Russ's Wedding Weekend (7/16 - 7/20)

So here it is, Thursday, and I think I have finally recovered from this past weekend. I had a blast the entire time and it was really great to see everyone together again. I personally couldn't be happier for Russ and Eva and I'm glad she is now a part of our family. In case you missed it, here's what went on this weekend.

The "weekend" technically started for me on Wednesday when I headed up towards Jacksonville, NC to pick up cousin Cory. From there he and I went to Chapel Hill, NC to meet up with Cromer and Maggie. We went out drinking for a bit and then stumbled home. It was pretty cold in Maggie's apartment so I decided it would be warmer to sleep under the table on the nice hard floor. I did manage to find a blanket whereas Cory wrapped himself up like a taco in the futon mattress to try and stay warm.

Thursday comes and its time to head to Kingsport, TN. We got on the road 2 hours later than I wanted to thanks to Cromer and Maggie but we still made good time getting there. We got in Russ's pool for the pre-party and just hung out for a while. Once the whole gang got to Kingsport we headed to Hooters to kick off the bachelor party. After Hooters we headed to a local karaoke dive in Kingsport where we were entertained by Hamilton's singing. Finally we made it back to Jeff's house to play some poker and then crash for the night. Once again I found myself sleeping on hard floor, this time it was the screened in porch which had concrete covered with thin carpet for the flooring. It was a rather tame bachelor party but everyone had a lot of fun.

On Friday we didn't do much. We picked up the tux's then checked into our hotel (which happens to be the nicest part of Kingsport) and got ready for the rehearsal and dinner. At the rehearsal dinner we consumed quite a lot of alcohol and everyone had a great time. Cromer's slideshow was a hit and the rest of the night was pretty much spent drinking and shootin' the bull, by far the best night of the weekend.

Russ's big day finally came and I was just as nervous as anyone else (perhaps the Pal's burger for lunch had something to do with my nervous stomach). The first thing I did was leave the rings in my hotel room but I quickly got back there to retrieve them. We picked up the wedding cake and I had to drive it home like I was driving a new born home from the hospital. Luckily the cake made it to the church with only a few finger prints showing in the icing. We started getting into our tux's and we were all dressed by like 3:45pm which made for a long July day in a penguin suit. We got to the church for pictures and this is where I really began falling apart. As we were taking pictures my button falls off, this helps to keep everyone else loose and laughing but I thought I was going to break down. The rest of the time before the wedding was spent hanging out with the guys, and then Russ alone. He and I did our best to keep our composure, but as Eva and her dad walked down the aisle I think a lot of us teared up. We made it through the ceremony and the whole day turned out beautiful. I know I've said it before but I'm really excited for the both of them.

The good news is, we get to do this all over again at mine and Christina's wedding on Sept. 13th!! I'm pretty sure I'll be a pool of goo by the time the ceremony starts but nevertheless I'm getting excited.

New Pics

So its been way too long since the last post, but we've had a lot going on. Christina made it back from Alaska just fine and since then we've been working on wedding stuff and house stuff. There's been a lot of paperwork and some stress mixed in but overall I'd say things are going pretty well.

To explain some more about the house, we are closing on Aug. the 18th and hope to move in that following weekend!! We have been lucky in that the sellers accepted our offer right off the bat and things seem to be going smoothly so far. Its kind of an old school house with a Brady bunch look to it but we'll be able to do some work on it and make it our own. There is a fenced in backyard so hopefully a Beagle pup will come pretty soon. And did I mention the awesome basement? It includes a bar and pool table along with a hideous bean bag, circa 1970.

Anyways, we have pictures posted of the house and Christina put a lot of pictures up from her Alaska trip, there may even be a video of bears in there. Not quite all the Alaska pics are up but more will follow and there are certainly enough to keep you entertained for a while.

Holla!

Heading for Alaska!!

Hey y'all! 

It's about that time for me to start packing up for my 4.5 weeks in The Last Frontier. I head out on Sunday morning, arrive in Anchorage on Sunday night and spend the night with a complete stranger in Anchorage. I leave for Prudhoe Bay on Monday morning. I'll be working in a clinic in the oil fields. I get a pager and go on 911 calls with the ambulance. It's going to be exciting but probably intimidating. Unfortunately, I might not have a way to call home...but I will have internet, so I'll be able to keep up the blog...as long as I'm not going crazy with work. :) I'll get pictures up as soon as I can. :) 

Memorial Day Weekend at Lake Wateree

We try to make a habit of hanging out with friends on holiday weekends, so Christina and I headed to Lake Wateree for Memorial Day weekend. The weather was beautiful, the fish were biting (for some of us) and the cornhole bags were flying. It was a lot of fun to hear House tell bad stories and bad jokes again, it had been over a year since we all got to hang out with the missing link himself. We also haven't seen Russ since New Years so it was cool to hang out with him, although his better half stayed behind in Tennessee. Chris and Morgan made it down to the lake and we had lots of fun with them when Morgan wasn't complaining about the music. ;) John and Stacy were out there all weekend as well so we got to make a new friend in Stacy and constantly make fun of John as usual. Here are some highlights of the weekend:

Go Gamecocks!

The South Carolina Gamecocks are going to Raleigh as the #2 seed in their super regional to take on UNC-Charlotte. The seedings for this super regional are as follows: #1 NC State, #2 Gamecocks, #3 UNC-Charlotte and #4 is James Madison. The College World Series is one of my favorite events and I hope this is the year the Gamecocks make it to Omaha and win it all.

Number 1

Welcome! I'm excited to get started with this new blog but I still have some work to do on the layout, so in the mean time I just wanted to post this so everyone would know this isn't just some blog that no one has ever posted to before. We'll be back really soon with an introduction of whats going on in our lives. Enjoy!