chadleyblog

The last one.

2010-09-15T20:05:00.001-05:00

Go to chadbhunter.com for further information.

Mazeltov!

-chadley

2010-09-14T10:50:00.001-05:00

"Fisk Not Frist" protest outside the Frist.

2010-09-14T09:47:00.001-05:00

Think if I got this it would blow Millie's mind.

You say goodbye, I say hello (twice).

2010-07-08T13:26:00.000-05:00

In case you haven't noticed, I haven't done much on this blog in a LOOONG time. Partly it's because I've been busy, but partly because of a lack of motivation. Plus, most of my family and friends who want to know what I'm doing have joined up on Facebook, making this blog pretty pointless.

However, over the past several months, I've been feeling motivated to do something different. I'm creating two blogs that will be easier for me to keep up with (I think).

One of them is called "Things Chad Likes" because, well, that's what it is. A friend of mine told me he didn't need to have an RSS feed for stuff we both liked, because I would email him interesting links. So I'm turning this blog into an opportunity to share stuff I find interesting (your taste may vary). Theme park news, design, theology, philosophy, music, whatever... I'll dump it there.

The other one is "Project-39." Lord knows if you've heard me talk about my weight loss/life changes in the past several years, I've told you that my goal was to be healthier at 40 than I was at 30. Although I'm very pleased with the progress I've made, there's some goals I haven't met yet. And today's my 39th birthday. So, I'm going to keep a "one-sentence" journal on my progress (I'm not putting pressure to write any more than a sentence or two a day to record my progress; I'm sure I'll write more when the mood strikes). Many of the goals are health-related. Some of them are related to education, finance, etc. I'm sure I'll be writing about whatever I think needs attention at the moment. And I figure, even if I don't meet all the goals, I'll be closer to accomplishing them than not.

So here are the links:
thingschadlikes.tumblr.com
project39.tumblr.com

thingschadlikes.tumblr.com

I guess we'll see how this blog venture goes. I'm still figuring things out on the Tumblr side (it's not quite intuitive yet, but I figure it'll get there.

See you over there!

-chadley

Wrinkled baby toes

2010-01-23T11:20:00.001-06:00

Millie's foot after her bath this morning

Millie's latest discovery

2010-01-22T19:33:00.001-06:00

Happy 7-month birthday, Millie!

2010-01-11T11:39:00.001-06:00

2010-01-09T11:28:00.001-06:00

The Hunter Family Christmas Letter 2009

2009-12-25T00:01:00.012-06:00

Baby's First Christmas (Letter)
Okay, so Jen asked me to sit down and write a Christmas letter to send out with our card and post on our blog. I gotta tell you, this is tough. I really have no idea what to write about because nothing really happened to us this past year.

That's sarcasm, for all you Nebraska folk (I kid)...

Looking back over 2009, I can hardly believe all that has happened and how much TV I have watched - all in the same year! Obviously there's one BIG event this past year in our lives, (and if you don't know what that is, you haven't been paying attention). The spillover (fallout?) from that has affected every corner of our lives in ways, a year ago, we couldn't have possibly dreamed.

It's been a year of firsts for the two of us. Uh...make that the three of us.

All neat and pretty? On with the show....

Jan - March:

There will be a memory burned into my head for the rest of my life. Jen and I are at Ted's Montana Grill having lunch before her doctor's appointment. It's January 20, Jen's birthday. The TV at the bar across the restaurant was playing President Obama's inauguration. Jen and I are sitting there in the booth, waiting to eat but almost too anxious to do so. Today's the day we find out if we're having a girl or a boy! We were nervous about the news we were going to get, but we knew whatever they told us, we would be happy. Fast-forward a few hours and we're getting some dire news about the state of the pregnancy. The words "procedure" and "bedrest" were being used. We were anxious about the news we would get from the doctor, but we didn't expect that. So began the adventure of the last two semesters of Jen's pregnancy. She had to take off of work for an indefinite amount of time (and she never could go back). Bedrest. A cerclage to stabilize the pregnancy. All scary and unexpected things. But we knew the baby was healthy. And it was a girl. That was something to focus on. Good news.

Only days after being let out of the hospital from the procedure, we were moving into our new house. I was so glad we had already taken care of so much stuff getting the house ready. All our friends and family came to help (thanks again, y'all) and we settled in to what would be our new life. Jen resting on the couch all day, in the bed all night. Weekly doctor's appointments to make sure the cerclage was working. Repeat.

And that was really it. Jen's bedrest (not to mention the winter cold) limited our activity drastically. Occasional trips to the grocery and Target (including riding in the little cart). I seriously don't know how she got through it without going bonkers! We watched lots of TV and we laughed when we could. It wasn't always easy, but it was good.

And we waited.

April - June 10:

In late March/early April, Jen had to be put on bedrest at Vanderbilt Hospital for a few weeks. It made us grateful for the bedrest at home. At least at home, nurses wouln't come in and check Jen's blood pressure in the middle of an episode of Lost (sacreliege!). They let her return home once they decided that, if she went into labor, the baby would be okay. We prepared ourselves for the possibliity of having a preemie and toured the NICU unit. We didn't want that, but we knew if it happened, it would be alright.

The doctor removed the cerclage and we braced ourselves for the inevitable early delivery, but it didn't come. May came and went with a few false labor episodes where we rushed to the hospital, but nothing ever came of it. Finally, the doctor said that we could go ahead and have the baby safely. We agreed.

It was time.

June 11:

After lots of labor-inducing drugs, they had to break Jen's water. So much for worrying about an early delivery. Labor began. We waited. And at 12:11pm, Amelia Lucille Hunter was born. And all the hardship that happened before was worth it.

June 12-September:

We brought our little bundle home and started life as a family.The first few weeks with a baby seem to both fly by and drag on at the same time. You're trying to learn about the baby while she's constantly changing and adapting to being out of the womb. There's a "first" every day and you try to appreicate the moments, all at the same time wishing you had Angelina Jolie's cadre of nannies so you could take a break. Then you miss her when you do get a few moments to yourself. It's like the most awesome nervous breakdown you could ever have. But in the middle of the exhaustion and confusion you have moments of awe and wonder. And you can't help but love this little person in a way you never knew possible. It really is amazing.

After about six weeks we transitioned Millie from sleeping while being held by her Gramma (thanks, Darlene), then being held by Jen, then in a bouncy seat, then finally in her crib. I started working regularly again and life started finding a new kind of normal.

We also started getting out and about again after spending the first half of the year indoors. Although Jen was weak from months of bedrest, we got out and went for walks, watched the family softball games and spent time with friends as often as we could. Jen started going to a "New Moms" group at church. Millie started sleeping through the night, and we were (and are) ever so grateful for that. We even took Millie to visit my folks in Indiana and had a great time (with the exception of a rather messy/hilarious diaper incident on the return trip). We were finding ways of Millie fitting into our life and we were all having fun together.

After settling in to our lives a bit more, I had the opportunity to spend the weekend with my biological mother, Mary Ann Gunner (aka Maggie) and her husband. They came for a brief visit and they were a delight to meet - we had only spoken via the internet to that point. I'm sure we'll spend more time with them as the years go by and continue to get to know each other more.

October-December:

In October, we took Amelia to visit Jen's side of the family in Nebraska. Millie was a great flyer (better than me, actually)! Millie got to spend some quality time with her Gramma and Grampa. It was my first trip to Nebraska without a lot of snow and we had a great time. Millie got to meet all of Jen's family back home, especially Jen's grandmother, Delpha Petersen. We are especially grateful for that, as she is (as of this writing) no longer well.

When we returned from Nebraska, we took Millie to some pumpkin patches and had a great time. The fall colors were really beautiful in Tennessee this year! Then we got her ready for Halloween. Although she can't eat candy, we still got her a cute costume and took her trick-or-treating at Green Hills Mall. So many cute kids around - can't wait to take her next year!

Then the focus turned to Thanksgiving and the holidays. We were hosting a small Thanksgiving meal at our new house with my parents. I wanted my folks to get to enjoy the Christmas decorations and (looking for any excuse to put them up early), got my "Clark Griswold" on. Heh. Busted out a ladder and did lights in our (tiny) front yard. Too much fun!

Thanksgiving day was a great, relaxing day with the five of us. Jen's cooking was phenomenal. She make green bean casserole, Sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, cranberry stuffing, pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie (my folks brought the turkey). So good! I, Jen and my parents spent the rest of the day playing with Millie and having a great time!

December started with Millie getting her first teeth and really learning how to move around. We got her all dressed up and took her to get her photos with Santa Claus. She was uncertain, but calm and didn't freak out. Santa was really nice (of course - it's not like he'd "blacklist" himself by being naughty), and that was a really fun outing. I've started working full-time again (yay, benefits!) and adjusting to a regular schedule has been tough, but I'm getting there.

And now here we are...Christmas is just around the corner. Millie just turned six months old yesterday, and to celebrate, we fed her solid food for the first time. She is the sunshine in our lives and I couldn't have asked for a better little girl. When I've had a hard day, all I have to do is come home and kiss and hug my girls, and the world seems so much better. It's been a crazy year, but we have much to be grateful for. And I've learned that even when life is tough, you just hang on because you can get through, and it will get better. I've learned to hope more and fear less. And I hope those attributes help me to be a better father and husband, and friend.

Merry Christmas, and here's to many more!

For the Hunter family,

-Chad Hunter

2009-12-18T19:16:00.001-06:00

2009-12-11T19:17:00.001-06:00

Happy 5-month birthday Millie!

2009-11-11T20:45:00.001-06:00

Time for the annual obliteration of the Hillsboro Village sign!

2009-11-10T08:32:00.001-06:00

Time for the annual obliteration of the Hillsboro Village sign!

2009-10-31T20:57:00.001-05:00

Our little flower!

2009-10-31T18:20:00.001-05:00

Amelia dressed up as a flower for her first Halloween.

2009-10-28T10:11:00.001-05:00

2009-10-25T12:45:00.001-05:00

2009-10-24T15:36:00.001-05:00

Millie-Go-Round

2009-10-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

2009-10-18T18:55:00.001-05:00

2009-10-10T23:53:00.001-05:00

2009-10-10T18:06:00.001-05:00

2009-10-08T15:33:00.001-05:00

I love crazy Japanese candy!!!

Millie visiting my folks.

2009-10-03T11:58:00.002-05:00

It's A Small World

2009-10-01T17:01:00.002-05:00

Life is settling down a bit and I'll be back blogging soon (I hope).

In the meantime, here's a video of my happy place. If you're not familiar with "tilt-shift" videos and photography, here's a site explaining with some additional great videos: (LINK). Today, Disney released a fun tilt-shift video of the Magic Kingdom to celebrate it's 38th anniversary.

-chadley

Smiley Millie :)

2009-08-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

Why I wish I had been at "Nerdvana" - Comic Con 2009's Lost Presentation

2009-07-27T17:53:00.005-05:00

The San Diego Comic Con was this past weekend, and like the good little nerd that I am, I made sure and kept up with the proceeding with Twitter and YouTube. The most exciting thing to come out of Comic Con, to me anyways, was the Lost panel discussion. Hosted by the two co-runners of the show (Damon Lindeloff & Carlton Cuse) it was an hour-long romp through fan-made films, bad jokes and clips to (maybe) drop hints of things to come in season 6 of Lost.

Since I know some of you keep up with the show but might not have been aware of this weekends proceedings, I thought I'd post links to YouTube videos to keep you in the loop.

Warning: There's some "adult language" in Part 6 of the Panel discussion. You have been warned!

And now a word from our sponsor:

Yeah, I know...

2009-07-27T15:59:00.002-05:00

Hey there! Yeah, I know... it's been forever since I posted a "real" post to the blog. I'm hoping to be able to do that again soon. In the meantime, I hope you're keeping up with Jen's blog as she's doing a MUCH better version of updating and telling everyone about Amelia's progress.

And I'll talk to you again soon... I hope. :)

Somebody's got hiccups!

2009-06-27T20:34:00.000-05:00

Amelia had hiccups in utero all throughout the pregnancy. It's funny
to see her have them now that she's out!

Amelia Smiles :)

2009-06-20T15:57:00.001-05:00

A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words…

2009-06-20T08:52:00.005-05:00

Okay, so it's been FOREVER since I have posted on the blog. It's kind of amazing how preoccupied I've been since Jen's pregnancy was declared high-risk. But now that we're past that, and Amelia is here, it's time to move forward and get back into the swing of things.

I could sit here and recount the events of Amelia's arrival, but Jen has already done a great job of that at her blog (follow the link HERE). Instead I wanted to share with you some pictures. We knew we wanted some good professional photos shortly after we came home. Our friends Jeff and Michelle Godby recommended a friend of theirs, Nick Gilbert, for the shoot. After working with him, I would recommend him as well. He came to our home on Wednesday night and took shots around the house, which was really cool! And I'm pretty sure Amelia is the youngest baby he's photographed! We don't have all the photos yet, but we thought we'd post some sample pics Nick provided. Expect to see more images in the following weeks.

-chadley

She's here!

2009-06-13T15:31:00.002-05:00

Our daughter, Amelia Lucille Hunter arrived on June 11th. She is 19.7 inches, weighs 6lbs, 11oz and cute as can be! We'll be posting all the details and photos later! I need to go stand by her crib and stare at her for a little while longer.

-chadley

Jen gets parole from her house arrest!

2009-04-27T07:41:00.007-05:00

Okay, so it's been so long since I wrote an entry, I had to read the last one to remember where I left off.

So where am I? You guessed it...Starbucks. But not the same old one. I'm at one closer to my house. That's because Jen is back at home and the situation has changed, for the better! Jen was able to go home a couple of weeks ago (quite surprisingly). As I mentioned in my last post, we had heard they might release her on Saturday if tests looked good. They rushed her into the test one Thursday morning and sent her home the same afternoon! That was the day before I took some vacation time to get the house ready before the baby came. So it was sudden, but perfect, timing.

Since then, we've also had a follow-up ultrasound at the high-risk clinic and the results showed that Jen's body was able to hold the baby better and all of the pressure was no longer on the cervix and it's accompanying stitch. It was quite the (pleasant) shock for us to see them measure the cervix at over 2cm on the ultrasound, which was about 1cm longer than it was the day they rushed us into the hospital in January. They also told Jen that at 32 weeks, her bedrest restrictions would be eased up, and she could get out and walk, go to the store, etc. on a limited basis.

This past Friday was the 32 weeks mark. We celebrated her parole and went out to Franklin for a nice lunch and to stroll around. We even went to the Hill Center in Green Hills that evening for a little more shopping. Since then, I think the both of us feel more confident and comfortable about the rest of the pregnancy (well, Jen feels about as comfortable as she can right now). The restrictions of bedrest, and my need to be around the house constantly, have alleviated. Jen will be able to get up and build her strength back up somewhat before the baby comes, which is good. Life feels somewhat more normal, and we're able to enjoy the last few weeks of it being just the two of us.

This relief has allowed me to start thinking and focusing on other things lately, namely looking at the future and start making other plans in my creative career. Having to set aside thoughts of career development the past 5 months has given me some perspective and fueled my curiosity of what else I'd like to tackle. I'm very happy as a freelance artist and with the work I'm doing, but I would like to enhance my creative arsenal by taking up photography, learning to do websites and maybe even do some more writing (outside of this blog). All things I'd like to learn about and try to do. So I'm going to start doing this summer.

But, of course, in the forefront is the arrival of our daughter. I couldn't be more excited and ready for time to pass and for her to get here. Pray with us that she'll get here happy and healthy all at the right time. And, that means that finally we'll be able to reveal her name to everyone! We have a midwife's appointment this morning, so we're interested in seeing what she'll say about things. Then we don't have another ultrasound until May 18th, which happens to be our wedding anniversary! We know if we get that far, they'll want to remove the cerclage and then it's anyone's guess when she'll be born.

Hopefully you'll hear from me between now and then.

-chadley

The further adventures on Jen's pregnancy...

2009-04-05T06:42:00.004-05:00

Okay, so I hope you've been checking Jen's blog if you've wanted the latest on what's going on with the pregnancy. 'Cause I haven't been a-blogging lately, in case you haven't noticed.

And, it's very likely you haven't. :)

So what IS going on? Well... once again I'm blogging from the Starbucks near Vanderbilt. This time, for an entirely different reason. Jen's across the road, asleep. She's been on bedrest in the hospital for almost two weeks now. How long will Jen be there? Well, that depends. We're hearing different things from different doctors. But the consensus is that they will re-evaluate around 30-32 weeks. They've been reluctant to do thorough exams on a frequent basis, but presumably they will at that point and make a decision.

I honestly don't know how I feel about that. Although I hate that Jen has to be in that hospital bed 24/7, at least I know she's somewhere safe if she needs immediate attention. If she's at home, help is a little farther away. On the other hand, I know she would be more comfortable at home and after 32 weeks the likelihood of things happening quickly will have eased up a bit. So I guess we'll just see what the doctor's say and go from there. Fortunately, my work load is lightening up at LifeWay and a good portion of the freelance work I will be doing in the next 2 months I can do from home (they've been very understanding and accommodating and I couldn't be more grateful - thanks, y'all!). So if Jen is at home again, hopefully I can be around quite a bit. And if she doesn't go home, we'll just keep doing what we're doing. I guess we'll just see what the doctor orders...

Oh, one bit about the hospital stay - Jen does get a 30-minute break every day where I can take her out in a wheelchair. I think that gives her something to look forward to, which I'm glad to be able to do.

So what else is going on? Answer: not much! Keeping up with work, doing what I can around the house and keeping Jen company as much as possible fills every day. I know Jen and I are already looking forward to getting back into some healthy routines of walking and eating at home. Eating takeout every day takes a toll on the body, especially if you have a self-loathing thyroid gland. Now that warmer weather is here I'm trying to take walks when I can around the Vandy area and just do what I can.

I'm also chipping away at home projects and plan on taking a long weekend for Easter, finishing the nursery, cleaning out the garage and working on the back patio area. Spring has definitely sprung and I want to get the patio area in shape so we can enjoy it when we bring the little one home. I did put together a grill the weekend before Jen's incarceration and we grilled hot dogs once and we can't wait to do it again! I did some artwork for the nursery and I want to finish the last piece that has our little girl's name on it (and, no, I won't tell you what it is. And if you try to guess it around me I will rename you "Black Eye"). There's a few odds-and-ends we need to take care of, so I'm gonna be working on it. Hopefully I can update you on some of those things, but I suspect that Jen will want to have the big "reveal" of the nursery on her site, so keep an eye out for it.

Okay, I'm about blogged out, so that's it for now. I'll try to write sooner next time. Thanks again for all the prayers and support. It means a lot to us!

-chadley

What's up? (Saturday Ramblings)

2009-02-07T08:15:00.004-06:00

Hola amigos! All I can say is I'm glad we survived a roller-coaster finale to January and I'm trying to start February with a clean slate.

(Note: I'm just jumping in here. I know a LOT has gone on in the past few weeks with the pregnancy, but Jen has already done a great job recapping all of that. So follow the link at the top of the page if you want the latest scoop on what's up in preggerville.)

I'm taking a few minutes on a Saturday morning while Jen is sleeping in to get out and stretch my legs, collect my thoughts and update the blog. I'm up at a Starbucks near Vanderbilt University, which is not really close to our house, but it's close to where I used to live when I was single. It's big and cushy (for all the ritzy Vandy students to hang out), so I make the trek here when I want to camp out for awhile. The only downside is that they are BLARING Sinatra (who I love, but not THIS loud), so I've got white noise playing on my iPod to try to tune it out. It's working. Kinda.

It's supposed to be amazingly beautiful here in Nashville today. High around 69 I think. I think I'm going to take Jen for a picnic lunch later. Yes, she's still on bedrest, but I've got some picnic blankets & pillows in the back of the car. I figure laying on the ground is just as good as laying on the couch. Maybe we can just go grab a few sandwiches somewhere and lay outside. I know she's going stir crazy in the house, so this will be a good chance for us to get out and get some fresh air. She did make a trip to Target this past week (you have to see the pictures on her blog - it was awesome), but nothing beats being out in the sunshine on a beautiful day.

Although we're loving the new house, we're sick of being inside all the time because of the cold weather, so I think it will do both of us some good. Her parents hooked us up with a 2-month subscription to NetFlix which we've already started wearing out. We used to have NetFlix and I can see us getting it again for good, especially with the Instant Play feature, where you can download tons of movies and don't have to wait for them to email the DVD's to you. It's pretty cool, actually. Plus I've found a way to "hack" the AppleTV I got for Christmas and can now access Hulu.com as well as a host of other video sites, so we're rockin' the high-tech TV right now. I'm pretty grateful considering we had a loaner TV this time last year.

Anyways, the house is coming together well. We've been saving money for the odds & ends we need for the house over the past year, and now we're able to start getting stuff. The good thing about the lousy economy is that everything we need for the house is on sale! So we're able to get curtains at West Elm for Target/Wal-mart prices, which is awesome. Speaking of sales, we got a great deal on our crib when one of Jen's friends saw that Babies'R'Us was selling their display model of Jen's favorite crib for $75 off! So I went and got it - that made Jen VERY happy.

On a side note, you know you're life is changing when you're excited about getting furniture at Babies'R'Us. Wow.

Speaking of the house, I've decided to try to create some artwork for the den myself. I found out that one of my clients, LifeWay, has an in-house printing press where they can print on canvas, so I think I'm going to create some digital artwork and print it out and have a friend of mine stretch it on canvas. I'm actually excited about that - I haven't done a project like that in a long time. I hope it goes well, and I'll show you the results when I get it done.

Anyways, I'll share more later. I know this has been more of a "brain-dump" than well-conceived blog entry, but that's about all I'm capable of right now. I think it's Etta James SCREAMING in the background here at Starbucks that's encouraging me to wrap things up. I'll update when I can, but honestly, I'm REALLY hoping to not have any urgent news to report anytime soon. I've had enough excitement lately.

Later, y'all!

-chadley

P.S. - Did I mention that I'm excited that we're having a gir? Well, I am :)

Your prayers are appreciated!

2009-01-26T08:43:00.003-06:00

Thanks for all the prayers for Jen and me over the past week. I'm trying to get back into the swing of things at work after the busyness of last week. So if you want some details and the latest on our pregnancy, take a look at Jen's latest blog entry. She did a great job of telling all about what happened.

Please continue praying for us. Our next ultrasound is Feb. 3rd, and we're hoping for good news!

-chadley

Jen's Update

Please pray for us

2009-01-20T18:31:00.000-06:00

Be praying for us. Jen was admitted to the hospital with some complications with the pregnancy that will possibly be minimized by surgery tomorrow (a cerclage procedure I think it's called). I'll keep you informed when we know more.

What are you saying about the President?

2009-01-20T06:58:00.004-06:00

I usually don't say much about politics, but I read this article and, sadly I could resonate with what the writer was saying.

For those of you who are Christians, I think you should read this and meditate on what writer Michael Spencer has to say on this historic Inauguration Day.

Christians: What are you saying about the President?

-chadley

2009-01-16T07:19:00.000-06:00

Would you vote for me?

2009-01-14T12:42:00.002-06:00

Someone pointed out a link to Obamicon.me, a fun site that can take any photo and convert it into an Obama-campaign poster style image. Regardless of what you though of the election (and I know I have readers who voted both ways, so no catty comments allowed here), Shepard Fairey's posters were well-designed and, well, iconic. So it's fun to see what you can do with this poster site. Have a little fun with it, and see what others have done as well.

-chadley

A Quick Saturday Update

2009-01-10T08:24:00.003-06:00

Okay, so this isn't going to be a long update. I'm typing this up at Fido on Saturday morning and it's FREEZING in here. But I wanted to do some kind of update, so you get what you get. Nothing personal.

So we have a lot of stuff coming up in the next week that we're very excited about. First off, we close on the new house this Thursday! Finally! Hooray! I'm ready to start a new chapter in the new house and I'm sure Jen feels the same way. As a side note, our builder Centex made some price cuts on the houses in our neighborhood this past week and made those prices RETROACTIVE as well, so we got a lower price on the house this past week - it cut the price by about $10K. Needless to say we were thrilled, especially when you consider they didn't have to do that at all.

After that is Jen's birthday (hooray!), the celebration of which is surely to be overshadowed by the ultrasound that we have scheduled. This is the one where we should be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl. Keep your fingers crossed that the baby keeps it's legs UNcrossed and we can find out. We're dying to know!

After that, we'll just spend the rest of the month moving into the new place and settling in. It's going to be a busy month, but I'll post where I can with the good news about all of the above. So stay posted to this and to the Twitter updates on the right-hand side of the blog. I'm trying to be better about keeping that up-to-date.

Happy weekend to everyone, and I'll keep you posted.

-chadley

2009-01-10T04:43:00.001-06:00

Listen to the baby's heartbeat...

2009-01-08T19:01:00.004-06:00

Okay, so I've been very excited to let you listen to the baby's heartbeat. I recorded it today at the midwife's office. However, Blogger doesn't have a way to upload audio, so I had to go about this in a backwards way. I actually posted the audio to my work website on a special page. Here's a link to the page. Listen and enjoy!

Listen to the baby's heartbeat.

-chad

Chad & Jen's Christmas Letter 2008

2008-12-21T16:11:00.008-06:00

There's a midwestern tradition I've been introduced to as of late that I think I'm going to adopt: the Annual Christmas letter. I've read a few of these and I think I can do this, right? It's kind of like a blog entry (I think). Here we go...

-Chad

December 21, 2008

Family and friends,

So this is Christmas, and what have we done?

I can't believe I'm sitting here in Starbucks at the end of the year, just a few days away from Christmas and only a few more days after that, 2009. Next year will be a huge year for us. This year has been all about preparing our lives for the changes to come. There's been a lot of hard work, a lot of patience practiced and a lot of good times. So let's go through the past year, day by day, with a detailed description of what Jen and I did (like the trip reports on my blog). You'd like to read all that, right? No? Okay, well, I'll condense it down a bit so you can read it and then go finish your Christmas shopping (hint: I always like Starbucks gift cards).

Winter

The year started off with an addition to the Hunter family. Jolie Rebecca Hunter was born to my brother, Braxton, and his wife Sarah on January 8, 2008. She was the first Hunter grand child, but she won't be the last.

As you likely know, we're starting a family (Jen's in her second trimester now) and the plan was always to get into a 3-bedroom house before that blessed event. So January to March of this year we had to get the old house ready to sell. Replacing carpet, repainting areas, putting things in storage to stage it properly. In this housing market, the details matter. And we were pretty successful, but more about that later.

For Valentine's Day, Jen and I took a trip to Memphis, Tennessee. We had a good time watching the ducks in the fountain at the Peabody Hotel, visiting Graceland, and eating Bar-be-que on Beale Street. I was born in Memphis and given up for adoption. Going back there always stirred up thoughts about that experience. This year, I actually decided to do something about it. More about that later as well.

For those of you who don't know, I'm a graphic designer by trade and I had the opportunity to work on a brochure for Universal Studios new theme park in Dubai this past Spring. That was a lot of fun. I also continue to do work for LifeWay Worship Music and other clients here in Nashville and around the country. I've been blessed to have a steady stream of work and don't take that for granted. Jen is still working for Greenvale homes and has done very well in this poor economy. I'm proud of her for sticking out the tough times.

We've been attending Village Chapel in Nashville for some time. This past February we started going to an class where we had the pleasure of making some new friends. Jeff & Michelle Godby and William & Carla Gladstone. Now all 3 of the women are moms (or mom-to-be's) and it's exciting to be in a community where we can all relate to what each of is going through and we'll be able to support each other as time goes forward.

By the end of March, the house was ready to put on the market. Jen's experience as a real estate agent paid off. She knew just how much to ask for, because we sold the house in one week, and made a profit! Now we needed to move...

Spring

We were able to get a 1-bedroom apartment at Brentwood Downs. Both Greta and Michael have apartments there. Tara and Adam live close-by and the new house is one mile away, so it was a great location. We moved in with everyone's help (thanks everyone) and quickly started taking advantage of the swimming pool and the hot tub (I'm going to miss that tub).

We signed papers on the new house, a 3-bedroom townhouse in Oak Hill, and we have been able to watch construction as it moves along. It's been really cool, as this is the first time I've bought new construction and we're both anxious to move in.

In May we decided to take a quick weekend trip to Chattanooga, Tennessee for our second anniversary. If you've never been there, I highly recommend it. Beautiful city parks, great restaurants, museums, aquariums, all within walking distance. You should definitely visit, and feel free to NOT see Rock City if you go. There's more to see there than the tourist traps.

Summer

Summer was filled with more swimming in the pool and just being outdoors as much as possible. We would go see as many of Greta, Tara & Adam's softball games as we could, and that was always a great way to spend the evening. We celebrated my 37th birthday by visiting my family in Newburgh, Indiana. We got to spend time with our little niece, Jolie, and the rest of the family. That was a lot of fun.

Jen's parents came to visit and we took a canoe trip down the Harpeth River near Nashville. That was a real adventure, and I can't believe I had never gone canoeing before (I don't consider myself an "outdoors" person by any stretch of the imagination). I definitely want to do it again.

As summer drew to a close, we went on a trip that I've looked forward to for a long time. We went to Cancun, Mexico on a "delayed" anniversary vacation (there's plenty of details here on the blog if you are interested). It was so much fun and I can't wait to go back.

Fall

In early fall, I decided to do something I have thought about doing before, but I haven't. I decided to track down my birth mother. The thoughts of wondering who she was when we were in Memphis played a part, and so did trying to track down any medical history before we tried to start a family of our own. After only a few months of effort, the state had tracked down Mary Ann (Geiger) Beery, my birth mother, and her husband Gunner. I've gotten to know them better over the past few months and it has been a pleasure. I can't wait to get to meet them sometime in the near future.

Not long after I discovered more information about my roots, Jen and I discovered that we would be adding a new branch to the family tree. Jen found out she was pregnant and we're now expecting a little one next June. Needless to say, we're excited! I think that little bit of news is still sinking in for both of us.

Knowing that we would start a family VERY soon, Jen and I filled the end of the year with a lot of trips. We knew next year would mostly be a "nesting" year with the baby, so we had one more "grown up" trip to Walt Disney World, my favorite place on earth. For those of you who would wonder why adults would visit there by themselves, there's plenty to do there that doesn't include meeting costumed mice and riding boats past singing dolls (not that there's anything wrong with that). We had a great time visiting old friends, taking in shows, enjoying great dining and wonderful shopping. It was a little bit of a different trip since Jen was pregnant, but it was fun as always.

Holidays

Only two weeks after our Disney trip, it was Thanksgiving. We were spending it with my family. Dad decided he wanted to spend it in Chicago and we excitedly agreed to go! We had a great time. The weather was actually nice and the shopping on Michigan Avenue on Black Friday was crazy, but fun. It was my first time to Chicago, but I definitely don't want it to be my last. I love that city.

Ever since then, we've been back and been wrapping gifts and starting to get ready to move. We're also flying out tomorrow morning to visit Jen's family for Christmas. It'll be my first "white Christmas" in recent memory and my first time in snow deeper than 4-inches EVER. Having lived in the South, I've been accustomed to (and comfortable with) mild winters, but this should be fun! I'm looking forward to it.

So what's next? We close on our new house in mid-January. As much as we've loved being Greta's neighbor, we're ready for the new house and all the new adventures in the new year. We're very hopeful for what 2009 will bring and we pray that you have many blessings in the new year as well.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year,

Chad, Jen & our little one

Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?

2008-12-11T21:23:00.000-06:00

Sure, Charlie Brown.

New U2 Video

2008-12-08T12:31:00.000-06:00

Video for "I Believe in Father Christmas"

New Coldplay Video

2008-12-08T12:28:00.000-06:00

Video for "Lovers In Japan"

Doors Closing, Doors Opening

2008-12-06T15:00:00.001-06:00

Okay, so it's been awhile since I've blogged about something that's not vacation-related, food-related or baby-related. But a lot has been going on in the past few weeks that I thought I'd put down on paper (so to speak) and share with you guys.

So some of you periodically ask how my schoolwork is coming along. The honest answer is, it isn't. Not really. I've ordered books and listened to lectures but I haven't been able to actually get to any of the lessons I'm supposed to do. The interest in counseling hasn't faded...don't get me wrong. This isn't some fad. But the timing is really off right now. I've been extremely busy with freelance work as of late (which is a GOOD thing, and I'm grateful for that). Any "slow time" I have seems to either get filled with more work or with things I've had to neglect in the busier times. Or, heaven forbid, rest.

I know, in the near future, things are going to get busier. Probably busier than I can even imagine. We're moving next month and then after that, we've got to get things ready for the new little one. Life doesn't slow down. And when life gets too busy, the only way to keep sane and get sleep is to sit down, prioritize, and make some tough decisions.

Of course, seeking out wise counsel is also a good idea. I sat down and talked to Dad about this stuff over Thanksgiving and he said something profound. He told me, "Chad, you've got a little one coming soon. You don't need to spend the first few years of your child's life with your nose in a book. Just set it aside and, when you can, come back to it." And when he told me that, I knew he was right. I just don't think I wanted to admit it because I was afraid I would look like a quitter in my own eyes and, honestly, in your eyes. In the eyes of family and friends. I'm a people pleaser at heart...what can I say! This isn't the end of things as far as counseling goes. It's just taking a detour.

The only tough thing about it right now is learning to hold very loosely to this and being willing to put it on a shelf for awhile. I'm a "goal-oriented" person. I get a buzz out of checking things off my "to do" list, sometimes even at the risk of my own sanity or the sanity of others. (Just ask Jen. I probably drove her nuts wanting to buy pieces of furniture 6 months before our house was completed just to know that we had that task done! But she has the patience of a saint, and I'm grateful.) Anyways, the point is I'm done with school for now and will come back to it when the time is right. And I'm telling myself that last part as much as I'm telling you.

But I think the "letting go of school" direction I'm going in will have more benefits than I'm aware. I have a feeling God was preparing me for getting ready to shift gears and do something else. There are some business opportunities and some volunteer counseling opportunities that I'm exploring right now that will allow me to move forward, have some more stability and be better for me and my family in general. But I'm not quite ready to go into detail about that just yet. So all I'll do is to ask you to pray for me about what the future holds. God has been good and taken care of Jen and me. I'll trust that He will continue to do so in the future. Even so, that doesn't mean that the prospect of change isn't a little scary!

That being said, I'd like to encourage everyone out there to sit down and prioritize at this time of year and try to find time to spend with family and friends. Stop and smell the roses. Take care of yourself and the people in you love. Life is short and we have to keep what's most important to us in focus, even if it means we have to let other things go. Especially our pride.

-chadley

Pregnancy Tracker Update

2008-12-05T08:44:00.000-06:00

Fortune cookie

2008-12-02T18:17:00.003-06:00

Can't believe I haven't shared this yet, but about 2 weeks before we found out Jen was pregnant, I got a fortune cookie at Pei Wei and this was the fortune.

We figured it out later, and Jen was actually pregnant when I got this message and we didn't even know it!

-chadley

Pregnancy Tracker Update

2008-12-02T08:20:00.002-06:00

Here's what the Pregnancy Tracker app on our iPhones has to say this week.

Chicago Trip Photos

2008-12-01T18:20:00.010-06:00

Hey! We're back from Chicago! We had a great time, but don't take my word for it! Jen did a great job creating a "trip report" this time around, so visit her blog and check it out at the link below. I've uploaded a few of my favorite pictures that she didn't include in her blog.

Jen's Chicago trip report

-chadley

Today's Ultrasound Photos

2008-11-25T16:42:00.003-06:00

Here's the latest ultrasounds, including one that, yep, looks like a baby! Everyone is happy and healthy, and we appreciate your prayers.
-chadley

Pregnancy Tracker

2008-11-25T15:15:00.003-06:00

Here's what the Pregnancy Tracker app on our iPhones has to say...

Photo of the Day

2008-11-22T09:33:00.002-06:00

Sacreligious, or just funny? You decide.

Taken at Bongo Java, Nashville

-chadley

A reminder to myself

2008-11-19T08:58:00.000-06:00

Went to the Y this morning and worked out. I feel so focused and
refreshed afterwards..more than i have in weeks. Why do I ever let the
thought of sleeping in win over knowing how important if is to take
care of myself?

I have to do better.

- Chad

Sent from my iPhone

Orlando Trip, Nov. 2008, Part 2

2008-11-18T06:00:00.002-06:00

And now for the rest of my Orlando trip report:

The day after our Epcot trip, we had a day at the Kingdoms!

We got up and started the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. This is Jen's favorite park and also one of Disney's more beautiful. It also helped that it was an unseasonably cool day, as that park seems to be one of the hottest places on WDW property year-round. We started the day getting FastPasses to the Kilimanjaro Safari and then making our way over to see the "Finding Nemo" musical. This is an original stage show performing only at Animal Kingdom, and it has a pretty big pedigree for a theme park stage show. The costumes are by the same designer who created the one's for The Lion King on Broadway. The songs were written by the same people who did the "Avenue Q" show that is on Broadway as well. It was a small show, but held the same quality of other musical productions I've seen touring the country. And it was a huge step above the usual dreck they call "stage shows" at Disney World - my least favorite things at the parks.

After that, we rode the safari, and took the two walking trails through the animal habitats. I don't know if it was the comfortable, un-muggy weather that brought the animals out, but I saw more animals in that trip than in 2 or 3 other trips combined and they were quite active. We saw several tigers, lions, meerkats, gazelles, giraffes and gorillas. I also took a quick ride on Expedition Everest, as the single rider line was very short and Jen didn't have to wait by herself for too long.

We wrapped up our time at AK by eating at "Yak & Yeti", a new Pan-Asian restaurant located in the Asia section. The restaurant was great - we got to sit on the second floor and do some great people-watching as crowds passed by. I got a salmon dish, while Jen got the ribs. As usual, Jen got the better meal of the two! The portion of ribs was so huge I actually ate half of it and we were both stuffed when we left. We returned to the hotel for a break after lunch.

That evening, we made our way to the original park at WDW, the Magic Kingdom. We had a bit of a surprise waiting on us, though - the Christmas decorations were up! The past couple of years, they have also covered Cinderella Castle in a sophisticated network of lights that resemble icicle lights on steroids. It really is mesmerizing to see them shimmer across the Castle's spires and turrets.

The first ride at MK was, naturally, the Haunted Mansion - probably my favorite ride at any Disney park. Then we rode the Mark Twain riverboat around Tom Sawyer's Island. You could tell this was more of a grown-up ride as it seemed to attract couples looking for a romantic place to spend a few minutes away from the hectic crowds. We then went and rode Pirates of the Caribbean, and then decided it was time to get something to eat. We went to Casey's Corner on Main Street, where they serve foot-long beef hotdogs and corn dog nuggets! We ate a quick dinner and made our way to Town Square where we had a front row view of the Spectromagic floats as they came out onstage. It was the perfect spot! Then we headed back down towards the Castle and picked out a spot for the Wishes fireworks show above the Castle. This takes place only about 15 minutes after the parade ends, so you have to find a good spot quick.

The fireworks were great, and afterwards, we found a bench and relaxed while the rest of the crowds made their way out of the park. Then we hopped on a practically empty monorail and made our way back to the car, closing out another fun day.

The next day was more of a laid-back day (which we needed). We had planned to meet with some friends of mine from the days when I worked at Universal Orlando. We got up early, got some Starbucks coffee and went to the office at Universal. I got to show Jen where I used to work, which was fun. Many of the people I knew were in a Monday meeting, but I did get to meet up with Wally Schumacher and Ali Snyder, both who worked there while I was there. We went to a Mexican restaurant close-by and had a great time catching up. Everyone had become parents since I had left so it was interesting to hear their take on how their lives had changed. One of my other coworkers, Todd Wineland, had left a couple of complimentary passes for Jen and I to use, so afterward we took those and made our way to the Universal parks.

Since Universal is mostly thrill-rides as compared to Disney, we did more sight-seeing than riding. First we wen to the Universal Studios park. Jen wanted to go see the "Animal Actors" show which I had never actually seen before. It was, as you might imagine, a very cute show. Then we went to Islands of Adventure and just walked around and took in the sights. The parks there are great, but it really is eye-opening to go there with someone who is restricted from doing so much. I didn't really feel like we had to miss out on too much when we were at Disney, but Universal was quite different.

Afterwards, we went back for the afternoon at the hotel. I planned a special evening for us, so we made sure and rested up. We had reservations for one of my favorite restaurants that night, so we got a little dressed up. On the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort is the California Grille, a restaurant that overlooks the Magic Kingdom. I booked our reservation for 9 PM, optimal time to see the fireworks from the rooftop. But my expectations were exceeded as they gave us a table right by the window, so we were lucky enough to have an amazing view of "Holiday Wishes" from our table! That night, there was a special Christmas party at the Magic Kingdom, and the grand finale had fireworks going off from about 8 different locations around the Magic Kingdom - the sky was filled with fireworks and we were watching them at practically eye-level.

Not only did the view exceed expectations, but so did the food. For a starter we got the Chef's Garden Heirloom Tomato Flatbread with Roasted Garlic, Provolone, and Arugula. Then we split the Heirloom Tomato salad. For the main course I had the Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Goat Cheese Polenta and Jen had the Sonoma Goat Cheese Ravioli with Sun-dried Tomatoes. We also got the Valrhona Chocolate Cake and Apricots for dessert. This was a great meal and I would definitely love to go back again. After stuffing ourselves, we made our way back to the hotel.

The following morning was our last day there, so we decided to continue the eating parade and had breakfast at the Kona cafe at the Polynesian Village resort. I had my favorite, the "Tonga Toast", which is banana-stuffed sourdough bread, rolled in cinnamon sugar and served with Strawberry Compote. So good! Jen got the "Big Kahuna" - French toast, Macadamia-Pineapple pancakes, eggs, home fried potatoes. Needless to say, we were stuffed again and didn't eat again until we got home that night. We had a little time to kill before we needed to return to the airport, so we went to Downtown Disney, which is a shopping area on the edge of WDW property. We picked up a few souveniers, including one of the first things we've bought the baby - a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. After doing some shopping, we sat by the lake for awhile and eventually went back to the car, drove to the airport and flew home.

So I hope you enjoyed reading about our last "kid-free" trip to Disney World! We're looking forward to a future trip where the agenda won't be set by a pregnancy , but by a little one who will be seeing their Dad's favorite wonderland for the first time.

Oh, and did I mention we leave in less than two weeks for Chicago?

-chadley

Orlando Trip, Nov. 2008, Part 1

2008-11-15T09:44:00.010-06:00

Okay, so we've been back from Orlando for a few days and, now that I've had a chance to catch up on some work I'll dive in and tell you about our trip.

First off, we had a great time! The weather in Orlando was amazing the entire trip. We had a lot of fun and surprisingly, we only went into the Disney Theme Parks for a couple of days. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

We were scheduled to fly out on Thursday evening at about 8:30 PM. It was a late flight, for sure, but we wanted to be able to settle in and have our travels out of the way so we could start the next day fresh and ready to go. Unfortunately, I didn't quite work out that way. We had a delay at the airport. Basically, our flight was the last flight out of Nashville that night and, due to some delays in other cities, they held our flight for about a dozen passengers who had been trying to get to Orlando all day. That was nice of the airline and only a minor inconvenience for us. We left about 10:00 PM and arrived about 1 1/2 hours later. We grabbed our luggage and made our way to the car rental stand. We opted to get a car this trip so we could go to places outside of Walt Disney World (WDW), like Universal, etc. When we got to the car rental stand, their computers were down, which slowed things down a bit. Fortunately, it was about 1 AM Orlando-time, so there wasn't a line! Lucky for us they upgraded us to an SUV! We got to drive a brand-new Nissan Rogue with only 6 miles on it when we left the garage.

After a trip down the 528/I-4 corridor, we were at WDW! We were staying at one of Disney's smaller resorts, the All-Star Resort, in the Music section. It's not nearly as "nice" as the Swan & Dolphin Resort that we stayed at last year, but it was clean and comfortable. For the first two nights, we had to stay in a room with two double beds (in the Broadway section, for those who know the resort very well). Fortunately, Disney accomodated our request for a King-size bed once one became available. As you can imagine, King-size beds are not the norm in a resort that's family-friendly. But once we got the bed, I have to say it was super comfortable - maybe even more so than the "heavenly beds" we had at the Westin resorts we've stayed at before.

But enough of the hotel! Our first day in Orlando we slept in, then went and got coffee at the Starbucks in the town of Celebration. For those of you unfamilar, Celebration is a town that Disney designed and developed in the mid-1990's. World renowned architects like Michael Graves, Robert AM Stern, and Robert Venturi designed many of the main buildings in the town center. The rest of the town is filled with nice, well manicured lawns and beautiful homes. For more information visit Celebration's official site.

After that, we drove a few miles down the road to Giordano's Pizza, a Chicago-based pizzeria with a few locations in the Orlando area. The pizza there was amazing, and even though we just got a small, we could only eat about 2/3 of it! After the lunch, we decided to go drive around the WDW Resort grounds a bit. In particular, I wanted to show Jen Disney's Wilderness Lodge, one of my favorite resorts at WDW. The whole resort is bult of logs and is very reminiscent of the Lodges found at National Parks in the west. The campground next door, Fort Wilderness, we drove through and checked out more for curiosity sake. Then we headed back to the room for a nap.

That evening, we headed out to IKEA, the Swedish superstore that specializes in well-designed home furnishings for affordable cost. We wanted to window-shop for furniture and decor for the new house. We found some things we really liked, particularly a rocker for Jen in the nursery and some mirrors and light fixtures for the home. We resisited in buying anything, hoping to visit the IKEA outside of Chicago later this month where we don't have to pay for any shipping! Then we had dinner at IKEA's cafeteria, where they have the best swedish meatballs on the planet. SO GOOD! After that, we hopped in the car and made our way to downtown Orlando to see Coldplay perform at the Amway Arena. The show was amazingly good, almost up to U2-quality staging and lighting. They played all the hits and were very energetic. The highlight of the show to me was when the rigging about the floor of the arena started blowing neon-colored confetti shaped like butterflies onto the crowd. Then, they flooded the arena with blacklight and all you could see was neon butterflies flying everywhere. The effect was simple but stunning and slightly surreal. Great show, and I'd love to see them agian!

The following day was our first day going to the WDW parks. Jen wanted to sleep in, so I left a little early to try to get FastPasses to the newest ride at Disney's Hollywood Studios, Toy Story Midway Mania. I was blocked from getting the passes (Jen's ticket hadn't been used yet, so it wasn't valid to get us a pass), but we were able to get back pretty quickly after opening and waited a reasonable amount of time. The ride is great! Imagine riding through a 3-D videogame where you are playing Midway games (ring toss, dart throw, baseball toss) with the Toy Story characters computer generated and rendered in 3-D. The games were fun, but the technology was very impressive. Imagine shooting 3-D objects into a 3-D movie and having effects on what you saw onscreen. That's exactly what happened in this game and it will be impressive to see where they go with this kind of technology in the future.

After strolling around and taking in the sights at the Studios, we took off for Epcot and the main event: Epcot's Food and Wine Festival! Before we did anything, I ran and got FastPasses for Jen and me to ride Soarin'. It was shortly after 12, but our Fastpasses were for 6:30! So glad we did that first thing. Then we took a ride through the iconic sphere at the entrance to Epcot, Spaceship Earth. The ride has been heavily renovated and, although very similar to what was there when Epcot opened in the early 1980's, it has been enhanced with the latest robotic figures and a new finale that takes place on interactive screens built into the ride vehicles. The overall impression is that the ride has been greatly improved, but I still miss the fiberoptic whirlpool you passed through in the finale that was in place in the 1990's/early 2000's.

After that, it was time to eat! We made our way to World Showcase, and picked up something new Disney was trying. They were selling small gift cards attached to wristbands that you could charge up with whatever amount you wanted. When you went up to one of the booths, instead of pulling out your wallet, you could swipe the gift card. It was a great idea, in that it keeps you aware of how much money you are spending and saves time at the individual food kiosks. I won't go into too much detail about the foods we ate (suffice it to say we tried almost everything on my "wish list" from the previous post). I will say it was all quite good, with the exception of the Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée and the lemon tart. The exceptional dishes were the Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese and the Seared Beef Medallion with Cheddar Cheese Polenta. After eating about halfway around the lagoon we took an afternoon break and returned to our hotel. We went back in time to use our FastPass for Soarin', then continued with the "dinner" stroll around the lagoon. At 9, we stopped for the grand finale fireworks "IllumiNations" over the lagoon and leisurely made our way back to the car and to the hotel to get some rest.

And that's where I'll stop things for now. I'll pick up later this week with the rest of our trip.

-chadley

...and we're back!

2008-11-11T18:36:00.000-06:00

Okay... we made it back and had a great time. Photos and stories to come in the next few days.

-chadley

Going to Disney World!

2008-11-06T14:10:00.004-06:00

The day is finally here! Yay! We're off to Walt Disney World this evening!

Okay, so I didn't get to finish the "Disney World Countdown" thing this past month (I know some of you are grateful for that). But it is completely okay considering the thing that distracted us was the news of our pregnancy!

We're obviously very excited about the news, but it changes some things. If you've got a trip planned to a theme park, then stuff like roller coasters and other thrill rides are immediately out of the question. So what takes the place of coasters? Looking at our itinerary, apparently eating is the thrill for this trip!

We were planning on going down this weekend mostly because Disney is putting on the 13th Annual International Food and Wine Festival at Epcot. There you can try foods from around the world, as well as view culinary demonstrations all around World Showcase Lagoon. Jen and I downloaded a copy of the Festival Guide and put together a list of things we want to try. Here's what's on our "check list":

ARGENTINA: Grilled Beef with Chimichurri Sauce

CHILE: Spicy Beef Empanada

SPAIN: Seared Tuna Loin with Spicy Red Pepper Coulis and Garlic-Herb Ciabatta

SAN FRANSISCO, USA: Roasted Beet Salad with Goat Cheese, Seared Beef Medallion with Cheddar Cheese Polenta

INDIA: Samosa with Tamarind Sauce, Mango Mousse

SOUTH AFRICA: Durban Spiced Chicken with Coconut Milk-infused Root Vegetables, Bobotie with Mango Chutney

GERMANY: Regensburger Sausage with Sauerkraut in a Pretzel Roll

NEW ORLEANS, USA: Crawfish Etouffée

FRANCE: Goat Cheese and Leek Quiche, Milk Chocolate Crème Brûlée

TURKEY: Meze, Manti with Yogurt Sauce

CANADA: Cheddar Cheese Soup, Maple Glazed Salmon with Arugula and Roasted Corn

POLAND: Kielbasa and Potato Pierogies with Caramelized Onions and Sour Cream

PUERTO RICO: Plantain and Beef Casserole

The portions you get to try are small, but so is the price. And you can make a meal (or two) of wandering around the mile-long promenade and noshing on whatever you wish, until you run out of money in your wallet or room in your stomach. If you want to get a better look at what's going on down there, here's a link to the Festival Guide that Disney hands out at the front gate. Take a look and if there's any food you are interested in, email us and I'll try it (yeah, that's not as good as YOU eating it, but it's the best I can do)!

But I'm getting ahead of myself. The first day we're there, after a trip to show Jen the planned community of Celebration that Disney designed (and the TV show "The Office" mocked), we are going to Girodano's pizza in Kissimmee. This is a first for me, but I'm very much looking forward to it. I've heard lots of great things about their Chicago-style pizza and I can't wait to try it.

On our trip to Animal Kingdom, we're dining at "Yak & Yeti" (yeah, I know... why would anyone put the word "yak" in the name of a restaurant). It's a "Pan-Asian" restaurant with Thai, Indian, Chinese dishes. This is also a new one for me, and I'm interested in seeing what it's all about. As far as locale, it's actually IN the Animal Kingdom park, appropriately in the Asian section, overlooking the lake with the Everest coaster on the opposite shore.

The last night of our trip, we're dining at the California Grille, which is on the 13th floor of the Contemporary Resort. The view of the dining room overlooks the Magic Kingdom next door, and I've timed our reservations so (hopefully) we can see the fireworks over Cinderella Castle while we eat. There's also an observation platform where you can go outside and take in the view. As far as the food goes, the chef there is the chef who was formerly at Jiko, the African-inspired restaurant at Animal Kingdom Lodge that we enjoyed so much from our last trip. It's been years since I've eaten at the California Grille and I am very much looking forward to sharing the experience with Jen.

So wish us safe travels and I'm going to try to upload pictures to the site as often as I can, with an extensive "trip report" when we return.

Later!

-chadley

Early Ultrasound Photos

2008-11-06T13:44:00.004-06:00

We went in for our first ultrasound today. This is the first one that is used to determine the due date.

The baby was estimated to be about 7 weeks along give or take a little bit. We've heard varying things, but at this point the due date is estimated around June 21-23.

Hmmm.... that's right around Father's Day, isn't it?

-chadley

Vote for Lando

2008-11-04T06:47:00.000-06:00

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

New trailer for "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince"

2008-10-26T20:22:00.003-05:00

The new Harry Potter trailer (international version)!

WDW Countdown: The final video

2008-10-25T00:01:00.000-05:00

Back to my countdown, after taking a break for our big announcement. We're under the 2 week count for our Disney World vacation!

Anyways, this is the last of the videos (I think). Some of Disney's current promo films for the parks:

Lost Season 5 Trailer

2008-10-24T17:57:00.002-05:00

And now for something totally different, the trailer for the next season of the best show on TV, Lost!

Big news from Chad & Jen!

2008-10-19T12:06:00.002-05:00

We're having a baby!

Adoption Update: The rest of the story (so far)...

2008-10-15T17:23:00.004-05:00

Last time when I updated the blog with adoption news, I had gotten in touch with my birth mother. We had made introductions and all was going well. I'm glad to tell you that continues to be the case. I've shared stories and photos over the past several weeks, and she has done the same. And with her permission, I'll share some of the details of what happened when I was given up for adoption.

As an 18-year old, Mary Ann Geiger found herself pregnant and the father was no longer in the picture. She had decided to keep the child, and felt it best to keep her pregnancy to herself for as long as possible. Fortunately, it was the 1970's and wearing a poncho all winter long (to hide any visible signs of pregnancy) didn't seem suspicious. After she was 6-months along she finally told her parents about the situation. Her father wanted to keep the matter quiet so it wouldn't hurt his career with the FAA, so he sent Mary Ann off to a "unwed mothers" home in Memphis. A few months later, on July 8th, I was born. She never got to see me as a baby. The name "John Geiger" that I mentioned in a previous blog entry was actually given to me by the State of Tennessee (kind of a "John Doe" situation). She had a name chosen, but I'm keeping that to myself for now. :)

Six weeks later, Mary Ann went to court to sign the adoption papers, legally giving custody to the Hunters. Harold and Marilyn Hunter picked me up at the Tennessee Baptist Children's Home around the same time. She never knew who was taking custody and the Hunters never knew who had given birth to their new child. But she knew I had a good home and, after some time, made some degree of peace with the situation, but always hoped we would get to meet someday. She had no other children, so there are no siblings for me to meet.

When Mary Ann was 20, her parents divorced and her mother remarried to a man named Michael who became a true father to Mary Ann. Some years later she met and married Gunner Beery and they have been a happily married couple ever since, with their (currently) nine dogs. They have traveled the world and have the photos to prove it! They seem to be a genuinely happy couple and currently live in Longs, SC.

Mary Ann was able to give me some good news about the family medical history, namely that there are no serious inheritable medical conditions to speak of with the exception of the thyroid condition with which I had already been diagnosed.

One of the unexpected things I have discovered as a side effect of my searching out this information and getting in touch with Mary Ann has been a more sure sense of self. I was talking to my friend David Price the other day about how I feel more "comfortable in my own skin" (for lack of a better phrase) since I started this process. In talking, we came to the conclusion that adopted kids have an inherent fear of rejection just because of their past. I think this is true even when you have a healthy home life growing up and good relationships with other peers. It's just something that nags at you under the surface. Now that the veil has been lifted on everything, I've felt a certain weight lift... a weight I'm not sure I even knew was there before.

So, for me, I'm finding this to be a very healthy experience, and I feel like I pursued this at just the right time too. God is good, and His timing is perfect.

So I guess the question is, what's next? Well, we continue to share emails and photos and, at some point meet up. I hope that can happen sometime in the next year, but we'll have to see how things pan out. Next year is going to be a big year for us and traveling might be hard, but that's for another blog post. I'll close out this post with a few photos of Mary Ann over the years. Thanks again to my friends for all the prayers and support as I go through this process.

-chadley

WDW Countdown: Video #12

2008-10-15T00:01:00.000-05:00

And now for something a little different... Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure!

WDW Countdown: Video #11

2008-10-14T00:01:00.000-05:00

A Travel Channel special, "Walt Disney World Resort: Behind the Scenes"

WDW Countdown: Video #10

2008-10-13T00:01:00.000-05:00

My other favorite "old school" ride, Pirates of the Caribbean. Both before and after Johnny Depp was around.

WDW Countdown: Video #9

2008-10-12T00:01:00.000-05:00

My favorite ride at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, the Haunted Mansion.

WDW Countdown: Video #8

2008-10-11T00:01:00.000-05:00

And now for something a little less "vintage", Expedition: Everest.

WDW Countdown: Video #7

2008-10-10T00:01:00.000-05:00

More vintage Epcot Center goodness...

WDW Countdown: Video #6

2008-10-09T00:01:00.000-05:00

Epcot Center!

WDW Countdown: Video #5

2008-10-08T00:01:00.000-05:00

Various videos of Walt Disney World, including a commercial shot before opening and directed by Orson Welles.

WDW Countdown: Video #4

2008-10-07T11:14:00.000-05:00

The Magic of Walt Disney World - an old 16mm film sold in the park as a souvenier.

WDW Countdown: Video #3

2008-10-06T08:03:00.000-05:00

Florida's Disney Decade: A TV Special shown in Florida celebrating the 10th anniversary of Walt Disney World.

WDW Countdown: Video #2

2008-10-05T13:16:00.001-05:00

Race for the Cure 2008 in Nashvile

2008-10-05T10:03:00.005-05:00

On Saturday, October 5th, Jen and I participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure that was held in Nashville. Jen's company, Greenvale Homes, was participating in this event to show support to one of their own survivors, Kelly Ginn (Kelly, actually, was the only one of us to RUN the marathon...the rest of us walked).

Parking was across the river near the Titans stadium, so everyone got to walk across the Shelby Street walking bridge. As part of the festival 107.5 FM did something called "Bras Across the Cumberland". Bras were donated to the radio station, tied together and strung along each side of the bridge. On the other side of the bridge there was a festival set up in the plaza by Schermerhorn Symphony Hall, and Country Music Hall of Fame. Here you could donate money in the name of a particular survivor, get free coffee from McDonald's, bagels from Panera (in the shape of the "Cure" ribbon) and have a group photo made while you waited for the event to begin.

This 5K marathon started by the Hall of Fame, went up Demonbreun Ave., down Music Row, around the Musica statue, over to Broadway, and back downtown, ending near the Riverfront. It took a couple of hours to finish, but the weather was beautiful and it was just a lot of fun.

Jen and I are thinking of making it an annual event. If you are thinking of participating next year, wherever you are, I really encourage you to do so. You can get more information at www.komen.org.

The WDW Countdown Begins...

2008-10-04T04:17:00.003-05:00

So it's about a month until Jen and I make our way to Orlando and Disney World. I've loved the place since my first visit when I was about 5. I also have a nostalgic bent for anything having to do with WDW from the 1970's and 1980's. Fortunately, others out there do too, and there's a treasure trove of documentaries, TV specials and 8mm films from that era on YouTube. I'll be posting some of them in the next few weeks. If, for no other reason, to get me excited about our trip!

-ch

Photo of the Day

2008-10-03T09:36:00.001-05:00

In preparation for next week's Presidential Debate at Belmont, they've started putting a chain-link fence around a good portion of the campus grounds. Things are going to be crazy around there next week...I'm staying as far away as possible.

Adoption Update: Contact achieved!

2008-09-29T16:34:00.005-05:00

Hey all...

Just a quick update on the adoption situation. I've been in touch with my birth mother and things are going well. We're writing back and forth via email and she's been giving me information that fills in the gaps of what was in the state's records. She's been very nice and helpful in answering questions and understanding of the situation as it stands. It's really turning out to be a "best-case scenario" and I couldn't be more pleased.

I'll give a more detailed report in the near future including some information about her (with her blessing) and about the situation that led to my adoption.

Oh, and it's very likely that she might read this message since she now knows about my website. How's that for exciting!

-chad

The rest of the year...

2008-09-27T09:36:00.009-05:00

There's a lot to look forward to between now and the end of the year, and I just wanted to put together a list of what I'm looking forward to most. We know next year is going to be a crazy year and we might not get to travel much, so we are trying to cram as much into the rest of this year as we can. Here's a quick rundown...

TRIP TO ORLANDO, FL:
this, as you can imagine is a multiple "looking-forward to" list which includes the following events:
• Seeing Coldplay's "Viva La Vida Tour" at the Amway Arena
• Epcot's Food & Wine Festival at Walt Disney World (LINK)
• Visiting Universal Orlando with Jen (her first trip there) and having lunch with my old co-workers at Finnegan's Bar & Grill (LINK)
• Taking Jen to Celebration, the Disney-designed community near Kissimmee. If she loves Lenox Village, she'll go crazy over this (LINK)
• Dining: Girodano's Pizza (LINK), Yak & Yeti (LINK), California Grille (LINK) and Casey's Corner (LINK)
• Riding: Toy Story Midway Mania (LINK), the renovated Spaceship Earth (LINK), the Simpsons Ride (LINK)
• Shopping: since we're renting a car, I hope to hit IKEA (LINK), Crate & Barrel, Urban Outfitters, etc. Although I love Nashville, there's a few key stores that are missing from our city. This is especially true as we're trying to get things for our house right now, so these shops will be a lot of fun to visit.

TRIP TO CHICAGO:
Seeing as I've never been to Chicago, and this is my first trip I've taken with my folks since I moved out years ago, I'm anticipating having a great time spending Thanksgiving in the Windy City! Here's what I'm looking forward to:
• Staying at the Allerton Hotel (LINK)
• Shopping, dining and exploring along the Magnificent Mile (LINK)
• Seeing "Wicked: The Musical" at the Ford Center (LINK)
• Dining: Chicago Pizza & Oven Grinder Co. (LINK) and Rosebud (LINK)
• ...and just exploring one of the only major cities in the US I've never been to before!

PLUS:
• Trip to Lincoln for Christmas! Hoping to see snow, just not while we're driving. Unless airline ticket prices drop like a stone, this will be me and Jen's first bona fide "road trip" together. I'm a little nervous about the possibility of snow while we travel, but I'm sure it will be a nice drive and we'll have a good time. Plus, it's CHRISTMAS, my favorite time of year. Won't be long until I bust out the Christmas music (you can start pitying Jen right now).

• A true "winter" experience. Between the Lincoln and Chicago trips, these will be the only trips I've taken out of the South in the winter, so I'm expecting colder temperatures than I've ever experienced before. Note to self: convince everyone to spend next Christmas in Cancun...

-chad

House Progress: Since we got back from Mexico...

2008-09-23T18:15:00.003-05:00

So it's been a few weeks since I updated the blog about the house. There's been a lot of progress too.

Before we left for Mexico, they had finished the roof and put the shingles on. Then, when we got back they started putting brick on the townhouse. Now, there's brick, windows and even doors have been installed. It actually looks like a real house.

Oh, and on our last visit, a little turtle was hanging out by the entrance to our neighborhood. Since we obviously have a thing for turtles (see our Cancun pics if you don't know what I'm talk about) we stopped and checked him out. Jen named him "Oakey", after our neighborhood, Oak Hill.

-chad

Fires around Nashville

2008-09-19T18:15:00.004-05:00

I've had an opportunity to view 2 of the fires that have happened in Nashville up close lately. Seeing sights like this definitely make me respect the destructive power of fire. The first set are shots of Mario's Restaurant in Nashville (from the sidewalk through the busted out windows). The second are shots Building 14 at Brentwood Downs. Thankfully, no one lost their lives in these fires. If you want to help those who lost their belongings in the Brentwood Downs blaze, call the front office at 615-834-6355.

-ch

___________________________________

Cancun Trip Report, Day 6: "Back to the Real World..."

2008-09-16T12:19:00.004-05:00

Tuesday:

We got up the following morning and packed our belongings (okay, for those of you who know me, I was 90% packed the night before, but I'm just crazy like that). We made our way down to the front, squared away the bill and said our goodbyes to the Le Meridien Resort (for now... we'll be back, I bet). We took a taxi and did something I had been dying to do the whole trip. I REFUSED TO TIP the skycap at the airport, totally refusing service from him. Sorry, but it felt good to not feel pressured into something like that for once on our trip. We checked our luggage, bought some souveniers in the duty-free shop and had a wait ahead of us for the flight. We decided we had enough Mexican food and opted to have Johnny Rocket's for lunch. We both had burgers and fries and I have to admit, it was nice to have a taste of something from back home. Shortly after that it was time to hop on the plane and make it back to the USA.

The trip back was quiet. We saw "Made of Honor" again on the flight, since the VCR seemed to be crazy and chewed up the other movie. All our luggage made it back just fine through customs. Tara picked us up from the airport and was nice enough to bring us some beverages (thanks again, Tara).

We were shocked to see that one of the buildings in our apartment complex had caught fire while we were gone (fortunately, no one was hurt).

If you made it this far, thanks for reading the trip report. I highly recommend a trip to Mexico if you get a chance. Do your research beforehand as there's a LOT of ways you can get ripped off, but there's a lot of ways you can have a pretty stress-free trip. If you find yourself down there, let me know and I'd love to hear about your trip. I want as much information as I can get before the next time I visit so we can try some new and exciting things.

-chad

Cancun Trip Report, Day 5: "Visit Tulum, For Sure!"

2008-09-16T12:07:00.005-05:00

Monday:

The final full day of our trip, was a visit to the historic Mayan ruins of Tulum. The morning was a bit of a blur (mercifully, for you blog readers). We grabbed breakfast quickly at El McDonald's and met the tour group. We rode the hour and a half to the ruins with an interesting group of people. There was a couple in the front from Atlanta who kept mostly to themselves, a "FAB-U-LOUS!!!" gay couple from Manhattan, a British couple celebrating their retirement by traveling the world and...us. The tour guide (Arturo) was a nice fellow who accentuated every phrase with "for sure" the same way a girl from the OC would say "like, totally". We were amused. He was also adept at educating our group while also building up to a sales pitch for some cartouche pendants with your name on them in Mayan heiroglyphs. A great deal, for sure (or so he told me). We passed.

The most valuable thing we bought when we arrived wasn't the jewelry but the bottle of water. I don't know if it was the particular temperature that day, the humidity, the lack of shade, the jungle area surrounding the site or what, but it was the hottest experience of the whole trip. And that's saying a lot. My light blue shirt was drenched before we even got to the ruins site (it was about a 3/4 mile walk), and I wasn't the only one. I ended up at one point going around without a shirt on, not something I usually do even at swimming pools.

Once we arrived at the site, though, it was worth it. Not having traveled the world much, the oldest structures I had seen up to that point had been at St. Augustine and along the coast of Florida. Seeing these ancient Mayan ruins was astounding. And when Arturo explained to us how every architectural detail of the Great Temple Castle was influenced by the Mayan calendar, down to the number of the steps and the placement of windows to have light shine through them during the summer and winter equinox, I was astounded. To think they had to work out these calculations before they even started to build these temples is amazing. The grounds was interesting, including an entrance to a beach down a set of stairs on a cliff. Reminded me of the beaches in California, but the water was the beautiful blue of the Caribbean. An amazing site. We also saw a great number of iguanas here at the site, and they definitely had made the Temple site their home, sunning themselves on the rocks strewn about, blocked from the people by railings.

We walked around for a little while after Arturo gave us a brief tour of the site, but the heat got the better of us and we headed back to the shopping plaza by the parking lot before too long (getting a little turned around along the way). We had some Mexican ice cream cones and found a gift shop to cool off in while we waited for the van to return. We also met up with some of the members of the tour group, getting some good advice for future travels by the British couple. They were great... so friendly and full of stories. Hearing them talk about their travels on the drive home was worth the trip in my opinion.

After a return drive through Playa del Carmen (which appeared to have some amazing, and surprisingly contemporary, furniture stores), we were dropped off at Le Meridien and made a bee-line for the beach in an attempt to cool off. The waves were ideal for playing around in that afternoon and we grabbed the waterproof camera and snapped away. Then back to the pool where we ordered our prerequisite guacamole & chips and settled in for a few hours.

Later, we went upstairs and got cleaned up and decided to have dinner at Kukulcan Plaza. We were going to try an Italian restaurant, but changed our minds and went to the Mexican restaurant Casa Maguey once we got there. The food was very good, I had some salmon and Jen had her only fajita of the entire trip. We also ordered Key Lime Pie, which was our only dessert we ordered for the entire trip. We shopped a bit for souveniers and beverages and headed back to the hotel room to pack and get to bed early, since we had a full day of traveling ahead of us.

"I Like Turtles" video

2008-09-16T12:03:00.002-05:00

For those of you who don't know where I got the title of the previous blog:

Cancun Trip Report, Day 4: "I Like Turtles!"

2008-09-15T16:24:00.004-05:00

Sunday

This was one of the quietest days of the trip. We got up and decided to have breakfast at McDonalds, and it was fun to order something familiar but different. Then we went back and sat by the pool... the only problem was that it started raining shortly after we got out of the pool. We went inside and talked to the concierge about taking the bus into Cancun and by the time we were done talking to him, it had stopped raining and we went back out for a few hours. I had to sit there like a grandmother and her quilt over her legs to keep from getting my legs burned, but it was nice. The overcast sky and breeze made for a nice break from the relentless sun.

That afternoon, we decided to pay for internet for a half-hour and we updated our blogs. Just doing this almost took the whole half hour as the internet there is incredibly slow, even though it is not dial-up. After that we decided to hop the bus and ride up the strip to find a new place for dinner. We got out close to the Hard Rock Cafe, and looked around for a non-chain restaurant. We really couldn't find anything we wanted. In fact the area had more boarded up places than open ones. After having a couple of scoops of Haagen-Dazs, we just headed back and ate at the seaside cafe at our hotel. We could see some clouds in the distance and the manager of the restaurant told us that the unusal cloud formation was actually Hurricane Ike. Beautiful, but a sobering sight.

After dinner the hotel held an interesting event... releasing 117 baby sea turtles into the sea. We got to actually take about 5 of them ourselves. They are incredibly small, fitting easily in the palm of one's hand. We would set them on the shores and watch them walk out into the waves, washing away and starting their lives in the ocean. It was a really beautiful moment, with the destructive clouds of Ike in the distance watching these new little turtles start their lives. THe power of life and death in the waves.

Cancun Trip Report, Day 3: "Beer, Fanta, Tequila, Coke?: A Trip to Isla Mujeres"

2008-09-15T06:16:00.006-05:00

Saturday:

Got up early and walked to Aqua World where we had our trip to Isla Mujeres scheduled. The tour group "Aqua World" was a very nice touristy company where you could book about a dozen different kind of excursions in the Riviera Maya area.

They served a continental breakfast. Well, they had dry pastries, okay fruit and orange juice while waiting for our tour to start. Sadly, about what you would expect. We then boarded the boat that went across the lagoon. As we exited the lagoon we went through a patch of mangroves, where we spotted a monkey! After we emerged back into civilization, we went under some bridges and then out into the open sea. They turned up the throttle and our boat shot across the waves. I can't express to you how much fun that was! That's not something I had done since my early days in Jacksonville. I loved it more than I can tell you. During the trip to the island, we were constantly offered "beer, tequila, fanta, coke?" so often that it was ridiculous and started distracting from the amazing view of the high-rise hotels fading in the distance and the approach of the rocky island shores.

Wikipedia describes Isla Mujeres like this: "Isla Mujeres is the name of a small island, as well as the town on that island, a short distance off the coast of the northeast of the Yucatán Peninsula in the Caribbean Sea. It is about 13 km northeast of Cancún, at 21.20° North, 86.72° West. The island is some 7 km long and 650 meters wide. In the 2005 census the municipality had a population of 13,315, and the town had a population of 11,147. The municipality, which lies mostly on the mainland in the northeastern corner of the state, has an area of 1,100 km² (424.7 sq mi)." Wikipedia doesn't bother to tell you how beautiful it is, though. Isolated out at sea, it really feels like it's own little world.

We landed at the island dock and were led onto the beach where Aqua World had their own setup. From that location, we could do a variety of things. Jen and I opted to do the snorkeling tour. So back on the boat and around the edge of the island to where the snorkeling reefs were. After trying it out, I decided that breathing through a straw with my head under the water was not for me. But I enjoyed the view from the boat while Jen snorkled away and saw barracuda, a sea turtle and submerged Mayan ruins.

Once we returned to Aqua World's "home base", we ate a quick buffet lunch that was about as good as the continental breakfast had been. Then came the fun part... we got the keys to the GOLF CART we had rented for the next couple of hours. Now, renting the golf cart was too much fun, and something I could've done all day. Anyone who knows of my days at Universal Studios knows how I used to make up excuses to "borrow" the golf cart the advertising department had and drive around the backlot for hours. Driving around an island in a golf cart? Even more fun!

Golf carts are allowed to drive all over the island. The max speed limit is 40/kmh. We first tried to find the turtle sanctuary to no avail (but no worries, we had a close enounter with turtles. More on that later). It started to rain on us, but that didn't stop us. It reminded me of riding my bike around in the tropical showers in Florida as a kid. So I still like to play in the rain. Sue me.

The rain stopped as we drove to the south end of the island. We passed many houses and condos along the cliffs on the shore (some of which we would love to stay in someday). We passed Garafon, a water area with zip lines, snorkeling pools and a beautiful beach. Then we went to the park near the lighthouse that was one of my favorite areas in all of Mexico. Ix Chel Park is a small park that had many modern sculptures near the shear cliffs that dropped off into the ocean. At the far end of the park was the very end of the island. There sat a small pile of stones, remnants of a Mayan temple to the goddess Ix Chel (the "lady" in the name of the island). The paths led down stars to the rocky shore and wound around through holes carved into the cliffs by the waves. It was a true natural beauty. We stayed as long as we could, but were on a time limit, so back to the cart. We drove as far as we could on the ocean side of the island past beautiful homes and villages of huts, and into a small downtown area that was very authentic and in stark contrast to the "touristy" downtown area the tour led us to later. We ended up unable to find the road that was a shortcut back to the camp, so we ended up backtracking, but made it back just in time.

The next excursion was to the downtown area, so back to the boat. After another brief trip being endlessly assaulted with offers of BTFC, we were off the vessel and into the downtown section. On the way off the boat, I dropped my old-but-expensive Oakley sunglasses into the ocean. One of the guys on the boat offered to get them. This was the same guy who spoke little English but was very friendly to me when I was on the boat during the snorkeling tour (very proud to tell us of his 5 kids once he found out Jen was my wife - trying to encourage us, I suppose). At this point we were both tired and ready for a break. Although I found the architecture and culture of this area interesting, the constant verbal assault by the people running the markets became a bit much. After about 20-30 minutes, we settled in at a bar on the shore and had some nachos and diet coke and waited for the boat to return. The "people-watching" from this location was great entertainment (for the record, speedos should be banned, particularly if you are over 50, over 300 lbs and especially both). We returned to the boat for our trip back to Cancun. Some of our fellow passengers (5 college-age boys from the UK) started giving the staff a hard time. They had been drinking the enitre time they were on the island. They were threatening to dive overboard and even relieving themselves off the back of the boat. It was more amusing than anything, but we were all relieved to reach the shore.

That evening, Jen and I had a very quiet time going to a Mexican restaurant down the street called "La Destileria". It was very good, but that's because most everything had cheese inside of it or covering it. You can't really go wrong with that, can you?

After dinner, we went back and crashed very early. It had been a long day.

A new low, even for me.

2008-09-14T08:15:00.000-05:00

Naturally, since I post about food on this blog SEEMINGLY ALL THE TIME, I should probably give you the flip side of things and let you know that I have actually been taking better care of myself and trying to lose weight.

Many of you know that I lost 70 pounds a few years ago after letting myself go in my late 20's & early 30's. I worked hard and went to Weight Watchers faithfully and went from 282 pounds to 212 pounds. Then I hit a plateau and I've been stuck at or around 212 for the past several years. At the beginning of this year, I was about 224.

I was reminded of a promise I made to myself to be in better shape by the time I hit 40 than I was at 30. I decided to make it one of my priorities this year to go the distance and get to my goal, which is somewhere in the lower 190's. With Jen's help, I've been eating better, watching my portions and counting calories (I needed a different tactic than Weight Watchers to get motivated again - same idea, different approach). And I got back down to 212, but that wasn't good enough.

So for the few weeks before we went to Mexico, I kicked it into high gear and finally broke through the wall and got to 210.4! That's the lowest weight I've been since I was in college.

I can't tell you how exciting that was, but disappointing that I got there right before a trip where I wanted to indulge. But Jen and I decided to eat what we wanted and just watch our portions, and it worked. I was able to keep off the weight on vacation and am now looking at getting out of the 210's in the next week or 2.

Part of the reason I'm blogging about this is accountability. When I was doing Weight Watchers, I would call a couple of close friends to tell them the results as soon as I left the meeting. Well, I've decided that this time around I'm going to post it to my blog, where I have to be accountable to everyone. So if you don't hear from me about once every 2 weeks or so about this, email me and ask me how I'm doing. I could use the encouragement and the reminders that people are watching.

-chadley

Photos: Me at 282, back in the early 2000's

Cancun Trip Report, Day 2: "Swimming, reading and...working out?!?"

2008-09-14T06:51:00.006-05:00

Friday

Our first full day of vacation in Cancun, we got up and first thing decided to work out.

That's right...I said work out. Like, at the gym. Stop laughing. I'm serious!

We've been on a real health kick watching what we've been eating and we didn't want to totally ruin any progress we had made. We didn't come fully prepared to exercise but we made it work with the clothes we brought down. It actually felt good to get a workout in (don't worry... it was the only workout time of the trip). Then we changed into our bathing suits, slathered on the sunscreen, and went to the beach for awhile. The waves were much friendlier and we stayed out there for a half-hour or so. Then we picked out a spot by the pool (we were surprisingly the only ones there) and stayed poolside for most of the day, either swimming or reading in the shade the umbrellas provided. It was nice having the ocean right next to us, but being able to enjoy the calmness of the pool. I was reading "Book of Lies" by Brad Meltzer and "Spinning Disney's World" by Charlie Ridgway, in case you were wondering.

After several hours, we decided to book our excursions for the next few days. The following day would be at Isla Muerjes and Monday would be a half-day at Tulum. Sunday would be a "down day" with no specific plans.

Then we went back to the room to cool off and assess our sunburned state. We watched some TV out of Miami. They were tracking hurricane Ike, and it did look like there was a slim chance of it coming near Cancun. However, we weren't going to let it ruin the trip worrying about it, but we'd check the TV on Sunday to see what was the latest.

After that we got ready and rode the bus to La Isla shopping mall. The bus was filled with locals heading home from work, mariachi music blaring and the bus barely slowing to let people on and off. For the first time I had a sense of being truly in another culture. We got off at the mall and made our way to "Thai", a beautiful restaurant that had cabanas on the shore of the lagoon. I had a duck curry, Jen had a beef curry. The food was great, but it was the atmosphere that was truly incredible.

After that, I had my first Starbucks since Charlotte. I played it safe with my order, not knowing if they would have all the same things they did at home. It was good... different but familiar, I suppose. Then we walked back to the hotel (they left little cookies and a breakfast menu on the bed for us as part of turndown service) and crashed for the evening. We had a BIG day ahead Saturday.

Adoption Update: The ball is in my court.

2008-09-13T17:24:00.002-05:00

Just a brief update on the search for my birth parents. While we were on vacation to Mexico, a letter came in the mail. It appears the State found my natural mother and made contact with her. Turns out that she's very willing to have contact with me. She included her contact information in the paperwork she submitted to the State and they passed it along. I got it mid-week when we returned and finally told my Mom & Dad (the Hunters, for those of you who could get confused) today when they were passing through town.

At this point, I'm just trying to figure out the best way to move forward. I don't want to leave her waiting too long, so I'll have to decide soon. I'll probably initiate things via e-mail and go from there.

So just say a prayer for me that I say the right thing when I sit down to write the letter. Writing someone who is a relative stranger and yet someone with a very intimate connection is a unique challenge. I'll let you all know how it turns out once I hear from her.

And thanks for the supportive comments and emails I've received about the previous blog. Nice to know that so many friends out there care!

-Chad

Cancun Trip Report, Day 1: "Pirates of the Caribbean Airport"

2008-09-10T08:49:00.012-05:00

Okay, so I decided I would write a journal for my first trip out of the country to Cancun, Mexico with Jen. I'll be posting entries over the course of the next week or so, one every day. I'm TRYING to not be the King-of-Run-on-Sentences, but don't hold me to it...

Jen and I were traveling to Cancun as a delayed celebration of our first anniversary, and it was worth the wait. The days leading up to it were filled with frantic trips to Target to get items we needed and wrapping up projects at work. Finally we went to bed Wednesday night, setting our alarms to 4am and setting our intentions on a great trip.

Thursday:

We got up around 4AM to go to the airport. My sister-in-law Tara was kind enough to take us to the airport at that hour (thanks, Tara). We were flying out on USAir and we fortunately avoided having to pay for our luggage because we booked before they started charging "per bag" fees. Lucky us. After waiting at the airport for an hour or so, we took off from Nashville at 6:20AM. Although our flight to Charlotte, NC was very brief, US Air decided to serve beverages. We were surprised to see that US Air charged for sodas and water on their flights. In-between the luggage fees and this, I felt like USAir was gouging their patrons a bit. It could be worse, I suppose, but that kind of thing sticks with you when you think about planning other trips.

So we got to Charlotte, NC quickly and found a Starbucks. I got my usual coffee and we tried their new oatmeal that they serve for breakfast - not bad! We went to the boarding area where they double-checked our passports and then we got on the plane to Cancun! The movie was "Maid of Honor" - USAir still charged for the 2-prong headphones (I can't believe they still make those - I don't think ANYONE bought those on either flight they sold them on).

After a few hours in the air watching McDreamy move "mime-like" on the small screens overhead (by the way, he gets the girl at the end of the movie - shocker), we landed in Cancun. This was my first experience going through immigration and it went pretty easily - and I got my passport stamped! Then we grabbed our luggage and went through customs. We got the green "pass" light, getting out of the bag search. And we were on our way!

I wanted experience using a foreign currency, so we changed out some cash for pesos. Then we booked a ride on a shuttle to our resort through Gray Line. On our way out a lady wanted to "help" us find our shuttle. she ended up "helping" us to a timeshare condo (oh, I mean a "privately-owned" resort) stand where the very nice woman failed to sell us anything, but wasted about 15 minutes of our time. I actually read about this tactic online (they call them "pirates"... clever, eh?), and can't believe I still fell for it. After we freed ourselves from the saleslady, we found the shuttle, hopped aboard and made the relatively quick trip to Le Meridien Resort in Cancun. Finally!

Once we got to Le Meridien, we checked in and were greeted with towels and mango juice - a nice first impression. We were also upgraded to a room with a balcony that had a great view. If you've never been to Cancun, the resort area is in a unique area. Wikipedia describe it like this: "The city center is located on the mainland which connects over the...lagoons to a narrow "7" shaped island where the modern beachfront hotels are located." We were on the long part of the "7" about 2/3 of the way down. A very quiet area and close to the airport. Our room faced north with gave us a view of the lagoon to our left and the blue Caribbean waters to our right. All I can say is that it was amazingly beautiful water - so blue and so clear!

Once we settled in, I flipped on the TV. It was my first experience with TV in another country, and flipping it on and seeing SpongeBob speaking fluently in Spanish was a kick. Fortunately, we also got stations out of Miami, which came in handy keeping an eye o Hurricane Ike later in the trip.

Having only eaten the oatmeal at breakfast, we were starving. We went down to the resort's cafe by the pool and got some guacamole & chips plus we split a small pizza. It was all good, and it hit the spot. Then we grabbed some chairs by the pool, dropped our books off and went down to the shore. The waves were choppy and it was very windy, so we didn't spend long in the water. We went back up, sat in some chairs by the pool and relaxed for several hours. We spent the day reading and swimming in the amazing pools at the hotel. We decided we needed to have Mexican food our first night there (duh). We went to Hacienda Sissal, a 15-minute walk from our hotel. I had a chicken mole enchilada that was good but rich and Jen had a chicken dish that was also good and much lighter. The restaurant was empty (I think we were the only people there) and on the way out, we figured out why... in a separate dining area was a place with a terrible lounge singer performing on stage while the dining area in front of him filled with retirees just eating it up. It was the cheeziest thing I saw on the trip and looked like it belonged in Vegas, not Cancun. Glad we were in the nice dining area.

We then walked to Kulkulcan Plaza mall and browsed around. Nice mall with some stores I wish we had at home (Oakley in particular) right next to stores that sold tacky souveneirs. Interesting juxtaposition. We stopped in an art gallery and spoke with the owner for awhile about an artist that we mutually liked. Then we saw a Ben & Jerry's and decided to share a scoop of tira misu ice cream. I also got a "Mexican" Coke, that was sweetened with real cane sugar, not corn syrup. Even though I'm a Diet Coke drinker, I could taste the difference immediately.

We walked back to the hotel and went down by the pool. An event was taking place in a pavilion with acapela singers that was quite beautiful. The lighting outside the hotel at night was amazing and it was very relaxing. We retired shortly thereafter, thoroughly exhausted from our first day.

Hola amigos!

2008-09-07T16:03:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone... just writing a quick blog to let you know we made it to Cancun safe and sound and we're having a great time. I won't go into detail until we return, but suffice it to say it's been great. No serious sunburns, only a little rain and I'm getting used to having to tip for practically everything I do.

It looks like Hurricane Ike is going to miss us, but we're making sure to keep an eye on it (easy to do since most of our TV is from Miami, and it's all they're currently reporting on). We fly back on Tuesday before it's even predicted to leave Cuba.

Anyways, internet is expensive, so I guess we'll talk to you when we get back later this week. Adios!

-El Chado

House Progress: August 31

2008-09-02T18:05:00.004-05:00

Here's where the progress on our new townhouse stood on Sunday. They have started work on the top floor, but no roof yet. The final picture is the view out of my office window.

Can't wait to see how it looks when we get back in town. Oh... did I mention we leave Thursday for Cancun?

Can't wait!

-chad

House Progress: August 24

2008-09-02T17:55:00.006-05:00

Here's an update on the construction of our townhouse. These were shot on August 24th, and the bottom floor has been framed.

More to come...

Guilty as charged...

2008-08-17T18:25:00.004-05:00

Trying out audio entries in the blog...

2008-08-17T17:53:00.001-05:00

Uploaded by www.cellspin.net

Yes I've noticed...

2008-08-16T17:42:00.001-05:00

I'm the king of run-on sentences. Sorry. Keeping it brief from now on.

-ch