Adventures Archives - Page 5 of 6

Back from Birmingham

June 5, 2007 by Maren 12 Comments

We’re back from a great time in Birmingham, AL. The wedding was beautiful, and weather, the same. We first made a stop at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

From there, the wedding festivities…

Amazing Man on the Mandolin… Sorry couldn’t resist–Man/Mandolin… A little Alliteration never hurt anyone.

Fun program for an outdoor wedding–A FAN! Great idea!

LOVED the groom’s cake…

The happy couple

Then afterwards…

Had dinner with a close friend (Sarah) from high school.

Checked out Vulcan Park, home of the largest cast iron statue in the world (conveniently located in Birmingham).

Tried jumping in the fountain to make a fun gif (the moving type of picture), but each time I jumped in, the camera stalled…This was all I got… SHAME.

And perhaps the longest semi I’ve ever seen. Whatta you say? I think Oscar Mayer has missed an advertising opportunity!

Happy Tuesday!

Michael and I celebrated our sixth year anniversary this weekend! Michael was so sweet to leave me clues to solve throughout the entire week! With me, if something requires solving, it is more fun! Perhaps that is why I’ve loved games my whole life! On Monday, he gave me a clue on parchment paper that he’d toasted to make it look old. On Tuesday, he emailed me a clue where to find flowers! On Wednesday, he gave me a clue–a phone number in code–to call Krista for Friday night date info, on Thursday he just made me wonder and ask where my clue was all day, and on Friday he made me a cryptogram telling me where to find my card! He put the card high up in the tree; so after I got off work, I’m sure the neighbors wondered why I was dancing and around the tree, broom in hand, batting at the limbs–Maybe they thought it was some type of ritual dance.

We went to see Rodgers & Hammerstein’s OKLAHOMA at a dinner theater over the river in Clarksville, IN! Michael and I had gone to another rendition of the musical while were dating. I lived in Oklahoma at the time, and he came to visit me during summer break. There, they have a permanent ampitheater for the musical, running every summer evening. So…we had seen another company do the play before, BUT this production, we agree was a favorite–done better than Oklahoma’s Oklahoma! The food was good, too, if you like down-home type cookin’.

In other random news, we found the cutest rabbit’s nest in our back yard! I’ve never see one before. I noticed a patch of fur and grass, and thought an animal of sorts had eaten a rabbit dinner there. If you touched it (in my case stepped on it), though, it moved from beneath! Michael pealed back the fur and grass to discover all the little bunnies. The picture doesn’t show all of the bunnies, but one little Peter Cottontail posed for the camera!–eyes are still closed! The mother conveniently positioned this nest 3 feet away from our newly planted garden! Uh Oh! Side note: After doing some Googling, I found out that mothers pull out their own hair to create the nest…how painful!

Happy Tuesday!

Whirlwind Weekends

April 16, 2007 by Maren 3 Comments

This past weekend, we were over and back in a whirlwind trip to the DC area. The purpose was to see a childhood friend tie the knot. We had a great time with friends who have been friends since toddling years—and our parents, more years than that. It was a great trip!

Thursday- We drove 6 hours to Morgantown, WV, spent the night.

Friday- We drove the rest of the way. Michael and I stopped in Old Alexandria to meet up with a friend from high school. We ate at the best restaurant I’ve been to in a long while! (Thanks, Charity!) Friday evening, we attended the rehearsal dinner.

Saturday- Wedding and reception.

Sunday-drove back.

It’s amazing how fast 4 days come and go, but it truly was wonderful!

And the winner is…

March 26, 2007 by Maren 11 Comments

This past Friday, Michael had the opportunity to speak to a large group of Indianapolis teens after a Pacer game. I would describe the evening like a progressive lock-in, with the groups alternating from one activity to another i.e. bowling, skating, gym, etc. The evening starts out with a Pacer game and is followed by a short message (this year, given by Michael) before the groups scatter to go to all the activities. When Michael speaks to large groups, I’m always more nervous for him than he is! Somehow, I was drafted to help with the “Let’s Make a Deal” game. I gave away a few great prizes as well as a few that weren’t so good. It was a fun night! If you think I look odd in the one picture, I agree–I was somehow distorting my body and plastering on a bizarre face, with the goal of enticing a contestant to pick my prize.

We drove back late Saturday night to be back for a 9:00 a.m. (ARE THEY CRAZY???) speech contest that Michael was participating in on Saturday morning. He won his contest and will be moving on to a Regional contest in Indianapolis in May! Yeah, Michael!

Saturday afternoon, my parents headed into town and we went to eat at one of our favorite (hole-in-the-wall) restaurants in Louisville, The Viatamese Kitchen. MMMMMmmmmm.. Mom and I stayed up until midnight youtube-ing…lol. Maybe I shouldn’t admit that, but we had fun doing so… It’s always WONDERFUL having them in town. They brought several hostas that they had split from their own garden! WHOOHOO! We’re trying to figure out our landscaping and garden, and their generous hosta donation will help keep the costa down! I’m getting corny now. Must stop here.

Happy Monday!

« Previous Page