Unsolved Mystery

 So as Jo alluded to earlier, we have an unexpected roommate/critter running around the house that we're renting. It's driving me nuts. It will eat any food we forget out on the counter tops at night. I feel like Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) from Caddyshack trying to catch this thing---it's eaten more fruit than I have in the past 2 weeks. I really want to catch it badly. Not so much to kill it, more to find out what it is.

Each morning we rise and jump out of bed like little kids on Christmas morning to go "check the traps." Never any luck, occasionally another clue---but the mystery remains.

Here is the list of failed plans:

1) Mouse trap. This thing shed a mouse trap with ease---clearly larger than a mouse.

2)Sticky trap + mouse trap. Again, we brought a knife to a gunfight. However, the sticky traps gave us our most promising lead to date. Left behind in the stickiness was short gray/white fur. This helped us rule out any flying animals (we briefly considered bats.)

3) Sticky trap in the bottom of a cooler positioned so that it would have to jump onto the sticky trap to get at the food. Failure again, no attempt made to get the fruit. This lead me to believe that it is a fairly smart animal (i.e. squirrel, less likely a rat.)

4) Rat trap. Escaped again. At this point we slightly worried for our safety given its apparent size and intelligence. We began wedging a towel under our bedroom door at night---- just in case.

5) Varmint Trap. TBA, no luck yet. I checked out a large cage style trap on base from the vet clinic. As of yet it hasn't worked nor has any bait been disturbed. Maybe the run-in w/ the rat trap scared this thing off?? I really hope not. We've come too far to not get closure at this point. It can eat all the fruit in our house just so long as I get some answers.

6) Cat. Our landlord's mom lives 3 houses down and has offered the services of Mittens for a night or two. We haven't taken her up on it yet mostly b/c I don't want to see the Discovery Channel played out all over the living room carpet some morning before work. If we get desperate we'll eventually call Mittens out of the bullpen.

Here are the Vegas odds at this point:

Squirrel......2 to 1 odds. Clearly the favorite given the fur, the ability to get up to the counter, its apparent intelligence and the rat trap escape.

Rat........1 in 4 odds. Can a rat make its way up onto a counter top w/o assistance from a chair? Also, you would have to believe that a rat trap would catch a rat, right?

Possum-    1 in 7 odds, the Dark Horse. According to Judy (Jo's mom) they love fruit and are stealthy.

Raccoon.......1 in 40 odds. It hasn't made a go for the trash yet and we haven't heard anything, but the fur is a match.

Please call us at 701-641-1162 w/ any leads (and yes, you may remain anonymous).....

Since I haven't been able to start work, I thought I might take a spin on the old bloggin' site. Here is a little bit of what Josh and I have been up to......

1. We twiddle our thumbs.....yes Josh and I both have been held up by the credentialing process for work. The difference, Josh gets to go to work and I occupy space at the house, on base or at the county library. One more place you could find me = the base gas station where I heat up my frozen lean cuisine (classy)

2. We play foosball....and then play more foosball. Apparently Josh used to play foosball pretty competitively back in the day. Josh warned me prior to participating in our first match "I'm kinda of good at this game. No seriously, I'm really good."

3. People watch. At times we have almost had to glue our eyelids shut to keep from staring. Our favorite act......... a middle age woman squatting against a downtown business across from the police station mid-day urinating. Just doesn't get any better than that! Well, I guess the guy walking in the cross walk, on saturday morning, with his boa constrictor around his neck was pretty good too!

4. Another past time....hunting. Yes, we are on a big time hunt. For what you ask!? It seems that we are co-habitating with a large animal that likes fruit. To the date, we have not caught our furry friend.

The original trapping set-up. From this trapping we successfully caught some fur on the sticky mouse pad......the critter is still on the loose.

A super-sized rat trap was set last night........apparently it is smarter than both Josh and myself.

5. REI...finally we have an REI within reach. Saurday Josh and I spent about an hour and a half curbside waiting for the used gear sale to open at REI.

The results......

a. 3 pairs of hiking boots for Jo

b. sunglasses

c. 2 hiking long sleeve, uv protection, wickingshirts

d. hiking pants

e. hiking shorts

f. 2 dog collars......no, we do not have a dog.................YET

g. Toe shoes.....yes, I bought a pair of those goofy shoes

h. miner's light/head lamp

i. etc etc.

The damage......we purchased just under $900 of equipment and clothing for $175. It is unbelievable, this stuff is brand spanking new.

6. Hiking in Auburn.....need I say more!?

So, my favorite part of this day....good company and GREAT conversation.....

Josh: "Ouch, it hurts my chest when I run."

Jo: "Why?"

Josh: "Yesterday before I left the gym, I didn't feel like I got my pecks. I went to this new machine to work my pecks and REALLY GAVE 'EM HELL" (Of course Josh said this in an extremely serious face, until he saw that I was bent over and couldn't breath from laughing so hard)

Here's a brief collection of our pics from leaving MS/visiting in ND.......

Our final night on the Gulf Coast---we'll miss our long runs on Beach Blvd. for sure.

AEGD graduation.

Suite I!! These are my buds Tony (now @ AFB in England) and Peter (now @ AFB near Salt Lake) whom I shared an office with. The 3 clowns of the residency class for sure.

This story will inevitably be ingrained in JoAnna's memory until the end of time so that she can spout off about what an idiot I am to anyone willing to listen. At our temporary hotel at Keesler AFB there was one of those uber-sticky cockroach traps (classy joint, huh?) sitting in the corner that I obviously didn't see until after I threw a bunch of our dirty clothes on top of. "He's so unobservant. I swear he's an idiot 90% of the day."
{Notice the cockroach just above my blue shorts.}

Breding Auto's 100th Birthday Celebration in Powers Lake

We served free lunch for the celebration. Without RSVP's we had no idea how many people would show---we were expecting 40-50. When we rang the dinner bell 180 people showed up, haha. Somehow we managed to pull it off and feed everyone. I called it "controlled chaos." Jo called it poor planning with an idiot at the helm....that would be me :)

Limo ride to the casino after the celebration...

We went out golfing w/ my grandpa Vernie, 90. He golfs every weekday morning at 8:00 with his buddies. I hope to be able to do that when I'm 80, let alone 90. He beat us both, not kidding. Every shot goes 100 yards and straight down the middle....

This was his 1st shot from the tee box on hole #1. There is a huge coulee about 100-150 yards across. He gets pretty pumped up when he clears it---as seen here.

We took a trip out to my grandparents farm. Jo had never been there and I hadn't been out there in a couple years.

Of course we had lots of play time w/ Jager .... they had a grand time with their puppets and British accents. Who would have guessed a 3 year old could say "res-to-rant" like a young British lad.

Here's Jo with her new purchase---a 2010 Buick Enclave. We sold her car in MS and bought this from my dad when we got back to Powers Lake. Its super-nice. Tons of room for dogs, kids, camping, etc.  

On our way to Morris we stopped in Fargo at our friends Jon and Lou Dahl's new house. We got to see their new house and their new baby, Charlie.


Life is good in California....no news on a house yet.

Welcome to Call-ee-phone-ee-ya....

We're here.

*The Terminator is our new governor (welcome to Call-ee-phone-ee-ya)

* It's hot--but not Biloxi hot. Back sweat has been kept to a minimum so far.

* The base is huuuuge in size--so far on base we've spotted fox, deer, turkeys, a rattlesnake, rabbits. JoAnna says we live in a zoo. Apparently they also let cattle from local ranchers pasture on base. And the speed limit is 50mph. At Keesler it was 25mph and I was once stopped for going 28 so it really feels like I'm breaking the rules when I drive 50 now.

* Jo had 2 interviews--both went well. The 1st place offered her the job, the 2nd place will get back w/ her but she suspects she'll be offered there as well. She's waiting to hear back on a cardiology position that she has her eye on.

* I haven't really started yet--I'm officially on house hunting leave. I stopped by 1 day and said hello to everyone. My boss seems cool and my new assistant is from Stillwater, MN and also a big Vikings fan.

*We looked at 21 houses and just today made an offer on the one we like best. Unfortunately its a short sale meaning it could take a while before we can close. We'll know a lot more in about 3 weeks after the banks assessor does his work.

The housing crisis nailed this area bad. Every single house for sale is either a short or a foreclosure. Some were 3 years old and bombed out on the inside--people just quit caring once they couldn't make payments anymore. It was really awkward to show up at a house and have the owner stand on the sidewalk as we checked the place out. Also not fun was seeing little kids' rooms and nurseries.

At one house the owners had a new Cadillac Escalade in the driveway and a very fancy bedroom set in the master bedroom but the kids slept on bare mattresses and the house was about to go into foreclosure. Odd.

On the Road Again....

A quick update from Casper, Wyoming. .....

We're currently on our big drive out to California, done with visiting everyone back home for now. 2 weeks went super fast but we were able to see almost everyone---pics to follow at some point.

We decided to stop in Casper, Wy last night b/c it was getting dark and we were seeing so many antelope on the sides of the road----i bet we saw 500 total last night.

We did something very uncharacteristic of ourselves and decided to splurge a little and hit up the Super 8 instead of our bread and butter Motel 6. There is definitely a difference in staying at the cheapest motel out there and staying at the 2nd cheapest motel out there.

Motel 6 has provided us with some unbeatable rates and unbeatable stories. We once stayed at one in Champaign, IL that was so trashy we didn't even sleep under the sheets---we just brought in a comforter from the car and slept on top of their sheets. Also, there was a biker gang in the parking lot breaking beer bottles and yelling at each other.....

Today we're off to Salt Lake for the 1st time ever and will see the Lake, the city, the Mormon Temple and most importantly our friends the Frandsens. I'll go out on a limb and predict that Hotel Frandsen will be a step up from both the Motel 6 and Super 8---can't wait.

California by tomorrow!

Travelin' Time

The movers come in 3 days to box up and move all of our belongings except what'll fit in the Caddy. Since it may be October until we close on a house/see some of this stuff again we're trying to wedge as many things into the Caddy as we can (who's laughin' at my big grandpa car now JoAnna?). We'll be back up in ND/MN for 2 weeks then off to California. Here is our tentative schedule for those who care (i.e. Judy and Pam).

Tues Aug 3rd---leave Biloxi post-graduation and travel all day.....stay somewhere along the way.

Wed Aug 4th---travel all day (mostly I-29) and arrive in Fargo or possibly Minot if we're up to it.

Thurs Aug 5th-Wed Aug 11th----North Dakota time for 7 days (Breding Auto celebration Aug 6th, early b-day party for Jager??)

Wed Aug 11th---travel from ND to MN

Wed Aug 11th - Wed Aug 18th-----Minnesota for 7 days (Zimmer wedding Aug 14th, hopefully see Barry before he leaves, DeGrote get together Aug 15th)

Wed Aug 18th---leave MN, drive all day, stay along route

Thurs Aug 19th---hopefully arrive Salt Lake City, stay w/ our friends the Frandsens in their new home

Fri Aug 20th---drive to Cali, report to Beale AFB.

Subject to change, but we're hoping to stick to it---that's all.

Gone Fishin....

The Mississippi oil didn't stop us from getting our poles in the water and snaggin some fish. Josh and I finally cashed in on our fishing trip we won in a silent auction this fall. We took off from the Ocean Springs Harbor with Captain Roberts (Dr.Roberts from Keesler AFB) and his wife and within 20 minutes, we got kicked out of Dr. Robert's "favorite fishing hole" by the MS marine police. Dr. Roberts decided to pull anchor and scoot to another location without any hesitation. It turns out a friend of his got a little lippy with the marine patrol while fishing the week before.....he then got to experience handcuffs and a jail cell.

It felt like Willy Wonka and the fish factory.......every time we put our poles in the water we reeled in a different fish flavor...

1. Sting ray (as above, it felt like a near death situation...sorry Steve Irwin)

2. Oyster cracker fish (UGLY)

3. Red Fish

4. Drum Fish

5. Cat Fish

6. Lady Fish


7. etc etc


The shrimpers have been out of business for quite some time now. We had nestled in close to a shrimp boat and has some pretty good success. Here is a Vietnamese man who was more than happy to accept our offer of fish.....it felt good to help out!

WE CLEANED AND COOKED THE FISH....HOPEFULLY OUR NEIGHBORS DIDN'T MIND THE STENCH OF DEAD FISH COMING FROM OUR APARTMENT PORCH---THANKS JOSH!!

Movie Review: Grownups

Saturday night our friend Mallory was in from D.C. so we went to a movie with her and her husband Dave (one of my fellow residents) after dinner. Mal and Jo opted for the latest Twilight flick featuring a bunch of chiseled guys running around w/o their shirts on. Dave and I retreated to safer ground with our unchiseled pecks/abs and opted for the new Adam Sandler movie Grownups.


Since it featured a potpourri of stars (Chris Rock, David Spade, etc.) my expectations were kind of low (not Twilight-low though). Most movies featuring all-star casts usually end up disappointing. This one actually turned out to be better than I thought.


The humor basically revolves around a group of buddies reuniting and busting each other's chops. David Spade's character carried the movie for me--hilarious throughout. I love his sarcastic wit. Sandler was good, Kevin James never seemed to fit in and once again Chris Rock was a letdown. How is that? His stand-up is so funny, I love it. But in movies he just is not funny. Is it bad writing? Is he a poor actor? I have no idea.


Overall this movie is fairly good. My recommendation: If there's something else you're dying to see--go see that movie (FYI Jo and Mal loved Twilight). However if you're undecided this one's a safe bet. Score: 6.5 out of 10.

So Long, Dixie

Well with the turning of the calendar, July marks our final month in the Deep South. Believe it or not we actually get called Yankees down here occasionally (kind of ironic in that they see it as a sleight and we see it as a compliment). Here's a list of some of the things that we learned about the South this past year.....

Things We Saw Alot Of:

Waddling---as in massively super-sized people inadvertently swaying left-right as they struggle to walk forward. A common site. Mississippi ranks 50th in obesity and you need not go any further than the Wal-Mart parking lot to see overwhelming visual evidence.

College Football---best college football fans and teams in America period. We were able to go to 2 of the best stadiums in the nation (LSU & Tennessee) and tailgate and watch football. If we make a trip down here again I hope its during football season so we can see more.

People saying "Y'all"-- I'd like to take this time to come out of the closet and express my love of "Y'all." It's way easier than saying "you guys" and it makes more sense when speaking to a mixed group of males/females than "you guys.". I'll keep this southern souvenir in my vocabulary when we leave.

Beautiful Beaches-- I would have never guessed some of the most beautiful beaches in the U.S. were in the south. They call it the Redneck Riviera--from Miss. to the Florida panhandle. Granted most of Redneck Riviera has tarballs washing up but hopefully they can bounce back b/c they really are amazing down here.

Back-Sweat--- It only takes the walk from the car in the parking lot to the front door of the grocery store for me to get sweaty down here. I will not miss that.


Things We Didn't See Alot Of:


People returning their shopping carts --- Wow, this is Jo's #1 pet peeve and I see her point. You'll pull into a parking lot here and see shopping carts littered everywhere. People do not return them to the collection points. Jo says the safest place to park your car is right next to the cart collection area b/c you know you won't get dinged by a cart.

The N-Word/Confederate Flags/Klan activity--- we were kind of bracing for a little bit of culture shock in that way but it never really hit. From what we hear rural Miss. has a lot more of those problems, on the Gulf Coast where we're at it isn't the same. I never understood the Confederate Flag waving stuff. Why would you fly the flag from the losing side? You lost, get over it.

Sidewalks-- there's only 1 street in Gulfport that has a sidewalk. This is probably a cause of the amount of waddling we saw (see above).


All in all we enjoyed our time down here. We were close enough to make weekend trips to a lot of cool places: Orlando, Florida beaches, Atlanta, Smoky Mts, St Louis, Houston (upcoming), Baton Rouge and New Orleans. We didn't get blown away by a hurricane (though we kind of wanted to be a part of one, darn). Missing a Midwest winter was nice. That being said I think we've crossed everything off of our southern bucket list. One year was fun but enough.


And now we look forward to the culture shock of moving from the deep south to northern California, should be interesting....I bet they return their shopping carts there.

Sip all day, get decay...

Just found this chart as I was trying to clean the spare bedroom. It ranks all of the popular sodas (pops, cokes, soft drinks depending on your geographic location) based on acidity all the way from water (pH= 7) to battery acid (pH= 1).....




And don't forget about the sugar. The bacteria native to your mouth eat up sugars and the byproduct is, you guessed it, more acid! Taking into account that enamel begins to demineralize (breakdown) at pH of 5.5, you can see why soda is so hard on your teeth. Other fun dental facts about soda while we're on the subject.....


*Brushing w/in 20mins of drinking soda is actually BAD for your teeth. The acid makes the enamel soluble (softer) and brushing can actually abrade it away. A better option is using a fluoride rinse.


*Quantity of drinking is less important than duration. Sipping on a 12 oz. can for 2 hours bathes your teeth in acid for 2 hours whereas slamming down a 20 oz.-er only exposes your teeth to acid for a few minutes.


*Mt Dew is especially bad because of its high sugar content and the fact that its drinkers don't mind drinking it when it gets warm. Most sodas taste bad when warm, but Mt Dew drinkers don't mind warm Mt Dew therefore they are okay with slowly sipping it....

One year and counting....

June 13th was just around the corner and Josh and I were set to have a beautiful weekend on Dauphin Island, Alabama enjoying the beaches, blue water and celebrating our one year anniversary. Well, we can thank BP for putting an end to those plans. Although Dauphin Island beaches haven't been plastered in oil yet, tar balls are showing up on shore and the stank of oil is in the air. Needless to say, Josh and I bailed on the wonderful B&B my parents gave us for Christmas and headed towards New Orleans.

We left on Saturday in the wee hours of the morning ( 7 am) and took our tour guides with us. It just so happens that a friend from work lives in the same apartment complex (literally down two flights of stairs and to the right) as Josh and I....and wouldn't you know it, he has a girlfriend who is a gem to hang out with and they both happen to be from the area. So, as disgruntled as our dear friends were with the departing time, they were happy to accompany us to tour a couple plantations of Louisiana.


Oak Alley Plantation



The name of the plantation is self explanatory, an alley of oak trees that are hundreds of years old lead the path to the front entrance of this gigantic plantation. It is absolutely magnificent. Here is what I learned: the saying "he got the short end of the stick" originated back in the day of candlelight. When a daughter had a potential suitor over at the house, the father would raise or lower a candle via a spinning holder. The suitor was only allowed to stay at the house as long as the candle continued to burn at a certain level. Thus if her father enjoyed a young man, he would raise the candle stick allowing the candle to burn longer before sending the young lad on his way. Now, for those gents who were not so fortunate, the candle stick was lowered, thus eliminating the amount of time spent with an impressionable daughter.



Next up, the Laura Plantation
Below is a picture of a slave cabin. Descendants of slaves continued to live in these cabins until the 1970s.


Compared to the rest of the world, slavery in LA was different than the rest of the world. Slaves were bought and sold, but these people were not allowed to be separated from spouses or children, they were not allowed to work on Sundays unless they wanted to and were paid to do so, and if their owner was abusive they had the right to turn the owner in and sue.


Now off to the beautiful hotel overlooking the Mississippi River. We stayed at the Westin for our anniversary. I'm pretty sure this was the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in......well at least the nicest hotel I have ever stayed in when Josh has had a say in where we're staying. The soap looked like huge mint leaves. It took everything I had to not grab an extra to bring home. I have been a little wary these days about what I bring home since Josh has been threatening to put me on the TV show Hoarders. After a couple of hours out of the 100 degree weather and humidity, we showered off the sweat and slipped into some going out clothes. We headed to the casino to test our luck.

As you all might know I am a thrifty, coupon cutting kind of gal. It is kind of ironic that I enjoy to gamble like a drunken sailor. It turned out to be a lucky night and our dinner at Rio Mar was on the casino. Crawfish bruscetta and a hanger steak put our appetites to ease. Next up, we took the New Orleans haunted tour. Our walking tour took us our through the haunted hot spots of the French Quarter. Lots of freak accidents and fires (much like Chicago, New Orleans once burnt to the ground) have left trapped spirits throughout NOLA. Definitely a fun day.

Our 1st year of marriage...
It started with a beautiful wedding, darting off to spend time with family, a quick camping trip to Medora, ND, a whole bunch of tears and then Josh was off to commissioned officer's training. We spent 6 miserable weeks apart and then together we left MSP airport together to make the drive to MS. A new spouse, new military life, new job, new home, new friends, and a new region to explore. With all of the changes we have faced, the one source of stability and consistency has been Josh. Let's talk consistency.....Josh consistently leaves the toilet seat up, drinks out of the milk carton, leaves the shower curtain open, lays on the bed with his dirty shoes and on and on. BUT, he also consistently strives to be a better person, help others, the calm in chaos, dependable, trustworthy, and a true friend. We have learned a lot over the past year....mostly good things, but most importantly the guy I married is still my best friend. Life and all that life has to offer is so much better when you have the right person to enjoy it.

The puppies are.......GONE!

So some of you know that Jo and I have been entrenched in a tug-o-war over getting a dog for the past 9 months. Jo is dying to get one now, I wanna wait til we get a house. It was basically one of our usual ongoing arguments right up until February when things took a turn for the worse for me. Our neighbor's Great Dane had a litter of puppies. Advantage: JoAnna.

A couple of times daily the owners would trot these puppies out into their front yard (in plain view of our front window). And they'd do all sorts of cute little puppy things like nip at each others ears and sleep in a big heaping pile on top of one another.It drove JoAnna berzerk! (See photo below--I'd find her in this pose often, just staring at these puppies for minutes at a time followed soon thereafter with a tearful plea to get one). The floodwaters got pretty high a few times, but the levees held up and I was able to avoid caving in.





Well the puppies eventually got whittled down from 12 to 4. Those last 4 just hung around for like a month and then last week they all vanished. Advantage: Josh. Where'd they go? I think 3 scenarios are possible A) Someone came and bought all 4 overgrown/not-so-cute-anymore puppies. Highly unlikely. B) The owners dropped them off at the Humane Society. Maybe. C) Those 4 puppies have graduated on to puppy heaven. Probably.

Our neighbors are shady to begin with, I wouldn't put it past them. They park their cars on their front lawn, have tons of random late night visitors, front lawn shouting matches, etc. Mostly smoke, no fire, but still. So we bid a melancholy farewell to the formerly cute little puppies who used to make my life difficult.

Movie Review: Killers

Romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) and Ashton Kutcher (Ashton Kutcher); trailer here. It was pretty lame and forgettable. Don't go to it.

On a different note, Jo and I still sneak pop and a bag of popcorn into theaters. Every single time. We don't even talk about it, its just routine. I'm not sure we'll ever outgrow it. However, movie theaters are now fighting back against cheapskate cheaters like us. They've designed cup holders that won't hold a can or a 20 oz bottle, only the large soda containers they sell at the theater. Have you seen these? Pretty ingenious on their part, hats off.
FINAL VERDICT: This movie gets a 4 out of 10.

Never Too Old For Disney

So early last week we decided on a whim to make a trip over to Orlando for the long memorial day weekend as I had a 4 day weekend and Jo had a 3-dayer and was able to get Fri. off as well. Both of us had been to Disneyland (apparently the inferior of the 2 Disneys in the U.S) but it'd been a while plus it was Jo's b-day weekend. We went w/ Jo's coworker/best friend down here, Brooke, and her fiance James who works for the Dupont company.

DAY 1: Made the 8.5 hr drive to Orlando. Drive time break-down...Josh:6.5hrs, JoAnna:2.0hrs (aka the usual).

DAY 2: We got our tix at 50% off thanks to the Salute To The Military promo by Disney, very nice of them. We started off at Magic Kingdom (the park you most think of when you think Disney World) and had a blast. During Pirates of the Caribbean I had some fond memories of the exact same ride at Disney Land from our 1987 trip and riding it with Lisa and our cousins Aaron, Luke and Jason. (For some reason when we returned we talked ourselves into believing that my uncle Tim's basement was haunted by the characters from the Pirates ride, odd memory).

DAY 3: Epcot Center. For those who haven't been it's mostly a walking tour of select nations from around the globe. We had lunch in China and a beer in Germany. At U.K. we ordered a Scotch Egg (pictured below) upon advice from a co-worker at Keesler. Its a hard boiled egg wrapped in sausage and then deep fried. It was delicious. There was a ride there called Soarin. Thee best ride I've ever been on. It's a very life-like hang-gliding ride thru California around the Golden Gate bridge and thru Yosemite, etc. Very, very fun.

(Norway, the homeland) (Scotch Egg) (China)

Later made it to Hollywood Studios. More rides, more fun.

DAY 4 (aka Jo's b-day): Just as we parked at Blizzard Beach water park we heard a loud thud (like when you hit the release button to open your trunk). Turns out a kid getting out of the car next to us rammed his door into the side of the Caddy and left a nice dent and scratched the paint.

Josh: "Sir, I think your son may have dented my fender."
Wife (in thick British accent): "Georgie! Did you hit this man's cah?"
Little Georgie (again, thick Brit accent): "I didn't moth-ah, I swear."
Wife: "Patrick, did your broth-ah hit this man's cah?"

Anyways, it probably doesn't sound that funny but it was. You had to hear their accents. For the remainder of the day we spoke in Brit accents. Unfortunately for Georgie we had the CSI-like idea of opening his door to see if it matched my new dent. GUILTY. The father was super nice about it and luckily they had insurance w/ the rental co. and we're working it out now. Hopefully I didn't ruin Georgie's big day at the water park. I saw them later inside the park and pretended not to recognize them.

<------We ended the night back at Epcot for the fireworks show, very nice.

.................DAY 5: Josh drives, JoAnna sleeps.

Welcome

Here it is, we've thrown our hat into the ring and finally decided to start a blog. We have several friends who are keeping in touch with their friends/fam thru blogspot and decided to follow suit.

As we're getting set to move again in 2 months and see more friends scatter about yet again, we really wanna stay in touch with everyone. Hopefully it works. Our goal is to keep this blog updated every week, but you know how that goes. Enjoy!