My New Hobby

This year I have been on a search for a new hobby. So I have been trying to make some tasty home brewed beer. It took some time but the 5 gallons of golden beer was well worth it. If you are in Atlanta, give me a call for some free beer! I have way too much. Below are some pictures of the process.

So I have noticed a trend in our blog. It has defiantly turned into "Paul and Erin's adventures and travels" blog. But, thats all we got going on until we have kids. I have defiantly seen the trend of all my friends and familys blogs going from no kids blog to nothing buy kids blog. But it may still be a few years before you see that switch in ours (who knows). So, sorry if you are getting board at looking at Paul and I's faces, but thats all we got! Case in point, we just got back from Destin, Florida. We celebrated our 4th anniversary there. It was beautiful. By far the best beach I have been to. White sand, crystal clear water and just amazing blue skies. It was so nice to celebrate. This seems like the first time we have done much of anything for our anniversary. Either we have been super broke, moving to Atlanta, or have been super broke. But not this year! We worked a little extra and then celebrated a little extra. Here are some pics!


Hanging out on the beach




We went para sailing! It was awesome and little scary (hence the no smiles in this picture)








This just looks like a Corona ad to me!




I buried Paul in the sand!




This crab popped out of the sand while we were building a sand castle




Pauls new Chacos

My New Toy

I got a miniature JB Hunt 18 Wheeler at work. Now I just need some small boxes and pallets and I will be set.

Camping Trip to Cloudland National Park

Paul and I did a little camping trip to the northwest corner of Georgia. We went two of our good friends Justin and Kim. It was a good trip while it lasted. We drove Saturday and had good time hiking around, cooking and just hanging out. Then we turned in for the night and Riley somehow pushed her little nose in between the zippers of out tent door and at 2am and busted out along with Bailey. So Paul and I had to jump out of bed and try and chase them around our campsite without waking up anyone else (there were 70 campsites where we were at and all full!)or for that matter scaring the crap out of someone! We finally lured both them in with some food after about 30 minutes. Then we woke up at about 8am with it just dumping rain. So we just decided to pack it all up and come home. And good thing we did because it is still raining! We were there for all of 17 hours but had a good times. Here are some shots from Paul.


Strike a pose!


Kim and Erin


Cloudland Canyon


Cloudland Canyon


Justin, Kim, Erin and Paul


A pretty nature picture


Hanging out by the campfire


Paul's sexy crocs


Some more campfire action!






We have bad little puppies, but they look cute here :)

Sex and the City movie!

All this time I thought it was just rumors that a "Sex in the City" movie was going to be released. But, sure enough it is on May 30th! I am so excited. It is defiantly one of my favorite shows (as I know it is everyone else's as well). Here is the official website with the full trailer if any of you are interested (Don't pretend like you aren't)! I can't wait.

Erin

http://www.sexandthecitymovie.com/

My Birthday!

I am now the big 25! To celebrate Paul and I and some good friends went out for an amazing dinner in Midtown at a restaurant called Two Urban Licks. I think it is now my favorite place in town. After dinner we went to a comedy club. We had never been to a comedy club before. The one we heard good things about was about 20 minutes outside Atlanta. Least to say it was a change in scenery. It went from uber (Brittany loves when I say uber) urban-chic in Atlanta to white trash 70's Victorian decor in Roswell. And once I saw the dress codes rules, it confirmed that I had left the city. I have to say, Paul and I are very much Atlanta dwellers and don't leave the city limits often. The comedian we saw was Craig Gass. He defiantly got some good laughs out of me. I had never heard of him but turns out I had seen him in Sex and the City as I am sure many of you have. He was the guest-star boyfriend of Miranda while she was on Weight Watchers. He had a particular nickname I don't think I can put on the blog. But for those of you who may remember this episode, it was very funny. Anyways it was a fun night!

Paul and I at dinner


Joanna and Errol


Kim and Justin


The sweet dress code at the comedy club


This was how close we were to the stage! And thats me listening to a birthday message from Ryan Jones. Thanks Ryan!

The cousins were in town!

Paul's cousins, Daniel and Jill, drove out to Atlanta for a few days of their spring break. It was fun taking them around town. Here are some pictures:


Paul Daniel and Jill at the famous Varsity restaurant


Me and Jill in our sweet hats!


Paul likes hotdogs :)


Paul and I Piedmont Park


Daniel and Jill at Piedmont Park. Doesn't it look like they love each other :)

It's a Twister a Twister

As many of you have heard, we had a tornado come through Downtown Atlanta on Friday! Paul and I heard nothing about tornado warnings and had gone up north to do a little pre St. Patrick's Day celebration. We got home and noticed nothing. All we noticed was that it had rained a lot and that the dogs were really shook up. Went to bed and then got the flood of phone calls Saturday morning from many of you. The first was my aunt and she asked if we were ok. And I said, "Of course, we fine, why wouldn't we be?" And she went on to explain that a tornado went thought downtown. I was like "What?!?!?" I then proceeded to wake-up Paul and checked the internet and then decided to go look at the damage. Huge trees were ripped from the ground, glass shattered everywhere, power lines down, traffic lights just plain missing. It was and still is a mess and what is even crazier is that the heart of the damage is not even 2 miles from our house! No one was killed in the tornado and there were very few injuries. Praise God for that! Thank you all for your concern and know that we are well. Here are some crazy pictures of the damage!

Erin


This is the CNN center.


Here is a picture of the tornado touching down.






This the Omni hotel and this guy is crazy for getting so close to the edge!



These are the Cotton Mill lofts. They are awesome 100 year old industrial lofts that I always have wanted to move into. But, just got demolished.


This is a piece of the Georgia Dome that flew a mile into this light pole.

Africa Cribs

So while in Africa we did a little spoof on MTV Cribs to show all of you how Caitlin lives everyday. Enjoy!

Erin

My Trip to Africa!

Caitlin Brittany and I at Victoria Falls

Well, I have made it back to the states safely and am now back to everyday life (unfortunately). My trip was absolutely amazing. It was wonderful to catch up with Brittany and Caitlin and see and learn about the Zambian people, culture and way of life in Africa. Many of you have been asking about pictures. Here is a link to the photo album I created. It is a lot of pictures :) I won't be offended if you don't look through all 400 of them!

http://picasaweb.google.com/stroup.paul/AfricaTrip

Bungee Jumping!

Ok. So, I just figured out how to put video on our blog. Here is my bungee jump I did at Victoria Falls!

Congrats David and Joelle!

As many of you may know our good friends David and Joelle Turner have been expecting twin girls. Friday afternoon they had two healthy leap year babies. Congrats David and Joelle, Erin and I can't wait to meet Lyla and Pressley.
For more details check out their baby blog:
Turner TWIN'S Blog: They're Here!!!

Erin Update

I got an email update from Erin just wanted to pass it on to everyone. She will be back in Atlanta on Sunday Wahoo!

"I just got done bunjee jumping and just wanted to let you all know I made and am still alive to write this e-mail. It was amazing! But definatly crazy! I popped a bunch of little blood vessels in my face because it was so much force going head first! Anyways, just wanted to put you all at a little ease that I am alright. (I know some of you, Dad, were not huge fans about me doing it). Tomorrow I start the journey back home. 7 hour bus ride to Lusaka and the fly out on Saturday morning and home Sunday night. I love you all so much and can't wait to tell you all about my adventures in Africa.
(And there are plenty) Hugs and Kisses!
Erin"

-Paul

Capitalizing on the Fear of Recession has Hit a New Low!

Tiffany's is an Adult Establishment that I drive by on my way to work and there newest message board says “Recession Special - $5 Lunch”. If we were in a recession right now I hope you wouldn’t be thinking “I need to save some money, forget McDonalds, I’ll grab lunch at the strip club”.

Bailey's Hard Day

Bailey has really been missing his mom. He tried to poke his eye out today because he is so sad :(I don't know what happened I just went out to play with him and his eye was nasty.

Erin made it to Zambia!

Erin was trying to email this out to everyone but something was wrong with her internet in Zambia(who would have thought).
"Greeting to all my friends and family from Zambia!
After a few looong flights Brittany and I have made to Zambia with
very little headache. We luckily (long story) found each other
in Heathrow Airport in London and then had a ton of fun riding the
underground and exploring London during our layover. The only bad
thing was that neither of us thought to bring a coat and it freezing
there! But it fun to get out and kill time before our flight to
Zambia. Once arriving here we got our visas with no issues and are now
just hanging out and enjoying the ride. Just wanted to let you all
know that I made it safe and sound and can't wait to tell you all more
when I get back.

Love,

Erin"

Trip to North Carolina!

Paul and I took a little weekend getaway 2 weekends ago to North Carolina since we knew we would have 4 weeks away from one another :( Asheville was a great little town with fun shops and restaurants and lots of hippies! Paul and I ate lots and lots of food, went hiking and even got a couples massage. It was a ton of fun. Paul is now in Dallas and I leave on Thursday to Zambia!