Labor Day with Mom and Dad in Charleston

Tim and I hopped into the car on Labor Day weekend and we drove down to Charleston, SC. I know that it seems like we go there often, but it is a GREAT city and it is very accessible and is so much fun! We were invited to come down and meet Mom and Dad for a one-on-one weekend with them. I personally could not have been more excited because I often don't feel like I get to spend a ton of time with them when I go home. We stayed at Wild Dunes, a resort on Isle of Palms. For those of you that have never been there, Wild Dunes is wonderful. The beach is wide and beautiful. At night, we went into historic, downtown Charleston to enjoy the ambiance and the awesome food. Other than the beach and great food, we went for walks on the beach, shopping, and took a harbor tour. While all of the activity was wonderful, the biggest gift from all of it was the gift of Mom and Dad's time. Thank you again for the gift of a wonderful weekend and your company! We love you guys and miss you! For now, here are some great pictures from the weekend--mostly from one evening where we enjoyed a rooftop bar and from our Charleston Harbor Tour!

Us on one of the rooftop bars in Charleston!

A great picture of Mom and Dad overlooking Charleston Harbor
Lone picture of the four of us, unfortunately there are a few shadows.

Mom and Dad on the Charleston Harbor Tour. I love some of these pics!
I can't decide whether I like it in black and white or in color

A picture of the Battery from the vantage point of the harbor.

The Arthur Ravenal Bridge

My two favorite pics from the whole weekend, below! Again, can't decide whether i like the black and white or the color better.

Thank you again for the Gift of the Memories!

Bristol Night Race

Working at NASCAR, I have been trying to make my way to the different tracks to learn about them a little bit more. When my colleague and friend, Janet, asked if I wanted to go up with her for the day at the Bristol night race, I jumped right in! We helped out with a track walk and an autograph session. More than anything, it was interesting to get to see the Collesium of the South! Bristol is a short track--only a 1/2 mile around. Thus, it was very interesting to see 43 cars try to go around the track. I don't have a lot of pictures, but here are a few at least!

My view of the gate at the track. Taking pictures on the 23% grade was kind of a feat.

It is hard to believe that there will be set ups for 43 cars here later tonight.
My artistic view of Bristol

James Comes to Visit Tim (and Megan) I guess

Tim and I love visitors so we were super excited with my 14 year old brother wanted to come visit us this summer! James came down for about a week in July and time sure did fly by! We had a great time with James and it was one of the highlights of our summer (We heard from Mom that it was one of James' highlights too). In my opinion, James came down to visit Tim--seeing me was an added bonus. We sure did keep busy from go karting to touring race shops to going to the beach in Charleston for part of the weekend. We really did try to do it all and I will not forget our time with James. It was such a treat to have James come to visit us and we hope that we can do it again. Here are some pictures of our time crabbing in Charleston!

James in Charleston Harbor.

James and his big sis
James and Tim with their first catch of the day--A Blue Crab
Thumbs up to the blue crab!

Did I mention that Tim loves to give "Thumbs Up"???

Geez Tim, you LOVE the Thumbs up!
Another Nice pic of James and Megan

James hard at work with his crabbing equipment.

Okay so it is not exactly the Deadliest Catch, but What fun!

The Accounting Crew

Tim has been pursuing his Masters in Accounting for the last year now. I am so thankful for Tim's educational pursuits, and more importantly, I am happy for the new friends that he has met through the program. The accounting crew are so diverse, but they are dear friends to Tim. I can't believe that Tim has known many of these people for a year now! His group would often get together after tests at either Stool Pigeons or Picassos. I just thought that you might be interested in meeting some of his classmates!

"The Accounting Crew"

Tim's Best Buddy, Nick--and future IRS Agent Tim and Nicole. We often hang out as a trio. She is so much fun!

The Doglet Update

I have to say that my sister's doglets are one of my favorite photographic subjects. They are the sweetest things and they show so much personalities. I can't believe how fast they have grown! Enjoy the updates!

Aunt Keely is hilarious as she holds Annie like a baby!

I can't believe that Annie still has her blue eyes! So pretty
Annie is getting more and more photogenic. Black and white shots are best!

This is my favorite of Annie! She is such a ham!

Spencer---he is still my favorite, but he does not like to pose for photos!

Rent--the Musical with Beau and Christy!!!

It is funny how people come in and out of our lives. Beau was one of my dear friends in high school. We met in New Edition (Show Choir) and our friendship grew when Beau, Ryan Ahlwardt, and I were in "The Who's Tommy" together at the Indianapolis Civic. We have stayed in touch through high school, college, etc., but we have both departed from Indianapolis for our own reasons. Beau is in the Air Force and is priveledged to be flying C-17's. His career has taken him from Del Rio Texas, to Oklahoma, and his most recent post is in Charleston, SC. Tim and I are so happy because Beau and his new wife, Christy live only 3 hours away.

Seeing that Beau and I are musical "geeks", we noticed that Rent the Musical was coming through Charlotte. Not only was it coming through Charlotte, but the original broadway stars Anthony Rapp and Adam Pascal were going to be reprising their roles as Mark and Roger in Rent respectively. We were only able to get two tickets, but Rent does a lottery before the show where one can buy two, front row seats for $20 if drawn. We all four entered, and much to our surprise, Christy's name was drawn. We were all super excited because we all four could go! Below you can catch a sneak peak at a few of the pictures that Beau and Christy took and shared with us. Beau and Christy are by far our most favorite "southern" couples friends! We hope to share many more fun times with Christy and Beau while we are in the same part of the country!

P.S. in case you were wondering the show was AWESOME. It was one of the few times that the live show sounded almost exactly like the cd.

Our fun friends, Beau and his beautiful wife Christy!

Rent's simply set---use your imagination, moon, xmas tree, apartment,
My artistic photography of the set.

Anthony Rapp= original broadway cast Mark and tour Mark that we saw. He may be ten years older than when he originated the role, but he was still spot on!
Adam Pascal--Orignal Broadway Cast Roger. He has still got it too. He was also kind enough to stop and pose for a photo for us on the way back to his tour bus.

My Martian!

I thought that this was so funny and that I needed to post for sure! Tim loves to watch the History Channel. More than watching the History Channel, he LOVES to watch end of the world shows specificially. I often make fun of him as his affinity for shows such as this remind me of Joaquin Phoenix in the movie signs who made a tin foil hat to keep the aliens from beaming him up! My little comedian thought it would be fun to surprise me when I got home from work to "don" his own tin foil hat!

A New Niece...and Updated Photos of my Nephew

Well...you all met Spencer back over Labor Day. Amazingly, Leslie and Drew have already expanded their "family." On Christmas Day, they got Spencer a sister...her name is Annie. Annie was a one pound Chorkie (chihuahua-yorkie mix). She is really sweet, roly, and she sleeps a lot. Spencer was the typical big brother in his first days. He was a little jealous, but was also protective of his sister. I can't imagine what they will look like the next time we see them.

Dad and Spencer have become friends...Spencer LOVES the attention.
Spencer's Favorite Game! Meet Annie...She loves to nuzzle
The best thing about baby dogs...you can put them into cute little containers...
What are you doing to me?Cheese!!!

She almost looks saintly...

In a cute little container of corks...

A Mountain Dew Can for Scale...
We were trying to get a picture of brother and sister, but it is impossible to get their attention together...we had fun anyway.

Spencer...this would be cute if you were looking at me...Annie is admiring you!

If you want a picture of the two doggies, you have to hold them...

There we go...

You look beautiful Aunt Jac!

Both doggies love belly rubs :)

So cute

Love this picture in color.

She is so sweet!

Strike a pose

So comfortable