We Are Wilbanks

Mmmmm Schloppy... (Nikki)

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 04:02:00 +0000

Jared and I have officially quit our jobs and joined the food service industry serving sloppy joes to bored middle school kids.

Ok, not really. That was a lie. And those aren't even sloppy joes (fooled you!). Actually, we spent the afternoon making dozens and dozens of enchiladas for our friends' Project Enchilada. Chris and Bret are going on a mission trip to Russia next month, and to raise money they sold a whole bunch of enchiladas. We came to help.

Best Ride Ever (or at least best ride right now) (Nikki)

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 03:45:00 +0000

So, we went to Disneyland last Sunday and were surprised to see that they were doing a preview day for the new Toy Story Mania ride at California Adventure. We jumped in line and the wait was only 40 minutes. That may seem like a long wait, but not for a brand new Disney ride! We got really cool yellow 3D glasses, and then got into our car. The idea is that you are toy size and at a carnival playing carnival games. You go through the ride and every so often your car stops in front of a big movie screen and in 3D you see some of the Toy Story characters explaining their game to you. Then you get to shoot this gun on your car and it virtually shoots out 3D rings, or darts, or balls. You can see them flying at the screen at knocking ducks over, or breaking plates, or popping balloons. And, you get points for everything. It was AWESOME!!! Here is a link so you can see what I'm talking about. It is definitely our new favorite ride!

We Made it Back

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 07:07:00 +0000

Just got back to the apartment. Our flight ended up only being delayed until 8 instead of 8:55. Super tired. Will post pics tomorrow. Goodnite.

Stuck at the Nashville Airport...

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 00:04:00 +0000

Since we have 2 1/2 hours to kill (maybe more), I thought I might as well submit one last post from out trip.

Yesterday we pretty much did more of the same: boatin', jet skiin', waterskiin', bb gun shootin', fishin' (still didn't catch anything), eatin', visitin', etc. I guess the only other thing that I will go into more detail on is how amazing the sky looked last night with all of the stars that were visible. You could seriously see thousands of them! We saw all of the usual major stars that we normally see in California, but then there were the "in-between" stars that you only get to see when you are out in the country and away from the city lights. It was awesome!

This morning, we all got up around 8:30 and Nikki, her mom, and I walked down to their neighbor's, Pam and Mike's, house to go out with them on their boat so that I could finally get a chance to wakeboard. We had visited with them last night and the topic of me looking for a wakeboard came up, to which they so graciously offered not only a wakeboard, but the use of their boat as well (we aren't 100% sure that Nikki's parent's boat has enough power to get a wakeboard up).

It was great weather to be out on the boat in. It was mostly sunny and probably the warmest it had been all week. I got my wakeboard fix, Debra got to waterski and slalom, and Nikki got her "off the boat" swim that she enjoys so much. I tried getting up on one ski myself but failed miserably. And, of course, the one time that I DID almost get up, the rope broke! I do believe I will stick to wakeboarding and skiing with TWO skis.

After the nice boat ride back, we said our goodbyes to Pam and Mike, cleaned ourselves up, said farewell to the lakehouse, and headed to Murray for one last meal from Taco John's. Nikki's aunt Jana, Kayla, and Jason met us there. It was perfect. Nikki and I reminisced about both of us eating at TJs right before the wedding back in October.

We are sad to be leaving, but are looking forward to hanging out in CA again, at the beach and with our friends.

p.s. our 5:40 flight has now been delayed further and won't be in until 8:55, boo!

Finally Some Sunshine!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:27:00 +0000

We had some great weather today. There was plenty of sunshine and just the right amount of heat to make the breeze from the boat ride feel wonderful. It wasn't really hot enough to do any waterskiing but I'm thinking we will tomorrow for sure, as it's supposed to be 88 degrees and sunny. We did all take turns on the jet ski though and that was a lot of fun.

Other than that, we pretty much just did the same things we did yesterday, like fishing and shootin' cans with the bb gun. Now that I think about it though, I think I was the only one who did either of those things. And, once again, I didn't catch a single fish. I'm not giving up though; tomorrow will be my day for sure! Cliff is supposed to grill again for dinner and I believe we are going to take the boat out on a little fishing excursion afterwards. I'll let you know how that goes.

For dinner tonight, we drove about 10 minutes to this little restaurant / bar called Largo. It's right on the Tennessee border. Unfortunately, it was not a smoke-free environment like we are all so used to now. They did pass a smoke-free law in Tennessee, but if the place is 21 and over only (which this one was), they still allow it. It wasn't really that big of a deal though. I'm definitely glad ALL of the restaurants in CA are smoke-free though!

Afterwards, we came back to the lakehouse and watched Spiderman 3. I know, I know, we must be the only people left in the world who hadn't seen it. I think we all enjoyed it alright. Nikki and I weren't big fans of the first two but both agreed that this one was better. We are going to try to watch Pirates 3 tomorrow night. Yeah, haven't seen that one either. It's just hard to block out three hours of one's day to watch a movie...

A Good Day

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:55:00 +0000

This morning, we woke up to yet another overcast / somewhat chilly day, so we decided once again to head into town (Murray). We met Nikki's granddad at Hardee's (Carls Jr. in CA) for biscuits and gravy and then headed out to look at some potential real estate investments.

Afterwards, Nikki, her parents, and I headed back to the lakehouse. Nikki's grandparents met up with us soon afterwards. Nikki's grandma made her famous peanut butter and chocolate fudge and Granddad went to work on his famous BBQ chicken.

While waiting for dinner, I set up some aluminum cans on the wood pile in back for some target practice with the bb gun. Shortly thereafter, Nikki and her Dad joined me. After Nikki got her fill of shooting, Norm and I continued taking turns blasting the cans until they had all fallen over. Then we went down to the wood pile to set them all back up. I was setting up the furthest can when I just barely noticed a brown copperhead snake lying on one of the logs. I immediately jumped back and pointed it out to Norm, who went to the basement to grab the axe (Norm doesn't normally kill snakes, but since it was poisonous, it was necessary). I gotta say, It was pretty amazing to see how long it's body continued to move after being separated from it's head! Even after several hours, it would still curl it's tail when I would shoot it with the bb gun. So strange! Even stranger than that though, once, when I was moving it's body around for better target positioning, it's jaw opened up completely, like it was yawning, and then closed back again. It's like it knew I was messing with it's other half!

So, enough about the snake (sorry Mom). Oh, I did get some pics though which I will post when we get back to CA.

After a FANTASTIC dinner, we all headed down to the dock for some fishing, with the exception of grandma. And would you believe I didn't catch a single fish! Not even a bite! Cliff (Nikki's granddad) on the otherhand, caught four fish and, get this, they were all different kinds! I can't remember all four but I know one was a striped bass, and one was a big ol' catfish, which got off the hook just before Cliff could pull it out of the water. Nikki caught one fish and was the only other person to do so. We fished until it was almost dark and then headed up the hill to the house. As you can see in the picture, the clouds did finally begin to part and we had what turned out to be a beautiful evening.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 81 and mostly sunny. It should be a great day for boating and swimming (finally!).

Goodnight.

Dinner Time!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Wed, 28 May 2008 22:01:00 +0000

Here's Nikki's granddad grilling his famous BBQ chicken for us. Can't
wait to dig in!

Mmmm, Hardee's Biscuits and Gravy

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:46:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Wed, 28 May 2008 03:21:00 +0000

Been a busy last couple of days here. Yesterday (Monday) we spent pretty much the entire day hanging out at the other lakehouse with a bunch of Nikki's family (there were 24 of us total!). Nikk's Dad grilled hamburgers and hot dogs and various family members brought different wonderful dishes. We had thunderstorms most of the day so we didn't get a chance to take the boat out. Normally, I guess I would have been pretty bummed that it was raining on Memorial Day but it was rather nice sitting on the porch, watching / listening to the storm. We just don't get storms like that in California.

Today (another cloudy / rainy one), we headed in to Murray to spend time with family again, only there weren't 24 of is this time! We checked out Jana's (Nikki's Aunt) new house that she hasn't moved into just yet and had dinner over at her old (current) one. We picked up Taco John's, which pretty much has the best tacos of any fast food taco place I've ever eaten. And they come with these tator tots (potato ole's) that you dip in this nacho cheese sauce, mmm-mmm-mmm! After dinner, I got a little bit o' exercise on the trampoline in Jana's backyard. I must say, I don't remember trampolines making my spine hurt so when I was younger. Guess that's a sign that I'm getting older (and that trampolines are not good for anyone's back!).

After permanently compressing my spine a few inches, we made our way back to the lakehouse, but not before stopping by Kroger (Ralph's for you CA folk) for some Blue Bell banana pudding ice cream! Blue Bell is BY FAR the BEST ice cream in the country, hands down! I love it!

On our journey home, through the moonlit countryside, we saw lightning bugs twinkling all about the fields. To get the full effect, we stopped the car in the middle of the road and killed the lights; There were SO many of them! It was such a cool sight to see!

Now we are back at the lakehouse and everybody (Nikki and her Mom and Dad) is just sitting around reading books. I should probably pick one up myself but all of this typing has made me tired. Guess I'll got to bed.

Looking forward to the next three days of just hanging out here at the lakehouse. Just hope we get some sunshine and hot weather!

@ the Lake House

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Mon, 26 May 2008 00:06:00 +0000

So, we made it to the lake house in KY today. We were going to head out last night but by the time we got back to Clarksville from Nashville, we were all just too tired. We left at a decent time this morning and met Nikki's Grandparents, Aunt, Cousin, and her Aunt's boyfriend and his three kids at the restaurant here on the lake.

After lunch, Nikki and I headed to her parent's lakehouse along with her folks and Grandparents, where we all took turns on the wave runner and then went out on the boat together. I actually waterskied (sp?) behind the wave runner, something no one had actually attempted before. They said it couldn't be done, but I totally pulled it off. I don't think I'll be doing it again though as it seemed to put quite a strain on the motor.

Now I'm just lying in the hammock typing up this entry, waving the mosquitos away. I actually fell out of the hammock on my first attempt to get in it. And yes, I'm pretty sure it looked just like the cartoons when I hit the ground. I just had to laugh about it.

Well, it looks like everyone is heading across the street to look at the lot that may one day belong to me and Nikki. Guess I better join them...

Sunday Buffet at the Lake

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 25 May 2008 17:02:00 +0000

Fried chicken, fried okra, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, a roll, and (of course) sweet tea. Mmmm! Now time for some banana pudding!

Beautiful Tennesse

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 25 May 2008 04:13:00 +0000

We spent the morning walking around my parents' house. Jared, my mom, my dad, my granddad, and I all hiked down into the woods and to the creek and cave behind my house. It was beautiful and not too hot, and it smells like trees and honesuckle here! Then we headed to Nashville to check out some homes. We started with old places in the city near Vanderbilt, but it is still pretty expensive there! Cool, but you don't get a lot of house for your money. Then we went to a really cool place just outside of town that sits on 3 acres and has a bunch of nice woods and gorgeous views of the hills. No neighbors really, which is good and bad. Finally we headed to a suburb called Franklin. This is a little further from town and super suburban! We looked at some beautiful new homes. Not a lot of land but lots of neighbors, and cool amenities like tennis courts and community pools. This reminded Jared most of the places he grew up in. Overall the whole day was nice.

We made it!

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sat, 24 May 2008 04:39:00 +0000

We are in TN!. The flight was good and went by really quick (probably because I played the DS pretty much the entire time). Nikki's parents picked us up from the airport and we were going to eat at this German restaurant but it had already closed. Sooo, we headed on to Clarksville and, after we dropped off the parents, Nikki and I headed to the Waffle House. I got a waffle (of course) and biscuits and gravy, mmmm.

Camping at El Capitan (Jared)

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Mon, 19 May 2008 03:33:00 +0000

this past weekend, nikki and i went camping at el capitan state beach with our friends bret and amanda, and josh and veronica. we were there to celebrate josh's birthday.

everyone but us had taken friday off from work and headed on up to the campsite. nikki and i had originally planned on leaving early saturday morning but at the last minute on friday, we decided to go ahead and hit the road right after work.

it was about a 2 1/2 hour drive up there and we arrived around 10:30 pm; fortunately, everyone was still awake (as promised). there was no fire going because, according to the others, it was really hot outside up until a few minutes before we arrived. now that it was beginning to get a little chilly, we decided to get the fire going, and nikki and i made smores (of course!).

the next morning (saturday) we had some excellent breakfast burritos that consisted of eggs, cheese, bacon, and breakfast potatoes.

after breakfast, we all headed down to the beach. we found a little cove that was somewhat secluded, at least at first. the ocean was super cold in the beginning, but after throwing the nerf football and aerobie around for awhile, we got hot enough to enjoy it. the girls made fantastic sandwiches for lunch and after we all got a little sunburned, we headed back to camp for naps.

that night we celebrated josh's birthday with bret's famous tri-tip and asparagus. and for dessert, cupcakes that veronica had made. and then for post dessert, nikki and i had smores again (of course!).

sunday morning we had another good breakfast and packed up. we decided to take pacific coast highway back and enjoyed the ocean view from the cliffs high above. bret and amanda, and nikki and i, got malibu seafood for lunch and then sat through ridiculous "beach traffic" for a good part of the way home. nikki and i thought it was worth it though because we always love to revisit malibu, nikki's college town. bret and amanda, however, may have hated us a little though, since we were the ones who convinced them to take the scenic route through malibu in the first place. i'm hoping the clam chowder was worth it for them though?

all in all, it was a wonderful weekend!

here are some pictures i took with my phone. i will post some more once i get them from bret and amanda.

*click on the slideshow for larger pics

Spring Semester is OVER!!! (Jared)

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Fri, 16 May 2008 02:48:00 +0000

Just got back from taking my second (and final) exam of the Spring semester! It was for Computer Information Systems and I got 150 out of 150 points, woo hoo! That put me at a total of 984 out of 1000 possible points for the semester, which translates to an A+.

This was the 1st time I had ever taken an online class and I must say I really enjoyed it. Now, if it had been a subject in which I needed a lot of help (such as Algebra) I probably wouldn't have done as well. Mostly because the only communication I had with my professor was via e-mail.

I took my Medical Terminology exam on Wednesday but won't have the results from it for a couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure I did well on it but I definitely didn't walk out of there with that same "aced it" feeling I had with the weekly tests prior.

Here are a couple of pics of all of the words I had to memorize over the semester.

I didn't have to know all of these for the actual final but I did have learn them all for the weekly tests we had throughout the semester. And we're talking about words like Adrenocorticotropic Hormone!

Well, I'm glad the 1st semester is over. Now I get to look forward to Algebra all Summer long!

Saturday Afternoon (Nikki)

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 11 May 2008 20:12:00 +0000

I had a great Saturday. Tracy and Kersheral came over, and we had pizza, popcorn, made brownies, and watched a movie. It made me feel like I was back in high school. Well, I felt that way most of the time, except when we were at Blockbuster trying to pick out a movie and I would try to recommend one that I thought was cool. Then they would respond with either "uuugh," and an eyeroll, or just ignore me. That would remind me that no, I am not still in high school, and maybe not quite as cool as I thought. Lucky for me though, they decided to skip on the urban dance dramas (you know what I'm talking about) and instead they picked a romantic comedy. Yea! Not only did I not have to watch a made by MTV movie, but I got to watch a romantic comedy in the company of others instead of watching it by myself (when Jared is at school or out of town), which is how I usually end up watching romances. Here's a pic of the girls checking out a Russian nesting doll that I have. As Mom and Jana know, the smallest doll in there is crazy small! The girls were impressed too.
Oh, and you may be wondering where Jared was during all this fun. Was he holding his own bowl of popcorn and crying a little when the movie had its happily ever after ending? Or, was he hiding in the back, locked in his office with headphones on? No, actually he was out sailing!!!! We'll be posting some pics or videos from that soon, too.

Video Game Deprivation (Nikki)

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:20:00 +0000

As some of you may know, I was completely deprived of video games as a child. For some reason, my parents didn't let me and my brother have a Nintendo or Playstation or anything like that. The best we got was Carmen Sandiego and Double Dare on the computer. So what effect did this have on me? Did it make me smarter? Probably. Better grades? Quite possibly yes. Did it encourage me to use my imagination and spend more time playing outside? Yeah. But what my parents may not have realized at the time, was the long term effect it would have on me socially. For years I have been shunned at parties. Unable to hold my own at Guitar Hero. Hoping that the next friendly get together wouldn't involve a dreaded gaming system where my ignorance and inability would be shown to the whole world. Well, last night that all changed. I played the Wii (see picture). And I won! That's right, 1st place in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. I was running relay races, making long jumps and throwing big hammer things like a gaming pro. It was thrilling. So, you may be wondering, "Does this mean the Wilbanks will be asking for a Wii for Christmas?" No, fortunately not. I'm sure Mom and Dad will be glad that they won't have to worry about my I.Q. dropping before their eyes as I lose my job and forget what fresh air and sunlight feel like in front of a television screen. Oh, and of course, Jared doesn't like the Wii. He says it's only for people who aren't any good at regular video games, and since we all know how good Jared is at Guitar Hero, you can imagine just how good he isn't at Wii.

*Note: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego and Double Dare were actually awesome computer games. Their lameness was exaggerated in the above post for effect.

Disneyland (Nikki)

noreply@blogger.com (jared wilbanks) — Sun, 04 May 2008 23:46:00 +0000

We went to Disneyland this weekend (we have annual passes) with our friends Bret and Amanda. It was great! We made a point of going on a bunch of rides that we don't normally go on. My favorite was taking the train at night. We also spent a lot of time in Fantasyland. We went on the Alice in Wonderland ride, Pinnochio ride, and the Snow White ride. We also went on the Matterhorn. Everyone else complained that it made there bums sore, but mine did just fine. I can't imagine why. The one ride we went on that is a normal part of our trips now was a new favorite, Buzz Lightyear, where you actually get to shoot laser guns at moving targets throughout the ride, and you get points. Dad, I'm afraid you'll be disappointed, but I must be out of practice when it comes to shooting, or maybe alien warriors are harder to hit then coke cans, but my score is always pretty weak. Of course, I usually just blame it on the gun. It must be bad luck; I always seem to end up with the gun that is not properly calibrated.

We didn't get any pictures of me with the Buzz gun, so I'm including one of Jared. He always does quite well! Maybe it's the face.

Click below for more pics.

Disneyland