A couple of regular Picassos!

Since the wedding, Stuart and I have been in the process of redecorating the house.  Or, he might tell you that I have been in the process of redecorating his old house  =)  Regardless of how you view it, a lot has changed in a few months!  When we get it all organized I'll have to post pictures (or just have you over for a visit)!

One of the things I love about our condo is the open floor plan and tall ceilings.  The downside to that is that you need a lot of stuff to cover the walls or else it looks kind of lonely in here.  After many a conversation over how we should cover our walls (Stuart likes tradition, I'm more of an abstract gal ... yada yada) we just decided to do our art work ourselves!  I wanted to do something for our dining room, and since I have (lovingly, ever so kindly, and always making sure its ok) removed every decoration from the walls, I told Stu he could paint whatever he wanted to for our bedroom and it would be A-ok with me!

As luck would have it, there's a really cool place right across the street from us called Paint 'n' Pals.  It's basically a paint-by-numbers for adults and it is so much fun!  We called in ahead of time the designs we wanted to do, and when we arrived at 2pm last Sunday they had it sketched out for us ready to go!  Now, mind you, it was a very basic sketch and we were able to ever so timidly express ourselves through our artistic talents.  And as we painted the owner would come around and instruct us on the proper brush stroke techniques.  It was so much fun!  Now we just have to get them framed to complete the project!

Can't tell much from here, but I managed to get paint on my face before we got started good!

Working on my "Impressionist Poppies".  No worries, it's upside down.

Stuart hard at work on his "Dauphin Island".  He was so intense he would never hear the questions I was asking him.

I destroyed my paint plate

Stu's finished project!

My finished project!

 

A night with a pirate

Before Stuart and I got married, we had the opportunity to go to downtown Mobile to feed the homeless.  While we were there we had the pleasure of meeting Ms Mary, also fondly known as Mary the Pirate.  Mary has loved pirates and all things sea-related since her youth.  She carries a jolly roger flag on some occasions, always dresses as a pirate for Halloween, and can give you more Blackbeard facts than anyone else I know.

That program downtown has since been canceled (because apparently those eating at restaurants didn't want to see the homeless walking about ... don't even get me started on that), but Mary the Pirate has still been in close association with our friends Gray and Lauren.  Well, as luck would have it, Gray is the chaplain for the Fairhope High School "Pirates" football team.  They recently made an addition of a pirate ship with a real working canon (that shoots blanks of course) on their football field.  Mary heard about this and was dying to go to a game, and Gray was able to pull some strings to get her into a game for free and let her hang out by the pirate ship.  Since Gray has to work at the game, Stuart and I volunteered to pick her up Friday night and take her.


We called her to let her know we were on our way, and she greeted Stuart via telephone with a "Hey, Boo!" and gave us the best directions to avoid downtown rush hour traffic.  We told her to watch for my red Mustang in Cathedral Square, to which she screamed of her delight over getting to ride in style in my mustang!  Once we got there we found her sitting on a park bench in her pirates baseball cap and a South Park Jamaica shirt.  She gave us the cowabunga sign and almost knocked us down with hugs after we stopped.


The 30 minute drive to Fairhope was made up of many interesting conversations about how BP may have caused the oil spill on purpose, her high school band days, and various facts about pirates and her favorite show, Deadliest Catch.  I really regret not brushing up on my pirate knowledge before the weekend, because I wasn't able to contribute much to discussion.


Once we got to the game, Ms Mary got to meet the head coach and we headed on over to the ship.  Mary took a tour of the pirate ship and Stuart and I settled down on the grass to watch the game.  Now, every time the pirates score, and when they run out on the field, the cannon gets shot.  I was mentally prepared to be frightened constantly throughout the game, but had no idea how loud that would actually be.  You could actually feel a heat wave come off the ship when the cannon would fire!  I have never watched a high school football game so closely!  I had to make sure I wouldn't be taken off guard by that boom!


The night was very enjoyable for us, and I think that shooting that cannon made Ms Marys month, maybe even her year!  Here are some pictures from the night for you to peruse

 This is how Stuart and I spent the majority of the night ... plugging our ears in fear!

 Ms Mary by the cannon she got to shoot!

And finally, Ms Mary with Kyron, one of the football players that goes to our church!

Great Friends!

Stuart and I have really grown to appreciate the power of Christian community since we have gotten married!  It's not that we never had it before, it's just that now we can surround ourselves with other young Christian married couples and go on our journeys together.  It's such a great blessing!

We're a part of a small group of about 7 newly and nearly weds.  We meet together on Sundays and discuss topics that often stump early married folks ... like how to manage your finances, or how to deal with the basic differences between guys and gals.  And of course ... we eat too!

I'm pretty excited because Stuart and I got put in charge of meal themes for the group.  Above was from last week where we had breakfast for dinner.  Dana and Adam (end of the table) brought this breakfast casserole that had POTATO CHIPS on it.  I didn't even know that could it exist.  But it does, and it's delicious!  

In other news, pediatrics rotation is almost over for me, and Stuart and I are taking a lady named Mary the Pirate to the Fairhope High School football game this weekend.  I'm sure that a blog will follow shortly.