Water for Elephants

I have always loved reading. Though I will admit over the past few years, I have been lucky to read one or two books a year. When we went to Hawaii last Christmas, we spent a good amount of time lounging on the beach or by the pool, and I read about one book a day. We brought plenty of reading material with us, but apparently not nearly enough for 12 days. So, of all places to go shopping in Hawaii, we went to Barnes & Noble. That trip gave me the kick-start I needed, but then the next few months were shot to hell due to to busy season - I would start a book and then not get back to it for weeks, only to have forgotten what I previously read. So then I would either give up or start over, which is not very enjoyable.  Now that I have more free time with my new job, I've gotten back into reading (and finishing!) several books. Last week, I read Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen.

I've been trying to branch out and not read as many "chick-lit" books, so I was looking for something a little different this time. I typically do not read books that are so hyped up at the moment, as this book is. If something is "in" or "trendy" I tend to wait until the hype dies down before checking it out myself. I read several good reviews and kept hearing people say good things about this book so when I saw it on sale, I thought, what the heck. Turns out I really enjoyed it and it was a pretty fast read - it took me about a week. I also learned a lot about circus-lingo, something I certainly never thought I would be so interested in until I read this book. I don't think I will see the movie, unlike many other people I'm sure. I usually just end up disappointed since the books (in my opinion) are always so much better.

In an effort to find new and different books, I also joined a book club with a few friends. So far I have been a failure of a book club member. For our first book, I didn't even get halfway through it by our meeting and I haven't even started the next one yet. Honestly, I'm just not very good at being forced to read books by a certain deadline and then be able to remember enough detail to discuss it, but I'll keep trying. Thank goodness for cliffs notes or high school English classes would have been a disaster for me. Up next (hopefully!)... Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, by Jamie Ford.

Weekend in Gainesville

I spent last weekend in Gainesville, FL with friends from college. Alisha, her husband Tristan, and their son Mason live in San Diego, and they were in Gainesville for a while to visit her family. So those of us within driving distance went to see them! I came down from Atlanta and everyone else came from Jupiter, FL. Gainesville is about the same distance for all of us so it worked out pretty well. We spent all day Saturday at Alisha's parent's house, lounging by the pool and catching up over beers and margaritas. The weather was perfect and the company was even better. I really enjoyed hanging out with these lovely ladies:

Me, Alisha, Mason, Tara, Kelly and Brittany

And of course this handsome little guy:

Later that night we had dinner at Harry's and spent most of the evening at Rocky's (the old Alligator Rocks, for those of you who have been there) - it was a blast.

The whole gang at dinner

Lou and Dustin entertained themselves by using the song request sheets to "grade" girls as they walked in the door!

We saw a bachelorette party and even a proposal - though why on earth anyone would choose this location for either event was beyond us.  The guys helped her out with a few things on her list and we all got a good laugh out of it. 

Kelly did a much better job of taking pictures than I did (and she has an awesome camera!) - check out her post for more pics from the weekend: Gainesville Weekend :)

These girls are just a few years older than me, and their group of friends were like the big sisters I never had. I always have such a great time with them! We were all Chi Omegas at UF - Kelly was my sorority grand-big sister, and Tara was my Aunt, but Alisha and I barely knew each other. We kept in touch by going to several weddings, bachelorette parties, and UF football games and through group update emails. When she moved to San Diego and requested visitors, Bo and I immediately booked a trip to go. I'm so glad we did - we had a great time, lived to tell the story of our adventure in Mexico (not recommended!), and we really got to know her and Tristan that week. We love these two!

At our rehearsal dinner in 2009. This is the closest we've ever gotten to all four of us smiling :)

Sunday morning I met up with Kristin (another Chi O) and we took Molly and her dog, Bailey to the dog park. Kristin lives in Gainesville and it was so nice to hang out with her doing something non-football-or- tailgating-related for once. :)  It was Molly's first time at a dog park and I think it's fair to say she loved every second of it.

Check out her wingspan! Oh, those ears.

Bailey is a professional ball retriever and he did a good job of tolerating Molly's constant need to play. Molly was a professional mess-maker, and did a decent job of staying out of the path between Bailey and any ball.

It was a lot of fun, and she barely moved on the car ride home - she was wiped out. We will definitely be taking her to the dog park near home in Atlanta... whenever we are actually in town and have time to go, that is.

Sadly Bo couldn't join this weekend. He stayed in Atlanta for the 311/Sublime concert Saturday night (hello, high school) and to re-pay several of our friends by helping them move over the weekend. When we moved last year, his friends volunteered to help us before they realized just how much crap we have. It was long, hot and painful to say the least. And now we owe them all one move. As in, Bo owes them one move. Clearly I am not as good of a friend, since I high-tailed it to Gainesville and figured it was the perfect excuse to not have to help out. Without a doubt, I made the right decision :)