Holidays

Happy Holidays to All! I know it is a bit late but better late then never. Stuart and I had a quite holiday season on Hilton Head this year. We caught up with all our friends through out the season and just enjoyed the life. This Christmas Stuart and I both spoiled each other. He got a Playstation 3 with a few games and I got the diamond bracelet I have wanted for a long long time. New Year's was spent at our favorite little Irish bar with a few friends. 2010 looks to be an exciting year. We have booked our tickets for Australia! Stuart's brother is getting married and we wouldn't miss it. I can't wait to see our family and friends. In June, my Dad is having his 60th birthday at the Dells in Wisconsin which should be a lot of fun. Who knows what the rest of the year will bring but we are looking forward to it.

And if Theo is reading hello and I can't wait to see you!

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!