Durango Trip

Erin and I made a trip out to lovely Durango. We haven't been out there in over a year so we were very excited to get out there. We tried to hit up everything that we were missing from good old DGO. Here are a few picture from our trip.




















Erin and I at our Pirate Party Arrr!
















Ashley, Mark and I at the starting line of the Imogene Pass Run
















Erin getting into character after a few pirate-mojitos!






















Erin and Sage smiling for a picture. She's so cute (Erin that is).

We have moved again!

Are you surprised?!?! You shouldn't be. It is only Paul and I's 6th move since we got married 3 years ago. We have moved into a fun neighborhood called "Berkley Park" http://www.berkeleypark.org/in which we hope to buy into next year. We are literally smack in the middle of Atlanta in the Industrial district. We love it and so do the dogs. They now have a big backyard to run around and explore and we now have more then one closet! yeah. The one down fall to this house that I discovered on Monday morning is that there is no outlet in the bathroom! Grrr. I now have to blow dry my hair in our living room. But, that is what you get when a house was built in 1920. We still have an extra bedroom and we would love for any of you to come and stay. Here is our new address in case any of you should need it:

768 Antone St. NW

Atlanta, GA 30318

Take Care,

Erin

The craziness of Michael Vick

I don't know how much everyone else is talking about Michael Vick, but here in Atlanta, that seems to be all the people are talking about. As I am sure most of you know, Michael Vick just plead guilty to raising and fighting dogs in his home. It crazy to me how much people just worship professional athletes. Many people, for some crazy reason assume that because someone is good at sports, that it makes them a good role model. Oh, what a wake up call. I just read an article that made me laugh. Angry fans, in protest to Vick, have begun to mail their Jerseys to Atlanta human societies for dogs to use as beds, toys and rags. Oh so funny. This is yet one more reason Paul and I don't watch or support and major athletic teams. If the world could take the amount of time they invest in major league sports and instead volunteered, worked, relaxed, exercised or spent some time with God, I think the world would be a better place. Yep, that is what I think. Oh, and did I mention that at the local Domestic Violence shelter in ATL, (where we sometimes volunteer) the kids room was donated by Michael Vick and so there is a huge painted portrait of him on the wall? What message is this sending to these kids? Ok. I feel better now :)

Atlanta's little Chinatown

I am sorry it has been so long since we have written. We have not been up to very much lately. Paul and I ventured out this weekend to see a part of Atlanta we had yet to visit, the little Chinese district of Atlanta. I was amazed at this little part of town. Everything was written in Chinese. The hot, humid air and smells defiantly took me back to Asia. We drove around trying to decide where to eat. We finally picked this old little strip mall with some awesome Chinese food. We even tried duck for the first time. It was a good time. And is about it for now! And I couldn't really find any pictures, so here is a picture of Miss. Chinatown Atlanta for your viewing pleasure.

The Georgia Aquarium

So if you ever make it out to Atlanta you have to visit the Georgia Aquarium. Erin and I went out there yesterday with the Kuypers who were out for a book expo. I have heard great things about the aquaruim and Erin and I finally got a good reason to go visit. It was awesome! I am kind of a fish nerd so maybe my view is bias but you will have to come see it for yourself. I put a couple pictures on my flickr account if you want to check it out. This picture below is from the 5 million gallon ocean tank. The viewing window is 25' by 60' so it like being in the ocean.
-Paul

Trip to Africa!

Well, I have decided to pick and go to Africa. My good friend, Caitlin Clarkson has been serving in the Peace Core in Zambia, Africa. And I figured now was the time, more then ever to get a little taste of Africa. When else will I be able to live in a little village in Africa? And one of my oldest and bestest of friends is coming with, Miss Brittany Gray. We are going to have an awesome time. (Especially on the 30 hour flight. We will be able to catch up for lost time) It will be an experience for sure. The plan is to be over there for 2 weeks in February helping Caitlin with AIDS education as well as work at clinics and play and love on all the kids around her village. We will also do a little Safari trip and maybe bungee jumping ( I am still thinking about this) I have already started getting ready. I am now waiting on a copy of my marriage certificate to reapply for my passport. So, please start to keep both Brittany and I in your prayers as we prepare for this trip, as far as visas, passports, shots, saving for plane tickets and all of that fun stuff! I will keep in touch for sure! Only 6 months and counting!

Erin

KaBOOM Build

When you think of KaBOOM you probably think about the cheesy commercial with the infomercial guy that says “KaBoooM and you will never scrub again”. At Home Depot KaBOOM is a nonprofit that we build playground with. Over the last couple of months I have been working with KaBOOM to build a playground a couple miles from our house. It was a lot of fun and hard work. Everything went smoothly and we got the playground up in record time thanks to the 250 people that showed up! We also got a little motivation from Webster.
-Paul

Blood Mountain Trip

It seems like a 4th of July tradition for Erin and I to hike Blood Mountain. Blood Mountain is about 90 miles north of Atlanta. Last year we did it and really got a good taste of what balmy heat in GA is all about. We barely made it because we didn’t have enough water or snacks. This year we came prepared with a lot of water and snacks but it ended up being a really cool overcast day. It was a good chance for me to do some training for the Imogene run. We're both little sore today but it was a lot of fun. Erin and I finished the day off with some tubing down the Chestatee River and firework in downtown Decatur with some friends. Hope everyone had a good 4th.

-Paul

Another Road Trip

So I think Paul and I need to start a business offering to drive peoples cars all over the United States. We have come across some pretty sweet deals so far, especially this past weekend. A client of mine from my Pilates Studio heard about our little trip up to Boston a few months ago to pick a friends car and then asked if we would be interested in doing it again. So, we drove her Honda Element up to her beach house in Duxbury, Massachusetts and it return was able to hang out at this awesome beach house for 3 days! It was a cute little cottage overlooking the ocean with a hot tub and a sweet outdoor shower. Paul's brother Chris and Amy were also able to make it up with Micah. We had a blast sleeping in, hanging out on the beach and eating lots of lobster. It was a great weekend and we are crossing our fingers she will need us to come up there and pick up the car at the end of the summer. Here are a few of my favorite pictures.
Erin

I am glad I have Paul around to take cool pictures for me!

Ahhh, aren't we so romantic?
Not so much.
It was freezing cold and 4:45am!
But, a cool picture none the less.

The Stroup Fam hanging out on the beach!

Lobster is Yummy!

Imogene Pass Run

I am running in a 17 miles race in Durango this Fall. So I am writing a blog to track my training. Please come check it out and support my journey. Road to Imogene Pass

-Paul

It’s a small world after all

This past week Paul and I went out with one of his co-workers and his wife. At first, I thought it would be like the usual “co-worker dinner”, the boring dinner with the non-social industrial engineer type and the wife I have nothing in common with! However, this time it was different. Paul found a co-worker whom had also graduated from Ft. Lewis along with his wife. (Linked in is a cool little thing for all you business types that may not know about it) And they had just gotten back from their honeymoon from Thailand. I was really excited; I would actually be able to carry a conversation! So we decided to meet at this little Indian restaurant and just reminisce about college and Thailand and all that fun stuff. What was crazy though was as I was talking to Lucinda, I found out that she too did her internship at the Southwest Safehouse for college and then worked their part time as a relief counselor, the year before I had started. We talked about the house, the clients, the staff and the crazy things that happened in that house. (ie the lesbian group showers, doing meth on the kitchen table, you know all of those stories many of you heard!) This was awesome considering there are only a handful of people who have ever worked at the house let alone even know where the house is! It was crazy. Here we were sitting in a little Indian restaurant in Atlanta talking about the safehouse we both happened to work at in Durango. It is defiantly a small world and I am amazed of the connections I always find wherever I go.

It's been a year!

Well, we have now been in Atlanta for a year. This is very hard to believe. It is amazing how settled we feel and how much Atlanta is now home. A year ago I would have never told you this. It was a rough start at first. I still remember pulling into our first little apartment and opening the door to start to unload the trailer to find that the landlord turned off our electricity. It was 90 degrees and super humid and we were exhausted from the drive. All we wanted to do was lay on floor of an air conditioned apartment. Instead, we put on our headlamps while we unloaded the trailer and it was miserable. (we didn't get out electricity on for 3 days!) And this was just the start of bad luck as many of you know. The job I had lined up fell through the day I was to start, I got in a bad car accident and then to top it off, our landlord, 2 months into our lease, decided to claim bankruptcy and we were forced to move again with a few days.

Since those first few rocky months, God has been so good and has blessed us tremendously. We found a great little house in an awesome neighborhood, I have started my own business, we have gotten involved in a amazing church, have met some great friends and life is good! It is funny to see sometimes the path God takes you on to get somewhere. I wouldn't change our experience so far for anything.

We hope you are all well and we would love some visitors to our great city! We even have an air mattress for visitors :) Talk about luxury! Anyways, we love and miss you all and can't believe we have been gone for a year!

Erin

A little fact about Decatur and a funny story!

Being in a big city has been very interesting to both Paul and I. I think when we moved here we pictured very much conservative, white, southern city. We were clearly wrong in this prediction. We are the minority here. Atlanta is such a diverse city with so many different cultures and backgrounds. Last Friday night made us remember how different of a world we live from Durango. We wanted to go out for a drink. Everything was packed except for one little bar. So, we went and immediately realized we had walked in to a lesbian bar. There was a Melissa Etheridge sing-a-like on stage with all sorts of same sex couples. There was not a single man there. Talk about awkward. But, we had already had walked in and we clearly couldn't just walk out so, we held our heads high and sat a table with nothing but "Girls Coming Out" and "Pride" magazines everywhere. We ordered our drink and had a good time and had a huge laugh after leaving the bar. Decatur, the suburb of Atlanta we live in has one fact many of you may not know. Decatur has one of the highest percentage of gays in the entire US! We have neighbors in every directions whom are same sex couples. A nick name for the area is "Dick-Hater". Crazy huh? Here is a link to Wikipedia's explanation of Decatur. Just wanted to share a little bit of our new little world we live in down here in ATL!

Paul and Erin

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decatur,_Georgia

My webpage needs some love!

So I am getting a little nervous. I haven't really had anyone call me in a few weeks about planning their wedding. My hits have gone way down. So each of you should go there a couple times at random to help me move up from like 1,000,000 to like maybe 999,999 on google. I have recently put up some new testimonies if you would like to look at them. I am still really hoping and praying that this business will take of for me. Please lift it up to the Big Guy if you get a chance. I really feel as though it is a great and rewarding thing. Hope you are all well!
Love,
Erin
www.itsallinthedetailseventandweddingplanning.com

Going Green for Earth Day

So this year Home Depot has jumped on the Green Bandwagon along side everyone else. All of last week we had special meeting and free giveaways for green products. Some of the products were pretty cool. So Erin and I decided to celebrate Earth Day this year by buying some Compact Fluorescent Lamps (CFL) and a recycling bin.

It’s great to be an Aunt and Uncle!

So, we here are holding our new little nephew Micah. (This picture is kind of odd to me because it looks like he could totally be our little baby, but wouldn’t the 3 of us make a cute little family?)Paul and I had a lot of fun being able to hang out with the little guy. We got to see him at only 5 days old! We held him and squeezed him and loved him. And he smelt like new (I love that baby smell) It is crazy to Paul and I that our friends and family are having kids! We still feel like we are these high school kids just hanging out. Paul and I were also able to see a lot of the Yale campus (very cool) and drive all the way down the east coast during a noreaster! (not so fun) Anyways, it was a great little trip being able to spend time with family. It is hard to be so far away! And FYI….no we have not little bun in the oven nor do plan to in the near future. But, we will keep you posted ;) (I know you are all asking this question) -Erin

Our road trip to meet the latest Stroup!

First, let me say congratulations to Chris and Amy Stroup (Paul's brother and sister in law, for all of you who may not know them). Little Micah William Stroup was born on April 8th at 12:24am weighing 8lb 4 oz., 22 1/4 inches long. Paul and I are very excited to be first time aunt and uncle and are excited to see the little guy grow up. And isn't he too cute? A great opportunity came to us the past week to go and visit them in Connecticut. We are flying up to Boston in order to pick up a car for a friend and then driving it back to Atlanta. It should be quite the road trip all the way down the East Coast! We leave Thursday. We will be sure to tell you guys all about it when we get back.

Two down and hopefully a lot more to go!

My second wedding was this past weekend. Things went great. I had a little bit of an issue figuring out how to tap a keg (you would think I would have learned this going to Ft. Leisure) but, after like an hour of praying, I figured it out just in time for the first guests to arrive and enjoy a nice cold beer. The bride and groom had a great time hanging out with friends and family and dancing to the bluegrass band they hired. I am really enjoying wedding planning as a profession. I absolutely love being able to stand back and just watch a wedding unfold. It is great to see the bride and groom just so in love and watching friends and family gather around and celebrate. I really hope I can continue to do this for many more couples!

Pollen is a lot of fun

So the pollen level in Atlanta last week was at 5,937/m³. The American Academy of Allergies says a high level is 90/m³. The pollen is so bad that it is accumulating on windows. Some people in downtown Decatur have been drawing on shop windows. Here is an example of a drawing.
-Paul

Hilton Head South Carolina

So Paul and I went for a little spontaneous trip and it was so much fun. This weekend it was in the high 70s and we were itching to get out of the city. So, we drove to the beach! We drove all the way to South Carolina. There we rented cruisers and just rode along the beach until we found a quiet spot to sit back and relax. I didn't think I would become a big beach person being from the mountains, but I love it. It is so incredibly relaxing to just sit back, catch some sun, read a magazine and drink some margaritas! I wish we were even closer. We want to take whoever comes out to visit to the beach, so you should all plan on visiting us! We miss you all so so much and want to see you all. Hugs and Kisses -Erin

Name Twin 4...

Mark and Ashley Stroup:

Ashley Stroupe:
a NASA Robotics Operator
Mark Stroup:
A writer from PA

All the cool kids are doing it!

Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking when taking the office manager job at Studio Lotus. I went from working with a bunch of crazies to working with a bunch of crazies. Now the crazies I work with are obsessed with working out, taking supliments, eating only organic and constantly trying to reach their next fitness goal. Now this is cool and all, but not quite me. I like exercising but nothing like my co-workers. At least not until now. The new trendy workout is here! Russian Kettlebells! I absolutely love doing Kettlebells and if any of you have a chance at trying a class, do it! Here is a little article if you want to read more. This is what I will look like the next time you all see me! ha ha



http://www.stumptuous.com/cms/displayarticle.php?aid=132

Name Twin Part 3...

Ryan Waggoner and Alexis James:

Ryan Waggoner: Professional Poker Player who got 44th place in his last tournament. He is so good he doesnt have a photo. So hopefully the Ryan I know isn't a gambling addict and we just dont know it.

Alexis James: Model in the PA area.

Name Twin Part 2...

Chris and Amy Stroup:

Amy Stroup: Singer/songwriter from Nashville

Chris Stroup: A guy that girls from Great Falls High School really like. Check out the my space page if you dare! Link

Your Name Twin...

So after making Erin's webpage I was searching for her on google and found some other people that had the same name as her (Name Twin). So the next couple of posts I am going to search out who your name twin is. If you are one of my Blogger Buddies you will be featured on my blog with your name twin. Hopefully I can find good photo of both of you. Ryan Jones and Rachel Smith are going to be the best because I will have a lot of options. To start us off Ill put Erin and I up.

Erin and Paul

Paul Stroup: Certified Chef through the American Culinary

Erin Stroup: Experienced saxophonist and plays for the Sean J. Kennedy Quartet

Happy Arbor Day!

Yes, for all of you that don't know, yesterday was Arbor Day. As defined by the National Arbor Day Foundation, Arbor day is, "a nationally celebrated observance that encourages tree planting and tree care." Paul and I celebrated by planting trees in Atlanta's Freedom Park. And guess who sponosred it? Suprise, Suprise, Home Depot. It was freezing cold, but a good experience. So get out there and plant some trees! Happy Arbor Day to all!

Helping those in need

It has been very hard for me to not be doing social work. As much as I may have complained at the time of working at the safehouse, I greatly miss that job. Now that I am away from it and not able to find a job like that here in ATL, it makes me realize how blessed I was with that opportunity. More then anything, I miss all the kids running around. It was awesome to get up every Saturday morning and have time with the kids playing playing games, doing art projects or even just watching Saturday morning cartoons. This last Saturday morning, our small group was able to go and spend the morning with the kids of the Atlanta Union Mission. It was awesome. We were able to build model cars, airplanes and bird houses all donated by the Home Depot! It was so refreshing to just sit around the table with all the kids and talk about their lives and spend time with these children who are struggling. Can you imagine living in a shelter as a kid? Anyways, it was awesome for our group was yet another good reminder to all us our calling to serve those who are suffering and to get on our knees and praise God for all he does in our lives.
God is so faithful!
Love,
Erin

P.S Here is the link to the organization we worked with

www.aumcares.org/index.htm

I have been watching you?!

So all day I mess with graphs and billions of numbers and now when I get home I look at even more. I started using Google Analytics. Its a pretty cool website that will tracks how many hit you get and where they are from. It has been really useful for our website. It has helped us see what online marketing is actualy giving us hits.
-Paul

I am at a loss of words

Hmmm...What to say? What to say? Not much going on here. But, we will work on that. So, for the time being, you should look at out flikr pictures! Have a great day!

My first wedding

Well, my first job is over and I can't tell you how happy I am. I can now move forward knowing I have done this at least once before. The wedding went absolutely amazing. It could not have gone any better! Everything fell into place perfectly. It was a little stressful at first making sure all vendors where set-up and getting everyone down the aisle. After that it was smooth sailing. I am very very excited about this business and am excited for jobs to come. I got nothing but compliments and handed out like 20 cards. Here is a link to the photographer's web page with a few from the wedding. When he has more up, I will post them. Thank you all for thinking of me yesterday. God listened and really watched over my first gig. Love you all and miss you all.

Erin

David Christenseen Photography

The big day!

Well, tomorrow is it. Tomorrow is my first official wedding. Can I tell you how nervous I am?!?! Please keep me in your thoughts and prayers tomorrow. Hopefully I don't have to see any wrath of Mean Joe Green (the brides father)! YIKES. I will be sure to write on Sunday about the days events.

Erin

Keep Learning

So I have been out of college for over a year and I have found learning to be a key for life. Now that I don't have any professors forcing me to learn I can really learn. On my journey for knowledge I have found a couple helpful websites and Podcasts.
Websites -MITOpenCourseWare this site has all of the great classes that MIT offers for free. So if you want to be as smart as someone from MIT but don't the time or money just check out this site. Also on google video you can watch the Charlie Rose Show he has some really good interviews.
Podcast - I have been listen to a couple really good podcasts: Brain Food, Science Friday, Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders.
Well I am always on the search for other things to read or listen too so if you have anything to add to the list please comment.

-Paul

The Pet Industry!

So I am listening to some trashy morning show on my way to work when I hear the statistic that in 2006 we spent 40 billion dollars on our pets! This is craziness. Now, as most of you know we LOVE our puppies, they are our babies. But do we need to be spending 40 billion a year? My question was answered when I walked into our office one morning. (see picture above) Our dogs don't even use there 2 $100 kennels we purchased. Would they really care if they didn't get billions of dollars of pampering? What is wrong with a country that spends $40 billion on pets when we only gave $20 billion in foreign aid? As I said earlier, CRAZINESS! Just a little food for thought.

Wedding Planning

As many of you know, I have stated my own little business. (Isn't my business card pretty? Send all cuttos to Paul! He has been an amazing help to me!) For those of you who want to know more about this little venture, please check out my webpage. www.itsallinthedetailseventandweddingplanning.com For all of those who have been praying for me, thanks! I think it is working. God is so good and truly knows the desires of my heart. I now have 3 wedding in which I am coordinating all before April! I haven't even hit wedding season. I am so so excited to see where this will all take me. My first wedding will be on January 20th. The couple is so sweet and am excited to be working for them. Not to mention, the groom plays for the Seattle Mariners. Talk about maybe good references. Well, anyways, thank you to all of you that have had me in your thoughts and prayers. Much Love, Erin

Volunteering

We have made a promise to one another that we will volunteer at least once a month giving our time and talents. This month we volunteered at the toolbank with our small group. The toolbank is a non profit that helps to repair homes for elderly and low income families as well as distribute tools to other non profits to use for serive projects. Our job was to lay sheet rock for a woman whose house flooded because of a faulty ceiling. It was lots of fun but freezing cold. It was the coldest day in ATL in two years! We have become weak! But it was like 40 degrees. Here is the link to some of the pictures the director took. Not the best pictures ever!
http://www.toolbank.org/Programs/HomeRepairProgram/VolunteerPhotoAlbum/tabid/236/Default.aspx

Maybe You Should Blog?

toothpastefordinner.com

-Paul

The annual family Christmas picture!

Every year I try and get a picture of the four of us, and it just never works! But, I thought it was a funny try and thought you would all enjoy it




Here is the picture that made the final cut! MERRY CHRISTMAS. What do you all think of the decorated Fichus tree? We are trying to start a new trend