Superman

Our destination was Georgia as we began our journey, but we hadn't gotten far before we were sidetracked. Well...technically I was sidetracked, but since I was driving...






We stopped in Metropolis, Ill., where we posed with a very large Superman on the town square. But if you thought he was the only big guy in town, you'd be wrong.

We found our way to Cordele, despite our MapQuest directions, and hunted a few geocaches while we waited for David to get back from the airport. Well, I hunted while Jason sat in the car.

We had a baby!

PSYCH!

This weekend we went north to celebrate Easter with the Meneelys. We met the brand-new Hannah Rose Kerr. We got to hold her for a little bit after we wrestled her away from her grandma. We spent the rest of the time watching Marissa create characters for the Wii and adding our two cents to their development. My favorite Mii created - Fonzarelli.

Grown-up Easter egg hunt

Jason and I have a new hobby. We are geocachers. We use a handheld global positioning system, or GPS, to find locations that other geocachers have left boxes of trinkets to trade. It's kind of like a world-wide Easter egg hunt or maybe you could compare it to finding pirate booty hidden from prying eyes, or "mugglers" in geocache lingo.


For our first hunt, Jason and I went to Monkey Mountain Park and Preserve in Jackson County. We found the first one pretty easily. We had to walk farther for the second, but it was a quick find as well. Unfortunately, someone had left the lid off of it, and it was full of water. We tried to find a couple more, but we were getting tired...and Jason's a quitter...

Photography in Shelter Gardens

A couple of weeks ago Jason and I grabbed our cameras and headed to Shelter Gardens for a relaxing morning of photography. The weather was great, the flowers were in bloom and the squirrels were crazy. It was awesome! Check out the top 12 for Jason and Amanda. Oh, and head on over to Youtube for some crazy squirrel footage.

We love Pampered Chef

Grandma Schad gave Jason and me a lovely, safe-edge can opener that she bought at a Pampered Chef party. I was very excited to have it, but I knew Jason needed one at the duplex in Oak Grove, so I gave it to him. He called me later to say that he couldn't figure out how to work it, so he had given up and found other things to eat. When I went to visit, he showed me how hard it was to work by trying for another 30 or 45 minutes to get a can of tuna opened.



*This movie is for entertainment purposes only and does not represent the feelings of the family toward Pampered Chef or Grandma's thoughtful gift. Also, sorry for the odd angles; apparently shooting video is not as similar to still photos as I had thought.

Nothing says I'm yours forever like a ring tattoo.

Welcome Home/Wedding Wingding

Jason and I were blessed on March 28 when our friends and family gathered with us to celebrate our marriage and Jason's safe return from Kosovo.

People came from near and far to eat Buckingham's barbeque and visit. We had the Wii set up to play a slideshow of photos of me and Jason...and Flat Jason. After dinner, the Wii switched to games, which were very fun. We even had a dessert station where our guests could could decorate cupcakes and brownies that Jason baked.

Special thanks to Jamie, Dustin and my family, who helped set up the fun. And to everyone who helped take it down again.

We're with the band...

Eldon High School's amazing jazz band came to Columbia to play Mizzou Arena for the state basketball championships. If you didn't show, and I know you didn't unless your names are Mr. and Mrs. Davis or Mr. and Mrs. Stapp. you missed a good show. Did I mention my sister's in the band? The only way I could get near them to take photos is to say, "I'm with the band." Sheesh! Tight security.

Lauren had some down time, which she used to harrass Jason. I think he might have experienced some deja vu.

Date night

Jason and I recently checked out the new steakhouse off Broadway - Kobe Japanese Steakhouse.

I'd never been to a Japanese steakhouse before, but it was quite entertaining. Our chef was very funny. He saw us kiss and asked Jason if it was our first date. Jason said yes because it was very loud and he didn't hear the question correctly. So I laughed, said no and flashed the bling. The chef continued to give Jason a hard time as he made a heart out of the rice. He also made a fire volcano out of onions and threw shrimp pieces to people who wanted to try to catch them. (not me!) For dinner, Jason and I got chicken and steak. The portion sizes were huge, and we had plenty to take home, but the prices were a little high. Definitely a special occasion restaurant.

Library lunch

I took some time off from work to hang out with Jason during his first week back. We did lots of fun things, including go to the library.

Columbia has the best public library. The building is huge and has a cafe. It also has neat statues outside. The library is part of a regional library system, so if they don't have what you're looking for, more than likely they can get a copy of it from one of the other libraries.

We checked out some movies, audio books and a Nancy Drew mystery. We even packed our lunch to eat outside.

Toothbrush tiff

Jason hadn't been home long before he decided he needed a new toothbrush. I gave him a new one I had. The next night he mistakenly used mine. When I called him on it, he insisted that I was wrong...and kept insisting to make me mad, or so he says. It took a trip to Wal-Mart to end the "argument."

Welcome to the new blog!

As I welcome Jason home from Kosovo, I would like to welcome you to our new family blog. We've outgrown our old blog, A Year Together...Apart, so we moved. Here's hoping that you enjoy the antics of Real Jason as much as you enjoyed Flat Jason. And who knows? Your favorite flatness may make a special appearance or two. Stay tuned.