J&DBrown

Caleb Crawdad, Forrest Gump, and a Hagrid

2011-12-22T12:56:00.000-08:00

October 8th, 2011 was day two of our anniversary weekend in Savannah. Because Jason and I slept late for our second day there, we were super hungry when we woke up. Therefore, we decided to treat ourselves to breakfast at Clary's cafe. Clary's is the famous dinner in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. We had an easy time finding it thanks to a man we met the day before. We randomly heard some guy saying "Abercorn! Abercorn! Abercorn!" to some lady he was with... apparently he really needed to get to Abercorn street. Well, because we heard the name over and over again, we found the street Abercorn... easier to avoid crazy people if you know where they're headed :^) Come to find out, Clary's Cafe is on Abercorn! We walked for a very long time until finally reaching the Cafe. We walked in and met the hostess. She told us it would be a while and we could wait outside until a table opened up. As soon as we sat down to wait, the woman came outside and said she had a table ready... awesome! We ordered regular breakfast food: bacon, biscuits, hash browns, ect. Everything was wonderful, until... the power went out. It had started raining once we had a seat inside and the next thing we knew, we were sitting in darkness. Luckily we had our food by then and were just waiting for the check. The check never came. Thirty minutes later our waitress came by and asked if we were paying with cash or card. We said card and then she took off. Another few minutes went by and she then said we could pay at the front. The lady at the front wrote down our information (since there was still no power), promised to shred it the moment the power came back on, and then sent us on our way. The poor lady announced that she had forgotten to write down what type of card everyone was paying with (visa, mastercard, etc). Luckily she wrote ours down, but she spelled my name wrong. Jason said he wouldn't be surprised if they never charged the card (because of how many things went weirdly that day)... we were charged. Oh well! This is a picture of Clary's Cafe...

Because it was a rainy day, we decided walking wouldn't be the best idea. Therefore, we decided to pay for a trolley ride tour. I love these things! They're a fun way to see a city! We purchased to tickets at the Riverstreet shop and then waited for the bus. We were able to get two really good seats in the back. We had a lovely British "chap" named Michael. I was super happy because A) I love British people and B) British people have an awesome sense of humor. We had a wonderful time! He drove around and around each Savannah square and told us a bunch of historical facts about the place. We saw where Tom Hanks sat in the movie Forrest Gump; where the girl scouts began; the "pink" house (no matter how many different colors they try to paint it... it always ends up pink); and the house where Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil took place. There was also a statue of John Wesley that we saw. However, underneath the statue there was something more entertaining to me... a middle-aged man with golden hair, a giant mustache, a cane, and a very, very white suit. He looked like he was from the late 1800s. As Jason and I passed the man, we said in our most southern, Michael Scott accent "I do declare!!!! My little heart could barely take it no more!" Gotta love the office :^) Almost every time we passed something that was interesting or heard someone very southern, Jason and I would announce "I do declare!"

After a while, Jason and I went back to the hotel to rest some and get out of the rain. We turned on the tv only to discover that Savannah does not understand good television. Everything we saw was either fishing, news, or food related.... where's the Office, Walking Dead, or Dr. Who when you need it! We then snuck down to the Marriott store and bought ice creams. We decided to browse the shops on Riverstreet after a while. As we walked by the River, we came across a very creepy cat. This cat looked super thin, meowed a ton, and wouldn't stop following me... I seriously was terrified of this cat! I kept thinking it was going to attack me... Jason apparently thought this was funny. I did not. After a great deal of browsing, walking, and sight-seeing, we decided we should eat dinner. We picked the Cotton Exchange. Best tea ever!!!! They put honey in it . . . Mmmmmmm. Here are a few pictures of it:

Part of the reason we have weird facial expressions is probably because of the Hashers... ugh. Right across from us sat a group of Hashers... these are people who go from city to city running races. They were very loud, extremely drunk, and incredibly rude. We didn't get a picture, but imagine a man with a horrible coyboy hat, no shirt, and two to three other females who probably needed more clothing as well. The guy kept staring out the window next to him, screaming at passersby. At one point, probably after his 200th beer, he decided to inform the girl next to him that she has amazing boobs... the whole restaurant could probably hear that. She didn't seemed bothered at all... in fact, she then complemented the girl across from her on her boobs. Actually, they did more than just complement each other.. they decided to show each other how great their boobs were. Holy crap! Jason and I have learned that all of our friends who liked Savannah, surely must have been drunk while there... No one else has stories like this but us. We were sober.

After the cotton exchange, we then headed back to the Riverstreet bus stop to wait for the ghost tour. Here is a picture of our ghost bus...

The girl who led the tour was crazy!! Very VERY southern accent. Extremely dramatic. And completely gullible apparently. We began our tour with a man in a car yelling at us... scared the $#!% out of me! Once we started the tour, we learned a great deal about how Savannah is truly the most haunted place ever... NOT! The first story we heard was about a man who was on the river. Apparently, the man's hand was chopped off and trapped in a random door which overlooked the river. The man made it out alive; however, his hand continues to knock on the door, desperately trying to find it's master... OOOooooooo! I sorry... the man is alive but his hand is a ghost? That's totally legit...

As our tour continued, we learned that it is apparently possible for this to happen: two little girls grew up in a house where lots of parties were thrown. As kids they would throw a ball down the stairs of their home in order to see the party. They grew up and eventually left the house; however, sometimes people say they can still hear children playing ball when a party is being thrown there..... Again, how is it possible for a Ghost to show up when the kids moved out and were alive?

Let's just say there were more stories like this, and we believed none of them. Jason would like me to write about the very end of our tour, however. Unexpectedly, our tour guide told us to get out of the trolley at a random stop by the river. I was not happy. In fact, I told Jason I really really didn't want to do a tour unless I could be in a safe place with wheels or a horse attached. I don't do well with getting freaked out, and tours like this like taking cheap shots at people. Jerkfaces. Anyway... we went into this broken down building to hear a story. I went to the left. I've learned that most people go to their right when entering a store or a building. Therefore, I figured whatever was scary would be at the right... I went to the left and stood in a corner so I could see the room. Our tour guide enters and stands in the center of the room. She begins telling us of a story about a little girl who died at sea and was placed in a coffin. She then said her coffin was moved to this building. She then points directly at me and says "and there's the coffin!" Dammit!!! I specifically tried to avoid this! I turn around and right behind me is the coffin. I'm so glad they didn't have someone's hand come out of it and try and get me... jerks! Jason laughed a lot at me and I have no vowed never to return to a ghost tour again. Well... it's not over. After we finished the coffin story, our tour guide said we were going to the back room. I'm sorry... I know what happens in back rooms and I don't do that. "Back room" is code for the place you are going to die! Me, another girl, and a seven year old refused to go into the back room. My husband, the other girl's guy, and the little girl's parents convinced us to go. Dammit. We take a seat on random boxes in the room as our tour guide stands at the front. She says "Everyone comfy? Good..." Then she walks to the door and slams it shut with a loud bang! Then the lights go out and my first thought is "This is exactly why you do NOT EVER go into a "back room" willingly!! The little girl next to me screams and then cries for the remainder of the tour. I kept my eyes closed for the remainder of the story-telling. I don't like cheap scares. I have no clue what the scary story was... all I remember was there was an old hag, rain, and somehow Hagrid from Harry Potter showed up. Jason said I heard it wrong and he said "hag ridden." He's wrong. Hagrid was totally there. After the man that randomly showed up to tell us about Hags and a Hagrid finished, the lights went out and a loud bang occurred right behind me... I, of course, picked the seat with a surprise door right behind it... always carry a flashlight people! Lesson learned. Luckily the door was stuck and our tour guide couldn't scare me by jumping through it... she just made a bunch of noise.

Anyway... we finish the tour and go back to the hotel. Moral of the story: do not go in "back rooms," always have a flashlight, and never EVER stand by a coffin. Also... drinking may help when visiting Savannah. The end of day two.

Midnight in the garden of Drunkards and oddballs...

2011-12-22T07:13:00.000-08:00

October 9, 2011 was my one year wedding anniversary to the most amazing man I've ever known. The past year has been filled with many changes: both of us began new jobs/careers; we moved into a house, we've adjusted to waking up at 4:30 (5:30 for Jason); and, the most wonderful change of all, getting used to the fact that I get to come home to the man I love. It's been a very stressful year, but one that I wouldn't trade for anything. I've heard most people say that the first year is the hardest. If that's true... Jason and I are going to have a great life together. With all the changes, stress, and difficulty that occurred this year... In the midst of all the chaos, I knew Jason would be there. We rarely argued or fought. One of my favorite things about Jason is how he fights... quietly and with an open ear. This year has been a hard year, but not at all because we were adjusting to married life. I've never adjusted to anything easier. Of all the things I've ever been proud of, I take the most pride in knowing Jason and I have a very strong and loving marriage. I look forward to many years of laughing, quite fighting, sock races, fall days, weird accents, random songs, walks in the park, and candlelit dinners.

Having said all I loved about this past year, I would like to write how we celebrated our first year of marriage together. On October 7th, 2011 we planned to leave for Savannah, Ga to spend our anniversary at the Marriott Riverfront. The night before we left, we spent a great deal of time baking a cake to take with us. Jason's mom makes the best coconut cream cake I've ever had. Jason and I loved it so much, we asked his mom to bake it for our wedding cake. The first thing we ever bought for our wedding, was the cake topper. It was Linus holding his blue blanket and Sally kissing him on the cheek (Charlie brown characters, if you didn't know). Well, I left the cake topper at our apartment and we were unable to use it at our wedding. Therefore, Jason and I decided to bake our wedding cake and place Linus and Sally on it for our one year anniversary. Well... that was the plan anyway. Although we wrote out the recipe, followed the instructions, and baked it to the best of our ability... the cake still collapsed and tasted nothing like it did the day we were married. I'm still not quite sure what on earth we did to it. After realizing the cake wasn't going to come with us, we decided to just buy a cake once we arrived in Savannah. Unfortunately... I forgot Linus and Sally again. For someone who loves Charlie Brown as much as I do, I certainly have a hard time remembering the Charlie Brown cake topper. Oh well!

How could I forget something this cute? I don't know. Oh well, moving on...

The next morning, October 7th, we left for Savannah. As we traveled, we listened to Beirut and 90s music. Amazingly, Jason had his Ipod and the same playlist he made for our wedding. We also had a bit of entertainment on the way there.... here are two picture that caused a great deal of laughter.

I'm sorry... what kind of company calls themselves that?!? This one...

Never bored on road trips! Not with things like this near us :^) Hours later, after we stopped at Quiznos for lunch and drove many miles later, we arrived in Savannah. We knew immediately that this was going to be a very interesting place. As we were driving into downtown Savannah, we noticed a young man on a bike. "On" a bike... not riding a bike. I don't think there are any words to describe this guy. He rolled past our car, slammed sideways into a bus, pushed himself off and continued rolling. We never actually saw the guy try to use the bike pedals. It was as though he only knew how to make the bike go by pushing it off of something he eventually would crash into. Gee! It was as though a grown man was trying to learn how to ride a bike without training wheels for the first time. He would have been a lot wiser to have learned in a deserted area instead of in the middle of a busy intersection!

Once having weaved in and out of traffic for a while, we made it to our hotel. The hotel was lovely! Right on the river and within walking distance of almost everything. We checked in and went up to our room and unpacked a little. If you were to look out our room's window, you would see the hotel lobby, the swimming pool, and all the balconies of everyone else's rooms. Jason and I began looking around and noticed something very strange. On the same floor, directly across from us were two or three rooms completely covered in white tarps/plastic. I don't know about anyone else, but my first thought was... does Dexter stay in Marriott hotels often? Very creepy. After seeing that, we decided to leave the hotel and explore the streets of Savannah a little. As we were leaving the room, a man all in black with a headset and wires running down his shirt came swiftly into view. He walked very quickly and headed to the side of the hotel with all the plastic... hmm. Jason said he thinks they were just remodeling and that guy was just a regular employee picking up room service or doing maintenance... I still suspect Dexter was in town.

Here are a few pictures from different places we explored for a few hours that day. It truly is a very beautiful place.

After a few hours of walking, we decided to get dinner. We stumbled across Moon River Brewing Company and decided to try it out. They had really good hamburgers and, according to Jason, good beer. Speaking of beer... Jason and I have many weird, unforgettable stories from Savannah and I attribute most of that to the beer-drinking citizens. While walking around, Jason and I heard a very loud woman screaming, "There's beer over here!!! Beer over here!!" I don't think she needed any more beer, to be honest. On the same street to the left, we saw another intoxicated woman. She apparently had so much to drink that she decided she couldn't walk any more... she slowly began to sink toward the sidewalk floor. Luckily, her friends (also drunk) saw her and picked her up before she fully sat down on the busy sidewalk. Oh boy! A few streets up, we saw a man in a wheelchair pushing himself with his feet up the sidewalk... did I mention he pushed himself backwards up the sidewalk? Really man! What happened there? As we quickly moved away from all these fun people, we turned a corner to see a woman coming out of bank with a giant, round, cloth bag in one hand. I mean... if you were to draw a "$" symbol on it, it would have looked just like a cartoon money bag. Can you say "Rob me please!" All of this happened in about five minutes, by the way.

As we walked through Savannah, we finally arrived at the cemetery. Jason and I love cemeteries. We love how historical they are. I also love seeing the old dates and names of people from the past. Not to mention, cemeteries are usually very quite and peaceful . . . also, not a lot of loud, drunk people. We began wandering around the cemetery and came across a small family. We heard the man say the gate of the cemetery was locked. We began listening to them and realized that we might actually be locked inside the cemetery. Immediately we began looking at the exits... sure enough, almost every gate was locked. We told the family where we entered and then all of us headed that way. Thank goodness we checked... it was the only door open. We were not locked in! How creepy would that have been... and it wouldn't have been long before it was dark out, too. After a while, we decided to head back to the hotel and get some sleep. We hoped tomorrow would be free of drunk people and random Dexter-like scenes.

The Sock Racing Extravaganza

2010-12-07T20:28:00.000-08:00

December 7th, 2010

Since Thanksgiving, Jason and I have been super busy! The Friday after Thanksgiving we had an amazing date night! We went to the movies and saw the 7th Harry Potter film! Jason has never seem any of them in a movie theater . . . it was spectacular!! We are currently reading the 5th book together and can't wait to finish it!! It's getting so interesting and Jason has never read anything past this... can't wait to see what he thinks about the ending.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, we drove down to see my family for our annual "get your Christmas tree while going on a hayride and getting hot apple sider" day... we need to work on the title for that...? This was the first year I have ever bought my own tree, and it is extra special because I get to do it with Jason!! We picked the perfect size tree... just slightly taller than me. My parents ended up buying two trees... one for inside and one for the deck. They, of course, are gynormous and beautiful. We had our hot apple sider (after the hayride... Jason learned not to do that before... it spills). We then all went to Partners Pizza, which was scrumptious. Amazingly enough... Jason and I were actually able to fit our entire tree in my tiny car. (P.S. an entire tree is waaaaay better than one of those little fake tree air fresheners... although, slightly more inconvenient.) We took it home and put it up... it was leaning for quite a long time until we were able to buy sand. It is now completely, somewhat, straight and has a beautiful silver star and one ornament on it. Our cats really love the tree... they keep batting at the bottom of it and drinking it's water. They haven't knocked it over yet, so, that's a good sign.

The week after Thanksgiving must not have been too eventful because we can't recall most of it... we remember we cleaned up a lot and worked a lot. I guess that's about it. We received our beautiful wedding pictures!!! So excited about that :^) They are unbelievably wonderful and amazing. I'm so thankful for all our photographers did. Now I just need to print them and frame them.

Our family night group exchanged names for Christmas gifts. Jason and I got Lisa and Daniel. We're both super excited about their gifts. Travis and Anna had our names. They got Jason a gift card to radio shack (perfect!) and I received a truly lovely wine decanter and goblets. They gave amazing gifts. Last Saturday we went with the family night group to go get everyone else's tree at Minter's farm (the place we got ours). I went last year with Lisa and Daniel, but no one else went. Everyone got great trees and had fun hanging out at Popeyes.

Best part of my week: Jason and I had a sock sliding contest in our kitchen. I so SO won! He didn't, no matter what he says. Our cats thought us very strange and kept watching us running back and forth. I think they think we're crazy.

Best thing I've purchased: Alfred the penguin. Possibly the most amazing cookie jar I have ever seem. Jason and I picked it out together while Christmas shopping.

I just want to say to Jason that I really love you and I have enjoyed decorating and preparing for Christmas with you in our home. There is no one else I'd rather share life with. I love you Jerkface.

Thunder Turkey Overload!!!!

2010-11-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

November 25th, 2010

Today was obviously Thanksgiving. Jason, Jordan, and I slept in all morning and finally awoke and made breakfasts. We were out of milk... so, no pancakes. We decided on biscuits. Very scrumptious. On a side note: Last night we all had trouble going to sleep. We were all wide awake and in a very laughing mood. At one point I said to Jason "Thanks Cupcake." I've never called him cupcake before, but I thought it would be funny. He responded with.... "Biscuit." Uh...? I began to laugh and asked him what kind of nickname is "biscuit." Apparently Jason thought I was just randomly naming food items.... Only Jason would not find that odd and would actually begin naming food items as well. :^) This is why I love him. I informed him later that "cupcake" is a nickname whereas "Biscuit" is a breakfast. He has been calling me "biscuit" all day!

After breakfast and showering we headed to Gwinnett for Thanksgiving at Pam and Jerry's. It was scrumptious and very good to see them again. We always have a good time at their house. They gave me a wonderful apron! It is Christmas themed, which is great! Once we left we decided we need to try and see them more. We've enjoyed their company so much this past week!! It'll be great to see them more.

In Pam, Jerry, and Jordan's new driveway

The view on the way to my parent's place.

We headed to Newnan to then have Thanksgiving day dinner at my parent's home. It was delicious! We were already full but couldn't help eating more. My mom, being an amazing Costco shopper bought three... yeah, three... ginormous pies for desert! Yummm. We all reminisced about old times as kids. I brought up a book I had read at school called "Thunder Cake." Everyone immediately looked at me like I was crazy. . . I tried like four times to tell them I was serious and that I didn't make the book up. No one believed me. They all just kept joking about how adding the word "thunder" makes anything sound awesome. Jason, being so freaking amazing, actually looked the book up and found it on his iphone while they laughed at me!!! It's real and I could show them a picture! (P.S. about how you have to bake a cake during a thunderstorm... good book.)

Us eating...

Mom's three kids with her three pies. :^) This is why we love her

Normal...

Strange...

Us women people

No need to explain.

Yes!!!!

:^)

Anyway, Thanksgiving was wonderful and I really enjoyed it! Tomorrow I am looking forward to date night with Jason! We are going to see Harry Potter :^) So excited! We've been planning to see it for a long time.

Things I, DaNae Brown, am thankful for:
Amazing family
For now belonging to Jason's family too!
For my loving, crazy, intelligent, and stunningly handsome husband who always makes me laugh
Fun nephews :^)
Loving friends
Our home that is safe and cozy
For Charlie Brown
Yummy food
Fluffy, smelly, playful animals
Jobs and income
For all the amazing love and laughter the people in my life have given me!
Harry Potter

Day Before Thanksgiving!

2010-11-24T21:48:00.001-08:00

November 24th, 2010

Our Thanksgiving began almost an entire week before actual Thanksgiving. Last Friday we had our family night group over at our home for a get together. I made the turkey and everyone else brought casseroles and pumpkin pie. It was super good. Jason and I had bought a 16 lb turkey and took it out the Wednesday before to thaw. . . yeah, it didn't work. Frozen solid. We had already unwrapped it on Thursday night to brine it. We put it in cold water overnight, hopping it would unfreeze quickly. It didn't. What we forgot is that water could get in the center of the frozen turkey and create a massive frozen ball. Yeah... luckily four hours before everyone came over it had unfrozen. No time to brine, we bought an injector thing and put the brine in that way. It worked just as well and was a lot less trouble that way! We're doing that from now on. Anyway... amazing food! We also picked names for secret santa... I'm pretty sure I know who got who cause I like to guess and I think I'm right :^) I'm excited.

Family night group!

Amazing "rolled in the grass" turkey of ours :^) It is on the plate my in-laws gave us... same one they used for our wedding cake :^)

Our second weird picture :^) This is the first time I noticed we always take a weird photo the second go around (most people just take another photo in case the first one wasn't good...) :^)

Our cute kitties

On Saturday we slept in for a very very long time... it was glorious! We went shopping for food for the week and looked for Christmas presents for people. Super excited about the presents we bought for everyone! On Sunday we met Travis and Anna for lunch at pizza hut. Super yummy and relaxing! Afterward we went to Ross and other stores. We then left for Newnan to meet Kristin and Jeff for dinner! It was soooo good to see them. I wish it had been under better circumstances for them, but I am glad we were able to hang out with them. They are amazing people and a lot of fun to hang out with. P.S. dynasty in Newnan = holy hell amazing!

Monday and Tuesday were pretty relaxing. Jason and I both worked and just sort of watched TV, read Harry Potter, and cleaned. Today is Wed... Jason had the day off and spent it cooking and cleaning for tonight. I went to work and then came home to help cooking. We were having "left over thanksgiving day pizza" with our parents and in-laws and Jordan! It was so much fun :^) Jason is an amazing cook. I'm so happy our families get along so well. It's nice to just be able to sit and talk for hours and know that everyone in our families love each other and get along. We are very lucky and so thankful for all of them. After they left, we kidnapped Jordan :^) He's spending the night with us. Popcorn was made and we watched a movie about a dog. He's lots of fun. Now it's time for sleep and a wonderful thanksgiving tomorrow :^) I'm very thankful for my husband and our loving families. :^)

Ohh yeah... it's that good!

Left over thanksgiving day pizza (the day before thanksgiving...)

Amazing weirdo

Yummmmm!

No one knows...

:^)

The red heads and blondes :^)

Hide and Seek

2010-11-17T19:26:00.000-08:00

November 17th, 2010

Last we wrote, Jason had been sick. Well, that next week I became sick. I missed two days of work. They actually called me that last day to see if I could come in, even though I called out. I did. I took two steps in and heard "Ohh... she's still sick." They sent me home immediately . . . I told them. Now however, Jason and I are both better. Jason took amazing care of me and even gave me the correct bottle of mucinex . . . I was taking Benadryl every four hours instead. . . oops.

Jason and I, I believe two Saturdays ago, went with Lisa, Daniel, and Anna to their hometown in Madison. They were having a cotton gin festival. First time I ever had funnel cakes. While we were there, Jeff Morgan (a close friend and our ministainer) sent me a picture text that said "yay snow!" I sent a picture of a cemetery back to him. He asked why we were at a cemetery; if we were at a funeral. I sent back "Parade actually." :^) His response was basically telling us how weird we are and that's why he loves us...or something like that. Only Jason and I could go to a cemetery because there was a parade there and it make total sense. After the parade we then went to visit Lisa and Anna's parents. They were awesome! They own all these amazing animals...ducks, cats, dogs, a donkey, a horse, and some dinosaur-like creature. They were very kind to us and entertained us with fun stories. They also cooked amazing spaghetti. I hope we can go visit them again soon. They were lovely.

Last Saturday we went to my parent's house to have dinner with them for my sister's birthday! It was amazing!! They are all so fun to be with. We had cube steaks and had fun running around with Jace and Jordyn. It was good to see Ashley and give her our present too. We were super excited about it. We gave her two flash drives with a season of dexter on it, which she hasn't seen yet. We were worried for a while she wouldn't be able to get the gift because our cats were playing hide and seek with them!! We woke up one morning and found one missing. We search for literally three hours until we took a break and went to check the mail. While gone I said "wouldn't it be awesome if the cats realized how mad we were and decided to put it back for us." Well, they must have heard me and decided to prove me wrong... We immediately looked at the table when we returned. Apparently, us going to check the mail gave them the perfect amount of time to capture and hide the last jump drive!!! Both were missing! After searching even more (and discovering secret compartments in our couch), we finally found them. One was under the fridge, the other under a bookshelf. We then hid them from the cats in the secret compartment of our couch we happened upon. They are evil kittens.

The next day (Sunday), we were able to visit my new, amazing in-laws at their new home. They cooked a wonderful dinner for all of us and showed us the new home. It's beautiful! We were able to give them the gifts we bought while on our honeymoon. We accidentally left Tiffany's gift at home! We'll give it to her soon. We were able to let them know a little about Salem and tell fun stories. They then gave us an great wedding present!! They've already done so much for us and for our wedding... I was so surprised when they gave us another gift . . . it is a stainless steal cooking set! I couldn't believe it. That was one of the most useful gifts we could have ever gotten. I really couldn't ask for better in-laws... not just because of the gift. They have always been so welcoming to me and so fun to hang out with. It's awesome to have a new nephew who is very entertaining and a very sweet sister-in-law. I love it!

Yesterday was an extremely busy day. I was able to hang out with my mom all day and run errands. We met my dad for lunch at cracker barrel, which was so nice! I also was able to see my brother a little... I may or may not have changed his status. Something having to do with loving the teletubbies . . . I didn't say that.

As of yesterday at around lunch time, I officially changed my name and am now Sharlot DaNae Brown. The process to change my name is a good enough reason to never get divorce... I never want to do that again. Also, Jason is kinda nice. Side note: Sharlot is just another way to spell Charlotte. The nickname for Charlotte is Charlie... therefore, I am now Charlie Brown! My life is complete.

Jason at the very moment is cooking... not food, but a circuit board. Why... it's Jason. He does these things. He also has been creating a personal library database... it's actually pretty cool and can be extremely useful. On top of that... he is also working on another project. He bought a wood carving kit and is making a wax seal. It's basically a stamp for when you melt wax on an envelop. He made the triforce symbol as the stamp. He actually wrote me a letter that reads "I love you very much, I am glad we are finally married!" He folded it up, poured wax on it, and stamped it with the kit he bought on our honeymoon. It was really sweet. I love him very much and have to agree.

Jason and I have been reading Harry Potter together. We finished the fourth book and are now on the fifth. I really love reading with him. I think it's a good thing for us . . . we always end up laughing at each other and making fun faces with the story and whatnot. He's really funny and always entertaining. I think I've run out of things to say now. Yeah, I have. Goodnight. I hope no one else has to play hide and seek with their animals... it's not fun. Goodnight.

Sick Ghouls and Fixed Kitties

2010-10-30T09:49:00.000-07:00

October 30th, 2010

Our fall day with the family night group happened a week and a day ago. I cooked grilled cheese while Jason cooked his amazing tomato and basil soup! He is a really amazing cook. After eating, Anna asked us about our honeymoon so we were able to tell a few stories about that and show them the finished scrapbook I made Jason. We then carved pumpkins! Our pumpkin was going to be Jack Skellington but ended up being a cat... it would have taken too long unfortunately. Holly and Bella carved their first pumpkin. By the end of the night we finished baking and decorating our sugar cookies. They were scrumptiously fantastic.

2010 carving pumpkins

Bella's first pumpkin carving experience

All pumpkins finished

Ours is the cat :^)

This is why I love them... they are as weird as us!

Us with our pumpkins

Side note: we always take a nice picture and, without talking about it, we immediately take a messed up one.

Melanie and Anna's finished pumpkins!

No one knows....

My cookie... oddly enough... it's not in jail this time.

Fun fact: I did not take a bite out of his cookie... although it looks like it.

On Saturday we met Kyle and his friends at Red Lobster to celebrate him becoming an MIS (master's degree). Really fun! I was really glad we were able to go. It was a very nice group of people... all of us pretty quiet, but that made it pretty interesting.

On Sunday we went to church and then met Audrey at Jason's Deli. She then came back to our home and watched a movie with us and talked for a long time. I really enjoyed having her over! We learned that if we keep our cats hostage in the bathroom, Audrey is able to stay without a horrible horrible allergic reaction. Thank goodness otherwise she wouldn't have been able to help us eat our pumpkin stew! It was yummy. I was really glad she came over. I'm also glad I can get the chance to know her a little more.

On Monday, Jason and I headed back to work. Life as normal. We went to Party City and kept trying to come up with costumes for the Halloween party today. We've been working on it all week. Jason got stuff for it a couple of days ago... he was to be a zombie. Sadly, today however, he is sick. We were both up all night and aren't going to be able to go. We've been working on the costumes for so long, too. Hopefully Jason will feel better... he was out of work a lot last week from this. I'm exhausted as well... every night or morning this week I have been unable to get a full night's rest. My favorite time my sleep was interrupted: when our neighbors stood right in front of our bedroom door screaming at each other.... literally screaming at the top of his lungs! To make it better, it was 2:30 in the morning. The cops ended up being called on him because he woke so many people up. We learned a lot about him and how his wife was cheating on him with another woman... that was interested. Oh man.

Peanut Butter was fixed yesterday! My mom offered to take him when she took hers. He is doing great and is sleeping better than we are. We had a lovely time last night with my family also! I went to Ash's soap party. It was fantastic! She made the coolest stuff and it was all soooo good. The soaps are amazing! While I did that, Jason and Chris were at our place in College Park. They watched zombie movies and drank beer... apparently they had a good time. I'm really glad my family and Jason love each other!

Other than that, I think that's been about it this week. We've been busy and tired and sick. Hopefully this coming week will be restful, sick-free, and a lot less to do.

Back to Reality

2010-10-21T20:35:00.000-07:00

October 21, 2010

Happy birthday to our friend Jeff today! And happy birthday to our friend Nikki a few days earlier! Both our best man and maid of honor have birthdays during the same week... October is a beautiful month :^) We love you both dearly.

Well, we have returned to the real world now. We are enjoying married life in the real world just as much as we did in Salem. A little less witchcraft and magic, but Jason and I always have fun when we're together. On Monday Jason returned to work, and I cleaned and did the laundry and other mundane tasks. Life went back to normal. It was nice to be home, see our loved ones, and go back to our regular routine. One of our favorite things to do together is have breakfast before work. We both get up and cook a good meal (toaster strudel) and talk a little before work. This week we decided to get Count Chocula for breakfast... apparently this is a tradition for Jason. He eats it every time it comes out during the year. I, however, have never eaten it. Got me why... it's amazing! This coming week we will be having Boo-berry. (Almost spelled that boobery... that sounds odd).

After crashing a baby shower at my parent's home, we gave them their gifts. We got my brother, sister, and brother-in-law certifications that they sign the document, they will be witches/warlocks. They all seemed excited. It was good to see all of them. I love my family so much.

On Monday we bought Halloween decorations and had our own, private fall day extravaganza. It was lovely. We bought cob webs, spiders, lights, and pumpkins to decorate. We then made homemade chicken pot pie and decorated cookies in the shape of pumpkins. We also watched arsenic and old lace... tradition. Plus it's awesome. I love our fall day dates.

Putting up decorations that were awesome!

Result of amazing decorating skills

Our weird fall day picture

Jason molding cookies

Thriller!!!

The Cinderella pumpkin from our wedding... so beautiful.

Jason decorating his cookies...

"How many leg do a spider have? How many leg, how many leg?" We make up weird songs

His one leg spider/ balloon cookie

My normal cookie :^)

Tuesday was rather uneventful. The end of tuesday.

Wednesday we left work and immediately went to see Ash, Chris, Jordyn, and Jace. We had an amazing time! Jason and Chris are soul mates... I stole that from Ashley. It's true though. We had amazing pork chops... I've never eaten one before, believe it or not. Delicious! We played games with the kids and stayed rather late talking to Ash and Chris... we always stay later than expected. We keep talking and just forget time... I love that!

Today we cleaned and went shopping. That's about it. Jason did a lot of cleaning and let me relax... he's amazing like that. Our cats are farting, fighting, and flat out annoying today. Peanuts has been eating bean soup... that should go over well....... his farts are sooooooooo bad!!! The bean soup didn't help. Fred is fred... sneaking into places and acting weird. Peanut butter knows he can't go into the office... however, there is a giant Charlie Brown balloon from our wedding that he really loves. So, peanuts quickly ran into the office, grabbed the string from the balloon in his mouth, and casually walked to the bathroom with it. It was rather cute, albeit annoying, to see this cat strolling along the hall with that balloon. Jason said it reminded him of a little kid holding a balloon and happily walking down the street. Our cats are crazy. I think it's time for bed. Until next week.

All Aboard The Hogwarts Express

2010-10-17T19:20:00.001-07:00

Today is the day we said goodbye to Salem, MA. Hello real world. It was nice to come home but sad at the same time. We both had such a good vacation and really enjoyed not having to worry about absolutely anything. Oh well, can't stay on vacation forever.

We set our alarms for 6:45 a.m. That's right... that early! We quickly got dressed and called a cab... or taxi, as they say in Salem. We somehow managed to fit every single piece of dirty clothes into my suitcase and left the clean clothes in Jason's. I was amazed how giant my suitcase quickly became... it continually toppled over onto our way down to the taxi. We were running a bit late--being 7 in the morning! Luckily our taxi driver had to "go to the can." This helped us, since we had to check out of the hotel still. The same, raspy-voiced man who checked us into the hotel was the one who checked us out. He was very pleasant and had been working all week... not quite sure he ever leaves that place... he works so much. To the front desk clerks, we had become known as the "honeymoon couple." Every time we passed by the front desk they'd ask how the vacation was going and occasionally they would tell random strangers that we were on our honeymoon... they seemed very excited for us :^)

Anyway... we said goodbye and met our taxi driver. He was a very jolly man with three kids, one now living in GA. He asked how we liked Salem, and we told him it was awesome. I also mentioned how it looked like people from Salem, however, did not like it as much as tourists. He paused, then finally said "yeah, no." He told us he was going to lie, but then changed his mind and decided to be honest. Too much traffic, tourists, and trouble.

After we said goodbye to our taxi drive, we headed for the airport. Coming from the Atlanta airport into Logan is completely different... Atlanta needs a train because it's so big. Logan, however, could fit inside a shoe box. Very different. We quickly went through security and made it safely onto our seats. I feel asleep on the way home while Jason did a crossword puzzle. Our flight attendants were extremely rude. They basically yelled at a passenger for trying to go to the bathroom. She looked scared to try again... Jerkfaces.

We finally landed and Jamie picked us up from the airport. It was good to see him. We unloaded our stuff at our apartment and said hi to the kitties... missed our cats so much!! Jamie took really good care of them and our place. We both are super thankful for him! After having a really amazing lunch with Jamie at the Tavern, we headed to Newnan. We accidentally crashed a baby shower at my mom's house... oops. Chrissy didn't seem to mind. I got to see some old friends and say hi to family. Jason and I gave my mom, dad, and brother gifts. We gave my parents a cast iron spiral candle holder thing... apparently around the 1600s fathers would have a candle holder like that one on their mantel. Because it was a spiral the candle could be moved up or down. Father's would use this candle to indicate if he wanted his daughter's suitor to leave (because he didn't like him) or stay longer. We thought this an appropriate gift, given that we just got married... they can keep it at the top cause Jason's not going anywhere :^)

After saying hi to family and telling fun stories of Salem, we finally headed home. Real life immediately began. We had no clean clothes and needed to buy food for the week. Luckily my amazing brother baked us tons of stuff and left us lots of food! He's amazing. We then watched the movie "the Raven." Very boring movie... don't recommend it.

Now, real life with Jason. We're both too weird for us to "go back to normal." Back to our crazy, weird, and very fun life together. I'm very thankful for such a weird and crazy individual around :^)

Blogs from here on out will not be this long or every day... I promise.

End of honeymoon.

Harry Potter in Salem, MA

2010-10-16T18:52:00.000-07:00

Today is our last, full day on our honeymoon. Very sad realization, but a very wonderful day. We both woke up very early to eat breakfast at the hotel. We have tried to do this on a few occasions, but we usually oversleep. Funny because today they had breakfast open later than usual... that is our luck. Although very scrumptious, it was highly overpriced! Never eat at the Marriot for breakfast... hash browns are delicious though.

After breakfast we took a nap to replace the sleep we should have gotten, had we known that breakfast lasted later. We then spend time watch TV. We watched the discovery channel (Jason's fault). It actually was pretty interested. The TV show was called "super swarms." It was basically about insects, fish, and creatures that gather in large groups and form a larger identity as a whole. Very interested... and we discovered what a particularly ugly fly is that we've seen around our apartment. It's super gross, but now we know that all it does is reproduce and die. Anyway...

After a little relaxing, we headed over to the mall to begin shopping and grabbing food at Dunkin donuts. Scrumptious pumpkin donuts! We also visited target a few times today and went to the dollar tree. All in all, a pretty normal day for us at the mall again. On our way out of the mall, we ran into a teenager wearing a zelda hat... I feel we could relate. Also, while crossing the street to go to our hotel, we saw a man in Pajama's riding a bicycle. We've seen him on a few occasions... he seems perfectly happen and content to be riding his bike in the freezing cold in PJs.

When Jason and I are at home, we usually run into people who hang around stores all day. Usually we try to avoid these people because there are so many suspicious individuals where we live. However, during our walk over to Kelley's for dinner, we realized that this entire week... we have been those suspicious individuals hanging around stores. Perhaps all those people in east point are simply on their honeymoon and are too young to rent a car too?? . . . . Somehow I think not.

Kelley's was a very interesting place to eat. It reminded us of a northern Varsity, except way not as good or greasy. Jason and I looked oddly suspicious as we appeared from behind a row of trees to enter the restaurant... again, we had to walk there. The people in the drive through looked a little bewildered as we appeared from nowhere. We then headed back to the hotel room for the night.

Jason and I spend the second half of our day mainly reading the fourth Harry Potter book together. Jason has seen the movies but only read the first three books. This is of course a crime, so we are fixing it :^) We have been reading it to each other for a month or so now and are finally half way into the book. Reading Harry Potter in Salem, Ma around Halloween is probably the best way to read this book.

After finishing reading some of Harry Potter, we realized we should probably check our plane tickets to make sure we had the times correct. Of course, I didn't have the time correct! I forgot that they changed our flight from leaving at 11 a.m. to leaving at 8:30 a.m.!!! Yikes! Jason has already begun packing his things and I am about to as well. Way too early to leave!!! Anyway, it will be sad to go, but also nice to be back home with a drivable car with people we love. This has been a really wonderful honeymoon. I am very lucky to have met someone as weird and amazing as Jason. Don't tell him I said that...

A Raven and a Writing Desk

2010-10-15T18:11:00.001-07:00

October 15th, 2010

Today was really really amazing! I think this was my favorite day here in Salem. Jason concurs. Also, before I explain why, I would like to correct one thing from one of our first blog posts... Jason and I did not wondered about the mall. My sister so lovingly pointed that out. To quote: "you 'wonder' about the mall. I can't get rid of the image in my head of you and Jason, side by side, pondering the mall. =)" Also, Jason and also corrected me because it's apparently "wandering" about the mall.... so, so so sorry. Please forgive my foolish speech.

Reasons today was awesome:

Reason #1) Slept in late. This isn't as awesome as it should have been... the man in the room above us decided that last night it was necessary to stomp as loudly as possible, going from one end of the room to the other. He did this at 5 a.m., by the way. What a Jerkface... to say it a little more nicely than Jason did... luckily, we were able to sleep in. Therefore, this is a reason today was awesome, not bad.

Reason #2) Breakfast was Subway. The reason it was subway was because we slept in late and missed breakfast. Still delicious. I have come to love the food court because we can go to the same place everyday and continually eat different things. Also, would like to note that the walk to the mall and back was very chilly, as it had rained the night before... we had missed the rain. Another point for a good day!

Reason #3) Our taxi driver into Salem was freaking awesome. I call him the "let's get it on taxi driver." This sounds a lot worse than it is meant to... the reason he is called this is because that's the type of music he was playing the entire way up there. He also spoke to us about how crazy Salem gets around Halloween. Apparently the roads surrounding Salem get blocked off. They do this to fit in the 75-100 thousand people who come!! Another point for us for coming weeks ahead. Very interesting driver... my favorite part was when said that it's best to put your drinks in McDonalds cups so no one can see you are drinking beer or liquor. Also... interesting note here from the taxi man... apparently after 11 on Halloween night, if you are seen after the fireworks in Salem they will, to quote, "throw you in the can." Apparently this helps with crime.

Reason #4) We saved walking time by being dropped off at the House of Seven Gables. This was by far our favorite thing we have seen in Salem. It was freaking awesome!!! Our tour guide, named Travis, was hilarious. He was a darked haired, curly mustached man. When I mean curly, I mean like the cartoon of the evil man who curls his mustache. Jason is laughing at me because that apparently isn't specific enough... I can't remember the guys name. Please feel free to tell us his name. Jaffar? Is that right? Jason is telling me to google it, but I chose not to. Jason just swore at me... he did it again! Gr

Reason #5) The House of the Seven Gables has secret compartments we were able to climb through!! That's right... actually had a hidden staircase! The tour guide opened up a door and told us a big lie about the room being a place to store firewood. At the end he goes "that's amazing, especially since I just made all that up." Then he told us the real reason the room is there, is the staircase. We climbed up with numerous older people in front of us. You had to turn sideways at multiple points to even fit between the stairs and the walls. The reason it was so tight of a fit was because we were climbing up the inside of a chimney ... how cool is that! We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside, so we can't show you... sorry. It was super lovely and awesome! A lot of the wood was original to the house, as well as the brick and horse-hair plaster insulation. That sounds weird, but true. Also, the ceilings were super low in order to hold in head more efficiently... really worked. As the house was added onto by newer and richer owners (except for the third man who wasted the entire family inheritance), the ceilings were build higher up. Kinda neat... the wallpaper also became more ornate and, to be honest, just throw up ugly. Anyway...It was the coolest place we've been to.

Reason #6) Jason broke into a cabinet at the Counting House beside the house Hawthorne grew up in. I'd like to note that they moved the house there from ten blocks away... with a truck, no less! Jason broke into that cabinet for no reason, for there was nothing in it... hahahaha. He calls it urban exploring... weird. Also, we were able to go into Hawthorne's childhood home. Very cool. They brought his bed, couches, and writing desks, among other things. Very neat place. I kept saying we needed to take the writing desk with us... Jason agreed. Only problem we ran into was that the plane probably wouldn't have let us take it on board. Jerks.

Reason #7) We bought things. Jason bought a shot glass and a sealing wax kit. The kit is awesome. Picture soon to follow. I bought two candlestick holders... glass blown, from the House of Seven Gables. really cool stuff.

Reason #8) We bought a wand! That's right, a wand from Alivan's... kinda a rip of Olivander's. It came with a wand bag and a certificate of authenticity. They were in a case, so we asked to see one of them. I felt very strange afterward... she handed me a wand and I just held it. How do you test a wand? I had a moment where I thought I was suppose to flick it and wait for the harry potter moment of knowing... I chose instead to simply say "how much?" She seemed satisfied. Tonight, however, Jason has attempted to do "expelliarmus" with the wand. To all of our surprise... it didn't work.

Reason #9) Actually saw a women today, buy a spell (i.e. a bag of incense). The reason this is awesome was because the sales lady sold it to her for $30... she pulled this off because she told her it was a tried and true spell that has been used for twenty five or thirty years.... good sales lady.

Reason #10) Jason and I went back to the Old Burying Point to see if we could get a "cold chill" from the ghost of the young girl. The tour guide said many people get chills near the back, right hand corner of the cemetery. Jason and I walked there, and in fact... we did get a cold chill!!!! The wind was blowing... anyone would have. :^)

Reason 11) When we called a cab to take us back to the hotel... it was the same cab driver that took us to Salem our very first day! This is the cab driver who has trouble with his dogs. We found out today, however, it isn't just his dogs... he has animal problems in general. I say this because the cab ride back he spoke of a snake that has gotten into their basement. Poor guy. He also told us about picking a kid up who turned out to be a runaway from the Plummer House in Winter Island. Kid was trying to return to his mom. Sad story. Nice cab driver.

Reason 12) Dinner was McDonalds. Jason got a free McFlurry and I got a free Medium fry... thank you McDonalds monopoly. Awesome!

All in all... great day!

This is a picture of the House of Seven Gables. Very cool.

The picture on the bottom is from the House of Seven Gables as well... while shotting photos we believe we've got a ghost on film... this explains why the woman from the top photo has disappeared.... oh my!!! We didn't take any shots in between... they were taken one right after the other... crazy what happens in Salem!

This is the cabinet Jason broke into for nothing... wahahahahaha.

random ship wheel outside the home of Hawthorne

View from the house of the seven gables.

Jason in front of the House of Seven Gables... they like pumpkins here.

Us in the Garden of the House of Seven Gable

Random patch of grass that had this sign next to a street we passed.

This is the spot in the cemetery where the tour guide said numerous people felt cold chills... like to point out that the bay is right behind that wall... it's usually windy.

Someplace in the mall...

My new amber, glass blown candlestick holders!

Jason's shot glass :^)

Our wand from Alivan's

Jason's new sealing wax kit from the House of Seven Gables!

p.s. Something I forgot.... while in the shop where we purchased these items, Jason was made fun of quite a bit. Reason being: He and I separated at one point while looking at different things. He walked up to me and then put his hands on my back to greet me very affectionately... at least, the back he thought was mine :^) I was right next to the blonde woman he did this to and immediately heard "Oh! I'm so sorry, I thought you were my wife." I laughed a lot and then he came and hugged me. She said "At least you have a good guy." It was hilarious, especially because he did the same thing to my sister when we entered a restaurant at our graduation.

Catfish in the Massachusetts Bay

2010-10-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

October 14th, 2010

Today was our day to recover from walking around Salem so much. We literally slept about fourteen hours. After waking up we watched some TV and had our $6.00 chocolate covered cherries, which we had bought the day before. Later on we walked over to the mall and ate Chinese food. It was scrumptious. We then got in a photo booth to take pictures of us. We made funny faces and whatnot... very fun. We then walked around in the 5 Below store... we, of course, bought nothing. Jason and I are super good at browsing but not actually buying... don't know why we do that so much. We then went to this amazing Halloween store. We again, browsed, and bought nothing. Super cool zombie that was on the ground. It would crawl out and move toward you when you passed by it... very creepy. We then went to target, bought food and candy and then headed back to the hotel. We uploaded some pictures, which can now be seen on our old blog posts. We relaxed until it was time to go see a movie. While crossing the street to go to the movie, I dropped my phone in the middle of the street . . . with a car coming, no less! I panicked and didn't move. Jason began swearing and quickly grabbed the phone before something really bad happened to it. It took a couple seconds because my phone fell apart into three pieces. All is well, I have a whole, functional phone now. Thank you Jason! We then walked to the mall to watch "Catfish." All I can say about that movie is "Odd and very strange." Jamie recommended it to us. It's about this man's relationship with a family he met via facebook. He soon discovers things aren't exactly how they seem. The whole movie is a documentary and apparently a true story. Although psychologically fascinating, it was too weird for me to watch again. Interesting, but odd.

After the movie Jason and I walked across the street to a restaurant called 99. It was a really nice place that gave you 99 reasons to eat there once you walked in. One of those reasons being "everyone can have their own personal coat rack at their table." Very cool place. Their food was super salty, we think because they use sea salt. Pretty good though. After dinner we walked back to the hotel in the freezing cold (not really that bad). The guy at the front desk asked us where we were from. When we said Atlanta he began talking about sports with us. He obviously doesn't know us that well, for neither of us like or get sports. Needless to say, the conversation lasted for only a short while. This is the end of our lovely, relaxing day in Danvers.

These were our $6.00 cherries... way overpriced and not that amazing, I might add. However, they did give us paper towels for Jason to wipe of soap with from the day before.

our pictures from the photo booth... we're weird, I know.

Ghosts and Trolley's

2010-10-13T21:43:00.000-07:00

October 13th, 2010

Today was extremely eventful. We awoke and ate breakfast at dunkin donuts again... amazing pumpkin donuts, by the way. We then called a taxi to go into Salem. This taxi driver was very interested in the news. We talked mostly about people dying and sad things you hear on the news. Once he dropped off at the Old Town Hall, we headed to a witch shop Jason and had seen to buy trinkets to take home. We wondered around for quite a while until we realized we would miss our trolley ride if we didn't head back. We soon found the trolley people on Essex St. We bought tickets and waited in line for the trolley. We ended up having to wait for the second trolley, as everyone pushed us out of the way for the first one... jerks. Once on the trolley, we rode through Salem as he pointed out famous spots and landmarks. Soon we stopped and traded tour guides. The knew driver was called "Father Time" as he had a dumbledoorish beard and an old face about him. The actual tour guide reminded us quite a bit of Dr. Goble. He was a very nice man and rather funny... and almost certain he had a sweater vest on. We rode around through Salem, Chestnut St, Derby Sq, the Commons, Winter Island, and other important landmarks. He showed us the parker brothers factory by the bay... very cool location. He also showed us the House of the Seven Gables, the giant boat that we think is called the Friendship of Salem Ship or something... At this point we can't remember everything we saw. But lots of historical places were seen, among other things like the museums. It was very fun.

After the trolley ride, we got off and ate at Ben & Jerry's. Believe it or not... I have never eaten Ben & Jerry's ice cream, at least that I can recall. Jason had Pumpkin cheesecake and I had chocolate peanut butter swirl... very very good. Afterward we walked back to the cemetery and took more pictures and looked at the house next to it... it's the oldest house in Salem, build in the early 1600s. We thought we could go inside, but it turns out it belongs to the museum. It is the archeological department is located. Jason and I peeked into the windows to see what was in there. We saw a lot of old books and shelves. Jason was a little too excited and banged his had against the windows. At that moment I realized there was a guy sitting at a desk reading... we both quickly moved and acted like it wasn't us.

After this, we then went to the museum near Ben &Jerry's to see a ten minute play and get the crap scared out of me. After the play about Elizabeth Proctor, the tour guide took us down to the dungeon area to see sculptures of people during that time period. It was extremely dark and creepy, but was filled with fake scenes from the witch trials and executions. Right before the scene where the hangings happened... Jason and I looked in a window with a girl sculpture. To our surprise she started moving... it scared the S*@% out of me and I took off walking quickly, dragging Jason behind me.

We then went looking at other stores around and came upon one that was selling tickets to a ghost tour. Jason really wanted to go so we bought tickets. We then went to the Salem Beer Works for dinner. It was sooooo good. Jason had a burger and I had a salad... we both were so full and happy after dinner. Once we left the restaurant, we both realized we had to pee really badly. Of course... at this point in Salem the whole town closes. After about 5 or 6 everyone just completely leaves Salem and most of the stores close. Because of this, finding a bathroom was hard to do. Finally we found one in the mall... it was gross. That was the nastiest bathroom I have ever stepped foot in. Jason said their bathroom didn't have water to rinse off his hands. He and i wondered around trying to find water or at least a napkin to get the soap off his hands. Finally we stopped at this chocolate shop in the mall, and bought two things of chocolate covered cherries just in the hopes of getting a napkin. We didn't get a napkin so I asked for one... score! No more soapy hands.

We hung around for about an hour looking in the only remaining store left open, waiting on the ghost tour to start. Since the tour is a ghost tour, it had to happen at night. After splitting into groups we met our amazing tour guide. She was a funky woman in a long blue robe and top hat. With our tour guide was a man with a lantern and a shovel who helped us cross streets and lead the way... he looked super creepy, yet pretty cool. First place we visited was the first Episcopal church in Salem. It was lovely and located on Brown Street! We took a picture of our street :^) Apparently this church is haunted... according to our tour guide. Next to the church was a prison... the earliest and oldest prison built in Salem. Of course... this place was haunted as well! A family now lives there and apparently pays $3,000 a month to stay there. She said they didn't have to state on the lease how it's haunted. Therefore, these people probably don't even know that people have claimed to have seem ghosts. Behind the prison is a cemetery... the same one where Giles Corey was pressed to death with stones in the hopes they could get a confession from him. He was accused of witchcraft. He died three days after laying in the field with tons of rocks on top of him. He was 81. His ghost has apparently been seen roaming around that spot... so they say.

We also went to that cemetery Jason and I kept going to the day before, where John Hathorne was burried. Apparently that house that Jason and I peeked into is also haunted. They say a girl caught scarlet fever and died on the third floor, after being quarantined there for days. The family moved out and apparently a new family moved in right afterward. The man who moved in apparently saw the girl on the third floor and spoke with her. She told him to kill his wife... he must of thought that a good idea cause he did. He killed her and their kid. It is now said you can see his ghost also. The tour lady told us that this building belongs to the museum but she has never ever seen anyone actually in there... she's lived there for 7 years. I saw that guy earlier that day... I think she's lying to try to spook people out. She was pretty good, but I doubt the ghost thing.

After seeing a few more spots and hearing about the pirate captain Fly (who killed numerous people) we headed back. We stopped at one more mansion before returning... they call it "Clue Mansion." the reason they call it Clue Mansion is because it's the mansion that the game clue was based off of... remember how Parker Brothers factory was here. Well, there was a real murder that happened at that mansion that actually involved a captain, a candlestick, and a rope. Mrs. Peacock came from Peabody and a few other names came from other places and real people. Also, there was a strip of famous, expensive houses in Salem that started the game "Monopoly." Who knew! Kinda cool.

After our walking tour we called a taxi and headed to the hotel. I left my phone in the taxi and had to call them to see if it was there. It was and the guy was kind enough to bring it back to me. Oh joy! It's now time for me to go to sleep. Goodnight all.

Nathaniel Hawthorne Statue . . . very cool. Also found out during our ghost tour that Charles Dickens visited Nathaniel here in Salem. While he was here, Nathaniel told him about a dream he had about three ghosts coming to him in the night to redeem his past mistakes (like his families wrong doings... such as the judge Hathorne who condemned accused witches). According to our tour guide, he used Hawthorne's dream in his Christmas Carol. So neat.

A bench outside the Old Town Hall we sat at, next to a lady eating a sandwich... or apparently a bagel (Jason corrected me).

This is the creepy house that is apparently haunted at the Old Burying Point. This is the one I saw the guy in that was not a ghost.

This is the sign at the entry of the Old Burying Point, specifying locations of notable people.

This is Jason about to enjoy one of the best hamburgers ever at the Marriott Hotel.

This is one of Salem's trolleys.

This was, I think, the trolley we rode in.

This is the Friendship ship...

This was pretty so I took a picture. Around this location, two members of Latter-day saints stopped us to redeem our souls. The only non witch people in town... they picked us. It is at this point I feel the need to recall something Jason said.... "do you ever wonder if someone is going to jump out and hold us up at wand-point?" We laughed a lot. :^)

First taste of Ben & Jerry's :^)

Jason.

This is a living statue that we saw in Derby square... she isn't that tall... so was standing on a box. Pretty cool though. I thought about stealing her broom, but couldn't figure a way to get it on the plane.

Derby Sq.

Jason swears there is a ghost in the left side of this picture... he's crazy I tell you! (he doesn't really... it was a joke, so he says).

Us.

P.S. during our tour the guide asked us "How many witches were burned in Salem?" Many shouted out numbers and then Jason said "none." She got extremely excited and threw him a gift. She said because he got the question right he has "the dirt on salem." She really meant dirt. She gave him a bottle of dirt from the cemetery in Salem.

Double Bubble Toil and Trouble

2010-10-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

October 12th, 2010

We awoke, dressed, and quickly headed to the mall. Jason and I have never been those people who hang out at malls.... I find it very funny that we've been doing this for a huge portion of our days on vacation. After getting dunkin donuts and scarfing down breakfast, we quickly called a taxi to take us into Salem. The entire ride into Salem our cab driver talked about his horrible puppies that eat and chew on everything. Quite a funny man. He dropped us off at the Old Town Hall. It's a lovely spot... a giant brick building with yellow fall leaves surrounding the stone pathways. This is where we were to see "Cry Innocent." It was a very funny play about Bridget Bishop, the first woman accused of witchcraft. Jason and I saw as they arrested her outside the courthouse and quickly followed them into the town hall. While watching the play, an actor chose to sit next to Jason while participating in the play. At one point he taped Jason on the shoulder and said "She's a liar!" Jason responded with, "Yea she is!" Next thing I knew that man stuck his tongue out at her and she was glaring at him and us. She was a very good actress who kept hitting on all the men... including a 70 year old guy. He seemed pretty flattered.

We bought tickets to see the witch history museum. It was fairly good... not amazing, however. We then had lunch at an awesome, yet expensive, hot dog place called the Boston Dog Co. Very good. After lunch we headed to the Old Burying Ground. This is the first or second oldest cemetery in the country. It was really cool. We saw the gravestone of a man who was on the Mayflower and the gravestone of the honorable John Hathorne... the famous judge during the witch trials. John Hathorne is also the ancestor of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Next to the cemetery is the witch memorial. On each bench was listed the name of a executed person, date of death, and method of execution of suspected witches. Many flowers were placed on the benches to remember those people.

Jason and I walked around Derby Sq, the Commons, and numerous other streets (as we kept getting lost). We visited the mall at Derby Sq and looked around numerous witch shops, such as the Broom Closet. We both are super excited to buy a wand later this week. We walked to a bookstore after shopping and called a taxi to return to our hotel. We met a very fascinating woman who informed us that she smokes weed. After saying this, however, she realized it sounded badly and assured us she doesn't even know where to buy it or how much it costs. She was very interesting. Very open, but pretty entertaining. Once back at the hotel we ate dinner in the hotel restaurant. We split a hamburger and a turkey sandwich. It was scrumptious. It was all in all a pretty good first day in Salem.

This is Old Town Hall, where we saw Cry Innocent

This is St. Peter's episcopal church

Our Street!

Our hotdog place we stopped at... sooooo good.

us at the Commons

The Old Burying Point Cemetery

The John Ward House... one of the oldest houses in Salem

Outside the Old Town Hall

Lazy Monday

2010-10-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

October 11th, 2010

Jason and I decided to take Monday off from absolutely everything. We slept til about noon and caught up on sleep we missed out on for the past year. It was lovely. We wondered around the mall and looked at different stores. There is an amazing Halloween store and a "Five Below" store that we both desperately want in Ga. This store has dominos that are "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" themed. I was excited! We watched a bunch of kittens in the pet shop attack one another... almost as ferocious as Fred and Peanuts. We ate lunch at this Japanese Restaurant in the mall... delicious! We then got tickets for the movies... we went to see Inception. It was amazing! I am now not certain if Jason is real or not... no one is really that weird. It was a really wonderful movie. We then stopped at the food court and had our first M&M McFlurries as a married couple. I have pictures to prove it... it was yummy. We walked around the mall area and other stores near the hotel for quite awhile. We then went back to the hotel and caught up on more sleep. A lovely, lazy Monday.

Grab Your Coat and Get Your Hat

2010-10-13T20:36:00.001-07:00

October 10th, 2010

After checking out of the Hyatt in College Park, we drove until we reached a good spot for breakfast. McDonald's is apparently that good spot. We quickly gathered every condom, pregnancy test, and whoopie cushion that the lovely groomsmen so kindly placed in our car, and promptly threw it away. We then went in, grabbed our biscuits, and quickly drove to our apartment to meet Jamie and Nikki before heading to the airport. Nikki so kindly brought us our camera, which we had left at the pecan grove during our wedding. After saying goodbye to Nikki, we then awoke Jamie, opened the amazing gifts he so kindly brought to our place, and then we all headed to the airport. Jamie dropped us off and we headed to check our bags and go through airport security. They let me in no problem... surprisingly, Jason got in just fine, too. We had a little trouble with Jason and his laptop... we continually went back and forth trying to figure out how they wanted the stupid thing to go through security. Finally we figured it out and made it to our gate. We walked around and looked for food. We both decided upon cheese nachos, which ended up being thrown away after about five minutes so we could board the plane.

Nothing really exciting happened during our plane ride. I was a little nervous about it, since my last plane ride was somewhat scary. Once we landed we left to get our luggage at carousel 7. This is when we ran into a little bit of trouble. Neither Jason nor I were able to plan how to get to our hotel before this very moment. We stopped at the information center and asked two women how best to get to Danvers from Logan Airport. Being oh so helpful, they told us to call the hotel. They also told us it would be best to go to Peabody (pronounced rather quickly in a northern accent... peabudy). This would have been very helpful, had they explained how exactly to even do that... they didn't. We called the hotel and they told us to take a cab. We did. We met a very giant man who really loves rap music and wore sunglasses the entire time. After the very silent and awkward ride, we made it to our hotel.

After checking into our hotel with the raspy-voiced hotel clerk, we then decided to walk across the street to the mall. We picked the perfect location for not having a car. Once in the mall we stopped at Panera Bread and ate warm soup and sandwhiches. Having eaten, we then went to target to buy random toiletries (stupid airplanes won't let you take those with you). We found these amazing pumpkin cookies, which we both decided we would move here for just to have. We then walked back to the hotel and slept for a good 13-15 hours... apparently wedding planning is exhausting and we finally were able to catch up on sleeping.

Pecan Groving We Shall Go

2010-10-13T20:35:00.000-07:00

October 9th, 2010

Our wedding day. To quote Kyle, "almost everything that could go wrong, went wrong... yet, it all worked out okay" and was completely wonderful. Everyone talks about being nervous, but Jason and I remained calm the entire time pretty much. We both knew this was a big moment, but, like Jason said in his vows "this isn't the beginning of my love for you, it is a continuation of it." This apparently isn't a direct quote (according to Jason), but you get the point. I don't think anyone could doubt how amazing of a match we are for one another. My favorite moment during our wedding day was getting to see Jason, after getting dressed up, and having a private moment with just us in the pecan grove. I don't really remember what we talked about, but I remember thinking how lucky we are. It was nice to just sit and not have to plan anything, but just get to be with him.

Our parents, family, and friends all helped with our wedding so much. I don't know what we'd have done without them. Special thanks to Holly... she's master super wedding fixer-uper! The best man and maid of honor were amazing throughout our whole wedding experience. They kept both of us sane and at peace while others were flipping out... you were our breath of fresh air from wedding stress. They both gave lovely, touching speeches at our wedding. Also, Jamie so kindly sang songs for us and recorded our wedding experience. He also send us the Master Sword from Zelda, which we used to cut our cake. Jason was amazing at actually cutting with it and putting on a plate... I would have dropped it in a second. We kept our wedding with the nerd theme: including mario music, zelda wedding cake toppers and sword, and the Mario Kart Love song. I, unfortunately, left our wedding cake topper of charlie brown at our apartment. We used candy pumpkins instead. Again, couldn't of done all of this without our family (amazing parents and siblings) and, of course, Noel and Beau. I am still amazed how many people chipped in and did things for us just out of love. The end.