Maybe it's genetic...

My precious niece Ryan Hadley was clearly a strong supporter of her grandfather (Pops) in his run for re-election to the Warren County Board of Supervisors.

And here they are anxiously awaiting the results... he won!
For all we know she might be the next President. Never too early to teach them politics! :)

Halloween in D.C.

Our friends Katherine and Paul just moved to Washington, D.C., for a few months. While Paul is working on his research sabbatical, we decided we'd fly up for a long weekend and keep Katherine company.

We flew up early Friday morning and spent the afternoon wandering around Bethesda in Maryland where they're living. Friday night we enjoyed a little progressive dinner around Bethesda Row. These people take happy hour seriously with GREAT drink and appetizer specials. We had a great time, despite our long day of traveling and the one-hour time difference.

Saturday we woke up to FREEZING weather and then snow later in the afternoon. It would have been pretty to look at from inside the warm apartment, but Saturday just happenned to be our big Halloween night out, so we suffered through in our Beer Guy/St. Pauli Girl/Hansel/Gretel (depending on who asked) costumes and weathered the snow and sleet. Brrrrr.... I'm cold just thinking about it.

We took the Metro to an area called Adams Morgan and went to this bar/restaurant called Madam's Organ. What a cool bar! It was three stories with the top story being sort of like a treehouse. We had SO MUCH FUN!

In fact, after all our fun on Saturday night, we were struggling a little on Sunday. We had a lazy day until time to get ready for the Silent Disco Zombie Crawl on U Street. We went to the Goodwill Store and got nice, cheap outfits to zombify.

This pub crawl was the coolest idea ever. The organizers gave everyone wireless headphones, and two DJs went with you from bar to bar. So all the "zombies" were dancing to the music they were hearing (two different stations to flip between) but if you weren't a zombie, it looked like we were dancing to no music. I'm sure it was quite the sight to see, especially carrying the coffin from bar to bar to mark where our next stop was. Really really cool. Plus, it started early at 5 p.m. so it was good for a Sunday Funday night.

Monday and Tuesday were our big sightseeing days in D.C., including all the monuments, the National Mall, the Smithsonian Museum of Natural Science, the Smithsonian Museum of American History, the National Mall, and the White House.

We were totally worn out by the time our Tuesday night flight rolled around, but it was worth it! Great weekend and great Halloween!

BICEworks

I have to take a moment to brag on my parents a bit... they just unveiled a new website for Bice Advertising this week, and they're really starting to get into the whole social media marketing thing, too.

This was what they posted on Facebook earlier this week:

Why cross the road? The good stuff's right here. http://www.biceworks.com/biceworks2011/. All new site!

They are the ORIGINAL graphic design firm in Hattiesburg, and they've been the best since 1978. They're constantly implementing new ideas and proving to everyone why they're the best around. I'm just constantly amazed by their creativity.

So, pass it along... If you ever need graphic design work done or websites or logos or branding or anything related at all, check them out. They're the best in town, and I'm not being biased. They really are. :)

SMTTT!!!

On Saturday morning we hit the road for USM's homecoming game against SMU. It could not have been a more beautiful day, and I was ready for some serious tailgating!

We had SOOO much fun! AND the Eagles won, making their debut at #25 in the nation. GO EAGLES!

Here are a few pics from our great day in Hattiesburg... good food, good fun, great people, great day!

A little quiet time...

My sweet husband has been in San Antonio since Sunday for a work conference. I always cherish the quiet time that I have while he's away at these conferences (usually about three to four times a year), but this particular week has been extra nice since we're about to be thrown into a whirlwind of plans for the next couple of months.

Don't get me wrong, I usually start missing him after the second day, but it's nice to have the house to myself and watch whatever I want on the big TV, not worry about cooking for a few days, and go to bed at 8 if I want to. I feel behind on my shows though since most of them we watch together and I promised not to watch them while he was gone.

Anyhow, I've gotten plenty of beauty sleep and actually feel very well rested for a Thursday, which says a lot!

Derek is on his way home now, and I'm ready to share my house again. I'll even hand over the remote. The dog doesn't really like it when the "alpha male" is gone. He paces the house and is extra bark-y. I'm sure he'll be ready to give up his post as guardian of the Grey household for a few days and get some rest.

A little quiet time is good, but I'm ready for the whirlwind now! Bring on the plans, the wonderful weather, and the FALL FUN! I'm ready!

Just my opinion...

Not to get too political on this blog, but this debate over Amendment 26 (the "Personhood Amendment") really makes my blood pressure rise. I feel like a lot of people are not seeing the bigger picture here and are not educating themselves AT ALL on what all is included in this amendment.

It is not a pro-abortion or anti-abortion vote at all. It's about at what point an embryo is considered an actual person and all that is associated with the treatment of said "person" shortly after conception.

There are a lot of unanswered questions about how this amendment would affect fertility treatments, and I, for one, think that fertility treatments and abortion should not in any way be grouped together for any purpose. Any blanket amendment that would target both should be seriously reviewed because they're on total opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of intent.

I walk the line in terms of my values, but overall I tend to be fiscally conservative and socially liberal. I feel like Mississippi, as a whole, can be so backwards sometimes.

I heard someone the news last night say that "the nation is focusing on Mississippi, and that this is our chance to be first in life rather than last in everything." Let me set the record straight with some statistics...

Mississippi is No. 1 in the country for teen births with a teen birth rate of 65.7, meaning out of 1,000 teenagers, 65 of them will have a baby. But you know what else? We're the second to last state (above Wyoming) for abortion rate with a rate of 4.6, meaning out of 1,000 women ages 15-44, there are fewer than five terminations. Those numbers have not a single thing to do with one another. Passing this amendment to make abortion illegal in Mississippi will have no effect on bringing down the teen pregnancy rate in Mississippi. Some might argue that it will do just the opposite.

Mississippi has only one abortion clinic in the state, and legislation is presented every year to try and shut it down. I'm NOT saying I'm pro-abortion at all. That's a topic that's obviously very difficult and sensitive to discuss, and this blog is not about that. I just feel like there's a never-ending circle of ignorance that people don't feel the need to address. Why not switch our focus to educating our teenagers about sex and STDs and the consequences of teen pregnancy, etc., rather than just ignore the reality that they're having sex? By pretending like it doesn't happen we end up with more teen moms who don't finish school, who can't get a decent job because they don't finish school, who are dependant on federal assistance because they can't afford to live, etc. It just never ends, but that's a totally different topic right there. Back to the debate at hand...

To the majority of people who will vote on this, this amendment is either pro- or anti-abortion, and there's just so much more to it than that.

They have not take into consideration the thousands of couples who want desperately to have a child and have to resort to science and clinical assistance to help make that dream a reality. And trust me, if this amendment passes without separate consideration for fertility treatments, there will be enough red tape associated with what is legal/illegal for doctors to do that it will be hard for them to continue fertility practices as-is in this state. It would most definitely limit physicians' treatment protocol options for those seeking fertility assistance, and I feel sure that any couple faced with that issue would want every single available option at their disposal.

There are plenty of opinions out there on both sides, and I'm not saying one is right and one is wrong. I just feel like this is a "blanket" amendment that hides some of the unintended consequences of its passage. Just be educated if you plan on voting, and consider all sides, even if it doesn't seem like it may directly affect you. That's all.

Okay, off my soapbox... Thanks for letting to me vent. :)

The Big 3-1 in the Big Easy

Well, I'm officially over 30. So far, so good. I was actually at a work conference last week for my birthday, so I celebrated with my boss and some co-workers in the big city of Tunica, Mississippi. Lovely city. Lots and lots of casinos. That's about it.

We drove back to Jackson on Thursday, and after about an hour of not being in the car, I hopped back in the car with Derek, Drew and Kristin for our second annual Grey-Gor NOLA Birthday Getaway to "officially" celebrate my birthday and Drew's birthday. We took it pretty easy on Thursday night and just relaxed at the condo and visited with Uncle Rusty. (Miss that man and don't get to see him nearly enough!)

Friday morning we slept in a little, then got ready for brunch at one of my favorite little breakfast spots, Elizabeth's. We had some praline bacon, grits and grillades, French toast, big mouthwatering biscuits and some mimosas to start the day right. SO GOOD!

After breakfast we wandered through the French Quarter doing a little window-shopping and some day-drinking along the way. The weather couldn't have been prettier for wandering around New Orleans - sunny and breezy with a cold front on its way.


Friday afternoon we met three of Derek's old fraternity brothers at The Bulldog on Magazine Street. It was happy hour, and they made the most of it. Fun times. :)

Friday night we went to The Mortuary haunted house. This, might I add, was ALL Derek. We just accompanied him because he wouldn't let us do anything else until we did this. It was pretty scary. Very professional. I told Derek from the get-go that I was going to either wet my pants or cry like a baby because I do not like haunted houses or people jumping out at me.

Well, after waiting for an hour to go inside and then the terrifying (to me anyways) 30 minutes inside, I will admit I did one of the two things I promised Derek I would do. And I did not wet my pants. I cried. The UGLY cry. It was horribly embarrassing, but I survived. And I hope my sweet husband enjoyed putting me through pure terror on my birthday weekend. I will say it was actually a lot of fun in the end though, so no harm done...

After we left The Mortuary, we grabbed a late bite to eat at a bar on the way back to the condo and called it a night.

Saturday morning we headed to Lucy's for breakfast before walking two doors down to watch the Mississippi State-Georgia game at The District. We met my friends Keever and Bobby for the game, and although State didn't have a very good game, I had a great time catching up.

After the sad loss, we walked back to the Quarter and stopped in at Jax Brewery for some more day-drinking with our group of friends and met up with a few more...

We made our way back to the condo and got ready for dinner at HerbSaint. We sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful fall weather and just enjoyed the atmosphere that is the Big Easy. We ended the night with a visit to Frenchmen Street for some live music, and then a quick jaunt to the Tropical Isle on Bourbon (don't ask me why).

What a great weekend!! So good to catch up with old friends and spend the prettiest weekend so far in one of the greatest cities in the world. I've said it before, but embracing another year older is all in how you celebrate it, and I think we did pretty well. :)