Anniversary Present

Traditionally, for a first wedding anniversary, the gift is paper. I thought I was being clever in giving Andrew tickets to see one of our favorite comedians, but it turned out he had the same "clever" idea. He got us tickets to see the musical "Fiddler on the Roof" performed downtown at the Civic Center. Not only did we both give paper gifts, but we turned our anniversary into three fun nights instead of just one!

We had dinner at a Greek restaurant downtown because it was a throwback to our honeymoon
(I had moussaka again) :

Speaking of our honeymoon, we bought this dress in the San Francisco portion of our trip. It is really fun to wear because the bottom swish-swish-swishes. Please ignore my undone hair! We flew in that day from our week long trip at Mt. Hermon and our bags were lost. (but now they're found)

The best part of the night (as you facebook people already know) was, unbeknownst to us, the lead of Tevye was actually played by Topol, the same actor from the motion picture! We were just amazed by how spot-on this guy was and then saw the playbill at intermission. I was so excited and the production was truly amazing.

Topol is now 74, but still has plenty of vigor during the musical numbers. He does look a little trimmer, though:

Thanks, handsome, for the great present! We were singing "Tradition"; "If I were a rich man" and "Wonder of wonder, miracle of miracles" for probably two days after the show.

Stevie!

Early July, Stevie (a high school friend from Tucson) and her boyfriend Chris came to San Diego for their summer vacation. Drew and I were fortunate enough to be included on their itinerary! We went to dinner at the Barefoot Bar and Grill in Paradise Point and headed over to Miller's Field for the rest of the night. It was so fun getting to know Chris a little bit better and catching up with Stevie (I feel like when we get together, no matter how long it has been, we just pick up right where we left off!)

I can't find the picture of me and Andrew, and I think we forgot to get Chris in a picture (or he cleverly dodged getting it taken) but take my word that they were there! Drew and Chris have fantasy football in common, which in guy land is quite enough to be friends- I wish we only lived closer to these two :( Anyways, it was a great night and I will get to see Stevie and Chris again next weekend during my cross-country trek to Florida. Love you!

The Del Mar County Fair!

Blogger or my cursor is acting up so I apologize for the strange spacing here. A couple of weeks ago, Drew asked me spur-of-the-moment if I wanted to go to the fair instead of have dinner at home. I am all about getting out and about in San Diego right now, so of course I was on board! The above picture is of a little piglet that had just performed a lengthy dive into an 8 foot trough and was being warmed in a blanket. Andrew thought it was just the cutest little thing and paid the 5 bucks to hold it for a picture!

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This was a gigantic horse... no, it is not just the angle of the camera.

Look at 6'3" Andrew next to it:

The little racing piglets! The prize was Oreo cookies for the fastest- never knew little piggies liked oreos...

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We saw this sign and had to give it a go:

This is what a deep fried S'more looks like- deliciosity.
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Aside from the pig races, we played carnival games, rode the sky buckets and went down the gigantic potato sack slide. Oh, and of course we ate as much fried food as our hearts could possibly handle! Sometimes the spontaneous nights are just as fun- if not more- than the planned ones.

Andrew's Football League

Andrew's flag football team, The Ball Hawks, took the championship title!

Here are some pictures of Drew in action:

He filled in as QB for awhile

...but he prefers to play receiver

Congrats on the win!

Our big move to Florida

As many of you know, the biggest news currently in our lives is our upcoming move to Tallahassee, Florida. My parents live there, and it was my Dad who informed me of a full-time teaching position open at Tallahassee Community College (full-time positions are extremely hard to come by in San Diego). So I interviewed, and was offered the position! We are very blessed to have work in this economy, but we will also be very sad to leave our friends and memories in San Diego. Nevertheless, we are trying to think positively about the new chapter of our lives. So here is a little about the city of Tallahassee:

It is the capital of Florida

It is known as a college town, hosting Florida State University, Florida A & M, and of course, my new employer, TCC (pictured)

It has beautiful canopy roads, created by the overhanging spanish moss

It has historic homes and buildings with the Southern-style porches and columns

... and lakes, of course! This is the lake next to the beautiful Maclay Gardens

Here are the Gardens:





Here are a few pictures from when we were in town for my brother's wedding. Here were are in my Dad's boat out at their lake house.


I took this picture of an alligator on a swamp boat tour in the county of Wakulla

...and a manatee!

We invite you all to come visit us. There is more than enough room to house visitors and we would just love having some familiar faces around!

One Year Anniversary with new pictures

Hello all! Long time no see. I'm hoping to start blogging regularly again. I doubt I will actually go back through six months of pictures and completely catch everyone up, but you never know! At the very least, here is how we kicked off our summer vacation: the celebration of our one-year anniversary!

Andrew took the reigns on the planning and surprised me with a beautiful downtown San Diego day. We had fish tacos on the waterfront for lunch, relaxed by a rooftop pool in the afternoon and went on a three hour dinner cruise through the harbor. It was the perfect way to celebrate and enjoy this amazing city that we are about to leave. Here are some pics:

Our dinner vessel

The only shot of the two of us together

I needed his jacket pretty early in the evening... it was chilly!

It was Memorial Day, so here's a patriotic shot for you all!

More wind!

At our table

Cheers!

The downtown lights were beautiful at night

The pool at the hotel Se

Drew enjoying the warm water

Me enjoying the sunshine

The classic Donald grin

What a great day! Lets hope we have 64 more anniversaries!

What we've been up to

We are buried in books. Andrew and I have only two months left until our Master's Exam, and we are just reading reading reading. I thought I'd explain why I didn't even get through the holiday posts, and how our many (ha!) blog followers will have to wait until summer for catching up. But really, there's not much to tell except what Thoreau, Dickinson and Faulkner have to say.