Heading to Baton Rouge

Baby shower, here we come!

iPhone!

This is a test of the blogging application on my new iPhone. If you see a cute, fat guinea pig, let me know!

There Goes the College Fund

Busy weekend for Baby Boy McGarity: he got his first two pieces of furniture, just in time to take forever to get here during the holiday rush.

Graco Lauren Crib

The first was his new crib, the Graco Lauren that was highly thought of by Consumer Reports.  Our style is generally modern, with little of the ornamental flourishes that you find in some north Texas homes — the crisp, clean lines of this crib will suit us well.

Saving money on the crib allowed us the luxury of splurging on the all-important glider, where both Jenn and I will be spending many sleepless nights rocking The Boy to sleep.  Ladies and Gentleman, meet the Best Chair Braxton.

Best Chair Braxton

The above picture shows you the style of the chair, but we will have different upholstery (more of a green microsuede, highly resistant to newborn puke and drool — or so we are told).

North Carolina/Virginia, Day 3

Day 3 was an all-day road trip to Charlottesville, Virginia and its most-famous building: Monticello, the residence of Thomas Jefferson.  For many years, I’ve desired to visit this place.  Thanks to the recent John Adams mini-series and repeated listens to the Thomas Jefferson Hour podcast, waiting to visit there was akin to a kid trying to quietly pass through the 364 days before the next Christmas.

On the way back to Jim’s house, we stopped in Chatham, Virginia.  At Chatham Hall, an all-girls prepratory school, we visited with Jim’s friend (and former student) Blair.  We assumed that the three of us would grab a drink or a quick bite of dinner.  Little did we know that Blair would sweep us into a dinner party being thrown by the school’s rector.  A night of home-cooked vegetarian food, fudge-covered ice cream, handmade guacamole, and wonderful conversation would follow.

North Carolina/Virginia, Day 2

On day 2, we took a trip to nearby Raleigh, where we indulged in another one of my passions: visiting state capitols.  Although not as large or elaborate as other capitols I’ve visited, the North Carolina State Capitol still provided loads of fun while we explored the grounds.

Across the street was the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.  We were lucky enough to be in town during the local stop for the Dead Sea Scrolls tour.  We checked those out, then wasted a bunch of time digging out some of the more-fantastic animal exhibits.

North Carolina/Virginia, Day 1

Last week, I flew out to Greensboro, North Carolina, Jim’s new hometown.  He was here to take a tenure-track position at nearby High Point University.  As is tradition at each of his college stops, I came out to help him get a little settled and to explore the area.

This first day, we spent time at High Point, visiting the university and breaking into just about every possible building.  The campus itself is wonderful — clean, new, and full of student amenities such as a new student center, wonderful art facilities, and an ice cream truck.

This Blog’s About to Get Busier

Big news in the Mattifer world - Jenn plus Matthew is about to add up to three, as we are expecting our first beh-bee.  Little boy or girl McGarity should be greeting the world in late February.  By coincidence, any ability of ours to post on this site should decline for 6-8 weeks.  :)  Do check back often, as we plan to keep you up to date with photos, news, etc.

Thanks to everyone for their prayers and warm wishes over the past couple years — we couldn’t have reached  this point without your support and love.

McKinney Skies

Mother Nature put on quite a show today, both in the morning and night. Hard not to believe in God when you see things like this…

Kauai, Day 6

On final day in Paradise was hot and beautiful.  We spent the afternoon shopping for souvenirs, mopping up the smaller sites near our home base in Kappa’a town, and getting one last fix of Jo-Jo’s shaved ice.

Bye-bye, Kauai.  We’ll be back!

Kauai, Day 5

Day 5 was also Independence Day, and the island was alive with outdoor activity.  Because it was our final night on vacation, we took a catamaran trip up the Napali coastline and spent a long afternoon sunning, sailing, and snorkeling.  Despite getting seasick halfway out, we saw some amazing & beautiful scenery.