Texas Travels

Last Thursday, we headed to the Lone Star State for a lot of fun with good friends and family. We got to stay at the Merritt Bed and Breakfast that even comes with a complimentary car during your visit! We made it to the Alamo and the Riverwalk (more than once) as we enjoyed the perfect weather in San Antonio.

Their were many great memories from the trip filled with so many amazing friends. I'll have to say the Masquerade Ball was unlike any event I've been to before. There was even a magician before dinner was served! It was a blast getting dressed up and Tara, Melissa, and I thoroughly enjoyed helping each other get ready. Check out all of our fun pictures!

Colby (went to Baylor with Steph) and his wife, Joanna

David & Beth Merritt...Such wonderful hosts! Thank you!

Steve & Tracy Preskenis...Tell Wesley hi for us!

Claire (Steph's cousin) and her husband Lucas

Us on the Riverwalk

The Fellas from Adam's high school days

Melissa, Me, & Tara

Henry VIII (Paul) and Anne Boleyn (AndreAna)

The Fellas again...

The Jolleys & The Parkens getting ready to party!

Don't you just love these masks?!

Random Fact from Adam: "About a quarter of the water used inside a house is flushed -- more than 18 gallons a day -- according to the American Waterworks Association." Thanks to the Raleigh News & Observer for that. To answer your next obvious question, yes, this Random Fact will segue into Adam's FIRST EVER post later this week.

So it's amazing...

"So it's amazing what people think is a good idea!" was my response to Adam as we discussed various nuances of life. So, here are a few things that we brought up in our conversion.

1) Why do drivers refrain from using a blinker? Are they afraid they are going to pull a muscle reaching around the steering wheel? Seriously, a little heads up as to where you are going would really be nice...

2) If you are over 45 and overweight, a license plate of "MESEXY1" isn't really the best idea we've heard of...

3) If your car breaks down on the highway, go rescue it sooner rather than later. There's no reason to leave it there for decoration (but apparently people do this A LOT here). As a side note, we've learned that placing a shirt or towel in the window is the universal sign for "Don't touch my car. I'm coming back to get it...eventually."

4) We all understand that it is hard to get up in the morning, but if we can hear your alarm when you do not live directly above us or next to us....it's too LOUD! And when it goes on for an hour, you are NOT getting enough sleep!

Random fact from Adam: These 3 buildings below look familiar? They should. They were all designed by Gregory Johnson and his architectural firm Shreve, Lamb and Harmon. From top to bottom:

• Hill Building: Durham, NC, and completed in 1937
• Empire State Building: New York (of course), and completed in 1931.
• Reynolds Building: Winston-Salem, NC, and completed in 1929

NC State Fair Fun!

Adam and I quickly got in the car after finishing our workdays at 5:00pm to head over to the NC State Fair!

Josh Turner was performing and we had bought our tickets! Upon arriving to the fair, we walked through the Old Grist Mill (and ate a free hushpuppie) and started the hunt for food. Needless to say, food at the fair tends to not be healthy. Adam dined on a fried peanut butter and jelly sandwhich and I tackled a giant smoked turkey leg. It was quite a site to see I must say. The fried PB&J sandwhich actually tastes alright if you ask me....but definitely something you shouldn't have all to often.

(notice the name of the concession I'm standing in front of...)

After dinner, we ventured to the exhibits where they had vegetables and livestock on display. Check out the pictures of the largest pumkin in NC and the largest sweet pototo (state vegetable of NC). They had displays of various types of apples, squash, gourds, and beans. It was all very interesting....

Josh Turner's concert was a blast as he opened with the song "Would You Go With Me?" Adam and I two-stepped to this song for our first dance at our wedding. Feel free to listen to part of it on the video! Once the concert was over, we began walking around to check out some rides and see if there was a dessert we could enjoy. Sure enough....we indulged by eating a deep fried Twinkie. Sounds scary....but oh so yummy. We rode a few rides including the great big ferris wheel and enjoyed the fireworks show as well. It was a terriffic evening and it was sad to see it end. I guess we'll just have to go again next year!

Josh Turner! (sorry about the darkness, but man, he sounds good!)

The Ferris Wheel

Fireworks plus Ferris Wheel

The View at the Top of Ferris Wheel

Us Riding the Ferris Wheel!

Random Fact from Adam: The female blossom of a watermelon is open for only 1 day. It takes 10-12 bee visits to that blossom to properly pollinate it. If successful, you've got a large watermelon 10 or 11 days later.

I think I'll go to Boston...

That's right, Adam and I headed back to Boston last weekend. Unfortunately, Adam had to stay there while I came home alone. It was such a blast being in Beantown and seeing some wonderful friends. After arriving at 8:00am on Saturday, we got to see the Richmond kids and have breakfast with Merri Minnich. Yay for pancakes at the Deluxe Town Diner! We even got to see Annie Kate show off here awesome soccer skills at her game where they won! Adam and I headed to Albany for a wedding Saturday evening. Congratulations Corinne and David!

Sunday morning began early as we made the 3 hour drive back to Brighton to be CFCF for Sunday worship. It was so refreshing to be amongst old friends and great fellowship. For lunch, we picked up my aunt and grandma, grabbed Mike and Beth, and headed to Chinatown for Dim Sum. It was absolutely awesome eating great food and getting to go to TWO bakeries afterwards for some treats. Our visits in Boston didn't end there as we got to see Lois and Jordan Wang and Paul and Liz Joyal before we met up with Mike and Beth for some good ole hang out time. There's nothing quite like being surrounded by people that love you...

Monday morning began with trekking to Hingham in the rain to see Samantha and Wesley Bevins. Samantha is one the cutest girls ever and definitely one of Adam's favorite. The picture below made Adam's day!

After enjoying our morning in Hingham, Beth, Mike, Adam, and I headed to downtown Boston for some lunch. We ate a great meal at Legal Seafoods, and was quickly reminded how stressful Boston can be when trying to find a parking spot!!! Needless to say, we actually parked in a garage which is the first time Adam's parking force didn't work!!

Boston has so many wonderful memories and friends there for us to visit. It was such a joy to spend time with people with love and miss dearly. We miss you all and hope to see you again soon!

Random Fact from Adam: The Boston Cream Pie was proclaimed the official Massachusetts State Dessert on December 12, 1996. The Boston Cream Donut is the official Massachusetts State Donut, as of January 31, 2003. (Yes, the official legal spelling is "donut" and not "doughnut." I check these things.) Oh, the rich history of Beantown...

Finally, the parents come for a visit!!

It was such a great time to have Steph's parents in town for a few days. They came in on a Wednesday and we got to eat dinner in Raleigh. The restaurant is called NOFO at the Pig as it used to be a Piggly Wiggly long time ago. There is a cute cafe downstairs and fun shop upstairs...the place is even decked out with a colorful pig chandelier and pig statues out front.

On Thursday, Mom and Dad came to Steph's work to watch her in action as an occupational therapist. We then spent the day in Chapel Hill eating some great North Carolina BBQ and walking around a fun kitchen store called Southern Season. And the very best part of that day....LOCOPOPS!!! We got to eat gourmet popsicles including flavors like: mango chile, raspberry hibiscus, kiwi quince, and plum cinnamon basil. These things are the BEST! At this point in the afternoon, my Dad was worn out and Mom and I dropped him back at our place to take it easy. Mom and I however head out again to go to Trader Joe's and to the Chinese Store. We stock Mom up with fun Trader Joe's treats as well as filling my pantry with goodies. At the Chinese Store, Mom shows me how to get some ingredients to make one of my favorite chinese fish dishes. It was sooo yummy!!!! (and now I know how to do it all by myself!)

On Friday, Adam and I both worked a full day, so Mom and Dad took it easy (a much needed rest for both of them). They did venture to the Chatham Hill Winery for a nice wine tasting. They even bought some to take home and one to share with Adam and I! We have to say the peach and bluberry wine there is delicious, but now we have the pomegranate one to try. Thanks Mom and Dad! For our evening out, we headed to Hillsborough which is a small down about 25 minutes away. We had a lovely dinner at Tupelo's. This place has some great southern food cooking. And the best deal of it all was that Mom got a softshell crab po'boy with TWO softshell crabs for less than $8. Let's just say there was lots of good eating while Mom and Dad were in town!

On Saturday, we enjoyed a leisure morning and I made some French Toast with my homemade bread I had made earlier that week. The weather was gorgeous and practically perfect, so we made a trip to the Duke Gardens. It was a beautiful day and it was so nice walking around. Here are a few pictures from the Gardens:

On Saturday afternoon, we did go to the Farmer's Market to get some food to take over to Kristen's house. We spent the rest of the day at her place cooking dinner and enjoying the fellowship and fun!

Sunday morning was a real treat as we tried out Bogart's for their Sunday jazz brunch for the first time. The music was great and there was TONS of food. We loved the omelette station as they had so many filling options along with 7 variety of cheeses! After filling our bellies up, we needed to walk it off. Shopping was the answer and Cameron Village was the location. We were still pretty full at the beginning of the evening, so we just snacked on some cheese, crackers, and wine.

The sad day came when Mom and Dad had to leave on Monday. We did a couple errands in the morning, I headed to work, and Adam took them to the airport in the afternoon. What a great trip. It was so refreshing to see them and show off the area we live in now! We love you Mom and Dad! Can't wait to see you for Thanksgiving!

Random Fact from Adam: "Applebee's is the world's largest bar-and-grill operator, according to Dow Jones Newswires. Yet, its traffic has fallen 14-15.5 percent over the past 4 years."