Vacationed.

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We're baaaaack! Florida was INCREDIBLE. I'm pretty sure we need to retire there in one of those old folks homes by the sea. Boca Vista or somesuch. I can play conasta on the beach and Jason can fish straight from his Rascal scooter and life will be good.

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Forgive my lack of words, my mind is still laying on the beach, onto the pictures! Some of my favorite things from the trip:

Cruising in the rental.


Our digs for the week!

Our neighbor, Scully.

THE BEACH. THE BEACH. THE BEACH.

6-month Anniversary Dinner at Chart House.

Relaxing on the deck in the evenings.

Surf lessons... hehe

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DISNEY!! I think I did a cartwheel out of bed that morning.

Visiting my family.

Collecting shells.

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Some of my favorite pictures from the week:

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Goodbye Florida!! We will be back!!

CLICK HERE for the full set of pictures.

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XOXO,

Mack & Jason

Next Stop: Cocoa Beach!!

I cannot believe our trip is already here! Our flight leaves at 9:30am tomorrow morning, we pick up our rental car at noon in Orlando and should hopefully be arriving in Cocoa Beach by 1-2ish.

Last year Jas and I vowed to spend 2009 travelling but I still can't believe we are actually doing it!

We have several things set up including a Kayaking/Manatee watch tour, Disneyworld and reservations here. But what I am looking forward to most of all? BEACH BEACH BEACH. I'm talking beach with water that doesn't resemble chocolate milk like it does here, people! Our toes in the warm sand and the sun on our skin and a drink in hand. *dreamy sigh*

And even more importantly, experiencing all of these things with my very best friend.

We'll be back next Wednesday, less stressed and hopefully more tan!

Loads of love, Mack and Jason

The Man Speaks....

Hello, all. Yep this is Jason actually writing for the first time! I don't want to get anyone excited thinking that I'm anywhere near as funny as the one I love, but if you're reading this you already know that. Anytime you come to this site, and you think to yourself, "Damn I've had this song stuck in my head for the past three weeks now. Why don't they ever change it?," that'd be my fault. It seems I have a small problem finding songs that are appropriate, but more along the lines of "Baby Got Back" & "Tootsie Roll." So make sure that you keep your volume turned down slightly, if you're in the office, because one day I might surprise you.

Lots of Love, J

Rebel.

In my old age I find myself doing crazywild things..... like making unflattering faces in pictures and pushing the weight limits on hammocks.

Pretty nuts.

On Spring.

On the way home from Dayton on Friday, we happened upon the quaintest little plant nursery called Paradise Plants and had to check it out. We met the owner Elaine who gardens in hospital scrubs and has the sweetest southern accent I have ever heard. She has one of those smiles you just can't say no to and we ended up leaving there with tomato plants (matured and already about to bloom!), 2 rose bushes, a rose vine and a citrus satsuma tree (with a gorgeous scent that will knock the socks off a rooster). We also left with a full history of Elaine's cajun family tree and an extensive botany lesson. We will definitely be back.

Completed flowerbed pics coming soon.....

So, the tomatoes, bought on Friday, potted these bad boys on Sunday and they already have little tomato babies blooming!

Photo Walk: Dayton, TX.

Lessons.

"A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbol means nothing to him. A waterlogged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his. It was really quite simple, and yet we humans, so much wiser and more sophisticated, have always had trouble figuring out what really counts and what does not."

~John Grogan, Marley & Me

Photo Walk: Anahuac Wildlife Refuge.

All day Sunday was spent at the Wildlife Refuge about 40 minutes east of our house. The baitshack lady gave us a tip that the fish were really biting there and she wasn't lying! You can always trust a woman in a t-shirt with cutoff sleeves and Crocs with socks who can carry on a whole conversation without removing the Capri cigarette between her lips for good area fishing info.

It seemed like every time Jason casted his reel he had bites and was keeping me busy as the official pliers holder. He even broke his line a few times trying to reel those bad boys in. See, catfish and drum and trout in our area are mutantlike because of all the chemical plants around, they have superfish strength from all the radioactive chemicals and debris that has made it's way into our water. Or at least that is what I like to tell myself. That they glow in the dark and wear little capes.

He kept laughing because I have absolutely no fear of fish or touching them or baiting hooks and I kept yelling out to him, "Knock him in the head and he won't writhe around so much." I'm a peach. It also seemed a bit ironic to me that we were catching fish in the Wildlife Refuge because, well, isn't it, you know a REFUGE? *shrug* It made for a lot of really great photo ops as you can see below, I couldn't put my camera down there was too much action going on!

We left as the sun was setting and feeling completely rejuvenated for the week ahead. It was a good day. I would like to thank Jas for his patience and stopping 3,000 times in the car so I could get the shots I wanted. And to Mom and Ron, I hope you like fish, because we just might be having a fish fry kind of Easter this weekend. :)

And my favorite picture of the day:

Loads of love,

Mack

Happy 32nd Birthday, Augie & Zere!

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I've Got Your Crazy.

I find myself better under pressure. I'm all about the deadline and "crunch time" and stress brings out the buttkicker and organizer in me.

Conference is over. Things at work and in life are pretty darn calm right now, thus I am in "jelly mind" mode.

Perhaps that explains why this morning at approximately 6:55am I repeatedly tried using my car key clicker to unlock the the door to my office. You know, instead of my security clicker next to it on the key ring to beep me through. Even more sad, it wasn't until another early arrival saw me struggling and pointed out that maybe if the office doors were made by Acura, what I was doing might actually be working. *smacks forehead*

For shame.

Needless to say I am asking for some extra projects today to keep my mind busy.

And thankfully in a few short weeks we will be here where my jelly mind is completely acceptable:

No Joke.

I have already been April Fooled successfully twice this morning.

I am so very bad at this holiday. :)

Steal A Minute.

I'm swamped. Conference this week. Smiley from the weekend. Blah Blah Blah.

I think one of my coworkers said it best,"It's like a Picadilly Bloody Circus around here."

This was taken yesterday but appropriate to illustrate my Monday. I'm guessing that is also what it would look like if I was in a slasher film. Which would be named Bloody Monday, of course.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

When You Don't Have Plans.*

Due to some last minute cancellations, Jason and I had the whole Saturday to ourselves. It was rainy and cold and the perfect day for us to check out the Ghengis Khan exhibit at the museum that we have been meaning to go see.

^Waiting in line to get into the parking garage.

Though a bit crowded (I'm guessing with the bad weather, everyone had the same idea we had) it was interesting and educational. Afterwards, we headed out to go eat because well, there is nothing like looking at mummified Mongolians and watching a film reenacting warriors drinking their own horses blood for nourishment to build up an appetite. Haha. We were in the mood for seafood and couldn't resist the charm of this place:

We got to try oysters rockefeller for the first time and definitely weren't dissappointed! Two thumbs up!

Then we proceeded to have a sword fight with our blood mary plastic olive swords because, well that is what you do when you are old and married and matured, you play with your food.

Not wanting the evening to end just yet, we talked about where we should go next. Ryan had called me a few days before and mentioned that there was a blues/rock band playing at his bar that night. I hadn't seen him in several months and he has been begging us to meet up and see the new renovations he has done and let me drink on a free tab all night. I don't argue with things like that. We paid for our meal and headed over to his bar. It looked so good! The bar was quite seedy before he bought it which gave it it's character but he has definitely cleaned it up a little while still maintaining it's seedy charm.

^He is the leeetle bitty guy behind the bar.


^You can kind of see Jason by that pole.
Yes, that is a Wii on the big screen on the left. I was in heaven.

We had the entire place to ourselves for several hours before people starting filing in to see the bands that night. I fed money right out of the cash register into the touch screen game and the jukebox (One of the perks of being the bar owners little sister! Haha) and caught up with Ryan on the past few months.

It was so very good to see him.

We hugged and said our goodbyes and headed home. Sometimes, the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-britches days are the best days of all.

*EDIT* Jason reminded me I left off one of the best parts. We couldn't show up to see my brother without bringing a bar-warming gift so we snagged this to give to him:

Can't see it, how about a close up?

"Feeds 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 fish!" "Turns water into wine!" "Glow-in-the-dark-hands!" Wait, WHAT?

Happy Birthday, Chuck Norris!

I cannot believe I forgot to post on my beloved's birthday!

Yesterday Chuck Norris turned 69, but his hair only turned 20.