Aw.... Puppy Love!

Are these two not the cutest couple ever? They have been my favorite two since the beginning, and I was so happy to see that they are (what I'm assuming) a couple now.

It's been a while since I've chimed in on my favorite shows, and even though we swore we weren't going to watch American Idol this year, we got sucked in as usual. These two little lovebirds are some big time country fans, and they're so young! Lauren is 16, and Scotty is 17. Good for them. They've got some serious talent.

Derek said from the get-go that she was going to be like the next Carrie Underwood, and he's just got that great, deep country voice with the twang. I love it. I've been thinking they would be a cute couple for weeks now, and what do you know? I think they are, based on last night's love connection on stage when he won.

I'm sure most of you don't care about this silly show, but I just wanted to give you a blog update since I've been a pretty infrequent and boring blogger lately. I didn't want to lose what little audience I had just because I never updated it. :)

Ole Man River...

... officially messed up our first true summer plans this weekend. Katie and Zach turned 30 today, and while we usually celebrate their birthdays at the lake every summer, the birthday party was changed to a crawfish boil and fish fry at Katie and Neil's house in Vicksburg. It was still fun, but H.O.T. with no lake to jump into to cool off.

Here are a few pics... Happy Birthday, Katie and Zach!

After the birthday party, Derek and I rode down to see how high the river actually was. It was an amazing sight. The Mighty Mississippi looks to be taking over everything. Hopefully it will go down soon and life will return to normal. In the meantime, I am itching for a weekend in the water. It's going to be a looooong hot month or so without lake access.

Flood Water

"The Mississippi River will always have its own way; no engineering skill can persuade it to do otherwise..." - Mark Twain

We're all super conscious of the Mississippi River flooding right now, and it's really been a watch and wait kind of pattern for weeks now. My father-in-law gave me a good lesson in how the levees work and what flows into what last time we were at Eagle Lake (which happened to be the day they started voluntarily flooding Eagle Lake to relieve pressure off the levees) so I now have a better understanding of what is happening.

Here's the pier as of May 8.

And here it is (far right) as of May 10.
It's so sad. And there's not a whole lot than can be done about it. Everything has been moved out of the lakehouse just in case the house floods, which apparently would only happen if water tops or busts the Yazoo Backwater Levee (the water would be coming from the other direction, not from the lake). The lakewater is about 12 feet higher than normal, so the pier is completely underwater and the lake technically reaches halfway up the hill now.

It will likely be at least mid-July before we'll be able to go back out to the lake, and even then there will be much to clean up and a lot of wildlife (snakes, gators, etc.) misplaced and looking for new homes. It will be a different kind of summer, for sure.

My work has stayed crazy busy dealing with flood relief from the public health standpoint, so I feel like I live and breathe flood info right now.

We're holding our breath that once the river crests in Vicksburg tomorrow that the water will recede quickly so that the pressure on the levees is relieved and nothing gets worse. In the meantime, just say a prayer for everyone affected by this disaster and please tell everyone you know to stay out of the floodwater. It's not safe, and it's not fun to play in (there's my health message for the day). This, too, shall pass.

Home Sweet Home

We spent a wonderfully relaxing weekend at home this time around, and we soooo needed it. Friday night Derek and I went to dinner at Bon Ami and enjoyed our last bottle of wine from the Cinque Terre. It was bittersweet to drink it knowing that it's now all gone, but maybe it'll be just one of many excuses to go back again some day.

Saturday I went to the movies with Katherine and Tina to watch "Something Borrowed." I loved the book, and the movie was great. We had some nice quality girl time. Then Saturday night we grilled out with the neighbors and warmed up by the firepit. Never thought we'd need a firepit night in mid-May, but I think I can safely say that was probably the last one of the season. It was so nice and cool outside.

Today we haven't even left the house. I caught up on laundry, cooked a big Sunday dinner, and we watched "The Social Network." Loved it... glad we finally watched it since we've had it in from Netflix since March.

I know this is a pretty boring post, but I've been totally fine with a quiet, boring weekend at home. I can honestly say I feel rested and refreshed. Such a lovely feeling... :)

Congrats, Kat and Paul!

Early Wednesday morning we packed up and headed south for Katherine and Paul's wedding weekend in Grayton Beach, Florida. They could not have special ordered any better weather. It was BEAUTIFUL all week!

Derek and the other groomsmen went deep sea fishing bright and early (left at 5 a.m.) Thursday morning, then Thursday night we had a Cinco de Mayo party complete with fresh fish tacos and a piñata. It only took about 10 different people to actually bust the thing, but we eventually did it.

Friday morning we had the bridesmaids' brunch followed by an hour of last-minute beach time before the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.

The dinner was so nice! The venue where they had it was called Cabana Blue, and it was on the bay across from the venue for the wedding. They had these great couches and lounge areas on the beach, and we had so much fun!

On Saturday, we started getting ready for the wedding about 2. Katherine was such a beautiful bride! And everything was absolutely positively perfect. The band was great, the food and drinks delicious, the photo booth entirely too much fun, and the whole venue just breathtaking. It was like a fairytale beach wedding.







After the wedding the bride and groom led the way to the Red Bar for a little while before ending the night with an after-party back at Margaritaville, the big beach house where most of the wedding party was staying.

It was a fabulous weekend at the beach, and we're so excited for Katherine and Paul! Congrats, friends!

We stopped in Hattiesburg on the way back to Jackson to have a shrimp boil and spend some time with my mom and granny for Mother's Day. The shrimp were delicious and it was so nice to spend a few hours together. We have big plans for a girls' night out in the coming weeks for the three of us, so stay tuned... you'll be jealous. :)

Hope all you mothers out there in blogland had a great Mother's Day!

Day Seven and Eight: Rome

We woke up Friday morning with plans to catch the train from Vernazza back to La Spezia and then on to Rome. Wouldn't you know that the one day we have to depend on the train for transportation there's a train strike in Italy? Seriously. Luckily for us it didn't affect either of our routes, so we were fine.

The trains over there are really nice! It was a very peaceful three hour ride to Rome. I napped most of the way while Derek studied the guidebook for tips on touring Rome. We did most of our research for the Country-Coastal-City tour of Italy just before we got to each stop. That's what happens when you only have two weeks to plan an international trip, I suppose. It worked though.

WARNING: This will be a long post with lots and lots of pics. Just be patient. This is the last one, I promise. :)

We arrived in Rome around 4:30 on Friday afternoon. We took a cab from the Termini train station to our hotel, Hotel Boccaccio, which was in the Barberini area of Rome. The first thing we learned was HOW BIG Rome is. It's huge. We dropped off our luggage, picked up a city map, and set out to see what we could while it was still daylight. We were only going to be in Rome for a day and a half, so we had a lot to see in a short amount of time.

First stop: the Trevi Fountain. This was only a couple of blocks from our hotel, so we figured it would be easy to visit. WRONG. It was easy to find, but so incredibly packed with tourists you could barely see the fountain. We took a few pictures and Derek made his way through the massive crowd to throw in some coins (to ensure we'll one day return to Rome, of course) backwards, then we were done. Beautiful sight, but entirely too crowded.

Second stop: the Pantheon. This place was cool. We couldn't go inside because it was reserved for prayer time, but the piazza in front of the building was full of street performers and tourists. It was neat just to step back and realize exactly how old a building like this is. And then to realize exactly how old this city is. It was a pretty overwhelming feeling of pure awe.
Third stop: the Colosseum. I told you we were on a mission to see all that we could in the short time we were there. We kept walking and walking and walking and when we finally found where we were on the map, we realized we were nowhere near the Colosseum. We had been walking in the wrong direction. And then it started to rain. So... we gave up, grabbed a bite to eat and took a cab back to the hotel. Our blockbuster sight-seeing plan was on hold for now.

After regrouping, getting showered and getting a little more advice from Rick Steves, we were back at it just as the sun was setting. We took the suggested "night tour of Rome" starting at the Spanish Steps then on to the Villa Borghese Gardens and the Piazza di Popolo. Most of the night photos didn't turn out so well because of the flash, but trust me when I say it was beautiful, even in the misty rain.

Here's the Spanish Steps and Derek reading our trusty city map...

It was a lovely evening walk through the streets of Rome, and when we made it back to the hotel for the night, we were ready for a good night's sleep and another full day of sight-seeing.

Saturday morning we hit the Colosseum bright and early, hoping to beat most of the crowds. We got lucky in the fact that it was National Heritage Day so our tickets into the Colosseum were free. We actually only waited in line like 10 minutes. This was one of my favorite things to see in Rome. It was absolutely breathtaking to see how big and historic this structure was, and you could really feel the history of all the gladiator battles fought here years ago. It was amazing.

After the Colosseum we walked around Ancient Rome for a little while before catching the Metro subway back towards our hotel (we mastered the Roman subway system - be proud) and then on to the Vatican. The subway was actually very easy. I would definitely recommend it.

We actually made museum reservations at the Vatican because we didn't want to miss out on anything there. With it being the day before Palm Sunday, we figured it would be packed.

It took us nearly three hours to walk through all four miles of this magnificent museum. It was incredible. Just hallway after hallway of sculptures, tapestries, paintings, maps, ANY kind of classic artwork you could imagine. Here are a few pics...

When we finally made it into the Sistine Chapel, it was just unbelievable. Not a single inch of the walls or ceiling wasn't painted with some intricate design. It was just gorgeous. We even snuck a quick photo before making our exit even though we weren't supposed to do it. We couldn't help it. Derek just pointed the camera up not really knowing what he was shooting and look at the scene we ended up with in the center of the pic. Amazing.

After the Vatican Museum we headed to St. Peter's Square. This square was totally packed with workers setting up for the Palm Sunday service the next morning and devout Catholic tourists hoping for a glimpse of the Pope. No Pope-sightings, but it was still really cool to actually be there the day before such a religious celebration.

We made it back to the Barberini area of Rome just in time to catch the last 15 open minutes of the Cappucin Crypt. We couldn't take any photos, but this crypt was exquisitely decorated with the skeletons and bones of 4,000 Franciscan friars. There were even chandeliers made out of bones. Very interesting to see, but you wouldn't catch me in there after dark. Creepy for sure.

At this point I think we were both about to collapse from exhaustion, so we decided it was time for our last real dinner in Italy. Guess where we ate? The Hard Rock Cafe Rome. Don't judge. After a full seven days of authentic Italian food, we wanted some nachos, hamburgers and sweet tea. Delish.

But if you're disappointed in us, it should make you feel better that we did stop in at a corner restaurant on our way back to the hotel for some cappucino and tiramisu for dessert. So THAT, my friends, was technically the last thing we ate in Italy.

We were in the bed at 9:00 with blisters on our feet and achy muscles, but it was totally worth the pain. We successfully completed our Country-Coastal-City tour of Italy, which we planned in 16 days. It was amazing.

We said "arrivederci" to Rome at 6:45 the next morning as we left for the airport for our nearly 11-hour flight back to Atlanta.

It was truly the trip of a lifetime. I apologize if I bored you silly, but I really want to remember every little detail. And if, by chance, you're still interested in more details, there are plenty more pics on Facebook or feel free to drop by for a look at our scrapbook. :)

Ciao.

Day Six: Rainy Day in the Cinque Terre

On Thursday we woke up to rain, which was absolutely fine with us. We had done all of our Cinque Terre sight-seeing the day before, Derek was sore from his hike, I was sunburned, we drank too much wine the night before, and we were just worn out.

We slept in and listened to the rain outside our window, then got ready and took the train to Town #5, Monteroso. It was on the beach and bigger than the other four towns. It was so pretty, but unfortunately with the overcast skies we couldn't get really pretty views with the camera.

We wandered around the town for a little while as the rain held off, then made our way back "home" to Vernazza in the early afternoon. We did a little souvenir shopping until the rain came back with a vengeance, and with nothing else to do we settled in at our little bar, the Blue Marlin, for some bruschetta and a half liter of wine.

As the rain came down, that half liter of wine turned into two, then three, then a few Italian beers thrown in. By this point they were playing Jack Johnson over the speakers, so we were pretty much committed to staying all afternoon. Nothing else to do on a lazy, rainy afternoon. It was great. It actually forced us to slow down, take it easy and just enjoy being there.

Thursday night we went to dinner at Il Pirata at the top of the town. It was a teeny tiny little restaurant with about four other tables, all of which were full of Americans that night. We had so much fun talking with everyone. And the craziest part was that we talked about "The Help" and being extras in the movie. They had all read the book and were so excited to see the movie! It was pretty funny. Here we are with our fellow American diners at Il Pirata (which had THE BEST lasagna ever, by the way - probably our best meal of the trip)...
After dinner we made our way back to (surprise, surprise) the Blue Marlin. Ben (the doctor) and Trey from the night before met us there for some wine and strawberry mojitos. We were having a lot of fun - can you tell? :)

When the bar closed, we decided to move our after-party to "the cave." We read about this little cave under the church in the harbor in Rick Steves' book. It's a cool little cave right on the water where people go to hang out after the bars close. We laughed when we read it, thinking we would never actually go there to hang out, but after all the Italian wine and beer we consumed that day, it was the perfect time for a little late-night cave-sitting. Ha! Here's me in the harbor on the way to the cave.

Ben and Trey went upstairs and grabbed an Ipod, and we sat in the cave and jammed out to The Black Keys. It. Was. Awesome. SUCH a fun experience!

I would have to say our rainy day in the Cinque Terre was probably my favorite day of the whole trip. We relaxed, soaked in Vernazza in all its Italian Riviera glory, and just enjoyed being there. It was fantastic and totally worth the next day's hangover. Ugh...