Honeymoon quote

On the way to our destination...

"A cotton museum?! That would be really cool!...No, wait a minute. That would actually be quite boring." --Kevin

Dolly Evans/Breaking-and-entering--A typical Friday evening

This evening Lydia and I had a delightful time in each other's company. With her sporadic work schedule and my hectic academic calendar, it has been awhile since she and I got to spend some quality time together. Yet, as mentioned, we remedied this problem last evening. After having an amazing dinner (cooked by Lydia) of beef stew and Waldorf salad, we spent time with our pets. Well, they are not actually our pets, as those who have visited us can confirm. They are our neighbors' two dogs: Dolly--a golden retriever--and Rocket a Gordon Settler. Though it is always questionable to show favoritism towards a family member, Lydia and I have both confirmed that Dolly is our favorite. (Rocket is a beautiful dog and all, but she is just a bit socially awkward.) Here is a picture of Dolly on our porch, and the picture below it reveals her one true passion--a game of fetch. Dolly loves to jump off the side of our mountain in pursuit of her ball. She is a great companion up here on the mountain.

As the third picture can confirm, there was an unpleasant interruption to our evening. It appears that our bathroom door became locked and we had no way of unlocking it without climbing into a two story window. Thankfully, our bathroom window was unlocked or this would have been the beginning of an unpleasant, bathroom-less weekend.

After the bathroom door fiasco, Lydia and I took a brief stroll around our neighborhood. The fall colors are setting in and this amplifies the beauty of Shadow Mountain. Lydia and I not only saw a reminder of fall, but also Halloween. On our travels we saw a lone bat flying above our heads. Lydia, who evidently appreciates all of Creation, called the bat "cute"--which, reportedly, she is the only woman to call a flying rodent as such.


I know that many of the individuals reading this are doing so because Lydia and I began our "advertising campaign" to promote our blog. If this is true, we want to welcome you to our home on the web. As you probably read in an earlier post, I consider myself to be rather techno-savvy when it comes to these types of things, so please allow me to make a recommendation. There is a terrific program on the web called Google Reader. This fantastic program not only bookmarks all of the blogs and other RSS embeded websites that you frequently read, but gives notifications when we (or your other favorite websites) update our blogs. In the words of Google, "It is like an Inbox for the Internet." I strongly suggest that you check it out.

Quote by Kevin

"There is nothing like a little NPR to set the mood."

The Joys of Newleywed-ness...

It's been slightly over two months since I married the most amazing man I've ever known. I am daily astounded by new things learned and old things reinforced. Probably one of the most remarkable has been our ability to invite the other into a complete other world thus far unexperienced.

Case in point is the technology with which I have up to this point surrounded myself with. To say it has been minimal is a slight, if not severe, understatement. For example, this past summer, I used part of my Maryville College gift certificate to actually buy myself a portable cd player--you know, the kind with the clip that fastens on to the elastic of your jogging shorts only to pull them down around your ankles while you're actually jogging. No matter that I didn't really use my money to buy it or that it was drastically on sale. These contraptions are a thing of the past--they've gone the way of 8-tracks (which I'm not even old enough to remember) and cassette tapes (of which our first was dc Talk Heavenbound). Fortunately for me, Kevin stepped in and saved me from myself by buying an MP3 player for my graduation present. It's smaller than my cell phone, and, once I have a full tutorial on how to work it, I'm sure I will go nowhere without it. As it now stands, I'm surviving off the songs Kevin so graciously has put on there for me.



Furthermore, I would never in my wildest dreams have thought I would keep a journal that other people would read. I have kept a journal consistently since I was in second grade, and, I might add, at that time it was quite a humorous journal. Regardless to have my new husband suggest we engage in an activity that sounds more like galoshes slogging through mud than it does a divulging of the interior of one's heart took me aback. It could be fun; it could be useful; it could be a kick into the current century that I've been lacking all my life.

I'm grateful for my husband for many reason--not the least of which that he's very technology oriented. I'm looking forward to what this blog holds for us.....

Now, if we could just figure out to set up those dang fire alarms! ;)

Inside jokes

Every family has those inside jokes, yet I am surprised how quickly they form. Lydia and I have been married for a total of two months and already we have dozens of inside jokes. One relates to the picture on the right. Lydia and I have been obsessing over this puzzle game known as Chuzzle Deluxe with these fury little monsters known as Chuzzles. According to Lydia, whenever I wake up in the morning my hair reminds her of these little beasts. You be the judge.

Dinner and a movie

Tonight we capped off Celebrate Lydia's Birthday Week with dinner at Sullivan's and the film Ratatouille at the Dollar Theater. We were delighted by the film and we both gave it a B+.



Here we are twirling our French mustaches in celebration of the film.

A career in the music industry

Is it just me or is everyone in the music industry switching labels? One of Lydia's favorite bands (Jars of Clay) and one of my favorite bands (Caedmon's Call) are all jumping ship on their big name record labels. This means that there have been several spots to open up on the record label rosters.

That is why I am announcing my entrance to the music career. I am thinking about being one of those corny white rappers. You know, the John Reuben and KJ-52 variety. Lydia and I already decided my new stage pseudonym-- KoKo Puhfz.

I know, I know, you are probably thinking that this is a trademark infringement. Not so! Mr. Eminem already taught the world that you can be named after a trademarked, sugar-coated food item and a misspelling can protect you from a trademark infringement.

Here is the cover for my first CD: KoKo Puhfz and the Die-puhr Posse: Duh Way Dat We Ur.

Happy Birthday, Lydia!

On Sunday Lydia turned 24 years old. (Thus, marks the annual period where she is numerically three years older than me.) Regretfully, she has been a bit sick lately. Yet, I hope these gifts will cheer her up.


Red Herrings & White Elephants: The Origins of the Phrases We Use Every Day by Albert Jack
This book was written to reveal the origins of those idioms that we use every day. I think there is something for everyone in this book. Lydia is quite the wordsmith and I am quite the history nerd, so I think this is a gift that we can both enjoy.







Home Improvement: Season 6

While Lydia and I have our dessert after dinner, we love to kick back and watch boxsets. (Why pay $30 a month for cable when you can have an entire television season for the same amount?) Though some fail to find the humor within the Taylor family, we are not among them. Home Improvement has got to be one of the best family shows ever created. So, I got her 24 more episodes of "Hidy-Ho good neighbor" and "I am Tim 'The Tool Man' Taylor."


Dinner

Since she was feeling down on Sunday, Thursday night I am taking her to one of her favorite restaurants. After all, you don't turn 24 every year.