon forget.

And to finish off this very "entertaining" post, here are some pictures of our girls!

Hilarious picture of Macey('s tongue)

Chasing Jessie who ALWAYS has the ball

Introducing Macey in ... Lord of the Dance

Sweet ole' Mollie

Anyone want to chase me with the ball? Anyone?

sisters

2006-04-14T11:26:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday!!

not so interesting tidbit

2006-04-05T11:35:00.000-04:00

Today at two minutes and three seconds after 1:00 in the afternoon,

the time and date will be

01:02:03 on 04/05/06

This will never happen again in our lifetime.

But next year, we will have

02:03:04 on 05/06/07

So really, what's the big deal?

the countdown begins

2006-03-31T14:59:00.000-05:00

29 days until our wedding, y'all!!

Happy Birthday, Mom!!!

2006-03-25T10:29:00.000-05:00

I hope you have a wonderful day!

getting to know me ... getting to know all about me ...

2006-03-24T13:56:00.000-05:00

Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. The best drive-thru girl Hardee's has ever had
2. Marketing Research Analyst at BJU Press
3. Quality Assurance Coordinator at Atlas Food Systems
4. Office Manager at JHS, PC (currently)

Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Steel Magnolias (my favorite movie of all time)
2. The Princess Bride
3. Sweet Home Alabama
4. Finding Nemo (aww, guys ... you made me ink!)

Four places you have lived:
1. Hartwell, GA
2. Danielsville, GA
3. Greenville, SC
4. about to live in Simpsonville, SC

TV shows you love to watch:
1. How I Met Your Mother
2. Grey's Anatomy
3. Dr. Phil
4. Rachael Ray's 30-Minute Meals

Four places you have been on vacation:
1. Maui
2. Bahamas
3. Charleston, SC
4. St. Petersburg, FL

Four websites I visit daily (or close to):
1. weather.com
2. eBay
3. self.com
4. carolinachannel.com

Four of my favorite foods:
1. Anything Mom cooks!! (I agree, Chad!)
2. Pasta
3. Ken's hamburgers -- the best in the world!
4. Red Lobster's cheese biscuits

Four places I would rather be right now:
1. Hiking with Ken and the girls
2. Maui
3. Sea World
4. On our honeymoon

+++

5 Things I Love
1) my new job
2) my family
3) Macey
4) Ken
5) coffee on a cold morning

5 Yummy Things
1) fried chicken
2) mashed potatoes
3) Mom's chicken and dumplings
4) pasta
5) Waffle House

5 Things I Would Do With A Lot Of Money
1) buy a new car
2) buy my parents a really nice, new washer and dryer
3) pay for my parents to have hardwood floors in their house
4) do all the work on Ken's house that we want to do
5) start college savings funds for future kids

5 Things I Would Never Wear
1) gaucho pants
2) spiked heels
3) belly chain
4) pants with pleats in the front
5) socks with open-toed shoes or flip-flops

5 Things I Enjoy Doing
1) shopping
2) reading
3) watching tv or movies
4) taking pictures
5) hiking

5 Favorite Toys
1) my SLR digital camera
2) my pink iPod mini
3) my new cell phone
4) my sound machine
5) Ken's Mac mini

this is why I don't get into a road rage

2006-03-23T17:12:00.000-05:00

Random thought: I had this strange desire to paint my fingernails red last night, which never happens. And now I remember why I don't do it. I keep leaving pink marks all over tax returns, envelopes, invoices ... whatever I touch has a pink streak down it. So I'll be taking it off tonight and going back to the usual nekkid nails.

for Becki

2006-03-23T09:06:00.000-05:00

The shoes I was telling you about:

What do you think?

a jagillion pictures from this weekend

2006-03-20T21:54:00.000-05:00

See the rest of the pictures here.

What a fun weekend I had in Georgia!!

Mrs. Linda and Mrs. Teresa threw me a wonderful bridal shower, and we ended up with more than we could ever imagine!

And then I got to spend a lot of time with my family and their dog Lizzie.

Overall, a wonderful weekend that ended way too soon.

Click here to see the slideshow of pictures ...

wedding bands

2006-03-16T17:43:00.000-05:00

I ordered Ken's wedding band today, and it's really cool. I ended up getting him a titanium band because he's so active. So it should literally last forever. I thought about getting it engraved with "put this back on" but thought he might not like that too much. ;) He wants to be surprised, so here's what it looks like (Ken - don't click on the link if you want to be surprised!) For those of you who did see it, it's exactly what he wanted. It's nice, right? I should get it in about a week.

In other news, I created a profile on classmates.com to see if there was anything about our 10-year reunion (nothing), and one of my old high school friends, Heather, just emailed me! It's pretty exciting, because I didn't do a great job of keeping up with my high school friends, so it would be really cool to meet up with her for lunch or something and catch up. She's married and still lives in Athens, so I thought that maybe we could meet for lunch this weekend while I'm down there. I hope it works out!

Well, we made it through corporate tax day without going completely crazy. But then I realized today that I inadvertently missed a return. I immediately confessed to my boss, and all he said was that I was going to have to pay the $5,000 late fee. Thank goodness he was joking and wasn't upset - apparently, it's not that big of a deal. I felt like an idiot, though. My first official screw up. *sigh*

Oh yes - we have our first wedding shower this weekend in Georgia, and I'm really excited about going. I'm planning to spend the night and go to church with my parents on Sunday morning since Mac and Beth Lynch will be at their church. Anyway, I'm trying really, really hard to not peek at my registries - I guess it's like cheating, even though you can't tell who the gifts are from.

Well, I've gone on long enough, so I'm going to go do some more packing and cleaning. Packing and cleaning -- that's my life, now.

♥, Keli

James Taylor

2006-03-14T09:54:00.000-05:00

Rob, Katie, Ken and I went to see James Taylor at the Peace Center last night. I've gotta say - I was sorely disappointed. It was a major yawn fest. The last four songs were his older stuff ... In my mind, I'm goin' to Carolina .... and they were really good, but the rest of the concert was newer songs, political songs, and slideshows.

I guess the most exciting part of the night was when everyone but me saw Andie MacDowell. I think Ken even bumped into her. But I was running out the door to the bathroom and didn't notice her even though Ken said I walked right by her. For someone who is constantly getting in trouble for staring at people, I'm not the most observant person in the world.

random update

2006-03-07T18:35:00.000-05:00

+ Thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes, cards, and gifts last week. It means so much to have so many wonderful people in my life!

+ Wedding plans are still under construction. At the moment, we're getting a lot of ick from our photographers, but I'm channeling the "mom" in me to get everything straightened out.

+ The invitations are all sent out, and we've already received a few reply cards back. Very exciting, indeed!

+ Ken and I joined cell phone plans last night, and we both got cool new phones for almost nothing. However, we ended up with matching phones, so I'll be surprised if we don't get them switched up at least once or twice.

+ Work has been busy in light of tax season, but I'm still loving my job. I am a marketing consultant for my ex-boss's business, as well, so that is keeping me very busy. But the good thing is that time flies when you're busy, and I'm sure our wedding will be here before I know it.

+ Macey is doing fine. Actually, I can hear her chewing on something right now, so I better go see what it is ... It's okay, she was just biting her nails. Now that the weather is warming up, I need to get her out and exercise her a bit - she is a fatty. She actually just turned 4, and I can't believe how much she's grown!

It seems like just yesterday that she was an itty bitty puppy:

And now she's a monster!

+ The crabs (Henrietta and Cash) are pretty boring. But it's still a little chilly, so I'm sure they'll liven up as soon as it gets warm.

Well, I guess that's it from big ole G'ville.

Love,
Keli

I expect you all to wait by your mailboxes ...

2006-02-28T13:28:00.000-05:00

The wedding invitations are in the mail!!

Yes, my life is so boring that all I have to talk about is the wedding. ;)

it's oh-so-fficial!

2006-02-25T16:59:00.000-05:00

The invitations are here and will be mailed out on Monday! Whee!

last time

2006-02-20T15:27:00.000-05:00

Due to overwhelming demand from several guests
the wedding date has been changed.
Please make note that it will be ...

SATURDAY
APRIL 29, 2006
6:00PM

There will be a reception afterwards
- location yet to be determined -

There will be NO REHEARSAL DINNER
so you do not have to be there Friday night.

Invitations to follow

2006-02-18T23:24:00.000-05:00

I haven't really been watching the Olympics much this year, but this is the funniest thing I've seen so far.

BARDONECCHIA, Italy (AP) -- Lindsey Jacobellis had the Olympic women's snowboardcross won, and then -- incredibly, inexcusably -- she made one last move on the next-to-last jump and fell.

She lost.

Coasting to what should have been an easy victory, the American grabbed her board on the way to the finish line. It caused her to fall and while she scrambled to her feet, Switzerland's Tanja Frieden sped past and became the first champion in the strange and wild sport of Olympic women's snowboardcross Friday.

Jacobellis won silver, but should have had the gold. She was well, well ahead of Frieden, and the other two women in the four-rider final had fallen long before.

Snowboarding is about style, though, so Jacobellis decided to show off for the fans in front of the grandstand near the end of her ride. But after she landed from her grab, she caught an edge, then went tumbling outside the blue line. When she recovered, she trailed Frieden over the finish line, then put her hands on her knees and held her palms up.

Jacobellis insisted she wasn't showing off.

"When you grab in boardercross you're trying to get back on the ground as fast as possible," she said. "You try to be stable in the air."

U.S. coach Peter Foley fell onto the ground in disbelief.

He said Jacobellis has always had a tendency to grab her board for stability, but after looking at a frame-by-frame breakdown of the jump shot by Associated Press photos, he conceded Jacobellis probably had gone over the top.

"She definitely styled that a little too hard," he said.

Foley wasn't alone.

"Sometimes it's subconscious, but that was putting on a show," said American Seth Wescott, the men's champion from the day before. "It's one of those things. I did it in my early rides yesterday but you've got to choose your time and make sure you don't miss."

That debate will linger. Either way, it was hard to think the only American rider in the women's finals -- one of the best in the world -- could blow this one.

But she did.

Her flub left the American contingent standing in the bleachers stunned and shocked -- Frieden, as well. She knew she had no business winning the gold.

Thus ended another strange and memorable day on the snowboardcross course, where it's the side-by-side racing that usually causes the thrills and spills.

That was very much the case at the top of the course in the finals. Canadian Maelle Ricker, the fastest woman in qualifying, came off a jump, rotated awkwardly, caught her backside edge on the landing and smacked her back and head onto the ground. She was taken off the course on a stretcher. She was conscious and was being taken to a hospital in Turin for observation.

A few moments later, teammate Dominique Maltais, the eventual bronze medalist, went careening into the netting after a jump.

That made it a two-woman show and it wasn't even a contest. Jacobellis could have practically crawled the rest of the way to the finish line. She probably wishes she had.

During the awards ceremony, she stood on the podium beneath Frieden and smiled, but there looked to be some tear stains there.

Jacobellis came into the Olympics as one of the best-known Americans, a poster child for her sport, to say nothing of the credit card company she endorsed. She'll also leave as a poster child for something much different -- the whole idea of making sure the victory is sealed before you celebrate.

from si.com

Click here to the see the pictures

wow!

2006-02-11T12:40:00.000-05:00

Big Congrats to Ken and Katie
for running the Hilton Head Half-Marathon!!

I'm so proud of you guys!

perfect makeup

2006-02-08T21:21:00.000-05:00

Mom, I would only do this for you, but I wanted to tell you that I have finally found the perfect makeup. Regular foundation makes me break out, and I've never found the perfect shade. Concealer is even worse. So I saw this on an infomercial and then found out that several of my friends use it and love it, so I thought I'd give it a shot.

Bare Minerals - Since 1976, when we opened our first store in Los Gatos, California, Bare Escentuals has focused on using only the finest ingredients in our products. This commitment led to the creation of our revolutionary mineral makeup called bareMinerals®. Made with crushed minerals from the earth, 100% pure bareMinerals are free of preservatives, talc, oil, fragrance and other potential skin irritants. All ages and skin types can benefit from our feather-light 100% pure bareMinerals, but especially those concerned with skin sensitivities, allergies, scars, blemishes, rosacea, wrinkles and pigmentation.

bareMinerals buff on so light and smooth that you'll forget you're wearing any makeup at all. Better still, bareMinerals contain no oils or binders - which means their all-natural color stays true all day. It's makeup so pure you can sleep in it.

So without further ado, here's my embarassing before makeup face:

And here's my face with bare minerals foundation, mineral veil, and warmth:

The 2nd picture does include eye makeup, but I didn't put on any concealer, blush or powder other than the bare minerals makeup.

Click the links for a larger, more detailed shot of before and after.

It's not a liquid foundation, by the way. It's all powder.

1. Bare Minerals foundation

2. Bare Minerals warmth

3. Bare Minerals mineral veil

And that's it! Also, the very first application took me about 3 minutes. I've read that once you get used to it, an entire application can take less than a minute.

It is worth every penny, and I will never go back to liquid foundation and concealer.

wedding gift registries

2006-02-06T20:47:00.000-05:00

I finally finished our wedding registries.

Click on the images below to go there.

++

why Santa Fe?

2006-02-02T19:13:00.000-05:00

Since Chad asked, I thought I'd post some of the reasons for our choice of honeymoon.

The Rio Grande

Palace of the Governors - Originally constructed in the early 17th century as Spain's seat of government for what is today the American Southwest, the Palace of the Governors chronicles the history of Santa Fe, as well as New Mexico and the region. This adobe structure, now the state's history museum, was designated a Registered National Historic Landmark in 1960 and an American Treasure in 1999.

Museum of Fine Arts - The Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1917 as the Art Gallery of the Museum of New Mexico. Housed in a spectacular Pueblo Revival building designed by I. H. and William M. Rapp, it was based on their New Mexico building at the Panama-California Exposition (1915). The museum's architecture inaugurated what has come to be known as "Santa Fe Style."

The building combines aspects of several Southwestern regional styles including elements of the facades of the Spanish mission churches of Acoma, Laguna and San Felipe Pueblos.

For more than eighty-five years the Museum has collected and exhibited work by artists from New Mexico and elsewhere.

Current exhibit - New Mexico Connections: Who's Who? and What's What? presents sequences of portraits that clarify some of the interrelationships between artists, politicians, collectors, philanthropists, musicians and writers. While neither a perfect chronology nor a comprehensive history, the exhibition hits at complex social and aesthetic relationships that exist within New Mexico art communities.

Georgia O'Keefe Museum

Institute of American Indian Arts Museum

St. Francis Cathedral - Built in Romanesque style between 1869 and 1886, this is Santa Fe's grandest religious edifice. It has a famous 17th century wooden Madonna known as Our Lady of Peace.

Loretto Chapel - The Loretto Chapel is a chapel in Santa Fe, New Mexico known for its unusual spiral staircase, the construction of which is considered a miracle by the Sisters of Loretto. The staircase has two unexplained mysteries connected to it: the identity of its builder and the physics of the construction. Miracle or no, the resulting staircase is an impressive work of carpentry. It ascends twenty feet making two complete revolutions up to the choir loft without the use of nails or a center support.

Sandia Peak Tramway - Located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, it is the world's longest aerial tramway. It stretches from the Northeast edge of the city to Sandia Peak, the highest point of the Sandia Mountains.

Petroglyph National Monument stretches 17 miles (27 km) along Albuquerque, New Mexico's West Mesa, a volcanic basalt escarpment that dominates the city’s western horizon. Authorized June 27, 1990, the 7,236 acre (29.28 km²) monument is cooperatively managed by the National Park Service and the City of Albuquerque.

Petroglyph National Monument protects a variety of cultural and natural resources including five volcanic cones, hundreds of archeological sites and an estimated 25,000 images carved by native peoples and early Spanish settlers. Many of the images are recognizable as animals, people, brands and crosses; others are more complex. Their meaning was, possibly, understood only by the carver. These images are the cultural heritage of a people who have long since moved into other areas and moved on through history. The monument protects them for visitors to see and appreciate for generations to come.

The Rio Grande Botanic Garden (20 acres) is a botanical garden and 10,000-square foot conservatory located beside the Rio Grande and what is said to be the largest cottonwood gallery forest in the world, in the Albuquerque Biological Park, 2601 Central Avenue NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. It is open every day of the week during business hours except for Thanksgiving, Christmas and, New Year's Days; an admission fee is charged.

The Garden's conservatory contains native and exotic plants from desert and Mediterranean climates and a seasonal butterfly conservatory. The outdoor gardens place an emphasis on desert plants.

Rio Grande Zoo - Founded in 1927, the 64-acre Rio Grande Zoo offers visitors a pleasant stroll highlighted by close encounters with more than 250 species of exotic and native animals. Popular species include seals and sea lions, chimpanzees, gorillas, orangutans, elephants, polar bears, giraffes, hippos, camels, tamarins, koalas, Mexican wolves, mountain lions, monkeys, jaguars, zebras and rhinoceros. State-of-the-art exhibit design and eye-pleasing landscaping enhance zoo animal husbandry by creating naturalistic habitats complete with trees, grasses, water features and rockwork. Walking distance through the zoo is 2.27 miles. The Rio Grande Zoo is a facility of the Albuquerque Biological Park .

I'll be back later with more ...

as promised to mi madre

2006-01-31T12:19:00.000-05:00

Las Palomas - Santa Fe, NM

That's where we're kicking it on our honeymoon. Sweet!

National Wear Red Day

2006-01-25T09:13:00.000-05:00

Go Red For Women is a nationwide movement celebrating the energy, passion and power we have to band together and wipe out heart disease. Too few people realize that heart disease is the No. 1 killer of women - and of men - but the good news is that heart disease can largely be prevented. Spreading the Go Red For Women message empowers women to love - and save - their hearts through lifestyle choices and actions.

National Wear Red Day is Friday, February 3, 2006. On this day, millions of Americans will be wearing red to show their support for women and the fight against heart disease. By wearing red on National Wear Red Day, you can help the American Heart Association raise awareness of heart disease and inspire women to take charge of their heart health.

National Wear Red Day has its own dress code. On this day, you're free to Go Red in your own fashion. Wear your favorite red clothes or accessory - a red blouse, red lipstick, a red dress lapel pin (the symbol of women's heart health) - carry a fabulous red handbag or sport a red tie and red socks...and show some heart for heart disease prevention.

Join the millions of Americans wearing red on Friday, February 3rd and encourage others to do the same. Get involved. Go Red For Women. It's a simple, powerful way to improve women's heart health. For more information, visit www.goredforwomen.org or call the American Heart Association at 1-888-MY-HEART (1-888-694-3278).

twenty-one things to think about

2006-01-23T10:35:00.000-05:00

ONE. Give people more than they expect and do it cheerfully

TWO. Marry a man/woman you love to talk to. As you get older, their conversational skills will be as important as any other.

THREE. Don't believe all you hear, spend all you have or sleep all you want.

FOUR. When you say, "I love you," mean it.

FIVE. When you say, "I'm sorry," look the person in the eye.

SIX. Be engaged at least six months before you get married.

SEVEN. Believe in love at first sight.

EIGHT. Never laugh at anyone's dream. People who don't have dreams don't have much.

NINE. Love deeply and passionately. You might get hurt but it's the only way to live life completely.

TEN. In disagreements, fight fairly. No name calling.

ELEVEN. Don't judge people by their relatives.

TWELVE. Talk slowly but think quickly.

THIRTEEN. When someone asks you a question you don't want to answer, smile and ask, "Why do you want to know?"

FOURTEEN. Remember that great love and great achievements involve great risk.

FIFTEEN. Say "bless you" when you hear someone sneeze.

SIXTEEN. When you lose, don't lose the lesson

SEVENTEEN. Remember the three R's: Respect for self; Respect for others; and responsibility for all your actions.

EIGHTEEN. Don't let a little dispute injure a great friendship.

NINETEEN. When you realize you've made a mistake, take immediate steps to correct it.

TWENTY. Smile when picking up the phone. The caller will hear it in your voice.

TWENTY-ONE. Spend some time alone.

for informational purposes

2006-01-18T17:15:00.000-05:00

For those of you who call me on my cell during the day,
here are my tax-season work hours:

Monday thru Thursday - 8am to 6pm
+
Friday - 8:30am to 5:30pm

I turn my cell phone off during the day, so if you need to get in touch with me during those hours, please call me at work or email me. If you need my work number, please email me and I will gladly give it to you.

Thank you!!
♥ Keli ♥

good news for my brother

2006-01-15T22:44:00.000-05:00

Hey Chad -- you will be thrilled to know that Toyota finally made a car that I both like and can afford ...

2006 Rav 4

They redesigned it this year, and it is a sweet looking car, right? So guess what's on my list of cars to look at in a few months? Aren't you proud? :)

♥, Keli

Sulphur Springs Trail - Paris Mountain, Greenville

2006-01-14T23:07:00.000-05:00

Here is a set of pictures from a day of hiking the Sulphur Springs Trail on Paris Mountain in Greenville, SC.

Enjoy!

See all pictures here.

ch, ch, ch, changes ...

2006-01-14T16:59:00.000-05:00

Are you guys getting tired of me changing my blog around? Well, I think I finally found a layout that I'm happy with. For this week. ;)

Well, Ken's on his way over, and we're going to have some dinner and then go see ...

I hope it's not too Remember the Titans - great movie, but I'm afraid this is going to be just like that movie with basketball instead of football.

movie review - Fun with Dick and Jane

2006-01-10T22:15:00.000-05:00

I think everyone is aware that Ken and I see a bunch of movies. So I thought I'd add a new feature to my blog -- movie reviews. Normally, we try to stick with Oscar-nominated movies, but we digressed this weekend and saw Fun with Dick and Jane.

We were anticipating something kooky and funny, but we were sad to see that this movie was neither. Granted, there were parts that had us laughing, but overall, we were not impressed. I especially didn't like the fact that one of the main plots of the movie didn't work.

Also, Jim Carey and Tea Leoni didn't make a good couple -- their chemistry seemed forced.

Grade: C-

I neeeeeeeeeed these!

2006-01-10T00:24:00.000-05:00

These modern-day Mary Janes feature waterproofed nubuck leather uppers and Keen's patented toe bumper for protection in the urban jungle.

* Waterproofed nubuck leather uppers are weather- and stain-resistant while remaining soft and pliable for all-day comfort

* Adjustable, padded leather instep strap accommodates a variety of foot shapes and is easily adjusted with one hand

* Patented rubber toe guards protect feet from rocks and uneven terrain---even bike toe clips!

* Calf leather-lined heel pockets and moisture-wicking lining in the forefeet area enhance comfort and moisture control

* Removable, multi-density Metatomical™ EVA footbeds are custom shaped to provide ample cushioning and arch support; will accommodate orthotics

* Compression-molded EVA midsoles are anatomically shaped to provide excellent support and cushioning

* Non-marking carbon-rubber outsoles offer long-lasting durability and delivers reliable traction in all environments

linky dink

Methinks I'll be saving my pennies for these --
wouldn't they be perfect for the honeymoon?

geeking out

2006-01-06T18:53:00.000-05:00

I just now discovered podcasts. Yes, I'm waaaaaaaaaay behind, but these are awesome! There's a bunch of junk out there, but there's also some really cool ones. For instance, the SeaWorld podcast is really interesting. Maybe not interesting to everyone, but definitely interesting to me.

Plus, it's nice to download it onto my iPod and listen to it on my drive into work. Radio gets boring after a while.

Also, big, big, big thanks to Mom for my beautiful new Christmas dishes! I asked for some as a Christmas present, and she wisely waited until after Christmas sales to get them. She got what was left in Athens - 6 saucers and 6 bowls. And I got what was left in Greenville - 6 plates and 4 coffee cups. They are beeee-autiful! Thanks, Mom!!

Here's a close-up view of them:

...

2005-12-31T17:05:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!!

wedding information

2005-12-29T08:46:00.000-05:00

The wedding website is up and running!!

There are still a couple of pages that need to be completed,
but the important stuff is done (i.e., hotel information).

+ click here to be redirected +

Christmas Day 2005

2005-12-27T10:19:00.000-05:00

PC252753
Originally uploaded by KeliAnn.

What a fun time we had at mom and dad's house on Christmas Day!!

Of course, Daddy's favorite gift was Cocky - no doubt about that.

Click here to see all of the Christmas pictures ...

Christmas Eve 2005

2005-12-27T10:17:00.000-05:00

funky UFO saucer
Originally uploaded by KeliAnn.

Here are the batch of pictures from Christmas Eve at Mema and Popee's house.

We had a wonderful time and are so thankful for the food and fellowship and gifts.

Click here to see all of the pictures from Christmas Eve ...

Christmas treat

2005-12-26T18:05:00.000-05:00

new member of the family

2005-12-26T17:26:00.000-05:00

Introducing ...

+ Cash +

I think Henrietta has been lonely, so I decided to get her a friend.
He's very active, and I think that's what she needs right now.

I also got them a much bigger home with sand and a few other things.

Christmas Wishes

2005-12-19T14:55:00.000-05:00

Much love from our family to yours during this Christmas season!

Ice Storm Aftermath Pictures

2005-12-17T22:21:00.000-05:00

This is the building directly behind mine
Originally uploaded by KeliAnn.

Since we still didn't have power at work on Friday, I took the opportunity to get out and get some pictures of the aftermath of the ice storm.

Click here to see all of the aftermath pictures.

Abounding ice

2005-12-15T22:05:00.000-05:00

Abounding ice
Originally uploaded by KeliAnn.

These are a few of the pictures I was able to get today.

If it's safe, I'll try to get some more tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I took about 20 more this afternoon, but my memory card was corrupted when I went to upload them. Oh well.

Click here to see the rest of the storm pictures
.

wish list

2005-12-14T15:15:00.000-05:00

This is not a plea for gifts, but for those of you who never know what to get me (ahem, Chad!), here is my amazon.com wish list. When in doubt, get me a book!

Keli's Wish List

:)

pictures of my favorite girl

2005-12-13T09:13:00.000-05:00

Crazy, crazy Macey

Chillin' on the bed that she's not supposed to be on (yeah, like I really care)

Tired out after a hard day of playing and following mommy around

Henrietta

2005-12-11T00:06:00.000-05:00

some recent henrietta pictures ...

wow

2005-12-10T23:35:00.000-05:00

What a great concert!

We decided at the last minute to go see this show at the BiLo Center, and I'm glad we did. Alison Krauss is amazing, and Union Station was awesome, as well.

We also got to see the world's best dobro player -- Jerry Douglas. I think he may be the world's only dobro player, but I have to admit - he was pretty darn good.

hiatus

2005-12-01T00:54:00.000-05:00

I'm taking a little break from blogging to focus on other things

preparing for our wedding & honeymoon
building our new website
getting my apartment in order
learning the intricacies of my new job
&
spending time with my family during the holidays

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

So for all of you faithful readers out there,
I will be back soon when I'm not going quite so crazy.

definitely wow-worthy

2005-11-23T22:46:00.000-05:00

If you don't go see any movies this year, take a couple of hours to go see Walk the Line. I highly recommend it. It's a close second to Steel Magnolias as my favorite movie of all time.

Joaquin Phoenix did a great job portraying Johnny Cash, but Reese Witherspoon was phenomenal as June Carter Cash.

I thought Ray was the best auto-biographical movie about a music legend, but Walk the Line surpassed that movie over and over and over again.

Reese is quoted as saying that this role was out of her "comfort zone." All I have to say is that she should play roles that are out of her comfort zone a lot more often, because she totally deserves an Oscar nod for this role.

Two words - Un. Believable.

Finally!

2005-11-20T21:28:00.000-05:00

Dogs Roll past Cats, Cruise into Atlanta

Instead of sputtering into the SEC Championship game, Georgia revved up its collective engine on Saturday and steamrolled Kentucky to earn another trip to the Georgia Dome.

The 14th-ranked Bulldogs sealed their third trip to Atlanta in four years for the league's title game with a 45-13 victory over Kentucky, after failing to do so against Florida and Auburn.

A team picked in the preseason to finish third in the SEC Eastern Division at long last got its division title a season after marquee players David Greene, David Pollack and Thomas Davis departed.

"It speaks volumes about the unity of our program and our players," said quarterback D.J. Shockley, who posed for pictures with the Bulldogs' other seniors in front of the goalposts after their final game in Sanford Stadium. "If this was a rebuilding year, I guess every year needs to be a rebuilding year for Georgia then."
Duplicating Systems

Georgia (8-2, 6-2 SEC) was unbeaten, ranked fourth and still in the national title picture before losing to Florida three weeks ago.

The Bulldogs were down to their third and last chance to clinch the East on Saturday.

"Finally," Georgia coach Mark Richt said. "Finally, we clinched the East. It's just a great accomplishment for our football team. To be able to do it three out of four years is fantastic."

Georgia will play in the Dec. 3 SEC Championship game, likely against LSU, with a spot in the Sugar Bowl on the line.

Georgia won its ninth straight game against Kentucky (3-7, 2-5) and its 14th straight at home against the Wildcats. There was little chance that the gray Eastern Division champion T-shirts handed out to players and coaches after the game would become collector's items on eBay because of a Kentucky win.

Still, Georgia found plenty to like in its convincing win:

• A bounce-back performance from a defense that had been humbled in recent weeks.

• Four touchdown passes from Shockley, who completed 17 of 31 passes for 159 yards in less than three quarters of work.

• The longest run by a Georgia running back in six years.

• Big plays on special teams.

"We haven't won a game in a month," senior wide receiver Bryan McClendon said. "It feels good and gives us a confidence boost to put a win up like we did."

Georgia made sure it wouldn't be upstaged by the halftime ceremony honoring the 1980 national championship team by pouring on 24 second-quarter points, the most it had scored in a quarter since putting up 28 in the fourth quarter against Kentucky last season.

Georgia scored touchdowns on three straight possessions in the quarter to break the game open, got a Brandon Coutu 56-yard field goal to end the half and added touchdown catches of 21 and 7 yards from McClendon in the third quarter.

It was a late arriving crowd for the 12:30 p.m. game and a late arriving offense.

The Bulldogs gained just 40 yards on its first 13 plays before punter Gordon Ely-Kelso ran for 34 yards on a fake punt with 13:28 left in the first half.

"This game started so miserably," Richt said. "It was like a morgue out there. It was so quiet. Everyone was looking around, waiting for someone to do something exciting."

More excitement came when Danny Ware burst through a huge hole and was gone for a 52-yard touchdown, the longest Bulldogs run since Patrick Pass went 58 against LSU in 1999.

"When you break one that long, it gives you that old high school feeling," said Ware, who scored on a Kentucky blitz.

A defense that had allowed three straight 100-yard rushers held the Rafael Little, the SEC's No. 2 rusher, to 29 yards on 13 carries. Georgia gave up a season-low 199 total yards after allowing a season-high 506 to Auburn a week earlier.

"The past couple of weeks, we've been getting gashed up and down the field and we knew we were a better team than that," defensive tackle Kedric Golston said. "We knew we had to make a statement and go out there and stop the run."

Richt notched his 50th career win and becomes just the third SEC coach to take teams to the conference title game in three of four seasons.

Steve Spurrier at Florida (1992-96) and Gene Stallings at Alabama ('92-94 and 96) are the others. The fans that remained for the game's final moments chanted "SEC, SEC."

Georgia gets a trip to Atlanta next Saturday to play rival Georgia Tech before the SEC title game in the city.

"We got it done," defensive tackle Ray Gant said. "It doesn't matter if it was Florida, Auburn or Kentucky, we're Eastern Division champions and I'm content with that."

Copyright Athens Banner Herald

my life in a nutshell

2005-11-16T19:08:00.000-05:00

For those of you who have been wondering about my new job, I love it. There's not much more to say about it without boring you, so we'll just leave it at that.

Ken and I went to the SC vs Florida game this weekend, and boy was that awesome. SC beat Florida for the first time in ... how many years? And then Georgia lost to Auburn, which blew my whole mood. It all came down to a 4th and 10, too. Boo.

Macey and Henrietta are doing fabulous, but I think Macey is having a hard time with me getting home after dark. My hours are 8:30 to 5:30, so by the time I get out of downtown, I get home around 6. She hasn't had any accidents, though, so she must be adjusting.

But ... after telling my mom how much Henrietta loved her baths, she lost her hermit crab. I'm not sure if it was the baths or the Sydnei -- but RIP Agustine. You were a great crab, and even though you didn't like Henrietta, we'll still miss you.

Auggie was so much bigger and more active than Henrietta, so it's only a matter of time before Henrietta kicks her shell. She doesn't seem to be getting any bigger, and her coloring's different - so I guess they are different types of crabs. I just hope she lasts long enough for me to get her a bigger cage and a roommate.

The weather's getting cooler, and I am so excited. Sweaters and long-sleeved shirts, here I come! But ask me how I feel about the cold in about a month - I'm sure I'll be back to complain about it then.

Well, my tummy is telling me that it's way past suppertime, so I better scoot.

♥, Keli

more yum-o

2005-11-14T21:26:00.000-05:00

Hey Mom and Mema,

Did you know that they still sell those delicious Howard Johnson blueberry Toastees at Publix? I bought two boxes the last time I went, and they are better than I remember.

♥, Keli

yummy ...

2005-11-08T23:09:00.000-05:00

Whoever came up with these ...

... deserves a medal.

Yum.

A Day at the Zoo

2005-11-08T22:42:00.000-05:00

Gimme some food!
Originally uploaded by KeliAnn.

Ken and I spent a little time this weekend at the Greenville Zoo, and for 5 bucks, it was worth the short visit. I was pretty amazed at the animals they have there.

But I know you don't care about the dialogue - you just want to see pictures!!

You know what to do. (click on the word "pictures")

&hearts, Keli

this is it

2005-11-02T08:49:00.000-05:00

After almost four years, today is my last day at Atlas Food Systems.

I'm so sad.

NOT!!

Okay, I'm a little sad - I have a feeling that today will be harder than I thought. But I'm also very excited about my new job, which starts next Monday. Anyway, I've got a few things to finish up, and then it's over. Weird.

ps - for those of you who email me at work, please delete qac [at] atlasfoods.com from your address book and use keli [at] kenandkeli.com instead. Thanks!

our girls

2005-11-01T23:24:00.000-05:00

Mollie sittin' pretty ...

Macey and mom ...

Jessie worn out after a day at the park ...

helpful links

2005-11-01T11:57:00.000-05:00

I added a couple of sections on the right ---->

1. Movies - links to recent .wmv movies
2. Photo Albums - links to recent pictures that I've taken

That way, if entries get knocked off the page, the links are still there.

Hope that helps!

Happy Halloween!!

2005-10-31T12:03:00.000-05:00

Cute Pet Halloween Costumes

click on the links below the picture to enlarge

1. angrybug, 2. bumblebee, 3. dragoncowboy, 4. frankenstein, 5. ghost, 6. hotdogs,
7. oompaloompa, 8. tootsieroll, 9. turtle, 10. turkey, 11. wizardofoz

A Day at the Park

2005-10-31T08:15:00.000-05:00

Keli is Narrow
Originally uploaded by KeliAnn.

We took the doggies to the park this weekend and enjoyed the beautiful weather, fall colors, and Reedy River Falls.

Click here to see the rest of the pictures.

"My dad's a human lab rat"

2005-10-28T15:44:00.000-04:00

Top 10 Worst Jobs in Science

crazy Henrietta

2005-10-25T23:31:00.000-04:00

I love having crabs ... (hee!)

update on life

2005-10-24T13:18:00.000-04:00

Job - I got a new job. I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about this. My current job offers no benefits of any kind and no means of promotion or self-improvement. My new job will consist of full benefits, more vacation than I've ever had, more Holidays, better hours, and much room for advancement. The leading partner has even offered to send me back to school if I so choose. The atmosphere is a little more professional than my current office (no more mid-day posts), but I am fully looking forward to this new opportunity. Exciting and scary all at the same time.

School - I am still fully planning to go back to school for computer programming this January, but if I find that I'm not really cut out for that, I have the option to go back for accounting and have it paid for. I'm going to wait until I get acclimated with this new job before I make any decisions, but it's good to know that the opportunity is there.

Animals - Henrietta the Hermit Crab is doing good, I guess. She's still alive, but she's really lazy. The only time she crawls around her cage is when I put her outside, but now it's too cold to go outside, so I guess she'll be sleeping all day. I think part of it is due to the fact that Macey can look in her cage. I think I'm going to have to put her out of Macey's reach, because wouldn't you freak out if you came out of your shell to see a big, snotty nose sniffing at your house? Yeah, me too. Macey is still the most wonderful dog in the world, other than the fact that she has massive amounts of hair falling off her body. Winter's almost here - shouldn't she be growing more hair? Quite frustrating, but a fact of life.

Wedding - We were able to get so much done with the wedding planning last weekend, so now I need to get my rear in gear and work on the information packages for everyone who may or may not be coming. The distance might hinder some people from coming, so I'm going to try to get those packets out early so that everyone will know what to expect. We are not assuming that everyone we're inviting is going to come, because it's 5 hours away, but we would love to have at least our families there. If there are people out there who simply can't make it, we understand. It's bound to happen, and that's okay.

Honeymoon - We finally decided on a honeymoon - Montana and Wyoming. We're both very excited about this, and it seems like something that will suit both of us. We'll be planning that over the next few months, so Frommer's and The Travel Channel are going to become our two best friends.

Seasons - I can't even believe that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner. I haven't even started my Christmas shopping, and that's scary. I have, however, started my Christmas wish list, and it is a very short list. Of big-ticket items. How is it that when you're younger, you can make a list of eight hundred items and still think of more, but when you're older, you can't think of anything that costs less than $200?

So that's a quick and boring catch-up on my life.

Deer Farm

2005-10-18T15:34:00.000-04:00

Deer Farm 1
See the rest of the pictures here.

Ever seen a deer farm? Me either. But we passed one on the way down, so we stopped on the way back home to get some shots.

Unfortunately, the deer weren't close enough to show up that well on camera, but there they are. Grazing in a field, behind a fence.

Interesting.

2005-10-18T15:28:00.000-04:00

Say hello to Henrietta - my new hermit crab.

click on the below links to see pictures

1. Henrietta Close-Up, 2. Hanging out on her Cage,

3. Chillin', 4. Henrietta in her Castle

Henrietta spends her spare time time sleeping and crawling all over her cage.
She loves water and long walks on the beach.

I sure hope Macey doesn't try to eat her.

Pictures from Jekyll Island

2005-10-18T15:22:00.000-04:00

click on the links at the bottom to see each picture ...

1. moonlight1, 2. moonlight2, 3. moonlight3, 4. moonlight4, 5. moonlight5, 6. marshes of glynn,
7. marshes, 8. more marsh, 9. even more marsh, 10. marina, 11. yachts, 12. ocean1,
13. ocean2, 14. ocean3, 15. ocean4, 16. ocean5, 17. ocean6, 18. ocean7,
19. ocean8, 20. twilight deck, 21. dunes1, 22. dunes2, 23. dunes3, 24. dunes4,
25. dunes5, 26. dunes6, 27. dunes7, 28. dunes8, 29. dunes9, 30. dunes10,
31. dunes11, 32. jekyll bridge, 33. causeway, 34. beach, 35. beach, 36. hotelinsunset

more movies

2005-10-17T23:52:00.000-04:00

I can't sleep tonight, so I worked on a couple more videos from Sydnei's birthday weekend.

Sydnei and her Babies -- her Aunt Jill has 2 twin boys named Brooks and Braden, so she gave Sydnei a set of twins for her birthday.

Sydnei and Kiki Play Dress-Up with Sydnei's Make-Up Set

weekend trip

2005-10-17T13:14:00.000-04:00

We had a good time in Jekyll this weekend, and we got a lot done. It was more business than pleasure, but we still managed to eat loads of great food, do tons of shopping, and spend good quality time together.

I will try to upload and post the rest of my pictures tonight. And I will also continue to work on Sydnei's birthday weekend videos.

And a belated Happy 31st Birthday to Chad!! When did we get so old, Big Bro?

just a couple

2005-10-13T13:46:00.000-04:00

It's not much, but here are 2 short videos from Sydnei's birthday weekend until I can get the rest done.

:: turn on sound ::

Who's In Trouble - when Sydnei realized that there was a chunk taken out of the carrot that she was supposed to feed "hossy," she decided that it was someone's fault. Watch as she goes through the list of people who are in trouble, starting with Lizze, who is apparently always in trouble.

Keli and the Horse-Donkey - no explanation needed.

I promise I will get the rest of them done early next week when we get back from Jekyll Island. Have a great weekend, everyone!!

♥, Keli