Our skydiving adventure

Jeni and I went skydiving on our 17th wedding anniversary (our air-iversary). This was my 40th birthday present from September 21, but we didn't get a chance to go until November 25. This was such an incredible way to celebrate our anniversary.

Jeni and I were so excited to be able to do this. There was never any fear, just excitement, determination, and eagerness to go. We had a perfect, crisp morning for our jump. We went up to Skydive Carolina in Chester, SC, and checked in around 9 am, then had a little bit of a wait before jumping around 11. When you are waiting, they will announce when jumpers are in the air so you can watch the others come down. Everyone was great to work with and made it a wonderful experience for us.


This is Jeni and I in the plane on the way up. This picture was taken at about 6,000 feet. The jump is at 14,000 feet.


Here is Jeni during free fall. She jumped with Peter.


And here I am free falling with Danny.

The free fall was an amazing and surprisingly calming feeling. But coming out of the plane is probably the coolest feeling of everything. For me to leave the plane, because of my height, I sat on the floor of the plane instead of standing at the door. This was really cool, because for a few seconds I was sitting on the edge of a plane with my feet hanging out of the door, just dangling in the air. It was very surreal.

We had a pretty full plane. There were three of us doing tandem jumps with videographers, three people who were jumping together in what appeared to be a stunt jump, and someone getting certified to do solo jumps.

We have already purchased our next jump, and have a year to do it. Next time we'll be going with a bunch of friends, I'm pretty sure. We can't wait!

Meeting Neil Gaiman

Tomorrow begins the official birthday celebrating. My actual birthday isn't until the 21st, but tomorrow I get to go to a reading event with a group of authors, including the remarkable Neil Gaiman. It's not a "Neil Gaiman" event exactly, he's not a headliner per se, but more a member of the troupe. That being said, he's certainly the reason I'm there. The amazing thing is that there were only about 155 tickets available. Jeni was amazing and made sure I got a pair. Unfortunately, it is also opening night for Legally Blonde, the Musical over at Workshop Theatre, so Jeni will be involved in that and can't come. So I have a friend I'm "dragging" along because he's never heard of Neil Gaiman (::gasp:: -- I know!).

This is a very grassroots event, and we'll be hosting two of the writers/performers at our house Friday night. (No, not Neil...) This is their attempt to keep costs down. But I'm hoping for a picture with Neil Gaiman, or a "thanks for coming, nice to meet you."

I'm very excited. Next week will be my actual birthday. Then the following week I won tickets to a concert (NeedtoBreathe and Parachute) and then in early October Jeni and I are going skydiving! Ok 40, let the fun begin...

Back to the gym tomorrow

This past weekend was a little nuts ... we had Tiffany's birthday and Jeni had a grant she was trying to finish for the theatre. We were supposed to go to opening night of Jocelyn's show, but it all just got to be too much. So we were able to get the house cleaned up and lots of amazing desserts prepared (I cleaned, Jeni cooked -- it's just best that way). The party was a lot of fun. Just nice to get everyone together, although we did get in trouble with Gracie for having an adults party and not a party she could come to. We're making that up with a visit soon. Can't have the six-year-old mad at you.

Jeni completed the grant last night after the board meeting. What did you do on Valentine's Day? Board meeting and grant writing, of course. (Just kidding, VD has never been a biggie for us anyway.) We did go to the Cock and Bull afterward for dinner and the second half of trivia -- made a decent effort considering we only played the second half.

But because of all this we haven't been to the gym in the past few days. I'm not really sure we'll make it tonight. I have my new patient workshop which throws off my evening. But we're definitely getting back at it on Wednesday. I've really enjoyed going to the gym. And although my weight is fluctuating back and forth around where I really don't want it to be, I feel better overall when I go. I've set a goal on the Wii Fit, and basically I have to lose three pounds a week to reach it. This is my third or fourth goal I've set on the Wii Fit since we started on it and I have yet to reach a goal. Actually, I've gone in the wrong direction for the most part. But I'm confident that I'll get this one.

Happy Birthday Jeni!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENI!

We had a blast last weekend with Jeni's roller derby birthday. Nikki and Todd came in from Atlanta, and Lisa and Brian came over, and Tiff, Bill, Barbara, Tish and Susan all joined in going to watch the QuadSquad. Jeni got some great kitchen stuff she'd been wanting ... some square pans from Nikki that she needed, and an ice cream maker from Tiff and Lisa that she'd been wanting for a long time. Now we have homemade ice cream -- YUM!

Tonight Jeni and I are going out for a nice dinner for her birthday.

Thanks to everyone who joined in to make Jeni's birthday a fun one! I need to upload some birthday pictures to Flickr and I'll post those soon.

Happy 1st Birthday Branden

OK, so we jumped the gun a little last week ... maybe we were just a little excited for the little guy. So here, again for the first time, Happy 1st Birthday Branden!

Back from Ocean Isle

Jeni and I had a great week at Ocean Isle with my parents and Doug's family. We can't thank my parents enough for all they did to make this week at the beach happen. They created this chance for Jeni and I to take Amy and Evan into the ocean (their very first time in the salt water -- Amy: "There's an awful lot of salt in this water" after taking in a mouthful), and we got to spend an entire week with our nieces and nephews, which was such a rare opportunity for us, and one we will always treasure.


You can see in the picture that everyone was out having fun on the beach, soaking in the sun, Jeni of course with the best tan.


We celebrated Jeni's birthday while we were there, too. What better way to spend her birthday than sitting on the beach, then coming in for cake and presents? She got a really cool crab picture from my parents and some great craft items from Doug and Cathy and the kids. Kelly also sent some good souvenirs from her trip to Greece for us.


I got her a string of pearls for her birthday. Now I just need to take her out so she can wear them.

I have a funny story about the "Flying Umbrella of Death" but when I typed it out it wasn't quite as funny as it was when I was thinking about what I would type while sitting on the beach. So maybe I'll retell it tomorrow...

[More pictures are up on Flickr]

Happy Birthday Nanny!

My grandmother turns 90 today! What an amazing accomplishment for an amazing woman. She is such a great lady, so thoughtful, always remembering birthdays with a card, timed to always arrive on the exact day.


These are some old pictures we copied a few Christmases ago. I know we have some more recent pictures, but I like these old ones for nostalgia.


Nanny is on the left. Pictures just don't look like this anymore.

Happy Birthday, Nanny! We love you!

What a whirlwind couple of days

The last few days have been something else. First, on Saturday we helped celebrate Clara Ann's First Birthday. It was a wonderful first birthday party, and everybody enjoyed themselves and were very complimentary. Lisa said it was the best one-year-old birthday party ever, while makes me feel good and happy knowing we were able to help make it a hit.


This highlight, of course, was Clara Ann demolishing her cake. The polar opposite of Gracie, who looked utterly offended when Lisa pushed her hand into her cake three years ago, Clara Ann went full force into it.


Clara Ann quickly figured out that she could eat the stuff on her hands, and even used the duck decoration as a tool to get the cake to her mouth. This was a little more efficient than the open hand approach she first tried.

Now, the backtrack, on Friday when Tiffany arrived she proclaimed that she wanted to get a tattoo while she was here, so Saturday she spent a fairly sleepless night clicking through websites trying to find the right design for a tattoo. Yesterday, she dropped off some print outs at the tattoo parlor for the artist to work up, and last night this happened...


A work in progress...


The finished product. The sepia tones really show the tattoo at it's best. The redness from the needles blends away and you can really see the detail. It turned out really good.

Then last night we put Tiffany to work. We completed assembling all the new office furniture we picked up at IKEA two weekends ago and, after some measuring and calculating, we got everything mounted and put in place. I'm sure Jeni will post some pictures later. It looks really nice, and we're both happy to be rid of the old Bush desk.

Check out our Flickr page for more pictures of the birthday and the tattoo adventure.

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And as a total non sequitur, this Google Map of roadside attractions is really neat...

What we've been up to

Jeni and I have been doing some projects to help Lisa and Brian get ready for Clara Ann's first birthday party. We're very excited about her party. It is a rubber ducky theme, which turned out to be more challenging to find stuff for than you might think. Jeni and I cut out about 120 rubber duckies from yellow construction paper for decorations and Lisa ordered a bunch online so the kids will win rubber ducky prizes.


This is the invitation for the party. It turned out really cute. Jeni came up with the idea, and after a few tries we ended up with this one and we're very happy with it.


These are the treat bags for the party. Jeni made these cool little triangular boxes filled with pastel M&Ms for all the kids, and attached Clara Ann's picture with a thank you note on the back.


Lisa and Jeni went to Tickled Pink and Caroline made this dress for Clara Ann. It is monogrammed and reversible.


This is the other side of the dress.


And this is Clara Ann's party hat. Gracie had one for her first birthday too, but with everything going on, didn't wear it, although there are some super cute pictures of her in it later.

I know Jeni has had a big time helping Lisa with the party planning. And with Lisa and Brian being far out of town I know it made things easier on them too. It's crunch time now ... just one day away!

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

Wow, significant birthdays all around suddenly. The other day was Chris' 40th birthday, now today is my Dad's 60th. Unfortunately we're in Columbia and my parents are in Cincinnati and we can't be with him to help celebrate this day. A while back we were visiting my grandmother in Richmond and Jeni and I found some old photos that we just love. Copies of pictures weren't as easy to make then, and we ended up just photocopying some, so the quality isn't great, but the image is still there, and that's what counts. Jeni scanned them in a little while back.


This is my Nanny and Pop with Dad at 6 weeks. This is a rare picture of Pop, since he was usually, and preferably, behind the camera.


When Dad was visiting at Christmas he saw this picture and corrected me ... I guess this is Dad in the middle with his uncle Joe holding Dad's younger brother Steven and their grandfather to the left. I always thought Pop was holding them, but then Pop did always take the pictures...


And of course this is Mom and Dad in 1968 or 1969, can't quite tell, but they are outside Nanny and Pop's place.


And here is Dad, Mom, Kelly and me from our trip to the Smokies this Fall. Happy birthday Dad! Sorry we can't be there with you.

Happy Birthday Doug!

Happy Birthday Doug! Hope you are able to relax some today and enjoy your birthday with Cathy and the kids. We look forward to seeing the gang this weekend.

Gracie and her uncle Deano

Happy Birthday Dean
Originally uploaded by jenianddean

Here is the picture of Gracie and Dean from his birthday, as promised many moons ago. Gracie was such a big helper at Dean's birthday. She helped Dean blow out his candles; she was the official icing taster (someone had to do it); she helped with the presents. What more can you ask for in a big helper!!!

We loved have Gracie and Clara Ann at our house. They are so stinkin' cute I just want to squeeze them all over and kiss their little faces all day long.

Just click on the picture to head over to our Flickr to see more super cute pictures of the girls in their Halloween costumes.

Birthday

My birthday was on Friday ... we had a nice weekend. Friday I took cookies that Jeni baked in to work for my patients (a big hit!) and had a nice relaxing afternoon with Jeni. Saturday we had Lisa and Brian, Tish, Susan and John, and Bill and Barbara over for dinner. Jeni made gumbo (expect a recipe up soon on Kitchen Sherpa) and we had a nice evening with good company and full bellies. I got several nice gifts, including the movie MirrorMask from Tiffany, gift cards from Lisa and Brian, and Bill and Barbara, and work (all of which are going to go to very good use), and some nice Rainbow flip-flops from Tish, Susan and John. Gracie helped me open gifts and blow out the candles on my cake (posting from work or I'd show the great picture Jeni took of me and Gracie blowing out the candles). I got a nice birthday blog post from Doug, my sister called and had her friends sing happy birthday to me, Rick and Hannah called (they were down in Atlanta from Kentucky -- wish it had been a different weekend and we could have seen them and their great kids), and Mom and Dad sent money and a CD full of old pictures Mom had scanned in from slides (remember slides?). I couldn't ask for more ... the gifts were nice, but the friendships are the true value. The card signed by three-year-old Gracie was a bigger thrill than the gifts that came with it -- thanks to everyone for, well, everything...

Happy Birthday Trinity!

This picture makes me laugh so hard. It's from Trin's 22nd birthday party. We had an absolute blast! Happy birthday Trin!

(Trin, Jen, Lisa and Tiffany- back in the day -1995)

Mark it with a "G" for Gracie and me!

This is the individual birthday cake Jeni baked for Gracie. Lisa, Brian, Gracie and Clara Ann were going to visit on Saturday, but we were pressure washing the fence all day Saturday and Lisa and Brian ended up heading to the beach instead. Watch for an upcoming link because Jeni's been working on plans for a kitchen/recipe blog and plans to make this her first recipe with many other great recipes and tips to follow.

Gracie's goodie bags

After a few days of hard work, Jeni has finished the goodie bags for Gracie's birthday party. Gracie's third birthday is tomorrow, but the party is the 31st. Now Jeni just needs to fill the bags. There are two different pinks (with slight differences in the detailing) and a blue for the boys.

All three, the darker pink on the left, the lighter pink on the right...

Here is the lighter pink closer up so you can see the picture of Gracie and the detailing in the center box.

This is the back side of the goodie bag, showing the Hello Kitty ribbon.

The blue bag is a little more boy-ish for the boys, but still has Hello Kitty and cutie Gracie!

Happy Birthday Kelly!

20 years old....wow...just remember only one more year until you're legal! :)

Happy Birthday, Morgan!

Eleven years ... wow!