Back to the South

We call the first two years of our marriage the South Carolina Tour.

Pretty much all of our "firsts" in marriage happened in the great state of South Carolina.

Our first fight, our first apartment, our first church, our first joint bank account, our first Christmas - well, you get the point.

Sometimes we remember South Carolina with fondness and other times with pain at some of the lonely times and hard transitions.

However, we went back to Columbia last month, and you're about to see why I cried all the way to Texas when we left.

Danny could eat his Mom's eggs benedict and I could drink her flavored coffee every morning for breakfast.

One day I read in Lynn's sun room all afternoon - it's deliciously cozy and comfortable.


It's also good for taking pictures. Can you tell I had laid by the pool all day?


Lynn cooked dinner for us and one of our favorite couples EVER! I didn't realize how much we had missed Kristi and Fabio until we talked non-stop from the minute they walked in the door until we were so full and tired we could hardly say another word.

The choclate fondue fountain is becoming a Stiller staple.

On Sunday we got to visit our old church and catch up with our friends from our Newlywed Sunday School class over lunch at Zoe's.

Left to Right: Fabio, Danny & Wes

Left to Right: Allison, Rachel, Laura & Kristi
And finally, a picture that probably only my brother, Joey, will be interested in - we played with Lynn & Joe's dog Lexi all weekend too.

The Big Mo

One last South Carolina memory before we start flooding you with all the Texas excitement.

We could not leave South Carolina without having date night at the Big Mo. It is a real drive-in movie theater outside Columbia. Pay $6 and get two movies, fresh air, a view of the sunset, and good old fashioned entertainment watching the kids play before the movies start.

Here's the line to get in to The Big Mo that starts forming over an hour before the gates even open.

We thoroughly enjoyed Ratatouille, but apparently are too old because we left after the first movie due to tiredness.

That's our Camry with the driver's door open. We had a great view. And, if you look closely you can see that the parking spots were on a raised hill - so you sat looking up towards the screen, rather than just facing forward. You can also see the kids playing soccer, football, frisbee, and chase in front of the screen waiting for the sun to set and the movie to start.

While waiting for the movie to begin we read in the car, ate junk food until our stomachs hurt, and watched a beautiful sunset.

Here you can see how many people drove out to visit the Big Mo. Many mini-van families backed their cars in, opened their trunks, and tailgated.

And so, if you rae in South Carolina, you need to go to the Big Mo. Meanwhile, we are setting out to discover all the date night gems of Dallas. We'll let you know what we discover!

Blueberry Pickin'

We couldn't leave South Carolina without picking some fresh fruit. So, last weekend we headed out to the Lexington area and picked blueberries until our fingers turned purple.

Danny said he felt like a pioneer or an Indian - gathering his food from the land. Then he decided that he was glad that he was a boy. Because if he had been an Indian way back in the day it would have been his job to go and hunt buffalo, and it would have been my job to go out and tediously pick the berries. He decided he'd rather hunt buffalo than pick blueberries. These are the kinds of life-altering discussions we have when we have long, uninterrupted amounts of time together.

We also enjoyed taking lots of pictures.




So you can see how hard we worked out in the South Carolina humidity, which will soon be replaced by the Texas humidity, here is a progression of me filling my bucket:

We ended up with 9.5 lbs of blueberries. We have blueberries in the freezer, we put blueberries on our cereal, we made blueberry smoothies, and we ate so many blueberries while watching a movie the next afternoon that we have stocked up on our antioxidants for an entire year.

So Long, Farewell

Our fabulous Sunday School class threw us a goodbye party this last weekend. Thanks goodness we weren't actually leaving South Carolina - or I think I might have cried all the way through it.

Minus Kristi & Fabio and Amanda & Kyle, these are some of our closest friends taking a "HAPPY" picture. And here are some of our closest friends taking a "SAD" picture. It was Danny's idea, so I don't ask questions.
We have enjoyed our newlywed Sunday School class so much - getting together each Wednesday night for Bible study, sharing recipes/cooking tips/shopping tips, walking together, and planning events/parties.

City Year Ends

Happy Last Day of Work at City Year Danny!

2006 - 2007 City Year Staff (in white) with Corp Members (in red)

Danny's year of serving the city has come to an end. Another chapter closed, but we are already racing into the next one.

BCBS Baseball

Just another tidbit of South Carolina fun. BlueCross BlueShield employees enjoyed free bbq, free t-shirts, free bags, and free baseball last week. We watched the South Carolina Senate beat the South Carolina legislators in a classic, slow-pitch softball game.

Things that made us laugh:

The announcers sat right behind home plate. The mascot was a giant blowfish who waddled around the bases in enormous clown shoes.
Free adult small t-shirts. Danny and I were meant for each other. He knew he wouldn't fit into this shirt, but my fabulous husband wanted one anyways - BECAUSE IT WAS FREE of course!
And, watching grown adults fall down - either trying to swing the bat or attempting to run to first base. Of course we couldn't take a picture of that, but we giggled alot.

A Week in the Life

A Week in the Life of Danny and Laura

Well, much has happened in the last two weeks, but unfortunately I have no pictures to spice up this update. So, you will have to suffer through reading about what's going on. I'll give you a quick run down of what our weeks typically look like.

Sunday: Teach 9th Grade Sunday School attend Newlywed Sunday School, Contemporary Worship Service, afternoon nap, and 9th Grade Cross Training Discipleship.

Monday Nights: Laura did have photography class - but now this night is free and clear and there will once again be time to get the laundry done.

Tuesday Nights: Danny & Laura drive the youth around Columbia to visit people who have visited Shandon Baptist Church. The evening also includes a free dinner at Shandon.

Wedensday Nights: Danny & Laura fellowship at Men's/Women's Bible studies.

Thursday Night: The recently proclaimed date night! This could mean going out, staying in, playing hard or resting on the couch.

Friday Night: Game night with friends, hanging out at Fabio & Kristi's, travelling, or catching up on stuff that just needs to get done around the apartment.

Saturday: Anything could happen on a Saturday.

In addition, our friend, Alisha, came to visit this last weekend too! She graduated from Texas A&M with us and is now getting a masters in International Studies at East Carolina University, which is located in Greenville, North Carolina. She and I watched way too many episodes of Unwrapped on the Food Network and Gilmore Girls dvds while Danny studied for his theology class. She also got to meet some of our friends while playing Catch Phrase and Telephone Pictionary at Fabio & Kristi's on Saturday night. Our office/guest room will now forever be called, "Alisha's Room," as she was the first to stay there. She discovered fun things like how the bath tub drain would drain faster if it was molasses going through a straw and that cold air leaks through the window panes all night long, waking you up to a nice artic chill each morning. Girl, you're welcome back anytime, and thanks for being such a trooper about the quirks of our new apartment!

A Night Beautiful

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There are very few things about corporate america that make me smile.

In fact, when I graduated from college the harsh reality of paying bills, writing the rent check, and working 8 - 5 with no break made me want to run right back to Texas A&M.

While working at BlueCross I've confirmed that I do not belong in the corporate world. I am too antsy to sit behind a desk - for just four hours. Dressing up every morning stresses me out. And dealing with policies, procedures and branding is enough to make my head spin.

However, last week Danny and I discovered the delight of being hard-working adults, for a large, nation-wide corporation. We felt very grown-up and posh as we enjoyed downtown Columbia.

BlueCross BlueShield SC hosted an employee event at the Columbia Museum of Art. Danny and I dressed up and enjoyed the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit, numerous appetizers and an open bar - from which we drank our share of ginger ale - all for FREE!

We were amazed at the tiny little brush strokes that looked so incoherent close up and yet turned into a beautiful painting a few feet back.

We were amazed that while Laura Ingalls Wilder was growning up in her little house on the prairie, Frank Lloyd Wright was designed furniture and homes that look like they belonged in the 1970s.

And, we were amazed at the budget that BlueCross had access to to through such a fun evening together for its employees.

Maybe sitting behind that desk every morning paid off after all.

Holiday Lights at Riverside Zoo

What is Danny doing in this picture?

Running from an elephant.

Last week, after Thanksgivings, we went to the Riverbanks Zoo here in Columbia to enjoy the Holiday Lights with Lynn, Joe, Nan, & Poppi.

They had a great display and it was even snowing at the entrance to the zoo despite the 65 degree weather! You can see the snow if you click on the picture of Lynn and Nan with the Nutcracker.

Here we all are at different displays.

SC State Fair 2006

Ah, the South Carolina State Fair. I was so excited and ready. Ready to eat funnel cakes, pizza, and ice cold Dr. Pepper. Ready to walk through aisles of homemade jam, amateur photography, very large bunny rabbits, anrgy chickens, and livestock. Yes, livestock.

Don't laugh. I knew that my Future-Farmer-of-America, I-majored-in-Agricultural-Development husband was going to drag me to see livestock at least once during this fair. In my personal opinion, everyone should stay far away from livestock - it smells. Just the word by itself . . . livestock . . . conjurs up images of fly-swatting tails, hay, and driving across Texas and only seeing cows for miles and miles. *And this is me scrunching up my face and holding my nose.*

Well, we did see some cows. In fact we even sat down on some cold bleachers and watched cows parade by, stomping and snorting. We walked through aisles of big cow stalls and were enlightened as Danny described the different breeds.

Here's the picture I took of the cattle. I tried to include the flowers so you wouldn't focus on the fact that you're looking at the rear ends of cows. Enjoys the mums.

It was also rumored that there was to be "fried coke" at the fair this year. Fried Coke?

What could be this shockingly interesting and yet disgusting-sounding? We did not have such an atrocity at the Texas State Fair (the only other State Fair I’ve ever been to). I shuttered at the thought of trying such a thing, but couldn't imagine not trying it - just to see the look on my friends’ faces back home when they heard that I was so brave.

Sadly, however, there was no fried coke to be found. Only Pepsi products and Elephant Ears - very large pieces of flat, fried dough, topped with a fruit filling and powdered sugar.

We did find the rides. And we found that we're getting to old to stomach the rides. Danny rode on a twisty-spinning version of the "Big Boat" that swings back and forth.

Here's a picture to help you out. Now, just imagine Danny and his friend, Matthew, screaming at the top of their lungs while this pendulum swings back and forth and the seats spin around.

Then, all four of us rode the "Power Surge." The ride spun around as it rose up into the air, until it went from spinning like a carousel to spinning like a ferris wheel. And then your individual seat spun right and left as you twisted around in a big circle.

I was screaming my head off and enjoying the sunset from the top, when I hear Danny yelling, "vomit!" I wanted to slap him, but my arms were strapped down. What was he thinking?

We get off the ride laughing and shaking.

Danny turned ghostly. I ran for the hills. "Please don't throw-up!" I yelled from afar.

I am such a tender, caring wife. One hint of sickness, one little gag, and I am gone. You see, I am so sympathetic that I will throw-up right there with you - just to make you feel better about losing your stomach. I don't like anyone to feel uncomfortable. So, I just join in the misery.

Danny's so strong. He kept his food down, and we finished out the fair with a Fried Milky Way. Here's proof that he survived the rides.We thought about entering the drawing to win a free pork loin. I could just see myself riding home in the car with a marinated pork loin on my lap. Then we came to our senses.

We did come home with a plastic cup. It brought up memories of going to A&M football games and buying $3 drinks just to stock up on "china."

So, we survived the South Carolina State Fair. Despite all the warnings it wasn't to hill billy, redneck, or small town for us. Or maybe we've just turned country.