July Fourth - almost

10 Surprising Facts About the Fourth of July
Second Continental Congress (from MSN Encarta)

Everyone loves Independence Day, the quintessential American holiday, full of parades, picnics, and ... surprising facts? You bet! Be the life of the party--share a few of these tasty nuggets of knowledge with your fellow picnickers this year.

1. Independence Day commemorates the formal adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. However, it was not declared a legal holiday until 1941.


2. Fireworks were made in China as early as the 11th century. The Chinese used their pyrotechnic mixtures for war rockets and explosives.


3. Uncle Sam was first popularized during the War of 1812, when the term appeared on supply containers. Believe it or not, the U. S. Congress didn't adopt him as a national symbol until 1961. Uncle Sam Poster (Image credit: THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE)


4. There are many precise rules for taking care of the American flag. And speaking of flag traditions, we're sorry to report that contrary to legend, historical research has failed to confirm that Betsy Ross sewed the first flag.

5. Not all members of the Continental Congress supported a formal Declaration of Independence, but those who did were passionate about it. One representative rode 80 miles by horseback to reach Philadelphia and break a tie in support of independence.
Liberty Bell, Pennsylvania (Image credit: Photo Researchers, Inc./Joseph Nettis)


6. The first two versions of the Liberty Bell were defective and had to be melted down and recast. The third version rang every Fourth of July from 1778 to 1835, when, according to tradition, it cracked as it was being tolled for the death of Chief Justice John Marshall.


7. The American national anthem, the "Star-Spangled Banner," is set to the tune of an English drinking song ("To Anacreon in Heaven").

8. The iron framework of the Statue of Liberty was devised by French engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who also built the Eiffel Tower in Paris.


9. The patriotic poem "America the Beautiful" was published on July 4, 1895 by Wellesley College professor Katharine Lee Bates.

10. Father of the country and architect of independence George Washington held his first public office at the tender age of 17. He continued in public service until his death in 1799.

Countdown to vacation!

We're going back to HAWAII !!!! In September !!!


COUNTDOWN!!!

Staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki Beach on Oahu.



Flashback pictures from our honeymoon in June of 2003... (because I just love pictures and no blog is complete without them!) :)


View from the car as we drove around the island


View from the lobby out to the pool and beach (one of the first things you see when you arrive)


On our submarine trip (on the boat to the sub - Atlantis Adventures)


Surfers in the cove


Paul at the Honolulu/Waikiki overlook (on Tantalus Drive)


Julie looking out at Chinaman's hat near Kaneohe Bay


Live webcam at Ala Moana, 6 hours behind EST

We just can't wait! We've got lots of planning to, but we know for sure that we will not waste our time at Germaine's Luau (what a downer), the Wakiki Aquarium or find ourselves stuck in afternoon traffic in Hononlulu... However, I hope that we can make a trip to the Polynesian Cultural Center, Sea Life Park (shout out to Shea-Lynn!), the North Shore and maybe do some hiking (Diamond Head or waterfall) and also take a daytrip to another island. Gotta get planning!

Reflection

It's rainy and boring here so I was looking through recent pictures... I found this one taken about 3 weeks ago out at 'the lake'(properly named Jackson Lake in Butts County, GA. Making fun of the county name made our car trip to it so much more fun) - I love the reflection in Paul's sunglasses (you might need to click on it to get the full picture)

Dreaming of the weekend

UGH! Today is just not going well. Traffic was a bear this morning (I was getting so spoiled with school being out making my commute being a breeze) and now I've royally upset an agency who's Chief is on our Advisory Board. UGH! and ACK! My boss is out of town until next week so I am totally on my own with this one. DOH! I am seriously stressing right now. This is the first time I've mis-stepped in this job and gotten myself into trouble...

[breathe..... breathe..... breathe....]

I'm sure it will all get worked out in the end, but right now I am feeling really unsure and wishing I was not at work today!

Rather, I'm dreaming of the weekend and getting on the contraption that busted my leg last weekend... it's a strange relationship; I love it but it has the tendency to injure me and make my muscles so sore, and yet, I love it! A whole new hobby...

Meet my new obsession... (Paul has a matching one in blue)





Oh, and we have matching shoes. It's a riot. Not really intentional, but we loved the bikes AND the shoes. As long as we're aren't wearing our matching jerseys, I think we're still cool.

Learning to get this

Into this while moving

and out again was easy to learn; but remembering the technique when you have a freak out moment and need to NOT be attached to the bike and causes this

[ok, so on second thought I'm not going to include a picture of my busted leg, just imagine a grapefuit sized bruise with 'road rash' i.e. shredded skin around it, and that's what I got. I did take a picture but I just can't bring myself to torture you with the gruesome sight]

STANLEY CUP CHAMPS!

Way to go CANES!

The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Edmonton Oilers 3-1 in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals to make history and bring the first major professional sports championship to North Carolina.

I am so terribly sleepy this morning, but it was worth it staying up to see the Carolina Hurricanes win NC's frist professional sports championship!

200th Post!

I can think of 100 things to post for this milestone, but honestly I just don't feel much like typing, so how about a few recent photos for fun? Hopefully I'll feel like typing tomorrow so I can share about the past weekends' adventure... and I have injuries to show for it! More on that later....

For now, PICTURES! (as you'll notice, most have to do with food... hmmm)
*Pictures taken by Justin or with Justin's camera*

Justin made it back to the North Carolina for a visit! Of course we had to have a sign for greeting him at the airport AND for the party, killed 2 birds with one stone [poster]!


A quick stop for Bojo's on the way to GA (apparently a "no smoking section" means nothing in SC, thus we ate 'al fresco')


Justin and I in GA (after dinner with the family)


Lunch at the Atlanta Ikea! Can't beat the Sweedish meatballs!


Playing around at Ikea


Mexican! YUM

Historic Home for sale in Wake Forest

"The most significant private residence in Wake Forest. This elegant Register property is the only survivor of two Wake Forest University faculty houses. Four original outbuildings on the estate. Owners are part of distinguished area families with rich histories."



If I just happened to have some extra money and time lying around, this is what I would invest it in... It is a beautiful house with such rich history for the town. Apparently no interest has been shown by local business/non-profit groups so there is some concern regarding its future. Story in the Wake Forest Gazette with a lot more interesting information.

"The original structure was built in 1838 from locally produced materials. The brick walls are 18' thick. A rear addition, made sometime in the late 1800's, provides an attached kitchen, bedroom and bathroom as well as a library."

More photos and information here

I made it home!

My commute home was fairly uneventful, after finally figuring out which way to go... it only took 42 minutes (compared to the usual 30-35). The only signs of the today's flooding were the "high water" signs I encountered along the way (at least 1/2 a dozen) as well as a ton of debris on the roadway.


I didn't realize the city/county owned so many of these signs!

Rainfall totals as of 2:45pm
NWS Raleigh office... ... ... ... ... ... ... .7.60 inches
Raleigh Durham Airport... ... ... ... ... ... 5.61 inches
north Raleigh... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 5.50 inches

Once I arrived home I found our trash can lid open and it almost 1/2 way full of water. It took all my strength to turn it over and empty it b/c I could not move it!

I steered way clear of the Crabtree Valley area and here is why....

Edwards Mill Rd behind the Mall


Gas station at the corner of Summit and Glenwood Ave


Ice chest floating at the gas station


Crabtree Valley Ave (looking down from Blue Ridge) behind the mall


Glenwood at Leadmine (just before the Beltline)


Crabtree Creek bridge at Glenwood


Crabtree parking deck


Inside the parking deck


They don't call it a valley for nothing!!!



"Roads near Crabtree Valley Mall flooded as nearby Crabtree Creek's water levels -- normally about 18 feet -- rose to nearly 23.77 feet by 4 p.m., the highest level since flooding from Hurricane Fran on Sept. 6, 1996.

"The mall wasn't too busy, obviously, due to the weather, but we're still working to get employees and customers out safely and to their cars," mall spokeswoman Sandra Geist said about an hour after the mall closed at noon.

She said the ground level of parking -- but no stores -- flooded, and some cars had to be towed to dry land. Television footage and traffic cameras showed vehicles in water up to their hoods.

Emergency crews were working to rescue about 12 people stranded inside the mall as of 4 p.m." (from WRAL.com)

UPDATE at 9pm:
* Flood Warning continues for Crabtree creek in Raleigh.
* Warning is effective through tonight.
* At 09 PM Wednesday the stage was 21.6 feet and the creek was falling.
* Flood stage is 18.0 feet.
* The creek crested at 23.8 feet at 430 PM this afternoon.

The creek rose above flood stage late this morning and will
continue to fall to below flood stage around 2 am. At 22.0 feet,
Glenwood Avenue and the lower level mall parking lot at Crabtree
valley mall are flooded. The near 24 foot crest is comparable to
flooding from hurricane fran back in September of 1996.

More pictures (200+) of the flooding on WRAL.com

Alberto floods roads.... I am stuck at work!

Crabtree Valley Mall parking lot


Trinity Road


Gorman Street


Hodge Road (yes, that is a road, not a creek/river) THIS IS ON MY WAY HOME


Sunset Lake Road in Apex


And finally, this is what is keeping me stuck at work... Atlantic Ave at Hodges.

I don't think my car would go through that intersection (and this driver was ticketed for ignoring the 'road closed' signs)





Total rainful for RDU 5.65" (unoffical)

First tropical system... Alberto!

It is raining like I haven't seen in ages outside right now.... at least the garden & grass will be happy! I'm staying in the office and off the road until it's time to head home (and hopefully it will all have subsided by then)

The NWS in raleigh has issued a
* Flash Flood Warning for...
Moore County in central North Carolina
Lee County in central North Carolina
Wake County in central North Carolina

* until 1130 am EDT

* at 817 am EDT... National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated
very heavy rain over wake... Lee and Moore counties. Between 1.5
and 2.5 inches has fallen across teh warned area since 530 am.
An additional 1.5 to 2 inches may fall through 11 am. This will
cause flash flooding along creeks and streams.

* Locations in the warning include but are not limited to Wake
Forest... Southern Pines... Sanford... Raleigh... Pinehurst...
Garner... Fuquay-Varina... Cary... Carthage and Aberdeen.

Most flood deaths occur in automobiles. Never drive your vehicle into
areas where the water covers the roadway. Flood waters are usually
deeper than they appear. Just one foot of flowing water is powerful
enough to sweep vehicles off the Road. When encountering flooded
roads... turn around... dont drown.
*

(looking down Western Blvd.)

Video! Justin returns to the US

Video of Justin's return to Raleigh on Saturday, May 27th. (test for CastPost)

2 more videos online for Justin's return.


Powered by Castpost

Super quick update

Today is our 3rd wedding anniversary. :)


Gratuitous wedding photo

The hitch: I am in Atlanta, Paul is at home almost 500 miles away! :(

The bright side: He's headed down here tomorrow night to spend the weekend! It's Justin's big party/family reunion so it will be full of family fun! Both sides! Hasn't happened since the wedding... very interesting! I did realize that one side of the family RARELY sees us in 'summer clothes' so I had a little panic attack regarding what to wear... we've only seen each other at Christmas when long and layered clothes were the norm and did such a great job of hiding the parts you'd rather not admit exist. [sigh] Alas, I have purchased a few new summery items that I'm trying to decide which make me look my best.

Also, we are hoping to check out the Atlanta Ikea on Friday. I hope to bring mom and maybe Justin too. You must bring newbies, it's such an experience!

IKEA Atlanta quick facts:
-15 Acres
-366,000 sq. ft.
-1,497 parking spaces on two levels below store
Virtual tour of the ATL store

Hopefully I will have some time to update (with pictures and [gasp!] videos!) next week (b/c I'm not returning to work until Tuesday!)

Hurricane season starts today

Making it terribly ironic that the Carolina Hurricanes are the 2006 Eastern Conference Champions after Game 7 win of 4-2 over the Sabres. GO CANES!



The Hurricanes are now set to face the Edmonton Oilers in the finals, with the first game set for Monday at the RBC Center.



Caniacs are out in full force... on my way home from work I saw I HUGE mock up of the Stanley Cup in the back of a pickup that also had at least 1/2 dozen hurricane flags flying... and at least another dozen cars with 'canes flags. It's gonna get even MORE crazy around here...

News & Observer spread on "Caniacs"