Hello, World!

"So many tangles in life are ultimately hopeless that we have no appropriate sword other than laughter." - Gordon W. Allport


I have decided to start blogging again! I feel like so many ridiculous things have happened in my life - crazy, funny, embarassing and sometimes frustrating - why not document it?

Justin and I just laughed pretty hard, looking back at my last "myspace" blog from back in 2003. WOW, have I changed! Back then, I kept asking myself, "who reads this thing anyway??" I don't think anyone did! Who might read this new blog? It doesn't really matter because either way, I have plenty of stories and plenty to laugh about!

This past weekend, Justin and I celebrated our 1-year wedding anniversary! You could ask him, I almost always hype everything up, over-analyze, over-estimate, over-exaggerate and especially over-expect. Justin kept our anniversary plans a "secret" until a couple weeks ago, when he told me of his plan to possibly take a short trip to Florida or a trip back to Charleston and Folly Beach where we were married. We looked into a few things, and decided to stay at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront Hotel in Folly for a night.

[Lobby overlooking the Folly Pier]

We found a sitter for Romeo and made our way down to Folly Beach. The trip down is a 3-hour drive, but it seemed to go so fast! We enjoyed listening to Bon Iver and Jack Johnson, plus we laughed our heads off remembering all of the crazy things that happened over our big Wedding Weekend exactly one year ago at the exact beach. Sometime I will have to share highlights from that weekend. If anything could have gone wrong or crazy, it definitely did. From inexplicable drama, to a monsoon and horrific weather, to near drownings, to unreliable caterers, to the most breathtaking ceremony and sunset.. God totally had it planned. I'll save those stories for another time!

Once we reached Folly, we enjoyed lunch @ a little burger joint we somehow overlooked and walked right by many times before! It was recommended to us by some friends, called Rita's. Best burgers, oh wow.

["Rita's Barnyard Burger" Loaded with Bacon, Egg, and Cheddar on an English Muffin]


[After lunch we headed back to the hotel for some smoothies and beach time. More laughing and relaxing... My husband is my best friend!]

The rest of our afternoon went pretty quick. Finally, we it was time to check into our room. Of all the times we walked through the lobby, we never saw a line at the front desk, but of course the at that moment we chose to check in - there was a long line. We're glad now, because if we had not been stuck in that line, we would not have witnessed the man in front of us hollering to his wife [who strangly resembled Jon Lovitz] across the hotel in the froggiest-gurgle-throat voice we had ever heard. Justin and I began giggling like a couple of kids in church! Oh, man. We enjoyed immitating Kermit a couple of times later on that day...

Our room (all of the hotel rooms) overlooked the ocean, so the sound of the waves was totally relaxing! Justin started to feel sort of nauseous and I felt pretty bad for him. I kept thinking, "Why now? Why on our anniversary?" God enjoys giving me a lesson on patience and understanding on a daily basis. It's easier to laugh about now, but it was definitely not funny then. We postponed dinner for a little bit, until he finally felt better. We left the beach just in time for a gorgeous sunset.


We headed downtown Charleston to find a nice, little place to eat - with a few ideas in mind. I really wanted to try something new! We strolled around and found the perfect place. Garibaldi's. A little Italian/Seafood restaurant on Market Street loaded with candles and the most romantic atmosphere. We found out they also have locations in Columbia (SC) and Savannah (GA). If you haven't figured out yet that I'm bad at keeping a story short, I will do my best describing our dinner! Basically, we walk in without reservations, which turned out to be no problem. We talked about ordering champagne as a part of our special night and of course I botched and fumbled everything up as I try and order and talk to our patient server.

[Real quick: I AM MY MOTHER'S DAUGHTER. Every day, I see my mom in me and it makes me laugh, because not only is my mom one of my best friends in the world, but she is one of the funniest people I know. So, to be compared to my mom, I take it as a compliment, if anything!]

Throughout dinner, Justin and I giggled as I continuously stammered and stuttered and asked unnecessary questions to our poor server, then of course I attempt to redeem myself, by apologizing for my confusing behavior. What is wrong with me?! I just want things to go smooth, and I end up creating this gigantic mess! Once again, all I can do is laugh! Thank goodness I have a sweet, understanding husband who can sit back, shake his head and laugh at my ridiculous behavior and eventually smile and say to me, "Babe. Just let me do the talking." Dinner was perfection - we shared crab-stuffed Mahi Mahi and it was to die for! We can't wait to go back to our special anniversary place!

[Garibaldi's - Downtown Charleston - Market Street]

There's nothing like sleeping with the sound of waves crashing. Justin felt uneasy for the rest of the evening. Probably a combination of earlier and dinner. It was such a bummer. Poor guy. It's funny [sort of] now because looking back, something always seems to go wrong during special occasions. I can never fully explain the frustration or intensity of these situations. Some examples:
Roadtrip to MN - For some reason, Justin's teeth hurt? He couldn't eat for 2 weeks. Gavin DeGraw Concert in Asheville '08 - Mysterious stomache pains. Valentine's Day '09 - Justin got sick from PF Chang's and we had to cancel the rest of our plans. Our MN Wedding Reception - Justin gets Bronchitis and literally cannot speak. To anyone.

But honestly, does it really matter? I am so blessed to have such a great husband that puts up with all of MY silly situations and quirks. He can't help it that he's sick, or his teeth hurt or he physically can't speak! It just so happens that our anniversary weekend was in the line of fire this time - Haha!

We enjoyed the next day, beach-bummin' around Folly. I kept asking him what he was in the mood to eat for lunch and all he was craving was a 'grilled cheese sandwich'. I understood him completely, after knowing what he went through the night before, but knew it would be pretty tricky to find a restaurant in Folly (or anywhere) he could order something so simple eat. We stumbled across the cutest gourmet deli cafe called The Drop-In on Center Street. What did they have on their menu? Of course, Grilled Cheese! Justin ordered it and I had the spiciest salad I have ever had in my life. I actually thought I might cry a little! Justin and I both agree that they had the best potato salad we have ever had in our lives. Yum!

We headed down to the Folly pier to exchange our anniversary cards from eachother and enjoy the beach a little more before it was time to head back to Greenville.


[Life's a Beach]

As I mentioned before, I can admit, that I over-do things. When picking out my card for him, I kept telling myself, I have to find the perfect card. Afterall, it is our first year anniversary, and it's special! I spent a good hour+ at Target reading and comparing cards, blah. Nothing. I tried Wal-mart. Nothing. Went back to Target and then decided to go back to Wal-mart. Am I insane? I couldn't imagine giving him a silly or a blank card or even settling for a "romantic card". It HAD to be an "anniversary card". So I finally - obviously with a lot of thought - picked out a card. I spent time writing my usual "novel" in it and I was excited to give it to him. I had even mentioned to him earlier that it took me forever to find one, and he kind of just gave me a wierd look. So, sitting on the pier, we exchange our special cards and with excitement and anticipation and emotion rising, I open his card to me.

I have to say, Justin is the most thoughtful, incredibly detailed, most sensitive man I have ever met or heard of. The way he proposed and the things he does for me - for no reason! - are always so very sweet and sentimental. He often surprises me with flowers and an occasional gossip magazine (a guilty pleasure) and plans date nights and surprises all the time.

I pull out his card to me, and not only is it a birthday card, but it has a picture of a yorkie-type dog on the front with human-like eyes. AHH! Now. Justin and I are known for giving our friends extremely random cards on their birthday - i.e. Mother's Day, Congrats, etc. and I can totally catch my husband's drift with this one. But, as soon as he saw my expression, he immediately knew. He says quickly, "Don't cry - Don't cry - Don't cry..." He even mentioned that he considered going to get a new card when he found out I had spent hours searching for the perfect card for him! Bless his heart! I ended up not crying, but laughing quite hard because it's so funny that I put so much weight on a silly, little card in the first place! His whole motive for the yorkie on the card was to include our puppy, Romeo, in which Justin signed the card from him as well, knowing he would "want to be included". Oh, my hubby. I can't wait to grow old with you...

We finished off the day with one last walk down the beach, only we drove down past the Wash-Out to the rental beach house and beach area we were married at. We walked down by the water and took some pictures. It's so hard to believe that it all happened just one year ago. It seems like so much longer, but it feels like time has gone so fast at the same time. We look forward to going back again soon, hopefully for longer next time! I'm just thankful my life isn't dull and boring. I would much rather prefer it filled with crazy weather, unpredictable illness and uncontrollable laughter!


Goodnight,

Alanna.

p.s. I PROMISE my posts will not always be this ridiculously long. It's my first one, so it HAD to be special... Right?! :)