Riverstreet Sweets

October 9, 2011

I have to admit, I am writing day three of our Savannah adventure a year later than it occurred. I forgot to finish writing about this day; however, I remember the bulk of what we did and how it was. This, of course, is the most important day of the trip because it is our anniversary! Jason and I, as we usually do on vacation, slept in to day. After waking up, we realized we missed breakfast and are more into the "brunch" period of the day. We decided to go for a walk and find some food. We headed down the Riverstreet front to find a place we hadn't eaten at yet. This was not very difficult because there are so many places to eat here. We walked quite a ways until we reached "Rocks on the River." This was a really wonderful place to eat because it had some really wonderful food and amazing art, which was created out of driftwood and other things from the river. Here is a lovely picture:

 The food was obviously good because Jason has eaten almost everything and he is scowling because he wants more :^)

I thought this was amazing! This was the only thing I cared to take a picture of because I thought it spoke enough of the amazing artwork in the restaurant. Just beautiful!

After Jason and I ate brunch, we did what we usually do... we walked. We spent most of the day just walking around town, enjoying the sights and people. The fact that Jason loves to walk is one of my all-time favorite things about him. Not only do we walk for health reasons, but it also gives us time to talk. We did this a lot when dating and we do it even in the middle of a busy work week. I think if more people took time out of their day to walk outside together, they would enjoy life more and have a healthier marriage. I always feel closer to Jason after walking because I learn new things about him and what he thinks each time we do it. Anyway, side note over :^) We walked for quite a long time, went in a few shops, and began thinking of other things to do. After a couple of hours we realized we were getting a little exhausted and probably needed a break. We went back to the hotel and Jason and I gave each other foot massages. Jason and I also opened a bottle of Champagne. Jason and I already started a tradition of drinking champagne on October 9th. We had it the night of our wedding and planed to bring it for this trip also. It was very relaxing and wonderful!

Later that night we picked a special place for our anniversary dinner, Kevin Barry's Irish Pub. It was beautiful! I didn't take any of my own pictures of the pub, but here are a few from the website:

We had such a great time there! Couldn't beat their potato soup and, of course, the whiskey chocolate cake! So good! We got there at a perfect time because it wasn't packed at all, it was dark outside and slightly rainy, and the musicians were already there setting up and practicing. It was really wonderful music and it had that "Irish" sound too it. It was a group of people playing. They actually were sitting down, eating, and occasionally would just start playing an instrument and singing in between bites of their meal. Our waitress was also really nice. I felt so bad for her... she had to take care of the musicians and was the waitress for the entire side of the bar downstairs! She was so busy. It worked out for us though that she was busy... we were able to relax, not worry about the time, and enjoy the music without feeling rushed. It was perfect! Just the type of place we like. It was a really old building with brick and stone, dark woods, and dim lighting. Perfect dinner :^) After a while we realized we probably needed to head back because it was really picking up outside and we didn't want to get soaked. Here are a few pictures of us from before we left for dinner:

Hehe! One last thing... I'm not sure when we did this, but we did actually stop at Riverstreet Sweets for a candy apple. For some reason I always want a candy apple around October, so we got one! Here it is:

The next day we ventured home to Palmetto, Ga. We got gifts for all our family at Riverstreet Sweets, packed up, and headed home. All I remember is stopping at Burger King. Then we were home. Good trip!

Caleb Crawdad, Forrest Gump, and a Hagrid

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 two 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/us:

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, too. 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 shit 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 sneak downstairs regularly to play with a ball while their parents threw numerous parties. 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. 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. So, 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 now 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 a man randomly showed up to tell us about Hags and a Hagrid, 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 and then swore because it didn't open.

I have to say though, if you like stuff like this... this would be a good tour for you. During part of the story telling in the back room, they mentioned that it was "a rainy night" and then all of a sudden I start feeling raindrops on my head. They were good with detail. Still jerks but they were good with details.

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...

October 7, 2012

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, quiet 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 in all black with headset 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 we all 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

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!!!!

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!

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

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.