Playing Catch Up

I've been bad at blogging lately.  I don't know how a month has gone by without me writing a single sentence.  I admit to being a little lazy these days, and I also blame it on our sloooow computer that makes using it a nightmare.  Hopefully, we are going to change that soon!  So where were we last time?

We had parental responsibilities for a week in July.  We had a fun week! Steven made me laugh a lot, and he was such a great kid.  But I don't know how parents do it!  Kids are work.  I'm such a low energy person, and it doesn't take much to get me tired.  He's nine, so it wasn't that bad, but it's tough doing the extra laundry, making an extra lunch, organizing our schedules, giving up my tv shows and quiet evenings, and eating at kid friendly places.  I would love to have Steven back any time he wants to visit, but it may be a while before we have any permanent children around our house ;).

I started a second job a few weeks ago.  I am now working as a bridal consultant for a dress shop called Bella Couture.  With Michael working most weekends, I thought it would be fun to work on Saturdays and earn extra spending money.  It's fun to work with brides, and it gives me a creative outlet.  I'm having a lot of fun so far.  Michael is gearing up for his first football game on Labor Day weekend, so that means he will be busy, busy, busy until May.  I wish his down time could last a little bit longer.

On a low note, I'm pretty sure I fractured my baby toe last week.  I was walking at work and slammed my foot into a corner of a cubicle wall that was diconnected from its cube.  I thought it was getting better, but I've had a lot of pain in my foot recently.  I am going to the doctor tomorrow to see how bad it is.

Let's hope it's not that bad because my mom and I are leaving for The Big Apple next week, and we will be doing lots and lots of walking.  It's our first time in NYC, and I don't want a foot injury to dampen our vacation.  I'm not going to let it stop me, and I've already started packing because I'm super excited!

I don't plan to go this long between blog posts, and I'm glad I had time to catch up.  Have a great week!

Adventurous

I hope everyone had a festive 4th of July although the holiday was in the middle of the week and left us all going back to work on Thursday. Well, Michael and I had to go to work. I don't know about everyone else! We didn't let that stop us, and we were a little adventurous on Independence Day. Or let me say that we were adventurous according to our standards ;)! We traveled to Georgia where our friend Lindsey's parents live, and we hung out at the pool and cooked out before going to our first Braves game. The Braves lost to the Cubs, but it was still a great time. They had an amazing fireworks show after the game that was better than expected! After the game, the adventure felt a little less adventurous and a little more irresponsible as we drove back home and didn't get into bed before 2:30 am only to get up a few hours later!



Michael and I at the game!

Baylee, Lindsey, and me before the game. I love these girls, and I'm glad we work together!

Now an even bigger adventure for Michael and I began today! This one is big!!! We drove half way to Arkansas and met my mom, two aunts, and my little cousin Steven who they handed over to us for the week. Yep, Michael and I are parentals for a whole week to a 9 year old boy. I don't know who needs more prayers, him or us! I am happy to have him here to visit, and we have a lot of fun things planned for him. It was also nice to see my mom and aunts. We ate at this great place in Holly Springs, MS called Philips Grocery. It is a converted nineteenth century saloon turned grocery store turned hamburger joint, and we enjoyed it!

My mom and her two sisters Donna and Paula at Philips Grocery

After eating lunch, we drove back to Birmingham with Steven. We went grocery shopping then came back and headed straight for the pool before dinner. I think he's having fun!

Apalachicola Bay

Just a short drive away from St. George Island, we visited Apalachicola, a cute fishing and oystering town known for some of the best oysters in the world.  Apalachicola supplies 90% of Florida's oysters and 10% of the world's oysters.  They also have some amazing fresh fish markets and a to die for bakery named That's Amoray with the best red velvet cake we have ever eaten in our lives.  We visited the bakery twice on our trip!  But the oysters are the prize of this town.  Before this trip, I had absolutely NO desire to try an oyster.  Not fried, not baked, and certainly not raw!  But you know what they say..."When in Rome!"

We started off with Oysters Rockefeller at a divey restaurant called Capt. Snooks.  The oysters were yummy...one of the best things I ate all week! 


We were ready to try the real thing when our friends Blake, Lindsey, and Zach came down on Wednesday night.  We walked to the local raw bar named Eddie Teach's and tried our first raw oysters with a little horseradish, crackers, and ice cold beer.  Michael wasn't as smitten with them as much as the rest of us were.  On Friday, we went back for Oyster Happy Hour and got a few dozen for $4.50 each!  They were soooo good!



I loved driving over to Apalachicola and walking in the shops and seeing some of the historical sites.  We definitely want to go back to St. George Island and Apalachicola and try some of the incredible restaurants we missed.  Here are some pictures of Apalachicola and a few more from our view at the beach house.
  It's sad that we were there almost two weeks ago...time flies so quickly! It was a great vacation, and we can't wait to go back!