September 30, 2009

RUDE!

I woke up this morning and got in the car to go do my visiting teaching when I discovered a note on my window. Handwritten over an entire sheet of purple paper, then put in a plastic baggie to protect it from the rain, then stuck under my windshield wiper. This is what it said:

What do you people think this is? Some red neck white trash neighborhood. You put  your garbage out and make every one look at it by the street. What is it you don’t (can’t figure out) when to put it out on time. Maybe you haven’t ever heard a garbage pickup. Anyway get your garbage off the street and put it out when you have service. We take pride in our neighborhood. Last time you had pick up your garbage cans stayed out by the street for days. REDNECK WHITE TRASH. Get a life! Or move to some redneck white trash neighborhood where you fit right in!

Needless to say, I was shocked and totally pissed! By the way, no signature, nothing. Just a mean note. I would tell you the situation, but I think my response letter covers it. Anyway, I was fuming on how I would retaliate (don't mess with a pregnant lady or her family!) and after I got back and showed Craig the letter (he thought it was funny) I penned my own letter. I'm going to hang it, along with the original letter in the Post Office, since everyone in the neighborhood gets their mail there. (We don't have mailboxes here.) So hopefully, they'll see the note they wrote and see my response. It's my best shot for getting it seen. Anyway, here's what I wrote:

To the person who wrote this letter: 

I am offended by this letter. I am offended by your anonymity. I a offended by your name calling, and I am offended by your passive aggressive nature. These unpleasantries could have been avoided had you simply cme to me to have an adult conversation about the problem you were having. 

Allow me to explain: We live in one side of a duplex. Both tenants’ garbage gets picked up on our side. Our neighbor tenant has recently been evicted and now that residence is considered Abandoned Property.  She was given notice to get her stuff out, didn’t, and now the landlord has to take care of it. (There’s a note on her door that explains it a bit.) The landlord took junk out of her house,  put it in her garbage cans, and put it in front of our house to be picked up. He didn’t put it out the day before pickup, so its been out there a few days. I’m sorry you have to look at it. Frankly, I’m sorry I have to look at it. It’s not my trash and it’s not my responsibility, as much as it isn’t yours.

 You say you take pride in the neighborhood, but your letter leaves you nothing to be proud of as a neighbor, a member of the community, or as a person. 

You are free to contact me at crybnk@yahoo.com

I'm going to post it now. I'll let you know if anyone owns up to it! How rude is that person, and what kind of time do they have on their hands that they are monitoring my trash and writing me notes? Sheesh! Wish me luck!

September 25-27, 2009

Cumberland Island

Where to begin? Craigs Mom, Stepdad, and Sister's birthdays are all within a few weeks of each other, and Randall had the idea to celebrate at Cumberland Island, one of a series of islands off the southermost part of Georgia. We drove an RV up there (about 4 hours) and took a ferry to the island. We stayed at Greyfield Inn, the only accomodations on the island unless you want to camp! It was so great! 

It was gorgeous! It had sandy beaches, but most of the island looked lush, green, forrested, with huge oak trees everywhere. It is largely uninhabited, about 14 people actually have homes on the island. It is now considered a national park, so it is all preserved. It has a lot of rich history, it was purchased by the Carnegie family, who made it (very) rich in steel. I won't go into the history of it, but if you ever want to look it up, look up Cumberland Island, or Andrew Carnegie.

There ARE some vehicles on the island, but visitors like us were provided bikes by Greyfield to get around on. We stayed in a cottage a little ways away from the main mansion, so we biked to breakfast and dinner, and biked everywhere else. To the beach, to the gardens, to the ruins, etc. I got a LOT of exercise!

There were wild horses everywhere, we saw armadillos, dolphins, and although we didnt see them, we were told there are many wild hogs out there too. In fact they've become so overpopulated and were destroying parts of the island that one guy's job there is to take a sniper rifle out at night and 'depopulate.' That would have been an interesting tour to take! 

Here are some pictures of the trip!

In the RV we traveled up in. Craig and his sister are snoozing. It was a very convenient way to travel!

The first day we biked about 2 miles to the Dungeness ruins. (The 59-room Queen Anne style mansion and grounds was completed after Carnegie's death in 1886. His wife Lucy continued to live at Dungeness and built other estates for her children, including Greyfield (where we stayed) for Margaret Carnegie, Plum Orchard for George Lauder Carnegie and Stafford Plantation. By this time the Carnegies owned 90% of the island. The Carnegies moved out of Dungeness in 1925. In 1959 Dungeness was destroyed by fire, alleged to be arson.^[2] The ruins are today preserved by the National Park Service as part of Cumberland Island National Seashore. They were acquired by the Park Service in 1972.^[3]

Dungeness' "Backyard"

At this point, after biking 2 miles, my ankles were swollen to the size of my knees, and it was HOT out! Luckily, we found a lady who worked for the park (and had a van) so she picked me and Craig up and drove us back! I honestly didn't think I was going to make it! Thanks!

Saphara and me ready for dinner

This is the cottage where we stayed. It had 3 big bedrooms so we all fit. When Craig and I came home from lunch, there were 2 horses grazing in the front yard! They are wild, but are not afraid of people. 

Saturday we took a nature tour that took us in a truck all over the island, places we wouldn't be able to get to on bike. I took this picture on the tour.

The naturalist took us here, to this teensy church, which was originally the African Baptist Church used by the Carnegie's servants as a house of worship. It is also the place that JFK Jr. got married back in 1996. Yep. That's the place! No electricity, nothing!

Here is Craig inside the church up at the pulpit being reverent! LOL!

Here is a lookout point. Down below you can see the beach, and on the horizon you can see a few other islands. I believe that one of them is Little Cumberland and the one to the left is Jekyll Island. I might be wrong.

The second part of Saturday was spent kayaking, and hanging out on the pier while Cassie fished.

We saw a huge pod of dolphins just before the sun went down!

And here is Craig, enjoying the last sunset of our trip, sitting on the railing of the pier. He had a fabulous time. We all did. Sunday we basically ate breakfast and came home. It was super duper!

September 11, 2009 Evening

Here is the video we took of when we announced the gender of the baby to Craig's family. You can't hear too well, but Craig is explaining that the cakes that they have in front of them (that Craig and I had made) will reveal the result of the gender of their first niece or nephew (or grandkid). The cake is either tinted blue or pink, depending on the gender, and on 3, everyone can cut into it and find out! (Kind of like unwrapping a present!) That's how we told them, and they were very excited for us! Craig's mom already knew and surprisingly kept the secret under wraps all day, so she already knew. But it was a surprise for everyone else!

September 11, 2009

Introducing Max Robert Hull!

Side profile view. I think those are his feet in front of his face!

Isn't he handsome?! LOL!

I have no idea what kind of view this is. But I'm pretty sure that round part is his big head!

It's a boy! The ultrasound technician said there was absolutely NO denying it! (As you can see from the picture above!)

I'll write a little more later. I just couldn't wait to post the pictures!

September 9, 2009

2 more days until we find out if we're having a Craig Jr. or a Crystal Jr. I cant wait!

Labor Day, Monday, September 7, 2009

Happy Labor Day! 

Craig took me to MOSI today, the Museum of Science and Industry in Tampa for the afternoon. Its usually like $23 a person, but it was buy one get one free for Labor Day! Perfect! I had a really fun time. It has a bunch of cool exhibits, kind of like a big science fair! It had this little room you go into with goggles and headphones on, and they blast winds up to like 75 mph, which is supposed to simulate being outside in a (mild) hurricane, a flight simulator, a high wire bicycle where you bike on a 1 inch steel cable suspended 30 feet above ground (I didn't do it!) and other cool things to do and see. They have a section called The Amazing You or something like that, and they have a whole pregnancy exhibit. That was super fun! But the BEST part of the experience was the IMAX movie we saw. This is no ordinary IMAX, by the way. It is an entire dome that is the screen! So you basically lay back in your chair, and from the ground up to the cieling and behind your head, and to either side is one entire screen! It was dizzying! I thought I was going to fall out of my chair, and I thought Craig was going to puke on me! But it was AWESOME! We saw some Under the Sea video that was playing that afternoon, and it was so so incredible. The $23 was worth the IMAX experience alone! They show other movies there too, I think they have Transformers there right now in the evening. Craig wants to go back and see it sometime. 

We had a blast even though my feet hurt and were swelling the whole time! Isn't pregnancy fun?!?

Oh my! I'm getting very round! (In case you couldn't tell, I'm the one on the left LOL!)

Craig, my firefighting Hero!

This is my power tie.

Friday and Saturday, September 4-5, 2009

Funeral in Waycross, Georgia

Randall's father, Craig's step-grandpa, died last week, and his funeral was held this weekend in Waycross, Georgia. He had a collection of tools and woodworking equipment that were given to Cassie, that we needed to get back to Florida somehow. Craig and I volunteered to drive a truck up to Waycross, about 4 hours away the day before, get some help to load the truck, then drive it back the next day. Because of their busy schedules, Cassie flew the rest of the family up and back on Saturday, the same day as the funeral.

We arrived Friday morning, bought boxes and work gloves, and got to work on the shed. We had no idea what we were in for. It was stuffed to the maximum capacity and then some. Mello Yellow cans everywhere, wood pieces stacked to the ceiling, an entire wall of tool chests full of nuts, bolts, and other odds and ends...there was NO room to go through the stuff! And sawdust everywhere! After a few hours we put our work on hold, to wait for the movers the next morning to come get the heavy stuff. They came the next day and Craig got it all taken care of.

The funeral was really nice, as far as funerals go. I had never met him, but after the funeral I felt I really missed out on not knowing him. I did however get to meet Craig's Aunts and Uncles who all live in various parts of GA and FL. Every single one of them were so friendly and warm, I was really glad to be able to meet them. 

We got back Saturday night really late, and by the time the 2 day/1 night trip was finally over, it had felt like we had been gone a week and a half! It was exhausting all the way around, but I'm glad we were able to help out.

Friday and Saturday, September 4-5, 2009

OK, Maybe I Forgot To Mention One Little Thing...

Ok, I forgot to mention one thing...While Craig and I were sitting in lawn chairs out in the yard (Craig said that is basically all people do in the South) on Friday in between boxing stuff up from the shed, this little fluffy dog comes running through the yard. I call to it, and it runs right for us and jumps in our lap. The poor dog is literally COVERED in matted hair, and I have no idea how long twigs, leaves, and other things are so embedded into its fur! It looked like a homeless person. It had a collar on, but it was super tight, like it had been wearing the same one since birth without expanding it. 

Anyway, you know what a sucker we are about orphan dogs, (we're like the Brangelina of dogs!) we were worried about it and set about to find out if it had an owner. Grandpa's house where we stayed has no fence, and it backs up to a pretty busy road. It didn't take us long to find the owner. We knocked on the door and this lady screamed "Who is it?" and she wouldn't open the door for us. She finally came out from around the back of the house, and when asked if it was her dog, she said yes. Craig went to hand her the little dog, and she backed away and said..."Just put her down." So he did, and the dog (a 4 month old Poodle mix named Prissy) proceeded to run into the road, just as fast traffic was coming from both ways. Craig and I were wide-eyed and had the instinct to yell for her to come back, but this owner didn't even pay attention to what she was doing. We talked for a bit, she said the dog was a gift from her ex, she had just had a pre-mature baby, she has 7 kids (she looked to be about my age!) and said the dog gets out all the time. 

We left them, went back to sitting on the lawn, and we both just felt SO bad for the dog! With an owner like that, we knew it was a matter of time before the dog got killed by a car or something. Oh, also, as we were walking up to the lady's house to knock on her door, the dog got increasingly agitated and tried harder and harder to jump out of Craig's arms, like she didn't want to go back home! Sad! So anyway, we talked and decided we should go ask the lady if we could adopt her dog. We agreed on a price, we had cash, and we said we don't have to KEEP her, since we have 3 dogs already, but at least we can find her a home where she'll get some love. 

So we went back to the lady, and Craig asked. "I know this is kind of a weird question, but would you be willing to sell your dog to us? We were thinking about $X dollars." She looked hesitant, and said, well, I'll have to talk to my boyfriend, blah blah...Then I piped up and said, "We have the cash for it right now." She kind of changed her tune and said "Hold on." She came back out a few minutes later with a leash, a brush (that looked like it had never been used) and a bag of food, and handed her over without a second thought. Kind of sad that she was so willing to give her dog up like that! Anyway, we took the dog back to Grandpa's house, gave her a bath, cut out the twigs, the poo matted into the fur near her tail, and brushed her. We went outside with her several times without a leash, and not one time did she head in the direction of her old house. 

We re-named her Georgia, call her George, and she is the sweetest, spunkiest little puppy EVER! She is anything but Prissy like her old name suggested! We thought she needed a Tomboy name to go with her rambunctious personality. So George came home with us, and has been with us ever since. She hasn't had much in the way of training, so thank goodness we have tile floor, but she's learning quickly, chewing everything to bits, and running around like she owns the place! As much as I am growing to love her, I don't think we should keep her. 3 dogs and a baby on the way is enough without dealing with a puppy! We're waiting to hear if Marissa is willing to take her, as she fell in love with her as soon as she saw her, but if it doesn't work out at their house, then we will try to find her a good loving home. 

The chihuahuas are still getting used to her. Our 3 dogs must be getting old, because they are no match to Georgia's energy! They get really annoyed sometimes! Anyway, we should just start a dog rescue, since we can never say no to a dog in need!  Anyone want a puppy?!?!?

Our Little Georgia Peach! 

Saturday August 28, 2009

"So, You're Wife is Pregnant Too?"

I'm growing out of some of my day to day clothes, (how depressing!) so Craig and I went to the mall today to see what they had in the way of maternity clothes. We scoured the mall, and in 4 department stores, there was a total of probably 2 small racks of clothes. Frustrating! So I bit the bullet and went to Motherhood Maternity (Does anyone else think they are expensive?!) to see what they had available. Craig by the way was such a good sport that day. He usually doesn't have such a high tolerance for shopping, but he did well! :) Anyway, I was in the little dressing room trying on a few things, and Craig was sitting in a chair just outside the stall. 

I heard him say, "Is your wife pregnant too?" And I thought, 'Oh thats so cute, he's talking to other dads-to-be, bonding over fatherhood' etc...so I listened to see what the other guy was going to say. Well, I didn't hear anything, and then I thought, 'Is that a little boy's voice?' Then I heard Craig ask him, "Is this your first?" And I just thought to myself, 'Craig, did you mean is his MOM pregnant? And if she is, it wouldn't be her first, obviously...' needless to say, I was confused. But Craig just went on talking to this little boy (about 10 years old) and said, "So, how far along is she?" And the little boy didn't miss a beat and said, "Oh, about 20 months." By this time I was out of the dressing room, watching the rest of the conversation, and Craig was just talking to this little boy who was waiting for his mom like he was this grown up about to have a baby! The funniest thing was that the kid didn't even act confused or anything. He just kept talking like he knew what he was talking about! As we were leaving, Craig congratulated him again on his new baby. I couldn't stop laughing all the way out to the car!

Sunday August 16, 2009

First Calling as a Married Couple! 

When we first got to Florida, our ward was in the middle of some big changes. They recently switched boundaries, so now we have to meet people all over again! Things are just getting settled down, and today at church, a member of the Bishopric asked to speak with Craig and me. We went into an empty classroom and talked a bit. He asked us a few questions about ourselves, and then he said, "How do you like teenagers?" Huh? What do you say to that?! Anyway, he asked if we would be teachers for the 16 and 17 year olds! Isn't that nuts?! I fully expected to be put in nursery or teach primary or something, but no, we're going straight to the kids who are nearly adults! Ahh! I've NEVER taught before, so needless to say I'm nervous. I just remember when I was 16 and 17, (it really wasn't THAT long ago) I just hope the kids in there are better than I was! LOL! Craig will be great though, he has the rare talent of public speaking and teaching that I will NEVER have. I'll learn a lot from him I'm sure. Anyway, wish us luck, I'll need it! (I just realized this is our first calling aside from Visiting/Home Teacher that we've ever had since we've been married! Took long enough!)

Friday August 14, 2009

Today was my first official appointment! We got to hear the baby's heartbeat for the first time! After the initial exam, I called in Craig and Marissa from the waiting room so we could hear it together. It didn't take long at all for the midwife to get a nice, strong, 150 bpm heartbeat! Marissa and Craig were both on the phone calling people so THEY could hear the heartbeat, and honestly, it was a little bit hectic. All I kept thinking was...why is Craig all the way over there, and WHO is he talking to? And WHY isn't he over here holding my hand? The experience didn't go quite like I had imagined, but the important thing is that we heard a strong heartbeat, and now I can tell Dad that he can believe me now, because an actual Doctor told us we were pregnant! We're so happy!

We went out to dinner with the family that evening to celebrate. This is us afterward. If you can't tell, that is a heart on my shirt in celebration of the day! And I guess I'm past the first trimester so I should probably go get my roots touched up! LOL!