Where Would You Move?

Disclaimer: This blog in no way implies we are about to move anywhere, so no jumping to conclusions.

The question: Where (in the USA) would you live if you could live anywhere?

Follow-up question: If you are not living there already, what keeps you from living there?

My answer to get things going: Denver, CO. I am not living there because I just finished school and do not have a job lined up over there and haven’t had time to look. Plus, I am fairly content in Memphis and major change scares me.

Jamaica Mon

Regretfully, we returned from our 4-day Jamaica trip Monday evening. We celebrated our 4-year anniversary and Ben’s completion of his degree on this beautiful island. For all who want to know, the hurricane really did not affect the place we were at all—it was sunny skies and crystal blue water for us.

It was terrible getting back to Memphis after being in paradise. Sometimes near the end of vacations we both have that feeling that it is time to get back to our normal lives, but neither of us had that feeling at all. We had no desire to get back (except for seeing Cali again). We highly recommend going to Couples Swept Away when you go to Jamaica because it is an amazing resort and we were spoiled from the second we got there.

Hammock
Catamaran Cruise
Our Last Night
Sunset

Spiders and Hurricanes

The picture of the spider here may be misleading. Monica battled this spider to the death (and won) the other morning because I was not there to do the dirty work. She did, however, take a picture of the spider to prove that it was "huge."? The misleading part is the drain the spider is next to is actually 2 feet in diameter! Okay, I am lying, but that is what it would take for a spider to be "huge"? in my book. I thought about writing a long blog about how much Monica dislikes spiders, but there are more important things to discuss . . . like hurricanes.

Hurricane Dean is headed right for Jamaica, which is right where we are supposed to go next week for our vacation. This has us worried, although there is no telling what the hurricane will do, if anything, to our vacation destination. But then it dawned on us that we should probably be more worried about people potentially losing their lives, than whether or not we get to go next week. We have travel insurance, so we are in good shape, but there are people that do not have much who might lose everything in this storm if it hits Jamaica and other places (it already nailed St. Lucia). So, vacation or no, let's hope Dean calms down and all the islanders are safe.

m's Favorite Dinner Picture

More evidence I have the most beautiful wife in the world!

Guests Galore

In the months of June and July, we were blessed with many guests. In June my sister, mom, and three nephews stayed with us for a week. July brought Patrick for 5 days and Michael for 2 1/2 days. We totaled it up and found we had guests staying with us 13 out of 30 days! That is a lot for us, but we really enjoyed it. It is nice to have a change of pace and new people. The only problem is that it reminds us of why having one bathroom is tough, and especially one right in the middle of the house.

Also, having guests is often embarrassing because we have very little food. We didn't even have any salad dressing when my family arrived! This is normal, though, and we've come to accept it. We are amazed when we go to someone's house and they have a full refrigerator—how do they do it? Maybe this is the DINK (dual income no kids) life. We never cook anything that takes more than 2 or 3 ingredients, mainly because after a day of work we just don't care to cook.

So, Monica's birthday is Saturday and we will be on a float trip! Wait, weren't we just on a float trip last weekend? Why yes, we were. I guess we are just gluttons for punishment. Anyway, Monica will be a year older and wiser and prettier! Next weekend we will celebrate with her family in Springfield, MO. Here is a funny thing (at least I think) about Monica. She gets birthday cards in the mail and will not even think about opening them until her actual birthday. I think this is crazy, especially since I know there is money in them, but somehow she has the discipline to wait.

Monica, Michael (Bubby), and Beale Street