Screen on the Green

My roommate, Amber, and I tend to be somewhat of couch potatoes, so we were so excited when we finally decided to actually do something. In flipping through a local magazine, I saw an article about "Screen on the Green". Every Thursday in the month of June, Piedmont Park shows old movies on a giant projection screen. Tonight they were showing "E.T.". Who doesn't love ET?!?! So we packed up our dinners, a blanket, and beach chairs and found our way to Piedmont Park. We ended up parking at the Sheraton Hotel and made the trek to the park. When I say "trek", I mean a trek!! It was quite the hike!

When we finally made it to the screen, we were astonished by the mass, hoard, plethora, massive amount of people. I'm not good with numbers, but I would estimate there were at least 5,000 people there! So we finally found a patch of grass to set up our gear. Aaahhhh....we made it! As we were enjoying our Subway sandwiches, it happened...a giant clap of thunder. We both looked at each other as if to say, "Did YOU just hear that?" Not too long after that we noticed the ominous, impending dark gray storm cloud overhead. Now...we're a couple of praying women, so we just asked the Lord to protect us and keep us from the rain. (How selfish are we to pray that in the middle of a drought?!) However; it became clear that tonight was the night the Lord was gonna send the rain! And when someone came over the loud speaker to announce they would not be showing ET, it was official. The one night Amber and I decided to get our tails OFF the couch and do something fun was the one night we would finally get rain!

As soon as they made the announcement, we packed up our gear and made the trek (yes, trek!) back to the car. Thankfully, we made it back to the parking garage dry, but little did we know our troubles just began. The parking garage became a wretched, mangle mess of cars. It was the most bizarre scene ever! Cars were exiting out the entrance while cars were trying to enter! Whoever designed that parking garage was out of their mind. We sat, without moving an inch, for at least 10 minutes. There were 2 exits but, of course, they were both blocked off and we were being directed out an exit on the opposite side of the garage. It was evident that things were about to get out of hand. Finally the police (or they could have been security guards) got involved and opened up the 2 closed exits. The only good thing was that they weren't charging people. I think they realized that they just needed to get people outta there!

So, needless to say, we were a little bummed, but we've already got some more fun things planned for the month of July: Aquarium, Laser Show, and more!

Sisterchick Cruise 07

There are those once in a lifetime moments that you never forget. One of those happened for me last week. I went on a cruise with 6 of my childhood girlfriends. Most of the time, trying to get together for dinner or a night out is an act of congress, so the fact that we were able to plan and execute a cruise was literally a miracle.

We had decided on this cruise 2 years ago to celebrate all of us turning the big 3-0. We left out of Port Canaveral on the Carnival cruise ship Sensation and cruised to the Bahamas.

Here's a typical day:
1. sleep till about 8:30 or 9:00
2. go to a 4 course breakfast
3. walk/shop/explore the Bahamas
4. go back to the ship to take advantage of the buffet for lunch
5. go back to the 3rd world country and buy trinkets that last a week
6. go back to the ship and begin the process of getting ready for dinner (for all the other girls that was a cut and dry process. I; however, was able to draw it out to an hour and a half ordeal)
7. take our pre-dinner pictures with the cheesy backdrops
8. go to table #241 to meet our wonderful waiter Murtika for an out of this world 5 course meal
9. enjoy the night life of the ship: karaoke, casinos, midnight buffets, shows
10. fall into our very comfy beds sometime around 1:00 AM

Here are some highlights from our trip:















One of our favorite things to do was take pictures. Here are some of us modeling on the ship's deck and just being goofy, silly girls!














It was the trip of a lifetime. We had so much fun! To read more details about our trip, read Amanda's vacation blog: Oh Vacation!

License to Wed

Me and my friend Chrissy did a really cool thing last night. We got to go to a free screening of the new Robin Williams movie that's not even out yet, "License to Wed". I had gotten something in the mail saying that if I wanted to go, all I had to do was send an email to some address and they emailed me the confirmation.

Once we got there, we were greeted by 2 big security guards. They searched our purses, our bags and even ourselves with those metal wand detectors. Just wanted to make sure no one was going to video the movie and sell it online.

One of the oddest things that we noticed was that as people were walking into the theater, they were bringing in food. I'm not talking about popcorn or candy. I mean pizzas, Chic-Fil-A, and chinese food!! Bizarre! I guess because the movie theater was in a mall, they were just going to the food court, but I was always under the impression that you weren't supposed to bring outside food in.

Finally it was showtime!!



Me and Chrissy after the movie.


Our loot!

It was a really cute movie! Some really hilarious parts that had the whole theater laughing out loud! It kind of poked fun at the legalism of catholicism. I recommend it highly :)

After the movie we decided to get dessert. We went to "Cheeseburger in Paradise". I had never been there, but it was a really cool place. We got this yummy dessert, Chocolate Nachos.

Master's Party!

Well, you saw in a previous post that I finally graduated with my masters degree. Woo-hoo! So my brother-in-law wanted to throw a party to celebrate and seeing as how I'm not one to turn down a good time with friends and family, I was all for it. Little did I know what I was getting myself into.

Upon my arrival, Pep wanted me to don the traditional cap and gown. He thought it would be funny to greet people as they came in. And as luck would have it, I unfortunately didn't get any pictures of me in the cap and gown. (Sense the extreme sadness in my tone!) It was kinda funny, though.

So once everyone got there, we ate yummy Mexican food prepared by none other than little bro Clint. He's become quite the chef and is our resident chef at all family gatherings.

Then what would a party be without games, so Mandi, being the clever little party planner she is, decided to play "Are You Smarter Than a 6th Grader?" The questions were from various tests that I actually gave to my students. Turns out only 1 person, my cousin Raechel, was smarter than a 6th grader and she won a fabulous prize (a toy bowling ball set which she later gave to my nephew Evan)

All in all, it was a wonderful night. I had so much fun seeing friends I had not seen in a while. Thanks Mandi & Pep for a wonderful night I'll always remember. Love ya'll :)

Here's some pictures from the party:


Becky, me and Kristen


Paul, Elizabeth, me and Desiree


Derrick, Ella, me and Chrissy


Me, my cousins Hannah & Raechel, and my aunt Jean


Tera, me, and Matt


Chef Clint and me


Me and my grandparents, Mama-Lou & Ca-Ca


Richard, Dana, me and Wes


The whole Thornton clan!


Mandi, Evan, Pep and me


Mom and dad :)


Me and all the kiddos (minus little Bo who was sleeping)

Rest of the party:









And a little gift from Pep. Can't wait to wear it :)