Random pictures

Not a whole lot has gone on in the past couple weeks, but I was able to snap a few pictures. Two weeks ago while Laura was out of town I made some fat burgers that were super juicy and delicious. I used ground chuck (good fat content) and mixed in some salt, pepper, and fresh garlic. I topped them with thick provolone cheese, chili, and sauteed onions. These burgers were fantastic.








Last night Laura and I went to downtown Roswell to get some dinner. This place is great because there are several very good restaurants. We tried a Cajun place called Roux last night and it was delicious. The shrimp and grits were great and the shrimp poboy also terrific. We got fried gator bites that were nice, but they needed to be larger chunks. Afterwards we walked around the area then headed into our new favorite bakery (Alpine Bakery is currently closed due to relocation), Kelly Cakes. There Laura got her favorite strawberry cupcake and I couldn't decide between lemon and peanut butter/chocolate, so I got both. All of them were, as usual, fantastic!

Last weekend I took a photography class that focused (pun intended) on using available light to get great pictures. The emphasis of the class was talking good pictures of people. I learned a lot and also got the courage to start shooting in all manual mode. Kind of scary, I know, but I'm quickly getting the hang of it.




Simply reducing the saturation of the image gives a cool feeling to the picture. Laura told me how to edit this one. It came out very nice.






Delicious strawberry cupcake. If anybody wants to visit Laura and me, we'll take you here. I promise!

Last days in Hawaii

So this is the last post of pictures from our Hawaiian vacation, unless I find more that I want to post. On our last day we were lucky to get a late checkout so we could spend the morning on the beach. Since our flight wasn't until 8:30, it was like a whole extra day of vacation.

The weather was beautiful again which to me was a sign from God telling us to come back. Ok, God. We'll come back. After a thoroughly relaxing morning we cleaned up and packed our bags and checked out of the hotel. Then we grabbed some lunch at Frederico's. This little mexican place was awesome! They had GREAT tacos! Wish there was a Frederico's in atlanta.

After lunch we went on a timeshare tour so we could start building up our starwood points for the next vacation! I had never been on a tour before so I was kind of curious as to how it all works. Before we went in, I was assigned the role of "Bad Cop". Basically my job was to piss on the timeshare parade. My kind of job!

The tour was very little about the actual facility and more about how you can use the points that you are actually buying to go anywhere you want. You see, you are not buying a week at a hawaiian villa, you are actually buying enough points each year to go to a hawaiian villa for a week. Get it? It's not too complicated I assure you. Once we had been there for 90 minutes I quickly put the kabash on the tour. I mean we had to go! We were not buying anything. The salesman then asked me, "If money weren't a consideration. Take money out of it. Would you be interested in the package??" I emphatically answered, "Yes! This is a wonderful package. Especially if we could get it for no money." That was his last ditch effort on the emotional sell. He gave up quickly.

On our way out we grabbed a couple complimentary cokes and hit the road for the south side of Kauai. Along the way we stopped at a nice beach to check out some people surfing on larger waves. They were much better than Laura and I. After that we ate dinner at the Olympic Cafe (not that great). At first I ordered a burger, but had to sent it back because there was mold on the bun. Nice. Instead I got fish and chips. Word of warning. Do NOT, I repeat do NOT eat an entire plate of fried fish and french fries dipped in vinegar and tartar sauce before you board an airplane for 11 hours.

just sayin.

Then we made it home! Here are some final pictures from our last day in Hawaii.


This is from Day 10, but I forgot to post it.


A paddle boarded goes out in Hanalei Bay


Frederico's tacos. So damn good.


Laura in front of the mountains of Kauai.

Summer Cookout

Had some friends over on Saturday for a barbecue. I decided a while ago that I wanted to make brisket and just needed some people over to try it. The cooking process started at 2 am Saturday morning when I woke up and started the grill. After seasoning the meat and letting the grill heat up I put the brisket, all 11 pounds of it, on the grill and I went back to bed. The whole cooking processes didn't end until around 4 that afternoon, and it was worth the wait.

For sides I made some guacamole and buffalo chicken dip, and Laura made some chocolate chip cookies which didn't make it through the weekend (they were awesome). All of the food combined with a substantial amount of beer made for an excellent time. Here are some pictures from the party.






The recipe said 8-12 pounds of brisket would serve 8-12 people. Well I got 11 pounds for 10 people..... It was way too much. I think it could have served 20 people. Actually we had it for lunch on Sunday, and I'm eating it for lunch all this week.








David and I accidentally wore the same clothes. This shit always happens to me.

Fourth of July

This Fourth of July weekend was awesome! The founding fathers had a lot of foresight to sign the Declaration of Independence in the summer knowing that that was the best time to celebrate. But seriously, we are so lucky to live in the greatest country ever invented. Americans are the smartest, most determined, hardest working, and creative species on the planet. It is that American spirit and the sacrifice so many people have given to make this country completely badass we celebrate on the 4th of July.

So here's how my Independence day went down. I woke up a little early and started trimming and seasoning up a couple racks of spare ribs. And in no time these slabs of meat were on the grill and cooking low and slow. The pig is so generous to share its tasty ribs and bacon with us. Thank you, pigs!


Here are the ribs with a delicious mustard moisturizer and chili powder rub.

While the ribs were cooking I made a pot of some American coffee of which the beans were prepared by Hawaiians (they count as Americans too). I relaxed and watched television for the next couple hours while I enjoyed my coffee.


This is my freedom chalice. One must get my permission to drink from this mug of liberty. (It was made in china)



By this time Laura had woken up and we decided to go for a walk. The weather was incredible! It had cooled down to the mid 80's from the mid 90's earlier in the week. After that I came home and started tending to the meat a little more. I was starting to get pretty hungry.

Around 3 the ribs were done. Laura's family joined us for the meal and a good time was had by all. The ribs didn't last long enough for seconds so I was proud. We also had beans, corn, and tater tots.





After the meal I slammed a couple beers and took a nap. Now what made this nap super patriotic was while I was dozing off I had the television set to baseball. Strategically I placed the remote control under my arm. If anybody wanted to change the channel because I wasn't "watching", the would have to pry the remote from my grasp. Doing this would cause me to wake up, thereby releasing a profanity laced tirade that would make Patton (God bless him) blush. Yeah, it was a great nap, and a great day.

Hawaii Day 10

This was our last full day in Hawaii, and by far the most beautiful day on Kauai. Early on in our Kauai stay we were a little discouraged by the weather, but this day reminded us of why we love this place so much.

I woke up pretty early for no reason, I just kind of opened my eyes. Seeing there was some sun peaking through the window I went over to see the sky. It was spotless! So I grabbed my camera and ran down to the pool in hopes of getting some good pool reflection shots. Last time I tried this, there was some dude swimming at 6:45. But I was getting there at 6:30. Anyway, I got lucky and the water was smooth as glass. Take a look!







I was very excited to get these pictures. Last time we were here Laura took this same picture in the evening and it was probably my favorite shot of our honeymoon. So I told her that I would try to match hers or beat her shot. I think we'll call it a tie.

I went back up to the room to report the good news of beautiful weather. I drank some coffee and we ate some muffins and headed down to the beach. While there we read our books and admired the scenery. I read about James Monroe our 5th president and an understated badass. If you don't know about him, you should learn.

While on the beach I decided to walk down the coast of Hanalei Bay to get some pictures while the tide was out and the water was calm. I hope you like these!




These picturesque mountains are normally covered in clouds.....but not today.


The tide was out exposing all of the dead coral. You can walk out on the coral (its already dead) pretty far, but I recommend some type of water shoe.




I believe the hotel owns this boat. It pretty much just sits there all day. We did see it in use two years ago for a wedding. The bride was sailed in on the boat. A little dramatic if you ask me.


I was lucky to catch this surfer going out for the day. He is tan as hell! Judging by his skin I would say he's in his early 50's. However, his skin is so leathery he might be 20.


You might be asking yourself. What is a grown man (or young man) doing surfing on a weekday? I'll tell you, he's not making money. There are very few industrious people on Kauai. One of the poolside servers told us, "You have to find your niche on Kauai." Translated that means, "You have to find somebody to pay you for your lack of meaningful skills on Kauai." Still, its a pretty good life to be able to enjoy the ocean on a week day and not worry about things.




I had to walk out in the water for this shot. As you can see, the water is remarkably calm when the tide is out. I think all of the coral serves as a barrier to the waves during this time.

A few more pictures to come! Cant believe it's taken me this long to post them.