Actually, I'll admit that I've already gotten a bit of a head start on the revelry. Two weeks ago, Kate and Matt, Meghan's siblings, came to Gainesville, and we got the chance to hang out and have fun for an entire week. Though it wasn't an extravagant weekend, we did make sure to go out and enjoy all that Gainesville had to offer (or at least some of it). Here are some pictures from their visit:
Day One: Matt and Kate arrived in Florida in the afternoon, so we didn't get to much that day. That night, however, we made it to Meghan's band's spring concert. We loved it; great time was had by all. Here's a pic of the jazz band performing in the cafeteria after the official program. I think they were playing something by Chuck Mangioni. I love me some Mangioni.
Day Two: On their first full day in Gainesville, Matt and Kate agreed to take a biking tour of the University of Florida. We rode from our house to campus (about 2 miles) and then all around the university including a stop in front of the stadium where Kate was sadly attacked by an alligator. These things happen. I must admit, the bike tour was actually really awesome. If I ever get to show someone UF again, it will be on a bicycle.
Each Night: Matt graduated about a week before arriving in Florida, so as a gift, Meghan and I made him a big cookbook full of a ton of different recipes (almost 100). He really dug the gift, which was great. As a kicker, we also told him that we'd pick two or three nights during their visit and cook some of the recipes together (our treat of course). We made such delightful meals as Italian Shrimp and Cherry Tomato Spaghetti, Mediterranean Tostadas, and Cuban Flank Steaks. All tremendous hits. Matt also proved to be a very able chef. If you're even in Indianapolis next year, make him cook you something.
Day Three (or something like that): One day, Matt, Kate, and I all traveled up to Alachua to hang with Meghan at her work. Work was stimulating; everyone was super engaged at all times, and we were all awake and ready to help with every activity. (Sarcasm aside, it was actually really great to watch Meghan do her thing; she's super good at being a band director. It's quite impressive. We also got to play some Guitar Hero at one point, which was sweet.)
Day Whatever: One afternoon was spent chilling by the pool (and as you can notice playing pool baseball -- one of my favorite games), which was great. Another night (I think it was a Saturday), we went to the Santa Fe Raider Regiment Band Banquet. We got to get dressed up, fed a nice meal (chicken, but it was good), and try to guess who was winning which award. Good times.The Matt & Kate visit was fantastic, and Meghan and I were super glad that they came. Only a few days later, we traveled down to Vero Beach and spent Memorial Day hanging with my family (including my sister, brother-in-law, and Grant) and helping my Mom and Dad reorganize one of the rooms in their house. Though I suffered from a small bout of what I think was food poisoning (Oysters Rockefeller are delicious, but I think they may have kicked my butt), the weekend was wonderful and relaxing. Meghan and I failed to take very many pictures of the weekend, but we did take some videos on her Flip Video Recorder. She doesn't have it right now, but I'll try to make another short post in a day or two with those videos so you can see the progress that we made and also how cool the Flip is.
Another post will probably happen in June. In a few weeks, Meghan and I are going on a cruise with her best friend from college, Megan, and her husband. There should be great pictures there. Also workcamp is slowly approaching for me. I'll make sure to get that documented too. June is going to be an AWESOME month.
Another post will probably happen in June. In a few weeks, Meghan and I are going on a cruise with her best friend from college, Megan, and her husband. There should be great pictures there. Also workcamp is slowly approaching for me. I'll make sure to get that documented too. June is going to be an AWESOME month.
