December Events

The first big event we had in December was our Thunder Road marathon/half marathon. Jenn had been training for months in preparation for this big event and two weeks before the run, she injured her leg. With her pulled muscle, she was not able to run for longer than 1/2 mile. She was worried she may have to pull out of the race, but wanted to give it a go. So, we went on the frosty Saturday morning into Charlotte. It was a scorching 31 degrees outside, but luckily it didn't rain/snow which was a possibility. I ran in the half-marathon because the first 12 miles went along with the marathon route. Jenn struggled for the first 2 miles or so, but kept at it and loosened up enough that she actually finished the entire marathon! While she is very pleased with her accomplishment, it would not be Jenn if she didn't have a bigger goal to accomplish. Since she walked a bit in the second half of the race, her goal is to run ANOTHER marathon, this time not walking at all. So, Jenn and I (both!) have signed up for the Pittsburgh marathon in May. Wish us luck.

Following the marathon/half-marathon, our next big event happened the following weekend. Jenn and I set off to Pennsylvania to celebrate an early Christmas with both of our families. The plan was to spend the weekend with Jenn's family and then head to Pittsburgh on Monday to spend a few days with friends and family there. Unfortunately, the east coast had a blizzard hit on the day we left. My school actually let out early due to the inclement weather forecast. So good news- we left earlier than expected; bad news- possible bad weather. The bad news ended up outweighing the good news. While we were driving through NC, we started getting some snow. Yes...snow in NC. It's not good because there are no snow plows to be seen in the entire state. So we trudged through the snow in NC and into Virginia. By this time, I was driving and the storm was getting worse. We were driving in the blizzard of 2009, with visibility very low and ice beginning to coat the road. When our wipers froze up with ice, we finally admitted the inevitable and decided we couldn't make it to PA. My lovely wife being so thoughtful, she had printed out a list of dog-friendly motels along I-81 in VA. So we booked a room and stayed the night.

Jenn driving in the NC blizzard.

The road along I-77 (not bad yet)

The first night's feast- Walmart hoagies (the ONLY place open) and Dr. Pepper

The morning after the storm.

We started out the next day around 9 to a much nicer road. Unfortunately that only lasted the first few miles. We found out that Virginia probably has as many snow plows as North Carolina. Cars were off the road every few miles and the roads were still not plowed (other than the first few miles). So after only 100 miles or so of very slow moving (5 hours), we stopped at another motel for the night. While we hated stopping, it was nice to have some time to relax.

Jenn and Leo relaxing the second night

After the third day of traveling, we finally made it to Mechanicsburg to spend some time with Jenn's family. Due to the detours in our trip, we were not going to be able to make it to Pittsburgh. Luckily my parents were able to make it out to visit for a day while we were there. It was a lot of fun spending time with family. We had sled riding, snow ball fights, board games, opening Christmas presents, and a fun night of bowling (which the "old folks" embarassed all the "young folk", other than myself).

Brad and Leo sled ridingThe battle is ON!Opening early Christmas presents

Leo chasing me in the snow

Leo "protecting" me and chasing Brad down the hill

Thanksgiving Week

The first thing I should mention about Thanksgiving week happened on Monday. At our school, our lovely media specialist decided a great way to get students to read is to challenge them to a contest against the staff. The staff would sign up and take tests on books (had to be 4th grade level or higher). If any classes got more 100% scores on tests than the staff team, they would get to see the staff dance the Hannah Montana Hoedown Throwdown. Apparently our media specialist was correct as the students in our school passed more than 3,500 tests on books for the first nine weeks! So there ended up being 4 classes that beat the teachers. I'm proud to say that my class was one of them, my neighboring 3rd grade class was another, and 2 of the 4 fifth grade classes beat us as well. (Note: not all staff members participated in the challenge, only those in the dance)



I'm in the black w/ the black cowboy hat.



On Thanksgiving, Jenn signed us up for a 10k to help prepare for our upcoming half-marathon/full marathon in two weeks. Jenn had been training harder than me, and it showed as she "beat" me for the first time in a race...ever. I do have to make it known that at about the half-way point Jenn was right behind me and then veered off into some bushes. I thought she was sick, so I was torn between trying to get the best time and seeing if she was okay. I ended up running back to see if she was okay and I am confident that had I not run back to check on her, I'd have come away with the victory.

The rest of the Thanksgiving day was spent relaxing and Jenn cooking all our food (Jenn's tip: mix the food up the day before so all you need to do is stick it in the oven the day of). We had a meal fit for a family of 8-10, despite it being only the two of us. We had a 14 lb. turkey, cornbread stuffing, green bean casserole, homemade mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, croissant rolls, and gravy. It was delicious and we will be eating it for at least a week.

Jenn and her turkey roaster.

Jenn's Thanksgiving Spread

I for one am looking forward to the rest of my break where I don't plan to leave the couch much. I have a feeling Leo will be joining me for most of the lounging, too :)

Renaissance Festival

Jenn and I recently attended the 16th annual Carolina Renaissance Festival. We forgot our camera though, so I had to borrow this photo from their website. We went on the weekend of the Gambrinus Cup, which is presented to the best home brewed beer. Unfortunately, it was raining, but cleared up around noon and we had a great time. Drank some beer, ate a turkey leg, watched lots of impressive acrobat/comedy shows, and of course, rooted for our knight in the jousting tournament. Our knight, unfortunately, was killed on accident by his friend. It was disappointing. We didn't get to sample the home brewed beer unfortunately because by the time we went to that area, there was only a half hour remaining. It was a lot of fun though.

Camping Trip

The weekend of October 1st, Jenn and I went camping in the McDowell Nature Preserve in Mecklenberg County (about 15 minutes from Belmont). The first night was a little nuts as we set up camp and then went to pay for the site only to discover that someone else had reserved the site and the ranger neglected to put up the reserved sign. So we picked up the tent, carried it to a neighboring site and began to relax. As soon as the sun went down, we brought out our rechargeable lantern only to discover we had not charged it. So it was a fun night using a tiny light from Jenn's keychain to find our way around camp. (Luckily there was power outlet at the site so we were able to charge the lantern for the following night).
We slept well despite Leo's need to growl at every little sound. The next day we took some long hikes and even did some fishing. I caught a lot of little guys, but Jenn wasn't so lucky so she spent the time wading (apparently illegally) with Leo.

We love camping and this trip did not disappoint. Pizza sandwiches over the fire, hiking through the woods, s'mores, board games, and enjoying each other's company without movies or TV shows. Hopefully next year we will have enough time to take a few more of these trips.

Around the House

After all of our excitement over the summer, we had some things to do when we got home. Unfortunately, our garden I had planted in May was overrun with weeds and in pretty poor shape, so we were unable to harvest much of anything from the garden this year. We also had to weed the whole rest of the yard and get flowers to plant in July (a little late to start planting).

Meanwhile I was trying to run almost every day to make up the 10 or 15 pounds I put on since Jenn had been gone and since we pigged out over our honeymoon.

Later on during the summer we rented a powerwasher with our neighbors Ken and D'Etta and powerwashed our house, deck, patio, and driveway. Our water bill was double that month.

Jenn working the washer on the deck

After powerwashing, we spent about a week staining the deck with a semi-transparent stain. It ended up taking much longer than expected, especially since the weather would not cooperate. Rain just about every other day. However, we finally got it done by the time school started. While all this was going on, I still had my summer project to finish. Jenn and I decided to build a patio in our backyard to get a firepit and another gathering spot. So I had to remove the bushes around our crawl space (we hated them anyway) and that was a pain in the rear. The next day I started leveling out the area for the patio, and Jenn came home early. At the last minute (actually about 30 seconds too late because I just began digging), Jenn mentioned she wanted the patio in the back corner by the trees. Lucky for her she got home early, because I would have pitched a fit if I had worked hours on the project before she changed her mind. So I started leveling out the back area which took a few days working a leisurely couple hours a day (before it got hot). When it was all ready, Jenn came with me to get the stones and she help set some of the stones in. It actually turned out really nice and can comfortably sit 4-6 people around it.





When Jenn got her first paycheck, we decided it was time to purchase a car. We had done a lot of research into safety ratings, etc. for SUVs with third row seatings and we decided to get a Toyota Highlander. However, after test driving the highlander and the Honda Pilot, even though the Pilot was slightly more expensive, we decided it was the best car for us. Unfortunately, when we tried to trade Jenn's Saturn into Carmax, they considered it junk and wouldn't give more than 100 for it. So we sold it on craigslist and received almost 1000, which made us pretty happy. Jenn loves the new car, which means I do too, even if she doesn't let me drive it much.

Days after the Honeymoon

The night we got back from the honeymoon, we went back to the Microtel Inn for our park/sleep/fly reservation. On our way back to Mechanicsburg, we stopped at Valley Forge, where Washington's troops spent their winter. We took a walking tour and watched a movie. It was actually really interesting, and it was free, so we enjoyed it.
We also had time to open some of our wedding gifts and Jenn got to play in a softball game while we stayed with her parents. It was a good time.








Re-enactors showing clothes/items used during the Revolutionary War.





Jenn and I in a small cabin that would have held 6 soldiers.





Opening some wedding gifts.







Jenn played on her church's softball team and she got a real hit!

An unfamiliar place for Jenn to be.

Honeymoon (6/21/09-6/27/09) Days 6 and 7

Friday was probably our most grueling day of our honeymoon. We had signed up for the volcano hike. We hiked up Mt. Liamuiga on the northern end of the island. Liamuiga is an active volcano, but hasn't erupted in about 2,000 years. We had to hike about 3 hours up to the rim of the crater, but the hike was absolutely beautiful the whole way. We hiked through different sections of the rain forest and saw many different types of trees and plants. We were informed of all the different herbal medicines and things the locals use make from the plants, including an aphrodesiac made from one of the plants. Our guide, Mr. Rogers, assured us it worked.

Goats scattering into the wild sugar cane field as we were driving up to the start of the hike.

The view of Mt. Liamuiga and sugar cane fields.

A tree fern seen on the way up the mountain.

Giant buttress roots from some of the trees in the rain forests.

Video of Jenn hiking up the mountain.

Hiking up with Mr. Rogers.

When we finally made it to the top of the crater, the view was absolutely gorgeous. While it was a bit overcast, we could see all around the crater and vaguely see the island of St. Martin or St. Bart (I don't remember which it was). Mr. Rogers told us on nice days you could see three different islands-St. Martin, St. Bart, and Anguilla I think.

Panorama of the crater of the volcano.

Me and Jenn with our fellow hikers, Orrin and

Jenn over the crater.

Crater with the small crater lake, which Mr. Rogers says is not usually there.

The hike back down.

FINISHED!!!

On our trip back from the hike, we decided to take some photos of the local culture. From the bottle shops every block to the side of the road bar-b-ques, it was not exactly as grand as our suite at the Marriott.

Barbeque right on the side of the road.

Typical house along the road.

Government housing being built. Small, but looked in better shape than many of the houses.

When we got back to the resort, Jenn and I relaxed a little at the pool and pool bar. Then Jenn decided to take some photos of the landscaping at the resort to show just how beautiful it was everyday.

The best customer to the swim-up bar.

Fan palms lining the path.

The view of St. Kitts just outside of our front door.

The view from our balcony.

Saturday we got up early to take in one last snorkel. We were both hoping we would find that elusive octopus we had heard about on one of the first days. So we snorkeled out to the rock reef and swam around. This time we went around the edge. We saw many of the same fish, coral, and rays. Right before it was time to head back in, I looked down on a rock and thought I saw part of it move. Sure enough, there was an octopus on the rock with its tentacles curled up into little balls. It was very well camouflaged and it took a minute of pointing it out to Jenn before she saw it. If it had it's arms stretched out, I'd guess it'd be between 3 and 4 feet from tip to tip. Very cool.

After that adventure, Jenn and I headed in to pack up and get lunch before catching our flight at the airport. Let me tell you, it was really aggravating at the airport. I am used to U.S. airports, which have their flaws, too. However, this was RIDICULOUS. It took us almost 2 hours to get through the first line. Then we had to go to another line which took a more reasonable 3o minutes. Finally, when we thought we were through, we had to go through a final line, which took about another 30 minutes. Luckily once we were on the plane, we had no problems.

Final drink at the Bohemian.

Waiting...and waiting...and waiting...at the airport.

Finally going to the plane.

Getting on!

Leaving St. Kitts.