The Adventures of Team Brown

Georgia Stacking blocks

2011-03-03T15:18:00.004-06:00

Georgia is quite the little helper. She helps putting the dishes away in the dishwasher, taking the laundry out of the washing machine and putting them into the dryer, sweeping the floor, and cooking. She loves having me get out the step stool and letting her stand on it while I'm cooking. She gets out measuring cups and uses all kinds of utensils and pretends to cook along with me. It's super cute.

(Sorry for the screaming at the end of the video. Our camera has a VERY sensitive mic on it and it's hard to always remember to whisper when recording.)

Georgia is coming into her own becoming quite the little personality. She is so much fun! She loves people and her little friends. She's very affectionate, giving hugs and kisses. She loves playing, Sesame Street, music, playing at the park, going to the pool.

Georgia Dancing

2011-01-28T14:45:00.001-06:00

Georgia LOVES music and dancing to it. It's kind of funny to watch her when she gets really excited about it. She also has started to try to jump. Here's a little clip of both.

Heart of Jerusalem Cafe

2011-01-17T13:19:00.002-06:00

It's been quite a while since I do a food review. I've had a number of people ask me when I was going to start again, especially since we now live in CO. So, here it is. My first review in CO.

One could easily pass by Heart of Jerusalem Cafe and never realize it's even there. The original restaurant is located in an unassuming strip mall off of Austin Bluffs and Barnes. But this hole in the wall is worth discovering. I've now eaten there 3 times. My first experience was at their 2nd location in Manitou Springs. At that location they have outdoor seating, which I suggest taking advantage of. Each time the service has been prompt, friendly, helpful and the food delicious.

The food is very similar to Mediterranean. Instead of gyros they have Shawermah and the meat is chopped up instead of in strips. I suggest getting the Ultimate or Veggie plate. Both have hummus, pita bread, falafel. The ultimate plate comes with meat and a salad as well. The veggie plate comes with tabouleh salad and dolmas. Joe and I usually order both and split them between the 3 of us (Georgia too). There's not quite enough food to share, at least not when sharing with my husband and daughter. :) The plates run $7- $9. They also have sandwhiches (Shawermah). Their tea is delicious, as well as the baklava. They have a great deal "Tea for Two". You get tea for two people and baklava for only $3.99.

We haven't eaten at many local places, but I rank Heart of Jerusalem in my top 5. If you enjoy Middle Eastern or Mediterranean food I highly suggest giving H of J a try.

Our Experiment for the New Year

2010-12-31T12:44:00.009-06:00

It's been a while since we've posted anything....the fall has been busy with lots of family and friends.

As 2010 comes to an end and 2011 begins we wanted to share what God has put on our hearts for the coming year. We read the book "Radical' by David Platt. www.radicalthebook.com Platt became the pastor of a mega church in Birmingham, AL when God started challenging him on what he and his church were giving their lives to. He found that the values of the American Dream (self-reliance, making much of ourselves) had become mixed in with the gospel to create an American Christian church which preaches a costless discipleship and separates the obligations of Christianity from its privileges . Jesus wasn't American and the values He preaches aren't what our prevailing American culture tell us to give our lives to. God blesses us to be a blessing to others to see the Nations reached. The gospel and our relationship with Christ shouldn't be us centered, but Christ centered first and foremost and second, others centered. To quote Radical:

The message of Biblical Christianity is not "God loves me, period," as if we were the object of our own faith. The message of biblical Christianity is "God loves me so that I might make Him, His ways, His salvation, His glory, and His greatness --know among all nations."

This rang true with deep convictions God had given us out of Gen 12:1-3 and Ps 67:1-2.

So, at the end of the book Platt gives what he calls "The Radical Experiment: One Year to a Life Turned Upside Down". In this he challenges the reader to give a year to these five things:

1) Pray for the entire world. The tool he suggests is the book 'Operation World'. It has every country listed with info and things to pray for broken out each day for the entire year. We are also going to be intentional about praying for our friends, family and missionaries we personally know as exhorted in Eph 6:18

2) Read through the entire Bible. Most people read portions, but most have never actually read the entire thing. I (Johnena) haven't actually read through the entire Bible. There are lots of Bible reading plans online.

3) Sacrifice my money for a specific purpose. Most people maybe give, but many don't give to the point of actually sacrificing anything. We give, but we don't really notice it's gone. It's just part of our budget. Ideas for this is not just a monetary amount, but giving up something that does have some financial aspect to it, but it could be something you place a value in or takes up a lot of your time that you could use for something else. Joe isn't going to spend any money on sports equipment, workout gear, races, etc. for the next year. It's not a lot of money, but it is time and something that is a sacrifice for him. We're going to give away all of our tax return. We want to show we put our trust in God for future finances instead of money and ourselves. My sacrifice is giving up cable. We don't really watch that much tv, but we do have shows we enjoy. During the time we would normally watch our show we're going to either pray, read one of the books we've picked out to read this year, work on Bible study, keep up with friends.

4) I will spend time in another context. Platt challenges one to give 2% or one week, of the next year to something outside of your normal context. His main emphasis is to go overseas, but realizes this isn't possible for some. Other ideas are prison ministry, soup kitchen, missions trip in the states. Anything to expand your outlook on life and allow God to speak to you in a new way. As most of you now know from our Christmas letter, we're going to Central Asia over Spring Break.

5) I will commit my life to a multiplying community. This challenge is to get involved relationally with other believers. This could be by joining a small group at church, a Bible study, etc. Allowing people/friends into your life to be real with them, to allow them to speak into your life, to pursue a deeper relationship with Christ together.

We are committing to these things for the next year. We are sharing this with all of you to help hold us accountable and to ask you to join us in this experiment for the next year. We'll update through out the year as to how God is using this in our lives to change us and make us more like HIM.

Our challenge to you, is to join us in this Radical experiment. For anyone who commits to implementing these 5 things we'll buy you a copy of Operation World 2010 and give $500 towards a short term missions trip (it can be in the states or overseas). We'd love to hear what you're committing to and how God uses this in your life too.

Happy New Year!

Pumpkin Patch

2010-10-05T21:46:00.003-05:00

An fun part of living in CO is fall activities. It hasn't felt much like fall yet, but this last Friday we did go to a pumpkin patch farm with our friends the Bryant's and Drenth's.

Jessica and Caleb on the pony

Georgia loves other little kids, but she especially has been enjoying getting to play with Joah. I appreciate that although he's 2 years older than her he plays fairly well with her. She always squeals with delight when she sees him. Here are the two buddies.

'Ooo, Mommy, I'm so excited to go on this train ride!'

Woohoo! Let's go!

Georgia loves dogs, but she was SO scared of all of the farm animals. I think she was aware of how big they were and how small she is. Anytime I tried to get her to pet them or they would reach out of their pens, she would grab onto me tightly and arch her body away.

I couldn't get her to look at me for any pictures! She was just too distracted the whole time.

Misc. of Georgia

2010-10-05T21:41:00.002-05:00

Georgia and Mommy

She's learned to sit on things like this train and the bottom stair on our staircase.

Georgia and Daddy

She loves taking a bath. She likes drinking the water though and even will dip her head down into the water to try and drink it.

Nana Visits

2010-09-27T16:07:00.003-05:00

Joe's Mom, Nana, came out to watch Georgia for us while we went to the 'Doolie Retreat'. Georgia and Nana had a great time together. They played, read lots of books, went to the park. We're very grateful she was able to come out. It served us and was a great little break for me.

Garden of the Gods

2010-09-27T16:00:00.002-05:00

We went to Garden of the Gods a couple of Friday's ago with some of our friends. There were 3 kids with us, so it was quite the leisurely stroll. We enjoyed the scenery none the less.

Hey, Clara, why don't you get out and play?

Um, Mom? I'm not so sure about this.

The little boy in the picture is Joah Bryant. Georgia LOVES playing with him. She gets extremely excited whenever she sees him knowing they are going to get to play together. He's 3 so he shows her the ropes. The funny thing is with their light blond hair and blue eyes they look like they could be siblings!

My Little Gardner

2010-09-16T15:13:00.002-05:00

Georgia loves playing in the dirt. She digs in my flower pots and picks flowers to try and plant them in the empty pots I have. I think we might have a future gardner on our hands!

4 year Anniversary

2010-09-01T22:09:00.003-05:00

This entry is about our anniversary/food critic column. August 19th Joe and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary. We both think it's hard to believe we've only been married 4 years. It seems a lot longer than that, in a good way. We've packed a lot into 4 years. Lived in FL, NC and CO. Gone through two deployments. Had a baby. Visited LOTS of places. Overall had a great time.

For our anniversary we had planned to go to Shuga's for dinner and then a crepe place downtown for dessert. However, Joe was able to put his 'J-ness' aside and we changed plans midway through our date. We did go to Shuga's for drinks and appetizers. While there we decided to find some place else for dinner. We drove around looking for what sounded good. In Joe Brown fashion he saw the of the beaten path ethnic places and wanted to eat there. I humored him, as I often do, :) and we ended up at Rumi's Kabab, an Afgan restaurant. The food was excellent and we enjoyed getting to talk with the owner for a bit. By the end of the meal we were stuffed, so unfortunately we didn't have dessert. Crepes will have to wait for another date night. We had a really fun time together.

Shuga's: Shuga's is a hip, local bar on a quite street in downtown. The atmosphere is very casual and laid back with great outdoor seating. They are known for their drink menu. Joe had an IPA which he quite enjoyed. Don't let the can fool you. I had one of their mixed drinks. It was good, but I do think they are overpriced. The mixed drinks average $8 and are served in small glasses. The menu is fairly simple. They have a few appetizers to choose from, salads, soups and sandwiches. The food is well priced. We had the Chop Board. It was great and included plenty of food for two. We were actually kind of full after eating it. The board included two kinds of cheese, pancheta, salami, bread, spicy chipotle cashews and dried apricots. Overall we enjoyed Shuga's and will frequent there again.

Rumi's Kabab: Rumi's Kabab is located on Bijou St. downtown. They offer a large lunch buffet and full dinner menu. The food is mostly found in the Kabul region of Afghanistan. It reminded me a little of mexican with some of the spices used. There was cumin and cilantro in a number of dishes. We enjoyed hot black chai tea, lamb, rice. The rice was excellent. It was very flavorful and so moist. Joe's meal came with two kinds of rice. One was more traditional with cumin seed in it and the other had spinach mixed in. The lamb came in a spinach and red sauce. It was well cooked and moist. (Sorry! I didn't write down the names of what we ate!) Mine wasn't quite was I was expecting. The description of mine was it was ground lamb and veggies in a dough with sauce. I was expecting more like an empanada type dish, but instead it was more like an Italian dish. The meat was encased in a light, almost rice paper, noodle with a tomato based sauce with yogurt. It was only ok. Prices were reasonable about $12 for a dinner entree which came with bread and their chile dipping sauce. I think next time we'll try out the lunch buffet to be able to try out more dishes. If you're looking for something different to try for dinner that is also delicious, check out Rumi's Kabab.

Georgia is 1 year old!

2010-08-06T11:29:00.005-05:00

*First off, disclaimer for so many pictures. The grandparents weren't able to be here for her birthday and had requested lots of pictures. Thus, there are lots of pictures below.

Georgia is LOVED, LOVED, LOVED by so many people. She had a great birthday. We went to the park and swung on the swings. She loves to swing. If I let her I think she would swing for an hour. I get done after 30 minutes or so. That evening we opened presents with her. I did wrap some of them, but she didn't really get the concept of opening them. Because I suspected this would be the case, I grouped many of her gifts together and put them in gift bags to speed up the process. I had planned a little party for her the day after her birthday, but she ended up having a fever and not feeling well, so unfortunately I had to cancel. We did still enjoy some yummy carrot cake.

The birthday girl waking up from her nap.

Nana came to visit in July and gave early birthday presents. This shopping cart was one of them. The other fun gift was a kitchen play set.

Georgia has become quite affectionate. She loves this angel bear, seen in the picture and her daisy duck Berni and Sarah gave to her.

Thanks Aunt Katie and Uncle Jeff, Uncle Thom and Issa for the neat storybook and Noah's Ark!

Georgia loves music and toys that are interactive. She always starts dancing whenever she hears music. This Winnie the Pooh train has all of that. Thanks Grandma and Papou!

Uh, Mommy...what do I do with this?

Sucess! The toy inside!

It was so cute! As soon as she got the baby, while it was still in the package, she immediately hugged the doll. She's also tried to give the baby her pacifier. It's amazing how early she's already understanding things like that.

Big Yiayia and Papou gave Georgia lots of fun things from Disneyland. This cup with Daisy and Minnie was one of them.

Georgia loves the bathtub and going to the pool. Mommy and Daddy gave her some new bath toys.

Daddy also got Georgia a special gift, an AF Falcons sweatshirt. We can't wait to cheer them on this football season. Go Falcons!

The morning after. So many fun new toys!

We've been working on blowing on food when it's hot, so I was hoping she might blow out the candle, but I ended up having to do it.

Sorry, no crazy frosting everywhere pictures. I hardly put any frosting on her cupcake. I didn't want to clean up the mess and I didn't want her getting sick from all of the sugar. As you can see from the photo, she did just pick the whole thing up and start chowing down.

Thanks again to everyone who sent her gifts!

Happy Birthday!

2010-08-04T12:57:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday Georgia! A year ago today you came into our lives. We love you SO much!

God, we are thankful for blessing us with the gift of Georgia.

What a crazy, life changing, amazing year it has been.

Here you are about a year ago.....

And here you are today!

Georgia Walking

2010-08-04T12:54:00.002-05:00

This is so the grandparents can see their little one walking. :)

Georgia Loves to Eat

2010-07-21T16:11:00.002-05:00

I realized we have lots of pictures of Georgia eating. Probably because she LOVES to eat and ever since she started to feed herself has gotten more and more entertaining (aka messy) while eating. She has a huge appetite. She often will eat as much as I do. People don't really believe us until they witness the devouring. For a few months she wasn't gaining weight or really growing much so I think these past few months she just been making up for the missing calories.

She eats just about anything. She doesn't like lettuce because she can't chew it or watermelon. Not sure on the watermelon. Crazy things she's eaten include cilantro, raw red onion, salsa.

Here we gave her a fork to use for the first time. She holds it in her left hand, while eating with her right one. She does a bit better when a food requires a spoon.

Tip for new moms: get a bumbo seat with tray. I didn't think early on I would use this much, but she sat in it to eat at home for the first 3 or so months of eating. We take it with us to people's houses for her to sit in to eat and still do that even now.

Eating out: she eats so much we order off of the kids menu for her

Her first time eating scrambled eggs and toast.

Georgia Seeing Double

2010-07-21T16:04:00.001-05:00

We thought this was so funny!

Parade

2010-07-14T10:36:00.002-05:00

Last night we went to the Pikes Peak Rodeo parade in downtown C-Springs. The rodeo hall of fame is here and so every summer there is a big weekend long rodeo. The parade was a fun time. There were lots of horses, cars, floats, bands, cheerleaders, etc. No candy was thrown or given out though. :( We're thinking it must not be allowed.

It's been really 'hot' here this week. I put hot in quotes because although it was in the 90s and will be all week, it feels nothing like the 90s in FL. We are loving the summer here!

More CO pics

2010-07-10T10:35:00.004-05:00

In response to demands for more Colorado pics, here they are...

We ate at Fargo's Pizza off Platte Ave. It receives an A for eclectic decor and kid friendly atmosphere, but only a C+ for the actual pizza.
Unfortunately, our house's previous owners apparently stopped watering the grass as soon as we got under contract, so our yard was quite dead when we arrived. To resurrect this beast, I had to thatch the yard (rake out all the dead grass from underneath), fertilize, and re water. It is on its way to recovery...
Contrary to how it may appear in this photo, thatching a yard is NOT a fun, easy Saturday afternoon activity. It is long and grueling process; just the sort of thing that Josh Peterson likes to do!!

Happy 4th of July

2010-07-07T12:32:00.003-05:00

You might be asking yourself, what is that a picture of? And what does it have to do with 4th of July? Well, it's hail. Yes, hail. 4th of July in Colorado Springs it hailed for about 15 minutes. What a change a year makes! Last year we were on the beach in hot, humid weather. This year it was cool enough to hail.

Goodbye FL, Hello CO!

2010-07-07T12:16:00.002-05:00

Monday, June 14th we left FL and began our road trip out west to CO. But before we left we had a goodbye bash on the beach with all of our friends. It was a good time of sun, sand, water and beach volleyball. I love the beach and will miss it!

A competitive game going on!

Georgia and her buddy Elliott: they always had such a good time playing together. I'm praying for God to bring a new little friend into her life here in CO.

Our last week in FL, during the movers and cleaning out of our apartment, we stayed with Andrea and Cobe. Georgia loves dogs and enjoyed getting lots of time with the Kendrick's dog, Cairo. I thought this picture perfectly captures the two of them.

This is our lunch stop in Texas, Ruby's BBQ. We were quite excited about getting some good Texas bbq on our trip. Texas encompassed days two and three of the drive. Day two we drove to Austin and stayed with Beth and John Starke.

Lots of quality time in the Subaru. (Thanks Rob for the car!) Joe was a champ and did most of the driving.

We ate at some eclectic places. I don't remember the name of this one. Joe had the gumbo and it was really good. Everything else on the menu was kind of greasy nasty. The cup he's holding is how the gumbo came out and was full of gumbo.

Day one we drove to Jackson, MS where my brother Joshua, is going to seminary. We got to spend time with he and his girlfriend, Ashley.

Our last stop was Clovis, NM to visit the Finesilvers. (Sorry there's no photo!) It was good to get to see them. From there we drove the final leg to Colorado Springs, where we arrived at our new house on Thursday evening! The drive out was long with long days. It was good to visit people along the way. We have lots of room in our new house so if you're in the Springs give us a call!

To All My Lady Friends in FL

2010-07-07T12:00:00.002-05:00

The picture below was taken at M0hollow's Bistro in FWB. The four of us (l to R: me, Sarah Jones, Elizabeth Olmstead, Natasha McClure) represent the remaining few of the women who participated in the Thursday morning Bible study. I started the study back in the late spring/early summer of our first year in FL, back in '07. The first ladies were Natasha, Sarah B., Katrina and Sissy. We are were newly married, recently moved to FL and none of us had kids. Over my time in FL the group fluctuated in size, growing up to about 12-14 ladies at one point. We all had kids during the time. We did Beth Moore studies, Kay Author and others. It was such a special group of ladies, friendships. I miss all of you so much and the fellowship we shared. I feel blessed that God saw fit to allow each of you to be a part of my life and your kids to be a part of Georgia's. I cannot express how much I will forever treasure those years.

Nana and Popie Come to Visit

2010-06-06T21:13:00.002-05:00

Joe's parents were able to come down one final time to visit us in FL. It was the first time seeing Jenny since she got out of the hospital. God is good! She is doing amazing! We had a really good time with them. Georgia especially did. She enjoyed all of the extra attention and love. :)

Fish Lipz

2010-05-31T17:48:00.002-05:00

In a nutshell Fish Lipz in Fort Walton is to be by passed. We went at around 2 pm on a Monday and had to wait a good 15 minutes for a table. When we were seated we found there were plenty of empty tables, so why exactly we had to wait we weren't sure. We proceeded to wait more. We waited on our drinks, salads and food for an excessive amount of time. The food itself was ok, but nothing special. With the price for an entree at $15 or more you would hope for at least good food. I will say the view was pretty (see below). No matter where you were seated you had a good view of the water. They also have outdoor seating. I give the service a D, food a C+, but the view A-.

Wine Tasting at Chan's & Dinner at Graffiti

2010-05-31T17:41:00.005-05:00

To start off, this evening was a date night for Joe and I, which was great. We got to go out with Sarah and Kelly Jones. Thanks to Mom and Dad Brown for watching Georgia and Elliott for us!

We started the evening off at Chan's Wine World in Uptown Station. Every Friday night they have a

$10 wine tasting from 5 -7 pm. You get to taste 10 wines accompanied by some light snacks. Each week they feature a different theme of wines. This week they featured 5 whites, including a sparkling, and 5 reds. We had a fun time tasting and pairing with the food. My only complaint was there weren't any tables set up to stand around, so it was a little akward to try and hold your glass, food and try and write any comments down about each wine. It was also disappointing that the guy pouring the wine wasn't very knowledgeable about the wines. I asked a couple of simple questions and he wasn't able to answer them. Overall, if you're looking for a fun thing to do on a Friday night to start your evening off I highly suggest this.

From Chan's we headed to Graffiti in Destin for dinner. We'd never eaten there before and had a 2 for 1 coupon courtesy of 89.1 FM NPR. :) Graffiti is the dining side of the Funky Blues Shack, which we've heard is a good place to go and hangout, drink some good beer and listen to music. While we were there the music hadn't started yet, so I don't have first hand knowledge on it. As for Graffiti, I give it a thumbs up. As you walk in you are greeted with a colorful array of eclectic paintings and works of art covering the walls. The restaurant is lit with multi colored strings of lights adding to the funky vibe of the place. By far the atmosphere is what sets this place apart. The menu consists of pasta, seafood, meats and pizza. The entrees averaged about $15, which is a good price for the amount of food you get. The Jones ordered the crab cakes off of the appetizer menu. They said they were good with lots of good crab and not much filler. The salads that came with our meals were the house and caesar. The house salad was great. It came with mixed greens, tomatoes, sunflower seeds and feta. I got the balsamic dressing which I thought was really good. Joe got the Italian which he likes. The Caesar salad had good greens and homemade croutons, but the rest of it was only average. The bread served was freshly baked and filled with grains you could actually see and taste. It was delicious. The bread was served with a very garlicy olive oil dip. The Bernardoni's would love it. :)

Joe ordered the Balsamic Pork Chops. The chop itself was a generous portion and well grilled. The mashed potatoes that came with it were described as garlic, but didn't taste like it. They were kind of on the dry side as well.

I ordered the Braised Veal and Beef Totellacci. It was not at all what I was expecting and was a strange pairing. The beef and veal filling was amazing. It melted in your mouth with a very good texture. But the sauce that was paired with it didn't go at all. It was a very salty, beef broth. A tomato sauce would've complemen

ted the rich meat filling much better. It was really disappointing.

The Jones ordered the Almond crusted Halibut with a hazlenut butter sauce. The fish was flaky and well cooked. However, the breading was a bit soggy as if it had been sitting on the plate a bit. The sauce was really good. The veggies that came with their meal and with Joe's were well cooked, still crisp.

Overall the food was decent. We all thought next time we would try the pizza. It does seem more like a pizza type place than the food we ordered.

'Mom' comment. I appreciated that on the kids menu they offered fruit as an option instead of fries with their meals. The bathroom also has a changing station, which I wouldn't have guessed. There were a couple of other families there with their kids and I would've have felt comfortable bringing Georgia with us.

My tip, if you're in Destin and in the mood to try out a casual dinning place with character stop by Graffiti.

Mother's Day

2010-05-17T13:30:00.004-05:00

For Mother's Day we had Sarah, Kelly and Elliott Jones over for brunch. Joe and Kelly cooked up a fabulous meal. They started us off with Mimosas with fresh strawberries. From there they whipped up omelets with pancetta, goat cheese and avocado. These were served with delicious home-fries on the side. Since Sarah and I went through our pregnancy and now life with our infants together it was a sweet time getting to spend part of the day together. We are going to miss them when we move!

My little girl enjoying some sweet potatoes. She is quite the eater, who loves to feed herself.

Sarah, with Kelly in the background, showing off her brunch.

My delightful food

Happy Mother's Day

Biker Burger

2010-05-16T20:37:00.003-05:00

So I had a request for a review of Biker Burger here in Ft Walton. I have been there once. In 2008 when Joe came back from his deployment he and I ate there on a date. (Don't blame Joe for picking the place. I actually did.) The menu is quite impressive. There are salmon, turkey, chicken, shrimp, beef burgers. The fries are really good too. Good portions and good price for lots of food. The atmosphere is much like the name implies. Photos of people on/with their motorcycles are all over. Seating is barstools at high tables. BUT, here is my negative review. I got really bad food poisoning from eating there. Puking all night and knocked out the next day. Needless to say I haven't been back since. If you're willing to still give it a go let me know how it is, but I probably will continue to avoid eating there.

Food Reviews

2010-05-13T12:51:00.003-05:00

I've mentioned to Joe a number of times I think it would be fun to be a food critic/reviewer. Back in March we heard a food critic on NPR and I mentioned again about it. He suggested I use our blog to begin to review restaurants. So, on our recent trip to Biloxi, MS I decided to start.

Blow Fly Inn

The Blow Fly Inn is a local, mom and pop restaurant off the beaten path in Gulfport, MS. The restaurant is located on the water giving a beautiful view as you eat. (See picture below.) They serve a lot of your standard seafood/southern favorites including fried pickles, fried green tomatoes, shrimp, grouper, etc. We started our meal with an appetizer of asparagus baked in parmesan cheese, although to call it baked is a bit of a misnomer. It was sprinkled with parmesan cheese, but it wasn't crunchy or melted as if baked. The asparagus itself looked to be steamed and was cooked perfectly. At $3.99 it seemed a bit much to pay, but it was tasty. We then both had salads. They left much to be desired. The raspberry vinaigrette was really sweet, tasking more like syrup than dressing. The homemade 1000 Island was good. The salad itself was iceberg lettuce, croutons, a tomato and cucumber slice. Our entrees were the highlight of the meal. I had the crab cakes, which were made with real lump crab, not much filler and a spicy remolade. Joe had the Crawfish Etouffee with rice. For the view/atmosphere and entrees I would give the Blow Fly Inn an overall rating of a B+.

Burger, Burger

Burger, Burger is known for well, like it's name, burgers. We however, were only able to eat there for breakfast. The menu consisted of your traditional diner type breakfast fare pancakes, eggs, omelets, etc. I got the 2 pancakes, 2 eggs, grits, toast, 2 sausage breakfast. The pancakes were only ok. They were a bit crispy and tastes a little like the oil they were cooked in. I really like pancakes and I was a bit disappointed with them. The eggs I ordered over medium, but were over easy instead. Joe liked the grits and said they tasted like the long cooking kind. The sausage was probably my favorite part of the meal. They were a bit spicy and came out piping hot. Joe ordered the short stack banana walnut pancakes, which he throughly enjoyed. He also had the coffee, which was good. The service was really good. I liked the atmosphere. There were pictures up of local events and people. There was a group of regulars there enjoying their breakfast while we were eating. Unfortunately, I wouldn't really suggest Burger, Burger for breakfast. You honestly could get better food at IHOP. But I would be willing to go back to try their lunch menu.

Kim Long

Kim Long is a Vietnames restaurant that is very authentic (or at least seems to be, I've never been to Vietnam). The menu had crazy things on it like Coconut drink, intestines. The food is good, cheap and a lot. We started off our meal with the spring rolls. They were delicious with shrimp and beef in them accompanied by a peanut dipping sauce. Joe had the BinBun for his entree. This consisted of rice noodles with cilantro, beef, cabbage and a vinegar sauce you pour over the noodles. I had the BinMan. To me it was exactly like Pho. I couldn't really see what the difference was. There were noodles, BBQ beef, cabbage, cilantro, bean sprouts, jalapenos all in a chicken broth. So, if you're in Biloxi and craving some Asian food look up Kim Long.

Los Rancheros

Los Rancheros was amazing. It was by far the best mexican food I've had since living in the South. As some of you know, I LOVE mexican food and have pretty high standards. When we walked in we were met by all Mexicans working there, speaking Spanish. I was a good sign. The restaurant is family owned and operated. But let me get to the food. They started off by bringing us chips and salsa. They made the chips and salsa fresh. We devoured them. (Funny side note: we both got water and it came in small pitchers, not glasses, but pitchers.) For our meal we ordered the fajitas for two. It came with beef, chicken, shrimp, peppers, onion, tomato all covered in cheese. There was enough of it for 3 or 4 people easily. We each got 3 tortillas, guacamole, beans, rice, lettuce, pico. The beef was tender and the chicken was marinaded and seasoned great, not at all dry. The meat was even good the next day reheated in the microwave. It was a good price too, only $24. This is a place not to miss.

Too Cute!

2010-04-26T10:05:00.003-05:00

Joe gives me a hard time that this blog has turned into nothing, but pictures of Georgia and nothing about the rest of our life. He is partly right. She's just so cute, it's hard not to want to show her off! :)

In about a week she'll be 9 months old. Time has flown by! She's getting to be so big and fun to play with. Her most recent accomplishments are crawling, beginning to feed herself and getting her two bottom teeth.

Yesterday we went to the park on base for a picnic and play time with the Jones. Their son Elliott is two weeks younger than Georgia. We try to have them be playmates.

Georgia loves to swing! We were hoping to have a tree in our yard at our house in C-Springs to put a swing in, but we don't. Luckily the park is only a couple of blocks away.

Georgia has now been promoted to a highchair for eating. It was time since she's begun to feed herself. This makes meal times so much easier for us. In this pictures she's enjoying some banana.

New Homeowners

2010-04-22T13:51:00.002-05:00

After the conference in Denver we spent about a week down in Colorado Springs house hunting in preparation for our move in June. Things went very smoothly, God was gracious. We looked at about 14 houses total over two days. By the end of day #2 we had things narrowed down to two houses. It was hard to decide which one to make an offer on. It came down to price and the neighborhood. The neighborhood seems very family oriented with walking trails, parks, pool and elementary school all in the subdivision. It also seems like a place where we'll be able to become friends with our neighbors.

The house itself is in Wagon Trails subdivision. South of Woodmen, east of Powers and north of Dublin. It's 2500 sqft, 4 bedrooms, loft, 3 1/2 bath, living room, dining room, family room, fully finished basement and nice backyard. We'll have plenty of room so plan a visit!

If you'd like to see more pictures I've uploaded them on facebook. :)

4 Generations

2010-04-22T13:44:00.003-05:00

We recently went to the Navs National Military Ministry Conference in Denver. It was a great time seeing lots of friends. The best part was getting to see my grandparents and parents. They of course, loved getting to see Georgia. It's rare to have all FOUR generations together, so we made sure to take some snapshots.

Johnena, Joe, big Papou, Papou, Grandma, Big Yiayia and Georgia

Georgia Drake enjoying time with her great-granddaughter and namesake

We also got to spend lots of time with friends

Josh Peterson (left) - who is going to be living with us for a while in Colorado

Sarah and Brandon Bernardoni (right) - who are close friends from FL, but now live in Ohio

Johnena and Sarah Bernardoni

First Day of Beach Season

2010-04-02T16:00:00.002-05:00

Joe had the day off today and so we headed to the beach for the first time of the season. :) It was Georgia's first time at the beach. She really liked it.

Yum? Sand...

The water is still quite cold so we just walked down to look at it. In a few weeks we'll take Georgia into the water.

We had an umbrella, but it was cheap and broke, so Joe make a make-shift one with a beach towel we tried to keep her under.

Georgia and Daddy enjoying the beach toys

Check out my crazy suntan lotion hair!

Trip to KY

2010-04-02T15:49:00.004-05:00

Joe, Georgia and I all went up to KY for about 12 days to be with his family as his mom, Jenny was in the hospital with complications from having a stroke. The time was a bit emotionally draining, but a good time with family despite the circumstances. Jenny left the hospital today for rehab and we are praising the Lord!

Below are a few of the pictures taken while we were there.

Popie enjoying time with his granddaughter

Joe has fond memories of going to Big Bone Lick State Park as a little boy. The park is really close to his parents house and we hadn't had a chance to go. This time we took advantage of one of the beautiful days and made the trip with the Bernardoni's.

Georgia has started working her way towards crawling. She gets up on all fours, but has only figured out how to scoot herself backwards. She loved the wood floors, but kept running into things!

Playing in the basement with all of the great toys Nana has.

God is an Amazing Creator

2010-03-12T14:20:00.002-06:00

This was the sunrise from our back porch the other morning. Beautiful, amazing, God is so creative. I'm not at all a morning person, but this is worth being up early. We have been so blessed to live on the water for these past 3 1/2 years. I'm sure the sunrise over the mountains is beautiful, but I'm going to miss this view.

Georgia Playing & Rolling

2010-03-09T16:18:00.007-06:00

Below is a video of Georgia playing with toys. She can occupy herself for a times 30 minutes or more, which is great for mom. :)

The 2nd video is her showing off her rolling skills.

Lovin' Our Little Girl

2010-02-19T15:52:00.004-06:00

Georgia is at such a fun age. She is exploring everything and is quite social and interactive. We've both enjoyed getting to play with her and watch her discover things.

Her newest thing is to take out all of the toys one by one from the basket and then go through and chew on all of the parts to the 'Mrs. Potato Head'.

She's enjoying all of the new foods. Here she's just eaten prunes.

She's also discovered her feet and likes to put them in her mouth, especially when I'm changing her diaper.

USAFA here we come!

2010-02-04T15:00:00.004-06:00

As many of you know, we began praying this past spring that God would take us to the Air Force Academy (USAFA) for our next assignment. Some of our best friends, Sarah and Brandon Bernardoni and Corban and Katrina Bryant have gotten orders there. We wanted to be able to continue to minister and share life with them. It has also been a desire of Joe's for some time to be able to go back to USAFA to teach.

Teaching at USAFA is considered a special assignment because it is outside of whatever career field one is in. This summer when Joe began the process of applying, he had been told people weren't being released from Intel to go do non-intel assignments and that the chance of him being released to even apply were slim to none. He told his coordinator, 'well, I won't get accepted if I don't apply and I serve a big God.' This summer he found out he was released to apply to USAFA. God 1, AF 0. Then as he applied we found out in January the political science department requested him by name to come and teach. God 2, AF 0. Yesterday we found out Joe has officially been given the assignment to teach! God 3, AF 0. God is good!

We are SO excited for this next adventure!

January Happenings

2010-01-25T09:21:00.003-06:00

Georgia continues to grow leaps and bounds. She is starting to sit up by herself and prefers to play most of the time sitting up now. She has started to combine consonants with vowels when 'talking'. It sounds like she says 'mama', but not really. :) Georgia has now discovered her feet and uses them to help grab toys and entertain herself. She's only put them in her mouth a few times. She continues to be quite the social butterfly enjoying time in the nursery at church, any time she's with other babies and our friends who love to hold her. Enjoy some of the latest pictures of her below.

People often think she's a boy when we're out and about (even if she has pink or purple on!), which bothers me, so I've started putting headbands and bows in her hair. Dad hates the headbands, but admitted he likes the bows. :)

My friend Sarah had a little boy Elliott, two weeks after Georgia. We've just started having them 'play' together. It's funny to watch them try and figure out what the other is. They 'talk' and grab at each other. It makes me think of the movie 'Look Who's Talking' and I wonder what they are saying.

Georgia's First Christmas

2010-01-08T09:58:00.005-06:00

This year since Georgia was only about 4 1/2 months old at Christmas she didn't really get too excited about any of it or really take much of it in. But it was exciting for us and the extended family. Below are some pictures capturing the 'excitement'.

We started out Christmas morning by reading the Christmas story in Luke. By the end of it Georgia was passed out! She slept through all of us opening our gifts and eating breakfast.

Ready to start opening gifts!

Present from Mommy and Daddy. We thought she might tear the paper once we got it going for her, but she really didn't.

Bath toys

blocks

Sippy cup, she knew what it was right away and wanted to drink from it.

Sweet bib, it works great catching all of the spills from eating

Christmas Day outfit

Christmas with Family

2010-01-08T09:37:00.005-06:00

This year we were blessed with lots of time with family for Christmas. Johnena's family came down to our house in FL. We had a fun time playing games, disc golf, watching Christmas movies, enjoying the hot tub, eating good food and fellowship. The day after Christmas we headed up to KY to spend time with Joe's family. We had a great time with his extended family celebrating the Meade Christmas, getting to see some snow, eating good food and sharing time together.

Christmas dinner (Joe is taking the picture)

Justin was gracious and let my family stay at his house while they were in town. He has a hot tub we got to use! :)

Grandma with Georgia

Uncle Joshua reading 'How the Grinch Stole Christmas'

Papou and Georgia

While in KY we were able to go up to OH to visit my Grandma

The Brown family (unfortunately we kept meaning to take a family picture and this is the only one we got!)

Poppy enjoying Georgia

Uncle Tom with Georgia, she likes pulling at his beard

Nana reading to Georgia, Georgia got lots of books for Christmas

Tom, Katie and Joe

opening gifts with the Browns

Georgia Eats Cereal

2010-01-04T11:20:00.004-06:00

So, these posts are a little out of order. I do have pictures from Christmas, but I'm waiting for pictures from our time in KY to do the Christmas post. I know the grandparents would want to see these pictures and video, so I'm doing this post first.

New Years Eve we fed Georgia rice cereal for the first time. Ever since middle of December she has wanted to be at the table with us when eating and started recognizing us eating and drinking and wanting to join in. With traveling I didn't want to start her on solids until after we came back to keep things easier. She drank out of a straw for the first time Dec. 20th and so we bought her a couple of cups to distract her with while we were eating. Well, she LOVED the cereal. She couldn't get enough and took to it right away. Thanks Uncle Joshua and Daniel for the bib. It was great in keeping the mess off of her clothes.

Georgia is 5 months old today and 1) I can't believe how fast time has gone by 2) it's really fun watching her grow and learn new things. I know things will continue to go by quickly as she starts eating more food and soon I'm sure learning to crawl.

Yum! I'm such a big girl now!

Hurry! Give me more food!

Hey, Daddy, give me the spoon! I can feed myself.

Enjoy the videos below!

Overnight to Pensacola

2009-12-21T08:54:00.003-06:00

Joe and I were blessed with my parents being in town and able to watch Georgia for us while we went to Pensacola for the night. Thank you also to Grandma for the Christmas money which we used towards the Bed and Breakfast we stayed at and to the Bernardoni's who gave us gift certificates to the places we ate at.

It was the first time Joe and I left Georgia overnight. It was a great time for us and Georgia did great as well. We went to the Fish House for dinner and the Melting Pot for dessert.

Shrimp a Ya Ya, yum!

The fish special of the night with vanilla bean foam. The description the waiter gave sounded straight from Top Chef.

3 1/2 great years together!

The B & B we stayed at had a tandem bike. It was a lot harder to maneuver than you would think. We about crashed when we first got on it. The back handlebars don't move, they are simply something to hang on to and the pedals are connected. It was fun riding around the historic area.

They upgraded our room and it had a jacuzzi tub in it!

The balcony off of our room

The house was beautifully decorated for Christmas. This picture doesn't do the center piece on the tables justice. It was really pretty.

Working Out With Daddy

2009-12-21T08:49:00.002-06:00

Joe is back safe and sound from his deployment. We've been enjoying having him home and doing fun things together. Joe has been waiting to be able to incorporate Georgia into his workouts. Well, he's now been able to. :)

I love the look on Georgia's face. She'e loving it just as much as he is.

Pull ups with 15 extra pounds.

We went running one day and it was only in the low 40s outside. This is how we bundled Georgia up. She didn't seem to mind all of the layers.

Christmas party

2009-12-06T21:42:00.003-06:00

Saturday was the Navs Christmas Party at the Boathouse Landing. 23 of us gathered for dinner and a fun time of White Elephant gift exchange. We made out with good loot. I got a dustbuster size wet/dry vac. Granted it was only $10 and an off brand and I haven't tried it out yet, but it has good potential. :) Georgia was the bell of the ball. Everyone was gushing over how cute she was in her outfit. And cute she was! They also were taking lots of pictures of her. I almost wanted to start charging for people to use her in their shots. :) But you can see for yourself below why she was so irresistible.

Georgia is 4 months old

2009-12-06T21:30:00.003-06:00

Georgia is now 4 months old! It has been so fun much to continue to watch her grow and learn new things. She now laughs, sits up well with minimal assistance, reaches for toys, puts everything in her mouth, rolls over from her back to her stomach, responds to voices, 'talks' up a storm herself. She is now almost 15 lbs. and 24 1/2 inches. Her eyes are still blue, but her hair continues to change color from a blond to brownish color. She is such a sweet baby.

KY/OH Thanksgiving Trip

2009-12-04T21:12:00.005-06:00

For Thanksgiving Georgia and I flew up to KY/OH to spend time with friends and family. We had a great time and got to see lots of people! Georgia has now flown twice and been to four states. Not a bad start towards all 50 states. :) She did really well flying and all of the traveling overall. She loves being with people, so she was in her element with lots of attention from grandparents, cousins, Aunt, Uncles and friends.

Aunt Katie enjoying the time with her niece

Joe's cousin Carrie had a little baby boy, Jake, 3 weeks after Georgia was born. We got to meet him for the first time. Jake was about 4 weeks early, which is why even though they are only about 3 weeks apart there is such a big size difference.

Jake and Georgia

We enjoyed getting to see Uncle Tom and meet his girlfriend, Issa.

Georgia had her first Thanksgiving

Nana LOVED all the time she got to spend with her granddaughter and Georgia enjoyed the time too

Poppy was able to steal her away at times :)

For a few days we went up to OH to visit with my side of the family. My grandma and Aunt and Uncle live up in Dayton, about an hour north of where Joe's parents live. It's been nice getting to see them more often. This trip my grandma got to meet her great-granddaughter for the first time. It was a special time.
Also while up in Dayton we were able to visit our good friends, Sarah and Brandon Bernardoni. They also met Georgia for the first time. It was really good getting to see them, but also sad because we miss them here in FL!

Georgia Rolls Over

2009-12-01T22:22:00.005-06:00

Today Georgia rolled over for the 1st time. She had been rolling up on her side for a few weeks now, but today was the day. I was hoping she might 'wait' until Joe got home so he could perhaps be the first one to see her do it. I'm glad I caught it on camera. You can tell I caught it right in the moment because all of a sudden I start screaming. Hey, I'm a proud first time mom. :)

Bumbo

2009-11-15T14:02:00.003-06:00

Georgia has started being able to sit up with minimal assistance. To give her some variation on her view of the world/our living room, I've started letting her sit in the Bumbo seat. She seems to enjoy it.

3 months old!

2009-11-02T11:45:00.007-06:00

Georgia is now 3 months old! I'm not exactly sure how big she is now, but I would guess around 13 lbs. and 24 inches. Looking at pictures from the last month she has grown a lot. Friends here have recently mentioned her seeming bigger, too. This last week she laughed for the first time when I was playing with her! She is holding her head up well, is sleeping through the night and has established a good routine. She enjoys playing with these rings I have hung up on her play mat and car seat. It is such a joy to watch her grow and discover new things.

Trying out the jogging stroller for the first time. She seems to really enjoy it.

Georgia is such a happy baby. I love seeing her smile and hearing her talk.

Happy Halloween

2009-11-01T13:27:00.003-06:00

The theme for this years Halloween Party was board games. Georgia and I went from the game 'Settlers of Catan'. I was a settler and she was my resource, a sheep. :)

Jacobe and Andrea Kendrick hosted the party this year. They dressed as the characters from 'Where's Waldo?"

Steph came as dice, a play on her last name, Dyess. Katrina, who was in town visiting me, came as the robber in 'Settlers'.

Scott won for best costume. He came as the game 'Operation'. His costume actually buzzed when you tried to get the pieces of candy out. I was quite impressed.

We played lots of fun game, including a variation on charades.

Elliott and Georgia

2009-10-30T12:38:00.002-05:00

Our good friends, Kelly and Sarah Jones, were pregnant at the same time we were. It was really great to go through pregnancy with Sarah. We had the same doctor and delivered at the same hospital. They had a little boy, Elliott Todd, who was born exactly two weeks after Georgia on our anniversary. These pictures are take a couple of weeks after Elliott was born.

The Best Thing About Being a Mom

2009-10-24T09:24:00.003-05:00

One of the best things about being a Mom is when Georgia smiles at me. When she smiles at me first before I even smile at her. When she smiles because she knows I'm her Mommy and she loves me. It's the purest, unadulterated kind of smile and love. It makes my heart melt every time. Seeing those smiles makes all of the hard times, inconveniences and loss of freedom worth it. The love she has for me is the same that God has for me. There are no strings attached, it's the best kind. And God's heart melts when I respond in love to him before he ever 'smiles' at me first. I don't know how often I actually do that and I'm sure God's heart aches for me to respond to him out of pure, unadulterated love more often. It's amazing how many parallels I have come to see between being a parent/having a baby and my relationship with God. I'm sure that's why God decided to give us children, so that we can know him more intimately and understand our relationship with him better.

Uncle Joshua and Uncle Daniel Visit

2009-10-20T11:11:00.002-05:00

This weekend my brothers had fall break and came to visit. It was the first time Daniel got to meet Georgia. All of our siblings have now gotten to see her. I'm enjoying the 3 of us all living in the SE and being able to spend time together a little more frequently.

Uncle Daniel and Georgia (This is the first time Georgia smiled in a picture with someone holding her.)

Mommy and daughter

Uncle Joshua and Georgia - she is starting to have good head control, I've started sitting her up on the couch

Joshua's birthday is on the 26th and since we were together decided to celebrate early.

Nana and Aunt Katie Visit

2009-10-20T11:07:00.003-05:00

Joe's Mom, Nana, and sister, Aunt Katie, came down for the long weekend to visit. It was Katie's first time getting to meet Georgia. We had a good time doing what else? Shopping! :) It was really nice to have the extra help with Georgia and the company. We love and miss you!

Being an Aunt is hard work!

Nana loving her granddaughter

Trip to WA

2009-10-05T16:27:00.003-05:00

We went up to WA to visit family for a couple of weeks. Georgia took her first plane ride at 6 weeks old and met her namesake, Georgia Drake. We had a great time together.

In the Val-P airport getting ready to get on the plane for the first time. She did really well. She slept on both flights going out there.

On the plane :) If she is like her parents, Georgia will be quite the traveler.

One of the things we did while in WA was go to the Western Washington Fair in Puyallup. It is the 5th largest fair in America. We ate Crusty Pups, Earthquake burgers and had Dairygold ice cream. We are standing in front of the pumpkin competition.

Another day the 3 of us went up to Seattle to hangout for the day. It was fairly cold, so we bundled her up as best we could. That is her under the heart dotted hat.

This is my grandmother, Georgia Drake, holding her great-granddaughter. We named Georgia after her. It was the first time my grandparents had seen her. They were quite beside themselves.

Here we are the 4 generations!

Great Yiayia and Papou with Georgia

My Dad, Joe, Papou and Georgia

My Dad playing with Georgia

Great Moms get promoted to Grandma :)

Georgia is 2 months old!

2009-10-04T16:52:00.001-05:00

Our little lady is now 2 months old. It's hard to believe it. The time has flown by. She now is smiling in response to others smiles and at people she knows. She has discovered her hands and has started to suck on her hand some for comfort. I appreciate this because it means I don't always have to help her keep the pacifier in her mouth. She is quite alert and aware of her surroundings and is always taking everything in. She hasn't rolled over yet, but is well on her way. Sleeping is going great. She goes about 8 hours between feedings, sleeping for 6-7 hours in a row and then going back down for another couple of hours. This has been amazing for me! I feel like a normal person again. I go to the doctor on Thursday for her 2 month check up, but at my parents I weighed her and she was 12 lbs. and 23 inches long. We'll see what the official weight and measurement is. As you can see by the pictures below Georgia is a really happy baby. :)

She loves kicking the ball down by her feet. The little yellow ball inside makes a jiggling sound when moved.

The happy family of three! :)

Baby Dedication

2009-09-13T11:52:00.003-05:00

Yesterday we dedicated Georgia to the Lord. Instead of having it at a church we decided to have it at our friends, the Kendrick's house. We don't really have a relationship with the pastor of the church we attend and wanted our friends and actual community to be apart of it. So, we decided just to do it ourselves. There ended up being about 30 or so people th

at came. Below you can watch it.

Hunter Gatherers

2009-09-12T10:01:00.005-05:00

During this last Labor Day Weekend we had some great guests to Laguna Landing.

My brother Tom came down from Eastern Kentucky University where he is a history major preparing for seminary. He stayed with us and we really enjoyed the time. We played Frisbee golf at a local park and took Georgia on her first off-road adventure.

Later in the weekend, my college roommate Adam Kawatski and his wife Sara came down from Valdosta, GA. We really enjoyed fellowshipping with them and sharing what God was teaching us in our respective stages of life. The highlight though (for the guys anyway) was spearfishing!

We borrowed Kelly Jones' speargun and pole spear and freedove at Mid Bay Bridge and CC Meigs Bridge in Niceville.

We shot 7 fish, including a very large mullet, a flounder, and five sheepshead. Perfect for fish tacos!

Georgia Talks*

2009-09-11T09:42:00.003-05:00

*Disclaimer about this video: this is posted for posterity for me and for the Grandparents. It's almost 4 minutes long, so you might not want to sit and watch the entire thing.

Georgia is 5 1/2 weeks old now and on a regular basis when hanging out and happy, talks away. It's quite fun to interact with her and to watch/listen to.

1 month old!

2009-09-05T11:32:00.002-05:00

Georgia is 1 month old! The first month has flown by. The first few weeks were quite the transition, but we are slowly getting the hang of things and falling more in love with her everyday.

Joe gave me a hard time for not posting more pictures with us in them, so here are some with he and I with Georgia. Enjoy!

First Smiles

2009-09-04T08:19:00.003-05:00

This week Georgia has started to smile when interacting with people. It is SO cute!

Month in Review

2009-09-03T15:48:00.005-05:00

So as you can imagine this first month has flown by without much time to add to the blog. As I am typing this, I'm rocking Georgia in the bouncy seat with my foot to keep her calm to be able to work on this. :) Here are some of the many pictures from her first month of life.

week 4

Week 3, she's laying in her crib, she's not sleeping in it yet at night, but I've been trying to have her take naps in it to get used to sleeping in her room. After this weekend we won't be having any more guests and it is our plan to move her in there.

week 4, she has started to smile more and to make fun cooing sounds. I'm going to try to video her making the cute sounds.

Often I find her sleeping in this position. I call it the "I surrender" pose. It seemed she often had her hands up near her face in the womb, so I think it's a carry over.

This is the first time I used the stroller. We went to the mall. She did great, she slept the entire time! I LOVE the stroller. It's really light weight making it easy to take in and out of the trunk and for me to handle on my own.

We have a vibrating seat we put her in, mainly when we're eating dinner or when I'm trying to get something done while she's awake. She gets the funniest look on her face when it first gets going. Her hands go out as to steady herself too.

week 3, at her 2 week check up she was 9 lbs and 22 inches, having gained a lb. and grown and inch since birth.

Our birthing class instructor had suggested Joe hold her in what is called the 'football hold'. I thought it would be only appropriate to have him do the Heisman pose while holding her in this position.

Trying out the baby bjorn for the first time. She spit up on Joe as soon as we were trying to put her in it. It was quite funny, something you would see in a movie, you couldn't have planned the timing any better.

She likes hanging out on the floor, in her swing or bouncy seat or on the bed. It's fun to watch her look around, squirm and make noises.

We had many adventures in diaper changing the first few weeks. Well, I say we, but mostly it was Joe, he was great and did most of the diaper changing. She had so many times where she started pooping after the diaper had been taken off and she had just been cleaned making a huge mess. This is the only time it's gotten all over her clothes like this, but I had to take a picture as a representation of all the other crazy diaper changes.

This is the first piece of mail Georgia received addressed to her. It was from Larry and Julie Matthews. We thought it would be funny to actually put her in the package, especially since it says 'handle with care'.

Uncle Joshua, Johnena's brother, was also able to come and visit.

13 days old

Mommy and daughter :)

9 days old

first time in the swing

Time with In-Laws

2009-09-02T21:06:00.004-05:00

Thanks so much to both our sets of parents for coming down and helping us out. We definitely needed it those first few weeks.

The Drakes and Browns

Johnena Drake, Grandma, with Georgia

Wes Drake aka new Papou

Brown Family- Florida Detachment

Nana, Jenny Brown

Poppy (Greg Brown) is excited!

First Bath

2009-08-20T16:34:00.000-05:00

Once Georgia's umbilical cord fell off we were able to give her a bath. She was 11 days old. She did really well. She didn't cry really at all until we got her head wet and she got cold at the end. She had continued to do quite well when we've given her other baths, although she tends to pee or poop in the towel when being dried off. :)

First Days at Home

2009-08-09T14:09:00.003-05:00

We've been home for about 3 days now. Hard to believe! Time has flown by and much of it is a blur. It's been so nice being home though and not having constant interuptions, like we did at the hospital. Joe's parents have been a HUGE blessing, helping out with meals, shopping for food, doing laundry, cleaning. I don't know what we'd be doing with out them! Joe and I have been trying to rest up, get settled and been enjoying our daughter! :)

The last day in the hospital

In the car seat getting ready to go home!

Here she's in the Pack 'n Play in our bedroom. She looks so tiny in it! It seems to be comfortable because she sleeps really well.

Bright flash in the face, but this is when she's 3 days old, the day we brought her home.

This is on day 4 of her little life. :) She is often on this changing table. Yesterday she started pooping in her diaper. Let me tell you we've had some adventures already! Many times we were changing her and she wasn't quite done and so it got all over her. I think by the middle of the night we'd gone through about 5 outfits.

Thanks for all of the well wishes! :) Those of you in the local area we would love visitors if you've been wondering about coming by. Just give us a call! :)

Welcome to Our World, Baby Brown

2009-08-06T12:37:00.002-05:00

Survey says.....GEORGIA SUZANNE BROWN!!!!!

8 lbs, 21 inches, born 4 Aug at 1426

We are going home today. Will update as time (and crying infant) allows.

- Browns out

Guess the Babies Name!

2009-08-02T16:20:00.003-05:00

No, this isn't our baby. It is Johnena when she was 3 weeks old. But, it is the motivation for the latest input we'd like from people. :)

What do you think the first and middle name of baby Brown is going to be?

Leave your guesses in the comment section of this post, making sure to leave your name so we know who the guess is from. Hopefully you'll be finding out the correct answer soon!

Week 39

2009-07-28T11:14:00.003-05:00

Went to the doctor this morning for my 39 week check up. I'm currently 1 cm dilated and that's about it. :( I'm disappointed to not have much else going on. I saw Kelsey, the PA today, and she didn't really have much to say. She didn't seem to give much indication that much is happening. I guess I should be glad I'm at least 1 cm. They scheduled me for an appointment in a week, which would mean I would be a day over due. I'm praying I'll not have to go to that appointment. I'm also praying for patience, because I'm ready for our little one to make her entrance! I realize a lot can happen in a week and that no matter what she'll be here sooner rather than later, but waiting in the unknown makes it hard to actually believe that. Lord, thank you for the health you've given me through this pregnancy and that the baby is healthy. Help me to have patience as I wait for her arrival.

Eagerly Awaiting

2009-07-23T10:23:00.004-05:00

We are eagerly awaiting the arrival of our little girl. The hardest part is the waiting. Part of me really likes surprises

so I'm hesitant to want to know the exact date of when she will arrive. At the same time, it would be kind of nice to

know so that we can be planning our lives in the mean time. I was having these thoughts during my time with the

Lord this morning. He then brought to mind how I should do the same thing spiritually. I should be actively

awaiting and preparing for the Lord to return. "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your

Lord will come. So, you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect

him." Matt. 24:42, 44 I was challenged with this. I don't really think about the fact that Jesus could come back at

any moment. I just go on about my day as if that wasn't even a reality. Instead, just like with getting ready for the

baby to arrive, I should be learning all I can about Him, talking about Him with others and looking forward to the

day He'll come, even asking Him to come. For me, to have the attitude of expectancy, I have to ask God to give it to

me, to make me aware of the fact he's coming back. I hope this is as encouraging and challenging to you as it was to

me.

6 lb. 7oz. Oh my!

2009-07-17T10:48:00.002-05:00

Today we went to the doctor for my now weekly check ups. I am currently 1 cm dilated, 0% effaced and the station of the baby is -3. All that to be said I'm where I should be for being 37 weeks along, but as of today I'm not about to go into labor any time soon. They also did an ultrasound to do measurements to see about how big she is. They said she's about 6 lbs. 7 oz. With 2 1/2 weeks to go I sure hope she doesn't gain too much more weight! Below is the picture of her little face. Her hands were partly in the way, so it's not the best shot. She did look quite squished in there! :)

Week 37

2009-07-13T09:15:00.003-05:00

Here I am at week 37 with only 3 more weeks to go! (give or take) I went to the doctor on Friday. The baby and I are still really healthy (Praise the Lord!) with not much else to report. From here on out I go every Friday to the doctor. They'll be checking my cervix to see if I'm dilating at all. (For those of you not familiar with the birthing process, once you begin to dilate you are moving towards going into labor. You have to be 10 centimeters dilated before you can push the baby out.) Joe and I have in our heads she is going to come before her due date, but we'll see what God has planned!

4th of July

2009-07-08T09:55:00.003-05:00

For 4th of July this year we went with a bunch of our friends to the jetties out at the beach in Destin to watch the fireworks. We had a great spot and were able to enjoy a beautiful sunset as well as fireworks. People started lighting them off around the area long before the 9 pm official show time, so we were able to enjoy them for a good hour or so total. The only down side was the 2 hour drive back home!

The Final Countdown!!

2009-07-03T14:31:00.002-05:00

It's the final countdown!!! (I have that song from the 80s, don't know what band sang it, in my head when I say or think of the phrase.)

30 days from today, or we're hoping less, is when baby girl Brown is due. Overall I still feel good and am healthy. Mostly it's no fun being pregnant in FL in July. I am frequently hot in places others are cold! :) Also, my belly and the baby are at full capacity now making it hard to bend down/over. But we are thanking God for the health of the baby and myself.

If you would be willing to lift us up in prayer these last weeks/days we'd appreciate it. A few specifics we are praying for:

-continued good health

-for the baby to come a week or so early ( Joe is going to have to leave early Sept. and we would like to have as much time as the 3 of us before he leaves.)

-no complications in the labor and delivery

-no need for a c-section

-God to be preparing us to be godly parents and the HUGE new stage of life we'll be transitioning into

Baby Mamas

2009-06-23T09:19:00.003-05:00

There are 3 of us in my Thursday bible study who are all pregnant and due within about 6 weeks of each other. Angela (on the left) is due July 10th and is having a baby girl. I'm due Aug. 3rd and having a girl. Sarah Jones is due Aug. 25th and is having a boy. Because of what we're wearing you can't see the full view of our bellies (in fact, I don't really look pregnant at all!) but we thought this was a fun picture to take.

Blazing Hot!

2009-06-19T14:21:00.002-05:00

I just had to document how hot it currently is. Right now at 2:21 pm (which I realize is the hottest part of the day, but still) it's 90 degrees outside, but with the humidity 68%, and heat index it feels like 104. People kept telling me 'oh, you picked a bad time of the year to be pregnant.' I thought they were all over exaggerating and it really wouldn't be that bad. Well, I'm having second thoughts about it and I'm starting to agree with them. It's hot. And I'm hot inside my house with the ac and fans. Today I gave in and pushed the ac temp down to 75. Florida is hot this time of year, but normally it's only in the low to mid 80s, so about a good 10 degrees cooler. I'm praying it cools back down for the rest of the summer. Oh, little baby furnace...

Montgomery

2009-06-14T15:28:00.005-05:00

This weekend we went up to Montgomery, AL to visit the Bryant's and Bernardoni's. They are both moving and currently up at SOS. Friday was Joah's 2nd birthday (the Bryant's little boy and our godson) and so we went up to help celebrate. It was a great time with them.
One of the things we did during the weekend was take the trolley tour of the city. It's a great deal, only a $1 a person! It was really interesting hearing about all of the historical things that have taken place in Montgomery. The picture below is of Martin Luther Kings house.

Saturday night we went to a minor league baseball game, the Montgomery Biscuits. It was the first baseball game Joah went to. (Sorry, Bryants for the not so flattering picture! It's the only one I got of you. :( )

Brandon and Sarah at the game.

Week 32/ Month 8

2009-06-08T15:17:00.000-05:00

Here's the belly shot! :) There's no denying now that I'm pregnant. The last few weeks I've started having strangers ask me when the baby is due, etc. It's interesting how they wait until there is no question if I'm pregnant or just carrying some extra weight, before asking about being pregnant.

Things continue to go great. No complications. I'm healthy and the baby is healthy. We feel really blessed and are praying for the pregnancy to continue this way. At my doctors appointment on Friday they did a quick ultrasound to check the position of the baby. She has turned and now facing head down! I'm praying she stays this way until she's ready to come out! It was fun to get to have a quick glance at our little girl. She has hair, we could see it in the ultrasound. :)

The other interesting news in babyland, is we've started taking birthing classes at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center where I'll be giving birth. We've now gone to 2 of the 6 classes that are 2 1/2 hours each. The classes combine all the info on preparing for labor and the details of that, with Lamaze exercises. I feel like they are going to give us the preparation we need when the time comes. At least, as much as we can have, not having had a baby before!

Hunter Gatherer

2009-06-01T15:01:00.003-05:00

Joe bought a crab trap back in March and since then has had quite the success with catching crabs. The two type of crabs he catches are blue crabs and stone crabs. The blue crabs are actually blue. The stone crabs are brown with large claws. We only eat the claws of the stone crabs, so Joe just breaks one of them off and throws the guy back into the water. The claws regenerate. He only takes one claw to leave the crab something to defend themselves with. The meat of the blue crab is sweet and better tasting. He tends to catch more of them as well. I think over all he's caught around 15 or so that we've eaten. The other thing with the blue crabs is that they take so much work to get all of the meat out of them they need to be big enough to be worth the effort. So, he's actually caught many more, they just haven't been big enough to eat.

Below is a picture of the crab trap with crabs in it. He just throws the trap off of the dock that is behind our house. Pin fish or chicken carcasses are the best bait.

Joe working on getting the crabs out.

One of the blue crabs in our kitchen sink.

Some of the crabs after being boiled. No matter what color they start out as, they all turn reddish orange after being cooked.

Garden Update

2009-06-01T14:36:00.004-05:00

My garden is doing well. The tomato plants have gotten HUGE! I had no idea they would grow so much. I should've put them in two different pots instead of cramming them into one. But there are tomatoes growing on them and a few are starting to turn red. I'm hoping in the next couple of weeks we'll be able to eat them!

The plant on the left is the tomato plants, the one to the right is the pepper plant. There are two peppers that just need to turn red on it and a few more growing. The small plant in the middle is the basil plant. It is full, time to make more pesto!

These are the rest of my flowers, blooming nicely.

Week 28/Month 7

2009-05-17T20:25:00.002-05:00

This Friday we went to the doctor for my 7 month check up. This month is when they check for gestational diabetes. I got to drink 50 ml of straight glucose. It's not bad tasting. I looked and tasted like a flat orange Sunkist. The downside of it is you only have 3 minutes to drink about 12 oz. of fluid on an empty stomach and it's quite sweet. So by the end it's a bit much. I'll find out sometime this week my results. The doctor doesn't think I should come back positive. I'm still quite healthy and so is our little girl. We're down to less than 3 months left!

Baby Shower

2009-05-08T07:14:00.008-05:00

My good friend, Sarah Bernardoni hosted a baby shower for me. All of the women from the Thursday study, Navs and other friends in the area were all invited. It was a really great time and I felt very honored and blessed.

My parents were down here visiting as well, so my Mom was able to come to the shower. It was really special to be able to have her there. I'm glad she got to be a part and to meet more of my friends.

Lots of yummy food!

One of my few requests for the shower was to have 'fun' drinks. Sarah did a great job having 6 or so drinks to pick from all served in cute martini glasses with little umbrellas.

L to R: Elizabeth Olmstead, Jo Fairchild, Mom, me, Andrea Weedman, Sarah Jones

Sarah B. the hostess with the mostess and myself. Thanks for the awesome shower!

Opening gifts! The ladies from my Thursday study all went in together and got the crib bedding.

One of the things I had asked for were books that had a Christian theme to them. The Bernardoni's got us this really cool Chronicals of Narnia pop-up book.

The group of ladies who were able to make it! I treasure each of your friendships!

At the end of the shower the spent some time praying for me and the baby. It was really special.

Visit To Austin

2009-05-07T20:57:00.005-05:00

Last week I went to visit my good friends Beth and John Starke in Austin, TX. I had a great time mostly spending time with Beth. We explored the city, ate yummy food and did a lot of catching up on life.

We ate some delicious brunch at Kerbey Lane Cafe. If you're ever in Austin I highly suggest this as one of your eating stops. The pancakes are one of the things they are known for and were amazing. If you like Chai tea it was also some of the best I've ever had.
Of course being in Texas I had to get my fill of mexican food. Here we went to one of Beth's favorite places. We had great fish tacos. We went here after waiting almost 24 hours for my bag to arrive! It ended up being quite the drama.

St. Augustine

2009-04-27T08:07:00.006-05:00

Since living in FL we have always gone east or north when going to visit places. But since we only have about a year and a half left in FL we've been wanting to visit more of FL while we still live here and it's more easily accessible. So, for my birthday/Mother's Day we decided to visit St. Augustine. It's about 45 minutes south of Jacksonville on the Atlantic coast. We went with another couple, JD and Michelle Buchholtz, who we know from Navs.

We left Friday with Jacksonville Naval Air Station as our destination for the night. We made reservations to stay there since it's so cheap! $64 for both couples. We get there about 11:30 pm. As we pull up to the gate, we're informed we have to get a pass for my car since we don't have a sticker on it. So we pull into the parking lot and I get into my glove compartment to get my insurance and registration. Joe goes in and comes back a few minutes later informing us that both are expired. They aren't actually expired, I just didn't have the updated paperwork in my car!!! So, they wouldn't give us a pass to get on the base. We'd already paid for the room, so we didn't just want to go find somewhere else to stay. After discussing for a few minutes someone suggests we could just walk. So we take the bare essentials and walk up to the gate. Joe tells me to 'look really pregnant' in the hopes they will have pity on us and let us drive on. No such luck. We end up walking a good 45 minutes to the lodging area. Once we get there the lady gives us a number for the 'Duty Driver'. Thank for not telling us about it before we walked all that way!!! We did give them a call in the morning and were able to get a ride back to my car. They place we stayed in was nice and it was a bonding experience to start the trip off. :)

We got to St. Augustine without any more adventures. There we stayed in a Bed and Breakfast, 44 Spanish Street Inn. It is right in the heart of the downtown historic district, which was great because we were able to walk everywhere.

JD, Michelle, me, Joe
Joe's parents had given us a gift certificate for our last anniversary to use at a bed and breakfast and so we used it this weekend. This is the room we stayed in, the Orchid room. Thanks for the gift!
San Sebastian Winery is there in St. Augustine, so we took a tour and the three of them tasted the wine.
There is a lot of historic things to visit in St. Augustine. One of the places we toured was the 'Spanish Quarter.' It was an area set up in the 1700s depicting life then. We ended up talking with the man who was their carpenter for about 30 minutes. He told us all about how everything was made and the tools worked. It was interesting and made us appreciate the dinning room furniture we have that was hand made by the amish. Quality stuff! There was also a blacksmith, depicted below.

We ate delicious food and walked all around the city. It was really neat because the streets were all cobblestone. We had great weather too. It was warm and sunny, but not too hot yet. I did learn however, being 6 1/2 months pregnant I should've worn tennis shoes instead of flip flops, because by the end of the weekend of walking everywhere my feet and calves were killing me.
The last place we visited was the Alligator Farm. This stop was at the request of Joe. He kept mentioning all weekend he wanted to go here. It did end up being pretty interesting. They have all 23 kinds of alligators in the world there, birds, turtles, crocodiles and other reptiles. One of the most interesting alligators we saw was the albino alligator, which is the picture below. They can actually get sunburned because of the lack of pigmentation in their skin.

Week 24/6 Months

2009-04-17T10:38:00.004-05:00

Here I am with much more of a belly than 4 weeks ago. We went to the doctor today for my 6 month appointment. I'm really healthy, the baby is healthy and growing right on schedule. At this point I can't really wear any shirts that aren't maternity. The jeans I have on in this picture are the only pants I can still wear that aren't maternity. Our little girl is moving around everyday with her kicks moving higher up each week. I'm feeling good. This past week I have started feeling a bit more pregnant in that if I walk around for 30 minutes or more I'm ready to sit down. My feet also start hurting after walking that much. My belly gets a little in the way every so often. I'm starting to understand how the last 3 months are going to be.

My friends and I have a little hypothesis going. The more your baby moves while in utero the more the baby is fussy and has to be moving once it's born. If your baby only moves some, where you notice it move a few times a day, the baby is fairly calm once born. Right now, two moms had babies who only moved some in the womb and then are/were good babies. One mom had a crazy moving baby who is now fussy and squirmy. My baby move some and my friends baby moves 24/7. If you are a Mom and want to weigh in on our little hypothesis we would love to hear about it!!!

Help! The ceiling is falling in!

2009-04-13T13:06:00.003-05:00

So, this morning we had a big spring storm come through. Nothing exciting with the storm, they are typical for this time of year. But then I'm sitting in the living room and I hear a sound like the window is open in our bedroom and the rain is coming in. I had gone in earlier to close the window I knew was open. I thought maybe a second one was open I didn't know about. Oh, no. That would've been nice. Instead I find water dripping all over the window, wall, and floor coming out of the ceiling! It started in the window closest to our living room and as the storm continued it spread across all of the windows. I hurry and grab towels and try as best I can to start sopping up the water. I can Sundance, who is our rental agency, to have them come send someone out to fix it. I called at around 9:30/10 am and

it's 1:15 pm right now and I haven't heard anything. I've now gone through all of the towels we own, putting them in the washer to be rung out and then in the dryer to reuse. The rain has calmed down, so I'm hoping we're done with the dripping for the day. Below are pictures I took to document for myself and to show them whenever they decide to come and fix the problem. The final picture shows how the ceiling is now falling in.

"Gardening" 2009

2009-04-05T15:21:00.003-05:00

I have developed quite the love of 'gardening.' I put gardening in quotations because we don't have a yard, so I have to put all of my plants in pots. It was worked out well. This last week I began my initial planting for this year. After I put them all out I felt like there aren't very many, so I might be adding to them at some point. The following pictures are the beginning.

This year I have branched out from flower to veggies. In the large pot are two tomato plants. One of them will be grape tomatoes and the other a type of roma tomatoes. The medium size pot has a red pepper plant. The smallest pot has basil in it. The veggies are supposed to take about 2 months to produce fruit. So, hopefully come June I'll have some pictures of tomatoes and peppers!

It's a.....

2009-03-20T13:48:00.013-05:00

We're having a GIRL!!!!!

This morning at our 20 week appointment we found out God has blessed us with a little baby girl. She is healthy and weighs 12 oz., which is right on track for how far a long I am. I am also healthy, doing great, and have gained 6 lbs. at this point.

Going into the appointment I was expecting them to tell us we were having a boy. Why? Because it seems all of my friends have had or are having boys and both of our families have LOTS of boys. Joe was hoping it was a girl and had thought that it was going to be a girl. I was quite surprised when we were told it was a girl. I was partly surprised because as soon as the tech put the doppler on my stomach she happened to hit right between the legs with a clear shot. She said "you're having a girl." I thought she was kidding because it seriously hadn't been two seconds since she had started. She told us she was 100% sure it's a girl because of the angle she was able to see the sex organs. To quote her she said, "There are no boy parts down there." We are both excited! :)

This first picture is a profile of our little girl. :) The one below it is one of her face straight on. It looks a little creepy because it mostly is emphasizing her skull.

It was amazing getting to see all that we did. I am so grateful we have the technology we do. As you can see, the baby looks like a baby now. It was neat to get to see the heart beat again, her bones, and all of her organs. It was awesome to see the baby move on the screen while feeling it at the same time.

My clothes are slowly starting to get too small. A few of my pants still fit and some of my shirts do. I have upgraded to mostly maternity shirts at this point. They are just more comfortable. I know from the picture of my belly you wouldn't guess my clothes don't fit. People keep being surprised with how little my belly is, but I think people don't realize that you don't 'look' pregnant for most of the pregnancy. I feel great. I'm still able to workout on a regular basis. I haven't felt tired during the day or anything like that. I'm sure as things progress I will! No crazy cravings, although I do enjoy spicy food even more than I did before getting pregnant. Garlic bothers my stomach, so I try to avoid it. (Sorry Berni's!)

Thanks for all of your prayers and excitement during this time in our lives!!!!

Crab'n on the Bayou

2009-03-14T12:05:00.003-05:00

Every place Joe lives he likes to pick up a new 'sport'. Since we're in FL and live on the water he has started fishing and just recently bought a crab trap. This morning he checked our trap after filling it with the bones leftover from buffalo wings last night. There were two stone crabs inside. Stone crabs have large claws with the best meat. They are regulated though, and have to be a certain size to be able to be taken. Only one of the crabs had a claw big enough. Here's the crab we kept. Their claws are quite strong, enough that it can bruise your bone! Joe was smart and grabbed some tactical gloves before engaging with the crab.Here is the claw he took. It measured about 5 1/2 inches long. So we boiled the claw and made a scramble with the meat.

This is our resident Heron. We see him almost everyday around our 'backyard'. He was out on the dock when Joe went to check the crab trap.

Welsh Rabbit

2009-02-25T16:39:00.003-06:00

Joe and I have established what you might call a 'tradition' in our family for Saturday mornings. We sleep in (if I have my way :) ) and Joe pretty much always cooks a big breakfast for us, usually making some kind of delicious egg dish. Often it is some kind of scramble. This last Saturday he wanted to branch out and try something new. He made Welsh Rabbit. Unlike the name implies it doesn't call for rabbit. The sauce that is used is a rarebit sauce, which often is mispronounced as 'rabbit', hence the name. The sauce is cheddar cheese, beer, worcheshire sauce and red pepper. The other components of the dish are english muffins, canadian bacon and poached eggs. We didn't have any canadian bacon, so we had sausage on the side instead. Joe also poached his first eggs for this recipe. They turned out well. Over all the dish was great and has inspired Joe to continue to try new recipes for Saturday morning.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-25T16:31:00.002-06:00

For Valentine's Day we went to The Melting Pot for dinner. It was delicious and quite the treat. We went all out, getting the 4 course meal, which included cheese fondue, salad, meat course and dessert. It would be hard to pick a favorite of them all. Of the 6 different kinds of meat, the salmon was the best. It was fun getting to cook the meat and veggies in the broth and then dipping them in 1 of 6 different sauces. Dessert of course was great too, although we were pretty full by the time it came. We went with the 'Flaming Turtle'. :)

Winter Adventures in KY

2009-02-03T15:01:00.003-06:00

Joe went TDY to KY for a week and I got to go with him. (It's a great perk of not having a job!) It was fun to get to stay in a nice hotel, see family and visit Louisville on the governments dime. We said it was almost like a vacation. Part of the reason I wanted to go with Joe is we got to see family during the visit. My youngest brother Daniel goes to school in TN. We saw him on the drive up and back. Here we ate dinner at the Davy Crockett Diner. You can't really tell in the picture, but they are standing in front of a huge, wooden statue of Davy. We got to eat out at lots of unique places in Louisville. Joe and I always try to find the local spots to get the full flavor of the city we're visiting. Here we're at Lynn's Paradise Cafe, which was featured on the Food Network. Unfortunately we didn't get to eat there because of the power outage (more about that in a minute). My favorite spot on the trip was the Highlands Coffee Shop. They had DELICIOUS coffee.

When we were driving up to KY on Sunday it started to snow a little. We figured no big deal. Monday it snowed more and got really cold, down into the teens. Tuesday we woke up to a few inches of snow. At this point it wasn't really too big of deal. Then Tuesday night a big winter storm came through the state bringing ice during the night and then snow Wednesday morning. The ice caused trees to break off large limbs and power lines to snap down. Over half of the state lost power. Luckily our hotel didn't, but Joe ended up not working because the people he was working with didn't have power at home. The picture above and the following are ones we took Wednesday and the rest of the week. We definitely got our fill of winter weather this year!

The worst part about the storm was all the ice, although it was beautiful to look at on all of the trees. The ice was about an inch thick. This tree had cherries on it.

Joe is down cleaning off our car. There was a few inches of snow and then underneath was a thick layer of ice.

The view from our hotel room the morning after the storm. You can't really tell, but it's snowing.
Despite the crazy weather we were able to spend time with Joe's family and his cousins. It was a good trip. If your spouse is able to travel with you for a TDY I highly encourage you to do so.

Christmas, New Years and Visiting Family

2009-02-03T14:57:00.003-06:00

We were blessed this year with being able to visit both of our families around the holidays. First we flew up to KY to see Joe's family. All of his extended family (well except for Cassy and Paul) live in KY and so they always have a big family get together to celebrate the season. This year it was at Carrie and Steve's house. They are great party planners and we had a blast. These are all buy 2 of the cousins. Bottom l to r: Joe, Tom, Andrew, Nick; Middle l to r: Carrie, Cassie, Katie; Top l to r: Jamie, Cameron, Allison

The Brown side of the family: Greg, Joe, me, Tom, Jenny, Katie and Jeff.

Carrie and Steve have a great basement where we hung out and played games including the infamous "Japs on the roof" (ask Joe about that one). In picture is Carrie, Jamie and Johnena

After spending Christmas with the Browns we headed to WA to spend New Years with the Drake family. Here we got to have some snow! It was great to get to spend time with Joshua and Daniel, especially since we don't seem them too often.

We went up to Point Defiance Park one day where we toured around Ft. Nisqually, checked out the logging museum and took in the sights around 5 mile drive. Joshua, Joe and I went ice skating another day. The guys showed me up. I hadn't been ice skating in I don't know how long. We also got to go see Daniel and his band, The Bombadil Project, perform up in Seattle. It was the first time Joe and I have seen them in concert. We were pretty impressed.

One morning my Dad, Joe and I went on a nature walk in Graham. We learned how to identify types of trees, brush and berries. This isn't a great picture because I have my eyes closed, but I wanted to include it because of the size of the leaf I'm holding. The area was full of Douglas Fir trees and there were leaves from them laying all around. We don't get nature like that around here.For New Years Eve we went to First Night in downtown Tacoma. The city shuts down the main streets for pedestrians and has all kinds of entertainment all night long from street performers, jugglers and musicians to a viewing of short films. I think the highlight was the juggling act we saw. They were entertaining and really good jugglers.
It was COLD that night. This picture was to capture how bundled up I was in particular. I had gloves, a scarf, a hat and my sweatshirt hood up. I think I had about three layers on as well. FL has thinned my blood out.
Last, but not least, was Christmas for Joe and I. We actually celebrated in the middle of the month, since we'd be gone through early January visiting family. This year we upgraded from the 3 foot tree we'd been using to a 7 1/2 foot tree. It is pre-lit, which made it quite easy to assemble, but a bit tough figuring out how to get it back in the box!

We're having a baby!

2009-02-03T14:46:00.004-06:00

By now this is old news to most of you. We wanted to document it in our blog anyway and to let everyone see the picture from our first ultrasound!
I found out I was pregnant the day before Thanksgiving through a home pregnancy test. We of course were both really excited, although it took a little bit for it to really sink in. Since then I've seen the doctor twice. The first time we got to see the baby and hear it's heart beat. That is an amazing thing. Everything is going great, the baby and I are both healthy. I currently am 14 weeks pregnant, in my 2nd trimester and feeling great. I did have some morning sickness (although I never threw up) and other symptoms mostly through out the month of December. The baby is due Aug. 3rd.

We will continue to keep you updated with pictures, etc. as they happen.

This is when our baby was 7 weeks old. It was amazing to see the baby's heartbeat. The top right portion of the blob is the baby's head. Right in the middle where it indents a little is where we saw the heart beat. We'll have our next ultrasound in March when we find out if we're having a boy or a girl!

2nd Annual Ugly Sweater Party

2009-02-02T15:04:00.003-06:00

The idea behind the party is pretty simple, find the ugliest sweater you can and own the outfit. After our party last year people have taken it up a notch and not only found ridiculous sweaters, but turned it into an entire outfit. It's a great time.

Sarah and Berni in their matching sweater vests. You can't really tell, but they also had pretty amazing overall outfits on.

Corban, Katrina and Joah: You can't really tell, but Corban got battery powered Christmas lights and weaved them into his women's sweater vest. It was awesome.

Joe and Rob: I'm not quite sure what they're doing in the picture. We saw Joe's pants and knew we had to get them. They are women's bell bottoms. He keeps threatening to wear them out in normal life.
Ted wore a woman's Christmas sweater and won the prize for ugliest sweater. This picture doesn't capture the full ugliness of it, but it does show the sweet prize he won. A pound of chocolate in the shape of a crocodile.

The party was also on the day of Joe's birthday. We celebrated it with a delicious chocolate cake.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T20:27:00.003-06:00

This Thanksgiving we spent here in FL. Joe's parents and brother Tom came down to visit for the weekend. It was great to get to see them. Thanksgiving day we had the Jones', Bryant's, Adri and her daughter Lelani over to share in the feast with us. Each of us prepared parts of the meal. I did make the turkey!

Halloween

2008-11-02T14:17:00.004-06:00

Once again the Bernardoni's hosted a Costume party at Halloween. There were quite the display again this year. It was a good time. The background for our costumes......when Joe came back he gave Rob Vogt a hat. As we were talking about it with whoever was there at the time the idea was thrown out about being Osama bin Laden for Halloween. Now, if you knew Rob, you would know he's a goofy guy and ridiculous about things. For him to be Osama, was hilarious. Thus, the idea was born for Rob to be Osama, Joe to be another dictator and for me to be an embedded reporter, because every terrorist/dictator needs their media outlet.

Joe as Fidel Castro and Rob as Osama.
Teddy and Lupe Batarao as Constantine and his wife.
Sarah and Berni as Clara Barton and some random dude. Most people guessed he was Jimmy Carter.
Kim and Andrew Finesilver as George Washington and Abe Lincoln.
They borrowed a fire pit where people made smores.

Air Commando Wives 10k

2008-11-02T13:59:00.005-06:00

This Saturday I (finally!) ran the 10k/6.2 miles I had been training for while Joe was deployed. There wasn't one 'officially' happening in the area, so Joe created one for us. It was great. He came up with the route, made t-shirts, marked out water stations and even had a finish line. There ended up being 3 of us who ran in it; Sarah Jones-who I had been running with all summer, Sarah Bernardoni and myself. Here we are at the start of the race. (l t0 r: Sarah B., Sarah J., myself) We started out in the park next to our house.

Each of our husbands followed us on bikes, giving us water and directing us where to go on the route. (l to r: Kelly Jones, Joe, Berni Bernardoni)

Here we are getting set to go, getting our play lists ready and our stop watches set.

This is about 2 miles into the race.

Here Sarah J and I are running through the mile loop in Ferry Park. This loop was always a part of our runs as we trained. This summer we got up early (5:30am!) to run because it was so hot and humid. The nice part about it is we would see the same people each morning walking around the park as well. It was neat to get to say hi to them as we passed.

At this point we're about 4 miles into the race. At mile 5 my shoe began to come untied. I didn't want to stop to tie it because I knew I would lose momentum and have a hard time starting up again. So, I ran the rest of the race with my shoe coming more untied. By the end I was having a hard time even keeping it on my foot.

Here we are at the finish line! Sarah was awesome and finished in 1:03. She waited on me to cross the finish line together.

Yea! I did it! I finished in 1:06. I felt so strong and empowered after having completed it. Running that distance wasn't something I had thought in the past I could see myself doing or would've been able to do. But now I feel stronger and that I would be able to do other athletic things well I might not have thought before.

Here we are, sweaty and displaying the sweet shirts we earned. :)

Next up...a half marathon????.......

Camping on Dauphin Island, AL

2008-10-27T17:01:00.002-05:00

We went camping with our friends Sarah and Berni Bernardoni & Sarah and Kelly Jones on Dauphin Island, AL. It was a really good time enjoying the outdoors and the beautiful fall weather.
Our first stop was to visit historic Fort Gaines. They were having a "Renaissance Festival" that Saturday. It was quite the experience. It wasn't so much a festival as it was a reason for a bunch of people to dress up in costumes and hangout. There wasn't much for people to see or participate in if you weren't part of the festival.
From there we went to the Audubon Bird Sanctuary. Kelly is an ornithologist, so we were able to learn about all the birds and other animals we saw along the trail. Along with lots of birds there were tons of butterflies everywhere. I thought this bush was pretty.
That night we cooked up some grub, spent time hanging out around the campfire and of course ate Smores.