Girls' Getaway Weekend (and the Story of the Suicidal Turtle)

For Memorial Day weekend, I flew back home to Nashville to spend Saturday and Sunday with my two best girl friends, Melody and Michelle. It was so awesome to finally get some girl time with them!! We decided to spend our days and nights in Atlanta, since they could both use a nice relaxing weekend away, too. We spent our first day relaxing by the pool at our hotel, since it was in the 80s and sunny. Then we went shopping at IKEA, which is a home furnishing mega-store/warehouse. I have one nearby in San Diego, but Michelle and Melody had never shopped at one before. It's an overwhelming but fun experience just to walk through the store, even if you don't buy anything. We also ate dinner and window-shopped at Atlantic Station mall, which is a really pretty outdoor mall that's built to look like a town square. On Sunday, we spent the whole day at Six Flags Over Georgia and felt like kids again - for the most part. We had to admit that we have "matured" a little bit since high school every time we rode one of those old-school roller coasters that jerk you around a lot! But we had such a great time, and even the long lines weren't a bad thing because we had lots of catching up to do.

As we were leaving Six Flags, we had to swerve to avoid hitting a huge turtle that was crossing the road! Its shell was about as big around as a large pizza, and it probably weighed 30 lbs or so. I got to know this first-hand in the next few minutes, because I made Michelle pull the car over. I wanted to take a picture of it, but then I realized how much danger it was in because of the oncoming traffic. Plus, after it crossed the road, it was headed towards the Six Flags parking lot which was even more dangerous. Now, I really don't like any animals that don't have fur, but I couldn't stand by and watch it risk its life like that. So I stood behind it and grabbed the sides of its shell and lifted it, and I was expecting it to curl up nicely into its shell and maybe pee out of fright like small turtles do when you catch them. But this old guy was feisty, and it kept jerking its whole body and trying to reach back far enough to bite me! So (after a bit of squealing and hopping around) I built up the nerve to pick it up again, and I ran over to the grass with it. Then it gave another big jerk and I lost my grip, and it fell and landed on its back (at least it was in the grass!). I thought I was going to have to help it flip over, but it reached its creepy long neck out and used its head to push itself over again (ick!). It was really mad at me, but at least I saved its life for a few minutes! I have a feeling it just continued on its suicidal path after we left, but I did what I could! (Since I first posted this, I found out that it was a "common" snapping turtle. Apparently if you need to handle one, you're supposed to grab it by its tail and hold it away from your body, since its neck can be long enough to reach most other places and it has a nasty bite. Ha! I'm glad I still have all my fingers!!)

We drove back to Nashville the next day, and I had just enough time to eat some delicious TN barbeque with my family before they took me to the airport. It was such a fun weekend!

My friends, Michelle and Melody

We're in the IKEA store, trying out one of their many couches
This was right in front of the Superman ride, which was AWESOME! They put you in a harness and lift you up until you're belly down and you go through the whole ride like you're flying Superman-style!A very angry snapping turtle. But I'm sure he'll think fondly of me someday as "that psychotic Six Flags parking lot lady." Good barbeque in San Diego is almost non-existent, so my family took me to eat at Famous Dave's before I left.

5 Years of Marriage & the Happiest Place on Earth

It was our 5-year anniversary this Saturday, May 3rd, and we celebrated in classic Jester-style with a weekend at Disneyland! We spent Sat. at Disneyland and Sun. at California Adventure (two separate parks on the Disney property). It's one of our favorite places to go in Southern CA, and it was nice to spend the night in Anaheim on Sat. so we wouldn't have to drive back home at midnight. We got to ride our favorite rides and see our favorite shows again, and we also ate dinner at the Blue Bayou, an upscale New Orleans-style restaurant that's inside the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. The food is fantastic, and we love the atmosphere in the restaurant, because no matter when you go, it feels like you're sitting outdoors beside a calm riverbank in the South at night with the stars shining above. Disney does a great job at creating memorable ambiance. Anyway, we had a blast this weekend and we've enjoyed the best 5 years we could've imagined! We're thankful to God for bringing us together and for all the blessings He's given us during our first years of marriage. We're looking forward to many more years to come!

Here are a few photos of our weekend at Disneyland.
Dan is shooting me with a laser gun on one of his favorite rides, Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters. You ride in a moving car and shoot targets lasertag-style. I think he likes it so much because he always beats my score and it makes me mad!
The romantic atmosphere inside the Blue Bayou restaurant.
We had a prime spot to watch the fireworks show over the castle, but the show got cancelled because of high winds! We were bummed!
We got awesome 3rd row seats for our favorite show at California Adventure, "Aladdin." It's a musical spectacular based on the Disney cartoon, and the Genie is hysterical!
We saw Nick Lachey doing a video shoot for "High School Musical." Random celeb-sighting!
This is the photo that was taken on the Tower of Terror (we're in the back row). The lady beside me is holding her son, who is petrified. I'm not helping matters by screaming my head off!
We loved the first 5 years! Keep 'em coming!

Family Time in San Diego!

My parents came to visit us for a week while Dan was on Spring Break! It was great to have them here! They arrived on Wed. afternoon, and I had to work on Thurs., so Dan took them on a driving tour of San Diego. My Dad has been out here before, but there were a lot of new things to show my Mom. He took them down to see his school and they stopped by to see me at work. They were also introduced to a couple of Dan's favorite burrito stops (anything contained in a flour tortilla is good!) for breakfast and lunch. Then I was on vacation from Friday-Tuesday, so I got to spend the rest of their visit with them.

We relaxed and spent time at home (The boys won at Spades, but the girls were the champions in Canasta!), but we also did some fun touristy things. We spent a day touring the USS Midway, a Navy aircraft carrier that was converted into a museum and permanently docked in San Diego's harbor. And we drove to L.A. to visit the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, which was really well done. It gave some history about the lives and relationship between Ronald and Nancy Reagan (can I just say that they had the sweetest, most romantic relationship under the hardest of circumstances!), but the museum mostly focused on his years as President. They had cool videos strategically placed so you could sit and watch some old news clips and interviews that took place during important national events, and they also had an entire wing that housed the actual Air Force One plane that he flew on while he was President! They retired that plane right after his last term, and he asked if he could have it. Anyway, it was so interesting, and it made me want to visit other Presidential Libraries whenever I'm in those areas of the country.

Most of all, we had the best time just getting to be with my folks on our own for several days in a row. When we see them, we're usually surrounded by lots of family which is great, but you miss that intimate time to really catch up. Dan and I both have the best parents in the world, and we're so blessed that we get along with everyone in our families. We try not to take that for granted, and we appreciate the time we can spend with our folks! It made our month to have them come visit us!

About to tour the USS Midway

My dad, the fighter pilot

We got thrown in the brig!!

At the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library - Mom and I look like we're about to run away with "Ronnie"!

Dad and Dan posing by Air Force One

Desert in Bloom

We've been wanting to see the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in bloom for the past few years, but hadn't made it out there before now. I've been keeping up with the "Flower Watch" that's on their web site to see when was the best time to visit and see the wildflowers in bloom, and it looked like this weekend was as good a time as any. So we drove there on Sat. (about a 2.5 hour drive) and after a quick stop at the visitors center, drove to the canyons that were in full bloom. It was beautiful! The lady at the visitors center highly recommended taking time to 4-wheel drive through some of the washes, so we did and had a great time! It wasn't too rugged, since it's mostly flat out there, but there are some deep sand pits where you could get stuck if you don't have a 4-wheel drive vehicle. My CR-V came through, and we spent way more time than we expected off-roading through the desert. We want to go back sometime, maybe in the fall, when the weather is as nice as it is in the spring. It felt like summertime, which we're both ready for! Here are some of the best photos from that beautiful day.

The Jesters Go To Orlando!

Last Friday-Wednesday, we flew to Orlando to spend time with Dan's family. Everyone got to be there except for Robin, because she had just started a new job and couldn't take time off yet. We missed her, but had so much fun! It was in the 80's the whole time, so we enjoyed fun pool time at the condo and pretended it was already summer. We also went to the Magic Kingdom and to Busch Gardens, which was a blast. It was great to get to see Dan's parents, Tim, Dawn, Benjamin, and Nathan again so soon after Christmas. Nathan didn't get sick this time (yay!), but Dan did (boo!). He caught the flu the day before we left, and was miserable for the next three days with a fever and congestion. So we took it easy and made sure he got plenty of rest, and he's feeling a lot better now.

The happiest place on earth!

Our nephews are so cute!

Benjamin and Debby were big buddies in Orlando

New *Decorated* Office

I recently got a new office at work, and I've been wanting to decorate it. So Dan and I spent some time this weekend framing and hanging some pictures around the walls. I love them!! Most of the photos are from our road trip around the U.S. during the summer of 2005, and they are beautiful. My talented husband took almost all of them - he's got a great eye for gorgeous photography. Everyone who's visited my office so far has been wowed by them and wants to know where I "bought my photos"! I love telling them that Dan took them and about our 2-month camping trip that resulted in so many awesome pictures. I love being reminded of the memories we made, and now I have a ton of scenic views to enjoy while I'm working!

The Big 3-0!

I love celebrating my birthday - the more celebrations the better! My 30th birthday was on Friday, and we had a fun dinner at Sammy's Woodfired Pizza that night with a group of our friends from church. Some of them used to be part of our small group Bible study, but aren't now, so it was great to get everyone together again. I also got a delicious birthday cake from Coldstone's - the best ice cream store on the planet!!

Celebration #2 was on Saturday night - my wonderful husband took me to see Cirque du Soleil "Corteo" at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, north of San Diego. It was spectacular!! I had never been to a circus before (at least not one that I remember), and Corteo had all the best elements of the circus with amazing choreography and music. I would highly recommend it! There are some Cirque du Soleil shows that are pretty racy, but this one was family-friendly, and we saw plenty of kids having a great time in the audience. The best part of the show was when Dan got chosen out of the audience by a couple of clowns trying to find a body to fit into a casket they were rolling around the stage! They grabbed him and gave him a "check-up" to see if he would fit in the casket - and the woman clown just about ripped his shirt off in her excitement! It was hysterical - more for me than for Dan (he was pretty embarrassed about having his chest revealed to a bunch of strangers, but I figured they all just got more for their money!!). I wish I had gotten a picture of that, but anyway, it was an awesome show, and a fun way to celebrate my birthday! Here's to the beginning of the best decade of my life!!