Au Revoir!!!

It's the last night before we leave for our trip! Justin and I are so excited! We went to Aiken to spend some time with my folks for Dad's birthday. He turned 59 without a hitch. We had a great time! We had the bond fire going and all sorts of tailgating food. Now if only we had a good game to watch! My Clemson tigers choked against Georgia Tech. They love to break my heart! We didn't get to spend much time with John since he's a working man now ;o) but Katie made us Denver on everything bagels for breakfast. So yummy! Gave Bagel Nation a run for the money.

After leaving Aiken, we came up to Lancaster and Justin, Sherry, and I went to Charlotte to pick up a few last minute necessities. Justin found a nice pair of new shoes, a new camera bag, and we both got a comfy pair of pants to wear on the plane. I can't believe tomorrow is the day! I keep pinching myself. Justin is really nervous about the plane ride. I'm nervous about the particulars and what to do when we get there. So long as we're each nervous about different things, I figure we'll be just fine. For dinner, we all went to 131 Main, our FAVORITE place to eat here! We had the best dinner! So much fun, even if the waiter gave us the wrong bill. :o)

Right now we're all lounging on the brand new, beautiful couch. Kramer is snuggling with Sherry. She is snoring and scaring Kramer!! So cute! He keeps looking over his shoulder and sniffing her to make sure she is okay!! ;o) (Sherry, I thought you'd find that funny!) Justin is trying to hold back laughter so he doesn't wake her and Cliff up! It's not that late but we had a busy day and all have full bellies. Does it get any better than that? :o)

We've got to get up early to triple check our bags and get to the airport early. Say a little prayer for safe travels and we'll update as often as we can! Paris, here we come!! Love you all!

Good luck Justin!

Justin took his PE today! He spent the night in Columbia last night so he could be up bright an early to take his exam. I didn't sleep great last night, I never do when he's away. I have to check all the closets twice and  turn the lights off in order as I walk to the room (so I'm never walking in the dark). Once, I slept with mace in my hand until my finger slipped and went under the finger shield. Thankfully, I didn't spray myself in the face but I thought, "You idiot, you deserve to spray yourself in the face with mace." I don't know when I got so reliant on Justin for protection. Especially when we all know that his only response to danger is flight-or-flight! lol! He jokes that he doesn't have to outrun the murderer, he just has to outrun me!

Anywho, Justin began the exam at 0800 and didn't finish until after 1700. He said his brain was just mush towards the end. I gave him my lucky penny. It's a penny that my dad had cranked in one of those machines you see at fairs. It says "Dad loves Jesica," dated July 21st, 1985. I carried it down the isle when Justin and I got married. I'd say it's brought me luck. :o) I'm so proud of Justin, he worked so hard to study for this exam. I can't think of a better way to celebrate than a trip to Europe!!

I've got to run so we can finish packing. I'm still not sure what I'm doing when it comes to packing for two weeks abroad but I figure there's nothing I really need that I can't buy there. Tomorrow is Dad's birthday so first we're going to Aiken to celebrate with a "burnin'" and watching the Clemson game against GA Tech. Go Tigers!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!

New ipad

I picked up our new ipad today. It is going to be so nice having the ipad again. I do, however, have a few requests for Apple. Please put a UBS port in the next ipad and allow Adobe Flash. Figure it out, make whatever million dollar deals are necessary. Half the websites I want to open require Flash, and when I try to open them, Adobe encourages me to consider another tablet retailer. Uh, list tee-pee...wigwam...whatever your name is. I'm an Apple user so don't go tryin' to change me. That being said, Apple, get with the program.

Moving on. Last night, Justin was up late studying. I asked him to lock up before coming to bed. This morning, I get up and notice it is a little chilly in the house. I walk into the living room and our sliding glass door is wide open! Curtains flappin' in the wind! Uh, Justin? Did you forget something? I should offer that we always open the door in the evening to let the dogs run in and out but how did he miss the door being wide open?!? He did manage to turn out the back patio light....you know, the important stuff. Sheesh. Can't wait for this test to be over.

Finally, I was able to catch up with Britt this evening. She and Mike got the house!! Super exciting stuff. Can't wait to see pictures of Evie opening up her first Santa in her new home!! So great. The decorating is going to be a lot of fun too. I wanted to add several of the home decor blogs that I just love...

www.jonesdesigncompany.com
www.livingwithlindsay.com
www.thenester.com

And this quote is from thenester and I really love it. Anything I have ever worked for or waited for, has been well worth it.

7 days until departure

The excitement for our European trip continues to mount here at the Archie home. Justin is feverishly cramming any last minute information he can gather for his PE exam on Friday. He has been working so hard and I'm sure he'll do well. And even if he doesn't, nothing to comfort one of life's disappointments than a two week trip to Europe. And who knows better than me about failing big stressful exams?!?  I find they always let you retake them. :o)

In other exciting news, our ipad stopped charging. I have no idea why but lucky for us it was still under warranty! Meaning, we get another ipad absolutely free! Wow. How great! We went by the apple store yesterday afternoon and they said it would take a few days to order it. I got a call this afternoon and it was in. They're doin' ya proud Steve Jobs. I'll stop by to pick that little ray of sunshine up tomorrow.

I've also been practicing using my camera. I took these pictures out in my garden. This camera rocks! 

Today was busy! I did another lecture at the CON. It was a little tougher than last time. I did better in terms of my presentation...fewer uhs and ums but it was a tough crowd. They really only perked up when I started talking about pediatric gun shot wounds and showing gory xrays. Sickos. :o)

I also added a wine tasting to the list of Justin's surprises for Rome. We'll do the wine tasting our first night there, just after touring the Vatican! If this trip turns out to be half as fun as it was to plan, we're in for a real treat! That's all for now. Going to do a little laundry. I know it's only Monday but this feels like a really short week! Only 7 days left until we say, "Au revior!" 

La Tour Eiffel de nuit

Isn't this a beautiful picture of the Eiffel tower at night? 

You can really see the three distinct levels of the tower (the 3 darkened areas). Last night, I booked our tour of the Eiffel tower tour. We're saving it until our last night in Paris. I read that the best time to go was at night, so I looked to see when the sun was supposed to set and booked our time. Our pass will send us directly to the third floor and we'll work our way down. THEN (and I'm so excited about this part), I'm going to surprise Justin with dinner in the Eiffel Tower's second floor restaurant, 58 Tour Eiffel!! I can share my surprise via blog b/c Justin never reads it. :o)

I picked up the camera today! I can't wait to use it. I was even able to get them to price match so I got it for less than I thought. Gotta love that? I'm going to practice using it tomorrow. I swear I can't think about anything but this trip. I tried to go grocery shopping today and came back with at least $50 worth of travel toiletries. I started packing this afternoon too. The count down is on! Only 9 days left!

10 days until departure

I opened up my Delta SkyMiles account today to look at details of the trip and I saw "10 days until departure." I got butterflies. :o) I am very excited but starting to freak out a little. What am I thinking?!? I keep having dreams that we are in Paris and can't get back to our hotel and the sun is setting. Weird, I know.

 Below is the Nikon camera that I am planning on picking up tomorrow. There is so much to know about cameras!! I have spent my last three nights (not so wise, like I have nothing else to do) researching all-things-camera. I had my heart set on a Nikon D5000, a compromise at only $650 (good deal right?), but when I tried to show Justin, he just laughed at me and walked away. I take that as a no. So I kept on looking and found this little number...

The Nikon Coolpix P500. It is a "bridge" point-and-shoot camera with a 36x optical zoom and 12 MP. I have learned that megapixels are not the stellar measure by which to judge a camera. I actually learned a lot more than that but I'll spare you the details. Either way, this is my new camera. At $349, a match made in heaven.

That's enough of a break for me for now. I need to get back to more important things...Tara asked if I started packing yet (Bahaha! Have we met?). I had fun catching up with Tara and Britt via iphone 3-way this afternoon. Ain't technology grand?? Congratulations on the house Britty (mon petit chou, chou)! Can't wait to see the pictures!

Here kitty, kitty, kitty

We got a kitty! Well we did for three days. Until the neighbor's friend from Minnesota came down, loved the cat, and took him home. The poor thing better start growing some hair or it's going to freeze to death. Hopefully it's a good match. I was planning on just dropping it off in mom and dad's yard and hope they didn't notice :o) I didn't get attached (being the Justin is allergic to cats and all), but I did have fun pretending I would keep him for a few days. Hope you have a great life your poor, mangey little fur ball!

Busy day

Last night I made the best broccoli soup I've ever had! Mama Lettrich would be so proud (sniff, sniff). :o) I roasted a few carrots, simmered the broccoli in home-made veggie stock and basically cooked it into oblivion. The flavor was awesome! Then I made a white sauce, filled it full of sharp cheddar, mixed the veggies in and topped it all off with shards of parmesan. It was killer. The flavor, texture, and color were all on. You should have seen the aftermath of my kitchen.  

Yes, the presentation leaves something to be desired but it was on its way to the fridge. :o) Also sort of a bummer that Justin hates broccoli. But he could appreciate the effort put into said soup.

Other topics of note I went to the dentist today. I had to get a "soft spot" filled. :o( I haven't had a cavity in 15 years! So I guess I was due for one but to my surprise and excitement...they have WHITE fillings! I kept waiting for the feeling-like-you're-walking-in-snow that the old silver ones gave you but then it never came and this filling only took 30 minutes! Wow, the advances of dentistry!

Finally, I was joking with Britt and Tara the other night about how boring I am. They were sharing stories about their 5 month old and 9month/4year old (respectively) and telling about swim lessons, ballet, hitting milestones, new foods, etc. Very exciting stuff! And all I had to offer was "we picked out a  new paint color for the kitchen." :o) That being said...the color is below. LOL! 

Looks really muddy in this picture with the yellow wall coming through and the florescent lighting. I'm pretty sure it's Comfort Gray by Sherwin Williams. I'll have to double check. Well, that's all for now! Justin is rushing me off the blog to plan our trip...AND he went to Birmingham, AL today! He texted me when he got back to Columbia asking if there was a bridge to Paris. Haha, sorry but no. I hope everyone has a great rest of the week! 

Jo's birthday party

Here are a few pictures from Jo's 80th birthday party. Isn't she such a beautiful woman? She has the most beautiful eyes I think I've ever seen in my life! I found out that she used to model (not shocked about that one). ;o) Sherry had her picture made into a Wanted poster. You should have seen the decorations, they turned out beautifully!

The Archies and the Turners. Aren't the boys getting so big?

Who's that cute couple?

Look how CUTE Reed is!! He'll have all the girls swooning in a few years! Right now he is without his two front teeth and it just cracks me up. :o) He is thix yearth old and thuper thweet!

Shannon's cake turned out so great, people couldn't believe that she made it. She is really talented. The belt buckle had Jo's monogram on it! Shannon said it had something like 7 pounds of butter and 25 pounds of sugar. No wonder it tasted SO good.

Birthday girl and her line dancing group. They just won a gold metal at a state competition. Sherry (Justin's aunt) had her hat embellished with daisies.

Jo and her sister, Jackie (I believe). She had a ball!

First blog ever!

I'm so excited to start this new blog! Our busy schedules and living in Charleston makes it difficult to keep up with friends and family. I hope this blog makes it easier for everyone to keep in touch. I also hope that we can use it as a way to document life's big moments. Maybe I'll start a trend and then everyone will start blogging (fingers crossed)!

We just got back from celebrating Justin's grandmother's (Jojo) 80th birthday! Wow! We had a blast. That party was a western theme so everyone dressed up, we ate barbecue, and line danced! Sherry (Justin's mom) and Sherry (Justin's aunt) did such an amazing job on the party. Shannon created the most beautiful themed cake (pictures to come) and I was in charge of an old-fashioned candy bar. It was so much fun.

Jojo is such a wonderful grandmother-in-law and from the moment I met her, 8+ years ago (long before becoming an Archie), she made me feel apart of the family. Jo lights up a room. She is such a kind and lovely person. I am better for knowing her! If I can figure out how, I'm going to add pictures that Justin took from the party. :o)

That's about all I have time for today. It took forever to figure out how to even start this blog. I have to turn my attention to our big trip!! We're leaving in two weeks for France and Italy!! So excited but more on that later!