Thank you iPhone

With the iPhone getting more popular in Germany there is the possibility that one stupid word will be spoken and written a bit less. People actually refer to this fantastic device as "das iPhone" and they do not call it "das Handy," that oh so stupid German word for a mobile phone. After all it is important for the Haves (iPhone users) to show the Havenots (other phone users) that they got the really cool gadget.

ARTpARTy Summer 2011

Saturday night we had another ARTpARTy at our house and we had a great time indeed and think so did all the guests. Amy is still on "bed rest" but this week she got a bit more leeway and gets to move a bit more. She is still very careful though and made sure she was sitting down pretty much all evening. For this party we had 37 people present and 19 pieces of ART. Sorry Treb and Daniela that we never snapped your picture.

Nancy Tuohy is an ARTpARTy pro by now.



Luke Neff came with 2 art works this time.



Luke's second art work was a very cool fish image.



Nice embroidery by Jeff Zillner



Bill Brewer's painting was very well done.



Craig Dishner came solo this time as his wife Kim watched the kids at home.



We are very glad Amret Hawfield could come again.



Amret's husband Wes made a music sampler for the party.



I sometimes ride bikes with Jeff Leal and this was his first ARTpARTy appearance.



Mark Meyer is also someone I ride with and he made this cool cycling painting. First timer at ARTpARTy too.



We are now the proud owners of the jewelry Liz Burnett made.



Our neighbor Mary Horan painted this cool tray.



The knitted sock monkey Jen Cannon had made was very popular.



We are glad that Ginny Norton could join us for this ARTpARTy.



Matt and Caroline Ankerson were also first time ARTpARTy guests and Matt painted this cool John Lennon image.



Dave and Bess Wildman were ate the party again and Dave created a set of fireworks images.



Amy worked in paper mache and made a pregnant sculpture.



For this ARTpARTy I "brought" a photo I had taken with my iPhone.



Previous ARTpARTy galleries:

- ARTpARTY February 2011
- ARTpARTY August 2010
- ARTpARTy Clover Street January 2010
- August 2009 Clover Street ARTpARTy
- Piedmont Leaf Lofts ARTpARTy
- 2007 Chattanooga ARTpARTy
- Late 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga
- Early 2006 ARTpARTy in Chattanooga

Chalkboard wall test

Today we tried out our chalkboard wall in the nursery and it seems to work very well. Slowly but surely we are getting the room ready for the arrival of the twin boys. But don't worry about the art here, this was just a test. :-)

iPhone action

Snapped the picture below at the Sawtooth Center in Winston-Salem during a break of my DSLR photo class. The building is stunning, and I like the furniture there too, but this picture was actually taken on my iPhone 4 and not my Canon DSLR. I love all the lines and angles.

Baby transporter

The BMW MCoupe is long gone now as it really would not have been a good baby transporter and after some back and forth we decided on a Ford Flex in platinum white. So one like this should be in front of our house before too long.

Little champions

We are so excited about the twins arrival and we are now over 24 weeks into the pregnancy. We are now slowly getting gear and accessories together.

Our new neighbors

Just like the year before a family of birds have moved into our bird house. We never really thought that it would become someone's home or birthplace, we just thought the little house was cute. From what we can tell it appears the birds are Wrens, but one thing is for sure, they are very Angry Birds. Every time we leave the house the parents go absolutely nuts, in a cute sort of way of course.

Running in Mexico

This running clip from our visit to Mexico shows well how beautiful that part of the Mayan Coast is and more specifically out Hotel Esencia and the beach right in front of it. I actually did a longer run prior but did not have GoPro ready,so I went out again for a short jog to film part of the run.

Mexico 2011

Amy and I spent a few days in Mexico to relax in the sun and we had a wonderful time here. We are about 20km South of Playa de Carmen at a beautiful hotel called Esencia and everything was magnificent. We are leaving from here early tomorrow but wanted to share a few images from the trip. We'll add more images soon.

Our unit was very nice and clean.



A bit of reading time for Amy in our plunge pool



Huevas Rancheras done right



Amy's breakfast was delicious too



On the first day the skies were a bit overcast



But the beach was awesome anyway



It almost felt like a private beach



A bit of reading time by the pool



The space to relax at the beach



Oh what a view



What ever we needed was right there



As we said, very quiet and peaceful here even on super sunny days



Amy had this lobster wrap for lunch. Yummy.



I enjoyed pasta pomodoro



The unique outdoor yoga studio at Hotel Esencia



Beautiful sunset on the Mayan Coast



My wife is always stunning and here ready for dinner



A self portrait before dinner



A delicious Fritata Esencia with goat cheese, turkey ham and asparagus



Chilaquiles



Another beautiful beach day



The view from the Mayan ruins in Tulum



We only were touristy on Friday. Here we are in Tulum



Authentic fish tacos

Le Mans fun

2 out of 3 factory Audi race cars fell victim to terrible crashes at the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans but the remaining #2 car came back to win the race. Now that is a story. I wonder if Audi makes one of these fast Turbo Diesels with enough room for Amy and I and the 2 babies.



BAM

Time to part

Yup, it is time to part with my trusted BMW MCoupe. I have loved it for almost 12 years but it gets driven less and less and soon we just will need a bigger car. The babies just would not fit in there.