Spring Break Finale

The governor Dad? Really? You should have said something :)

Ah, Florida. You pleasantly surprised me. Driving through Pensacola was a nightmare; our Texas license plates seemed to generate some aggressive road vibes. But that beach! White sand dunes and clear water, I was in heaven. As soon as we set up camp we walked across the street to the beach to watch the sunset. Within minutes we saw 5-6 rays feeding right up by the shore, and a whole bunch of dolphins. It felt like the gulf was just teeming with life.

The next morning we saw more dolphins, only this time they were jumping and flipping around in the water. I couldn’t believe it! We also had fun exploring Fort Pickens (Civil War site #3). This was a great place because there was no formal tour and there were only a few other people there. It really felt like exploring. And you could touch everything! That was fun.

So the only downside to our 1.5 days in Florida was the weather. It was in the low 40’s in the morning (camping), and didn’t get up to 60 until later in the afternoon. There definitely wasn't any swimming, but we still had an amazing time.

So that was our trip. It was a lot of driving, there were a couple of traffic jams, and we got a little cranky here and there, but we were together for every second of it! For that entire week we were able to share everything—every meal, every stress, every little excitement. It was very therapeutic. Don’t get me wrong, I believe it’s important for spouses to have individual goals and experiences. We’re ready to get back to our independent student/teacher lives, coming together at the end of the day to share our trials and successes, and looking forward to the weekend. But an entire week of togetherness was just what we needed. Now it's back to real life!

Spring Break Part III

Birmingham:
Ribs.

Atlanta:
Aquarium! The Georgia Aquarium has the largest tank in the world; home to four whale sharks, a bunch of giant manta rays, black tip sharks, and more. The rest of the aquarium was great (aside from a painfully cheesy dolphin show complete with a wannabe broadway singer and a sparkly cape), but we were mesmerized by that main tank.  

After the aquarium we had chicken and waffles at Gladys Knight’s restaurant. Delicious. Fattening. Probably good that we don’t live in Atlanta or I would want it every day. We also went to the CDC (Center for Disease Control and Prevention…you know, from Contagion?) and saw the museum there. Matt is really interested in studying infectious disease, so he was looking forward to this. I decided that if he ever gets a job there I would be fine living in Atlanta. It was a pretty cool city!

Montgomery:

Rosa Parks museum. Dreamland BBQ. Best pork sandwich I’ve ever had.

And then it was on to Florida!

Spring Break Part II

Chattanooga, Tennessee

I let Matt plan this trip. We ended up going to 3 different Civil War battlefields/historical sites. I love that guy! They were pretty interesting, and when I maybe started to get bored there was beautiful scenery to keep me occupied. The first site was Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We camped out there the night before, enjoyed fine local cuisine for breakfast (Waffle House), then drove up the mountain. It was gorgeous! Cloudy and rainy, but I didn’t realize Tennessee was so scenic. The battle field was cool too. After Lookout Mountain we went to the site of the actual battle of Chattanooga, home of the best visitor center film (which is saying something because we ended up watching 4 on this trip).

 

Sneaky-sneak.

Spring Break Part I

Matt and I just returned from a week long road trip. We drove 2,000 + miles, hit 6 states in 7 days, and had a marvelous time. I've decided to break this post up because, lets be honest, most of you will just skip to the pictures if I post a week's worth of adventures all at once. Am I right? :)
New Orleans
Matt’s number one stop in New Orleans was the WWII Museum. Mine was a sandwich. I saw a Man vs. Food episode awhile ago where he had to eat an entire muffuletta by himself. These sandwiches are the size of a large plate. They consist of “a muffuletta loaf split horizontally and covered with layers of marinated olive salad, capicola, mortadella, salami, pepperoni, ham, Swiss cheese, and provolone.” So naturally I’ve wanted to try one ever since. I was not disappointed; luckily Matt was a good sport and drove in circles while I bought it since the French Quarter has no parking.
 The museum was almost as good as my sandwich. Just kidding. It was a pretty amazing museum. They had a lot of personal accounts and artifacts, which I liked, and they really focused on the war in the Pacific. That’s a part of the war I didn’t know as much about. But the coolest part, by far, was the hangar with all of the planes. Real planes! That actually flew and fought during the war. Consider us impressed, New Orleans.

Deep Fried Date Night

I have been blessed with a husband who has an eye for trashy-looking food places that will actually be good. It's his sixth sense. He noticed J&J Seafood Market from the freeway awhile back and couldn't believe I hadn't ever noticed it . . . (because who wouldn't want to eat at a place with a broken down sign and bars on the windows?) But lo and behold, we went there last night and my mind was blown! It was filled with people, there were tons of fresh fish and shrimp, and I loved the little grocery area with cool Cajun/Southern ingredients and spices. I'll tell you what, it was the best catfish I've had since moving out here. Y’all should be jealous J The shrimp was delicious, and the hush puppies tasted so good they were gone before I thought to take a picture. Houston, you're alright.

Thoroughly Inspired Part II

Awhile back I did a post about feeling inspired. That feeling has been back this week! Here are some things I'm loving right now:

• Houston weather. I love this city and I love this weather. 70 degrees and sunny? In January? I could get used to this. (This is a picture of the Texas Medical Center. We live less than a mile from here)

• A fun culinary adventure--Houston food trucks. I had a life changing fried avocado taco last night from this one...

• A new blog oliviaraejames.com

• Good books. These are a few of my favorites from the past couple months:

Taste What You're Missing: The Passionate Eaters Guide to Why Food Tastes Good

(I'm not finished with this one yet, but it's fascinating)

Dearie: The Remarkable Life of Julia Child

Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China

The Hobbit

(Nerdy, I know, but it's so good! Give it a chance.)

Uglies

• My shows. Slightly addicted to...

Parenthood



Downton Abbey

Parks and Recreation

 

• This talk by President Uchtdorf. I've read it about 10 times!

Of Regrets and Resolution

"The more we devote ourselves to the pursuit of holiness and happiness, the less likely we will be on a path to regrets."

 

And...it's February!

It's been awhile but I actually felt like blogging again tonight; so here I am with a quick recap!

December:
Christmas and New Years with Matt's family couldn't have been better. Lots of snow, lots of food, lots of movies, sleeping in, sledding, skiing (Matt), Christmas lights, playing with the dogs, and just enjoying time together. We also got to get together with my extended family, hung out with old friends, Skyped with my family on Christmas morning, and talked to Michael on his mission!

January:
Winter break was a good time, but going back to work after two weeks of vacation was a little rough. Mostly because I had a TON of writing to grade from the final exam and felt behind on everything else. It took a couple of weeks, but I got the grading done and got back into my groove. It's nice to be busy and on a schedule. Plus I've got some more funny student stories to share...but that's another post for another day. Things have been going well and we're in our big push now for the state test in April. Pretty exciting stuff!

Matt's second semester of med school has been super hard, but he says he's enjoying it more than first semester because of the subject matter. Overall he's liking his classes and he survived his first round of exams this past week! I'm so proud.

And now it's February. We're back. We're happy. Life's good. :)