Halloween is today!

I had to interrupt my blog catch up with a Happy Halloween note!

Happy Halloween from our little family to yours!

Love, Lizzie and Doug (and Kit and Normandy Beach and the Twins!)

Spring FUDs–April 2015

After Doug got home from Rhode Island we went straight to Florida! I picked him up at the airport and off we went!

We stopped at The Shed for some fabulous BBQ. Doug enjoyed a beverage and we pigged out!

We got to our condo, hit the grocery and settled in. Then Doug had some fun with his facial hair…

he is so sexy.

The weekend was very nice!

Lots of volleyball, friends and fun.

I got lots of relaxing done. It was quite productive.

One night we went out for dinner at McGuires with a huge table of friends. Doug ordered the garbage burger! I was so intense and was topped with ice cream!

The Sunday was rained out sadly. We hung out in the condo a bunch.

We are pretty exciting…

The last day we were there was so pretty.

It was a good Fuds! We had fun and had already made plans to go back in October!

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Rhode Island

In the first few weeks of April, my previous employer sent a group of us up to Rhode Island to perform some field tests on some equipment we were developing. I won't go into the details because the status of the project is still "under development," and likely they'd appreciate me not divulging some of the finer details. But overall, it was a successful trip and there were a couple interesting stories to share.

My office

Inside the office

This is pretty much what working in Rhode Island for a software developer looks like. It's pretty much the same as working... anywhere? I actually did take this photo in the shack I was working in. The weather was ridiculously cold for April, and the shed we were in really only offered a shelter from the wind. My fingers got pretty cold typing on the keyboard for more than about 5 minutes. Fortunately, I was stuck in the shed with Duggan who was also cold, and he started thinking of ways to warm us with what we had available. Unfortunately, I have no pictures of what he came up with, but I think a description in this case will do it justice. We didn't have a space heater, but what is a space heater? 1 big resistor made up of tiny little wires that get hot, much like a toaster, right? We didn't have a space heater, but we did have power supplies and ethernet cable. Ethernet cable is made up of tiny little twisted pairs, right? Right! We needed the cable, so Duggan used some couplers to link the longer cables to some shorter ones we could cut up. After being hooked up to about 3 amps, those ethernet cable coils were getting pretty warm. Not hot enough to melt the jacket around the outside, but they did get a lot more flexible. With warmth on our side, it was a little easier to get work done.

This was the super fancy vessel that the systems guys rode on. We had the air guns and recording system on this beauty. Those big yellow things are compressed air canisters for firing the guns and behind it is the shack we all worked from (well, everyone but Charles. He had to hang out on the deck and keep watch over the compressors). There was really only room enough for 3 people. So until the cable guys came up for their testing, I was stuck on shore. So for one day, I basically got a free day. I spent that day in the warmth of the hotel room. I got up with the team, had breakfast, got a few bits of software written from my room, then looked for a place to get a run in. I found a nearby location called the "Cliff Walk" that sounded promising, so I headed out that way before the guys were done with their testing.

Rhode Island beach, Cliff Walk to the right

Obligatory selfie to prove I was there

The Cliff Walk was beautiful, but not really a "running" route. Most of it was filled with people walking, and there isn't a whole lot of room to maneuver. I ran the whole way, but I did have to slow down quite a few times. Sometimes for walkers, other times because the path was washed out with huge rocks blocking the way. Incidentally, when the rocks were blocking the path, I didn't really slow down all that much. I got pretty lucky that I didn't twist an ankle or anything. I only fell once and didn't cut anything up too bad.

Pretty sure a fall would kill me

What parts of the washed out road looked like

I think when I got back from my run this day, I had a package waiting at me from the front desk. Lizzie had sent a care package to me using Amazon Prime. We weren't expected to stay very long, so she needed to take advantage of 2 day shipping to make sure it got to me and not the next lucky guy named Doug Brown that stayed there.

Go ahead. Be jealous. My wife rules.

 

Duggan, the MEs on the Fortune Hunter,
and Randy waaaay out on a Zodiac raft

That was the only day I managed to get a run in before 10pm. Every other day we worked until sundown at 6-7pm, we spent about 2 hours downloading data and syncing clocks as soon as we got back in from working at sea. By that time, everyone was starving and we'd go grab something to eat at 9, I'd digest, go out for a run at 10, then wake up for 5am the next day. It was a terrible cycle to be in, but I made it work. Our stuff worked the way we expected it to, I had a great team to work with, and though the weather could have been a bit warmer those first few days, we had a great trip overall.

Sirens of New Orleans!

This is a VERY exciting post! Every year I celebrate Mardi Gras to the fullest. I just love it. One of the things I love is the dancing groups.

After many years, I decided to try out to be in one! I always loved with the Sirens of New Orleans and I always loved it when they went by.

This past Mardi Gras I decided I wanted to try out! I found out try outs were in April. I patiently waited…and waited…and waited. Finally, April 11 were the try outs!

I tried out and got the call that afternoon that I made the cut! 80 ladies tried out and they took 22!! I was SOOOOOO excited (and I still am!)!!

The next few weeks included corset fitting, wigs, costumes and so much more fun!

We had dance boot camp all summer! It was so much fun. I love all the dancing and the amazing ladies. It has been so much fun.

Sadly, I will not be able to parade in Mardi Gras 2016 as I will be 7 months pregnant, but MG 2017 WILL BE MY YEAR! (If I can get back into my corset! ha)

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

Family Day, Easter Sunday and Cinco de April!

Easter weekend was a busy one! On Saturday, Ashley and Andrew hosted our annual egg dying tradition.

The Easter Bunny came early…

and we had a great family day!

On Easter Sunday, the Easter Bunny made an appearance at Arnaud’s Restaurant!

Ashley and Doug stopped by to see the EB!

The bunny bouncer!

and some quality time with James!

It also happened to be the 5th of the month so Cinco came along!

It was a lovely Easter with friends and family. We are so blessed!

Love and Hugs, Lizzie

April Fools 2015

It was our propose-aversary and we decided to visit the place where Doug got down one one knee!

We arrived at Arnaud’s (on a school night no less!) and enjoyed soufflé potatoes, OH SO GOOD, at the bar and some great company.

We ended up on the balcony of the Boubon Suites and tossed some beads at some tourists.

We had a great dinner, drinks and some quality time with dear friends. I am glad we went out to celebrate and enjoy each other. It has been a stressful time and we needed some quality time.

If he had proposed again, I would have said YES again. xoxo

Love and Hugs, Lizzie