Party Like It's 1999

We headed to Hattiesburg yesterday for the class reunion, and despite all my apprehension, we had a BLAST! I don't know why I was so anxious about it, but apparently I wasn't the only one. All I can say is that I wouldn't have passed up last night for anything. It was so great to see everybody, and I think the consensus was to make the next reunion in five years so we don't have to wait another 10 to have that much fun.

The reunion was at Canebrake Golf Club, and when they said we were going to have a band, a lot of food and an open bar, they weren't kidding. The first hour or so was spent socializing around the bar. I saw so many people I haven't seen in years, and it was wonderful to catch up and figure out who all was doing what these days. We now have teachers, doctors, musicians, choir directors, school counselors, scientists and numerous other professionals. I'm sure our parents are proud! To my surprise, I didn't get caught in a single awkward conversation all night, and most everyone looked the same, minus some hair and plus a few pounds here and there. :)

When we first got there, we had to fill out questionnaires about our lives since high school... how many kids we had, where all we had lived, how long we'd been married, what we do for a living, etc. Then towards the end of the night, they tallied the answers and gave out awards. Here's our president, Will, and vice president, Andrea, giving out the awards.

They had a slide show of all of our senior portraits and photos from high school playing continuously throughout the night, and they had all kinds of memorabilia like our graduation program big group photos from all the dances and our senior t-shirts on display. It was so nice and organized and exactly how I picture a high school reunion to be. I don't know who kept up with all that stuff, but it was a pretty impressive collection.

Here are a few pics from the night, starting with the Greys and the Bartons. Jenna and I have been friends since elementary school, so we "double-dated" last night so we wouldn't have to go by ourselves. Poor Derek and Daniel made the best of it and had as much fun as possible at their wives' reunion. :)

Jenna and I did our best to call our friend Cassidy with the scoop since she's still not back from Japan. I'm sure she appreciated it and was thoroughly entertained by our voicemails, too. :)

The party was just getting started about 10 when it was time for the reunion to end, so everyone decided to go to the End Zone afterwards to continue the fun. Here's a few more pics from the end of the night.

All in all, it was a super fun night, and I've been paying for it today... it's a lot harder to party like it's 1999 a decade later. :)

Back to high school...

So I have my 10-year class reunion this weekend, and I'm not quite so sure what to think about it. I'm not nervous, per say, more anxious. I think my anxiety comes from the fact that my closest friends from high school won't be there. I have a few friends I've kept in touch with that it will be good to see and hang out with, but I think I'm just afraid of ending up in a conversation with someone who I have no clue who they are and don't remember at all. Talk about awkward...

At least thanks to Facebook and MySpace, everyone knows what everyone else is doing these days, so that won't be a shock. And it will definitely be good to see all these people that I haven't seen since the late 90s and see who has five kids, who went bald and who has changed the most or the least. I think I would put myself in the latter category. I don't feel like I've changed that much, except now I don't drink Zima or the Beast and don't try to straighten my hair until it fries. That's about it.

I will say this time around I'm letting my parents drop us off and pick us up from the party since it's in their neck of the woods, and I'm sure a few cocktails will be enjoyed. I would have died from embarrassment if they had done that in high school, so I guess some things do change. ;)

A wedding and a holiday

What a weekend! We started the holiday weekend off early with a special Thursday edition of the WNDC since our friend David was in town from San Diego. We haven’t seen him since we met him in Denver last year, so it was nice to spend some time with him and catch up.

On Friday, we all hit the road to Vicksburg for Jennifer Lynne and Stephen’s wedding weekend. The rehearsal dinner was at the BB Club, and one of our favorites, the Patrick Smith Band, provided the entertainment after the dinner.


Another old friend from college, Dave, came into town for the wedding, so he met up with us after the rehearsal dinner, and we of course felt obligated to stay up for a while and visit. We had a little too much fun, but it was a great way to start the fun-filled festivities and a prediction of what we had in store for us the rest of the weekend.

Saturday night was the big wedding night, and it was beautiful, despite the rainy weather outside. We were honored to actually be a part of history as the first-ever joint communion ceremony was served between the United Methodist and Episcopal churches in Mississippi. It was pretty special, along with the bagpipes that played the wedding party processional. Like the pied piper, we followed the bagpipes to the reception at the Rainbow Room where we met some McMillan family friends from Scotland. So, technically, this wedding really was an international affair, despite the fact that I really was disappointed that the groom wasn’t wearing a kilt. :)

Here are a few pics from the night… Drew, David, Derek and Dave...

Derek dancing with his old friend, the beautiful bride...

The happy couple leaving...

And "Dave Unplugged" after the wedding...

Sunday morning came way too soon as we got ready for the final soirée of the wedding weekend. In true Southern fashion, the groom’s parents hosted an old-fashioned picnic at their house, the Mary Harwood Home, complete with a white tent, fried catfish, fried chicken, sweet tea and the Ben Shaw Band playing on the back veranda. The house overlooks the Mississippi River and even has cannons in the front yard. I felt like all we were missing were some hoop skirts. It was a great way to wish the newlyweds well on their way to Puerto Rico for their honeymoon.

The sun finally came out Sunday afternoon, so we decided to take some friends out to the lake for the rest of Memorial Day weekend. We took the boat out for a while and then sat outside and enjoyed the cool, early summer breeze without mosquitoes. Even Uncle Rusty was there, so it was great to have a relaxing night to end the crazy weekend.

All in all, it was a jam-packed, exhausting, party-filled weekend and we are WORN OUT. But Jennifer Lynne and Stephen are finally married, we enjoyed our day off yesterday and got to catch up with some old friends, so it was definitely worth it. :)

I Heart Show Choir

Please tell me someone else watched “GLEE” the other night on Fox after Idol. I can’t remember laughing out loud so much at a sitcom in a very long time. I guess it takes someone who understands all the true glitter and dazzle of show choir to fully appreciate it. :)

Our high school show choir, Panache, was all-female, so we didn’t have anyone even close to Lance Bass or Justin Timberlake in our group. Coming from a high school that didn’t have a budget for musicals or big theater productions in general, show choir seemed like the next best thing.

I mean, who doesn’t want to learn harmony and choreography to “Hakuna Matata” or (because it was the President Clinton era) “Don’t Stop Thinking About Tomorrow”? And then there was the big hair and the pretty, sequined dresses. Ours were blue, and I wanted to wear it to prom. It was that pretty.

My junior year I was named dance captain AND I made All-State Show Choir. I was in the big time. I got to miss a day of school to go learn “Footloose” and that ballad from “Rent” to sing on stage at USM’s Bennett Auditorium with a bunch of Soundsations and Attache members. My hair had to be even bigger for that performance. I was on the front row.

So, to the producers of “GLEE,” in the opinion of this girl and many others who spent countless hours perfecting the show choir posture, head tilt and singing smile, you hit the nail on the head. I will be watching.

Just what we needed...

Well, we made it through the first full work week back after our two vacations, and this weekend felt like it was a loooong time coming. I've never been so happy to have a few days at home with little to no plans.

Friday night we had some friends over to bowl on the Wii and play Rock Band. I actually tied my husband, the bowling pro, with my highest score ever of 238. It'll probably never happen again, but just once is all I need. It ended up being kind of a late night since all parties involved were apparently just as happy to celebrate Friday as I was. It was great to do a little deck-sitting with a cold beverage or two.

We slept in and listened to the rain yesterday, and pretty much had a lazy afternoon with the exception of a few errands I had to run, including a stop at Blockbuster. We rented "Slumdog Millionaire" since it seems like we were some of the only people who haven't watched it. I really liked it, even though I started to fall asleep towards the end. Wild and crazy Saturday night...

This afternoon we headed out to the country to our friends Karen and Jimmy's house to visit with some of my old newspaper friends. It rained most of the day, but it didn't stop us from grilling some burgers and enjoying being out of the house for a few hours. Now we're home and ready to retire to the couch for the night.

Needless to say, it was a pretty boring weekend, which was just what we needed. I promise to have more interesting things to blog about the next few weekends, so bear with me. It's back to the grind tomorrow, but at least we should feel totally rested after all our weekend laziness. :)

Reflection

They say some of the biggest stress factors in life are getting a new job, moving to a new city and losing a loved one. Lucky us, we experienced all three within the first 14 months of marriage.

This time two years ago we were in the midst of a pretty hectic time in our lives. We had just celebrated our first wedding anniversary in March, and I had started my new job the very next day in Jackson, so I was on the road for 90 minutes a day driving back and forth from Vicksburg.

We put our house on the market the Monday following Easter Sunday after hosting a wedding shower at our house that Saturday night. It was the same year most of our friends were getting married – four couples in a two-month period. Every weekend was full. We were exhausted from staying on-go 24/7 and trying to sell the house. We were stressed.

When mid-May came, we had just celebrated Katie and Neil’s wedding and were getting ready for Maggie and Blake’s wedding on the 19th when my grandfather passed away. He had been sick for a while, and we knew it was coming, but that never changes the pain. He was my first grandparent to lose.

He was the sweetest man you would ever meet… full of life, full of charm. He was very charismatic, and his laugh was contagious. He always got emotional at birthday cards, and he could grow some mean tomatoes.

I was driving back to Vicksburg that Thursday after work when my mom called to tell me he has passed away. I cried the entire way home and then cried some more. Some friends came over to have some drinks and hug me while I cried even more. Then we got another phone call… we had an offer on our house. It was a glimmer of light on this very dark night.

We spent nearly the entire drive to Hattiesburg that next day talking back and forth with the realtor until we finally were happy with the offer. Our house was sold. Grandpa made it happen for us.

On Monday we stopped in Jackson to look at houses on our way home from the funeral. We fell in love with this charming little ranch-style house that was painted Mint Julep green with hurricane shutters. We made an offer, and by the time we made it home from Vicksburg the offer was accepted. We bought a house. Grandpa made it happen for us.

I say all this to say that I do believe there are guardian angels up above who watch over you, and he was one of those. Just when we were at out wit’s end, he made things a little easier for us.

Thanks, Grandpa. I won’t ever forget that, and I miss you very much. You’re a true angel.

Back to the Beach

Thursday morning we headed back to the beach for the Grey family beach trip to Dauphin Island, Alabama. And, in case you’re wondering, we didn’t really plan our two beach trips back-to-back like that; they just kind of fell that way, but we’re not complaining. In the end, you forget about the three days you worked in between the two trips, so it almost feels like a two-week vacation!

Here are a few pics, starting with Uncle Ryan burying Ryan Hadley in the sand... this little girl is a true beach baby - she loves everything about it from the sand to the waves. At one point she was standing there at the edge of the water saying, "Come on, waves!" Too precious...

And here's Uncle Derek playing with Ryan Hadley and her Dora the Explorer fishing pole.

The real reason we took a family trip was for PawPaw Billy's 80th birthday party, which was Saturday. His real birthday was Thursday though, so we celebrated with a makeshift cake made out of a Pop Tart and a grill match. Classy... :)

Here's a group pic of the Greys, Aunt Kacki and David, and PawPaw Billy and Meme Lou.

A very tired Ryan Hadley fell asleep to one of Grandee's lullabies...

On Friday night before sunset, we decided to take some of those "all white" beach photos, but it was kind of impromptu, so all the boys had on different shorts, and inevitably not all of us were ever looking at the camera at the same time. Here's the best one, but Ryan is squinting. Oh, well...

We did take a good girls' shot, though, so this is Candee's belated Mother's Day gift... :)

Friday night we had a little dance party on the deck... Even Uncle Rusty got down...

By the time Saturday night came around, we were so worn out from the birthday party that just about all of our energy went to the wild goose chase we went on for some raw oysters and ended up over the bridge in Coden, Alabama. Random, but I guess the oysters were good (I don’t eat them; I was more along for the ride) because Neil and Gary slurped them down with enough horseradish to make their heads explode.

We hit the road Sunday morning and surprised my mom and grandmother for a late brunch at Salute in Gulfport. Dad and I worked out this little Mother’s Day surprise late last week, and we pulled it off without a hitch. It was delicious, and the best part about it was that the two guests of honor couldn’t have been happier to see us.

We are worn out yet again, and I’m busy trying to catch up on nearly two weeks’ worth of laundry and dishes tonight. It’s crazy how two back-to-back vacations can leave you almost as tired as you were when you left, but it’s been great! It was so good to get away for a while, and of course it was nice to get a head start on my summer tan, too. I wish every week was a three-day work week and a four-day weekend. :)

Happy Bloggiversary To Me!

It’s been a year since I started this little blog journey, and I absolutely love it. I don’t really even care if anybody reads it; it’s just a perfect way for me to fill whoever might be interested in about what’s been going on with us lately.

I’d have to say the biggest plus is just being able to write. As most of you know, that’s my passion, and I miss it so much these days. My job now doesn’t really allow for too much creativity in that department, so I’ll take it any way I can.

There are so many “bloggable” moments I remember that happened before I started blogging, so hopefully my life will continue to surprise me and entertain you to some extent from here on out.

And, if I had my way, everyone would have a blog… peer pressure is a great thing sometimes. :)

Come Monday...

We're back from Destin and feel totally refreshed and grateful for some quality beach time with my family. I honestly didn't know if I'd be able to go or not until late afternoon Wednesday thanks to the swine flu at work, but I made it, and I tried really hard to only check the news and my work e-mail twice the whole time. :)

It took just a couple of hours once we got down there on Thursday afternoon to get vacation head and let my worries float away. I can't tell you how much we needed this little get-away, and it was very special to have another trip down there with Granny and Pap. This trip has been in the "works" for a year now, and this time I wasn't going to let a hurricane OR the swine flu keep me from going!

After settling in our condo and spending a few hours on the beach, Derek and I geared up for dinner and found this great little seafood restaurant right on the water. It was so good, and the live music from A.J.'s next door (and the bottle of wine) just made it that much better. We had a few drinks on our balcony after dinner and then called it a night.

Friday we slept in (have I mentioned I really think we need to buy a king-sized bed for our house so we can feel like we're on vacation all the time?) and rented a pontoon boat with my family to take out on the bay that afternoon. The weather couldn't have been better and the water was beautiful, as always. Friday night we went to dinner with the whole family at Harbor Dock for some delicious, fresh seafood and then headed back to the condo fat and happy.

We decided we wanted to get out and about on Saturday, so Derek and I headed to Grayton Beach to just piddle around at the Zoo Gallery and stop by the Red Bar for a beer. We hit the fantastic outlet mall in Sandestin on our way back. Needless to say, a few hours later we had definitely done our part to support the local economy. :)

We spent a few hours on the beach when we got back and then got ready to boil some shrimp down at the condo pavilion. I forgot to mention that when we weren't sipping a nice, tropical drink on the balcony of our condo, we were downstairs in my family's condo either bowling on the Wii (yes, Mom and Dad brought theirs) or playing poker or Dixie Dice, a Grey/Turner family tradition that's caught on well with the Bices.

Once we got everything ready for the shrimp boil, we headed downstairs to the pavillion. There was a 70th birthday party going on down there, and they had a great little two-man band playing some beach music. It was perfect. By the end of the night, we had made some new friends, and the birthday girl even got Granny out on the dance floor... absolutely priceless.


We had a wonderful time, and while I'm glad to be back home now, I really, really dread checking my e-mail and voicemail tomorrow morning. It's definitely back to reality now, but at least with a fabulous vacation memory in the back of my mind... :)