So. For a Saturday - today was quite good. We woke up, had breakfast (eggs & crescents!) and then even went and ran approx. 3 miles outside. THEN we took a nap, woke up and made our way to IKEA - which by the way, since I85/75 is practically closed this weekend, took FOREVER - relatively speaking. BUT! Then we got there and everything was awesome. We went to check out the beds (since ours sucks!) but decided that we were hungry (aren’t we always?) and so we went and ate some IKEA Swedish food - well… you know.

We like to park underground because then this thing looks like a big yellow… entrance.

Exactly 15 meatballs just like it says on the sign.

Yup. Ikea is a boring place and we never have a good time there - right! Actually, we were VERY happy to learn of this IKEA when we moved here from Phoenix - because we always had a great time at the one in Phoenix and well… we’re also always in need of some cheap furniture that can be put together with only a single allen wrench!

Leah picked up Brandy and two others at the airport last night and then drove them to Decatur for dinner. Our first choice was the Brick Store Pub - but it was Friday night and damn, we just weren’t up for waiting 45 minutes - so… we walked across the square and since they were in the mood for thai food, we stopped at Siam (which is alright Americanized thai food - however, they could at least turn up the heat a few notches - I asked for my red curry chicken to be spicy… I got taco bell mild.)

Still, dinner was good and it’s always nice to talk and have some conversation with visitors from Phoenix.

We did pass by where I think Wordsmith’s Books is moving to (?) on the corner of the square and last night they had a ummm… Harry Potter Gathering… well, actually it was a performance by these two - a Wizard Rock-Super-Group named Accio Bodyguard. Which may reference something HP but having never read ANY of the books - I have no idea - but it was still nice to witness geeky fandom happening.

When I got to my car after dinner - I thought about going back and sitting in on the group - but then I realized… I’m into geeky fandoms - but I’m just not… I’ve never read ANY of the books so I can’t really justify this. Plus - it was close to the end of their show anyways. So I went home and did homework.

AND I talked to some people in China. Thanks to our friend MelissaMaples.com who let us know about LiveMocha.com - a language learning website with the skype/myspace communication component thrown in - we signed up and people from China have been adding us as friends - well last night I ‘typed’ for a while with two guys, one living in Wuxi just north of Shanghai, and the other just north of Hong Kong - I need a headset/mic so that it’s not just typing and I can actually learn how to speak mandarin - of course… I need to go through the actual lessons they have and get some basics brushed up and learned. But still… it sounds promising - like everything else, it’ll just take the time to do the stuff. Obviously, we’ll see.

Leah made an awesome pizza the other night. See?

And now - my newest favorite show is coming back on for the 2nd season on July 10th - Burn Notice.

It’s so awesomely great - like a summer paperback - what other show has spies, guns, spies, and actually TEACHES you stuff - like how to build bombs, tactics, AND it has Bruce Campbell - From Evil Dead I, Evil Dead II, Army of Darkness - AND the Adventures of Brisco County Junior! (And also Spiderman I) - And ANY show that has him just has to rock ya know?But I really do learn so much from this show - much more than I ever learned from Sesame Street.

They have answers to questions like:

How do I break out of prison, in say, Turkmenistan?

It’s Saturday and we’re checking out IKEA because there’s never a bad time to check out IKEA.

So - we’re starting to get the hang of this wedding planning thang. Yes, thang. Shut up.

What has been done thus far?

1. Wedding date/location set
2. Invite List (five or so versions!) created and sent to parents for review
3. Extensive (and I do mean extensive) vendor research
4. Maid of Honor, Bridesmaid, Best Man, Groomsman - asked and accepted
5. Dress shopping adventure #1
6. Budget spreadsheet created
7. Various price quotes for DJs, Flowers, Photographers, Coordinators, Food, etc. requested and filed in “Wedding Stuff” folder on desktop for easy reference.
8. Ceremony research, discussions with (hopefully probable) officiant underway

What still needs to be done? Oh… that would be a much longer list. But the immediate next steps are:

1. Meet with parents to finalize budget
2. Book photographer
3. Hopefully book a day-of coordinator (budget permitting)
4. Schedule catering and cake tastings! (most fun to-do item)
5. Find and book a DJ
6. Find and order a dress

We also have some other special people in our lives that we hope will do a reading and/or somehow be involved in the ceremony. I didn’t want a big wedding party, but I do want my super all-time bestest buds to participate in the wedding however they would like, because it’s not just about me and Mark…we want to celebrate all the love we have around us, too!

So we need to spend some more time thinking about the ceremony and not just the reception. After all, we are sort of getting married, not just throwing a big party. Haha.

Whoa. It’s slowly been getting warmer and warmer here in Atlanta. We’re moving to our new apartment in Inman Park in about a month and we just can’t wait! The place is great but the location is even more fun. Especially after growing up deep in the suburbs of west Phoenix - we’re talking 91st ave when it was the edge of town and to the west was corn fields as far as you could see.

I really like living here in Atlanta. Like a lot. So much that I’ll use like in three sentences in a row.

It’s been even more fun since I/we actually started being more social and hanging out the yelp crowd - just like I like it - many acquaintances with no commitment so none of that being obligated to friends (that’s just me - Leah’s on the waaaaay other side of the spectrum.) So it’s awesome. Plus - they like food. Plus - they LOVE bacon.

*****Warning: Nerd Topic Approaching!!!*****

Even though I was never really all that great at it - I kind of miss cosplaying. (Note: my cosplaying pretty much consisted of choosing a character that doesn’t wear a shirt and was some variation of a warrior/fighter/monster/samurai - so it was always relatively easy - not like our famous-top-secret-ex-cosplay-still-current-friends who totally rocked more than your face!) I am really considering going to THIS and actually cosplaying - I’ll probably just start out easy and do an updated variation of my generic samurai - really, this mostly just entails me getting back into shape. But come on - almost four months of time? It’s a lock. Especially if I continue with the CrossFit workouts + diet.

And now that I just spoke of working out: Cupcakes!

Leah got me these for my birthday back in March. Yes. They were as great as they look - only slightly better - as you can see we couldn’t even wait to take a picture before tearing into them.

Oh. That watermelon up top? We’ve kept it in the refrigerator and it’s seriously just F’in awesome on a hot day. Slice by slice I just cut into when I get back from the gym and it’s better than anything. Well, not better than ice cream but obviously that would defeat everything.

Almost Friday.

I saw these the other day on my commute to work - I’m a sucker for advertising that I like. Yes, it’s like taking a photo of a photo.

But Look! She has a PBR Grill!

Our Friends Anna & Chris called us up last night so we could help them with a midnight move - they’ve had trouble with their landlord for a while and it all added up to yesterday - now I’m not exactly sure what happened, but the landlord tried to kick in their door, break security bars, and they filed a police report - needless to say they moved out that night. Leah and I didn’t arrive in time to load everything up, but we helped with the unloading. Oh man. Housing.

It’s Thursday! Leah’s friend Brandy from Phoenix is arriving on Friday for a conference here in town - that’s SO awesome. ‘Cause I know she misses me a whole lot!

What’s this? Thursday? It’s almost the weekend! Good things MUST be on the horizon. Let’s take ‘em!

So. We had tickets to this concert down the street but after coming home from work, we weren’t sure if we wanted to go anymore - plus I wasn’t feeling right, even after taking a nap - but instead of wasting the money and just sitting around home we decided to suck it up and get down there. We missed the first act: Kate Voegele but arrived in time for The Veronicas -

Now, I could make comments on the pop-ness of their music but come on, this was a Natasha Beddingfield concert, it’s not like we were here to see Mars Volta or The Killers. But they had good energy and it was a nice mood changer for the night.

But even with the pick me up - we weren’t in the mood to wrestle with the people down front so we went up to the balcony and found some seats well away from the standing and the heat and the um, sweaty people - which is totally fine when you’re in the mood and it’s a great live band that you’re totally in heat for - but not us, and not last night.

Still. We had a pretty good time - and Natasha actually has a much better voice than I ever thought. Plus, she was really singing all out and going to the limits of her abilities - which is always nice to see since often times… the back up singers are the ones who can REALLY sing, ya know? So that was a nice surprise. Oh, and she’s a GIANT.

Whoa. That was a pretty great weekend. On Sunday we met up with some of Leah’s old friends from high school and went down to the Shakespeare Tavern to watch Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead - it was a pretty good production, but it does get wordy in parts. Still. This was the 3rd play we’ve seen there and it’s a pretty good bet that you’ll have a good time - plus, what’s better than seeing a funny play AND being able to drink beer at the same time? Not much in the world of theater.

Yesterday? Breakfast! And then we met up with the photographer who will most likely be shooting our wedding. Awesome. Breakfast? Not bad. Eggs, Bacon!, pancakes, & griddle grits - I hadn’t ever had them before, but they’re quite good and a nice change from the regular stuff.

Good morning, it’s Tuesday & we’re seeing Natasha Beddingfield tonight down the street. It’s time for some coffee.

It could possibly be a long day. I think I’ll post again.

Yesterday mid-day we made our way around the corner and checked out the Decatur Arts Festival - it was pretty cool, lots of booths with artists hawking their stuff and pieces - Leah actually bought one from Kuei Dorman - a Taiwanese artist based in Orlando, and she primarily does Chinese brush painting on silk and rice paper. Leah purchased a nice sunny & rainbow view of a cottage on a mountain - and gave it to our Reiki masters Cyndie & Ira later when we met up with them for dinner @ Frank Ma’s.

And then you know we’re a bit of total suckers for food sold from a booth or cart, or stand, or fire on the side of the street. Fried stuffs? Check. We never did get the fried alligator - but we did order some fried eggplant which was pretty good.

And so… disregarding that this post pushes the length of this front blog page way beyond normal lengths, later that evening we met up with our friends and Reiki masters for dinner @ Frank Ma’s. Such good food. It’s always awesome when we go there.

Chives Stuffed Pancake

Three Cup Chicken - a traditional Taiwanese dish, the 3 cups refers to using one cup each of sesame oil, rice wine, and soy sauce.

Chicken in Peking Sauce - THIS was really good and if you ever go there, and you have no idea what to order, this is a nice safe choice and still lets you eat something not often found at suburban chinese restaurants serving a limited menu of General Tso’s chicken.

SO as I break out into song here at the kitchen table while RENT plays in the background, have an awesome day, and we’ll see you tomorrow.

What do you get when you take 37 high school seniors who have seriously struggled with learning, a roomful of families and friends, and some great speeches and surprises? A really wonderful graduation ceremony! Probably the best graduation ceremony I’ve ever been to, actually. It was short and incredibly touching. I’m so proud of my little bro.

Kyle started going to The Cottage School when he was in sixth grade. As a wee little tyke, he had always impressed people with his intelligence, his keen observation (and conversation) skills, and his sweet and friendly nature. But when it came time to learn how to read and write, my parents discovered that what had seemed like an easy road for their smart and affable son had turned into an expedition up Everest. They tried public school, tutoring, special ed, “resource” classes, etc. Flash cards, spelling games, tracing-the-letter workbooks. Nothing was really working. Kyle was falling behind his peers in spite of all the efforts. Before we knew it, my brother was in third grade and still couldn’t get all the way through Cat in the Hat. So, finally, my parents found The Cottage School. Small classes, innovative learning methods, and a supportive, adaptive environment turned out to be just what Kyle needed. Now he text messages me with the same speed as any other teenager. His GPA is above 3.0 and he even got the Principal’s Award for being such a kind and compassionate student during his 7 years at TCS.

None of us knew he was getting that award, not even Kyle, and I was definitely crying as the principal described Kyle’s qualities. The TCS staff really know him, beyond his academic side, and I was sure it was my brother she was talking about long before she announced the recipient. Because the one thing that everyone notices about Kyle, right off the bat, is how deeply and genuinely he cares for others. It’s almost unnatural, how intensely he empathizes with people. He handles himself with such grace in awkward situations… times when something so crappy has happened that no one knows what to say- that’s when Kyle shines. He’s able to read people and know what they need, how to be there for them and still give them space to grieve or rage or be numb. And now he’s off to explore the world on his terms, to figure out his career, to fall in love, to be an adult. I hope he enjoys the journey.

Last night I attended a bacon party @ Tulie’s house. The theme being that we brought as many bacon dishes as possible - mostly they were variations of bacon sandwiches, but there were some inspired creations, specifically a bacon-wrapped chicken & portabello with cheese concoction, candied bacon ice cream (Yes, Bacon ICE CREAM) and then some awesome pancake and waffle bacon-sasauge finger food creations. But that was the short list, there were more than enough bacon menu items present.

Portabello Mushroom wrapped in Chicken wrapped in Bacon!

Another View:

Mango wrapped in Bacon!

A simple classic - bacon & white bread.

Slightly deviled eggs & bacon

These were awesome - Scallops wrapped in Bacon!

BLT of course.

Yes. Bacon Ice Cream - candied bacon bits (baked with brown sugar) and thrown into an ice cream maker.

OMG. Bacon S’mores.

These were great - sandwiched between mini-pancakes and waffles, they had sausage, ham, cheese, and a pickle.

Leah had other plans so she unfortunately was not able to attend. (Considering her general dislike for bacon and all things smelling of bacon, I’m sure she happily had other obligations that night.)

But that’s just the food. Here’s a slideshow of the people @ the party:

We’re heading off to the Decatur Arts Festival today. See you later!

So instead of being tired and bumming around the house after work yesterday - we decided to wake up and actually go out and do the things we planned on doing. (Sometimes we decide that we’re just tired.) So we rushed to get ready and leave the house then arrived at Valentina’s book signing at the Latin American Association and then had our share of free snacks and wine. PLUS - we ran into Melissa L. - she saw Leah but couldn’t place the face until she saw us both and pieced it together that we were/are LeahAndMark (dot com!)

We had some time to kill before the Elite gathering so we drove down Cheshire Bridge and stopped over at this place:

The food was alright, but once again Leah’s mandarin skills came in handy and improved things. The waiter moved to Atlanta from Beijing about two years ago and once she started out with her skillz, he was impressed and happily directed her to a better tasting menu item (the english translations of foreign foods rarely do them justice ya know?) - then we made it over to the gathering at the Chocolate Pink Pastry Cafe. It was a good time - the cupcakes and desserts were good but really, it’s all about seeing our friends.

Those two there with Leah are Naoya and Shelli - they’re quite awesome and when we move to Inman Park, they’ll be living just on the other side of the railroad tracks from us - we run into them quite often at the events and I think we’ll need to actually hangout with them other than those times simply because they’re cool, AND because the gatherings always get REALLY LOUD! - Plus, it’ll be an excuse for Leah and I to check out their favorite hangout spot, The Local.

This is Katherine D. and Stacy K.! - I met Katherine D. a few months ago and she had just received a baby goat as a gift from her boyfriend… ummm… so anyways they bought another goat and now they have some chickens too. Mind you, this isn’t like some other cities where the rural parts are right outside town - like Phoenix, where as recently as 10 years ago the outskirts were still farms and as recently as 20 years ago, the city was half it’s relative size and the rest was ALL farmland. In my high school, the 4H club and ummm… FFA (Future Farmers of America) were quite strong in numbers. And of course, the Arizona State Fair has a substantial livestock section where you can win ribbons!

So anyways. We can’t wait for her to invite us to a party so we can see the goats!

The party was in the upstairs portion of the cafe which is pretty much a loft apartment so the bathroom has a bathtub.

We’re heading off to watch Leah’s brother graduate from high school today and that should finish out the graduation season for us! No more until next year! And if anyone else is graduating well… back off! No more!

One of my favorite things about my morning commute here in Atlanta in comparison to nearly all of my morning commutes in Phoenix, is that here in Atlanta, on most days I get a the sun shining through the trees and glimmers of light shine down as I drive.

Except for the middle portion of highway that I drive on to get up to Alpharetta from Decatur, I get to drive on roads and neighborhoods full of trees - in Phoenix… well, you’d really only get this same effect if you drive down the northern portion of 7th st… or is it 7th ave? I can’t remember, but there’s a section there that is also lined with trees for a second - but there aren’t too many other places in Phoenix that come to mind. At all. Although, I suppose if you’re commuting from the east valley over to central or west Phoenix, and you get to go across the indian reservation… it might be cool to always be driving across the desert - with the mountains in the background.

Or. If you happen to live in Payson and make that 1.5 hour commute down into phoenix (which almost makes sense… well, relatively speaking since some people sit in traffic for over an hour just to go 20 miles in the morning - so why not live an actual 1.5 hours away and just make the fast drive? well… there’s arguments for both.) - the scenery on that drive can be nice too - not that anyone really takes the time to enjoy the scenery on their everyday morning commute.

So. It’s Thursday and the calendar week is almost over - but there’s so much starting up - I mean it’s memorial day weekend and our schedule is packed! - with good things I’m sure. Tonight we’re dropping by our friend Valentina’s book signing, and then heading on over to a Yelp Elite event at Chocolate Pink Pastry Cafe.

Hm. I just looked at her blogspot - and I realize that I’ve never actually seen her work until now. It’s quite good and she’s travelled quite a bit and taken some awesome shots. Peru, Argentina, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia… and it doesn’t hurt that she’s a REALLY nice person. Take a look when you get a chance. Click Here.

I’ve picked up a few more ambitious thoughts in my head (mostly things I’d like to learn) and I think I’m gonna have to force myself to let them go for now until I get the other topics out of the way - at least more completed - as opposed to my usual and constant jumping from interest to interest that I’ve always kind of gone along with. Like my checkered college career, I’ve picked up many, many hobbies and dropped them as fast as I found another interest.

So. We’ll continue to keep it simple and try hard to not add anything new - until next week!

And for some reason, I like to take pictures with my mouth open.