Stay-cations

For the past two weekends I have have enjoyed some stay-cations. The Wikipedia definition of stay-cation is, "a period of time in which an individual or family stays at home or takes day trips from their home to areas of attraction."

Two weekends ago 2 of my college roommates came to visit me! We had a wonderful time relaxing and catching up on each other's lives. I didn't take many pictures of the weekend, but we enjoyed good food, good drinks, and we had plenty of sunshine by the pool. Saturday night was very stormy so, instead of going out to eat like we had planned, we ordered pizza, rented 3 movies, and drank wine. It was great! We felt just like we were living together again!

Since I did not take many photos of the weekend, I'll share a few from our Auburn days.

Stephanie, me, Allie (could not attend this past weekend), and Mary Catherine posing in front our house in Auburn before a football game.

All of us on Bid-Day 2006 Before our formal in the Spring of 2007
Allie we missed you, and hope we can do it again soon!

This past weekend we went to Lake Martin with Nick's immediate family. I am considering this a stay-cation because it took us less than an hour to get there. We rented a cabin on the lake and a pontoon boat for the weekend. We enjoyed skiing, cruising in the boat, eating, and playing cards. We also attended this year's AquaPalooza. Don't you remember that from last year? It was not quite as big this year, but it was still fun! It was a great place for a vacation, and we are already planning to go back next year!

This was our cabin. It had a great front porch for happy hour, cards, or reading.

This was our group: Nick and meNick's sister Lauren and her husband JasonNick's brother Jeremy and his fiancee BrynnNick's mom CindyNick's dad DarwinAnd of course, all the dogs. Boots, Tucker, and RileyThis is one of our docks where we enjoyed getting some sun. Isn't this a great view? There was also a nice covered part for those who did not want to be in the sun. It was great for everyone!Both mornings I woke up to this. A good cup of coffee, my book, and the water. I'm reading Laura Bush's book, and it is great! More on this to come later.

Besides relaxing in the sun, we also had an eventful time on the water. Here are some pictures of this year's AquaPalooza. There were not as many people as last year, and the main event was John Anderson. We didn't even stay long enough to see him, but we enjoyed the entertainment for a little while. Nick was the captain most of the time. This has been his summer of boats! We really enjoyed the pontoon boat because everyone could fit comfortably. We also took our boat. This one was a little rough on this lake.However, it was great for early morning and late night skiing!We also went to Chimney Rock. In this picture Jeremy had just jumped off. Can you see him? We spent a lot of time at one-tree island. There is sand all around this one tree, so it was a good spot to sit or float without having to go in. One night a few of us stayed out here late into the night. It was beautiful with a bright full moon.

I have enjoyed all of my stay-cations. I love traveling, but sometimes staying home (or close to) is wonderful too! I hope your summer travels have been lovely! Hope you can have a fun stay-cation soon!

Let Freedom Ring

Happy 4th of July! I know it is a few days late, but it's never too late to blog about our holiday weekend.

We spent the 4th in the Delta. I was off on Friday, so Nick and I were able to leave Thursday afternoon and arrive in time for dinner. We had a great time with family. We enjoyed good food, drinks, and conversation. We also had a great time on the lake on July 3rd. We had to leave on the real 4th because I had to work Monday. However, we made record time driving home, and we still had time to lie by the pool.

I managed to take a few photos of the weekend.

Mollie had to make sure everyone was wearing enough sunscreen.

Nick showing his skiing skills.

A shot of our crowd.

My mom and Mac (her great-nephew).

Charlie and Nick starting up the grill.

Daddy finishing up dinner.

We also came up with a new drinky-drink (more to come on this later).

Even though we missed the celebration on the 4th, we were happy to celebrate it on the 5th with these guys. Our Monday night Bible study took a break from our study and came to hang out at the pool. We were happy to have them, and we enjoyed some good hamburgers, hot tamales (brought from Greenville), and watermelon.

God Bless America!

Weekend Getaways

For the past couple of weekends Nick and I have been traveling. It has been nice to get away for a few days!

The first vacation was to Auburn. We went to a wedding. The bride and groom both went to Auburn with us, and the groom was in Nick's fraternity. We stayed at the Marriott at the Robert Trent Jones Golf Course in Opelika. This is where the reception was held. Before the wedding we at lunch at our favorite Auburn restaurant, Amsterdam, and we also enjoyed a drink at Arricia. It was fun to be in Auburn and hang out with old friends. Here are a few snapshots of the night.

Will and Kati Kent

First dance

Old friends: Nick, me, Kate and Zach Kirby, Matt and Rachel Reynolds

Nick and his friends with the groom

Frat picture

Kati changed into a cute white sundress, and they left as everyone was shaking Auburn shakers.

Our second weekend getaway was to Destin! The BEACH! I love the beach. If you read my blog last summer, maybe you will remember that I went 3 different times! This year I will not be so fortunate, but I was excited about this past weekend. My favorite thing to do at the beach is to lay out with a beer and a good book. I had such a good time doing this that I did not take many pictures. We went with some of Nick's family, and some friends from Montgomery let us stay in their condo while they were there for work. We had a blast laying on the beach and eating seafood. I hope I get to go again soon!

Trail mix: my beach snack

There was some oil, but not enough to keep us out of the water. The only oil we saw was tar balls no bigger than a quarter. This picture is of a few tar balls all in one pile.

Another oil picture. The clump at the bottom of the picture was the average tar ball we saw.

Nick digging up the oil.

Workers cleaning up the oil. Most of them rode in a golf cart while one guy got out with his net to pick up the oil.

We saw a few beach weddings.

And of course Nick rented a kayak. Nick loves to be in the ocean as much as I love to lay out. His dad went out with him a few times. Once they got a little ways out, Nick likes to put on his goggles and swim around. I don't like to go farther out than waist deep.

Nick also got our friend Will to go with him.

We had a blast! We have a few more summer weekend plans, but for now I'm about to get ready for the midnight showing of the new Twilight movie. Hope I can stay awake!

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

I know it has been a while since my last post. This is not due to lack of subjects to blog about or lack of time to blog. Even though I have been working (sometimes all day), I just don't feel like blogging right when I get home from work. I am still teaching, but I don't have my summers off. This is a little hard to get used to. However, I have been taking advantage of the hot and sunny weather when I can. I like the heat. I like the sun. Yes, this may be miserable for some, but I love warm weather more than cold weather.

Now, let me tell you what has been going on lately. A lot has happened since school let out.

We had a Sunday School Crawfish party at our house. Our wonderful teacher Jim, cooked the crawfish for our class. We also had some burgers for the non-crawfish eaters. We enjoyed the food and the company. Before the party, it had been way to long since my last crawfish.

This is Jim with his family. The crawfish were excellent!

We went to watch Auburn in the NCAA Baseball Regional. We went to 2 of their 5 games. Nick's family came as well. It was such a fun weekend to hang out and enjoy baseball. With all the boiled peanuts, hot dogs, and sunflower seeds how can you not enjoy a baseball game? Everything was great, even the weather, until Auburn lost to Clemson in the championship game of the regional.
Nick has been finishing up his softball career for the year. He plays on the church league, and unfortunately they have not had a great season. It is fun to sit with all the wives and watch, but their record is not worth mentioning here. However, they are a good team. Sometimes the other teams just hit a little better. However, they did make it to the playoffs, and they won last night! I'll let you know how they do next week.
Tator came to visit. My brother George, a.k.a. Tator, stayed with us most of last week. He spent a lot of time by the pool, but he also helped me around the house. One day he folded some laundry. Another day I came home, and he was swiffering my kitchen! Everyone needs a Tator.
And of course we've been swimming. You should come join us!
I promise not to be so long on the next post!