Wes and Kaylyn

Omen

2011-03-31T23:08:00.001-04:00

Here is a dead bird we saw just moments after we closed on our house. This is not to be confused with the dead squirrel we saw on the sidewalk just moments before we got married. Hmmm. Shall all major life events have animal carcasses in the background?

So, we bought a house.

2011-03-13T13:53:00.007-04:00

Who knew house buying could be so stressful? Whew! What a process.

In January, Wes and I began searching for houses through helpful real estate websites such as Zillow.com. We would spend hours looking at various homes in different sections of town trying to find our first home -- or at least, qualities we want in our first home. Would we live on the islands? Or, in the 'burbs? Or, Ardsley Park? Or, midtown? Did we want a ranch style home or two-story? Hardwoods, or carpet? Garage or carport? Big yard, no yard? Brick? Wood? Stucco? Screened-in porch? Brick patio? Newer? Older? Really old? Good school district? Far away from downtown? Close to downtown?

Sigh.

The options were endless. Our budget, on the other hand, was (or rather is) not.

We desperately needed help. With the help of a friend, we were directed to a realtor in Savannah with great experience who has served as our much needed guiding light as we continued our search.

I am quite indecisive. I don't like to choose the seats at the movie theater, because I can't decide if I want to sit in the top rows, in the middle of the row, towards the left or towards the right, directly in the middle of the theater, or front and center. Too. Many. Decisions. However, when it came to buying a house, I made up my mind in one weekend. Most people look at several houses before making an offer. We looked at seven, and I was ready to make an offer. Mom was right -- you walk into a house and you just know. I knew -- 9 Pinewood Avenue was where I wanted to be.

Wes, the more impulsive one in the relationship, was not as certain. He wanted to continue searching. We had rushed into this process versus easing in, making us both anxious -- him more so than me, which was interesting. Typically, it's always the other way around.

So, we made an offer which was well below the seller's asking price. So low that we thought the seller would laugh and reject it. Much to our surprise, they accepted.Hurray!!! It's a wonderful, four bedroom, three bath ranch-style home. HUGE back and front yard (that Wes will enjoy mowing this summer). Two door attached garage (this is unusual for Savannah). Kitchen is moderately sized, which is okay with me. It has a "breakfast nook," dining room, living room, and Wes' favorite feature, a "man-cave." Or, rather, a den that I have do not have a purpose for.. yet. Much to my dismay, it does not have the screened in porch I was going for, or a patio. However, we have plenty space that we can make those changes when we are able. Except for the "man-cave" it's all hardwoods, which is nice.

The area where the house is located is referred to as Isle of Hope. We have a Savannah address, but we are outside the city limits (helllloooo cheaper taxes!), so we technically live in unincorporated Chatham County. From the house, it's an easy 7-ish miles to our office and a quick 10 minute trip to downtown. Good public schools. Nice, safe community with a good age range of families. We are a two minute walk to the marina -- Wes is already pestering me for a boat. Step one: house. Step two: dog. Step three: boat.

But, in the meantime, the marina/bluff is pretty to look at:Lovely. Absolutely lovely.

Our closing date is scheduled for March 31. It's been a rocky roller-coaster thus far (subsequent, explanatory posts to follow), but for me, March 31 can't come soon enough.

Welcome home, to my little family of two. :)

Hello 2011.

2011-01-02T15:33:00.002-05:00

As Wes and I reflect back on 2010, we both agree, it will be a year that will be extremely difficult for us to forget. A lot changed -- all positive, but regardless, change can be challenging. It requires you to let of something familiar (e.g. frozen pizzas) and embrace something totally new (e.g. my cooking.. eek!).

2010 Recap (with shout outs):

Friends got married (e.g. Parks & Courtman, Emily & Chip).
We got married.
We moved in together in the Osmon's condo in Atlanta (thanks Scott & Elizabeth!).
Friends birthed babies (Hardie Ella Purcell).
Friends bought houses (Rachel Elizabeth Sevin).
I changed my name.
We merged bank accounts.
We learned to split/share holidays (e.g. Fourth of July/Thanksgiving/Christmas).
We commenced a crazy job search in the Savannah area.
I was offered a job with AT&T in Savannah.
We merged insurance stuff (e.g. car, health/eye/dental).
I quit my job in Atlanta.
Wes quit his job in Atlanta.
Movers moved our "stuff" to a storage unit in August.
We moved to Savannah in September (thanks Casey and family for the house!).
A tree fell on my car.
We moved to the carriage house in November.
Wes got a job in November.
The holidays hit (see previous post).

Which brings us to. . . number 20: Hello 2011.

I would like to believe that 2011 would be a quiet and simple year, but something tells me otherwise. 2010 was busy, but it prepared us and brought us to where we are today. 2011 is going to push us even further. If you will, for us, 2011 is where "rubber will meet the road" -- 2010 gave us great start off blessings, 2011 is the year of implementation. We both have wonderful new jobs -- now it's time to prove ourselves truly worthy of holding the position. We were able to relocate to the city/region we always envisioned raising our family -- now it's time to get involved and learn the community.

Scary as it seems, 2011 is the year of being an real adult (ew.). We are forced to be more focused on making and keeping our own budget, maintaining both cars, planning for retirement, handling our taxes, making our own investments, etc. And, when we buy a house, long gone are the days when we call the landlord for a leaky roof.

Again, I say. . . Hello 2011.

Holiday Haze

2011-01-02T15:04:00.009-05:00

Right, so the holiday season as a general rule is typically a whirlwind of fury for our little family of two. It's less of a disaster now that we live in southeast Georgia -- after all, Jesup is only about an hour or so away = less travel. This year, we decided Thanksgiving would be in Jesup and Christmas in Charlotte.

Sadly, when you start a new job, you don't have the luxury of taking days off simply because you have none to take. In this instance, I only had Thanksgiving day off, not the Friday after. So, for me, Thanksgiving came and went by quickly. Not much to report -- we drove to Jesup (in separate cars) and spent lunch with the Padgett's. It was wonderful to visit, but then I had to head back to Savannah. Wes, on the other hand, stayed for a weekend full of boy activity fun... whatever that is.

The evening of December 23 (aka: Festivus) was spent in Jesup. Those in attendance aired their grievances against others and took part in an annual chili cook-off. My former 3-year in a row chili cook-off champion was defeated yet again with a devastating 7-6 vote. Despite the loss, I must admit, his chili this year was pretty delicious. Our (or rather MY) crock-pot (which I had to clean on my own a week later.. ew) was almost empty!

We returned to Savannah late that night only for a quick night's rest before our trip to Charlotte on Christmas Eve.

Christmas in Charlotte was not as busy this year as it has been in years prior. We went to Christmas Eve service, visited with my dad's family, and returned to my parent's house for our traditional feast of ham biscuits, stromboli, shrimp, dips, and cookies. Christmas day we opened presents at my parent's house, visited with my mom's family, and returned for Christmas dinner with Henry's family. It truly was lovely.

BUT.. what was the absolute LOVELIEST is later on that evening when it SNOWED... :)

Even Boone loved the snow.

While the trip to Charlotte was only 3 1/2 hours, the return trip (thanks to holiday travelers AND snow), was an awesome SEVEN hours. Ugh. But, we arrived back to Savannah safe and sound and ready to ring in the New Year.

Christmas Came Early!

2010-11-21T10:49:00.003-05:00

WESLEY GOT A JOB!!! His 10 week vacation as a stay at home husband is officially OVER.. and now I can begin plotting my escape from corporate America to be a stay at home wife. Kidding... ;)

But, seriously -- this is tremendous news. Given the rotten job market, we feel exceptionally blessed. Not only was he offered a job, but he was offered what we hope and think is a great opportunity, versus having to settle for something less than ideal. It was our early Thanksgiving/Christmas blessing. So wonderful. I'll let Wes share his job seeking/job obtaining/first week story with you. I'm sure he'll have quite the spin for your reading pleasure. ;)

What does all of this mean? So good of you to ask!

WE GET TO FIND OUR OWN PLACE. But, not before the holidays. Bump trying to conduct a move during the holiday season while working full days. No. Thank. You. Stay tuned for living arrangement number three in Savannah.

Are you confused? Don't be. Let me explain. We initially moved in the main house (living arrangement number one), and just moved (literally last week) to the recently available carriage house (living arrangement number two). So, our next apartment/condo/townhouse/house will be living arrangement number three. Whew!

As a very important ending note --- We are eternally grateful to Casey Secor and his lovely family for graciously opening their home/carriage house to us during this transitional time. In truth, without this gift, the initial move to Savannah would have been next to impossible. Thank goodness for good people with kind hearts.

2 Month Recap

2010-11-01T18:38:00.005-04:00

Today marked our two month anniversary living in Savannah. Before we moved, I promise Wes I would be diligent about blogging on our new journey. And, it has been two months... and this is my first blog. Obviously, I have not been that great on keeping my promise. I will endeavor to be better though.. with lots of reminders from Wes. :)

So, here is my new office:

Beautiful, huh? If you can't tell, it's a four story, concrete building with no windows. Why no windows? This building serves as a critical hub for telecommunications in southeast Georgia. In the event of a natural disaster, the goal was to construct a building that could hopefully weather the storm (pun intended). I've been informed this building could possibly weather a category 4 hurricane. I do not intend to find out myself. However, should you happen to be in the area when a hurricane strikes, and like my husband, you would like to ride out the storm.. let me know.. I'll gladly toss you my access card my way out of town!

On week two of our living in Savannah, Wes and I returned from a nice dinner out to find the following:

Yes, that is a fairly large tree branch on top of my new car. Of course, I suppose one should choose their poison.. tree branch... or parking garage. Funny thing is, both have happen to me within the past year. I think my State Farm agent hates me. Seriously.

Minus the small car mishap, our transition to Savannah has been quite lovely. The city is beautiful. We're a quick walk to the river and a short drive to the beach, which you can't beat. The people have been quite welcoming. All in all, it's been a nice move. However, there are certain things I have learned about Savannah though that I could truly do without:

1) Savannah drivers. Interestingly enough, they are worse than those in Atlanta. Within the past two months, I have seen several terrible accidents -- cars upside down, in bushes, wrapped around a pole, etc. It's vicious. I will give you the line of sight is awful here because cars are parked on the road.. you have to play chicken when you drive... and, the tourists have no idea where they are going or what streets are a one way, which only makes matters worse. So, I'm bringing back horn honking. When I first moved here, I thought people would think less of me, especially with my Fulton County tags. Now, I just don't care. I would prefer not to have my car injured a second time due to a nasty collision that could have been avoidable through some excessive horn honking.

2) Savannah heat. It's been hot everywhere, and I do believe we are in for a very mild winter, but it's a problem when you can still layout at the beach on October 31.

3) Street sweepers. In downtown Savannah, certain streets have specific times when you cannot park on that particular side due to street sweeping. I don't think the street sweepers do anything of consequence, except make it challenging for me to find parking after a certain hour on Friday and Saturday evenings.

4) Trolleys/Horse Carriages. Two important fixtures in Savannah's tourism industry. If I were a tourist, I'd probably love them both. They are a great way to get the highlights of Savannah in a short time frame. However, for those who live here, more specifically downtown or travel around downtown frequently, it can be quite frustrating when trying to weave your way about town behind a slow poke trolley/horse carriage.

5) Savannah's risk management department. What a complete joke. A large oak tree branch falls on my car and they don't pay for the repairs. In fact, they go as far as to tell us we can try to go through a painstakingly grueling process to request the city considering paying for the repairs, but it would ultimately be denied. Kinda reminds me of Fifth Street Management who has yet to pay me my deductible for the parking garage falling on my car. Yes, I am still bitter.

Despite my five dislikes, Savannah is really an awesome city. It's culture, history, food, people, activities, etc are exceptionally unique. I hope you all have the opportunity to visit with us soon.

Whatever floats your boat

2010-10-14T13:42:00.000-04:00

To say Kaylyn likes boats is an understatement. She is crazy about boats. Since we moved to Savannah, her favorite thing to do is walk to River Street and watch the container ships pass by. I'll admit, I find this gigantic ships to be sort of awe inspiring, but Kaylyn takes it to Double Rainbow-like level. She will smile and dance and do cartwheels all while squealing "BOATS! BOATS!" It's really a sight to beyond. She basically has an epileptic fit she sees a tugboat scoot past.

We've gotten to know a few people that work with the port here. Inevitably, Kaylyn will bring all pleasant small talk to a screeching halt by asking question after question after question about how boats float. She's nearly to the point of bribing officials to get tour of a container ship. Our next vacation will likely be inside an 8x20' container packed with cotton, turpentine, and pulp wood on our way to Singapore.

Arbor Day

2010-09-14T10:46:00.001-04:00

As many of you know, Arbor Day came early this year! Actually, I don't know if that's true. I have no idea when Arbor Day is. What I do know is that trees hate Kaylyn. While we were out for a walk, we were admiring the beauty of downtown Savannah - especially all of the live oaks and spanish moss - I received a text saying "Urgent! Tree has crushed a car with Fulton County plates. I think it's your's." Needless to say, we furiously sprinted back to our street to find that a giant branch had fallen on Kaylyn's car.

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is around to hear it, does a make a sound? I don't know. I do know that if a tree falls on your car, a variety of sounds are spoken that are not fit for children to hear.

Trees, you've been put on notice. We've become accustomed to things crushing Kaylyn's car. So, this was no big deal. However, if so much as an acorn falls on my car, I will embark on crusade of deforestation that will clear cut every oak, pine, spruce, cypress, birch, dogwood, elm, willow, and magnolia from here to over yonder. I'm sharpening my hatch. You've been warned.

Caught red... uh... blue handed.

2010-08-19T10:37:00.000-04:00

Office Disaster.

A brand new Sharpie broke in my hand this morning, creating a mess that only BP can relate to.

empty.

2010-08-17T16:35:00.001-04:00

I guess we really are moving to Savannah. The corporate movers swept away our all our furniture today, leaving us an empty condo with only an air mattress, tailgating chair, and a half-eaten bag of pretzels.

March to the Sea

2010-08-13T22:20:00.002-04:00

Since the early days of our courtship, Kaylyn and I knew that Atlanta was not where were wanted to settle down. One of our first road trips together was to visit Savannah. Now, a couple of years later we are about to make that same trip again. At the end of this month, we are moving to Savannah. Just like that devil General Sherman, we hope to burn everything along the way! Just kidding. (or am I?)

Kaylyn and I have been married for almost three months. We'll call these past three months our extended honeymoon. Our new married life will begin on September 1st when we officially move to Savannah. We're both very excited. Kaylyn is now the AT&T External Affairs Manager for Southeast Georgia. I have informed my law firm that August 31st will be my last day and then the Mrs. and I will begin our march to the sea and the next stage of our lives.

It'll be an adventure. We plan to document our life changes on our new blog located at http://wesandkaylyn.com .

See ya on cyberspace and in Savannah!

Ch-ch-ch-changes... new website address!

2010-08-13T21:46:00.010-04:00

Well, lots has happened since we last updated our blog. Lots of big, life-altering events. In no particular order: We got married, Kaylyn twisted her ankle, honeymooned in Mexico, the LOST finale aired, Kaylyn got a new job, and we're about to move to Savannah. Which of these things do you think has had the most significant impact our our daily lives over the past couple of months? In previous blog posts, I've discussed Kaylyn's pain tolerance. She is great at many, many things. Enduring the slightest physical discomfort is not one of thos things. She twisted her ankle before our wedding in MAY. You would think she stepped on a landmine. Nearly every single day, I don my Florence Nightingale outfit and I have to wrap her ankle like we're in a MASH unit.

Anyway, like I mentioned and like most of you probably know, we got hitched on May 15th. It was a wonderful day. We were thrilled and honored to have so many friends and family attend. Kaylyn was the most beautiful bride in the world on our wedding day. Three months later, she still is.

Kaylyn was just hired to be AT&T's External Affairs Managers for Southeast Georgia. We will be moving to Savannah in a couple of weeks. We are very excited. More on this in future posts.

Speaking of posts... I would like to blog more often. So, we are moving our blog to a different host that will better allow us to publish shorter and more frequent postings. The new tumblr blog url is http://wesandkaylyn.com We intend to update it quite often.

The Big Day!

2010-03-21T16:27:00.005-04:00

After months of planning, preparation, and anticipation the Big Day is almost here! It's been a long time coming and the wait has been unbearable. With the day being so close, I've started having doubts and second guessing some of my decisions. For better or worse, The Big Day is here and it's too late to turn back now. I'm speaking of course about my Fantasy Baseball Draft tomorrow night! I'm so excited. I started playing fantasy baseball several years ago with a group of close friends. Over the years, it's become my unhealthy obsession and Kaylyn's nemesis. I'll freely admit, I have a problem. Just as freely, I'll admit that I intend to do absolutely nothing about my obsession except feed and cultivate it until it takes over my life. I already spend way too much time researching, watching, talking/emailing, and simply pondering Major League Baseball. So what. I'm a nerd. Sue me. Just kidding. Don't sue me. That would take time away from my baseball pursuits.

This past weekend, we witnessed the blending of the Padgett Clan and Atkins Clan. My parents and sister and Kaylyn's family met in Atlanta for the first time. It was a nice, pleasant meeting. They all seemed to like each other. My sadistic hopes of a Montague/Capulet-like rivalry were dashed. So much for my screenplay idea Romeo & Juliet 2: The Squeakquel - featuring a family of singing squirrels from south Georgia and their bitter rivals, a family of harmonizing chipmunks from North Carolina. Caught in the middle of this war is a pair of star crossed lovers that also happened to be the children of the two rivals.... wait... where was I? Oh yeah. I'm glad my family and Kaylyn's family were finally able to meet. It would have been awkward to interrupt the wedding ceremony to introduce them to each other. It still may be a good idea to have everyone wear name tags. By the time I say "I Do" I'm not sure I'll remember my own name... but I'm sure I'll remember the names of all the guys on my fake baseball team!

I went to Las Vegas last weekend. I had a lot fun and didn't have to sell the rights to our first born to pay my gambling debts. That's all you need to know. Everything else that happened there, stayed there.

'til next time. Peace out.

Wedding Planning = Exhausting Process

2010-03-01T11:05:00.003-05:00

When little girls conjure up a make believe wedding scenario with their childhood friends, the greatest challenge they face is who is going to play the bride and who has to suck it up and be the groom. That's it. Granted, when you're 5, this is situation could very well be a life-changing or temper tantrum fit experience.

Luckily for me, I was always the bride.

But, no one ever tells you about what really is in store for the bride-to-be when planning a wedding. The good news is you don't have to argue with your significant other as to who wears the dress -- that's a given (well, for most). However, you do have a task list a mile long and a fairly busy couple months leading up to the big day.

Yesterday, as I set out to complete my domestic tasks of cleaning, cooking, laundry, paying bills, etc, I started to think, "When is the next time I'll have a weekend in Atlanta?" And then it dawned on me --- April. But, only for one weekend. Let me give you a quick rundown of my upcoming weekends:

March 5-7: Driving to Charlotte for my first bridal shower (hosted by my wonderful cousins -- Cara and Mary, and my sweet Aunt Janny), trial run of hair and make-up and third bridal dress fitting. I'm really excited for this weekend -- my FAVORITE is coming in town, I am able to spend time with family and close friends AND I get to see my 85 lbs, four legged, floppy-eared Boone -- the prized family Labrador. GREAT weekend.
March 12 - 14: Flying to Charlotte for my bridal portraits -- Saturday will be a busy day!
March 19 - 21: Parents are coming down from Charlotte to Atlanta, so I guess this counts as an Atlanta weekend? It'll be busy though, we're moving items in and out of the condo, as well as introducing both sets of parents to each other. This all follows a very full-day work trip to Washington DC for me. Whew!
March 26-28: Driving back to Charlotte for my second bridal shower (hosted by my terrific aunts -- Laura, Cathy and Georgia, and my wonderful grandmother). Less to do on this trip, but am sure as we inch closer to the wedding date, there will be more added to this weekend for items to accomplish and lose ends to tie up.
April 2 - 4: EASTER .. and a break. :)
April 9 -11: Bachlorette party in Savannah ... watch out you southeastern Georgians.
April 16-18: Engagement party in Jesup hosted by great friends -- Jenny Thomas, Erica Baker and others!
April 23-25: Wedding for friends Emily & Chip in Knoxville, TN

WHEW! Whirlwind tour and exhausting couple of weeks. Exciting? Absolutely. But, I hope I don't look like a zombie bride in my pictures from all this travel. As a colleague said last week, your wedding pictures stay with you forever -- and truer words have never been spoken.

Do I Really Know Wes?

2010-02-12T12:17:00.010-05:00

Less than 100 days remain before I become an old, married woman. I am 24, yet I have identified the first few strands of gray hairs, Crows Feet and some 12 year old called me "ma'am" yesterday at the Capitol.

It's official, I'm ancient. My youthful days have been cashed in for a quiet Friday at home with a movie, a few slices of pizza and a bedtime of 9 PM. Nothing wrong with that, just another indicator that I'm old. I would try to do something to reverse the unfortunate trend that is aging, but I'm certain it would land me at Johnny Hideaway's at age 50, single with cats.

Side Note: For those of you who are unfamiliar with Johnny Hideaway's, give me and/or Rachel a call. We'll take you there when you're in Atlanta -- I find it wildly amusing. A great spot for people watching. You'll also quickly catch on to my last remark.

At any rate, I'm old. But, not as old as my fiance, or so I thought until I found... these!!!!

In case you cannot tell, it is elf boxers... with bells. It's also my first time seeing them... ever. In our almost two years of dating, I've done laundry and put away clothes (you may sing my praises), but I have yet to stumble across this beloved, prized possession. So, you can imagine my great surprise last weekend as I'm with my dear friend Rachel who helped us to move and we find Wes' elf boxers.

It's evident that Wes, albeit six years older than me, is still young at heart (maybe?) and I have already set myself out to pasture. Still, the discovery of the boxers begs the question...

Wes, what do you do in your spare time when I'm not around!? And, more importantly, who are you!?!?! :)

Late 2009 Recap

2010-01-10T16:57:00.010-05:00

Oh. Hi there, I didn't see you. Come on in. It's been awhile. We have a lot to discuss. We're sorry about the lack of blog postings lately. I was surprised to see that I haven't posted since the November 2nd entry with my toilet paper rant. Plenty has happened since then. The past couple of months has produced enough excitement to warrant multiple blog postings. Instead, I'll attempt to catch everyone up on the past few weeks with one mega stream of consciousness, rapid fire post that hopefully hits on all the highlights. Giddy up.

I'm helping coach a youth basketball team of 9 and 10 year boys. One month into the season, we've had more moral victories than actual victories. Starting this week, I'm beginning a series of pre-game motivation speeches to put us back on the winning track. This week's speech will be titled "Winning is More Important than Having Fun." Next week, I'll follow it up with "Sportsmanship is Overrated. Winning is Not."

Kaylyn took a second job at Williams-Sonoma for the holidays. Because I still have ~~doubts~~ suspicions about what Kaylyn does for a living during the day, I did a lot of reconnaissance work on her moonlighting gig at Williams-Sonoma. I learned that she one of the best part-time spoon salesperson in Buckhead. During one of my visits to Williams-Sonoma, I noticed a gigantic copper pot. It was HUGE... like a witches' cauldron or Oscar the Grouch's trash can. I wanted it. I thought of all the possibilities: you could bathe a St. Bernard; hide a kindergartener; bob for apples; beat it like a tribal drum; keep a baby dolphin as a pet; or I could cook enough of my award winning chili to single-handedly end world hunger. Alas, my dreams were dashed when I saw the price tag: $999.00! Still, it's a worthy vessel.

Thanksgiving was sort of unremarkable this year. Kaylyn and I spent the holiday apart. She was busy selling spoons. I was busy having a temper tantrum during our Thanksgiving night card game. I've been told by those in attendance that it was the worst fit they've seen anyone that wasn't teething at the time. I stand by my assessment that the game was rigged.

Godson, Briggs Thomas, was born on the Monday after Thanksgiving. The previous evening, I had dinner with his parents, Adam and Jenny. We ate at a Mexinese restaurant in Jesup where you can order authentic Mexican OR Japanese dishes. Who says the deep south frowns on diversity? Not me. And, not soon to be born Briggs.

Briggs was birthed without a problem, in part, thanks the Mexinese. However, since then, Briggs have been wreckin' havoc! The poor guy developed RSV shortly after coming home from the hospital. Adam, Jenny, and Briggs spent a large part of December in the ICU in Savannah. Briggs is doing great now. But, based on his first month of life, I predict that Briggs will be a trouble-maker. There's no telling what kind of shenanigans he has up the sleeve of his onesie.

Briggs was not the only special blessing brought into my life during the week after Thanksgiving. That Thursday was the premier of Jersey Shore on MTV. Oh my. It is the sorriest, most despicably amazing work of cinematic art that man has ever produced. Each hour long episode is an encapsulation of everything that wrong with the world... yet, I have the biggest smile on my face for all 60 minutes. It's terrible. Scandalous. Awful. Horrendous. Offensive. Crass. And, my favoritest thing ever. It's like a concentrated version of Jerry Springer only with hair gel and fake tans.

The Christmas Week 2009 Hurricane World Tour: Atlanta > Warner Robins > Macon > Warner Robins > Savannah > Jesup > Charlotte > Atlanta. All in 6 days. The days in Charlotte were like a tornado within the eye of the hurricane. Kaylyn has a family tree with so many roots and branches its more like a family rain forest. We bounced around like a pinball. It was great to get see everyone on my side and her side of our family, if not as long was we would have liked. So, the whirlwind tour was worthwhile.

While in Jesup, we attended our annual Festivus celebration. It was a bit of a somber mood this year because our philosophical matriarch and event organizer, Jenny, was still in the hospital with Briggs. We also had our annual Chili Cook-off at Festivus. In the 6 years of the event, I've brought home the famed and prestigious Silver Ladle trophy 3 times. This year was a different story. It marked a low point for my chili makin' career and may lead to some domestic disharmony with Kaylyn. See, I lost.... badly. Not only did I lose, I only received 1 vote: my own. Not even my beloved fiancee voted for my chili. This has lead me to draft a prenuptial agreement with only one clause. Kaylyn must vote for my chili every year regardless of taste, texture, color, or digestive after-effect.

To paraphrase Tim Tebow's famous speech after last year's loss to Ole Miss, "To the fans and everybody in Chili Nation, I'm sorry. I'm extremely sorry. I was hoping for a 4th Silver Ladle trophy. I promise you one thing. A lot of good will come out of this. You will never see any chili maker in the entire country prepare chili as hard as I will prepare chili next year. You will never see someone push my recipe to the limits as hard as I will push. You will never see a chili maker work harder than I will the rest of the year. God bless."

Well, that just about puts us up to date. Again, we sorry for the delay in posting. We promise do do better. As you can see, we've been busy. A quick glance at the calendar for the final few months of our engagement show we will be even more busy, but we should plenty of stories to share.

My Guardian Angel

2009-11-02T21:40:00.005-05:00

You know what really grinds my gears? My beloved Angel Soft is trying to cheat me. (Angel Soft... as in the toilet paper. It's not a pet name for Kaylyn). See, I love Angel Soft. It's the only toilet paper I fully trust to serve my needs. So, why doesn't Angel Soft show me the same respect? Here's what set me off. I bought my monthly 12-pack of Angel Soft rolls last week, only to discover the new rolls were noticeably smaller than my older model TP rolls. I have provided photographic evidence.

As you can see, one roll is substantially less than the other. What gives, Angel Soft? Don't you know we are in a recession? You've increased my flush-to-cost ratio and I don't appreciate it.

200

2009-10-27T19:48:00.006-04:00

The countdown continues... As of today, there are 200 days left until we get hitched! The big day will be here before we know it. I mean, 200 isn't very many. 200 is nothing. Seriously. I bet that most of you reading this can count to 200. Give it a shot........ See, 200 ain't a lot. 200 is almost a hundred fewer than the number of Spartan warriors that died in that movie where a bunch of Spartan warriors died. Had the film been named "200" instead of "300" it would have have lasted liked a half hour and been a 1/3 less bloody.

Now that we've covered numerology* and have established that 200 is in fact fewer than 300, I would like to talk about linguistics. "300" is set in ancient Greece, yet everyone speaks with a British accent. Weird, right? Well, guess who else has started speaking with an odd accent: my future bride.

Over the past couple of months, I've noticed that she will enunciate certain words with a Canadian accent. It's pretty wild. I have no idea where her sudden inner-Canuck has come from. Most of the time it's when she pronouncing a soft A like in the work "back." The next time you speak to her, ask Kaylyn to use the word "back" in a sentence. She'll pronounce it like "bee yak" and then undoubtedly tell you to "take off, eh. I'm trying to watch hockey and eat maple syrup, eh."

This past Saturday night, Kaylyn's co-worker, Jenice, and her husband, Kevin, were kind enough to host our first engagement party. We had a very nice time hanging with old friends and meeting new ones. Yet, as the evening progressed, something very interesting happened: Kaylyn's voice box crossed the Atlantic Ocean as she developed a British accent! She suddenly sounded like Hermione from the Harry Potter films. It was bloody funny. When I asked her about it, she initially denied it by saying "bollocks!" She finally admitted that she was really tired and felt like she was about to lose her voice. If that's the explanation, how long would it have taken for her to start speaking in Arabic?

I kinda like it though. It's cute when she does it - not annoying like Madonna's fake British accent. So, unless Kaylyn converts to Kabbalah, develops creepy muscular/veiny arms, or begins ~~stealing~~ adopting little boys from sub-Saharan Africa, I'm cool with her speaking with the Queen's English.

*(Un)interestly enough, today is the 300th day of 2009.

Jon Gosselin is an Idiot.

2009-10-02T10:38:00.004-04:00

Minor rant...

I must confess -- I am part of the unhealthy American population semi-obsessed with Jon & Kate Plus 8. Sadly, I'm no longer memorized by the show, rather, I have become fascinated by the volatile relationship (or lack thereof) of parents Jon and Kate.

At first, I was absolutely on Jon's team. How could anyone not be? Kate had Jon's lame excuse of a manhood in the palm of her hands. Undoubtedly, Kate left Jon feeling extremely emasculated, unappreciated and disrespected. (Obviously, NOT the way you want to interact with your significant other.) It was crystal clear, Kate wore the pants in this relationship and she sure wasn't going to let Jon forget it.

Which is absurd. Marriage is a give/take (or so I've been told) and it was evident there was no giving on Kate's end. No attempt to understand differences in approach or styles. And, no attempt to blend said approaches/styles. Instead, there was a whole lot of taking. Whatever Kate wanted, Kate seemed to get. It was her way or the highway -- or so the show seemed to convey.

I'm not trying to justify Kate's actions. I'm sure the way she interacted with her husband didn't put their marriage on the path to success. However, in light of recent behavior exhibited by Jon Gosselin, I'm feeling less sympathetic towards Jon. I'm curious as to whether or not he really was totally worthless when the cameras were off. Again, not justifying Kate's actions, but now I'm starting to think... Jon really is a loser.

Let's reflect, shall we?

He had an(a) alleged extra marital affair(s), he is now besties with Michael Lohan, Lindsay Lohan's dad (solid role model.), he is in a relationship with a 22-year old (Hayley Grossman) who is the daughter of the surgeon who performed Kate's tummy tuck (YUCK!) and announces publicly that he "despises Kate" (who is your PR rep, Jon?!?!).

Most recently, Jon has come forth with an effort to cease all future filming of his children. Why? He claims it is "bad for them." Truth? He is angry because he was cut from the network (TLC announced the show will air in a new format starting Nov 2 entitled "Kate Plus 8" -- showing her journey as a new single mom with 8 kids). Jon Gosselin is that obnoxious kid on the playground that no one wants to play with, so to get attention, he becomes a bully.

Maybe the show isn't the best thing for the kids. I'm not here to argue that. But, Jon didn't seem to have a problem filming the kids for the previous seasons (I'm not buying the "we didn't have a lawyer card") and he didn't have a problem with the initial pitch of the revised show (filming each parent individually during their stay with the kids). However, now that he is not reaping the financial benefits of future segments, he wants to make a fuss. Mmmm....

Jon, didn't you mention on an episode of Jon & Kate Plus 8 (again, I know.. I'm obsessed) that you were concerned about your kids ability to "Google" you in the future? And, how you wanted to make sure they would be proud of you? Do you HONESTLY believe they would be proud of what they will find?

I-D-I-O-T. Sigh.

Rant concluded.

Molar Eclipse

2009-09-16T20:03:00.012-04:00

Tomorrow will be the one week anniversary of Kaylyn's highly invasive medical operation. Calling this a major surgery does not adequately describe how complicated this procedure was. A dream team of world-renown surgeons worked feverishly for hours, using cutting edge techniques, to save Kaylyn. In the end, they successfully cured Kaylyn of, uh, two teeth. It was a miracle of modern medicine!

[Side bar: Seriously, whatever happened to tying a string around your tooth and a door knob? I'll have to ask our good friend, Dental Becky why that's no longer a common practice for tooth removal.]

Back to Kaylyn... in her blog post she made a couple of points I'd like to address. First, she admitted to being the WORST patient. Agreed. She was the worst patient ever. If a stranger had walked in, he would have thought she was a double amputee suffering from chicken pox, pink eye, an ear infection, bubonic plague, yellow fever, polio, and the mange that had just undergone an octuple bypass. She looked like re-fried death and acted like some native had shot a poisonous arrow into her jaw.

Second, Kaylyn labeled me a great caregiver. I shouldn't take too much credit. By Hour 18 of Kaylyn Trauma Watch '09, I was about ready to put her down like a thoroughbred with a busted leg. If you look at my Google history on the day of her surgery, you'll find that I searched for terms like "euthanasia" and "obamacare + death panels." When I would change her ice pack or gauze, I would sweetly whisper "go towards to the light!" I don't know if Kaylyn had pain-pill induced dreams about the Tooth Fairy or about the Grim Reaper.

Despite all the bloody gauze, the ice packs, the pain-pills, the mumbled conversations, the surgery was worthwhile. My bride is now tusk-less. She even has a mementos commemorating her survival. The doctor let Kaylyn keep her recently extracted teeth. I think Kaylyn intends to make earrings and wear her enameled jewelry on our wedding day. Something old, something new, something borrowed, something surgically removed.

Here we are, a week later, and we both are still feeling the affects of her oral ordeal. Her physical scars will heal much sooner than the emotion scars I suffered. I'm shell-shocked like a battlefield medic. The truth is, I hated seeing her hurt - even if she handles pain and discomfort with the resiliency of a faberge egg.

Caregiver Wesley

2009-09-12T22:01:00.004-04:00

Solid news. My wisdom teeth are out. No nerve damage. No excessive bleeding. And thus far, no dry sockets. Hallelujah.

I have a handful of things I'm "high-maintenance" on. To name a few, I have a fetish about hotels, a problem with others touching my knees and, of course, pain/comfort management.

As I'm sure Wes will elaborate on in future posts, I'm the world's WORST patient. When I'm not at my best, my care givers are typically acutely aware that I do not feel well. I tend to whine often, roll around in bed like a small child for several hours (in this case 48 -72 hours) and refuse to do the very things I'm supposed to do.. like eat or move around. Wes shared with others that I have a pain tolerance of a snowflake -- this is true. He also said that he has given my recovery performance a solid C-. I refute that claim and argue that at the very least it was a C.

What have I learned from this experience?

Wes is a great caregiver! He gives me exactly what I need, but then no more! Wes giveth and Wes taketh away! Why is this positive? Because if Wes let me, I'd probably whine forever! ;)

What has Wes learned from this experience?

If I ever experience a major illness/injury, he probably needs to call in backup.

Provided below is a beloved picture of me shortly following the surgery. That stuffed animal beside me is Funny Bunny. He's been with me since age 3, when I had my tonsils out. Since then, Funny Bunny and I have been through thick and thin! As you can tell, he's seen better days... and so have I. Ouch.

Time Travel and Foot Care

2009-08-25T22:31:00.010-04:00

I seemed to have momentarily misplaced my Man Card this past weekend. I did some very un-masculine things. By the end of the weekend, I felt like I should be the one shopping for wedding dresses instead of Kaylyn. It all started when I agreed to take Kaylyn to the cinema on Friday night. The movie: "The Time Travelers Wife." Much to my chagrin, this movie did not start Michael J. Fox. There were no Delorean's, no flux capacitor. No such luck. Here's the official synopsis of the film:

Clare has been in love with Henry her entire life. She believes they are destined to be together, even though she never knows when they will be separated: Henry is a time traveler--cursed with a rare genetic anomaly that causes him to live his life on a shifting timeline, skipping back and forth through his lifespan with no control. Despite the fact that Henry's travels force them apart with no warning, Clare desperately tries to build a life with her one true love.

Trust me, the movie was even worse than the synopsis. I should have known something was amiss when I glanced around the theater and noticed that a significant lack of testosterone. The theater was full of women with nary another man to be found. After suffering through this 107 minute audio/visual castration, I'm not sure I continue to deserve to pee while standing up.

This was not a good movie. I give it two thumbs down and one foot to the groin. If only I could travel back in time to when we decided to purchase the tickets to this chick flick, many mistakes could have been avoided. I could have saved myself from being infected by all the estrogen swirling around the theater that I directly blame for my next, far more embarrassing mistake...

The next day, Kaylyn and I are running errands and trying not to discuss time traveling husbands. I need to take my car in for an oil change, tire rotation, and transmission flush. You know, manly stuff. We had about an hour to kill. Kaylyn decided to get her toe nails done at a nail salon across the street. I figured I would just sit outside. Before I realize what's going on, some Viet Cong lady is cutting my toe nails! It must have been all the sugar and spice and every thing nice from the previous night's movie, because I swear to Oprah that I would never do anything like this while in the right state of mind. I as receiving my first pedicure.

I was a nervous wreck. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to say "no toenail polish" in Vietnamese. I thought about the scene in "A Scent of a Woman" where Al Pacino's character shouts "If I were the man I was five years ago, I'd take a FLAMETHROWER to this place!" Who am I kidding? I wasn't the man I was 18 hours ago before I was brainwashed by the chick flick. I was ashamed to be getting a pedicure, but I secretly enjoyed it. Tokyo Rose could have skipped all the sanding, trimming, and construction work and gone straight to the ankle and foot massage! Oh my.

But, still I worried. First a girlie movie, then a pedicure. It's a slippery slope. What was next? A Brazilian wax? I was determined to put a stop to this before I became Chaz Bono. So, I went to youtube.com and ran a simple search for "ric flair" and just like that, the she-demons that had possessed me were exorcised - once again proving there is no better cure for sissies than The Natureboy. Woo!

Let my people go... rafting!

2009-08-13T21:44:00.015-04:00

Last weekend, the future brother-in-laws visited Atlanta. I was excited for their visit, but Kaylyn could barely contain herself. I thought she was just thrilled to see her beloved brothers. I soon learned she viewed them as something more: free manual labor. Like Pharaoh of old, Kaylyn cracked the whip and put her little Israelites to work rearranging her office. Yes, the same office where she does whatever it is that she does. Apparently, one of her job duties is to recruit family members to drive 4 hours and provide slave labor. I'm not sure how many pyramids she made them build or how many boxes of T.A.G. paraphernalia they moved, but by the time I met up with them at ESPN Zone, both Carter and H looked exhausted. This may explain why I was able to thoroughly dominate race car game in the ESPN Zone arcade.

The following morning we woke up before the crack of dawn to drive to Tennessee. There, we attempted to tame the wild beast of the Ocoee River rapids. As we climbed into the raft, Kaylyn mentioned that this was like Gilligan's three hour tour. However, I thought the raft reminded me more of Edmund Fitzgerald and not the SS Minnow. It was quickly obvious that one if not all of us would drown that day. The very first set of Class 4 rapids caused a chain reaction of minor disasters. Apparently, we leaned the wrong way and that cruel mistress gravity got the best of us. I fell into Kaylyn, sending her over the side. H tumbled into Carter, knocking him over. Our guide was knocked down and we were rudderless. This all happened in slow motion. Somewhere in the distance, I thought I heard Gordon Lightfoot singing, "fellas, it's been good to know ya." Luckily for us, the river rat paparazzi was on hand to snap some pictures.

In the end, we learned a valuable lesson on buoyancy. We made it through the next couple of miles without serious incident. We had a lot of fun, but Carter and H missed their opportunity to float away to freedom. Alas, the river did not part for them like the Red Sea. Kaylyn will be in Charlotte visiting them the weekend. I'm sure she'll have a list of chores for them like washing her car or making bricks out of straw and Egyptian clay.

Invitations, Dresses & Gift Registry = Weekend of Fun.

2009-08-13T14:02:00.002-04:00

In approximately 3 hours and counting, I will be on my way to Charlotte for my first full weekend of wedding planning fun! I'm hopeful that this time around I will not have a panic attack as I did when registering for gifts. What a terribly overwhelming process!

I think I totally ruined Wes' dreams of using a registry gun when I exclaimed that it will probably be easier for me to add and delete items online versus in the store.

Which brings me to..

Men should have their own registry! They should feel free to register for power tools, weapons and electronic toys. That way they can have their own personal fun without making me panic about what brand of non-stick pans I'd like, because I don't know. I can panic on my own and they can giggle with glee about their personalized registry.

Afterall, how many men do you know that actually gets excited about ordering everyday dinnerware and flatware?

WHAT?!? NERVE DAMAGE?

2009-08-12T10:56:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I was seen by my oral surgeon for a consult on having my wisdom teeth extracted.

Great news! I only have two! No clue where the other two are! Hurray!

HOLY CRAP news! The roots of my lower wisdom tooth is inconveniently piercing TWO of my nerves. Which means... I have about a 20% chance of temporary or permanent NERVE DAMAGE.

You should have seen the look on my face. . .

I'm now less concerned with the patient out-of-pocket expense and more concerned with the fact that I may have issues drinking or eating or talking or simply feeling NORMAL.

Will Wes stick around with a wife who has a numb lower, left lip?

Artistic Rendition of Kaylyn's Wisdom Teeth

2009-08-06T10:07:00.003-04:00

I'm Growing A "Tusk"

2009-08-05T15:25:00.002-04:00

Or more accurately.. wisdom teeth.

This morning, my new, trusty dentist confirmed that I have at least two (maybe three) wisdom teeth that need to be removed.. and fast. One is already poking through. I've tried pushing it back, but, alas, my efforts have been in vain.

I'm a little concerned that the removal of my wisdom teeth will tamper with pending engagement pictures. Chipmunk cheeks are not very flattering.

Sigh.

Kaylyn Could be a Terrorist

2009-07-31T10:41:00.023-04:00

I haven't seen Kaylyn in nearly a week. I guess we're still engaged. Five days without seeing each other may not seem unusual except for the fact that we only live about four miles away from each other. She's been extremely busy at work. I'll take her word for it, because I still don't really know what she does. I know her job title, where she works, and the people she works with, but I have no idea what she or her company does or offers. She's explained it to me numerous times. I still don't get it. I would not be the least bit surprised to learn that all her "meetings" and "lobbying" she does is just a cover. The Technology Association of Georgia ("T.A.G.") could easily be an elaborate front company an international munitions smuggling operation. Plus, it has an acronym like a company run by a James Bond villain.

Anyway, she's had a really busy week. Obviously, I have not. The two main appointments I had this week canceled at the last minute, leaving me with plenty of downtime to 1) scribble my name repeatedly on legal pads, 2) "research" fantasy football, and 3) become suspicious about the mysterious secret life that my future wife is leading as an arms dealer. Maybe I've watched "True Lies" too my times on cable recently. I guess in my dream world, Kaylyn plays the Schwarzenegger role and I'm the Jamie-Lee Curtis character. Or, better yet, maybe "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is a more apt comparison.* Maybe I don't know Kaylyn as well as I should. I know she likes English lab puppies, Earth, Wind & Fire songs, and cheese. Maybe I should add terrorism.

Sorry, I may have gotten a bit off-topic here. Now, it's Friday. The week is over for the busy and the un-busy alike. We are leaving Atlanta to head to Jesup for the weekend. This will be my first ever trip to the County of Wayne with a fiancee in tow. We've got a big Jesup weekend planned. Multiple trips to Wal-Mart are anticipated. We also plan on going to Darien to eat massive quantities of crab legs.

*the movie that makes Jennifer Aniston break household items every time it is shown on HBO.

Wuv. Tru wuv.

2009-07-30T13:14:00.002-04:00

“Mawage. Mawage is wot bwings us togeder tooday. Mawage, that bwessed awangment, that dweam wifin a dweam...”

Happiness is a Warm Registry Gun

2009-07-26T02:12:00.004-04:00

Well, today it started. We opened our gift registries. We have spent most of the day at Lenox Square mall, Target, and Bed, Bath & Beyond. I’ll admit, I was really looking forward to this. It wasn’t long before all the joy was sucked out of the day. Neither Kaylyn nor I have any idea how to do this. We were both a bit overwhelmed. Keep in mind that several nights a week, I still eat off of paper plates with plastic sporks, so I wasn’t much help to Kaylyn as she tried to decided whether we need a non-stick bundt pan or a stainless steel colander.

However, once we arrived at Target and I had the scanner gun in my hand, I became the Billy the Kid of gunslingers. I was just a wee bit trigger happy. I shot everything in sight. It was like the last time I played paintball: just keep squeezing the trigger until someone else shoots you in the face.

We’re sure to be making plenty of additions and subtractions from our gift registry list. I was no where near as methodical as Kaylyn. If it caught my eye, the item soon had a red scanning laser pointed at it. So, we probably don’t need the magazines and candy that I scanned during my shooting spree.

After a very long day of shootin’ and registerin’ we came back to my apartment so Kaylyn could regroup and re-strategize for our next trip to the mall. We definitely needed a better battle plan. The haphazard “shoot first and ask questions later” approach may not be the best. So, while she maps out a flowchart for the next round of wishful shopping, I sat down to design our website.

Earlier this week, I created wedding websites at The Knot, eWedding, WeddingWindow, MyWedding, Prenup.org and every other website I could find on the web. For one reason or another, I was dissatisfied. Finally, Kaylyn and I decided to just build our own. So, after several hours banging away on my Macbook, here it is, www.wesandkaylyn.com. It was much more time consuming than I thought, but I’ve had fun designing it from scratch.

As you can see, we have our own domain name, blog, photo albums. We even may record a podcast or video blog. Not only will this site provide information about the wedding day, but we intend for this website to be dynamic and ever-changing. We plan to update it as often by sharing our lives with you as march towards May 15, 2010. And, of course, we want it to be interactive. Please feel free to leave comments here on the blog and/or the Guest Book.

Check back soon for more,

Wes