a little more than a 3 hour tour...

This past weekend Chip and I went boating with Chip's Mom, Dad, and sister Candi. We rented a pontoon boat from the Eglin Air Force Base Marina. Chip served as our captain. BTW - this was his first time piloting a boat. The marina makes you take an open-book test to get your license...makes me feel safe! :( But seriously, he did a great job driving the boat.

Our first destination was Crab Island. It's not really an island. It is a shallow spot at the foot of the Destin Bridge. Most people drop anchor there and hang out, throw a frisbee, float around, snorkel, and socialize with other people. We got there early in the day, so it wasn't quite "jumpin'" yet. The water there is very pretty - it reminds me of the Caribbean. We hung out there for a while and even bought some ice cream from the "ice cream boat man". The boat even plays the traditional ice cream truck music.

After Crab Island we cruised around the bay some more and then ate lunch. We started to head towards Fort Walton Beach when we noticed the storm that was building over land. We knew the weather was going to be sketchy that day, but we hoped it would hold out. It started to lightning pretty bad, so we headed for the marina. They told us when we picked up the boat that if it started to storm, we needed to come back in.

We tried to get there as soon as we could; it was getting really stormy. Anyone that is familiar with a pontoon boat knows they aren't known for speed, so it took us a while to get back. Of course we got caught in a torrential downpour! At least we didn't get hit by lightning!

All in all it was a fun day and a good way to celebrate Father's Day.

a visit from the governor

Florida's Governor, Charlie Crist, came to OWC (the college I work at) to sign the new state college bill into law. Well, technically he already signed it...this was just for show. This bill turns OWC and 8 other community colleges in Florida into state colleges. State colleges still offer 2-year associates degrees; they just can now offer bachelor's degrees. OWC already offers three, but this new law will make it easier for us to add more. The reason the state did this was to increase the number of bachelor's degrees awarded in FL. Currently we rank pretty close to last.

Anyways, when we heard the bill would be passed, the speaker-elect of the FL House of Representatives (who is from Destin) asked for the Governor to sign the bill at our school. The governor obliged. So today was the day.

The event went well, except for the Governor changing his schedule at the last minute and arriving an hour early. So we had to scramble and alert the media and community, but got it taken care of.

I didn't actually get to meet the Governor, but I got really close to him (see the above picture I snapped). He's extremely tan - like fake & bake brown. I stood about a foot away from him at one point and he asked me where the college president was. Other than that, that was my only interaction with him. I really wanted to say, "hello, gov'na", in a really cheesy British accent, but I didn't think that would be very professional.

After 30 minutes his motorcade swept him away to his next destination and the event was over. I was bummed that I didn't get an official Charlie Crist blue sharpie. That was his ceremonial bill signing pen...a blue sharpie with his name on it! I guess I thought it would be something more executive looking. Only the legislative delegates and college presidents got them. I hate being a peon!

So that is about the most excitement I've had lately. That, and playing Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. For some reason Chip and I were talking about that game the other day and remembered how we used to play it a lot as kids. We googled it and sure enough they still sell it! You can even download it so you can have it right away (for those of us with no patience). It's not the same version I had when I was twelve, they've fancied it up a bit, but it is still fun. Writing this made me think of the old TV show of the game they had on PBS. It has a catchy theme song by Rockapella. I found a video of it on YouTube...enjoy! :)

happy anniversary to us!

Chip and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary on May 22. I can't believe 4 years have gone by so fast! It seems like just yesterday we got married, but in other ways it hasn't. I have very much enjoyed the first four years of our marriage - the things we've learned about ourselves and each other, the new places we visited, and just going through life knowing someone is always there for me. Here's to many more!

Chip surprised me with a very sweet anniversary gift. When I went into work the day of our anniversary, I noticed there was a digital picture frame on my desk that wasn't there the day before. Near it was a card with my name on it. I opened the card and saw it was an anniversary card from Chip. Inside was an instruction sheet on how to work the frame and a sweet note. I turned on the frame and on it was 100+ pictures from our engagement, wedding, honeymoon, and our trips to GA, SC, NC, Las Vegas, San Francisco, and NYC. It was great to see all of the photographic memories from the past 4 years of our lives. It was such a sweet thing for him to do! It made my gift of the DVD of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade seem pretty lame. In my defense we said we weren't going to buy each other gifts. I should've known better. Oh well, I'll do better next year.

weekend trip to jax

This past weekend we went to Jacksonville to visit our good friends Austin & Ashley Henkel. They moved there about a year ago from Niceville. Lately Chip and I have been suffering from a case of the Henkel-withdrawals, so we packed our bags and headed east for the weekend.


Above is a picture of Austin & Ashley we took in front of the surprisingly polluted St. John's River. We forgot our camera this weekend (!) and took this picture with our cell phone. Hence the poor quality.

Austin and Ashley are doing well. Ashley is still enjoying being a nurse and Austin is getting closer and closer to his goal of going to medical school to become an ophthalmologist. Congrats to Austin for getting straight A's this semester!!

We had a great time with them while we were there, as always. We went down to the Jacksonville Landing and even went to the Jacksonville Zoo. I love zoos, and this one was pretty good. A few of the highlights were the giraffes, the monkeys, seeing an anteater (I don't believe I've ever seen one in person), the train ride, and the Hawaiian shaved ice.

Another thing I saw at the zoo was a century plant. I hate those things! They are like a giant, freak aloe plant. They are huge and ugly! After a bunch of years (25 I think), they grow a big asparagus-like stalk out of the top. The stalk gets about 20 feet tall. It blooms a few flowers and then falls over. Then the whole plant dies. Great, huh? I don't know why I hate these plants so much, but I do. I think they are disgusting in a way. It looks like it could lie in wait for a person to walk by and then swallow them up in its large "arms". Eww! (This century plant rant is for Stephanie)

While we were in Jacksonville we met up with one of my former college roommates, Lindsay, and her new husband Stephen (they have been married for 4 months now). I hadn't seen Lindsay since my wedding almost 4 years ago. It was great catching up with her and reminiscing about life in our old apartment. We also enjoyed meeting their dog, Bella.

While at Lindsay & Stephen's house, she showed me her craft table. I was way impressed with Lindsay's jewelry and other artsy projects she was working on. She is a music teacher by trade, but she could have a side career with all of her projects. I was inspired by a t-shirt she created for her sister for her birthday. It looks like something you could buy at Anthropologie, but obviously way cheaper and a one-of-a-kind. Maybe one day soon I'll try my hand at doing something like that. Thank you Lindsay for the creative inspiration!

Since we forgot our camera I didn't get a picture with Lindsay, so I dug through my photo albums from college and found these two. The first one is Lindsay and I at our BCM's State Student Conference. The second is Lindsay and I at our friend's "tacky mismatch" party. Good times!

After a full and fun weekend we had to leave and come back home, darn real life! Thanks to the Henkels and Kellers for hanging with us. Come and see us in Niceville anytime!

chocolate snuffs out life with gusto

Chip and I were on SNL's website tonight watching video clips (why, I don't know). I thought these videos were funny, but also kind of disturbing. "Chocolate" has this eerie clown-ish face painted on. It reminds me of a mime, which I find terrifying. But, the faces he makes at the end are really funny and the cartoonish jingle that goes along with it is funny as well. Here are the series of three videos for your viewing pleasure. FYI - they are pseudo-violent, comically...if that makes any sense. Please don't lose any respect for me as a person after watching them :)I have a weird sense of humor.

NYC Part III - Videos

Here are a few videos. The first is of Times Square just after we saw Phantom of the Opera. It was about 10:45 pm.

The next video was taken while we were at the Today show.

The last video was taken from the Brooklyn Bridge. The Staten Island Ferry and Statue of Liberty can be seen first. Next is the Financial District and southern Manhattan. To the right of the bridge is the Empire State Building and Manhattan Bridge. Brooklyn can be seen last on the opposite side of the bridge.

NYC Part II - Food, Glorious Food

I guess I should have mentioned in yesterday's blog about all of the sights we saw. I got carried away trying to get the slide show just right. Here's a rundown on the things we did/saw:

Empire State Building, Rockefeller Plaza, Radio City Music Hall, Staten Island Ferry, Statue of Liberty, Wall Street, Ground Zero, Trump Tower, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Today Show (we were on TV), China Town, Little Italy, Chelsea Market, taping of the Conan O'Brien Show, Times Square, walked Brooklyn Bridge, Flat Iron Building, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park - Bethesda Fountain & Belvedere Castle, Phantom of the Opera. I think that is it...I know, it's a lot!

Today's slide show showcases the reason I gained 5 pounds in a week. As you'll see, I enjoyed every bite of it (I did over-indulge at Chocolate by the Bald Man and nearly got sick). NYC has a ton of different foods available and I wanted to try some of the most famous - pizza, cheesecake, cupcakes, hot dogs and soft pretzels, cannolis, and deli sandwiches. I did notice food portions are RIDICULOUSLY huge here. See for yourself...