Daniel Island and more...

Well friends, I must say that the expectation that life was going to slow down once we moved south was completely and utterly incorrect. Seems as though from the day the moving van came to our place in Chicago we've been going non-stop!!

I really had hoped that 8-5 would become regular working hours for me, not so much...it seems to be 8-8 on a regular basis. I wish I could say that's why they pay me the big bucks, but alas I cannot. Dave seems to be settling into his new job well. His first week traveling for work was last week and it was definitely strange to say good-bye that Tuesday. I had become so used to having him at home that I had forgotten the whole tough shell no fear of the boogie man costume. We survived the first week and now it's back to old hat.

One good thing about his upcoming travel is that he's going to have to go to Chicago for work which means I'll be coming back for a couple of weekends too!! I definitely am missing our friends and the diverse amount of ethnic food. Don't get me wrong, the seafood here is great but if you're looking for fabulous Indian or Mediterranean cuisine you've come to the wrong city.

We've found a wonderful church here downtown, Cathedral of St. John the Baptist. The neatest part about this church is it's old traditions. A lot of the prayers are still said in Latin which to me is really neat. The residents here in Charleston also get really dressed up for church, you'll even see women wearing fancy hats! In 2 weeks we're signed up to for the once a year "Crypt to Catwalk" tour. We get to go all the way up to the bell tower and down to the crypt (Bishop's Cemetery). Totally excited about this and will be sure to take lots of pictures and PROMPTLY update the blog!!

I've also joined a softball team here. It has been so much fun!! It's slow pitch which is different for me because I'm used to fast pitch but I'm thoroughly enjoying doing something outside of work and making friends outside of work! Dave hasn't been to a game yet - I'm too nervous to have him watch me play. It's like the piano, it took MONTHS for me to play in front of him. I'm to anxious about making a mistake!

Now for the fun part...picutres! I'm not going to lie, we haven't carried the camera around like Japanese tourists...though Dave wanted to...so we're missing some pictures of our exciting outing to the PGA Tour that took place on the island last weekend (should have because we got skybox seats on the 18th hole!) and pictures of me playing softball but I'm sure you'll enjoy!

Big move out - September 9th & 10th. Seriously...how did we amass so much stuff?!?!
Good by stuff...see you in South Carolina!!
Lucky for us, we were the last customer packed into the truck therefore the first customer unpacked!

Welcome to Daniel Island...hope you didn't bring the Chicago rats...this is the home of the cockroaches...aka Palmetto bugs!
Our apartment has 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a dining room which since conveniently enough we don't have a dining room table has now become my piano room!! View from our living room to the breakfast area and kitchen. Piano room is off to the right of the kitchen.
Based on this picture...the soon-to-be piano room...did I mention I hate unpacking boxes??
Seriously...a lot of stuff...Dave looks buried in our closet in boxes. I promise we have most of our stuff put away by now...
Look at all of this paper!?!? For us paper nerds, this is bleached paper. Those boxes are kraft paper (brown paper). The kraft paper is what the company we work for makes, we actually sell it to companies who turn it into container board for boxes.
Between the unpacking we managed to take a couple of detours...

Detour #1 - Atlanta
As Andrea would appreciate, we don't have any pictures of our fun evening with her. But we did get pictures with Jivas! He moved from Oak Park in July to get his Doctorate in Accounting at Emory. I miss my Indian cooking buddy!!!
Dave and Jivas with Dooley, the "mascot" of Emory.
Detour #2 - Fort Wayne

Dave's parents were in a bad car accident and we rushed home. Everyone is out of the hospital and doing good. It was definitely scary and quickly taught us what really matters in life. Not that I wasn't before, but I have become a HUGE advocate of seat-belts in the back seat. Though we had to rush home, we took advantage of some time with our nephew Oliver and our other nephew and niece Avery and Spencer.

We took Oliver to the pumpkin patch where he got to pick out his Halloween pumpkin. Man those things are heavy...

My latest project has been our terrace. For one, it's HUGE but secondly, I absolutely love gardening!

When we were in Fort Wayne, my dad sent us home with some of the plants that wouldn't make it through the winter there. After my softball game I spent a lot of time trying to make sure it climbed up the post alright. It looks AMAZING on the terrace! I can't wait to see how big it gets by next spring.

Me and my gardening area that Dave helped create. Unfortunately even though we have had fantastic weather I haven't been able to spend much time in the garden.

This is the hibiscus that Dave saved for me last weekend. The landscapers are coming through the neighborhood and ripping out all of the "unseasonal" flowers and putting in pansies. Dave saved this hibiscus from it's fate...personally, I appreciated the thought and the five finger discount.
Isn't the space just awesome??!!??

That's all for tonight folks...I'm off to help Maria with her senior comp...man do I miss the good ole days!!!

Love,

Beth