The Cabbage

I recently finished reading the book, Tuesdays with Morrie.  I highly recommend anyone contemplating their purpose in life and has the tendency to be a workaholic or is often described as driven, or career focused – should read the book.  It’s a memoir about a man that was obviously a gift to our society and his last moments on earth.  He spent his last days teaching about how the purpose of life seems so obvious when you’re dying.

Joe and I have been really trying to focus on the things that matter, even if it means giving up some of our income and “drive”.  He’s officially going to back off of his photography except for beach photography, real estate and commercial so that he can have more quality time with the kids.  We haven’t quite defined my sacrifices yet (well we have but I’m not revealing them in this blog – yet!).  

With two slightly OCD perfectionists for parents, the children have really had little room to color outside the lines.  We decided to lighten up a bit and let the kids make a few messes without getting aggravated.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have ever imagined that Joe would take this new focus so literally that we have a cabbage growing in our front yard.  Seriously – the next time we want some coleslaw – it’s only a few steps away.  There is an entire backyard with plenty of room for a garden, but since James wanted it out front – Joe was all about it.

There are a few concerns – first, I didn’t know it until the cabbage was so large it could probably be entered in some sort of small town 4H contest – or is that just for animals?  I grew up in Houston – give me a break, I’m not trying to offend anyone but we didn’t do anything with livestock except for eat it.  The second concern is that you have no idea how bad it bothers me that we have a cabbage in our front yard.  

I read the book, The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch last year and loved it.  One of the most memorable passages is when Randy describes how his parents allowed him to paint all kinds of things that were important to him all over the walls of his bedroom and they never painted over it.  It gave him the strength to “color outside the lines” for the rest of his life.  Randy painted a rocket ship, and an elevator on his walls.  At the time I read the words I thought that his parents must have really been understanding and patient.  Although inspiring – I never fathomed it would mean that I would have to live with a cabbage in the middle of our yard for the rest of our life!  

The things we do for those we love!

Bay Town

Baytown at Sandestin is a great escape from the realities of every day – it’s like walking around an amusement park filled with great restaurants and unique gift shops.  Now that they have added the ice skating rink and the ropes course – it’s really got something for everyone. 

My father was in town visiting from Houston so we decided to take him around Baytown for a nice stroll and grab a bite to eat.  The place was deserted and many of our favorite restaurants were not open yet, but we found Poppy’s Bar and Grill ready to steam up some seafood as soon as we sat down.  It was foggy so it took a while for my dad to notice that we were dining on the water – yes, the fog has really been that thick.  The food was okay – considerably overpriced, I think we paid almost a hundred dollars for two hamburgers, a fish sandwhich, a salad and nachos…. in fact, with tip it was $96 and change.  Next time we’ll just walk my dad around and go eat somewhere else – the food was barely mediocre and would have been worth half of that.

Joe snapped some really cool photos though while we were sitting around listening to some tunes played by a local artist on the outdoor deck.  Dad enjoyed the walk and didn’t complain about the food – but mostly it was just nice to relax in the quiet and enjoy the family.

Tony and Hev

Hev & Tony

Just about an hour from the hustle and bustle of the commercial luxuries of Destin, Florida – there is a world apart from the rural, yet exclusive suburbs of Northwest Florida.  While getting to know Joseph over the years, his most candid memories and tales surrounded his experiences in Holt, Florida with the Yearty family and I was given the opportunity to get an upclose glimpse of his past and the people who helped create this amazing man with an endless supply of talent, conviction and tenderness. 

Heather’s wedding was the fabulous excuse for Joe to finally introduce his new family, to the rest of his first family.  I was originally going to write a seperate blog for Heather’s wedding event, but Joe doesn’t want to give anyone any crazy ideas that he might be interested in shooting weddings – he’s not doing it unless you are a qualified family member whom he cares about deeply.  Please be advised that he’ll let you know whether or not he cares about you deeply and his general easy going nature might confuse some biologically connected aquantances that they might qualify for this category when in actuality he might be more inclined to shoot the postman’s daughter’s wedding.  No offense intended.  Reality bites.

As for the Yearty-Happel wedding – Heather was absolutely stunning and the venue was surprisingly elegant for Crestview, Florida.  The crowd was eclectic – with colorful characters from all walks of life, yet everyone was the same – great people with great hopes for Heather and Tony.  If Heather wanted a beautiful, yet casual wedding with a relaxed atmosphere, family, friends and laughter – then the execution was perfect. 

The Yearty household was absolutely my favorite part of the weekend.  My nerves were on edge all week, it’s never easy walking into someone’s past and hoping that you are accepted as a missing piece of a puzzle.  Aside from being slightly startled by the Applejack’s snack habits, I felt completely at home in Holt around all the members of Joseph’s extended family.  Feeling somewhat like a city girl with my awkward unfamiliarity with the horses, donkeys, extremely large pot belly pig, spiders (stop laughing Joe) and complete inability to walk through a field in the dark with any awareness of direction or proximity to trees (one again, stop laughing Joe) – I think I did fairly well with no unidentified bumps, bruises, bites or scratches. 

After the wedding, all the young adults headed out to The Block in Fort Walton Beach, a three in one bar with a karaoke section, country dance floor and hip hop club.  We ventured and remained in the country section all night long (go figure), and had a great time.  It was our first opportunity to really go out with Joe’s sister and her husband as adults without the children in tow.  Funny does not begin to describe some of the events that occurred as the evening and alcohol progressed.  Hopefully, pictures speak louder than words.

Joe is not a dancer, at least in public so I was utterly dissappointed that he wouldn’t twirl me around the floor – but I understand his hesitation.  Of the two of us, I am much more inclined to make a fool of myself and love every moment.  Joe is more calculating and cautious.  It is a good balance for our life but I have high hopes that at least one of our life stories will include a dance or two even if it is only in our living room with the Bose system in the background.

Thanksgiving is next with a family excursion out to Bedias, Texas.  My father and Joe & Tina’s mother will be joining the circus and will surely provide ample comedic content for this blog.  All in all – it was an overwhelmingly beautiful weekend with family.

Joe & Amber at BluePoint

Fay, Gustav, Hanna, Ike …. tis the season for Hurricane Parties!  We rarely make it out to the local watering hole these days but a few members of the family were visiting this weekend and tensions were high in the area with all of the looming storms so we decided to head to Blue Point for a few toddies. 

Destin is famous for it’s upper class nightlife choices, but Blue Point at Destin Commons is the most convenient and comfortable spot for us – considering it’s cental location and proximity to the Mid Bay Bridge.  Joe had the camera with him of course and made sure to grab some pretty hilarious snapshots of the “eyes fully open” crowd morphing into the drunk eye incoherent laughter ensuing non-presumptuous, yet extremely judgemental group that we are….  =)

Since Michael and Adam moved to Orlando about eight months ago, we’ve had laughter withdrawl and it was such a repreive to have us all together again.  The only complaint from the evening was Adam’s incensent need to pet his new Iphone – it’s sick people, he even sleeps with it.  Mark my words, the show INTERVENTION is going to be taking submissions for IPHONEAPHOBIA.  Who really likes to be that accessible and is high speed internet really necessary in public restrooms?  Okay, so I’m done ranting for now until my addicted friends end up with thumb arthritis from texting nonsense to other Iphone users who just want to hear the bing, blip or ping or something occurring on their overpriced, handheld lifekeepers.

Ahem.  So back to the important items – family.  Our second afternoon of labor day weekend was spent enjoying the pre-storm weather at McGuires Irish Pub.  Yumm-O as Rachel Ray would say – perfect atmophere, tasty house brewed beers and not to mention some of Destin’s finest culinary treats.  Irish Boxty’s (These very tasty potato and cheese fried appetizers) are our favorite.  Order the nachos and share – it could feed a small nation of bean, meat, and spicy cheese craving carnivores.  Since we dined for lunch we didn’t treat ourselves to steak, but the prime rib is indescribable and a must-have for visitors. 

Our last evening we spent at home with everyone filling the kitchen for homemade snacks and quesadillas.  Joe usually does a ghetto version by baking them in our conventional oven on a pizza stone but we got fancy this time and borrowed Rory’s quesadilla-maker in order to expedite the process.  We managed to munch down five pounds of chicken breasts, 6 pounds of shredded cheese, 3 packages of tortillas, two jars of salsa and 4 bottles of vodka without incident.  We ended the evening with a blast from the past movie favorite of ours – Friday.  Yes people, Destin’s finest were drunk at home, stuffed full of chicken and cheese and sprawled out on the floor laughing hysterically at old school crunk comedy.  Priceless.

Please note that we would prefer not to be judged based on the frank comments and life experiences that we share on this blog.  We are actually very nice, loving individuals who somehow influence each other to act heinously when spending too much time in small spaces together.  The excessive Vodka consumption is directly linked to the martini recipe guide that we were given by an unknown (or forgotten individual).  We are simply on a mission to make every martini in the book and then write a few recipes of our own for future publication and the funding of our retirement since social security will probably become an extension of welfare by the time we qualify and only those who have never paid a dime in taxes will be subsidized in old age by the government.