lake martin meets copper

Our friends invited us a month ago on a last minute trip to their family home on Lake Martin. Um, Duh we are in!! Not only is their house gorgeous and soooo what I want to retire in, but Lake Martin is my favorite spot besides the beach. Also, there are rare occasions these days that The Mitchell's lake house is actually free on a weekend Chris is home. So we packed our bags and headed to the lake... with Copper in tow. He has horrible car anxiety so I never get to take him anywhere. I feel bad because he is almost one and hasn't really gotten to experience interaction with many people and animals outside of our home. So we decided to take the chance and pack him in the car with us.
Best decision, ever.
We got to the lake and The Mitchell's dog, Ringo was there. Ringo and Copper are bff. Luckily, Ringo has more energy than he knows what to do with so he could keep up with an excited little puppy. We went on a late night boat ride and Copper fell in love with the water. He wanted to stand with his paws drapped over the back of the boat the whole time. Even when his little legs got tired, he wouldn't rest for long before it was back up to the seat to let his ears flap in the wind. So weird coming from a dog who hates the car, or the window down. Saturday morning Chris and I had to drive over to Auburn for his brother's graduation from Building Science (Go Pat!). Right when we got into town, I received a picture message. It was a picture of Copper. Swimming. In the middle of the lake. I about died. It said that noone had even coerced him. He waded in and just started swimming... and that he was an excellent swimmer! I was two things: 1. so excited that I finally had a dog that enjoyed the water, swimming and playing fetch; and 2. A little sad that I missed his first swim. It's like missing your child's first steps!! :)
We hurried back to the lake around lunch so Chris could continue cooking his boston butt for dinner. The pups swam all day and we all just hung out and enjoyed each other's company. Sheri is back from Australia with her boyfriend, John, so we got to spend a lot of good convo time with them. I LOVE going there!!
Sunday, most people left early but a few of us stayed for Sunday Funday. We rode around on the boat all day, taking in the April tornado damage and drooling over massive, beautiful homes. After getting pizza from Chuck's Marina for lunch, we anchored at a little island to let the dogs cool off in the water. This weekend was Monkey See, Monkey Do for Copper and Ringo. Which I loved, because at the island, Ringo taught Copper the art of fetching sticks out in the lake. Copper slept the entire way home and went straight to bed when we got back. I think he literally slept for most of the next 3 days. I am so grateful for having wonderful friends, wonderful places to spend time together, and wonderful puppies!!!

Here are some pictures of the lake house (true life: I am obsessed) and our August trip to the lake!

There are only a few pictures of the lake house but you can get the idea of why I adore it so.

I just love this house. Everything about it. The floor to ceiling cedar walls, the green colored window panes & baseboards, & all the rustic decor in between.

And this cathedral arch sofa table? I melted the moment I saw it.

Check out this gorge master bathroom, would ya?

 This is one of the many guest rooms. But I wanted to share this amazing headboard.

The picture doesn't do it justice!

And here are some pictures of Copper the day he met the water...

Swimming out to meet Ringo and the stick.

 My precious pup is not so attractive when soaking wet...

but he couldn't care less about his looks at the moment!

Taking a break from paddling with the hubs.

I love love love him in his lifejacket. He obviously didn't need it, but he is somewhat on the lazier side of doghood so he enjoyed not having to work.

I could definitely get used to having this backdrop every evening. But I am thankful to have friends who will share it with us! Copper says thank you as well! :)



mista chris and jenny jen take jamaica

Chris and I forked up a lot of the money for our Oct. 2009 nuptials. Due to that and the fact that my career is in education, we decided to wait on our honeymoon and go when I didn't have to take sick days. So, July 2010 couldn't come soon enough! When it did arrive, we were off to Couples Tower Isle Resort in Ochos Rios, Jamaica. I knew that I was in for a pretty fun trip. Not only were we going somewhere tropical, which is where we are both happiest, but we are also a pretty vibrant and social couple so I knew we would wind up meeting a lot of folks and having a blast. This definitely happened.
Chris was a huge fan of the swim up bar, as was I because I could be in the shade, in the water, and around everyone else all at once. Chris loved it because it was a place for him to talk someone's ear off and have easy access to alcohol. If you know Chris, this does not come as a surprise...

Me reading Better Homes and Gardens at the swim up bar

As beautful as the beach was, I can't say we sat on it more than once. I was a bit obsessed with my lounge chair on the bluff, overlooking the water from an elevated spot. It gave me access to a nice breeze that would put me to sleep daily. Plus, it was pretty close to the soft-serve ice cream machine I would hit up daily (I will own this!) on my way to check emails and get some A/C during the heat of the day.
The staff at Tower Isle was amazing. So friendly, so helpful, and I loved that they remembered our names and would actually call us out for conversation when we would pass them in the lobby. Our fav bellhop, Byron, called us Mista Chris and Jenny Jen in a good, heavy Jamaican accent.

Here we are with Byron as we waited for the bus to pick us up and take us to the airport, headed home. :(

The Activities Coordinator, Michael, was one of our other favorites. An 18 year-old who had gone to school full time and spent every free hour working at Tower Isle for the last few years. Michael had great communication skills, excelent speech, was unbelievably athletic and looked like Usher, to beat. Chris gawked at him everyday, especially when he tried to get Chris to play volleyball. We are pretty sure Michael fit Barbie's body measurements, with the addition of a 6 pack and bulging biceps. Michael was finishing up his last summer at Tower Isle before heading to the states on a football scholarship to Iowa State. He wound up eating dinner with us a few nights and made Chris get on stage during Friday night's Beach party to do a traditional Jamaican dance.

Chris, an audience hog, then decided to breath fire.

We spent that evening dining with four couples we met the day we got to Tower Isle. They were all such friendly people. I loved that only one other couple was our age and the rest closer to our parents' age. It was nice to be able to enjoy the company of different generations- and it not seem out of the ordinary at all. Everyone is on the same page in Jamaica!

We went snorkeling one day- I didn't do too hot. I absolutely loved the sealife, but for some reason got a little queasy on the boat heading out, and something about the waves slapping me in the head while I tried not to panic while breathing into a tube. I lost my orientation, and then my breakfast. Not fun. So needless to say, I didn't dare try scubadiving.

The piano bar was a hit. I am a music fanatic and enjoyed singing along to songs I love and adore here in my home country. There was even had an Auburn/Alabama fight song rivalry at one point (can you acually go anywhere without this happening?!). We didn't get involved with that one.

             This devil is the Bob Marley. And I do believe it was the cause of what happened next...

                                                                         Yikes.

We went on the Catamaran cruise one evening and had a blast.

We visited all the restaurants once, but found ourselves wanting the buffet for the rest of the week. I wasn't up for long waits and slim menus. The buffets were wonderful and I could get whatever I wanted (and it was usually more along the lines of things I would normally eat- I am not a cultured diner and could live off of chicken and rice).

We had such a fabulous time and cannot wait to go back! Beautiful, isn't it?!

I was drinking a dirty banana in this pic. to.die.for.

The housing here was unbelievably poor. You have your extra wealthy but those homes are all in a secluded area. I love the looks of the architecture and colors, but from close up, these homes are nothing but shambles.

Gorgeous, right!? You can kind of see my little cliff that I loved by the pool in this picture (behind the far right palm tree)

This is where I took the best nap of my entire life. No joke.

Below is a picture of paradise the day we were going home. :(

Chris's favorite spot? Chattin' up some strangers in the swim up bar. Shocker? I didn't think so.

Conkshell man! He would paddle out every evening and come back with these amazing conk shells.

I just had to have one. Last day there, Chris gave in and bought me a shell and Conk man taught me how to make a foghorn sound out of it. At the time, cool. Now? The shell is a nice keepsake but doubtful that I will ever whistle out of it again.

It was such a fun trip and I am happy to have been able to spend it with hubs. I hated saying goodbye to Jamaica, but as Byron said, "It tis not goodbye, Jenny jen. But, until next time. Yea, mon."