Mr. and Mrs. May

Okay, so most of my pictures are of the rehearsal (taken by Caroline) so you'll get to enjoy behind the scenes wedding pictures. You'll have to wait for the official wedding photos to come in to see the classic pics. 

Setting up chairs for the ceremony

Pastor, Bride, Groom Group Hug

Beautiful smiling bride!

The wedding program doubled as a fan. Genius.   

Me intently studying the program. Koren and I both don't look with it. Jesse was a good choice for Maid of Honor :) Couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day and setting. 

After their vows the first thing Jess and Nathan did was wash each other's feet. They wanted to serve each other in their first act as a married couple. 

The Chinns! We me at their house for bible study my first two years at Tech

Feet!

 The Dress

Look at her twirl. Hat and shoes were reception additions

First Dance

Jessica and Nathan Married!

I just got home from a fun fun wedding weekend celebrating Jessica and Nathan. I squeezed in a visit home and lots of time with good friends, so the weekend was definitely a success.

Not too much to report about the Friday I was in Maryland, David and I did get our marriage license which we get to sign in less than 5 months. We also took advantage of the opportunity to take a nice walk in Downtown Annapolis. One of my favorite places period.

But on to the wedding details. Saturday morning David and I drove to Blacksburg (visits there never get old) and I helped with wedding preparations while David got to catch up with some of his friends still in town. It was a packed full day with lots of laughing, here is some of the craziness and fun that is preparing for a wedding:

This is Rachel (one of Jessica's younger sisters) and I trying to hold all of the stuff in place from some major shopping trips to ensure everyone would be well fed for the weekend

Koren being goofy with the lemonade pitcher. I was in Koren's wedding about a year and a half ago. It was so fun to spend the weekend with her and Devin. 

Rachel playing piano at the house we all stayed at. It was a very musical group and someone was always singing, playing guitar, or piano. Very nice and relaxing atmosphere.

Setting up the reception area. I loved the potted plant center pieces. 

I think this is a great picture (note: I didn't take this one but I'd like to know who did)

Crafting to make cheesecake stands

She is a pro.

A little evening celebration to have a bit of quiet time with the bride and bridesmaids the night before the wedding. 

Just realized I didn't even include pictures of Jessica and Nathan here, I'll save that for next post.

A Visit From the Owens Clan

David's parents came for a visit this past weekend. It was great to get a chance to see them and show the apartment and the area that David will be living in.

The time on the weekend went by quickly and unfortunately I forgot to pull out my camera. 

On Saturday we didn't get to see them until the evening, but we went out for a nice dinner at a Cuban restaurant. That is a must around here. 

The real excitement of their visit was a snorkeling trip on Sunday. We headed down to Key Largo and enjoyed the clear blue waters and the beautiful coral reefs in the area. 

Here are some pictures I found online just to give you an idea of what we did:

The boat looked something like this

There were lots of pretty coral reefs

Many cool looking fish

And even an underwater Jesus statue

David's mom used to do a lot of Scuba diving, so it was fun to hear some of her stories while we were on this outing. Of coarse we had to do the necessary stop at Robert is Here. I bought a big box of local mangoes. 

Can't wait till the next Owens family visit. And pretty soon I'll be an Owens myself :)

My Balcony Garden

I showed a picture of my balcony a while back, but now I have a new and improved version.

David made this table and it is perfect for holding my plants outside and generally making the balcony area look homier. 

I've never had much success growing herbs indoors, but this shady area helps me realize all of my culinary dreams of having fresh herbs on hand. 

I think I'm in love with my basil

And look at this CUTE tomato

My balcony is screened in to keep the bugs out (which is great) but not not so great when I need my veggies pollinated. I had to pollinate my tomatoes with a Q-tip and try to fool the plant into thinking I was a bee. Likely this is the only tomato I will see on the plant but I was so excited that my experiment of pollinating tomatoes actually worked, at least on one of them!

For the Love of Tomatoes

I think that most gardeners/normal human beings agree that nothing is better than a tomato straight from the garden. Every time I have a summer tomato I wonder why I even bother buying them the rest of the year. Now that the tomato plants are fruiting its like Christmas.

Here is one of the ways I've eaten my tomatoes this week

I sliced up one of my giant heirlooms and topped it with a little low fat mozzarella (fresh would have been better buy I used what was on hand).  Then I put it in the oven at 350 for probably about 7 minutes and broiled the tomatoes for another two. This made the cheese pretty and golden! Finally I topped the cheesy tomatoes with basil from my balcony and a little balsamic vinegar. 

Since the tomatoes were roasted for a few minutes they were super sweet by the end. Melted cheese on anything never fails; try this take on a Caprese salad :)

Continuation of Canoe Trip

Extracting some fishing equipment from the mangroves

This was a historical exhibit that could only be reached by boat. It was very gratifying canoeing 2 miles there. 

Something about that hat and his posture make David really fit in with this setting

Our Ship

A little boat dock area that begged to be explored and tested for strength

Loving the Wildlife

I went on a real adventure this past weekend. In my mind a real adventure has something of a Lord of the Rings-esque quality about it. And a canoe trip definitely qualifies in my book.

We canoed about 2 miles up and then back on the Loxahatchee River at Jonathan Dickinson State Park. I'm still constantly in awe of all the different animals that live in Florida, and this trip did not fail. There was of coarse the usual assortment of strange birds, and we saw quite a few gators. (Even one that were pretty sure was about 10 feet!) 

One of the little guys

Another of my favorite observations was a brother sister pair who was trying to canoe together. The parents were in one canoe (smart move on their part) and the middle school aged children were in another. The brother seemed to be having a good time slamming the canoe into his parents and into the thick mangrove area to the loud complaints of his sister who sat in the front. 

Once we were in a quieter area I paid more attention to some of the sounds of all the animals. More than once I was quite scared of some kind of large fish that plunged below the surface as we canoed on. (Seriously, it was a loud noise and I think Jaws may have been swimming with us...anyway). We heard this weird noise that could have been a breeze in the trees, but it sounded like it was coming from the water. David suggested that he thought the sound was a manatee or turtle coming up for air. I knew that there could be manatees in this river, but the water was fairly low so my expectation of seeing one wasn't even something I considered. We kept a lookout for a few more seconds a looked in the area where the sound came from. Lo and behold, after waiting for just a little a manatee nose popped up for air! The nose was followed by the little bump of its body as it dove down and a small splash from its tail. 

We canoed along with the manatee (at a distance) for a few minutes, this is its back

I was absolutely ecstatic about seeing a manatee. To me they are the type of animal you learn about, and might encounter at Sea World, but not in "real life". Seeing this guy was definitely the highlight of my week! 

Product Reccommendation: Nook

I know I had some complaints about my Nook a couple posts ago but that problem has been solved and once again, I love my Nook.

I have the Nook Simple Touch for about a year now. The screen has e-ink technology so it isn't bright like a computer (this was one of my main concerns before taking the plunge to e-reader life). You can read it in bright sun, you can read it with one hand, I've even read while brushing my teeth before because you can read it with no hands. I'm hoping the no hands thing will help me accomplish my lifetime goal of being able to knit and read at the same time. Still working on it. 

With Nook, you have access to an optional free book every Friday, and most classics are free or only $.99. You can read any book for free in a Barnes and Noble store. The device is very small and light so its easy to have with you at all times in a bag or purse. (But do get a case). The nook is especially easy for travel or for cutting down on clutter in the house. An excessive amount of books in a home is appealing to me, but carrying a whole selection of books at all times is a wonderful thing too. 

And for some balance a few cons: You can't really lend books to friends (there is a feature for this, but few books are lend-able and I think you can only lend once anyway). If you aren't careful spending could be a little too easy (nook account is attached to credit card). If you are depending on your Nook and its acts up, might be out of luck if you are on vacation or something, but that's just a hazard of electronics. 

But, great story: My Nook was acting up recently, and since it was still under the 1 year warranty the store replaced it for me AND gave me $35 worth of Nook product accessories (screen covers and a book Nook light) since that is the promotion that's going on right now. The associates were nice and patient, and I walked out of the store with a new device. So...they certainly take care of you if problems arise. 

Overall, I love it. I find it a great way to keep my physical book collection under control and there are always good deals and new book suggestions to be found. 

Now for the real question, what do you think of e-readers? Love 'em? Wish they had never been invented? Somewhere in between? Do you have input on the Kindle v. Nook debate?

Farmers

Can you guess what this is?

This is one of the creations grown from our garden. Any guesses yet???

It's a cucumber. 

When David and I were doing our latest vegetable gathering we found our first cucumber. None of the others had been successful. And this one could hardly be called a success. This cucumber had some sort of disease which caused it to grow in this creative and entertaining shape. We planted a lot of different vegetables this season, which has led to many successes and failures. Bugs, disease, fungus, and many other factors have contributed to quite a large loss of our veggies. 

This cucumber in particular made me very thankful for farmers. I'm glad someone can make that perfect cucumber that we like to see in grocery stores, farmers markets, wherever. My bachelor's and master's degrees were about agriculture, my job is the Farm to School coordinator. Even with all of that I barely appreciate all of the work that goes into producing food. It's mind boggling to me that thousands of people are involved with the food I eat in one meal. Thank you farmers! And everyone in between. 

Top 10 Reasons I Love My Library

Yes, that could probably fit in the "Top 10 Nerdiest Blog Post Titles" category too.

1. It is only a mile and a half away. I could just walk there if I wanted. I've been telling myself this for the past 3.5 months. But still, it's really close.

2. Books. Obviously. There are several shelves of knitting books alone.

3. Music. Haven't tried this feature yet, however once I get my act together, I can download up to 5 songs a week and keep them forever.

4. Magazines. Discovered this gem a few weeks ago. I can download digital editions of magazines directly to my iPad. And the magazines aren't random ones no one would read. I can get Food Network, The Economist, Knitting Magazines, and much much more.

5. Audio books. I have already expressed my new love of audio books. Endless learning and entertainment.

6. E-books. Figured this one out yesterday. I like the feature the library has to browse available e-books so I don't have to face the dissapointment of a particular book not being available. If I could get my Nook to work more than 50% of the time the e-book thing would be even better.

7. Audio electronic resources! Another new favorite, now I don't even have to go to the library to get new audio books, I can directly download them to my phone.

8. Movies. I think my library buys about 20 new DVDs each week. Movies, shows, documentaries, exercise DVDs.

9. Phone/iPad App. I love my library phone app :) I can renew books, search, and check out all electronic resources. There is even a feature to scan movies and books with your phone. Before I would buy a book I can just scan it to see if the library has it anyway.

10. It is all for free!

The Birds...

...of Florida

Since all the birds around here are still so different to me I noticed that I can't stop taking pictures of them. These aren't great pictures by any means but here are some of the fowl creatures I've been seeing.

I had to wait for her to cross the street in my apt. complex on my way to work :)

Note: Emu, not from Florida

At the park

This guy walked right up to us

Poor duckling doesn't know it will grow up to have a strange red face

Family Visit: Moments Worth Sharing

Last family visit update, I promise.

I just have a couple moments that didn't fit with any of the other posts.

I just liked this motion picture. 

We went for a walk at the park right across the street from my apartment. Its one of those parks that has exercise equipment along the running trail. If that wasn't obvious. 

Electronic Overload

We live 1000 miles apart and everyone is on computer, iPad, or smartphone. Technology has taken over! I laughed when I walked in the room and saw this. 

Family Visit: Food Edition

Since I like to share recipes...

Zucchini Pizza Bites

http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2010/08/recipe-for-grilled-zucchini-pizza.html

I'm not normally one to mess with something great like pizza. If it ain't broke don't fix it. But since our garden is producing approximately 3257lbs of zucchini, I had to find some creative ways to eat it. I used these for an appetizer and prepared them before my parents came. Once they were here I just put them under the broiler for a couple minutes and we were ready to snack. 

Yeast rolls

http://www.cookingwithlibby.com/2010/04/homemade-yeast-rolls.html

I can't remember if I have posted about these before, but if I'm repeating myself its okay. Because these rolls are worth it. Normally I brag about these rolls and then end up making a mistake (ex. Thanksgiving used the wrong kind of yeast so they weren't very fluffy). So for a while I have secretly known they were great but I had trouble reproducing them for people other than myself. But do yourself a favor and make these fluffy, soft, buttery rolls. Or ask me to make them for you since I can apparently do that now. 

For dinner we also had a crock pot pork shoulder and a broccoli salad that can in no way even pretend to be healthy. I forgot to take pictures. Probably was too hungry to take a pause. 

And finally...

My fridge. 

We ate out for two meals during my parents visit. And somehow there were 12 to-go boxes in my fridge? This isn't counting all my leftovers. Needless to say I didn't have to do a grocery trip this week. 

Family Visit: Schnebly

Since I have moved to Florida one of the most common recommendations that I have gotten is to visit Schnebly Winery. http://www.schneblywinery.com/

This winery is very exciting because all of their wine is made from tropical fruits that are grown in south Florida. After taking part in their tasting I think that all wine should be made from tropical fruit grown in south Florida.

We got to sample wines that were made from coconut, guava, passion fruit, mango, and even avocado. They had more, but since we wanted to be able to walk out of the place we didn't sample any others. The wines actually tasted like the fruits they were made with so I loved them. I'm sure some wine connoisseur would be able to critique the wine, but my opinion is good enough for me.

The setting was beautiful and a nice time to take a break in our busy day.

Parents

Family Visit: Everglades Alligator Farm

Couldn't have a Florida visit without some alligator excitement.

At the Everglades Alligator Farm we got to watch an alligator feeding, snake show, alligator wrestling, and we took an airboat tour. Lots of fun squeezed into just a couple hours.

Posing in front of the Everglades

Gator we saw on the airboat tour

A real plastic gator

This guy just pulled the alligator out of the water by its tail

Risky career choice