A little detour

It is now Friday night and we just got to Destin, our final destination for the official celebration of our 5th anniversary :). We left home yesterday and stopped in Philadelphia, MS at the Golden Moon Resort where we ate lots of food and won a few bucks to help make our trip even better. These pictures are: the Golden Moon (that weird ball is a restaurant - it looks like it could fall off the building at any minute), a view of Mobile as we drove through this evening, the USS Alabama that is docked in Mobile - some of our Girl Scouts travel here and actually sleep on the ship, Jeff relaxing in our room here in Destin.

Say "CHEESE"!!

So what that I am stretching my neck out of sorts and Jeff looks like he's ready to pop me in the head - we just HAD to document our departure on our 5th anniversary trip. This is us right before we pulled out of the driveway. Regardless of how we looked (you can really tell that Jeff hates to have his picture taken), Jeff and I are really happy to be out of town to celebrate our big day.

Chicken popper on wheat with no jalapenos please

Brandee and I had lunch at Roly Poly today - yum yum! Of course she had a steak fajita, hold everything that makes it fajita. I know, I know....life is so exciting.

Don't pee in the water

Can't you just hear the waves? This is how I am picturing the beach this weekend as Jeff and I go there for a few days to celebrate our 5th anniversary. As long as the weather cooperates, I see lots of bike riding, sitting by the pool, drinking wine and lounging in our future. Such an extravagant life we lead...

Patience is a virtue - just not one of mine

I have been having a really hard time lately dealing with the fact that it may be quite a long time before I become a mommy. I have just been feeling really impatient and wanting the adoption to happen right NOW! It has been 4 1/2 months since our paperwork went to China but it was 8 months before that of preparing paperwork and 4 years before that of infertility...a long time to hold on to a dream unfulfilled. Anyway - I decided today to look for something inspiring to help me a little bit and found this couple's "Gotcha Day" video on YouTube. It is not too tear-jerking but it is really beautiful (what I needed or else I would be a sobbing wreck).

Lines and Lizards

These words are more than just meaningless alliteration - they are the theme for today in Nicole's world.

Question: What's worse than a ton of Alabamians at a Nascar race?
Answer: A bunch of folks waiting in line for a very limited number of the new "TMX Elmo" toys


This morning Jeff and I went to Toys R Us to try to pre-purchase one of the new Nintendo Wii's for Mom and Dad. It turns out that today was the same day that they received a new shipment of those Elmo toys. What a fiasco...and we didn't even get the stinkin' Wii cause they only had 10 available and, of course, hard core folks were there at 9:30 last night sleeping outside the store. Funny experience.

And my 2nd trivia question for today...Which is weirder?
Choice A: A lizard on a cart in Super Wal-Mart OR
Choice B: A woman in Super Wal-Mart whipping out her digital camera to take a picture of a lizard on a cart

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye as I was grocery shopping and looked down at my cart, had a heart attack when I saw this lizard and then took it's picture. I know ladybugs are supposed to be good luck in China adoption - I wonder about lizards...hmmm.

Miracles

I know in my heart that all children are miracles and I witnessed some last night at our very first Families with Children from China (FCC) Waiting Families meeting. We were among 4 waiting families and 4 who were already home with their little girls. While I was a little disturbed that we were the ones with the most recent log in date and have the longest wait still ahead of us, I am so grateful that Jeff and I had the opportunity to meet other families who have been or are going through the same thing that we are. The baby girls were so sweet and their parents eyes were just so filled with love and contentment. I can't wait until we are the ones sharing our baby girl with families in the "waiting phase". We will meet about every 6 weeks and have speakers about adoption related topics. Just the stories from China and the honest accounts of real-life issues that these new parents have faced make these meetings so necessary for us. I just hope and pray that we are parents by this time next year - I know that is such a stretch for the timeline in China right now but I have to hold on to something.

PS - This is a picture from The Children's Place website :).

Puffy-eyed sisterhood

Brandee and I met for some sisterly pampering - we had our eyebrows waxed this morning. The lady that waxed Brandee's eyebrows started giggling and asked me if I saw her grip the arms of the chair really hard before she ripped the wax off - what a weeneeeee! Just kidding Bran. Anyway, you can see our red and puffy eyebrows - at least we won't have uni-brows.

Update: That line near my eyes on the side of my face is not a boo-boo - it must be a shadow but I have to admit it looks a little freaky. Maybe I could pass this off as my scary Halloween picture.

Shhhh...

I am cracking myself up right now. After some strong deliberation, I decided to indulge Jeff's man-crush with a special gift for our 5th anniversary. I got him a membership to the Justin Timberlake Fan Club. On top of that, I used the membership to get us pre-sale tickets to his concert on March 16th in Nashville - Jeff is going to be so um-cited. Of course I can't keep a secret so I have called him at work to tell him so that he can put in for the day off that day - now I just wait for him to call me back so I can break the news. Hee hee - we are so silly! Here is a YouTube of his newest video in case anyone wants to jam...

Friday Five: Treats

Today's theme is "treats" - I guess since Halloween is upon us. Doesn't really matter cause candy is one of my favorite things to talk about.

1. When you root through the Halloween candy dish....what do you pick out for your favorite?
I try my best to avoid the candy dishes since this is one major weakness for me but when I give in to the evil voice in my head I look for anything chocolate. I do love candy corns and licorice too though. Heck just give me any candy and I'll take it.

2. If you could "treat" yourself to something special....what would it be?
either a spa treatment (probably a massage or reflexology thing) or shopping for my baby girl - ahhh, someday

3. What do you consider a "treat" for a meal?
Anything with tons of cheese - macaroni and cheese, grilled cheese, cheese dip with nacho chips

4. What could your significant other or friend do for you to "treat" you?
Rub my feet for longer than a commercial break - hee hee

5. What is the best "treat" you ever received?
so many to choose from... probably Jeff proposing to me or our decision to adopt - both life changing positive "treats"

PS - I went to the Hershey's kisses site and saw all the yummy new flavors they have - you can see them here http://www.hersheys.com/kisses/products/index.asp - just plain EVIL!

Buddha holds crazy ball

As I sit and wait for the next batch of baby referrals to be announced (and the website that I get ALL of my info from is down - AHHHH!) I am reduced to finding weird things that I deem entertaining. This morning I was walking through Wal-Mart to get some cards and saw this blazing at me from one of the aisles (thank goodness for camera phones). It just doesn't seem right to make a Buddha somehow lava-lampish. You might remember those electric light things that you touch and the light centers on your hand...this is a Buddha holding one of those - whodathunkit? So until I hear if the CCAA in China has made more progress on referring babies to their families, you all will have to be victims of my "stupid forms of entertainment".

Ok who did this?

Is someone trying to tell me something? You take one little letter off of my name and I am now "of the behind". I know I'm bossy and mean sometimes but what's up with that?

What are "Things Jason might see this week"?

Jason is lucky enough to be travelling for work this week and I'm kinda jealous. These are some things I hope he has a chance to see while he is way across the country. I know a stinky thing like work might get in the way but my suggestion is: CALL IN SICK! Hee hee.

Jeff and his 2 Nicole's

Yesterday Jeff and I spent most of the day with Nicole, a very special young woman who has been a part of Jeff's life since she was 4 years old (she's 22 now). We haven't seen her in a while so it was great to catch up and spend some quality time together. We had lunch, grabbed some frozen yogurt (yummy - my favorite), visited a new shopping center, went to see Man of the Year and had dinner. Jeff and I aren't used to being out and about for a whole day so we came home last night and crashed on the couch.

Of course I can't leave out how sorry I felt for myself most of the day with my boo-boo. Poor me. Ok I'm done.

Oops!

This morning Jeff and I were out for a nice run. We were enjoying the cool morning air, gazing at the pretty Fall leaves and doing our best to get fit when BOOM! I fell on my keester. In over 2 years of running, this is my first fall. Yes I have had a few stumbles, near misses but this is the first flat on my booty fall. Unfortunately, my bad knee took the brunt. Hey at least this new boo-boo will cover one of my surgery scars. I have once agained earned my name as Miss Grace.

Day 2 boo boo update (written on Sunday morning):
I had the belated onset effect with my boo boo and it started to hurt pretty bad last night. I now have a golf ball growing out of my knee cap. Since I landed square on my hip, my booty starting hurting and I couldn't sit down comfortably. Do you know how hard it is to sit on one cheek?

Friday Fiver

Theme: Pets!!

#1 Do you have any pets and what are they? I don't personally have any pets but I have a wonderful nephew dog named Elmo (affectionately called Schmelmo - see his cutie pie picture). I absolutely love pug dogs and had one named Harley when I was in college.

#2 Are you a cat person, dog person, exotic animal person or none of the above? I'm definitely a dog person

#3 What was your first pet as a child? I remember stories of our lhasa apso named Jenny but the first pets I really remember are our dogs Reykji and Keffi and the hamsters that we had that kept escaping from their cages.

#4 What animal could you not imagine in a million years having for a pet? a ferret - I think those things are icky and look really mean

#5 Tell us your favorite pet story

When I was about 10, we came home from visiting our grandparents right before a move and our doggies Reykji and Keffi were gone. Mom and Dad told us kids that they went to live at a farm where they would have lots of animal friends and room to play outside. As kids we were sad but accepted it and were happy that they would be in a good home. A year or two ago we were talking about our old doggies and Dad says "you really believed that story about the farm?" It turned out that they had taken the dogs to the pound. Thanks Mom and Dad. ;)

Ho-hum

There are some rumors that the cut-off for this month's adoption referrals from China will be Aug. 23rd of 2005 - that represents only 14 days of log in dates. At this pace we will be waiting FOREVER (most likely 2-3 YEARS) to see our baby girl's face. Anyway - to brighten the day I am posting a sideways picture of my tulips from last spring. Aren't they purty?

Huh?

Jeff and I were out the other day and happened to have the camera handy when we saw this license plate. Since this is how I have been feeling lately I thought it was kinda silly that someone would have this license plate - on purpose nonetheless. What's up with that?

This BLOWS!

Literally - this blows. We spent the gorgeous early part of today on a DIY project. Jeff has wanted to put more insulation into the attic for a long time now and today was the day. After a Home Depot trek, suiting up and getting psyched, we blew tons of junky stuff into our attic. It is not a project that I plan to repeat EVER again. Hopefully this effort will result in lower power bills and a happy hubby.

Race Day!

We had a very nice day today! The day started off with Jeff and I running the Race for the Cure 5K. We set a goal time of 33 minutes (a little better than our last 5K but still slower than my 2005 Race for the Cure time of 29:50-something -thanks knee surgery). Jeff crossed the finish line in 30:38 and me at 30:40 - my GPS told me this was a 9:53 mile average. Jeff did awesome! His Race for the Cure time last year was over 38 minutes so he shaved a whole 8 minutes off his time in just one year - I am soo proud of him. Here are some pictures of us before we left this morning (prepared for the 45 degree cold).

Then we met Brandee at the new massive shopping center in Trussville and had a very nice afternoon strolling and shopping. Brandee got this cute new hat - isn't she a hottie?

Overall we had a very nice day today - the weather was gorgeous and it was so nice to spend some good time with Jeff and Bran as we celebrate our 4 month anniversary of our log in date with the CCAA in China.

Friday Five for Friday the 13th

Theme: All things Creepy

#1 What is the strangest coincidence or freaky happening that you have ever experienced?
The only thing I can remember is a mirror that used to belong to my great-grandmother swinging back and forth on the wall when I was a kid - who knows if this really happened or if my creative mind made it up.

#2 What is the creepiest movie you have ever seen?
The first Nightmare on Elm Street - I don't think I slept for 2 days after that one.

#3 Are you superstitious or do you think it is all silly?
I have to admit that I have a healthy bit of superstition but by no means would I consider myself hard-core about it. Mostly I believe in strong episodes of coincidence.

#4 What are you most afraid of?
Dead cats in my yard or dead squirrels in my washing machine - ick.

#5 If you could time travel, what time period would you go to and why?
I would go into the future just for a glimpse of what to expect.

WARNING! Mushy post about the adoption

I didn't sleep too well last night. My mind was racing with thoughts about the adoption. It was exactly one year ago yesterday that Jeff and I sat on the couch in the living room and talked intensely about our options for creating our family. We had recently gotten bad news from the fertility doctor about our chances of ever having our own biological children and we were at a crossroads. Our options were to keep on spending time, money, emotional energy to continue fertility treatment or to put that part of our journey behind us and explore adoption. Needless to say our overwhelming choice was to start down the road of adoption and, within 5 minutes, we decided our baby girl was in China.

The decision that we made that day brought me the most overwhelming sense of peace. The struggle of infertility and loss was so painful for me and some days I still feel like I haven't completely put that grief behind me. When Jeff and I came together and decided that it didn't take our genes joining for us to truly and completely give our hearts to a child that would be ours, it was such a magical feeling. For the first time in years, I had so much hope for our future as parents and for my own future as a mommy - one role that I have desperately longed for for so long. That day and that decision have changed me. The dreams and hopes I hold today are drastically different than those that I held onto at the start of the fertility treatment. I dream of being handed my little girl and comforting her as she grieves the loss of her life in China. I dream of watching Jeff shower his little girl with kisses and love and seeing them create a father-daughter bond that will fulfill him and be a gift to both of them. I dream of Jeff and I as mommy and daddy to a precious child that was chosen for us by God.

This is a pretty emotional day for me as I remember this decision, reflect on the years that have brought Jeff and I to this point and look toward the future when, eventually, our dreams to become parents will be complete.

One year ago today, following our decision to start this journey, we completed the preliminary application to our adoption agency. After the 8 months of preparing our complete plea to China to allow us to adopt a baby girl, we now sit and wait (some days more patiently than others) for a picture of our future to come to us. We have no idea how long it will take....a year, two, three....there is no way to tell right now. The wait is hard now and will most likely get worse before it gets better but I have to convince myself that we have already survived the hardest part of our struggle to build a family. We are in this moment where we are supposed to be...

PUGDOGS!!

Need I say more? I love little pugdogs. They are so cute with their little squooshy wooshy faces. Ok so I need a life.

Scenes from my office

I have my camera at work today to download some pictures from an event this weekend and took some pictures of 2 of the most important things that I look at every day.

I have this big dry erase calendar that hangs on my wall. I put all of the upcoming Girl Scout program events on here but I also put my vacation. I know I just came back from one but, in just 4 weeks, Jeff and I will have a few days off for our 5th anniversary. I am the world's worst for looking so forward to time off. Hee hee.

Then I have my cute little name frame with tiles from Spain that Mom and Dad had made for me several years ago. I have put a couple of ladybugs around it so that every day I am reminded of my little girl in China (not that it takes a ladybug to make me think about her because she is in my thoughts every minute of every day). Ladybugs are supposed to be a sign of good luck in the whole China adoption process and, with the changing weather, ladybug sightings are rampant among my fellow parents-in-waiting.

Friday Five #2

Ok - back to the Friday Fives posted by my June 06 DTC group. Here goes this week's.

Theme: Sports (very appropriate since the Nascar race is in Talladega this weekend)

#1 What is your favorite sport to watch?
I am not a big sports fan but, like most women, I don't mind ice skating, gymnastics and don't hate golf. I loved watching most sports during the Olympics though.

#2 If you have kids do they play any type of sport and are you on the
sidelines cheering them on or if you don't have kids yet did you play
any type of sport when you were younger?
No kids yet but I hope that our little girl will be active in sports. I didn't really play sports as a kid - I was brainy.

#3 Is your significant other really into sports and do you like that
and join in or do you roll your eyes when football season comes around?
AY AY AY! Jeff loves all sports - I think it is the whole competitive thing. He loves this time of the year when there is college football on Saturday and Nascar racing on Sunday. I sometimes watch the football with him (groaning the whole time - I'm a bad sport) but Nascar racing is my grocery store and errand time.

#4 What do you think is the most ridiculous sport ever created?
Nascar racing - round and round and round. My 2nd choice would be that discus thing - looks pretty silly to me.

#5 If you could be a famous athlete who would you choose to be and why?
If I had to give up being a woman, I wouldn't mind being Lance Armstrong. Although he has retired from cycling, he is about to run a marathon - that man is a machine.

Chinese Moon Festival

This Friday is the Chinese Moon Festival. As we are waiting for our referral we will be learning all about the traditional Chinese celebrations so that we can share them with our daughter when the time comes. Here is a little from About.com about the Moon Festival:

"The Chinese Moon Festival is on the 15th of the 8th lunar month. It's also known as the Mid-autumn Festival. Chinese culture is deeply imbedded in traditional festivals. Just like Christmas and Thanksgiving in the West, the Moon Festival is one of the most important traditional events for the Chinese.
The Moon Festival is full of legendary stories. Legend says that Chang Er flew to the moon, where she has lived ever since. You might see her dancing on the moon during the Moon Festival. The Moon Festival is also an occasion for family reunions. When the full moon rises, families get together to watch the full moon, eat moon cakes, and sing moon poems. With the full moon, the legend, the family and the poems, you can't help thinking that this is really a perfect world. That is why the Chinese are so fond of the Moon Festival.
The Moon Festival is also a romantic one. A perfect night for the festival is if it is a quiet night without a silk of cloud and with a little mild breeze from the sea. Lovers spend such a romantic night together tasting the delicious moon cake with some wine while watching the full moon. Even for a couple who can't be together, they can still enjoy the night by watching the moon at the same time so it seems that they are together at that hour. A great number of poetry has been devoted to this romantic festival. Hope the Moon Festival will bring you happiness.
The moon cake is the food for the Moon Festival. The Chinese eat the moon cake at night with the full moon in the sky. "

Let's hope that our baby girl, if she has been born, enjoys the light of the moon as we watch it on Friday and think of her... hoping she is safe, healthy and waiting patiently for us.

Happy Birthday Dad!

Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday to you
Happy birthday dear Da-ad
Happy birthday to you!

New Weight Loss Sub-Blog (is that a word?)

I have started another blog page which I am dedicating to the 25.2 pounds that I will be losing over the next few months. You can view this blog here --> http://nicoleislosingitagain.blogspot.com/ . I did this so I wouldn't overtake my doodling blog with weight loss stuff. I am really excited about my new weight loss adventure and hope to share it with whoever is interested.

Back on the trail...

The quest for fitness began again this morning. Jeff and I ran 5 miles and, boy, did it hurt. Jeff was ahead of me for 2-3 of the 5 miles - he did awesome. We are on track to run a 5K race in just 2 weeks.

Our eat-fests on vacation weren't nearly as bad as I anticipated but I feel like I have gained 15 lbs in the last month. My goal is to get back to my goal weight by the time our documents make it through the review room in China. I really want to be fit by the time we go to China so I can be a buff Mommy :).

More on the cruise

Mom e-mailed me by blog notes that I was going to post when we were on the ship but we could never get the wireless thingy to work. Anyway - for anyone who might be interested in more details about our first few days, here goes

"What a time! My last update was kind of frazzled because it costs $.50 a minute to be on-line on the cruise ship and the dag-gom computer wouldn't let me type the letter "u" so everything was a little grammatically incorrect - you know how that gets to me. Anyway - we are having a fantastic time here on our cruise.

Saturday
We left the house in London at 3:45am on Saturday and arrived in Barcelona with absolutely no hitches - smooth flight and no problem with our luggage or anything. Mom had arranged transfers for us from the Barcelona aiport to the cruise ship so that was a cinch too. I should add that on our flight we had gorgeous views of the Pyrenees mountains and could see our ship as we approached Barcelona. When we arrived at the port we were lucky enough to get priority boarding so we were some of the first people to board the ship. We went straight to the buffet where we did a minimal gorging :).

This is the ship that Jeff and I went on for our honeymoon so we are a little familiar with where everything is and Jeff is having fun being on his turf. We weren't able to get in our stateroom until about 2:30 so we walked around the ship and people-watched. You just don't realize how many European women go bra-less and smoke cigars. Anyway - so our room is small but cozy and we have 2 twin beds with bunk type beds hanging off the walls. Our luggage came slowly throughout the afternoon so we weren't able to unpack until late Saturday evening. Mom, Dad and Jeff took a little nap while we were waiting and I did some ship exploration of my own. Then we had to put on our huge lifevests and go to our muster stations before dinner - that was fun. This is done just in case we have a Titanic episode and have to evacuate the ship - at least now we are prepared.

Dinner last night was great - every dinner in the dining room here feels like a gourmet experience. Dad and Jeff had shrimp cocktail and prime rib, Mom had some great fish and I had a stuffed chicken breast - yum yum. You know - cruises are all about the food. After dinner we walked around some more and had some coffee and tea in the cafe - very nice. We stayed out looking in shops and hanging around until about 11:30 then we came back to the room and went to bed.

Sunday
We woke up around 8:45 this morning so it was a sleep in morning for all of us. We had docked in Marseilles, France at 7am. After showers and getting ready we went to the buffet for breakfast and then decided to take a shuttle into the city of Marseilles to just see some sights. I have to say that Marseilles is absolutely gorgeous - exactly what you would think a French city should look like. Very old buildings with balconies facing the water and pretty flowers in boxes. We walked through a market where they sell soaps and souveniers where some gypsies were also begging us for money and Mom says calling us bad names in French :), visited the pharmacy to get some medicine for my stomach and got some bottled water at a little quick stop type place. The water here on the ship is $3.50 for a liter and Mom and I both drink a lot of it so we needed a cheaper supply.

Anyway - Marseilles is the 2nd largest city in France behind Paris so I am sure there is lots that we didn't see while we were there. All of the ports that we are visiting use the Euro as the currency. Jeff and I are taking lots of pictures that I hope to be able to post soon.

We travelled back to the ship around 2pm and had lunch and went to a wine tasting event on the ship. We had some of what Jeff calls "stinky feet cheese" and 6 different wines...I know - we are so cultured. After that we were wiped out so we all ended up taking about a 2 hour nap and missing our dinner in the dining room. Tonight was the first of 2 formal nights so everyone on the ship was dressed all schmancily except us slackers. We went to the buffet and had dinner in a more casual setting. Jeff and I went to the casino for a few minutes and then met Mom and Dad back in the room where we are about to go to sleep again.

Tomorrow is a big day - we will be in Villefranche, France and have a shore excursion that leaves from the ship at 7:15am. We will be travelling to Nice, Cannes and Grasse where we will tour a perfume factory. This is kind of a highlights of the French Riviera tour and I expect it to be even more gorgeous than Marseille.

On Tuesday we will be in Livorno, Italy where we will travel to Florence and Pisa to do the tourist thing. Wednesday will be Rome where we will take a tour of the Colosseum, Vatican, St. Peter's Basilica and all of the old important things that make up Rome. Finally Thursday we will be in Naples, Italy where we will hike up Mt. Vesuvius and visit Pompeii. So many exciting things in such a short amount of time.

In addition to the places we will be visiting, we are planning some neat activities on the ship too...there are shows every night, a toga party this week, line dance lessons, etc. So much fun...

Update: Monday
Today was another adventure filled day! We pulled in to Villefranche, France early this morning and met for our tour at 7:15. We took a tour called "The Best of the French Riviera" which took us to Cannes where the big film festival is. We took pictures on the steps where the red carpet is laid out during the festival and we also briefly visited the beach and went barefoot in the water. Jeff popped his head into a casino that is in Cannes and said it is just like casinos in the States.

Then we went to tour the Fragonard perfume factory. So interesting to see how these fragrances are made. We must have smelled 20 different perfumes and we ended up with headaches from fragrance overload. This is also the place that Mom and Dad visited 6 years ago and brought me back a bottle of perfume which I have worn almost every day for the past 6 years and it is just now running out. They discontinued that fragrance but somehow Mom talked them into pulling out one of the last bottles and selling it to us. So I can continue to smell yummy :). We bought a bunch of other perfumes and soaps here too.

We then went and had lunch at a restaurant - I wasn't impressed at all with the food - it was a salad with tuna and anchovies (blek!) and a chicken leg with some weird veggies. After lunch we went to St. Paul de Vince which is a really neat little village with lots of little shops with olive oils, souveniers, tablecloths and the best ice cream. Dad and I had lots of ice cream - yum yum.

After we got back to the ship we had dinner in the dining room which was very nice. Then we went to the "Name That Tune" game in one of the bars on the ship. I thought we would do really well with that since Dad knows every old song there is but it turned out to be theme songs from movies. Mom and Dad got 5 out of 10 and Jeff and I did worse. It was fun though.

Now we just got back to our room after going to the celebrity headliner show. The celebrity was Dominick Allen who was a member of Foreigner. I guess the show was pretty exciting...he sang a couple of Foreigner songs and then some other old ones. He does play a mean guitar, saxophone and clarinet.

Tomorrow we will be docking in Livorno and taking a bus to Florence and Pisa. We are on our own to site see so we have a lot to fit in to a couple of hours. I hope to post again soon!!"

Thanks Mom and Dad!!

I have uploaded all the pictures from our camera, we are home and relatively recovered from our jetlag and reflecting upon an amazing vacation. Thanks Mom and Dad for a once in a lifetime adventure!! Hopefully this will hold us over until our next great adventure - our trip to China!

Final Day: Barcelona, Spain

We docked in Barcelona very early on Saturday morning and took an excursion to see the city before being dropped off at the airport. Barcelona is a very neat city and we saw lots of architecture designed by Antoni Gaudi. His buildings look almost like cartoons - very weird but interesting. This was the only day on our entire trip that it rained - fitting that it should be the last day of an incredible trip.

Barcelona

Sep 22, 2006 - 31 Photos

Cruise Day 6: At Sea

This was our only day at sea as we headed back to Barcelona. The last day of the cruise is always filled with packing and sadness because vacation is coming to a close. We tried to make the best of it. Jeff and Dad entered the Black Jack tournament (Dad won it on our last cruise) and this time Jeff took 2nd place. We were really exhausted from a week of adventures so we rested some, pigged out at the Johnny Rockets on board and felt a little sick by dinner time.

Cruise Day 5: Naples, Italy (Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii)

I think this might have been my favorite day of the cruise. I never in my life thought I would hike to the top of an active volcano or visit an ancient city that existed in the BC years.

Naples

Sep 20, 2006 - 53 Photos

Cruise Day 4: Rome

We did a lot in this day. We started with the Trevi Fountain, Roman Forum and the Colosseum followed by Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica. I have to say that this is one of the days I was really looking forward to. There is so much history in Rome and I was anxious to take it all in.

Rome

Sep 19, 2006 - 72 Photos

Cruise Day 3: Florence and Pisa, Italy

What a day! We started the day with a 1 1/2 hour drive to Florence where we were dropped in a square. Immediately I discovered that I didn't have my Sea Pass card which is what we were to use to get off and on the cruise ship. Of course, in my calm nature, I panicked and had a hissy fit. After I had some gelato and relaxed, we toured a church where we saw the tombs of Galileo, Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Dante and more. The monuments were gorgeous - there were huge sculptures and painting that you could only find in a European setting. We walked some in Florence and saw a reproductions of the David statue. One thing I must say about Italy is that they seem to focus a lot of the souveneirs on men's privates. There were boxers, postcards, everything with pictures of only that part of the David statue - a little weird. Outside of this we weren't able to see much of Florence due to the limited amount of time we had before heading to Pisa. We ate a quick pasta lunch in a cafe (Jeff had a hamburger) and we boarded the bus to head to Pisa. We only had 30 minutes to see the leaning tower and the rest of the buildings in the Field of Miracles. It really was like being in a movie - so surreal. I was amazed by the extreme tilt of the tower - it really almost looks like it is falling over. Once again, breathtaking.

Florence and Pisa

Sep 18, 2006 - 43 Photos

Cruise Day 2: Best of the French Riviera

On the 2nd day of our cruise we took an excursion called The Best of the French Riviera. This took us to Cannes, France where the famous film festival is held. We walked a little ways on the beach there and saw a man doing a sand sculpture - very neat. We stood on the steps where the red carpet is rolled out during the film festival and saw the handprints of many celebrities. Jeff also poked his head into a casino there. From Cannes, we travelled to a perfume factory where we took a tour and smelled bunches of beautiful scents and found my favorite perfume that Mom and Dad had gotten for me 6 years ago. We had an icky lunch at a French restaurant named "The Grill" - a salad with tuna and anchovy and chicken leg with potatoes (not my favorite meal). Finally we visited the little village of St. Paul de Vince which is a tiny place with narrow cobblestone streets and little shops everywhere...it was so neat and beautiful. I also had my first gelato of the trip - yum yum. The last couple of pictures were of the little black pugdog that we followed around - I was meant to take him home but it was a no-no on the cruise ship.

French Riviera

Sep 17, 2006 - 38 Photos

Cruise Day 1: Marseilles, France

Our first port on our cruise was Marseilles, France which is the 2nd largest city in France (behind Paris). It is a gorgeous city on the water. We didn't take a shore excursion this day but ended up taking a bus from the ship to the city center. We walked around and saw absolutely beautiful buildings - very colorful and beautiful. We found a pharmacy that had my stomach medicine over the counter - what a relief. This was the type of city that you would want to sit by the water and have a glass of wine or coffee and just people watch. Absolutely breathtaking.

Marseilles, France

Sep 15, 2006 - 23 Photos

Our Trip: Chapter 1

Our trip was fantastic and it will be hard for me to really say all that we did while we were in London and on our cruise but I will try to document it for our own memories and to share with anyone who is interested. I will add some details about what we did but for now here are some pictures from the first week while we were in London. You will see us at the Blue Man Group, riding on the train/Underground, playing cards and sightseeing. More later...

London

Sep 9, 2006 - 57 Photos

We're home :(

We're home and I feel icky. My eyes didn't close until well after 3am this morning and now I am sitting at work feeling like puking. We had the worst experience with Delta and laying over in Atlanta - we were supposed to be home at 8:07 but didn't leave the Birmingham airport until well after 2am. Needless to say I am jetlagged and sleep deprived. Poor Jeff had to be at work at 6:30am and will have to stay there for the full day. I will be leaving work in a little bit to rest and work from home so that I don't have to have a car accident on the way home.

On a different note, I have so much blogging to do about our trip. We had a great time and I have so many pictures to share - I can't wait to get started. I can't thank Mom and Dad enough for the wonderful time that we had on the cruise and the week that we were in London before. It is such a gift to have a wonderful adult relationship with my parents. I value them so much and there just aren't words to express how much more rich my life is with them as a part of it. Anyway - I will be blogging endlessly as soon as I can download some pictures.

I am sitting here in Marseilles, France posting on my blog - what a weird experience! We flew to Barcelona yesterday and boarded the ship with priority boarding so we were some of the first folks on board the ship. Everything is very nice and we are having a blast. We are in Marseilles today and in Nice, France tomorrow. Then Florence, Italy, Rome and finally Naples and climbing Mt. Vesvios (sorry I can't type one letter between t and v for some reason). Today we got off the ship in Marseilles and saw the gorgeos sites - so nice. Anyway - this compter is exasperating me so I will post more later. I miss everyone!

Delayed Blogging

So we won't have regular access to the internet today. The lovely British cable guys now won't be installing the cable (which means TV and internet) until Sept. 25th so it won't be available while we are here. I am at Mom's office right now so this will be our last post until we head out on the cruise. We are still having a great time. Yesterday Jeff, Dad and I went downtown and had lunch at Nando's (yummy chicken and bottomless frozen yogurt) and then we walked past Buckingham Palace and through Hyde Park. It was really, really pretty. Anyway - I can't occupy the internet for too long so I will make this brief. We are loving every minute of the time we are able to spend with Mom and Dad and can't wait to get on the ship in Barcelona on Saturday. We miss everyone (hi Schmelmo!)!!

We're here!

Just a quick note. We got here safely and are having a wonderful time! We will have regular internet access on Wednesday so I will be posting some pictures then. On Saturday we went to the base and accompanied Mom and Dad on some hard core gadget and grocery shopping. We managed to stay awake until about 10pm on Saturday after being up since 7am on Friday morning which helped us so much in adjusting to the time difference.

Yesterday we got adventurous and went to downtown London. On a whim we checked the Blue Man Group ticket office to see if they had tickets to the matinee and they did! What a great show that was! Last night we played 2 games of Chicago Rummy while Dad drank half a bottle of Bailey's. Jeff won both games - what a weiner.

We have had a really good couple of days and are looking forward to the rest of this week and the cruise next week. My stomach was hurting so badly before we left and it is feeling absolutely fine right now - what a great thing some stress relief can do for a frazzled body.

This morning we walked up to the Ruislip Lido (2.5 miles), ran 3 miles around a gorgeous lake with lots of pretty birds and walked back to the house for another 2.5 miles or so - my GPS said we did a total of 8.71 miles. I think we are all a little sore right now but what a beautiful morning. The Lido was absolutely breathtaking - the perfect place to run. The weather is awesome also - it has been sunny and about 78 degrees since we've been here. Couldn't be better.

Overall things are great and I can't wait to share some pictures. I am so thankful for Mom and Dad for being so wonderful and for all of the great fun that we have together. We are so lucky! More later....

It's about time!

We are officially on vacation - woohoo!! Jeff and I leave for London this afternoon and we can't wait to get there. The camera is already packed so I can't take a picture of the counter bagel-less :). We are planning on doing some hard core relaxing and having fun while we are gone. We never have a problem enjoying ourselves when Mom and Dad are around so that's a no-brainer. I will try to post some pictures and stuff as soon as we get a chance.

UNO!!

Hee hee.

The Birthday Bunch

Brandee and Elmo came over tonight to celebrate their birthdays - can you believe that they were born on the same day?? I guess they were meant to be doggy and doggy-mama. Happy Birthday Y'all!!

Two bagels until we're off!

Need I say more? Only two bagels left...

Omaha!!

Brandee and I rocked out with the Goo Goo Dolls and Counting Crows (thus the Omaha title of this post) last night. It was a great concert and we were crooning right along with the funky rockers. Aside from some overly intoxicated Alabamians sitting behind us, we had a great time. Thanks Bran and Happy Birthday!!

Countdown

This is how I'm counting down the days until we leave to go to London. I have one of my low-carb bagels every morning and, after this morning, there are just 3 left!! This is just an insight into my weird mind. Hee hee.

Second 5 miler down (actually 5.15 miles)

Jeff and I ran our 2nd of potentially 3 five mile runs this evening. It was pretty hot out so I think we did great. The rest of the week is going to be pretty busy so I hope we can fit in our final run before vacation. Only 4 days until we leave!!

Ok so I'm bored

My China Adoption Yahoo Group (for prospective adoptive parents who had their paperwork sent or logged in to China in June of 06) has this feature called "Friday Five" where they ask questions and each person responds. I haven't gotten brave enough to respond to this group of almost 200 but I thought I would post here - maybe I'll do this every Friday (I know this is Sunday - give me a break). Here goes:

#1 If you have been around children, what are your favorite ages? If > you haven't....take> a guess! From being around other people's kids I would say from 1-2 years when they are just old enough to have their own personality

#2 What is the thing that you are looking forward to the most about > having a baby or> child in the house? Hands down, being a mommy...kissing boo boos, making pb & j's, bedtime stories, pushing her on the swing...watching Jeff be a daddy.

#3 What is the thing that you are NOT looking forward to the most? potty training and sleepless nights (though I will take those any day for all the good in return)

#4 When you dream of having your baby or child home now, what are you > dreaming> about?
her smiling face, pigtails, goo goo talk with Jeff (I mean the baby, not me), endless hugs and Jeff and I finally starting our family

#5 What personality traits do you hope and dream that your child has? I want her to be happy above all else...I hope she is resilient, joyful, can always see the beauty in others...

My Challenge to Me

Ok so I am a little out of control with the whole diet thing. I have a few (read: maybe more than a few) pounds that I need to lose and I am now 5 days from vacation which of course usually turns into an eat-fest. As a small step in the right direction I am challenging myself to run 5 miles a minimum of 3 times this week. The first time is already down - Jeff and I did 5 miles this morning. Before we step on that plane to head abroad, I will have at least 15 miles behind me. Go me!

What does Labor Day weekend mean to you?

To me it means an extra day off of work, nice weather and a chance to be lazy. To Jeff it means the start of the college football season. Right now he is mesmerized by the television, switching between the Auburn and UAB games. Every now and then he will burst out with a cheer or a "dag-nab, gosh darn it" (hee hee - or something like that).

I am not one for football or any other sport as a matter of fact. So I will sit here on my duff and be entertained by Jeff rather than the TV. He's so silly. :)

Dream or NIGHTMARE?

Remember this guy? We used to play this game(was it on Atari?) for hours at a time. Unfortunately my mind hasn't let him go yet because little Mr. Q-bert haunted my dreams last night. I can still hear the "boing boing" as he bounces from platform to platform - AHHHH! Anyway - I know I'm weird but I thought you would all appreciate a trip down memory lane with Q-bert.