For The Journey Not just the destination…

Just a quick post to say I’m alive.. It’s been a wet, but fun weekend, and I have been enjoying my time outside of the house. Unfortnately, I didn’t take any photos.

Friday night, Thomas and I volunteered through our church at the Pride Festival, Atlanta’s huge celebration of bi, gay, lesbian, and transgender sexuality.  We collected money to help keep the festival free.  Anyway, all was going well, and we were having a good time, until a gust of wind rushed through the park, taking with it people’s tents, trashcans, and even some money out of our buckets. Then, all of a sudden, the main stage that we were standing infront of came crashing down, collapsing on top of the lights, speakers, and everything. Luckily, no one was hurt, but the festival was shut down for the rest of the night. We headed out to dinner with a few of the other volunteers though and the night turned out okay.

Saturday, we went to Dave and Mandy’s house for a barbeque. Dave was Thomas’ high school buddy, but now he lives about an hour away from us. We had a good time meeting all of their college friends. The food was delicious, the company was fun, and Dave’s house is beautifully decorated. That reminds me, we haven’t had anyone local over to our house in a while. We need to have another party or dinner sometime.

Sunday, we headed out to the Georgia Southern Bridal Show. Thomas went out of pity – he felt bad that I didn’t get to go in Raleigh, when our mothers and his sister went. I was kind of glad he came along, since I didn’t want to go alone. However, for the $20 we paid, I definately don’t think it was worth it. We got a few flyers from photographers, met a very pushy David’s Bridal saleslady, and tried several flavors of cake. I learned that I don’t like fondant cake at all. Buttercream is my preference.

Thomas and I have always agreed that we want to have a green bedroom with the inspiration piece being the blown up photo of Yellowwood Forest that he gave me for Christmas. Last night, I learned that Green is not Green, though. Thomas explained that he imagined a bright, springy green that was punchy and encouraged him to wake up. I was imagining soft, pale, mossy green that would encourage me to relax. Whoops, not the same green.

Anyhow, I’ve been saving some photos of rooms that inspired me, so I’ll post them here to share.  I love the angular wood furniture, wood decor, and natural textures.

I stopped by Goodwill on my way home from work today, and I had a great find…a Texas-themed chair. It’s an old metal stool with three levels – the bottom two fold up under the stool.

All three steps have mosaics on them – a cowboy boot, the letter S, and a star. There isn’t room for it in my Texas-themed bathroom, but I thought it was too cute to pass up, and it was cheap. I’ll find somewhere for it to go.

Thomas and I have been talking about how bad we’ve been at meeting people and exploring recently, so this weekend we headed out with the Atlanta Outdoor Club to Broad Creek Trail for a 6 mile hike. We haven’t been on a trip with them since last fall. It was tiring, but we both had a great time.

Friday night, we went to Chastain Park for the Los Lonely Boys and Marc Broussard concert. We sat back in the lawn and took a picnic dinner. It was a good concert, and I had fun, but I really think that the tickets are overpriced. I really need to check out some of the (cheaper) local bands.

We’ve also been doing alot of wedding planning stuff. We’ve picked a location (Roswell River Landing), and a date in April 2007, and we are closer to figuring out what to do about rings. It’s all starting to finally feel real.

And, if you want to see what the venue looks like…

• Roswell River Landing at 8AM

I got the greatest yard tool last night – a leaf blower. I’ve wanted one for a while, but kept putting it off. Then a friend who was moving to a townhouse without a yard decided to sell his, and I bought it. (Thanks Brian!) Today, I tested it out and my driveway was clean in just a few minutes. What a difference over the long time of sweeping and raking, or Thomas favorite method of swooshing a plastic box lid to blow the driveway clean.

I spent the day planting impatiens – over 70 of them. I bought four flats – red, white, light pink and dark pink – and mixed them and planted them along the driveway. I’m modeling this after my bank’s spring garden, where they have similar impatiens and lots of ferns behind them. The ferns will be planted another weekend. I also cleared out the pansies, and more ivy, and moved the two caladiums that have sprouted to a pot.

• Frog, snail, and Impatiens Photos