Last weekend we ran away from work early and booked it to the mountains. It used to be that the women in the family would take a weekend away to go shopping somewhere and just get away, but has changed into an anybody that wants/can go kinda thing. This year (the first year either of us have gone along) we stayed in a cabin on the side of a mountain in Gatlinburg, TN. The view was great, the rooms were big, there was a pool table and an arcade machine and a hot-tub and a movie theatre.

Our little camera is broken, it won’t open the lens at all, just jerks and sputters and gives up, and we didn’t feel like hauling our big cameras around, so we only have a few phone pictures to show. ByTheWay, anyone that wants to get rid of a small point-and-shoot camera can inquire within.

Friday while we were on our way up everybody else went shopping at Tanger, which is fine with us because we don’t have money for shopping anyways. Saturday we walked around Gatlinburg in the rain then went to the Dixie Stampede, Dolly Parton’s more wholesome version of Medieval Times, with cowboys. Advice for vegetarians: eat before you go, the generic pasta they served me was gross.

We also played black-light mini golf, which was lots of fun, and did go-karts with my dad. When we went to Panama City Beach earlier this year with Mike and Jenny we found out we like go-karts. Lori screams because it’s too fast at first then gets into it and screams to go faster. There are a bazillion tracks to pick from in Pigeon Forge, we chose the one next to the goofy golf course (not really Goofy Golf, but close). The only problem was going up and down the spirals so many times got boring. Nobody else was around us and the guys running it let us keep going on and on and on and on and on and on and on because nobody else was there to ride. It was still fun though, Lori even liked the hill you go over that turns your stomache, and she absolutely hates that stuff.

It’s been a year, can you believe it?  Wow.  It feels like only a few months ago we were shaking our groove things at the beach.  To celebrate this year we went back to Charleston, which is where the cruise ship left from on our honeymoon.  Last year we spent the night in a dinky motel in the smelly part, about 5 or 10 miles from the good part.  This year we stepped it up and stayed at the LaQuinta right across the bridge from the good historic part.  Not so smelly, and we were right in front of a dock with lots of fancy boats, Lori was thrilled!

On the first day we walked around and did mostly window shopping. Lori found a dress she absolutely loved, but they didn’t have the right size, then miraculously on Monday we found another store that did have the size!  Something to note about Historic Charleston if you’ve never been is that it’s like that long street in Savannah (not River Street) where all the shops are, but times four.  And it’s a giant maze.  We walked so much and saw so many shops we thought we’d seen it all, but the second day we parked in a different lot and realized there was another section of stores we completely missed.

Saturday we decided to give gifts to each other, so we could enjoy the presents all weekend.  Lori got a Peacock Feather head band, and Daniel got a veggie T-shirt.  There is a long market there with artists and jewelry and purses and basket weavers and more jewelry, where Lori found her new favorite purse.  Adam gave us a Starbucks gift card that had nothing left on it so we bought coffee to try and keep us going.  We were going to eat at a veggie restaurant outside the Historic part but realized we’d have to leave and come back and park again so we stayed and had bar food.  That night we had Japanese Steak House, which is what we usually do for special ocassions because it’s so awesome.  No one there believed we were old enough to be married.

Sunday we went to see a giant old tree, but the tree was closed until later.  So we went back into the city and ate at Yo Burrito.  It was ok, salsa was good but they were out of tofu.  How do you run out of tofu?  Then it was off to the museum where they were having a special wedding exibit.  Anyways, for dinner we went to Mercato, an Italian restaurant, for our actual anniversary dinner.  Oddly enough, there were two other couples seated in opposite corners from us that were celebrating the exact same thing.  One of the couples brought their cake top with them and ended up throwing almost all of it away because it tasted like cardboard.  Our cake on the other hand was just as great as a year ago.  We couldn’t help ourselves and opened it the night we got to the hotel and nibbled on it the whole trip.

The day we left we went to a corn maze that wasn’t made of corn (bushes).  They said if we found 6 of the 10 hole punches for our punch cards we would get a small prize.  We found 9 of the 10, but would have had all of them it someone hadn’t stolen one of the punches from the pole.  When we went to collect our prize there wasn’t anybody there.  The lady that told us we’d get a prize was driving away when we got out of the maze, a full hour before they were supposed to close.  They left us in there alone, in a maze, possibly dead or dying or injured or making out.  Good thing we gots the smarts and could find our way out of what they say is one of the worlds largest mazes.

We cook alot.  It’s super fun and gives us something to do besides computers or TV.  One of our favorite things to cook is picture above, BBQ Tofu.  We drain the tofu, slice it thin, pepper it, lightly pan fry it, then pour over some BBQ sauce (letting it cook a bit in the hot pan).  Lori says it’s like crack (or what she thinks it would be like).

Another of our favorites is Enchilladas.  The tortillas come from a mix we get at Wal-Mart, we mix it then roll it out, fill it with TVP (flavored with a taco season pack) and cheese and sometimes onion or salsa, roll it and cover it with our AMAZING homemade sauce.  This is also like crack to Lori, she would eat it every day if she could.  She is telling me right now to go out and get the ingredients so we can make it tonight . . .

Last night we made Country Baked Seitan for the first time in a while, we didn’t realize how much we missed it until it hit our tastebuds.  This time we mixed it up with brown gravy (from a pack) enhanced with mushrooms and onions.  It tasted like the sauce on salsbury steak.  And then the first chef to get kicked off of Top Chef made Seitan, but sucked at it.  They should have had ours!

Mike and Jenny recently had to let go of one of their kitties because they couldn’t handle so many at once, so we took Hannah Montana into our home (and swiftly started calling her Stevie).   She loves to cuddle, and freaking spaz out, usually one right after the other in rapid succession.  At bedtime our toes have become chew toys, and our faces are way more interesting in the dark apparently because she gets all up in our personal space while we sleep.

Ringo didn’t accept her at first, and was a big jerk when we brought her home.  He hissed and slapped at her while she explored the apartment.  We layed the smack down on him more than a couple times.  But now he tolerates her, has stopped following her around everywhere, and hasn’t hissed in a while.  Last night they played tag, he chased her into the bedroom then she chased him into the living room, then back and forth and back and forth.

Woo Hoo, Xander’s 4 now.  April and Bill (his parents, duh) had a super fun party for him today.  There was a pool, sprinklers, water balloons, a sack race, cake, presents, and hot dogs and burgers (veggie too).  April was running around, making sure everyone was having fun, laughing the whole time, running through the sprinklers, jumping in the sack race.

We didn’t bring our bathing suits, which disappointed Lori very much, so we took pictures instead.  Xander picked the Sponge Bob cake because the heads shoot off the bodies!  We had a great time with the family, and they had a great time with us.  They even gave our car a semi-bath by throwing water ballons at us as we left.

Saturday we spent the day at Stone Mountain with Daniel’s family for Grandma and Wanda’s birthday.  We spent the day with April and Bill and Xander, and got April to make one of her awesome cakes to bring! We rode the train (boring), saw the 4D movie of Journey to the Center of the Earth (scared Xander),  and ate some yummy food at the cookout.  Then Lori got the guts to get on the SkyLift to the top of the mountain, and she was totally cool about it!  We stayed for the lazer show, then waited in the parking lot for about 20 minutes playing ring toss with each others arms and a glow necklace.

Last week we went to Disney World with Daniel’s family, 22 of us total.  The ride down there was just as long as usual, and with the traditional stop at Shoney’s for lunch.  Lea got us lost trying to get to the hotel.  But we did eventually get there, and it was sunny and everyone was happy. The hotel’s theme was “decades” so it was sectioned off into the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s and so forth. We had a huge Big Wheel outside of our door…and fooseball! We walked around and took pictures of everything for a while, meeting rabbits and ducks on the way. It was nice to finally be there!

Sunday we went to the Magic Kingdom, the most walking we did the whole week. We got to ride Pirates of the Carribean, Haunted Mansion, the riverboat, It’s a small world, the go carts, and walked through the huge Swiss Family Robison treehouse! Not to mention the Carousel of Progess broke on us. It was outdated but really super to watch(says Lori, who loves creepy manequins and sets full of details like cups and ovens!) Adam and Daniel rode the water ride just as it was starting to rain, surely they had lots of fun, but Lori is a wimp and wouldn’t dream of riding it!

Monday we went to Hollywood Studios (MGM), lots of fun, until it started raining. We definitely bought ponchos. We managed to get in the car stunt show, Indiana Jones, andToy Story Midway Mania before it got too bad.

Tuesday we went to Epcot, but left early because of the rain. Lori was feeling terrible that day, but we managed to get in a few rides first. The ride inside the huge Epcot ball was definitely  Lori’s favorite, and Daniel enjoyed….but kinda got sick on the Mission to Mars. Leaving early because of the rain was a great idea, it totally beat our butts that day!  That night when the rain stopped we went out to Downtown Disney to see Star Trek and ate dinner at Waffle House.  It was a great feeling to be the last ones to go to bed since we got teased for going to bed earlier than everyone else the first few nights.

Wednesday we went to Animal Kingdom.  It was pretty outside when we got up so that was super exciting.  We were able to go on the Safari and see the giraffes, elephants, and flamingos. This park really felt like we were in a rain forest, it was so grown over with vines and trees shading the pathways. Parrots and flamingos were everywhere! It was really beautiful. We met Grandma and PawPaw for lunch before it started raining again.  We left after we saw A Bug’s Life 3D movie. On the way back to the bus it turned into monsoon-like rain. We had on ponchos and the umbrella pointed out in front of us. The wind was blowing the rain so hard that our umbrella almost turned inside out! Lori was laughing uncontrolably and Daniel thought his shoes would never dry. We almost hit a huge sign because we could not see anything.  And then, while we were waiting on the bus to get back to the hotel, PawPaw calls because he lost Grandma in a store and has been waiting for her for an hour and he wants to leave.  So Daniel went back in the park to find her…in the rain.

Thursday we went back to Epcot and it didn’t rain the entire day! Although Lori was scared out of her mind, we waited in line for Soarin, basically a swingset that lifts you up to a huge screen and makes it seem that you are flying high in the sky, over famous landmarks, cityscapes, and oceans. Lori did surprisingly well, and enjoyed it more than she ever imagined! Too bad we didn’t have time to do it again! We got to see the “Lands” fianlly, and we were in love! Paris, Morocco, Mexico, the UK…we walked to them all! Lori took about a million and a half pictures and we got to see this amazing Canadian band (who sounded Irish) called Off Kilter. It really perked our tired spirits, just in time for dinner at the Coral Reef. Weirdest lasagna in the entire world. The hardest too.

Friday we went back to Hollywood to see American Idol! It was so similar to the show. Even the host favored Ryan Seacrest! We also rode the Toy Story Midway Mania again, Lori was determined to beat Daniel this time, but she lacked the skill she needed in the ring tosses and darts. That ride was AMAZING, totally worth waiting in line! Next was the backlot tour, where Daniel volunteered and was named Captain! He had to steer the boat and act paniced! Lori stood at the sidelines taking pictures and waving at her courageous captain! After we got a few rides out of the way, we left and then almost went to Typhoon Lagoon but it started raining again so we went to Downtown Disney, not a better choice at all when it’s raining. We ran store to store trying to beat the rain, but it totally beat us. We saw a lot of cool sites like the new Dinosaur restaurant, and the Lego store. Eventually we made it to Disney Quest, a huge arcade that is free to enter with our park passes. The games were pretty outdated but we still had fun! Daniel sunk way more battleships than Lori!

That night, after the weather cleared up, we all went to the Polynesian Resort to the Luau for dinner. We took a nice family photo before going into the show. They made Daniel kneel down like a little kid. The food was nice (except for the dessert) and the show got better as it progressed.  There were hula girls and guys and the fire twirler was really good! It was a good night for everyone and it felt GREAT outside. All the rain from the week really made us appreciate nice clear weather. We headed to MGM (or Hollywood) again with Adam and Daniel’s parents that night to ride Rockin Roller Coater, Tower of Terror, and stayed to see Fantasia, which we thought would be rained out! We started to leave because they kept pushing back the start time, and as we were walking out, they started the show! So we DID get to see it, Lori’s first time ever!

Saturday we left with the sun shining.  Then about twenty minutes down the road it started raining again.  It took us an extra hour and a half to get home beause all of the rain.  Rain so thick you couldn’t see but thirty feet in front of you, if your lucky. Cars would pass us a little too fast and their splash would hit our windsheild, temporarily leaving us blindsighted. It was scary….and no one wanted to drive in it. Mark and Angel wrecked and thank God they were okay.

We finally made it home…to Ringo. Wesley had watched him all week, and he took great care of him! We were worried he would have forgotten us, but he was really excited to see us! We left him again after unpacking and ate at our favorite place….Moes.

It was my birthday on Thursday and Lori took me out after work.  It was awesome!  We went to Cafe Sunflower, a vegetarian restaurant in Buckhead.  The food was delicious and the atmosphere is better than you’d expect for a place in a strip mall kind of setting.  Lori had the veggie loaf [picture left] and I had the almond crusted tofu [picture right].

From there we went to Startime Entertainment for some video games and comedy at the Funny Farm.  The comedy was a bit more miss than hit, but it was fun just being out.  Oh yeah, and because it was my birthday I didn’t have to do an after hours phone switch for work, and got my boss to do it for me.

This is a picture of us chasing down an imaginary plane that’s trying to take off without us.

Lori went shopping with her mom on Thursday and came home with a bunch of goodies.  The picture above is one of them, an enormous 7lb. can of refried beans.  The other can of beans is there for reference, it’s the size we usually get and can’t eat the whole thing at once.  We’re at a loss as to what to do with this thing.  There is a recipe for Queso Dip on the back, but it calls for 12lbs. of cheese and 6lbs. of enchilada sauce amongst other things so we probably won’t be doing that.  Perhaps a Fiesta is in order?

Lori has been a photographer for quite some time now, taking stunning pictures of anyone who’ll let her.  Now she has a blog featuring her work, and as soon as we get tax money back we’re going to setup a formal website.

Check out her blog at http://bluemoon-photos.com.  Right now she is offering FREE photo sessions to build her portfolio. This is an amazing deal!  You’ll get to spend time with Lori, be a super-model for a day, and get a free 8×10 picture from the shoot.  Contact her through her blog, Myspace, or Facebook to get more information and to schedule your FREE session.