Our 5 Year Aniversary Get-a-way

September 5th we celebrated our 5 year anniversary. I can't believe we've been married for that long! Relatively speaking 5 years isn't very long, but it seems like it flew by. I guess we've been having fun together.

Half our get-a-way was already planned for us. A while back I won a 2 night stay on Mackinaw Island that included ferry tickets and $100 Visa Gift card. We fiqured we should spend some of our own money (to keep Michigan's economy going --- I'm really good at this). We (I) decided that we should go to Traverse City for a few days also. With bikes in tow we drove up to TC, explored the area, went to Sleeping Bear Dunes, Old Mission Pennisula, beaches, and winerys.

After 2 nights in Traverse City we went to Mackinaw Island. Having our own bikes was much better then renting bikes on the island. Having gears made it much easier to navigate some of the hills toward the center of the island (the rental bikes are all single gear crusiers). The weather was perfect the whole time we were away, we couldn't have asked for a better anniversay get-a-way.


Here you can see the Sleeping Bear Dune off in the distance.

Here is the dune up close. At the top of the dune there was a sign that read "the climb up is extremely exhausting" we did not climb it.

This climb wasn't as exhausting but it was slightly uphill.

Here is us in front of our hotel at Mission Point.

Chihuly Exhibit in Flint 8-30-09

My favorite aritst had an another exhibit in Michigan so Matt and I made the 2 hour trip to the Flint Institute of Art.

Photographs were not allowed in the main exhibit, however the institute purchaced a Chihuly hanging piece (pictured here) that will permanently adorn the lobby.

Matt admiring the furniture & textiles in the Renaissance room.

Matt's favorite piece in the museum: This is a piece of solid ivory about 1' long that is very detailed in the carvings.

As It Turns Out, Golf Is Dangerous!

So, here is how it happened. Alicia & I were golfing in one cart. Brian & his friend Ryan were in the other cart. We were at Hickory Hills golf course in Jackson and had already completed the front 9 (I shot a 50, probably the last golf of the year for me). We were on hole 4 of the back 9 (blue course) a 170yd par 3. I t'd off and was on the fringe, I'll take it. The other 2 guys also t'd off. At this point I pull forward to the ladies tee so Alicia could hit, just a short 20yds in front of the mens tee. Right When I got up there a ball goes flying through the air! It was Brian that hit a second ball, as I turn around he is t'ing up a 3rd ball. Now, Brian is a terrible golfer an has absolutely no control over what his ball does or where it goes (there was also plenty of booze involved). So as he is t'ing up I am ducking and hiding inside the cart. He hits and of course a line drive from 20yrds away, right into my left forearm, extreme pain. At first I just cringed an held my arm for a few minutes before deciding that, ok it's time to go to the hospital. I was pretty sure it was broken right away, any way I moved my arm I could feel the 2 broken halves of my ulna rubbing against eachother (unnatural).




How could I possibly get hit by a ball while hiding in the cart you ask? Here is a picture of before "the incident". As you can see, there is a small gap between the part of the golf cart where you sit and where you lean your back, less than 1ft I'll guess. Also there are 2 golf bags behind the seat. When I was ducking and hiding I was kneeling half inside and half outside the cart using the cart as an obsticle between myself and the neophyte. My arm (the target) resting flat on the driver side seat. As you can see only a "perfect shot" could have possibly made it through there. Too bad Brian didn't use this shot to make it on the green.

Me in the ER. This all went down a few weeks ago 7-26-09

I had a follow up with the Orthopedic the following tuesday, got a splint, and sling but the Doctor wanted to wait out the swelling before doing anything further. Fast forward 10 days to the next follow up, new x-ray's showed that the bone had displaced slightly. With the bone in this position there is a possibility of not healing so the Doctor suggested installing a plate & screws to help along the healing.

My 1st time going into surgery, scary. 8-10-09 Me in the pre-op room. Those look like some good drugs. Special thanks to Mom & Dad for coming out to B.C for support. Love you guys!

My new hardware

Gentlemen we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the worlds first bionic man!
Well mabye not bionic but the bill might seem like 6 million.

TV Antenna No Longer

We have no need for this old antenna anymore. Time to trade it in to scrap.

Detroit Tigers Game - Sunday, July 12th

Sunday we went to a game with 39,680 other people. Alicia was happy because it was sunny and she had a tall pina colada.

Tigers won 10-1, If you look closely at the scoreboard it is 10-0 in the 6th inning. Justin Verlader notched his 10th win of the season and was lights out through 7 innings shutting out the indians and striking out 8. Clete Thomas nearly hit for a cycle missing out only on a double.

Roar!

Grand Haven / Muskegon

A friend turned me on to John Legend, and while I was surfing the web I found that he was in town Saturday. Amazingly tickets were reasonably priced and still available, so I planned a mini getaway for Matt and I. We arrived Saturday afternoon, ate a wonderful lunch(on a roof top patio overlooking the harbor in Grand Haven), did some window shopping and then set out in seach of quiet waters. The state & city parks were way over crowded. From research the night before I found a place that sounded like it was "Off the beaten path" -- Rosy Mound nature area. A short .7 mile walk through the woods, up and down stairs. We found our quiet water oasis. Ahhhhh..... Lake Michigan. It was a perfect day, warm but not too hot. We walked along the beach, snapped a few photos, took a dip, and finished the day at a relaxing lakeside concert. The sky started to look dark and cloudy, we actually got sprinkled on for a short time, but the storm passed just south of us. After the show we walked through the attached carnival, ate some greasy food and I rode the Freak Out (Matt watched from the sideline). All in all it was a fun day!

what's going on around the yard

Each year it is my misson to improve on my little piece of land. My little santuary called our yard. If only I had the talent and the money to do more, I guess baby steps to get it to where I want. I do find joy in want I do have. Here's what's been going on. Huge bush being pulled out.

that thing was so ugly I'm so happy to have it gone.




My rose bush actually has roses this year

Found a toad