I haven't talked about the best part of these past couple of weeks....
Our birthdays!!! Ok- so Disney was technically our big present, but now you get to hear about the days.
It's crazy having both of our days of birth in the same month. And the same year! So Tommy gets to be OLD for exactly 12 days. And then we are both not "old", just getting a little closer. :)
(AND we technically began dating on October 31st....Halloween brought us together. Must've been sugar highs or something. AND October 22nd is our 5 month-iversary. So. Lots to celebrate.)
But back to the important parts.
For Tommy's birthday, he got to wake up in a Disney resort! We then toured around downtown Disney and got to eat at T-Rex, which is like the Rainforest Cafe, but pre-historic. So instead of a rainstorm every half-hour, there is a meteor shower and the dinosaurs go crazy. He wouldn't let me tell them it was his birthday! I wish we could've had them sing.
So while we were driving back, I texted Kim and Jon and asked them to come to our apartment for a little celebration. I convinced him to head the driving range to hit a bunch of golf balls while I got prepared! I bought ballons, cake fixin's, party hats, and a bunch of candy. With cupcakes cooling, I took him out to 'Rolls and Bowls', this modern chinese place that Tommy loves. We just happened to be wearing Alabama colors :). When we got home, I had him go upstairs to our loft so I could get the place decked out. I replaced the food pictures in our "dining room" with three Alabama football magazines his mom had framed. Cupcakes, party hats, and balloons, all in Alabama colors, covered that corner of our apartment. Jon and Kim, in their Bama attire, came over for confetti cake and sprinkled icing, tape-the-tail-on-the-donkey, and Phase 10! He got a bag of candy and gum from me, and he was officially 26.
For mine, Tommy woke up at 5:30 in the morning, before I was up, and decorated for me! We had been using the air mattress in the loft because our mattress was killing my back. So somehow, without waking me up, he blew up a ton of 'happy birthday' balloons and hung a HUGE 'happy birthday' banner and a 'happy birthday' chandelier. So sweet! Then, I went to work... BLAH.
After work, Kim brought Jon and Tommy to my office, so they all got to see my little room where I try to be productive. Not impressive, but at least they cared!! Then Tommy and I went to the mall to buy shoes, thanks to a gift of money from the parents! And then he took me to Carrabbas. OH the GOODNESS. I love that place. The chicken bryan is to die for.
Then Tommy surprised me again by getting an ice cream cake from Haagen Dazs that said "Happy Birthday Mallory" (we laughed because it looked like a four-year-old boy wrote it. but that doesn't make it taste any worse!!!) and had a princess crown all ready for me. Jon and Kim came over and brought me a whole bag of cokes! And again, we played Phase 10. So fun.
26 = Pretty dang good.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 15, 2010
a whole weekend of wedding.
So our happy weekend was over.
But that's ok, because another one was coming right up!
The Thursday after the Disney trip, we left work around noon and headed off to Prattville, Alabama. Tommy is friends with two guys from Prattville and one of them (Aaron) was getting married on the 9th! So Thursday was going to be our driving day, Friday was a golf tournament for the guys, and Saturday was a brunch and then a 6pm wedding.
The drive wasn't bad! I just bought a book for the trip- "Cleopatra's Daughter" - which Jon's sister pointed out sounds like one of those old lady romance novels with the Fabio wind-blown cover. But it wasn't!! The author researched this family a lot and did a great job of making Rome and its people come alive... Ah, books. So while I was driving, I got Tommy to read it to me :) Ha, poor thing! But I had mercy and he didn't have to read the entire seven hours. When we finally arrived, we met Aaron's entire family and wedding party at a local favorite Mexican restaurant- pretty good!!
Then Friday I got to sleep in LAAATE. So good. And I read a lot of my book. All while Tommy was out playing golf with the manly men, which was great for him because it hadn't played in a few months... but because of that he played badly! He gets frustrated and then it has a snow-ball effect of doing worse because you're frustrated! But it seemed like he still had fun being out in gorgeous weather and being with a bunch of guys. -manly men grunting noises-
Friday afternoon we drove the hour and a half more up to Birmingham- our old stomping ground! While Tommy was in grad school there, I would go visit him, so Birmingham is where most of our nice dinners and park visits and mall walks occured. After running an errand or two at the university, we met his family at the Cheesecake Factory! Mrs Lynda and Mr Randy treated us to a birthday meal and Kerri and Allen showed off the huge baby bump! She's almost here! We had a lot of fun- they even sang Happy Birthday to me! Even though it was still a week away.
The next morning, back in Prattville, we got to visit Aaron's family home for a brunch. Man, that food was AHmazing. There was this one thing- grits (ew normally, but not this time) mixed with egg and cream and gouda! OH goodness. And this weird cream cheese and cinnamon pastry. Also goodness. Tommy also got to meet his dream pet- an English bulldog. Winston. Such a sweetie. I guess I won't mind having one :)
Then we toured around the great city of Prattville! We saw Adam's house (one of Tommy's closest friends), looked around the downtown area, saw an old.... lumber house? Tin can factory? I don't remember what it was- but it was cool lookin'! And went to Target to get Aaron and Julie a happy wedding day card. You always have to hit up a Target.
And then we watched the Alabama football game. Which ended up being so awful that Tommy actually switched the channels and started ironing! He hates ironing! We kept an eye on the score while we got ready for the wedding, but it wasn't a happy time... When we finally were seated in the pews, Tommy watched on his phone as the time ran out and Bama lost. Poor Tommy. But at least then he wasn't distracted for the wedding! A positive result of a bad situation??
The wedding was super formal and we felt very fancy. And you could tell the bride was so happy! When we got to the reception, we were surprised because there was no band, no dancing area- we just figured it was a very subdued reception. Then, right before we were about to leave, we found out there was music and dancing upstairs! But by that time we were rather drained. It's exhausting making conversation with people you barely know or have never met before. So we headed out. After all, we had a seven hour drive ahead of us the next day. And I had already finished that book! Dagumit. Rookie book-reading-on-a-trip mistake!
But we were glad to go and have another weekend of fun. Lots of good socializing and good FOOD :)
But that's ok, because another one was coming right up!
The Thursday after the Disney trip, we left work around noon and headed off to Prattville, Alabama. Tommy is friends with two guys from Prattville and one of them (Aaron) was getting married on the 9th! So Thursday was going to be our driving day, Friday was a golf tournament for the guys, and Saturday was a brunch and then a 6pm wedding.
The drive wasn't bad! I just bought a book for the trip- "Cleopatra's Daughter" - which Jon's sister pointed out sounds like one of those old lady romance novels with the Fabio wind-blown cover. But it wasn't!! The author researched this family a lot and did a great job of making Rome and its people come alive... Ah, books. So while I was driving, I got Tommy to read it to me :) Ha, poor thing! But I had mercy and he didn't have to read the entire seven hours. When we finally arrived, we met Aaron's entire family and wedding party at a local favorite Mexican restaurant- pretty good!!
Then Friday I got to sleep in LAAATE. So good. And I read a lot of my book. All while Tommy was out playing golf with the manly men, which was great for him because it hadn't played in a few months... but because of that he played badly! He gets frustrated and then it has a snow-ball effect of doing worse because you're frustrated! But it seemed like he still had fun being out in gorgeous weather and being with a bunch of guys. -manly men grunting noises-
Friday afternoon we drove the hour and a half more up to Birmingham- our old stomping ground! While Tommy was in grad school there, I would go visit him, so Birmingham is where most of our nice dinners and park visits and mall walks occured. After running an errand or two at the university, we met his family at the Cheesecake Factory! Mrs Lynda and Mr Randy treated us to a birthday meal and Kerri and Allen showed off the huge baby bump! She's almost here! We had a lot of fun- they even sang Happy Birthday to me! Even though it was still a week away.
The next morning, back in Prattville, we got to visit Aaron's family home for a brunch. Man, that food was AHmazing. There was this one thing- grits (ew normally, but not this time) mixed with egg and cream and gouda! OH goodness. And this weird cream cheese and cinnamon pastry. Also goodness. Tommy also got to meet his dream pet- an English bulldog. Winston. Such a sweetie. I guess I won't mind having one :)
Then we toured around the great city of Prattville! We saw Adam's house (one of Tommy's closest friends), looked around the downtown area, saw an old.... lumber house? Tin can factory? I don't remember what it was- but it was cool lookin'! And went to Target to get Aaron and Julie a happy wedding day card. You always have to hit up a Target.
And then we watched the Alabama football game. Which ended up being so awful that Tommy actually switched the channels and started ironing! He hates ironing! We kept an eye on the score while we got ready for the wedding, but it wasn't a happy time... When we finally were seated in the pews, Tommy watched on his phone as the time ran out and Bama lost. Poor Tommy. But at least then he wasn't distracted for the wedding! A positive result of a bad situation??
The wedding was super formal and we felt very fancy. And you could tell the bride was so happy! When we got to the reception, we were surprised because there was no band, no dancing area- we just figured it was a very subdued reception. Then, right before we were about to leave, we found out there was music and dancing upstairs! But by that time we were rather drained. It's exhausting making conversation with people you barely know or have never met before. So we headed out. After all, we had a seven hour drive ahead of us the next day. And I had already finished that book! Dagumit. Rookie book-reading-on-a-trip mistake!
But we were glad to go and have another weekend of fun. Lots of good socializing and good FOOD :)
Thursday, October 14, 2010
dISney.
WELL I finally got to go to Disney. The magical land where dreams come true and sugar is expensive and shaped like cartoons and children seem to cry as much as they laugh.
And it was wonderful. (A Tommy quote, "It was the best.... it was smaller than I remembered.")
Poor Tommy got lost using the good ol GPS to pick me up from the hotel where our conference was. We drove a little ways until all the signs turned into mousey-ears and we got to pass under WELCOME to DISNEY WORLD. We checked in at our hotel, the Dolphin, and were asked if it was our honeymoon. We jumped onto a packed bus and were dropped off at the Magical Kingdom.
I was just so excited. I'm sure I was smiling a bunch because of the "Hello, Honeymooners!!" we got from the cast members on the little street quite a few times. And then! We see! The castle!! (*angels singing!!*) So exciting.
We decided to circle around and hit up things that were special to us. Tommy had us go up the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and shoot with the old west guns. I got us on the Peter Pan ride and took us to watch Mike from Monsters Inc.
Then we went to Hollywood Studios just because we wanted to go on the Rockin' Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. I had great expectations for this Tower of Terror thing I've been hearing about. You see, I’ve been riding legit roller coasters since I was tall enough. And, thanks to Mrs. Bev and the reward trips for the puppet team every summer (shout out! woot woot) I have a pretty fair depth of experience on all rides crazy. So ‘falling’ types of rides for me began at Carowinds with the Drop Tower: Scream Zone (once known as "Drop Zone: Stunt Tower"), and Acrophobia at Six Flags and then finally Power Tower (featuring both the Space Shot and the Turbo Drop) at Cedar Point. And at Cedar Point, even the Top Thrill Dragster (at 420 feet going 120 mph from take-off, it’s the the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world) and Wicked Twister (at 215 feet high and going 72 miles per hour, it is the highest/fastest inverted roller coaster in the world) both give you the falling sensation... So bouncing while on the Tower of Terror only convinced me that the REAL ride was just about to happen and we hadn't experienced everything yet. The doors fly open to a man in a ‘bell hop’ uniform telling me to unbuckle and get out. Psh. But now I can say I’ve been on that ride and that’s really what matters!
And then we went on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. I really do think Tommy was most excited about this one. We both loved the guitar décor inside and out, and the tributes and music kept us entertained during the long-ish wait. (Side-note: ALMOST all of the rides had no line. We got spoiled walking straight onto rides. So to actually wait for any amount of time seemed long-ish.) The ride was really fun- lots of dips and twists that you couldn’t anticipate because you were completely in the dark indoors, and blacklit signs flying at your face. Thoroughly enjoyed that one. We then pull into the little hall where you wait for the people in front of you to get off. And waited and waited. Which wouldn’t have been bad except for the several super cool preteen cousins who all decided to be obnoxious as possible. And then. My dream. Came true.
Pause for background story:: As afore mentioned, I’m a roller coaster man. Wo-man. I’ve only closed my eyes once on a ride since my first one and only Lindsey Oliver knows which ride that was. I wasn’t scared, I was just worried my MIND would get scared and make me wet myself. Legit concern! ANYway. I have never gotten stuck on a ride. But, I’ve always wanted to get stuck on a ride. One time, we watched a whole car of riders hang on the up-ramp for an hour before the workers got them off. I SO wanted to be on there. It’s like..... a mix of being almost famous, needing to be rescued, having a little adventure, and being close to danger- it’s like the perfect storm of a good story. ::Resume present story
SO on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, the announcer lady told us we had malfunctioned and we would have to be rescued!! YAY!!! So the little men came and unlocked our safety bars and we had to climb onto the rarely-used-by-visitors walkway. We got to see the whole coaster all twisting around itself in this room we never thought would be so small- it was so impressive! We had to stay on this green pathway so that we wouldn’t… break something? Get lost? And got to walk under, around, and thru the coaster's track. And we saw a random desk for some poor soul who has to sit in the dark and almost get run over everyday....? And now we know all their secrets!!
There are many little stories to tell but they all blend together- in my mind we seamlessly sang along with the muppets and road thru Munchkin Land and explored a haunted mansion and met Mike Wazowski and boated thru a pirate cave. It was just exciting being there- where everything is Disney and everything is FUN and jolly and sing-song-y.
To end the day, we road back to our hotel on a low-riding boat into the sunset. AHhhhh…magic.... We changed into nicer clothes and had an absolutely wonderful meal at…some restaurant? And fell asleep FAST. Ex-haust-ed.
It was a great birthday present. Great Great Great.
And it was wonderful. (A Tommy quote, "It was the best.... it was smaller than I remembered.")
Poor Tommy got lost using the good ol GPS to pick me up from the hotel where our conference was. We drove a little ways until all the signs turned into mousey-ears and we got to pass under WELCOME to DISNEY WORLD. We checked in at our hotel, the Dolphin, and were asked if it was our honeymoon. We jumped onto a packed bus and were dropped off at the Magical Kingdom.
I was just so excited. I'm sure I was smiling a bunch because of the "Hello, Honeymooners!!" we got from the cast members on the little street quite a few times. And then! We see! The castle!! (*angels singing!!*) So exciting.
We decided to circle around and hit up things that were special to us. Tommy had us go up the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse and shoot with the old west guns. I got us on the Peter Pan ride and took us to watch Mike from Monsters Inc.
Then we went to Hollywood Studios just because we wanted to go on the Rockin' Roller Coaster and the Tower of Terror. I had great expectations for this Tower of Terror thing I've been hearing about. You see, I’ve been riding legit roller coasters since I was tall enough. And, thanks to Mrs. Bev and the reward trips for the puppet team every summer (shout out! woot woot) I have a pretty fair depth of experience on all rides crazy. So ‘falling’ types of rides for me began at Carowinds with the Drop Tower: Scream Zone (once known as "Drop Zone: Stunt Tower"), and Acrophobia at Six Flags and then finally Power Tower (featuring both the Space Shot and the Turbo Drop) at Cedar Point. And at Cedar Point, even the Top Thrill Dragster (at 420 feet going 120 mph from take-off, it’s the the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world) and Wicked Twister (at 215 feet high and going 72 miles per hour, it is the highest/fastest inverted roller coaster in the world) both give you the falling sensation... So bouncing while on the Tower of Terror only convinced me that the REAL ride was just about to happen and we hadn't experienced everything yet. The doors fly open to a man in a ‘bell hop’ uniform telling me to unbuckle and get out. Psh. But now I can say I’ve been on that ride and that’s really what matters!
And then we went on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster. I really do think Tommy was most excited about this one. We both loved the guitar décor inside and out, and the tributes and music kept us entertained during the long-ish wait. (Side-note: ALMOST all of the rides had no line. We got spoiled walking straight onto rides. So to actually wait for any amount of time seemed long-ish.) The ride was really fun- lots of dips and twists that you couldn’t anticipate because you were completely in the dark indoors, and blacklit signs flying at your face. Thoroughly enjoyed that one. We then pull into the little hall where you wait for the people in front of you to get off. And waited and waited. Which wouldn’t have been bad except for the several super cool preteen cousins who all decided to be obnoxious as possible. And then. My dream. Came true.
Pause for background story:: As afore mentioned, I’m a roller coaster man. Wo-man. I’ve only closed my eyes once on a ride since my first one and only Lindsey Oliver knows which ride that was. I wasn’t scared, I was just worried my MIND would get scared and make me wet myself. Legit concern! ANYway. I have never gotten stuck on a ride. But, I’ve always wanted to get stuck on a ride. One time, we watched a whole car of riders hang on the up-ramp for an hour before the workers got them off. I SO wanted to be on there. It’s like..... a mix of being almost famous, needing to be rescued, having a little adventure, and being close to danger- it’s like the perfect storm of a good story. ::Resume present story
SO on the Rockin’ Roller Coaster, the announcer lady told us we had malfunctioned and we would have to be rescued!! YAY!!! So the little men came and unlocked our safety bars and we had to climb onto the rarely-used-by-visitors walkway. We got to see the whole coaster all twisting around itself in this room we never thought would be so small- it was so impressive! We had to stay on this green pathway so that we wouldn’t… break something? Get lost? And got to walk under, around, and thru the coaster's track. And we saw a random desk for some poor soul who has to sit in the dark and almost get run over everyday....? And now we know all their secrets!!
There are many little stories to tell but they all blend together- in my mind we seamlessly sang along with the muppets and road thru Munchkin Land and explored a haunted mansion and met Mike Wazowski and boated thru a pirate cave. It was just exciting being there- where everything is Disney and everything is FUN and jolly and sing-song-y.
To end the day, we road back to our hotel on a low-riding boat into the sunset. AHhhhh…magic.... We changed into nicer clothes and had an absolutely wonderful meal at…some restaurant? And fell asleep FAST. Ex-haust-ed.
It was a great birthday present. Great Great Great.
Monday, October 11, 2010
conferences.
So at Tommy's conference, he was traveling with Jon and their HR co-worker to his grad school alma mater. Basically, we was going to see a lot of people he would know. But, they did not know him. Why? Because of his crazy haircut! Getting double-takes from people you saw everyday a few years must have been weird.
Meanwhile, I was going to lectures I didn't need to hear. But I was also rooming with one of my co-workers that I didn't know at all. It was very interesting- we talked a ton. And she even brought up all kinds of religious topics. She brought up how her fiancé can't stand any type of sharing of beliefs, and she talked about how she knows there is something. But it was almost like.... I couldn't tell if she was just looking for things to talk about because things about church and prayer just kinda comes up sometimes when I talk, and she noticed. I hope that if she has any questions or something happens in her life, she now feels comfortable to talk to me about it. I actually encouraged her to seek out how religions differ, and that Christianity is not about "being good" and I hope she actually heard things I said. We'll see!!
Tommy and I both feel like our conferences went by in a blur. Hence, this is a short blog. But it is at least a little longer than the last one... that I wrote five minutes ago....
Meanwhile, I was going to lectures I didn't need to hear. But I was also rooming with one of my co-workers that I didn't know at all. It was very interesting- we talked a ton. And she even brought up all kinds of religious topics. She brought up how her fiancé can't stand any type of sharing of beliefs, and she talked about how she knows there is something. But it was almost like.... I couldn't tell if she was just looking for things to talk about because things about church and prayer just kinda comes up sometimes when I talk, and she noticed. I hope that if she has any questions or something happens in her life, she now feels comfortable to talk to me about it. I actually encouraged her to seek out how religions differ, and that Christianity is not about "being good" and I hope she actually heard things I said. We'll see!!
Tommy and I both feel like our conferences went by in a blur. Hence, this is a short blog. But it is at least a little longer than the last one... that I wrote five minutes ago....
dos weekends.
On Thursday, Sept 30th, Tommy woke up at 4 am to go to Birmingham. I woke up at 6 to go to Orlando. He returned to Gainesville Friday night, and then drove to Orlando Saturday morning. Sunday we drove back to Gainesville. Thursday, October 7th, we left work at noon and drove to Prattville, Alabama. Friday the 8th we drove up to Birmingham and back to Prattville that same night. And then that Sunday, we drove back to Gainesville.
We is tired.
We is tired.
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