South Carolina Stingrays

Opening night for the Stingrays is this Saturday! Dallin and I are so excited. Actually, it reminds me of when we first came to Charleston last year around this time. I can't believe it has been one year already! Holy moly. Time flies.

Anyway, I'm not really into sports... Except when I'm there in person! I think it's the energetic atmosphere. Stingray hockey games are always so fun. They're one of my favorite types of date nights. I mean, it's so romantic eating a bratwurst with sauerkraut and mustard, watching dudes body slam each other, and cheering for your local hockey team! Right? Haha. I'm kidding, but we do have fun watching them together. And we usually get burgers and milkshakes at Steak and Shake afterwards. So bad for you, but so good.

I think the best part about the Stingrays is all the fans though! They're so dedicated and into the games. It's really hard to not get caught up in all the excitement.

And above is my favorite bendy goalie, Jakaitis! I have been trying to do the splits for years and he does it so effortlessly. If I ever meet him, I will have to ask him how he is able to do it. Some people are naturally flexible! I like to imagine that he used to be a dancer or does yoga. And he's going to be playing again for the Stingrays this season! #1 GOALIE IN THE ECHL!

Do you guys like watching sports? :)

Summer Picnic at Short Stay (Sat, 7/19/14)

Yesterday, Dallin and I drove up to Short Stay in Moncks Corner for his department picnic. Short Stay is an outdoor recreation center located on Lake Moultrie and is operated by Joint Base Charleston-Weapons Station's MWR department. It's available to the military, retirees, DoD civilians, and guests.

Moncks Corner is "out in the sticks" compared to where we currently live. Took us about an hour to drive there, but it wasn't that bad! When we first got there, we drove around looking for the pavilion of where the party was located. We saw the different campsites, villas, and cabins available. It seems like a nice place to go on a staycation. I will see if we can stay here for a 3-day weekend!

Anyway, the party was surprisingly fun. There were a lot of things for the kids to do (bounce house, games, cornhole, swimming, rockclimbing, etc). We don't have children yet, so we just ate food, chatted with friends, and walked to the lake. It was so hot today, y'all! I wore jeans again. Mistake. Again! That's what happens when you're too lazy to shave your legs. Oh, summer. How I both hate and love you. :)

Here are a couple photos that ended up on my phone:

Food catered by Sticky Fingers!

Food was catered by Sticky Fingers. I had a pulled pork sandwich with beans and cole slaw. I was starving, so I thought it was extra delicious. ;)  There was even a table serving 3 flavors of ice cream with different toppings! *droool*

Thought this pair of ducks was cute. :)

The "Beach." You can see the villas across from here

I don't want to be snarky, but lakes kind of creep me out, though I guess some people feel the same way about the sea. I'm totally an ocean beach girl though and it's what I'm used to. I like being able to see what's in the water. But I will get over it eventually. I guess I'm just completely spoiled after growing up in Hawaii!

Boat Pier

Sun was so bright, I probably should've also worn sunglasses with the big hat! :) My eyes don't even look like they're open at all! *squint*

This is me trying out the rockclimbing wall!

They had a rockclimbing wall and I decided to try it out after watching all the kids do it. It was harder than it looks! I got to the top of the "easy" side, but only got half-way up the "difficult" side. Haha. My arms were burning after. I definitely give the kids a lot of credit because their arms and legs are way shorter than mine! I think one of the difficult parts for me was letting go. I was trying to climb back down the "easy" side, but they told me to just let go. My mind was like, "you want me to do WHAAAT?" So, letting go of the wall was a leap of faith for me. I'm scared of heights, so knowing for sure that I would be safe made it a lot easier for me. Safety first! :) Kind of makes me wonder what goes through the minds of people that do this without a rope though. Hopefully confidence! :)

Driving back home!

The party was really fun. I love picnics and company parties. It's always good for everyone's morale to get away from work and just unwind. There were a lot of things to do for everyone and it was a great location, despite the distance. We had so much fun, we both took surprise naps when we got home. Thank you to whoever planned all of it! I'm already looking forward to next summer's department picnic! :)

Summer Block Party @ Frothy Beard (Sat, 7/12/2014)

Yesterday, we got a lot of heavy rain and lightning in the afternoon. Pretty lame for semi-outdoor activities, but great for the grass! Homeowner Problems. However, the rain went away after an hour and we decided to go to The Frothy Beard Brewing Company where we met up with some friends.They were actually having a Summer Block Party, but I had no idea until we got there. It was also my first time at this brewery, but I did have a pint of their Irish Red at the Flag Day Burger and Beer Festival a little while back. Delicious. This time I had a pint of the Zingiber Pale Ale which uses ginger instead of hops to flavor the beer. I actually can't handle hoppy beers AND I love the flavor of ginger, so I thought this beer was great. Very refreshing.

There was two different food trucks (Pep Rolls and Grill Kings), a popsicle stand (King of Pops), and live music! Grill Kings and King of Pops were cash only which was devastating because I didn't have cash and I really love BBQ and popsicles. Also, King of Pops had some really good flavors available this time. Boo! Lesson learned: carry cash everywhere just in case? I don't know. :) So, we got food from Pep Rolls, which is short for pepperoni rolls. They make whole wheat rolls that are baked with pepperoni in them. YUM! They also have a bunch of different toppings you can add. I had the Tommy D, which had marinara and mozzarella, and Dallin had the Sleazy Cheesy, which had jalapenos and nacho cheese. So NOT healthy, but they're pretty damn delicious.

The Deer Creek Sharpshooters

Me, cheesin' by these pretty flowers. They are blooming all over Charleston lately! Anyone know what they are?

View of the Cooper River from the Ravenel Bridge

Afterwards, we went to Trader Joe's to pick up some weekly groceries. We've been buying watermelon and stone fruit every week lately! So sweet and delicious! The picture above is from when we were driving back home over the Ravenel Bridge. The day was so nice! Such a stark contrast from the earlier rain and thunder.

Apologies for not taking any pictures of food or drinks. I'm the worst Asian ever. ;) But seriously, I'm not used to documenting anything. I do think it's quite fun though! :) I just have to make more of a conscious effort.

Thanks for reading! :)