Thursday, April 28, 2011

harry potter and the deathly hallows, part 2

It's official.  The last installment of the Harry Potter movies will be hitting theatres on July 15th.  The newest trailer for the movie came out recently.  Click Here to watch it!

It's going to be bittersweet...For the last 15 years, I've been reading/watching Harry Potter.  I guess I still have the theme park.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

boppin' em on the head

Last weekend was Easter!  I had Good Friday off from work, so it was a nice long weekend.  I had a leisurely (long) drive home to Thomasville, exploring the back roads of Georgia.  Drove through some interesting places: Kilpatrick's Raid historical site, Zebulon, GA (named after Zebulon Pike who discovered Pikes Peak), Andersonville (Civil War Prison), and a Tyson Chicken plant (peeeewww).  A highlight of the day was the "Christian Ministries and Car Sales" that I passed by somewhere around Lovejoy....oh the things you can find in Georgia.   
 
Saturday, Kate and I helped get the house ready for the Derby party.  We washed the siding on the front and back of the house; taking turns being the brusher and the water sprayer.  I'm sure it would be quite a task by yourself, but we got it done pretty quickly.  Next, we spread grass seed in the backyard and set up the sprinkler.  Our last task was to help Daddy cut boards to brace the fence gate.  This resulted in only a few disagreements about angles and mathematics, so I'd say it went smoothly. 
 
Enter Grandma Jones, and the afternoon of baking.  Kate and I kicked it off with some Easter cupcakes, and then we (by we, I mean we watched Grandma Jones) made a beautiful 4 layer coconut cake!  It was definitely a hit at lunch.
 
Sunday we went to church and then headed to Tallahassee for a lovely lunch with the family.  We were missing a few faces this year though.  Susu, Becca, and Daniel were missed!!  After stuffing ourselves to the limit, we played a quick and really awful game of bocce ball and got back on the road.  The drive back was pretty uneventful, except for Kate's impressive psychic radio powers.  She would say a song she wanted to hear and then it would be the very next song that played.  That happened more than once. 
 
Did you know that at the end of the song, Little Bunny Foofoo is turned into a goon??

Tuesday, April 26, 2011




Friday night was a pretty chill, mellow night. I spent the night watching movies with my friend, Jessica. There was a thunderstorm and I had a long week, so I really just wanted to be lazy. We watched "Tron" and then "He's Just Not That Into You." I'm pretty much a Rom-Com Connoisseur, so the later movie was great, but the first one wasn't exactly my style. Our movie night was fully equipped with popcorn, Sprite, and Chocolate candy. Can't get much better than that! Needless to say, I enjoyed the movies, the food, and being lazy.

Saturday is when things get real fun! My other friend, Caitlin, and I rocked the cowboy boots, cowboy hats, and jean shorts for a TIM MCGRAW concert! Country bumpkin at its finest! On the way to Atlanta for the concert, trouble began. Caitlin's car (that had just been recalled) had a few technical difficulties. We spent the first half of the drive stopping the car about once every two minutes because it died in traffic. Somehow, miraculously, we made it to the ampitheatre parking (which by the way was outrageously priced.) Finally, we got to the concert and it was FANTASTIC! The Band Perry kicked it off and then Luke Bryan proceeded to play for a good hour or more. Then, Tim McGraw came on! I grew up on Country music, so I knew almost every song he sang! It was great. I think my favorite part might have been when Luke Bryan and Tim McGraw did a duet. So good!

After the concert, we walked back with a few new friends that we made at the concert and started driving to meet Lizzie in ATL so that I could stay with her night. Caitlin and I are both pretty bad with directions, so we had a heck of a time finding our way outta there, but we managed to make it after about 30 minutes. I got to Lizzie's place, went to bed, and got ready for another awesome day!

Monday, April 25, 2011

better late than never...

Saturday morning, I went and picked 2 gallons of strawberries at Washington Farms in Loganville, GA.  I intend to make jam out of them, but should probably go ahead and freeze them since I won't be able to accomplish the jam-making this week.  It was a beautiful day, and the strawberries were bright red and HUGE!...and I didn't have to combine my bucket with anyone elses.  These are all mine!  The second half of Saturday turned out to be a lazy day which included my favorite marathon...NCIS. 

 That night, Kate persuaded me to let her stay in Atlanta after her Tim McGraw concert, go to the Sweetwater Festival on Sunday, and then take her back to Athens that evening.  Well...I'm glad she did because Sunday ended up being a great day.  It didn't quite go as planned, but turned out pretty fantastic anyway.  I went to work monogramming for a few hours Sunday morning, and we set out for the Festival around 2pm.  Atlanta had a lot going on this weekend (2 festivals, Braves at home, concerts, etc.), so traffic was miserable!  After we spent at least 45 minutes trying to get to Candler Park, and alittle traffic induced anxiety set in, we decided to ditch the plans and get outta there!!  Plan A. We quickly generated a new plan to escape Atlanta, go on to Athens and find something fun to do there. 

 While sitting in the Taco Bell drive thru for lunch, we smelled the most glorious smell ever!  Someone was grilling out somewhere.  You know the smell - one neighbor starts their grill up and its almost a chain reaction around the neighborhood as the scent reaches every house.  Before you know it, everyone is driving to Publix to get something to grill.  Well...we couldn't get it out of our heads that we had to grill out for dinner, so once we got to Athens, we set out to make it happen.  After going to a few grill-less parks, we ended up at Memorial Park.  Once we found the grill, we went to Publix to buy all the necessities; charcoal, meat, seasoning, plates, potato salad, aluminum foil, and sweet tea...I got steak and Kate got salmon.  The grill lit and stayed lit until the coals were ready (which is kind of miraculous, as I tend to have trouble with grills).  After the first few bites, and a few minutes of admiring how great we are at cooking on a grill in a park, a loud speaker came on informing us that we need to leave...the park is closing.  So, we quickly threw everything back into my newly acquired grilling bag (which will be kept in my car for spur of the moment grill-outs), and finished our dinner in the car at the Intramural Fields...at least here there was a bathroom to wash our dishes.  Success! 

Friday, April 15, 2011

lifestyles of the rich and famous

Having never been to a Braves game before last week, I'd say two in one week is pretty impressive.  I was worried that I may have some sort of curse on the Bravos, but I was informed that they just really aren't that good...  Regardless, both times have been great fun!  Last night I was alittle spoiled and watched the game from Suite #11 in the Golden Moon Casino level of the stadium.  Thank you Tishman Speyer!!  We had free food and drinks and a choice of seats inside or outside (with ceiling fans of course).  It was pretty "suite"....ha.  We even had a pac-Man game!  My favorite part by far has to be the private bathroom with real toilet paper!

I was alittle dissappointed in the turnout of last night's game.  There were SO many empty seats.  Maybe the team just needs to be shown alittle love. 

Here's a fun little poll if you feel like commenting. Every batter gets to pick a song that plays when they go up to bat.  What would yours be?  Mine is definitely Stand Up and Get Crunk.  My co-worker's is Come on Feel the Noise (pretty good choice I think).

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

When looking for quotes about baseball, there's only a few that really stand out.  You've got Terrance Mann in Field of Dreams, Lou Gehrig's farewell speech, and a handful of others by some of the greats.  None of these really portray what I'm looking for.  They're all a bit on the sentimental side.  I'm looking for something that just conveys a really GOOD day.  Perfect weather, boiled peanuts and hotdogs, dancing fans on the jumbo-tron...a good day.  This was our experience on Sunday.  It could only have been better if the Braves had actually won the game. 

The day started with a bang.  15 minutes after I woke up, Kate and I raced to Mcdonalds to get there before 10:30.  Who do we see there? ...Kenny Rogers.  Yes, it was really him, no we didn't just see someone that looked like him.  I actually talked to him and shook his hand!!  Next, we go home get ready and head out to navigate our way to Turner Field via MARTA...no problems there.  Basically everyone on MARTA was wearing Braves gear and it was clear we were all going to the same place.   We got to the game with plenty of time to get our tickets and take pictures in front of the giant baseballs and statues of baseball legends.  Once we finally got to our seats (and believe me - it was quite a trek) the game was just getting started.  After filling up on hotdogs, boiled peanuts, pizza and ice cream, we watched the remainder of the game.  Unfortunately Atlanta didn't score a run during the game, but it was a great game regardless. 


After the game, we made our way down to get better seats for the Avett Brothers concert.  Score! We managed to get only about 8 rows back behind home plate.  The concert was amazing and we had a great time!  A perfect end to a good day.


And really...who are we kidding? I can't help myself.  See below:

"They'll pass over the money without even thinking about it: for it is money they have and peace they lack. And they'll walk out to the bleachers; sit in shirtsleeves on a perfect afternoon. They'll find they have reserved seats somewhere along one of the baselines, where they sat when they were children and cheered their heroes. And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers. It has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game: it's a part of our past, Ray. It reminds of us of all that once was good and it could be again. Oh... people will come Ray. People will most definitely come."

Thursday, April 7, 2011

And so it begins....

Today I decided to live a more exciting life.  To say yes to things that are different/interesting/fun...things that I might usually pass on.  So, I've adopted sort of a "Yes Man" approach to life.  I've recruited my sister, Kate, and my trusty PIC, Betsy, who have agreed to blindly participate in my bucket list of sorts and maybe add some things of their own to the list.  Together we are going to fight boredom, push our boundaries, and have loads of random fun in the process.   I can't wait!!

First up, this weekend Kate and I will be going to my first Major League Baseball game!  The Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.  The Braves will be defending their perfect record this weekend at home against the Phillies (they have played and won one game so far).  I've been instructed by my dad to "Take your mitt, you might get a pop up"!!...i wish!! - I'm pretty sure our seats are out of pop up range...  Did I mention there is a post-game, free Avett Brothers concert!  LOVE THEM! 

Stay tuned for updates and pictures of our adventures!  Next on the horizon...saw a billboard for a Nascar race at Talladega next weekend...do I really need an excuse to dust off my tent, and put on my jean shorts and cowboy hat???