The Dynamic Duo Says....

Happy Halloween!!
 
Better late than never... last night we spent the evening carving up some of the pumpkins from the back yard. I got a little over ambitious considering we had no actual carving tools so I was using a fillet knife... but I thought they all three came out extremely cute!*

I think Nick wins at pumpkin carving for his creative use of the stem as a nose... cleaver guy.

Happy Halloween!!!

*Why yes, that is a pirate flag hanging in my dining room... what?

Busiest Birthday Weekend of All Time: Part Three (KEENELAND!)

POST NUMBER THREE!!

 Let's get right to this...

So, sticking with tradition when Matt and Blair are in town, after the soccer game and brunch on Saturday we headed out to Keeneland.  Also keeping with tradition, I managed to bet on every single race we were there for, and yet STILL did not win a dime.  NOT A DIME.  Seriously, if you could bet on me losing, you would be a millionaire.


Here is a group shot of the family... I am in love with this picture and it will find its way to a frame in our house at some point... most likely a couple of years from now, since I am awful at changing frames.


Boo and Chris were there too!  Boo's glamour shot hand under her chin makes me laugh so hard ...

It was Nicole's first time to Keeneland, and I THINK she might have won money on every race... I know she went home in the positive, and that is pretty stinking amazing

And there are Matt and Blair, standing in the exact same spot!  I am not exactly creative with backgrounds when picture taking...

Surprise!  Candice and Kara,,,


And Nick and I.  I have recently discovered I have a "good side" to take pictures from.  This is not it.



for the second  year in a row we got to see the Headless Horseman!  Which was even more exciting due to my new addiction to the show Sleepy Hollow  ...

Chris, Boo, me and Nick

For the last race we decided to venture upstairs to the grandstands.  This is where we discovered we have apparently been doing Keeneland WRONG for YEARS.  Good to know... next time we will buy seats, and maybe someday I will figure out how the hell you get into the part that is actually closed in with like, heat and stuff...

a very dark picture of Nick and I... but THAT is my good side!  Now I know.

For the last race we all went in on a superfecta (picking the top four horses in the correct order)  and we ended up getting three of the four.  THREE OF THE TOP FOUR.  Boo said it was a moral victory, but I am not sure...

After Keeneland we went back to our house where we had dinner, cake, presents, played games and had an all around excellent time.  Somehow, the only pictures I have from that are ones with me blowing out candles... If you are curious, the cake was picked out by Nieem and says "Sarah is Boss"

I sorta love it :)

 

Busiest Birthday Weekend of All Time: Part Two

So are you ready for part two of my weekend wrap up?  No?  OH WELL!

So let's back up now that I have all my pictures.  On Thursday evening Matt and Blair roll into town from South Carolina to be part of the weekend festivities.  We had dinner and watched an endless stream of youtube videos such as this gem ... it was an awesome night, and instantly reminded me why I love them so much.

 (did you watch that video?  You really should... here is the link again, just in case.) 

Friday Nick and I headed to work and Matt and Blair spent the day with Henry.  I have a sneaky suspicion he made them play Disney Infinity with him ALL DAY LONG.  Once we were home we all headed over to Candice's for chili and a bond fire.

Welcome to town, Matt and Blair!  Let's break out the moonshine!

Nick with the babies

The ladies... (Nicole, Chris and Nieem also came to town, but didn't arrive until after this picture was taken... so alas, no Nicole)

After we ate we bundled up (the temp was dropping fast... I think it was in the low 30's by the end of the night) and headed out to the bonfire.

Me, Henry and Blair  hanging out, roasting marshmellows

Boo, Chris and Cici

Henry with his Aunt Candice

Back inside for warmth, Henry with his Uncle Chris
 
Nick, Henry and Matt
 
all in all it was a great night!

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So... I would wrap this post up here, but I think that would leave three MORE weekend posts, so we are going to keep rolling and talk about Brunch! (IT ISN'T MY FAULT! THERE ARE TOO MANY AWESOME PICTURES OF THE WEEKEND!)

After the soccer game on Saturday we headed out to brunch at Winchell's, which is an awesome place to eat brunch, just FYI. I don't have a lot to say about brunch... it was delicious, there were 15 of us there... it was delicious... did I say that one already?  Anyway, here are some pictures.

Birthday girl (THAT'S ME!) and Nicholas

A good one of me and Boo

Kara, Candice and Blair

Matt and Blair

Cute family pic, but alas Nieems' eyes are closed.  So we retook it...

and the retake will forever make me laugh

Boo and Chris

Henry with his Aunt Candice and his Nana!

Okay, so that's it for bonfire and brunch pictures!  Stay tuned for a post with pictures from Keeneland, then the FINAL weekend post about the Bengals game. Slowly but surely I will get this all in the record books...

 

Busiest Birthday Weekend of All Time: Part One

Welcome to post one of the 'Busiest Weekend in the History of Weekends' wrap up series.   I have no idea how many posts this will take to complete.  At least two more after this, but it might even get three.  Because for some reason I decided to do ALL THE THINGS for my birthday.   chili night with a fire pit, soccer game, brunch, Keeneland, dinner and cake at our house, Bengals tailgating and game... basically every possible thing that sounded fun was going to be crammed into two and a half days.    As Candice put it, the weekend was a marathon, not a sprint... an incredibly awesome marathon of a good time.

So let's get started.  This will actually be the shortest of the posts because I only have the pictures taken with my phone to show you, and the only topic I can fully cover with only phone pictures is the soccer game, which was... cold.

Let me lay the scene:

We had been at Candice's chili dinner and fire pit event the night before, so we were up pretty late... plus Henry was coming down with some sort of cold which was unfortunate timing... PLUS it was like 30 degrees and the ground was covered with ice... AND there were 20 members of Henry's family coming out to see him play at 9:30 in the morning.  Family from Louisville, South Carolina and Florida... plus people who live in our town, who also had to like, wake up early and get their butts out in the freezing cold to see this FINAL GAME of the season.  It was going to be so great!!

Right up until the moment when Henry refused to get on the field.  Tears and hugs and lots of  'I don't want to' and 'I don't feel good' and 'it's too cold'.... and... TWENTY FAMILY MEMBERS.  HERE.  TO SEEEEEE YOU CHILD.

Henry was not impressed.  Henry did not care.  Henry did not WANT to play soccer today in the early morning cold. 

I was fairly horrified.  I mean, there wasn't a single angle I felt good about this.  Was he really sick?  And I have him out here in the cold trying to force him to play soccer (DANCE MONKEY, DANCE) ?  PARENTING FAIL.  Was he just tired because we let him stay up at the bonfire way too late?  Running around outside in the freezing, dark night?  PARENTING FAIL.  Is it wrong that I am bribing him with new toys in order to get him out there playing?  PARENTING FAIL.  Was he just being stubborn without a real reason, and I am just unable to convince him to PLAY THIS GAME YOU HAVE ENJOYED FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS?  PARENTING FAAAAIL.

So, it felt rather like a birthday disaster, until I handed the reigns over to Nick who  somehow magically talked him into getting out onto the field with half of the final quarter left to play. PARENTING WIN!  But yeah... half of the final quarter.  If that. He was in just long enough to kick the ball one good time and be incredibly proud of himself before the final whistle blew and the Fall 2013 soccer season ended. But as he ran onto the field his family cheered like crazy, and they went nuts when his little foot made contact with the ball that one time.... I mean, it's why we were here, right?


That and to see the presenting of the trophies.  Who doesn't want a trophy after at LEAST three full minutes of soccer playing?  This kid EARNED IT!

GOOOOOoooooooooo FORCE!

***So... soccer.  We are on the fence.  At times he loved it, at times it felt like I was forcing him to play. We will give it a little time, then let him decide if he wants to play again or try something new in the spring **

 

Allegiant: My Spoiler Filled Review

So.. I finished Allegiant (book three in the Divergent series) and now I feel a very strong need to TAAAAAALK about it.  So, similar to other book series I have been obsessed with (cough, cough, Outlander, Harry Potter, Twilight, and maybe Everything I ever read...) I am going to give you a post on all my deep thoughts and feelings on the conclusion of the Divergent series, along with some GIFs, just to make it more fun.  So read ahead if you have finished the book.  Be warned... SPOILERS ABOUND.

******SERIOUSLY.  DO NOT GO BEYOND THIS LINE UNLESS YOU WANT THE ENDING RUINED*****

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****LAST CHANCE....****

Only people who have finished the book (or don't care to read it) still reading?  Are you sure?  REALLY SURE?  OKAY.  So, my feelings on Allegiant in one GIF:

I just... I can't even...

Okay, let's start from the beginning.  I spent the week leading up to the release rereading Divergent and Insurgent, and I was COMPLETELY into the series when Allegiant was released.  That kind of excited that usually only happens when you are a complete nerd who sorta believes all books are true stories and these people are you FRIENDS and you are FINALLY going to get to talk to them again and catch up , except you know this time will be the BEST TIME because it might be rough and emotional, but they will have like the greatest, happily ever after news at the end which will make it all okay.  And you aren't even embarrassed by your nerdiness...

And then I started reading, and I was completely addicted.  I actually loved huge chunks of this book.  I  thought the beginning was much more engaging that the beginning of Insurgent.  I know some people are complaining about how it skims over things, but I actually enjoyed the pace.  I was glad they didn't drag out the goal of getting out of the city and finding out what was OUTSIDE OF THE WALL.  We all knew they were going, just go. 

Then they get outside and I was a little... overwhelmed with how far the story steered off of it's original track...

I mean, yes, I wanted the story to move forward, but not at the expense of the original story we had been invested in for two books.  All of a sudden we are totally switching gears with a a Bureau of Genetic welfare and the new fight over genetically damaged versus genetically pure individuals... and I actually enjoyed it, but I felt like I kept reading hoping to get back to the central story.  The factions, the factionless, the war INSIDE the city. 

But as the book moved forward I was completely sucked into the new story (of course I was).  I actually liked the alternating points of view between Tris and Tobias, even though I frequently read the Tobias chapters and would forget it wasn't Tris.  I really liked their dynamic in the book, but I mean... I adore them.

How could you not?? 

So all in all, the first 75% of the book I would give a strong four stars... maybe five because I am a fangirl.  BUT THEN...

I saw where she was taking us, with the need for one person to sacrifice themselves for the good of the world.  I could tell Tris and Tobias were too happy... that all the "I will see you tomorrow" and "We get to start a life without constant war" and all that... I could FEEEEEEEL it coming.  But still, I hoped it was a red hearing.  I mean, surely. SURELY she is not going to kill one of them, right?  RIGHT. 

Wrong.

So Tris dies.  And as it's happening I am like "Surely, you aren't doing this..."  And you know she makes it through the death serum, and then she is shot, and then she is shot again, and then her mother is there...and I am like:

 BUT I STILL HOLD OUT HOPE.  Like a fool.  Because like, they didn't SAY she died.  So we flip back to Tobias, and he is off quickly wrapping up the faction vs factionless war, which in my opinion was WAY to easy to just quickly solve, only to have him come back to hear "Yep.  She died." 

...

THE MAIN CHARACTER DIED.  And then everything was just tied up.  Like, war sucks, people die. But it's brave to die for those you love, and it's brave to keep living.  Ooooookay.

I get it.  They didn't want to be the same as so many other series that have war and tragedy but miraculously the main characters survive.  I GET IT. 

BUT.

BUUUUUUUUT.

I feel like there was the much more obvious solution of LETTING CALEB DIE.  I mean, he needed to redeem himself!  AND he was also Abnegation!  AND now he has to live with the GUILT and Tobias and Christina have to live with the loss, and DAMN IT, IT IS JUST NOT OKAY.  I mean, she SURVIVED the death serum. WHY MUST A GUY BE ON THE OTHER SIDE WITH A GUN? WHHHHHY? What is the POINT of it??  If it's just to make people talk about the story, at the sake of the characters, I am just not okay with it.

So, that's it.  My feelings on Allegiant.  I am on the fence.  In a lot of ways, I loved it, but the end killed it for me.  I am okay with books ending sad, but this felt like it was sad for sads sake, not because there were no other options.  There were other options.  Ones that to me make more since.

Seven & Seven

The First Seven Years:

Working together at our local coffee shop while still in high school.  Becoming friends, then good friends, then  'I think I like' you friends. Drinking shots of espresso, sitting around Denny's at 2am. Hanging out, holding hands, my head on your shoulder.  First "date", first kiss, first dance in the back of a closed coffee shop,  Crazy Love playing over the speakers.  First roses, first  real love. College classes, studying late into the night.  You playing guitar. Homemade coffee tables,volleyball at midnight.  Hanging out with your friends, and my friends, that soon because our friends.  My sisters, your siblings, our families combine.  The most beautiful dog in the entire world.  The best Halloween costumes ever.  A surprise birthday trip on the Dinner Train. South Carolina and Mawmaw's kitchen table. A little stone house that needed a lot of work. Watching lightning storms over the gulf in Florida, walking through downtown after an ice storm.  Watching the X-files, watching Futurama, watching Star Trek. Graduating college, finding 'real' jobs.   A golden birthday that ended with a doughnut, a candle, and a question.

The Next Seven years:

I Do, and you do too.  Dancing to Crazy Love surrounded by our family and friends.  Speeches and wine and the best damn cake we have ever tasted.  Using a real map and finding our own way.  A '92 Roadmaster, a true luxury automobile. The best landscaped back yard in the neighborhood.  An addition on the little stone house, built with your own hands.   Hoping and praying and calling in doctors to add an addition to our family as well.  Our first anniversary in DC, Boo, Chris and Missy just make it better.  A skinny Christmas tree in the corner, hand painted stockings over the fire.  I'm pregnant, a boy, our whole life shifts focus. He smiles at us, we smile at each other, our love made him.  Less sleep, less money, lots of love in that little stone house.  Playing with Henry and Ellie in the snow.  New jobs, back to school. Playing Socks on the changing table, Henry's laugh fills the house and our hearts.  My picture obsession, and yours with cooking shows. Romeo and Juliette on stage,  It's A Wonderful Life in the theater. The beach, the woods, finding new places to explore together.   The hardest days we will hopefully ever know, made easier because we held each other up.    

And On and On:

Through good times and bad, in sickness and health.  I could not ask for a better partner, and I do not know what I would do without you.  I love you more today than I did fourteen years ago, or seven years ago, or even yesterday.  Happy Anniversary, baby.  My favorites memories are the ones we make together.