'2.' Not 'S.'

Husband and I celebrated two years of marriage together last week.

To celebrate, we went to Nashville for a concert- we saw Hanson (and we're not ashamed of it, thank you!). This is now the third time we've seen them, and they never disappoint. Yes, they're the "Mmmbop" band, but they've really come a long way from that. Check out this and this and this. And what's more is that they write their own music. All of it. And they play it. Live. At their shows.

So they write, then play and sing live, and they do it well. Which is more than I can say for many other "musicians" who "sing" with autotune and synthesizers.

Anyways, the concert was amazing.

Amazing.

On an unrelated note, the camera I bought for the Hawaii trip has been a-may-zing. Our seats for the concert (since last time we saw Hanson at this same location, we had "standing room only" tickets, so I couldn't see anything because I'm typically 5-6" shorter than the people around me, we decided to get actual seats.) were on the second floor right along the railing, which ended up being pretty much perfection. But this camera made it even better:

amirite?

Though, to be honest, Taylor isn't my favorite. Zac is.

Typically he is the drummer, but it's hard to get a decent picture

of a person while they're drumming, so I took this one while

he was showcasing his other musical abilities. And yea, he also

played the piano/keyboard during the show.

Pretty amazing, even if you're not a Hanson fan.

Then, on Saturday, I finally got to use my birthday gift from Husband! You may recall that he bought me a gift card for skydiving. I tried to use it in August, and even showed up for my appointment (with the Corleys in tow), but after an hour of waiting around, we decided to call it a wash and try again a different day due to the impenetrable cloud cover that would just not let up!

So Saturday was our rescheduled date, only one and a half months after my birthday! No matter, I still got to jump, and that's what counts. Except that I somehow managed to delete the few unprofessional pictures that I had from skydiving this weekend, so I have no photographic evidence :(  (Side note, I have asked Ashley for pictures, so when she sends them, I'll include them here)

Now on to the anniversary pictures Sarah took for us!

It was surprisingly difficult to get that "2" balloon to say "2" and not "S."

See?

Happy anniversary to my best friend and the love of my life! I look forward to many more years with you :)

(And Puppy's posing still needs work. She was so distracted by cars driving by, people on the trails, dogs with the people, and squirrels.)

Rollercoasters and Races.

*Edit* Two weeks after this was posted I just noticed that I misspelled the title of the post. Now it's corrected. I know you were worried. *End Edit*

Quick pictures from my trip to Cedar Point with my mom and sister, as well as a few pictures from The Color Run!

Cedar Point is in Sandusky, Ohio and it located on a tiny peninsula that juts into Lake Erie. It's often called one of the best rollercoaster parks in the world, and I think my sister and I agree. It's become a bit of a tradition that the three of us doing something exhilarating for a weekend during the summer, and typically the men come too. The men = Husband and Melissa's fiance Lu.

Last year we all went to Six Flags in Atlanta and then white water rafting.

Anyways, since the boys don't particularly care for rollercoasters, the girls decided to go alone. Granted my mom doesn't like coasters either, so she prefers to go to the parks, and use the time to sit and tan. Seriously.

Pictures:

Then we went to the lake to dip our toes in (the water was colder than we anticipated considering it was August)-

Then at the airport, I got bored and mom because my canvas for art-

Then we had go home and resume normal life.

But then this past Saturday, Husband and I ran (Walked? Jogged?) The Color Run! Keeping with traditions, it stormed for the entire drive down to Leeds, AL. Then it rained the entire time through the run (OK, that's a lie. There was about 5 minutes when it did not rain. But then it rained again).

Last dry picture!

People were so excited that they were already throwing their color

pouches.. which were supposed to be saved until the end of the race

at the Color Party. So this was taken before we even crossed the

Starting Line.. and he (and I, below) are already colored.

Husband was so easy-going. He's not exactly the type of person who

enjoys going for a run in the rain, to get soaked and have colored

powder thrown at you every kilometer, but he did it for me, knowing

how much I love being exactly that type of person. And he let me take 

his picture after each color zone :)

Notice the skin-colored stripe across his forehead where

his headband was during the race.

The change from uncovered and colored to fully

covered and uncolored skin is astonishing.

In addition to all the pictures and explanations of the pictures, please notice the fanny pack has reappeared. I'm bringing it back, one event at a time. You'll see.

Total Wednesday Win.

Two days after my last post something amazing happened.

Though my first astronaut-meeting experience will always hold a special place in my heart, I'm pretty sure this impromptu luncheon will be remembered more familiarly.

It was Wednesday, August 28. Just another Wednesday, as far as I knew.

Around 845am, my boss sent an email practically begging people to attend this luncheon, stating, "Jack Fischer and Jeff Williams will be in attendance." I googled them, as anyone living in the 21st century would do.

ASTRONAUTS.

Two of them! At once!

I replied immediately to my boss saying I'd be there, and asking if he knew of any posters/who I could talk to for posters. For autographs, obviously. None were to be found. So I planned ahead and printed off the JSC official photos for each.

I got to the lunch location early, as is my nature.

Then it was about 11, and only 10-12 people had arrived, so the people in charge were like, "Hey everyone come sit at the table, but make sure you leave room for the astronauts." (Well, duh). So I went up to the table and sat next to a normal guy that I didn't know.

Then they arrived. And Jack (as he instructed me to call him) was like, "Hey, why don't I sit down at that end, and Jeff can sit down here? It can be like a blue-suit sandwich."

Well, Jack ended up sitting next to me. For over an hour. We (and 3-4 others, naturally) had normal human conversations (some about space, but also about other things). For an hour. Then he noticed my camera (the freeze/shock/water-proof one I bought for Hawaii) and he said he'd bought one too (OMG AN ASTRONAUT HAS MY CAMERA?!), and he was asking me how I liked it.

So, you know, I start reviewing my camera for an astronaut, giving him examples of why I liked it, and showing him some cool features (the color selection is pretty neat!) . No big real. Right? Wrong. Huge deal in Brown's World.

We got some pictures, and I was truly surprised to see that I was the only person (of about 13 total non-astronauts) who brought a camera. Or something to get autographed. Or something to get an autograph with. Like, the people here are so unfazed by astronauts.

++
I hope to never be that way. I hope I never take for granted the opportunity that has been laid before me, and I hope I never lose the way I have felt during my first two encounters with astronauts. I hope I'm able to let my excitement show and fill others with the same excitement I feel. And I hope one day in the (distant) future, when Hubs and I are ready to bring a Baby Brownie into the world, that I can plant the desire to know and learn and crave space into the child, and thus prolonging the life of the space program.
++

Then after the lunch I went on a scavenger hunt to find someone (anyone!) with a laminating machine so my autographed head-shots would last forever, and in my mission to do so, found myself acquiring a ton of NASA patched and pins. Total Wednesday win.

Then Hubtastic and I went to Macaroni Grill for dinner and Wednesday, August 28 was pretty much the best day ever (of course, except for the day I married Ol' Blue Eyes himself, and all).

NASA Swag. Most of the items on the board are new,

the items on the desk were mine previously.

Macaroni Grill swag. I love their caprese salad.