Stuart's 30th Birthday

Stuart and I celebrated our 30th Birthday this year. We had a party with all our friends at Up the Creek Pub. It is an awesome little bar with the best food and friendly staff. I made the cupcakes from scratch with a chocolate gouache on top. The thirty's were made from white chocolate the night before and yes I broke many in the process of putting them on the cupcakes...lol Thank you to everyone who came out and celebrated with us on Stuart's big day.

View from the deck of the pub. Stuart and I are great. Doing the same ole same ole working and sleeping. Halloween was fun. I went as an Australian Rules Football player and Stuart was a toxic waste man. Wish I had photos. For more photos of the party you can go to my facebook www.facebook.com/sscalvert

Weekends

Our friends Wayne and Blanca invited us to their house for an authentic Mexican BBQ. First we enjoyed the pool and the beautiful weather that day. Then we hung out on the porch and enjoyed the wonderful smells of carne on the grill. It was some of the best meat I have ever eaten. He is kind of hard to see, but the alligator must have loved the smell as well because he hung out at the bottom on their porch for a long time. We relaxed, ate and learned a lot about Mexican music. Blanca is from a small town in Mexico and her father was the singer in a pretty famous Mexican band that toured around America. Sorry, I have forgotten the name. Anyway it was a fun night with homemade tortillas, carne(beef), arroz(rice) and homemade salsa. One of which was not for the faint of heart. Our weekends are filled with golf and football for the most part. Go Hawks still unbeaten! We went to a chili cook off on Saturday, October 10 and it was hotter then a billy goat in a pepper patch. It was around 85 with no cloud cover and combined with the spicy chili OH MY! We only lasted an hour but it was well worth it.

I have wanted to start baking my own bread for a while now. I actually started with a no yeast bread, which was ok, but this was my first attempt with yeast. I have to say it was nice and crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. I made sausage sandwiches out on the loaves. I am definitely going to continue to bake bread. Not sure what has inspired my making things from scratch but I make my own pasta as well. Wish I took pictures, but I have made ravioli and linguine. I really enjoy being in the kitchen creating yummy food even if it doesn't always come out right.

August

First off , Thank You to everyone who made my 30th Birthday awesome. Stuart got me the Twilight Series and took me out to eat. Yummy Surf and Turf one of my favorites. Then we walked along the Shelter Cove Harbour and listened to some live music. Though the cute pair of shoes I wore killed my feet, so we didn't stay very long.

Well August has come and gone so fast. Laura came to visit the weekend before my birthday. It was so good to hang out and catch up in person. And for anyone who doesn't know she will be heading off to South Korea in a month or so to teach English. Very cool! Stuart and I are very excited for her.

Laura and I spent a lot of time going to the beach. Saturday at the beach was kind of crazy. I got stung by a jelly fish in the first few moments of being in the water. Then a lighting storm came out of nowhere and we booked it out of there. If we couldn't be at the beach we decided to go to the Sea Shack to enjoy some seafood. I also took her to Pickney Island to see a lot of southern wildlife. Though, we didn't see very much and I didn't know you really need bikes to tour the Island. Oh well we had fun anyways. Life is good in our house and we are gearing up for the Fall season. Can't wait to be able to turn off the air conditioning.

4th of July

This year at Old Buddy Ben's famous Forth of July cookout the volleyball was super competitive! Team huddles, strategy and we had to have a ref. It was hysterical to watch and the boys worked up a huge appetite.

We had all the fixings ribs, chicken, pasta and potato salad, mac'n'cheese, beans plus local freshly caught crab. I stuck to eating just one very full plate, but most of the boys went back for seconds and thirds. Oh then came dessert yum yum. It was so much fun just sitting around talking and eating. Some of Stuart and my favorite times!

Though if you wanted they had a kick ass sound system to party the night away. We did not partake because some of the children's dance moves would have put us to shame.

Ben has always been a great friend and we appreciate being invited back every year to enjoy his family, our friends and some awesome BBQ.

Janice and Peter

It was so good to see Janice and Peter again. I couldn't beleive it had been almost 2 years since we have seen them in Hawaii. They flew in on Saturday, June 13 and checked into one of the biggest hotel rooms I have ever seen. It was a nice location as it was only 5 minutes from our house. We just hung out and talked all weekend partaking in a few adult beverages.

Stuart and his parents played golf twice. I am pretty sure they would have played more but the weather was so hot and humid. They have been to the Island before but it was fun to show them some of the places we like to hang out. One of the more exciting nights is when we took them to Up the Creek Pub and before we even ordered dinner the black clouds started to roll in. The deck is covered so we braved the weather and it sure was a show. At one point you couldn't see through the rain and later we were all givin a heart attack when lighting struck a building not but 100 feet from us. Man you should have seen us all jump.

Friday we took them to the airport. It was to short of trip and we miss them very much.

Laura's Graduation

I had a nice flight from Hilton Head to Des Moines on Tuesday, May 12. That night we went to Perry, IA to meet up with my grandmas and have a very delicious dinner. I ate a huge Iowa pork chop with bacon dressing, mash potatoes and green beans. We spend 3 hours catching up, laughing and enjoying each other company.

The next day I drove up to Minneapolis, MN where my very great friend Stacy lives. It was the first time I met her two beautiful children. Which dumb me never took photos of :( It was so good to hang out and talk just like the old days. I drove back to Iowa the next morning after a huge breakfast at Perkins. For anyone who does not know this is a 4 hour drive filled with corn, soy bean fields and this cool wind farm. Way to go green Iowa!

Thursday, I met up with my other very great friend Meghan. We went for beers and the time went way to quick!

Friday morning Mom, Dad and I got up early to drive to Chicago. 5 hours from Des Moines. The hotel was very nice and close to everywhere we needed to go. After meeting up with Laura, we went to see her work. Candy was the name of her Master's project. It was a symbol of all the processed junk we put into our bodies. Great Job Laura! That night, we had the biggest steak dinner ever that night and went to sleep in a comatose.

Yey Graduation Day, I am so proud of Laura and she deserves all the happiness in the world!

It was a long trip back and the flight to Hilton Head was a wee bit scary with the lights flickering and it bouncing around everywhere. But I made it back in one piece and was very happy to see my wonderful Husband again!

Biometrics

On Friday, May 1, 2009 we went up to Charleston, SC to get Stuart's Biometrics recorded for the government. This will extend his green card for eight more years. YEY! Stuart and I had to work on Saturday, so we just made it a fun filled day trip. We toured one of the oldest buildings in the US and walked the waterfront. Later, we had lunch and a few beers with are friend and Charleston native Jeff. If you get a chance to visit, Charleston is a very pretty city with a lot of history . Someday, I would like to go back and do some of the ghost tours or maybe a pub crawl.

Saturday, we both worked and then got ready for our friend's daughter's graduation. Congrats again Leah! They gave a BBQ and the food, as always, was mouth watering. They set up a volley ball net that got use all evening. Not that we are getting old or anything but Stuart still felt an ache in his muscles on Monday.

Life is good and it is such a relief the visa stuff is over for a very long time!

Heritage 09

Another Heritage has come and gone. Stuart worked all week helping maintain the beautiful condition of the course. I worked the weekend at the Rec.'s concession booth on Hole 15. Saturday after working, the girls and I went down to the 19th hole to watch the sunset and have a few drinks. Stuart met up with us and we all went down to Harbour Town. Sunday, Stuart walked around with friends watching the golf and met up with me at the end of the day to help us close the booth.

We have both been busy at work and coming into summer it doesn't look to be slowing down . Though, my friend Clare and I took time to go to the Horse show held out at Rose Hill. It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to go again next year.

Wingfest 09

It has been a very busy month. St. Patrick's day was fun on Hilton Head. I worked a concession booth for the Rec. during the parade. Afterward Stuart, Wayne and I went down to Wild Wings Cafe to meet up with some friends to celebrate.

Then came Wingfest which is the Rec's biggest special event. We gather local restaurants on Hilton Head to cook there best wings for the patrons to judge. The whole staff spent a lot of time getting it together. It is a very long and busy day. Everyone loved it and we had no complaints which is a pat on the back to us because 5,000 people came through our gates. I put together a little video of what goes on.

Lately, I have been trying to get some spring cleaning done. Even though it does not feel like spring. Going through the closet and sprucing up the house. The pollen is insane right now. After a few minutes of the windows being open everything is covered in a layer of yellow. So, all is fun in our house.

Gator

This past Sunday, March 1, 2009 at the Home and Garden Show I had my first up close and personal encounter with a South Carolina Gator. You all know about "Gilly the Gator" in our backyard but I would never get this close to him. The top picture he could have turned around and got me, but I was assured he couldn't as long as I held his neck and jaw. He then started hissing and that freaked me out a bit. It was neat getting to hold him and as you can see we became fast friends. As long as his mouth was taped shut.

We became an Uncle and Aunt Again

Arlen Geoffrey Murray Calvert. was born 21st of February at 9lb 10oz. Congratulations Ryan and Kezia!

Saturday, February 21 was also the first annual Casino Night fundraiser for my work The Island Recreation Association. It was a lot of fun and all for a good cause. I didn't get to gamble, as I had to work, but Stuart was a big winner. I never get to dress up so I went all out. Stuart was going to wear his suit but the pants mysteriously disappeared.

I have also finally created a Facebook page. It is a great way to keep in touch and I have many more photos of Stuart and my adventures.

Australia Day 2009

Happy Australia Day to all our Friends and Family!

We are thinking about you and wish you well.

New Orleans 2009

We drove our new Ford F-150 truck to the airport for our first 2009 vacation. We arrived in New Orleans at 3pm on Friday, January 9 and stayed till Friday, January 16. Both Stuart and My's first time. Our hotel was just a couple blocks from the River Walk and Bourbon St.

Saturday we went to the RACES! The first race I bet on, picking the horse by it's name, I won $40 on a $2 bet. Awesome! Though Stuart won more money then me over the course of the day. We just spend the day watching the horse races, betting, and that evening we watched the Carolina Panthers get slaughtered by the Arizona Cardinals. Which is all I have to say about that game.

Sunday we visited the World War 2 Museum. It was very educational. Laura came in that evening around 10pm and we caught up on all the gossip.

Monday we went to the French Market and ate beignets at Cafe Du Monde. YUMMY! We walked the River Walk drinking Hurricanes. That night we went to Molly's Bar suggested to us by Laura's friend who lived in New Orleans for 8 years. Great bar though had one to many Stella beers. Ouch in the morning.

Tuesday started off with the above hangover. Found a great all you can eat pizza place and asked our hotel which Haunted tour is good. Took a nap and was ready to go eat dinner before the Haunted tour. Belows picture is of the LaLaurie Mansion perhaps one of the best known stories of haunted houses in the city. If you want to learn about it here is a website: http://www.prairieghosts.com/lalaurie.html

Our tour guide was great and gave us more on the history on why the ghost stories came to be instead of getting us to believe in ghosts. He was also very funny.

Wednesday we went for a trolley ride to the Garden District. Their are the most beautiful houses. We ate at Slim Goodies having an awesome big American Breakfast. Walked to Miss Mays Bar had a few drinks and then went to another bar that Laura's friend works. Very fun just hanging out and enjoying each other company.Thursday we went out for Muffalettas and parted ways for Laura to go to some Art Museums and Stuart and I to go to the Zoo.They had a cool part at the zoo with all the old stories of the trappers who live in swamp house boats and how they caught alligators. And they say Beware of the Swamp Monster!
After the Zoo we met up with Laura and went to eat some good seafood. Then went to Bourbon St for some drinks. People were already out throwing beads for the Marti Gra. It was a great trip and if you are thinking about going DO IT!

New Years 2009

Happy New Year 2009! On New Year's Eve we went to our friend's house for a BBQ. We sat around the fire, ate and talked. I wish we could have stayed all night it was so cosy by the fire. Around 10pm we went to one of our favorite pubs Murphy's to bring in the New Year. We watched the ball drop and 20 minutes later we were in a taxi heading home. The older you get the more anything after midnight just doesn't make since...lol. Below is a picture of Paul the owner of Murphy's (yes he is Irish) and our favorite bartender Crystal. The Iowa game was on New Years Day at 11am. Our friend Grant came over to watch the game and see the slaughter of the South Carolina Gamecocks! GO HAWKS! It was awesome and if you want to see highlights click the youtube link below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPmJDmBetDU&feature=related

My new year's resolution is to blog more. I really want all of our friends and family to know what is going on with our lives. Hopefully 2009 will bring even more joy to everyone.