Charleston Day 5

Today we woke up at 3 am east coast time, left the hotel at 4 am, got to the airport before almost anyone else. Checked in at 4:45 am, went through security (I was the first one in the whole airport to go through security), and waited for our flight. Flew out at 6 am to Atlanta, caught our connection to home, and arrived home at 10 am central time. At 10 am we had already been up for 8 hours. Mike picked us up, drove home, and I crashed out for while.
It was a great trip, can't wait to take kids there this summer.

Charleston Day 4

Today we went to church! it was a great service, with a nice short sermon. Very welcoming, very friendly, very clean. The kids will be great here! Also, they invited us to help out with VBS, so we will get to serve a little here as well. A couple of pictures:

We drove around for awhile, found the laundromat, grocery store, target, etc. I bought two new swimsuits, then we had ice cream. Drove through downtown for a little while as well.

Back to the hotel, down to the pool for abit. Returned the rental car, took the shuttle back to the hotel. Killing some time before crashing out for our early flight tomorrow morning.

Charleston Day 3

Today we slept in a little bit! We rolled out of the hotel around 9 am this morning and headed to Chik-Fil-A for breakfast. Two yummy sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits later and we were off. Today we drove up to our campsite for the weekend. We are hoping to camp at Huntington Beach State Park. The park is about a two hour drive north of Charleston. Our drive was uneventful, except there were a ton of motorcycles and police cars out and about. The only reason we could think of is that last week was Myrtle Beach Bike Week and maybe the people just stuck around for an extra week!

Anyway, we got the park and talked with the camping people. We can't make a reservation for the group, so we need to either book somewhere else or maybe get to campsite Friday night. I'll have to figure that out later!

We decided to spend an hour or two on the beach. It was lovely and sunny and perfect. We went in the water a little bit, but mainly just relaxed and enjoyed the sunshine. What a treat to be in the ocean in may! Here are some pictures from the beach.

It will be the perfect way to spend the weekend after a long hot week of work.

We drove down to check out the primative camping area. There was only one group there and it looked like there was tons of room. They said it holds up to 300 people. It looks an awful lot like Minnesota.

We got back into the car to drive out. Also, we saw alligators on the side of the road on the drive into and out of the park. Sweet! We thought we would head up to Myrtle Beach to check it out and got to the city limits before we saw the traffic completely stop. A quick left and some meandering later, we got back to our friend Hwy 17. We were getting hungry and decided to go to dinner at my favorite southern restaurant, CiCi's Pizza. So we drove the two hours back to Charleston and headed right for the pizza buffet. It was completely delicious. It totally lived up to the hype for mom.

Back to the hotel, relaxed for a little bit, quick workout, now ready to climb into bed and read for a little while. It is the weekend after all!

Charleston Day 2

We decided to do a boat tour of the harbor after I met with the Habitat folks. We were for the double deal and did the boat cruise and then the hourse drawn carriage. As we were waiting to buy tickets I took some picture of this sign. Just thought it was cool to see how far away we were from some places and how close we were to others!

I took a couple picture from the dock and from the boat of the Port of Charleston stuff for Mike. Look honey, intermodal containers!

Here is a picture from the boat of another cool boat that looks like a pirate ship. We heard alot about the different pirates that were around the Charleston area...Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate. Here is where we had dinner last night! It was cool to see it from the water. On the boat, trying to keep the hair under control!Some of the cool homes on the harbor.
I took a bunch of pictures of the pelicans. This was one of the better ones.
Here is Fort Sumter. Apparently a whole bunch of historical stuff happened here. I guess google it to read more.

Here is a carrier, the Yorktown. There a bunch of pictures or planes for you Mike.

Here is a fishing boat in the background and a pelican that just dove into the water in the foreground. My timing was just a bit off!

The day that we arrived in Charleston an old WWII biplane crashed into the harbor and two people were killed. We saw them hauling the wreckage on the plane away. My new favorite bridge.
Here is Poogan's Porch. It is a restuarant, supposed to be really, good, also very haunted!Here are two cool things. The first is earthquake bolts. The put in two poles, connect them in the middle, and slowly tighten them to keep old homes standing. The second is a fire things from the 1800's. You would buy fire insurance and they would mark your home. Then, if you had a fire, all the fire insurance people would come (aka firemen) but they would only fight the fire if there logo was on your house. Otherwise, tought luck!This is the second oldest house in Charleston.The old jail. Haunted tours are offered at night. Obviously, we will not be partaking in that!We had dinner at the Noisy Oyster in Charleston. We had fried green tomatos for an appetizer and then shared a shrimp po boy for dinner. It was really tasty! The picture is of the tomatos for my grandma. After dinner we were beat, so decided to walk back to the car and head to the hotel. Of course, we had to stop at the outlet mall and check out ann taylor and gap. Well that led into more shopping, so we spent another hour wandering around there. After a quick stop for milk at the Chik-fil-a we are back! Trying to upload the photos and then climbing into bed to read.

It was a busy but good day! Tomorrow we are off the beach.

Charleston - Day 1

So here we are in Charleston, South Carolina! It is great to finally be here, and we had a long day getting here. Up at 4:30 am, to the airport at 5:15, on a flight to Atlanta at 6 am, layover in Atlanta for a long freaking time. On a 1:30 flight to Savannah Georgia. Arrived in Savannah, rented a car, and off to drive around the city. We stopped(not really, we drove by) Paula Dean's restaurant. Didn't wait in line to go in, but still fun to see! Driving from Savannah to Charleston we had to stop at Sonic for a slushie. Yum-o!
Drove for 1.5 hours, arrived, check in to the Holiday Inn, then off to dinner at Fleet Landing. Here I am outside the restuarant right before we went in.
We split shrimp and grits and it was fantastic! We might have to have it again while we are here.
Now we are off to bed. I'm meeting the Habitat folks at 9 am tomorrow, so I want to get a good night sleep!

quote...

“All I’m saying is this,” the older man says. “You have to look at the empty spaces in your life, see the possibilities, and turn them into opportunities.”


I know it has been awhile, but i just read this in another blog and really liked it.

Green??

We went to see a great speaker last night, the author of nickled and dimed. She was phenomenal. Funny, well researched, and articulate. I could have listened to her speak for hours!
So now Deb and I are going to pitch to Phil some things that we would like to see change around so that we truly are supporting fair trade and organic, as well as just common juman decency. So I get to start researching!

here is what I hate today....

yup, I'm feeling frustrated, so here is my list of what I hate today:

people who drive without their lights on, especially when it is raining
people who drive and smoke at the same time
generally, people who smoke
people who have no initiative
people who slack off all the time
people who don't get that other people realize they are slacking off
people who think that Mike and I aren't really a family because we don't have kids
people who say they will do something and don't
people who leave messes behind and expect others to clean them up
people who think money is the most important thing
people who use your stuff without asking or returning it to it's proper place.


okay, i could vent for a long time, but that helped a little bit! hope your day is going better than mine!

Taylor

greener grass...

So I was reading our friend Mara's Blog today and started thinking about how people are always wishing for what they don't have. Mike and I graduated with Mara...even in college I was slightly jealous of how she had studied in so many different places and didn't really feel tied to Minnesota. After graduation she was in Atlanta for a year, then off in other fun places. She now lives in Alaska. She is single, healthy, and adventuresome. I am married, healthy, and long to be more adventuresome.
When my friend Karen spoke to the sr high group not long ago, I was blown away at how much she has accomplished since graduation. I'm not sure why I can't see that I have done lots as well. I'm not sure if it is that we never really left Minnesota and our families, or just that it is easier to dream about life differently.
I am happy...I love being married, I love Mike, I love our families, I love my job (most of the time) and I am content where we are with life. I am excited about starting a family someday.

but I also want to travel, see the world, live life to the fullest. I crave new places, new experiences, and new tastes. I am so excited to go to Charleston in May and am really looking forward to traveling in the fall with Mike.

I am not sure that any of that made sense, but at least I got it down!

Elizabeth George Books

I have really enjoyed reading Elizabeth George over the past couple of weeks. I'm almost done with the serious, but wanted to get down the order that I think the books are best read in. Here it is:
A Suitable Vengence
A Great Deliverance
Payment in Blood
Well Schooled in Murder
For the Sake of Elena
Missing Joseph
Playing for the Ashes
In the Presence of the Enemy
Deception on His Mind
In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner
A Traitor to
A Place of Hiding
With No One as Witness
What Came Before he Shot Her

I think that's right...they are good murder mysteries. Enjoy!

Taylor and CHRobinson

future employee?

Corinne Bailey Rae

We just got her CD from the library and it is phenomenal! You can view her website here but I highly recommend getting the CD.

Friends of Old...

So today is my good friend Julie's birthday. Julie was my freshman and senior year college roommate. We always get along, we like each other, and we were really good friends in college. She was one of my personal attendents in my wedding as I was in hers. Somehow we aren't close anymore. I sent her an email today wishing her a happy birthday and that was it. I'm not sure exactly what happened. Perhaps it is growing up, changing life situation, or perhaps I am a bad friend. I sure hope it is not the last one though!
How do we let friends go or how do we renew friendships that have grown old?
I'm amazed that my mom is still really close with her friends from elementary school. I'm not sure that I could do that, or would even really want to do that. People change so much, friendships surely must as well.
Happy thoughts for a dreary, snowy Tuesday.

Taylor's Easter Dress

Reduced Fat Chicken Pot Pie Yum-o

1cup cut-up cooked chicken
1bag (1 lb) Green Giant® frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1can (10 3/4 oz) condensed 98% fat-free cream of chicken soup
1/2cup fat-free (skim) milk
1cup Bisquick Heart Smart® mix
1/2cup fat-free (skim) milk
1egg
1.Heat oven to 400°F. In ungreased 2-quart casserole, mix chicken, vegetables, soup and 1/2 cup milk. Microwave on High 4 minutes; stir.
2.In small bowl, stir Bisquick® mix, 1/2 cup milk and the egg with fork until blended. Pour over vegetable mixture.
3.Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Snow!

It is snowing outside...I can't believe it! It look amazingly pretty, but after some 70 degree days it is hard to go back to snow. I'm thinking about all those cute little girls in their Easter dresses trudging through the snow.

I sure do love Minnesota!

Good movies...

I had the chance this weekend to watch two excellent movies. The first was Take the Lead. Here's the plot summary:
Based on a true story, the movie tells of the struggle of a dance teacher, Pierre Dulain (Antonio Banderas), to give to a group of problem kids a second chance by exploring their dance skills. One night Dulain is astonished to see a boy, Rock (Rob Brown) destroying his school director's car. The following day Dulaine goes to the school to ask for a job as a dance teacher. The director has little confidence in Dulaine's idea of helping kids (including Rock) in detention to reform through ballroom dance classes. Even the kids, who prefer hip-hop or rap, think it isn't a great idea. Despite criticism from students in his formal dance academy as well as from parents and fellow teachers who believe that the kids need more math and less dance, Dulain catches the students' attention with a tango session. After their initial indifference, they eventually compete in a dance contest; the important thing isn't winning, but making a difference.

I really enjoyed it...thought it was going to be cheesey, but it was actually funny and quite touching. I would watch it again.

Then Sunday I watched Secondhand Lions. I wasn't expecting much out of this movie, but I absolutely loved it! Mike didn't want to watch it with me, but came down for a bit about 30 minutes into the movie. He ended up staying for the end! Here is the plot summary for this one:
"Secondhand Lions" follows the comedic adventures of an introverted boy (Osment) left on the doorstep of a pair of reluctant, eccentric great-uncles (Caine and Duvall), whose exotic remembrances stir the boy's spirit and re-ignite the men's lives.

See that one if you can!

Politics

Interesting to see how different people feel about politics. We had dinner last night with our friends Ann and Brandt for Ann's birthday. I knew that Ann's dad was a huge Republican and Ann as well, but it surprised me to hear Brandt speak poorly of Hillary Clinton. I'm not saying that Hillary is the perfect person for the job, but as of right now she has my vote.
She also broke huge fundraising history this year, raising the most amount ever in the first quarter of this year.

Here's her website.
and her myspace page.

It doesn't really matter that much to me who you vote for, as long you vote and vote smart!

Taylor