Monday, June 30, 2008

Summer Time Fun (well, at least most of it)

Chris and I have been fairly busy for the past couple of weeks; some of it fun, some of it not. Last week was dominated with Chris being sick. At first we thought I had (accidently) poisoned him with some home-made Chicken Marsala but it turns out it was a chest cold that made its way into his ear canal causing him to be dizzy and get nauseous. He was sick all day Monday at work and then stayed home on Tuesday and Wednesday. We went to the Urgent Care on base and he was given an antibiotic and an anti-nausea medication on Tuesday night but it really only made him woozy…not an improvement!

On Friday Chris and I drove to Wilmington and met Danielle and Tim for a day at the beach! They arrived at 2:30am on Friday night after the long drive from Ohio. We spent Saturday on Oak Island enjoying the sun and sand….maybe a little too much as everyone got a little sun burnt. Luckily, Danielle was prepared with Aloe Vera and this great cooling gel that made everyone feel better. We came back to our apartment on Saturday evening and played some cornhole and watched a movie. On Sunday we did a little shopping (I miss having a girl to shop with), ordered some pizza, played more cornhole and played cards and moved very slowly due to the sun burns! Tim and Danielle left on Monday morning to visit the WEJ before heading back to Ohio. It was a short visit but we really enjoyed having them stay with us. I didn't get a group picture...maybe Danielle will post one on their blog.


Chris and I at Oak Island

The Shark that some guy caught and Tim helped release.


Monday, June 16, 2008

The Bag That Almost Beat Me

For my friend Kelly's birthday, I decided to make her a bag that would be stylish enough to take to work to keep all her yoga gear in for class after she left her job. I am happy to say that I was able to complete this project because for a while it didn't seem like it would happen. I definately put my sewing skills to the test on this one but I am happy with the outcome (minus the zipper, I just can't ever get those to go in correctly). I'm also happy to say that Kelly likes the bag too!







Chris and Sonya’s Bed and Breakfast

Bryan and Kayleigh on Father's Day
Chris and Aaron
Aaron checking out GTA
The summer months are upon us and so far we’ve had numerous days of 100+ weather...luckily that hasn’t been the only thing that summer has brought to our home! For the past two weekends Chris and I have had the pleasure of entertaining family visiting from Ohio. Last weekend Aaron (Chris’s cousin) and his girlfriend Angie spent the past weekend with us and this weekend we’ve had Bryan (another rof Chris’s cousins), Kim and their 11 month daughter Kayleigh stay with us. Both weekends were great and we’ve enjoyed spending time with them. Chris showed both sets of visitors around on base and took them to his office so they could see what his Army job is like. We also took both groups out around Fayetteville to see some of the town, not just the part connected to Ft. Bragg. I don’t like to leave everyone with the impression that Fayetteville is just Ft. Bragg: cheap restaurants, haircut shops for the guys and all the other types of “entertainment” you would expect to find around an Army base.

While Aaron and Angie were here the boys played some Grand Theft Auto since video games are a past time that they both like. Aaron and Angie were able to enjoy some of the amenities that our apartment complex offers including the pool and fitness center while Chris and I were at work. We took them to a local Italian restaurant that we’ve always enjoyed but unfortunately the service wasn’t great and put a damper on our time there (we waited an hour for our meals….it seemed just a little too long).

Bryan, Kim and Kayleigh got to enjoy the new cornhole boards that Chris made during their stay with us. Well, Kayleigh didn’t get to play but she did enjoy watching from the stroller while everyone else did. We hosted a cookout while they were here and hung out outside….at least until the sprinkler system in the lawn kicked and then everyone ran for cover into the apartment, including a toad that Chris had to chase out later when we spotted him. We were able to share a nice meal with our guests in downtown Fayetteville on Sunday and were happy to be able to spend Father’s Day with Bryan. It was great to have Kayleigh here to visit but I don’t think we are ready for our own little bundle of joy just yet. One of my cook books suffered a loss of a page to her inquisitive nature. I’m still trying to talk Chris into a puppy!
I think it’s safe to say that “Chris and Sonya’s Bed and Breakfast” is up and running so call for your summertime reservations….we are booking up fast!

Sunday, June 8, 2008

Here it is the first post from me, Chris. As most of you know already, I purchased a new motorcycle recently. I had been thinking about it for a while and my lovely wife didn't put up too much of a fight about it, so we went ahead and I am now the proud owner of a new Harley Davidson Dyna Fat Bob. Sonya and I drove down to the HD dealership in Wilmington NC last Sunday morning after we got back from Ohio, to make the purchase. I have been riding it as much as I can the past week and it has been great. It is a lot different than the two bikes I have had before but it is really easy to ride and is tons of fun. The bike is a 2008 and the color is Dark Blue Pearl.


With the bike out in front of the dealer when we bought it.

Some nice pictures of the bike at our apartment.


Sunday, June 1, 2008

Ohio Weekend

There are times that I am amazed at what we can squeeze into a weekend when we need to! Chris and I left Fayetteville at 5pm on Friday to fly back to Ohio Ryan’s graduation party. Due to some miscalculation in driving time, having to turn around because we forgot something and traffic, we didn’t leave enough time to get there so we weren’t sure if we were even going to make in onto the plane before it took off….we were literally running through the airport. Thankfully, we didn’t check luggage and we barely made it on board. Once we arrived in Ohio Steve, Sharon, Tim and Danielle met us at the airport and then we went to my favorite restaurant, Figlio, for a great dinner! We followed our usual tradition which is ice cream from Jeni’s. Chris and I shared a dark coca gelato and strawberry buttermilk bowl of ice cream. Danielle was brave and tried the banana with goat cheese, it was awesome! After our great dinner, we went back to Tim and Danielle’s house to check out all the new improvements that they’ve made. The living room and dining room are now painted; they have primer in the bedroom and the landscaping looks great. Then we drove back to NW Ohio and fell into bed around 1am.
On Saturday we got up and ready early so we could help out my parents with the graduation party preparation but by the time we got there almost everything was done. It was nice to spend the afternoon catching up with the boys (this is what I’ve called my three brothers for as long as I can remember). I even got to chat with Tyler, one of my “adopted” brothers. Since my brothers have always had a lot of friends around the house it feels like I have about 15 brothers instead of three. Tyler and Ryan grew up together and share a passion for sports so he was always around.
The party started at 4:30pm and we spent the next six hours chatting with family and friends that we see rarely these days since we’ve moved to NC. One of my good friends from 4-H, Jill, even stopped over! It was really nice to be able to catch up with so many people while staying in one place. When we are home we usually hop around a little to see everyone. We left the party around 10pm so we could be fresh for our 3:30am alarm clock.
Chris and I were on the road to Columbus by 4am and made it to the airport plenty of time to spare (we really learned our lesson on Friday!) We had a smooth flight and we both napped for a bit before landing. Once we were back in NC, we drove to Wilmington so Chris could FINALLY bring home his new motorcycle from the Harley-Davidson dealership! It is really nice and he says it rides very well. I don’t want to go into too much detail because I’m trying to get him to blog about it himself. I stopped at the mall (but no shoes this time) on my way home so he beat me back but hung out with friends until I got there at 3pm with the keys.
I ended the weekend by having dinner with friends and catching the Sex in the City movie and Chris choose to stay home. He doesn’t have to work tomorrow so his weekend is still going and he’s planning on finishing the corn hole boards that he started last week and of course, riding the new bike! Needless to say, it's been a busy couple of days!