Vacation

There's nothing quite like a vacation. I can't believe we've already been back from our annual beach trip with my family for nearly three weeks. We had such a relaxing time in Destin at what has become our favorite condo. The pool area is amazing, though we were fortunate to also have several beautiful days on the beach - with no oil in sight. The whole crew was there: mom and dad, Kyle, Alison, and Isabella, Dave and Shelby, and Ryan and his friend, Nick, who was part of the family by the end of the week.

I was proud of how many pics I managed to take during the week. I was also proud of how well I let myself relax. I finished Pat Conroy's South of Broad (which I'm reading for my book club; more details in another post but, yes, I said book club, and it's turned out to be one of my best ideas to date. Not lame at all, and I was actually pretty worried about it being a total bust. But I digress...) I also nearly finished Dan Brown's Deception Point. Nearly two books in one week is pretty much a record for me. So we all rested, napped, read, napped, ate, napped, ate again...It was the best.

This year, each "couple" had one night to prepare dinner. This was a great idea of my mom, and really made the whole week easier on everyone. We ate at our favorite dinner spot, The Wharf, one night, and also watched the fireworks over the bay. It may have been the first time in my life I haven't spent the 4th of July in Birmingham, but it turned out to be a great week to travel. We did a Thursday to Thursday schedule which gave us a nice, long weekend to recover before the first Monday back at work. Pure genius, and sure beats traveling on a Sunday.

I've uploaded a few pics from our trip in random order below. One you'll recognize as the new blog pic of Robert and me. I'm actually not wearing a speck of make-up in that photo, and I posted it as the bog pic for all the world to see. Who's says vacations aren't freeing?

With my sweet brothers before the fireworks show.

I think we all spent most of our time, day and night, on that balcony. We were on the 11th floor and had a beautiful view of the ocean.

Daddy and Isabella in her cute patriotic swimsuit.

The night we all dressed up for dinner. Managed to get several group shots. The rest are at the end of the post.

Goofing around at the outlets. We are all pretty big shoppers, especially the boys in my family; we can divide and conquer outlets for the best sales. I actually got a great pair of banana republic linen pants and a cute top. Then I scored some new Nike Shox tennis shoes which I love. Robert got some new tennis shoes and some cleats.


Playing in the water and sand with "Aunt Nana" and "Mister Mark"



Ladder ball was a big hit. Lots of fun on the beach. We also played some mean paddle ball matches.




Alison and Kyle



David's famous back flip.

Group photo. This one turned out really well. Poor Isabella had an ear infection and wasn't having the best night but shortly thereafter was back to her perky self after her antibiotics kicked in.





We realized on day two that Robert's cousins were going to be in Destin the same week we were. We met up with them on night and had the best time catching up. I can't believe how much they have all grown. They have a precious family.


And we actually paid to have these birds put on us. None of the boys volunteered. Speaking of the boys...


And somehow it turned into a tummy fest. David gets the award for most likely to be asked, "When's your baby due?"

Girlfriends Reunion Weekend

My longtime college roommate, maid of honor, and dear sweet friend, Julia, flew into Birmingham in late June from Denver for a brief but wonderful girlfriends reunion weekend. I was so glad to host Julia, Leigh, and Morgan and get a chance to hang out and have some quality conversations with these special ladies who are some of my dearest friends. It's crazy when you think of all the time you had together when you lived with these girls in college, hung out everyday, and now we're spread out all over and sometimes only get to see each only once a year. I'm always so thankful for these deep friendships centered in Christ that the Lord blessed me with when I realize, no matter how long it's been since we last talked or saw each other face to face, that we still know each other so well. I am grateful for the love, support, prayers, wise counsel, and laughter of these sweet ladies. I'm also grateful for a sweet husband who volunteered to spend the night at my brother's so we could have a full blown, old school slumber party!

How to: Mailbox Flower Bed

Saturday before last we finally got around to re-doing the flower bed around our mailbox. The former owners of our home planted a beautiful jasmine vine at the base of the mailbox that has survived despite my best intentions for three years now. Suffice it to say it's quite hardy, so I decided it's a keeper. The rest of the bed left much to be desired. We cleared it out with the tiller about three months ago when spring first set in and we had spring fever to get out and work in the yard. And, yes, we just now got around to making it pretty three months later. So for the longest while it looked like the photo above after we sprayed some Round-up to kill the last of the pesky weeds that were coming up. Until I decided it was time we finished this project.

We started by selecting an assortment of plants. I bought these from Lowe's and Wal-mart. They are a mix of inpatients (the dark pink, white, and light purple flowers), marigolds, and zinnias. All are hardy plants that can handle full sun. The group of inpatients on the far left was more expensive, and the light pink ones were cheaper which I purchased in a large flat. After I planted them I could tell the difference in their size and general hardiness. You do get what you pay for. Next time I will opt for the larger, more expensive ones; they are healthier and have held up better, though the others don't look too bad.

Here's another before photo of the back side of the bed. Not pretty.

My first step was to edge out around the bed, digging down a few inches and forming a sharp line between the dirt and the grass. This was hard around our concert gutter between the yard and the road as the grass had grown down in the dirt between the cracks and even along the asphalt of the road. This took a while, but I finally got it edged and leveled out the dirt.

We decided to add decorative concert pavers around the bed to build up a nice lining for the bed that looked like decorative stone. We ended up opting for the smallest size pavers at Lowe's. These were square and had beveled edges. Robert primarily was the master mind behind laying them. We did two rows and overlapped the first over the second like you would if you were laying brick. This gave a more polished look. I would recommend you measure your bed before you purchase. We ended up having to buy more after underestimating how many we would need. Luckily, we live less than 10 minutes from Lowe's. Once we started laying the pavers, I realized I dug down a little too deep when edging and not wide enough for the whole paver, so we had to level it back out.

I was clueless on how to handle the curve, three right-angled corners, and the drainage pipe, but Robert had it engineered in no time. It was probably as easy as playing with legos for him.

Before I planted anything I laid the plants out in the bed to determine the layout for the flowers. It helped to do this to see how they looked grouped in different ways and also how high they were in relation to the pavers.

Once I had the arrangement how I liked, we started digging holes and planting. Robert was my hole digger, which was good because we quickly realized we only had about six inches of good dirt which apparently the former owners had brought in and then it was all rock solid clay.

After everything was planted I realized I had some holes I needed to fill with plants, so I walked down to the Homewood Garden Shop and bought a dusty miller plant, another green plant (can't remember the name), and a sweet potato vine to fill in some of the empty space. These white and green plants helped balance out the bright color from the flowing plants and added some texture and variety. The sweet potato vine is very hardy in heat and sun, and it will probably grow so much I'll have to trim it. The other two like part sun, but have been holding up well.

After everything was planted we filled in with some pine bark mulch and watered. It's amazing how the mulch helps hold in the water so the bed absorbs and drains properly. I chose the dark brown color (over red or black) to contrast the grey stones and make the colored flower blooms pop.

Here's a close up on the left side and then the right.

And then the whole bed from up closer and farther back.

And finally from the back.

We've been watering frequently when we haven't had a nice summer afternoon rain shower to do the work for us. Ideally I should probably be watering every two days since the heat is insane. The nice thing about a smaller front yard it that our hose easily reaches to the flower bed. I've noticed some grass starting to poke through the bark, but it's keep out most of the major weeds. I've just been weeding the grass as I see it. We really love how it turned out.

So here's the before and after shots again - just for effect.

BEFORE


AFTER:

Conference Expansion

Mike Slive: Thank you all for coming. I've called this meeting to gauge your interest on possibly moving to the SEC.

Georgia Tech: Do you mind? I'm in the middle of a dungeon raid.
Georgia: Figures.

Slive: I don't know what that means. (clears throat) Texas and Texas A&M, you came the farthest to be here. How are you feeling?

Texas A&M: Yes.

Slive: Yes, what?

Texas A&M: Thank you for the invite. I accept.

Arkansas: Awesome! (high fives LSU)

Slive: But I didn't extend any offers yet.

Texas: Don't mind him. We're not coming. I'm too smart for your conference.

Vanderbilt: That's rich. This guy thinks he's funny.

Slive: Can't Texas A&M make his own decisions?

Texas: No. The state legislature won't let us split up, and I'm saying no. C'mon lil' brother, let's blow this joint.

Texas A&M: Yes I can. Wait, come back! Who you calling little brother?

Texas and Texas A&M leave.

Slive: All right. Virginia Tech, how are you feeling?

Virginia Tech: I'll have to ask the governor's office first. That's what got me in the ACC a few years back.

Slive: Sure thing, let's move on. Florida State?

Florida groans and signs dramatically.

Florida State: I might join, but tell me this. How many of you in the SEC currently fear the spear?

Ole Miss: Wait, what?

Florida State: I said do you FEAR THE SPEAR?

Florida: Hell no. You haven't won 10 games since 2003.

Kentucky: Seriously, even I beat you in the Music City Bowl a couple years ago.

Florida State: UNCONQUERED!

Slive: Right. While we're on the subject, Miami...

Miami: Sí, señor.

Slive: What are your thoughts?

Miami: Creo que la Florida es una niña pequeña.

Florida: I'm sorry, I can't hear you. Your crappy piped in music is echoing too loudly off all the empty seats in your rented stadium.

Mississippi State: Come now, Baxter. You know I don't speak Spanish. Ha ha, see what I did there?

Auburn: I saw it. Niiiiiice.

Alabama: Good Lord. Who gave those two permission to speak? Can we move on?

Slive: Calm down everyone. Last, but certainly not least, we've got Clemson. What is your interest level at?

Clemson: I'd be all for it. Why not make bring the Chicken Curse completely into the SEC?

South Carolina: Hey man, I beat you last season, and this is our year to win the East. You'll see.

Slive: Tennessee, you've been awfully quiet. Do you have anything to add?

Tennessee: Not since Lane Kiffin left.

Slive: Fair enough; I'm not arguing with that. Virginia Tech, did you get a hold of anyone at the governor's office?

Virginia Tech: Yeah, I did. Virginia wants to know what your lacrosse scheduling policies are.

Slive: Virginia? Lacrosse?

Miami: Estoy aburrido. ¡Vamos a la playa, caballeros!

Auburn: Oooh, it's my turn. Baxter! You know I don't...

Alabama: Shut up!

Slive: Gentlemen, it's getting a little out of hand here...

LSU: Hey, Mike. Texas just texted me the lyrics to "California Dreaming." Said it was dedicated to you.

Florida State: Wait a minute. If I join your league, do I have to change the war chant to include the S-E-C chant? Because I am not cool with that.

Slive: Um, if there are no objections, let's resume these meetings next week.

Vanderbilt: Done and done. Who's up for a game of Clue?

Alabama: I'm outta here.

Georgia Tech: Time's up. Let's do this!

Slive: But we just decided to end...

Georgia Tech: LEEEEEEROOOOOOOOY JENKIIIIINNNNSSSSSS!!!

Slive: You know what, everyone? I'll call you.

Courtesy of: http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2010/6/10/1509040/why-sec-expansion-might-not-be