You may be wondering--as am I--why bother with a blog when everyone is on Facebook now?
I thought about that during my many months of not updating this blog. I wasn't sure if I should ever post again. What's the point? But then I decided to for a few reasons:
- Everyone is NOT on Facebook. My mom, some relatives, and some good friends have managed to resist the call of that time-waster/keep-in-toucher we all love to hate.
- I never really provide any detail or substance on Facebook. I just throw a few thumbs-ups at people, write the occasional line about my day, and slap a few pics on there. My Facebook profile doesn't really give anyone a clue about my life--and I really don't feel like it helps me keep in touch on a personal level with anyone.
- I feel that if I actually take the time to post a blog entry every few months or so, rather than just quickly updating my Facebook status, maybe my friends and family will also take the time to read it and be more personal in their responses. I'm too lazy to go back to the days of old school letter writing, but I truly miss it, so the blog is the most personal update I can think of.
- One day I will look back at this electronic diary and be greatly amused/embarrassed.
Also, for some reason, when I added the pictures everything came up in reverse order. Technology is Amazing. Thus, below you'll find the summary of the months since New Year's Eve in reverse order!
There is a chance, and a very good one at that, that we will be moving into a house soooooonish! We are not positive when/where YET, and I have no desire to jinx our dreams, so I will provide no details for now. But, we will be moving out of here soon regardless, so feel free to say goodbye to the tiny one bedroom apartment lovingly known as The Nest:
No more tears, please. Parting is such sweet, sweet, sweet, SWEET sorrow.
A few days ago Michael had to travel to Selma, Alabama for a work trip. Since I am off for the summer I went with him. I wandered the city, stopped at a diner for homemade ginger beer, and experienced the Voting Rights and Civil Rights museums while he worked. The museums were humbling and powerful to say the least.
Below = my first tomatoes! I also FINALLY have a green bell pepper growing! Yum.
I cannot wait to have a yard to plant the garden in.
Some highlights from our LaBama Road Trip 2009 (in reverse order).
Mike and Brother Matt in Houston:
Spooky Fun Area 51. It was actually on the way this trip!
The tour lady promised that the "fact" that I was being floated by an alien's mysterious powers would be obvious in the above picture.
Ah, the Grand Canyon.
We bumped into Mom and Dad Tonder at the Grand Canyon. Their camper is awesome!
Hoover Dam:
The new bridge being built above the dam below.
THAT was an awkward sentence.
Scenes from the passenger window during the trip home:
In Monterey, we saw Michael's brother Brad graduate.
View from restaurant at Cannery Row in Monterey. Can you see the otter?
On the road again....somewhere between LA and Monterey:
Sea Elephants (behind us!) near Hearst Castle.
Attack squirrels near the Sea Elephants.
A view of Hearst Castle on the drive up:
Creepy statue in Hearst Castle:
California Dreamin'More scenes between LA and Monterey...
Us at Lauren and Craig's in LA:
View from Lauren and Craig's:
Iggy:
Buck and Lucy:
I miss LA billboards...
Ms. Cao threw me a party (well, she threw a party and I was invited):
The Summit View graduates:
I had such a great time visiting the peeps in LA (why wouldn't you let me take a million photos of all of you???), driving up Route 1 from LA to Monterey with Johana and Stage, and on our road trip from Monterey back to Mobile....Before the road trip, Niece Emily competed in Junior Miss Mobile County. She was brilliant, beautiful, and talented--as always. She won tons of scholarships and made me cry. She rocks:
Niece Allison had her first dance recital. Precious...
Dad and I got banjos! I still haven't found lessons yet, but I look good holding it!
Michael and I both finished the Grandman Triathlon, again this year!
1/3 mile swim, 16 mile bike ride, 3 mile run. I almost died, but I DID finish--and wasn't last!
We even recruited Cindy this year!
I got this fortune cookie the next day:
That about says it.
Still working on the garden and improving my cooking skills. The two kind of go together:
Almost everything in this seemingly boring meal came from the GARDEN! So, you may think it's just spaghetti with a sad excuse for garlic bread, but really it's:
spaghetti with chives, basil, rosemary, and thyme from the garden.
bread with parsley from the garden.
salad with chives, basil, peppers, and cucumbers from my garden--and blueberries from the parents' yard--with homemade salad dressing
Simple, yes.
Fresh and delicious, yes and yes.
The modest beginnings of my Garden of Earthly Delights:
the first cuc!
the first pepper!
Cuc sprout.
I was on the Prom Commitee, so poor Michael got to chaperone another school dance...
Michael did some beekeeping with my dad earlier in the year. He had a blast and now, of course, he wants to start a bee farm when we retire!
And possibly the biggest joy of 2009...
Nephew Brian graduated from high school!
Scrap ya later!
3 comments:
Love the blog, love the pictures and I couldn't agree more about facebook. We should talk more on the phone though.... love, katie
I do miss you and I do need a new phone!
I enjoyed the updates and the photos. Your road trip to CA and back looks like it was a lot of fun.
Good luck on that thing we won't mention so we don't jinx it, but that has something to do with you maybe moving!
Hope you are enjoying the summer and hello to Michael and your family form me!
love,
sam
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