Baptism

Steven's niece was baptized this past Suday at a Methodist Church in Buckhead (the part of town that Steven and his brother's family live in). She was born in October of 2007 and is now almost 7 months. Being the first grandchild, she has managed to wrap the whole family around her little finger. This picture was taken after the service at his sister in laws' parents house. We celebrated there and all had brunch together.

The dress that she is wearing has a really cool history. It has been in the family for 40 years and the name of each child and the date on which they were baptized in it is then embroidered on the slip. Even the boys have worn it. What a neat thing to pass on to each generation.

Recess Rejects

As some of you may know, the folks have been playing on a kickball team in Columbia for a while now. When they started playing the league was organized by WAKA (World Adult Kickball Association). After some time people became frustrated with how little they were doing for the players as compared to the money that they were paying to play. A group approached the recreation centers in Columbia and now play through them with improved services for a better price. They are currently playing for a team called FOOTLOOSE. As a team they are becoming closer and have been doing things together off the field. A lot of the team members came to a party they threw after the holidays and they just ventured to the beach together last weekend.

(sorry for the really bad picture, but at least you can see them in their uniform)

After moving to Atlanta and having a certain someone on the road way too much, I realized that I was going to have to make my own friends. Following in my parents footsteps, I decided to join GoKickball as a free agent. For $51 I get 8 weeks of fun and a team tee shirt. The Recess Rejects have picked me up and welcomed me as one of the three new players on the team. I was a little nervous at first, mainly about having to throw the ball accurately and be an effective player in the field, but now feel pretty comfortable and have a lot of fun playing the game that I have not played since elementary school.

As compared to Columbia's one league, the Go Kickball organization in Atlanta is huge. There are 13 leagues with any where from 6 to 15 teams each. You can choose almost any day of the week to play and can choose between competitive leagues and those that are a little more laid back.

We also have a league bar (Mellow Mushroom) that we visit after each game for some food and discounted league drinks. We most often order the house pizza and a kickball pitcher (of beer).

My team is currently 2-0-2 and in 6th place in our league. We play the number 2 team this week. They have won all four of their games. I just hope that we can pull out a win.

Visitors From Afar - St. Simons Island, GA

At the end of March we went to St. Simons Island in Georgia for a weekend with Steven's family and some friends of theirs that came over from Scotland and England. This is a favorite vacation destination for their family and also where Steven's brother was married several years ago. It is a beautiful island that is family friendly, very relaxing and quite scenic. While on the island we took a trip to visit Ft. Fredreca where for $3 you can explore one of the original British settlements. This settlement was meant to protect the colonies up the coast to the north from the Spanish that were further south in what is now Florida. The small fort was built facing the sound and was successful in protecting the other colonies from Spanish invasion.

You can find Spanish moss all over the island. It is nice to take a drive around the island so that you can see all the pretty vegitation and of course all the large homes of its rich inhabitants.

We even found a few orange trees while we were visiting the fort!

A Georgia Home - Part II

Here it is at last. A few of our fellow bloggers have been anxiously awaiting the unveiling of my new apartment in Atlanta. It is really not all that exciting, but I must say that it is much better than my last apartment in Philadelphia. It was cute, but because of its size and lack of amenities, it made me a little stir crazy.

This is the living area as viewed from the kitchen. The front door is to the right and the bedroom is to the left. There is also a door that leads out to the balcony to the left of the window.

This is the kitchen as viewed from the foyer. The living area is to the right.

This is the bathroom as viewed from the bedroom. The closet is to the left just before you reach the doorway.

So there it is! Now everyone will have to come to visit and see it in person.