Figure 8 Island, NC

George and I each had a total of three days off in the month of October, a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So, in early October we went to Figure 8 Island off the coast of North Carolina to a wedding of a close friend of George's from Wisconsin. It was a beautiful weekend. Here is the house we shared with a bunch of friends. I was so surprised about the weather; it got up into the 80's and I was actually able to play in the waves, my favorite!!



George, Bucky, and Mac.




It was clear skies all weekend until one hour before the outdoor wedding and there was a huge thunderstorm. It cleared just in time and left this rainbow as the backdrop to the wedding.

Us with George's mom.

Some of the Wisonsin crew. For those that don't know about Wisconsin, George's family has a house on Lake Owen up there. It has been passed down in the family for five generations and all of these families have been friends for almost that long. It was nearly impossible to get a good picture of the bride and groom, they were always out on the dance floor. I will try to find one and post it.

It was back to work on Monday and a few days later I came home to this lovely hole in our office ceiling. There has been so much rain that what we thought was a small water spot, turned into a large crack very quickly. This occured the day the roofer was supposed to come, but of course didn't. That evening was spent patching the roof for another huge storm. This has since lead to the fact that we need an entire new roof and while we are at it we might try to close in our garage and add a much needed laundry room. Oh the expense, the roof will hopefully be done in the next week or so and I am afraid the garage/laundry room will be 6 months down the line. Always fun! I almost forgot the most important news...I found out that I passed physics boards!!!!

New York continued.

We took a 2 day trip to Vermont for some mountain biking. This needs some explaining because we are not mountain bikers. My mom tends to get us into interesting situations sometimes. For example one Thanksgiving my aunt and uncle were visiting and we went for a hike in Huntsville. She told the park people that we didn't want some stroll in the woods, we wanted a real hike. So the turkey is in the oven and we all head out to Green Mountain and start our REAL hike. This included 4-5 hours of hiking, sliding down dirt hills, and freaking out that the turkey was in the oven at home, we had been hiking for hours and there was no end in sight. My dad ended up running to a road, hitch hiking in the back of a truck, getting the car and finding us. The turkey was actually delicious and to my mom's credit it was quite the adventure. So back to mountain biking, she read in the Houston Chronicle about the number one mountain biking trails in Vermont. So of course we are in the area, so lets go! We get to the bike shop the night before our ride to rent our bikes and the dude is looking at us like, so you guys have never been on mountain bikes? We are all looking at my mom like what have you gotten us into? Again, to her credit it ended up being the highlight of the trip. The trails were gorgeous and if it got too rough we just got off the bike and walked. I recommend this to anyone and the area we stayed in was so quaint. Here is our bed and breakfast.

This is the view from the B&B.

We thought the best thing to do before our big ride the next day was to by some wine and walk up this huge hill behind our room, it was breathtaking.

This is a picture of the suburban on its last trip. We had some car issues and I think the fact that it made it back to Houston is amazing. Yes, this is the same suburban that all the girls piled into on my 16th birthday and I drove us to Ruby Tuesday's. I specifically remember Kristen asking me if I was sure I could drive this thing!

The last supper before the big ride!

All geared up. People were looking at us funny, I think because of our choice of attire for the event!

We rode for 2 hours and found this spa that serves lunch, great!

Although we had every intention of this lunch being a halfway point, as you can see we had a beer and by the time we got back on the bikes our rears were so sore that we took the shortest route back to the bike shop.

A quick trip to Cooperstown where baseball was invented and the location of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Then we headed to New Jersey to visit my Uncle Bernard and made our way to the City. We stayed in Times Square and did the usual tourist spots, this was George's first trip.

The Statue of Liberty.

Some random car show was going on, I just thought this picture was hilarious.

Lunch at Chelsea Piers. You can barely see the Statue of Liberty in the background.

Martinis at the St. Regis Hotel.

Subway ride to Brooklyn for dinner at Peter Luger's, one of the top 5 steak houses in the country, another mom find!

We ordered a steak for 4 and all 5 of us couldn't finish it. It was hands down the best steak I have ever had.

The Empire State Building.

We spent the afternoon in Central park and at the Boathouse. Then we headed out to see Phantom of the Opera, it was excellent.

Late night dinner at Bond Street Sushi after the show. Sunday Morning we headed back to Birmingham and my parents headed back to Houston. It was a great trip. I love New York! I am so jealous Cindy got to live there.

New York

I took my physics boards on Thursday September 10th and the next day we were headed up to New York for a little family vacation. A little family background: My mom's grandparents came over from Slovakia (Checkoslovakia at the time) as children and originally lived in New Jersey, my great grandmother's doctor told her she needed to get out of the city because of lung issues. So they moved to Up State New York, just north of Saratoga, and started a dairy farm. They had 10 children which include my grandmother (mom's mom), my Great Aunt Emma who we stayed with and traveled back to Europe with last Spring to meet the family, and my Great Uncle Eddy. Uncle Eddy took over the farm from his parents and has worked on the farm his whole life. My cousin Ricky now runs the farm. It is 270 acres or so, with about 186 cows. George has never been to visit so it was great for him to meet everyone.

The Farm House.

Picking Blueberries.

My Cousin Ricky.

George bonding with the lone male calf, what a lucky guy he is!

This picture cracks me up! My Uncle Bernard brought his guns and we shot at plastic bottle targets! I hit 3/5 targets on my first try!

George feeding this 2 day old calf. It was so cute!

After she finished the bottle, she followed him around and nudged him, she thought he was her mamma and wanted more milk!

Having a traditional Slovakian Becherovka in the farm house to end the night! It is quite strong, but if you ever come over to our house, George will insist you have a shot before dinner. We did this at every house we visited in Slovakia.

Back to the blog! A little behind! In August we had our 10 year high school reunion. It was fun to see everyone. Here are a few pics, I wish I had taken more.

Our Class President, Johnny and I go back to kindergarten!

Erin Lindsey and I also go back to Holy Spirit days, I didn't even recognize her!