Nuptuals

My favorite pictures not on Facebook:

Wedding planning

Having a destination wedding is not easy. In fact, it's pretty hard. However, the upside to having a wedding in New Orleans was that I "had" to go to the Big Easy for my planning. Oh, how horrible. Here are some pictures of me hard at work...

Hard at work indeed. I got that drink in my hand from a place where I completely missed a very pertinent sign:

So when we ordered our drinks, you can imagine my confusion when, after ordering daquiris, the bartender asked us what kind of shots we want. Riiiiggggghhhht... Alas, here was our bartender with goods to "fuel" our vigorous wedding planning:

Chris also joined in the hard work. We had to go to Biloxi, MS so that we could hear our wedding band play (it's just a 2 hour drive from Pensacola). Before we headed home we did some decompressing...hearing bands play is very stressful.

Finally, back in New Orleans yet again working up an appetite:

July ride

Doing some catching up, but these pictures are worth going back in time. Chris and I took a motorcycle ride along the very narrow strip of Santa Rosa Island along the Florida Gulf Shores and it was one of the most beautiful rides I've ever taken. The road that follows along on the Island was washed out in parts from Tropical Storm Ida in November 2009, but fortunately it has been restored.

View to the right (note the gorgeous water in the background):

Straight ahead: And to the left:

You can't really see it but there is water right over on the other side that little sandy dune. I caught a picture of myself (:

An unobstructed view of the Gulf of Mexico:

We stopped at a place in Navarre Beach to refuel our bellies:

What I wouldn't do to be back there... This picture is taken from the back deck facing the Santa Rosa Sound:

We got back on the road, and I caught a couple of sunset shots:

I think this should clear up any questions about why I say I loved Pensacola and miss it dearly... Is it almost time to retire?

WINGS!!!!!

Chris got his wings today!!!! Well, the official ceremony isn't until Friday, but he was "soft winged" after he completed his last training flight this morning, which included being doused with water and champagne. The slang term for Friday's event is getting "hard winged." TWSS.

Everything is happening so fast!! :)

8/25 Addendum: a very special congratulatory video from our dear, dear friend Hope.

Wedding MooMoo

In order to not get Chris's hopes up too much in how I look on our wedding day, any time I refer to my wedding dress in Chris's presence I call it a MooMoo. "I tried on my MooMoo for the first time today! It is pleasantly large...VERY very comfy. The long sleeves are very flowy in order to take that New Orleans September heat." I want him picturing me in housedress so that he doesn't develop this image of something that I just can't achieve. :) So we have this monstrous wedding spreadsheet to track EVERYTHING wedding-related that we share, including a tab for the To-Do list. Here's one entry: "Take moomoo dress to NOLA Aug 20 for final steaming. Can't be seen in wrinkly moo moo."

The picture IS actually next to that item in the spreadsheet. Yeah...that oughtta do the trick. :)

Cilantrophobe!

I ran across this article today. I hate cilantro. HATE it. One of my favorite chefs- I mean friends- Liz, made this amazing pasta salad one time. Cilantro pasta. Just covered in ground cilantro. It was really my first experience with a big cilantro flavor. And it wasn't so amazing to me. In fact, I despised it. And she was SO disappointed. It really does taste like soap! My theory is that there are some genetics involved, like litmus paper, where you either taste bitter or you don't. In cilantro's case, you either taste soap or you don't. This article addresses that theory, and then proposes another theory which does make sense. Cilantrophobes unite!!!! :)

Another typical weekend in Pensacola

I made half an attempt to capture my weekend via iPhone last trip to P-Cola. Land Friday afternoon/evening, make our way to Chris's place to settle in with my luggage (i.e. dirty laundry because I currently have coin-op laundry in the basement while I'm on the 3rd floor and it SUCKS- so I lug it all the way down to Florida. Because that's easier :). I couldn't help but snap a picture of Chris's roommate's cereal. The name is just... irresistible.

After settling in, it's time to head to the 'Bama (explanation to follow). On the way I snapped this picture from a bridge in Perdido Key...so pretty.

So, the "'Bama" as Chris so affectionately refers to it is the Flora-Bama. A huge beach bar on the Alabama-Florida state line which actually really reminds me of the Starboard in Dewey Beach. Famous for being home of the famous Interstate Mullet Toss where individuals on the beach literally throw a mullet from Alabama into Florida. The best charity event I've ever heard of. :) Anyway, it seems as though Chris and his friends have adopted the ritual of Friday nights at the 'Bama for $3 beers, which I got to experience. Again. :) Proof:

You can't read it, but under the logo it certainly does say "Home of the Interstate Mullet Toss."


Saturday morning, we went for a long run (about 4.5 miles) and then headed to Pensacola Beach with a cooler full of beer for the inaugural beach trip of the season (well, for me anyway).


It's really hard to be apart, but with weekends like this, it's really hard to complain.

Mardi Gras tradition!

For two years in a row Chris & I have gone to the Pensacola Mardi Gras parade with the same super-fun friends, and we were able to catch it on camera.

2009:

2010:

This year I tried to "color-coordinate" Chris's and my beads but he complained of getting too many of the share. You can kind of tell with his blue-green-gold collection. :) Ha! Who color-coordinates Mardi Gras?!?

Chris's jets

I snagged a picture of the jets that Chris flies in for his flight school training. :):)




They kind of look like bugs to me...

A Tale of 6 Cats. And a Dog.

[This one's for my mom, to see if she's reading :] Everyone posts pictures of their pets on their blogs. I don't have pets. Therefore, I went on a quest to capture all of my mom's pets with my phone camera. I think I was successful, although a couple of them look exactly the same to me.

Ozzy? Osbourne? All I know is that there are two cats named as such, and they look exactly alike, minus the fact that one is fat and one is not. This one is not fat. But I still don't know which is which. Here's the fat one:

Obviously he has earned the affectionate nickname "Fatty." I love calling him that. Can't get enough of it.

This one's my favorite: her name is Precious. But she acts like she doesn't give two craps about me. Maybe that's why I like her so much.

My second favorite: TomTom. He's more affectionate than ANY cat I've ever met. ANY. So affectionate that he gets upset if you're petting him and you make the motion to get up to leave. He shows his displeasure by grabbing you with his paws (claws included). So no quick motions!!

This is the best pictures I have of Bucky (the orange one in the back). That sucker was on a mission to NOT get his pictures taken.

This one's KitKat. Mmmmmm, my favorite candy bar... Alas she wants nothing to do with me either. But I'm OK with that.

And then there's the dog. Bridget. Such a cutie. She's a chatterbox. Talks more than all the people in my family put together. (OK, maybe minus Wayne.) Her voice is high and despite all attempts to understand her, I have no idea what she's talking about. But she still tries.

In full effect with a cat butt in the way. I never thought I would care enough about cats to even take pictures them. It's kind of like how I feel about children. I have a soft spot for them, but I am GRATEFUL that they aren't mine. :)

Will I ever!!!!

I give full credit to Jaime for snapping these tell-all photos of Chris asking for my hand in marriage.

Although at this point it happened 4 months, 2 weeks, 1 hour and 30 minutes ago... it feels like yesterday.

9.18.2010.