Bloggin' Belize!

Hey all! It's been a minute, but life is finally getting back to normal and I'm glad for that. It's hard to get in touch with everyone in a timely fashion so to I'll catch you up here.

First of all, the wedding was fantastic! We had the best time, the best weather, the best music, the best food, and the best friends & family with us. Stories for years to come!! Now I've just got to get through all the hoops it takes to change my name and we'll be set!

The honeymoon was far beyond what we could've imagined! I'm so glad we waited a day to leave b/c this provided us both with much smoother travel attitudes than we would've had on Sunday. We were just too exhausted to have pulled off all day travel the day after the wedding.

We took off on a plane that sat only about 100 people from ATL and flew direct to Belize City. We then took a 10 seater hopper plane (barf!) over to the island of Ambergris Caye to the city of San Pedro. THHEEEEEN, we grabbed a water taxi for a 6 mile ride to our home for the week: Portofino! We were welcomed by a friendly staff with rum punch in hand and shown to our room. It was so gorgeous, and totally different from anything we'd ever done.

The small resort had a max of about 40 guests and during our stay it was a little more than half full. The staff were like family and took lots of time to make us feel at home. The owners, a Swiss couple, live there full time and raise their 2 kids there. We honestly felt like we were visiting friends. A few other mid 20's- mid 30's couples who were also honeymooners gave us people to chat with at the pool and get tips from.

Days 1 & 2 were pretty calm, we spent most of our time lounging around and exploring our immediate area.

Day 3 was a long one. We started at 6 am headed out for a day of fishing and snorkling. After fishing for about 2 hours, our captain took our group over to a deserted area of the island. We pulled up and saw a few large cable spools burried in the sand to act as tables, and a campfire smoldering. He then proceeded to filet up all the fish we caught and cook it right there for us! DELISH! We mostly caught snapper, it's everywhere around there. After eating and resting we went over to Hol Chan marine park. It's a protected area near the reef where you get some of the best snorkling in the world. We saw a sea turtle, eel, parrot fish, stingray, several pretty fish, and a couple of tarpin.

Day 4 was another day of R&R complete with a massage for each of us, pure heaven.

Day 5 was another early one that started at about 7. We headed out an hour by boat through the New Belize River to a small village called Bamba. We the rode by bus for about an hour to Altun Ha, Myan Ruins. This is one of the ruins with the most reconstruction done, but it's also one that historians know the most about. It was excavated in the late '60's, and most of the digs into the pyramids caused them to crumble. Only a few of the many pyramids are still standing there now, the others look like large mounds of rocks with grass and dirt filling in around them.

Days 6 & 7 we continued our relaxation and just tried to take it all in. We saw and did things we'd never had an opportunity to before, and may never again. Belize is a very peaceful country with lots of happy people around. Some other little perks, most people there speak English, and they accept American dollars so you don't have to convert. I'd love to go back some day, but I've got to get through some of my laundry list of travel wishes before I can do that. It was not a commercialized or "Amercanized" place at all, so and authentic experience is what you'll get if you visit. We'd highly recommend it to anyone who's looking for a tropical getaway!

Goin' to the.... garden

It's a mere six days until I don a white dress and become a wife. It's been a year now since our engagement, and planning this wedding has been a life changing experience. From the big things to the details, each aspect of a wedding says something about the couple. In this glorious day & age couples have so much more freedom to personalize their wedding to make it truly memorable. We wanted to have a good balance of "us" stuff and the great traditions of a wedding, minus the Electric Slide (gag).

"You're so calm" is what I've been getting from a lot of people, and it feels good. I guess the fact that I've had a whole year to pull this off helps because I haven't found myself scrambling for anything. It also probably has a lot to do with the fact that there were only a few things I was heart set on having, and everything else I was flexible on. I also surrendered about 3 weeks ago and decided that if I hadn't started it, it wasn't happening. So now I'm all done and I get to take it all in and enjoy.

A wedding is a special thing for so many reasons. Obviously the union and the start of the marriage is the most important, but little things like having many people from all areas of your life together. I mean, how often will you find my grandmother and one of Ernie's highschool friends on a dance floor together? We've also got the pleasure of having my uncle marry us. He's so official with his ordination card & all :) It's nice that we will have someone who really knows us making it official, just as long as he keeps the many embarassing stories about me to himself. It's also one of the few times our extended families will be together, friends who haven't talked in a while will hug necks, and some will finally meet that person that they've heard all those stories about.

We're pretty blessed to have a very experienced wedding party. Everyone is either married, or taking their 2nd (or 5th) stab at being a bridesmaid or groomsmen. Hopefully this will make everything go quickly so we can get on to the FUN! I'm so excited to see everyone in their duds. Picking out something that lots of people will look good in and not hate it very hard. My girls will be in this little number:

The boys will be in black suits that Ernie found at Joseph A. Bank with black suspenders and pale yellow ties. The girls' flowers will be yellow cala lillies to tie it all together. It'll look great against the green grass & multi colored flowers of the garden. The house is so precious and perfectly antebellum with a huge magnolia tree framing the wedding area.

In short, I can't WAIT! It's been such a far away thing for so long, and it's finally here. I get to annoy Ernie for the rest of our lives, and he gets to continue to leave the ice trays empty even though I've asked him 100 times not to. Mrs. Giles... here I come!

Spring Fling!

Hello all! It's been a hot second since I've blogged so I thought I'd update you on some life happenings. Spring is surely my favorite time of year: the weather, the flowers, the clothes, the activities, I LOVE IT!

We've had the fortune of having some great family and friends throw us a few wedding showers and they have been such blast. We're now going through all of our things and handing them down or donating them to make way for all of our fun new toys. The best part of all this is that I'm becoming well equiped to throw my own lil' shindig. I love hosting and party planning so I'm glad I won't be scrounging around the house to find something to serve the goodies on. Get ready for yummy finger foods and delicious infused coktails people!

Atlanta is such a great place to be in the spring. You can keep it as simple as a patio with some live music on a Friday afternoon, or you can attend one of the many outdoor festivals that takes place. The great thing about these festivals is that they all give back in some way to the city, and expose local artists, farmers, musicians, restaurants, and even breweries! Most of these festivals are free so you can just wander about, or get in on the action.

Shopping!! I'm really not a shopping addict, although I have lots of clothes. I just don't get rid of as much as I should. I pretty much hold off clothes shopping all winter. The clothes just don't get me all jazzed like a cute sundress and sweet sandals does. I've also got a wonderful bachelorette weekend and honeymoon coming up that I'm stocking up for!

My girls & I are taking off in 2 weeks for the bachelorette party and I'm so excited!!!!!!!!!!!
Did you get that? EXCITED!!!! We're off to Lake Lanier to lounge, sing, dance, drink, and play. It will be just the right mix of excitement/relaxation I've been needing. The play list is in the works.

Pretty much I just enjoy sitting outside, putting on some music, sipping a beer, and taking it all in. Spring is in full swing people, soak it up!

Ladies, check out this fun little site for cute spring must haves without breaking the bank:
www.lulus.com

I love their overall style and order from here a lot.

Who was Saint Patrick?

Today is my birthday, and I've always enjoyed sharing my day with the celebrations of St. Pat. However, as I've gotten older I've become much more interested in the man behind the day. There is lots of folk-lore about him banishing snakes and burning stuff, but he's really a very interesting guy who had much more up his sleave.



Saint Patick wasn't Irish born, he was actually British. Through some turmoil in his country he was kidnapped by the Irish and held as a prisoner for six years. He was made to slave away in their fields farming and hearding sheep, having little to no food or human contact. Well, this pissed him off because one day he decided to escape! 200miles on foot later he was a free man, and a devout Christian. Now most people wouldn't step foot into a country that had so betrayed them and basically ruined their life. Not Saint Pat, he.... went back.



He (in a way) took pity on the Irish and felt they needed a little guidence. Most Irish were pagans at the time and he wanted to go spread the "good word" to them. So he did, and in that time he invented the Celtic Cross, NEATO! He did this by adding the image of the sun (often worshiped by the Irish pagans) and added it to the cross. He thought this would make wearing and using the symbol more appealing to them, smart cookie. Now the entire nation of Ireland, and world, credits him with bringing Christianity to the country.



Now can you see why I find him so interesting? What if everyone went back to the people in life who scorned them, saw their struggles, and tried to help them? What a different world we would have! I also find the fact that his day of honor is marked on his death interesting. How great to know that on a day when so many were made sad, they were given a free pass to celebrate his life instead.



May the road rise up to meet you,

May the wind be always at your back,

May the sun shine warm upon your face,

And the rains fall soft upon your fields,

Until we meet again my friend,

May God hold you in the palm of His hand



Irish Proverb







So Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of you and may we all take a little page out of his book.





Not that I don't love a good, cold, green beer.......

El Bravos

As the weather warms and we catch little hints of spring, I can think of one thing: BRAVES BASEBALL!!! I could sit here and talk to you about our newest additions to the team, or some of our vets who I'm excited to see take the field once again. I'm not going to do that. You see, this year is the last year that the Brave of all Braves, "The Skipper", Bobby Cox will be singing his swan song. I've been going to see the Braves since before I can remember, so this blog will not be about stats & records, it's going to be a "brain dump" of all of my Braves memories.



It started when I was little, my Papaw used to take us to games all the time. We'd arrive at Fulton Co Stadium for batting practice and stay until the last out was thrown. All the while enjoying snacks from Papaw's bowling ball bag (that's right, no cooler, bowling ball bag). I could shell peanuts at 4 years old faster than most adults, and I sang take me out to the ball game at the top of my little lungs. These were the highlights of these games since the Braves were terrible at the time.



My next memories of the Braves come from my elementary school years. Sitting on the screen porch with my dad, listening to Skip Caray call the game on the radio, the smell of a cigar lingering in the air, and crickets in the background. This was an exciting time in Braves franchise history because this team just could not miss. We were on fire and the feeling in the Stadium is one I'll never forget. I remember one game was "Braves beach towel night" by the end of the game the whole stadium was holding them up and chanting the Tomahawk Chop. When I was 10 I chased down the great Dale Murphy on the Berkley Hills Country Club golf course in our neighborhood. He was playing a charity tournement, and I wanted and autograph. I still have the ball and picture I took with him. He's giant.



Then there's 1995...... when all the majic happened. My parents and I went to a friends house to watch the game and it's one of the first times I remember seeing adults have "more than enough" to drink. People were setting off fireworks, and we got to stay up WAY past our bedtime. That world series win will live in infamy for me. I can't wait for the day we get another one of those!!



A few years ago Ernie and I went to a game with a couple of friends an sat on the 3rd base side in foul territory, past the dugout. Andruw Jones came up to bat and tipped the ball off the end. It landed in the stands about 10 rows up from us and bounced high back up in the air. There I was, sitting, beer in hand, chicken fingers in my lap. Ernie and my friend Corey (also over 6 ft. tall) both stood up over me going for the ball. As they went up, I simply stuck my hand straight out. CATCH!!! Needless to say, the boys were in disbelief!



Spring training trips, Friday night fireworks, birthday parties, big beers, Hebrew National hotdogs, Thank God I'm a Country Boy, Apache homerun dance, people watching, a little bit of heckling, lots of cheering, hometown heros, international super stars, still hating the Twins, always hating the Yankees, farm system all stars, date nights, family outings, and a million more memories that will never leave me. Bobby Cox is the only person who has been at EVERY game I've been to (except when he'd been ejected). I'm so sad to see him go but he will always be a baseball legend and a big part of my life story. GO BRAVES!

Punxsutawney Phil is on my list....

Yeah, I definitely had to look up the spelling on that one. Regardless, that ground hog has got another thing coming if he thinks this southern gal can take all this cold. I'd like to make the sun shine in places for him that he didn't think was possible.... great, now PETA is going to be all over me. I get redonk seasonal depression and I'm fit to be tied after this long cold winter. I'm thinking I may never come back from the honeymoon to Belize.... hmmmmmm. My life and job require a chipper attitude and lots of energy, so when I wake up not wanting to be that in the first place, it's hard to shine it on for 8 hours. It makes me SO exhausted when I get home, then I can't ever catch up on sleep, then I get more tired, then I'm super busy. Get the picture yet? I'm so thankful for my job because I love it so much, and as we discussed in my continuing ed class last week, I have the best job in the world!. A girl just needs a break every now and then and this cold business is just not for me. I hope you all are staying safe and warm out there, we all know how freaky Atlanta drivers get in anything less than perfect conditions. I plan on doing a whole lot of nothing this weekend, even V-day. We usually skip right over that, it's just never interested me. I've always had trouble with the whole "oh thanks for the chocolate & flowers on a day when 40 million other people are getting it" thing. And everything else is just so expensive. I'd rather get flowers on a random Wednesday in October, that's sweet, that takes thought. In closing I'd like to say, Here's to SPRING! I'm so ready to explore the colorful clothing in my closet again.

Music is Good for the Soul

Hey y'all! As many of you know I'm a HUGE music junky. I listen to it all and see it all. I've seen everyone from Garth Brooks to Britney Spears to Widespread Panic. It all fascinates me, even if it's not my favorite kind. I used to have the time to go see lots of live music in college which was so wonderful. I was lucky enough to go to school in a town that was rich with good tunes, and some of my favorite times in college come from music shows. These next couple of months are going to be awesome because I've got lots of shows lined up and I'm super excited. On Feb 27th I'll be taking it down to Macon to the historic Cox Capital Theatre to see some of my favorite boys do a reunion show! Moonshine Still is playing a benifit concert for a dear friend of theirs who is battling lymphoma. Some of them are in different bands now so they will all be opening and rotating about, topping off with MsS at the end of the night.

March 9th you can find me living one of my dreams as Ernie and I catch Eric Clapton for the first time. I'm so excited to see this show. He's such a genius and Roger Daltrey of The Who will be accompanying him. This is gonna be GOOD.

Then skip to just a few days later and I'll be checking out one of my new found loves, Michael Buble. My BFF is taking me and this has earned her many points! He does all the best old jazz standards, some good originals, and his voice is like buttah!

Up in the air is The March 31st trip to the Fox for "Experience Hendrix". The line up will include some of rocks finest guitar heros, including one of my faves, Robert Randolf. If you don't know who Robert Randolf is you are doing yourself a serious injustice. The man can play slide guitar with his hands tied behind his back. Go see him if you want a good work-out because you will be "shakin' ya hips" the whole time. Regular live music is something I've seriously been missing over the last two years so I'm really pumped to get to do all of this. Do you guys have any upcoming concerts (I call them "shows") that you're attending? Here's my wish list for life:

Van Morrison
Led Zeppelin (yeah right)
James Taylor
Stevie Nix
Pearl Jam
Madonna (really Madonna 10 years ago)
Outkast
311
Diana Krall
Allison Krauss
Elton John
Beyonce

Just to name a few I haven't gotten around to yet :)