What's New?

The answer to that question is...nothing! That's alright. I do enjoy a little down time now and then. Josh is working hard and doing great in school. His engineering class made batteries using lemonade today. Don't ask me how it works, but he is sure that he could build a generator for our house now. Who knows? Someday down the road that might not be such a bad idea...

As for me, I'm still working and hoping the construction is finished soon. The buiding shakes and rattles all day. On the upside, asphalt and parking stalls in our new parking lot magically appeared Monday morning. No "ins and outs" or sidewalk yet though, so "NO PARKING" allowed. Yet. Maybe soon? Things are pretty much a bust in the writing business right now. Titles are all too technical; they deal with cars and things that A.) I know nothing about, and B.) would be difficult to write in a single 400-500 word article. Oh well. On the upside, we should be getting our new french doors on Wednesday! That hurts the pocket book but makes me oh so happy! The simple pleasure of being able to open a door.

To finish off news of our Atlanta trip, Kathrine took us downtown to see the underground mall on our last day there. Here we are riding the MARTA:

The trains are actually pretty clean, which a relief because we did see a few rats running around the tracks. The Underground mall was pretty cool. Trains everywhere! We ate at a place called Johnny Rockets (which I've never heard of). It's a 50's style diner with some really good food. They even serve your fries to you with smiley-faced ketchup! I thoroughly enjoyed the trip and the glimpse of Atlanta. Alan made fun of me for acting like a tourist (duh Alan I was a tourist!), but oh well. What right does a man in a straight jacket have to talk anyway?

That's right. EJ is strapping Alan into a straight jacket. He came in from work and proudly announced that his straight jacket had arrived. There is an explanation, believe it or not. He works in a haunted house on Halloween, and this is his costume this year. Of course they couldn't resist the urge to try it out. And of course, Kathrine couldn't resist the urge to torment him...

Here she is hiding puppy treats in the jacket for Tallie to find. Ha ha! Good times...

Greetings from Atlanta

Well here we are in Atlanta, and after a red-eye flight and more than 24 hours without sleep, those elephant ears were looking pretty fantastic. Alright, they are really cool, even after a good night's sleep. These beauties mark the entrance to my sister's apartment complex.

We all flew down to see Kathrine's portfolio show, since she is graduating in Game Art and Design from the Art Institute of Atlanta. She is ridiculously good at her work, and I must admit that I am a bit jealous. I wish I was that talented! You can actually see her portfolio at www.kathrinedavis.com. Here's a hint: That picture on the main page in NOT a photograph. It is part of her portfolio. Each graduating class at the Art Institute competes to earn the honor of the "Red table" at the portfolio show. This red table symbolizes best in show, and is meant to draw the attention of any would-be-employers that come to the show. It was Kathrine's goal, and she found out yesterday when we went to set up her table for the show, that she earned it. Congratulations to her! Here's the final result:

Of course, she had a lot of work to do to get ready for today's show. Lucky for her, she had a lot of help...from a somewhat unlikely source...

Tallie is very serious about creating that poster. She is also an avid Jaguars fan, it seems, if the bandanna around her neck means anything. This is the first time I've met Tallie. She is definitely a cutie, and a character. She even seems to have a little bit of Shena and Sydnie mixed in.

We spent the day at the portfolio show today, and we finished the day off with a good meal at Olive Garden. Never ending pasta bowls all around!

Now that portfolio is over, we're hoping to have some free time to do a bit of sightseeing. From what I've seen so far, the city has some really cool architecture, and many of the houses down here are gorgeous. There are trees all over this city. They even replace grass in many yards, and the houses are hidden by forests. It's beautiful! 

Free Tickets

"Early" (not really) yesterday morning, Josh and received a call from VanLeer regarding extra Lagoon Day tickets. Neither of us has been to Lagoon in awhile (read "since Jr. High") so we decided it could be a fun little evening outing. I think evening is just the way to go. It's cooler, and you only spend a few hours there so you aren't completely dead by the time you're ready to go home. Unfortunately my stomach was feeling extra weak last night, so I didn't get to enjoy too many rides, but I did enjoy the ones we went on (mostly...)! Here are some pictures:

We stopped by pioneer village for some ice cream...

This is us in the place with the old printing stuff...which you can't see because we take up the whole picture. Oh well!

Josh is excited for the Rocket...

Me...not so much...

My nerves and my stomach may still be stuck at the top somewhere. A Halloween tradition of ours is to go to the haunted house, so of course we stopped at both of Lagoon's while we were there. They even had a pimped out hearse...

Complete with skeletal driver...

Creepy? Morbid? We think so, but with Halloween lurking around the corner is has its own certain sense of character and humor. The license plate even read "Lst Ride."

Let the Games Begin!

The football games, that is. NCAA football is now in full swing, and we're excited and ready to cheer our Utes on for their final season in the Mountain West. We kicked off the season with a party that was conveniently timed with EJ's birthday. Everyone wore their Utah red! (I apologize for the poor quality of these pictures)

And we each decorated a cupcake to add to EJ's cupcake football...

And of course, provide by Auntie DaLene...football Jello! (And way to go Pitt, with a player on the field backward...we wish they played like that!)

In the end, the Utes triumphed over #15 ranked Pittsburg...in overtime! What a way to start the season! GO UTES!