Our Blog

It’s That time of year

Tue, 6 Dec 2011 08:36:10 -0600

(If reading on FB... click here to read the whole entry on our blog...)

Whew... I know... almost 6 months since my last post. I keep promising to blog more, but this time I mean it!!! Even though I am sure you are quite fulfilled with Facebook postings of me checking in a the men’s room at a local watering hole. :-)

Football season began 9/3 and other than the weekend of 11/5 we have not had a full weekend at home. Mauri deserves a purple heart! Here is a quick synopsis of each weekend...

9/3- Tallahassee
9/10- Tallahassee
9/17- Tallahassee
9/24- Atlanta/Clemson
10/1- Harrisburg/Pittsburgh
10/8- Winston Salem (Wake Forest)
10/15- Birmingham (Weather Conference)
10/22- Tallahassee
10/29- Tallahassee
11/5- HOME
11/12- Tallahassee
11/19- Tallahassee
11/26- Thanksgiving on the farm

Well, I am happy to say we will be home for a while. We are going back to the farm for Mauri’s family’s Christmas the weekend before Christmas, but other than that... that is it!

This past weekend was relatively busy.... we bought, put up, and decorated our tree and we had to take our Christmas card pictures. I may have mentioned it last year, but for some random reason... Christmas trees are way cheaper down here compared to Atlanta. The same type of tree that we would pay $150 for in Atlanta is just $40 here!!! Go figure!

On our way back from lunch at the Red Bar on Sunday we stopped in Alys Beach to take some pictures hoping to capture one or two for our Christmas card. Despite daylight fading fast... we were able to capture a few for our card (See above). This one to the right I think best symbolizes Christmas in Florida. I left my tripod at home so I had to use the edge of giant pots and chairs as my ‘tripod’ to keep the shot stable in order to capture the lights with the slow synchro. As you probably know... low light evening pictures with lights in them can be pretty tricky.

Since we still do not have kids... sadly you are stuck with a picture of just the two of us. I know it is getting old. I think half the reason to have kids is to take the pressure of having to send out Christmas cards with us on them! :-)

I promise to start blogging more often although I know you probably get more than enough Chris and Mauri on Facebook! I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Be looking in the mailbox for the official Chris and Mauri Christmas card.

Merry Christmas!

--Chris

President Carter

Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:38:36 -0500

(If reading on FB... click here to read the whole entry on our blog...)

This past weekend Mauri and I went to Plains, GA to see President Carter give his Sunday School lesson. Some friends of ours did it about a month ago and raved about. These same friends had also introduced us to a fellow Nole at the spring game who works as a secret service agent in President Carter’s detail. Long story short.... he was able to reserve us a space in the church and even get us in the row directly behind the President and his wife, Rosalynn! Needless to say it was pretty cool to be arms length from a President.... although no touching. :-)

Plains is about 1hr 15 min from Mauri’s parent’s lake house on the Georgia side of Lake Eufaula. We drove to the lake on Saturday and then got up early Sunday AM to make the drive over to Plains... arriving shortly before 9am. From 9am until about 9:45am we were given a class on how things will go when President Carter arrives. While some people might think that it would be a bit much... I can assure you it is necessary. We were told on how to act (no clapping... it’s church), how to answer questions on where we are from (state only and do not repeat states already mentioned), and when to take photos (only when he is asking where folks are from... no other photos). Without the strict rules the Carter’s would be there all day and the purpose of what he is there for (Sunday School) would be lost.

While I definitely tend to lean toward the conservative side of things and I may have been guilty a time or two of wondering what the hell is wrong with President Carter when he has made statements in the past... I came away genuinely impressed with his whit and wisdom.... especially with how it came to foreign policy. Unfortunately, I am too young (born in ’73) to really know much about the 70s and what was going on in the world while he was President.

After asking where folks are from he talked a little bit about where he had been lately and what he is working on. The day after our visit he was having knee surgery so he was going to be recovering for a while. But he just got back from his Naval class reunion in Annapolis.

How he presented his Sunday School lesson was amazing. It was the most interesting lesson I have ever heard (not that I am a Sunday School lesson expert or veteran). He effortlessly turned current events in foreign policy and wove that into the lesson for the day. He used the bible as a story (which it is), but when it was time to go to the next passage he would say things like... ‘let’s see how it turns out.’ I learned a lot. For a man of 86 years old he was very much ‘with it’ and I immediately realized that he is a lot smarter than me and has forgotten more than I will ever know.

Sunday School ended at 10:45 and then we had 15 mins to refresh before the actual church service. Of the entire church there are only 20-30 regular local attendees. The rest of us were visitors. The locals section is roped off so no matter how many visitors come there is room for them.

Because of our secret service friend we sat in the row directly behind President Carter and Rosalynn. It was amazing to think I was within a couple feet of a President. I am not sure I have ever been in the same zip code as one! Of course we also had two HUGE secret service agents right next to us!

After church everyone was allowed to get their picture taken with the President and Rosalynn. It was a very quick and efficient process. The above photo was the result. After the picture everyone was asked to quickly leave the property... no hanging around. After the pictures the President was taken back to his home about a mile away.

After church Mauri and I went ‘downtown’ to the general store to get some peanut butter ice cream at the suggestion of our secret service friend. It was AMAZING!!! How he does not weigh 300lbs is beyond me!

Anyway, the experience was one I will certainly cherish and I am so glad that I have done it. I am not sure there is a more accessible President.... of course for this access you have to find Plains, GA! I highly recommend taking the trip before President Carter is gone no matter which side of the aisle you sit on. You won’t regret it. Feel free to ask us for any tips or pointers.

Thanks again to our fellow Nole for arranging our visit!

Maranatha Baptist Church

--Chris

Doing (Almost) Nothing....

Tue, 22 Feb 2011 09:38:22 -0600

(If reading on FB... click here to read the whole entry on our blog...)

Once again I have been delinquent in updating our Blog... if you follow us on FB you know we have no issues in updating that. :-)

Anyway, since Christmas it has been very quiet in the Smith household. We are coming down from our post-football high. Still, we are already counting down the time until the 2011 season. Things are looking up for our Noles! I expect a national title run in 2012!

During the month of January we did almost nothing... except do the 30a Songwriters Festival. That was a lot of fun. Especially the Shawn Mullins concert Sunday in Seaside (see pic above of us at the concert). If you are ever looking to get away during January... I highly recommend this event... it was a lot of fun.

We went to several engagement parties for our friends Chelsea and Bear. They got married this past Friday in Vegas. Sadly.... because of TV ratings Mauri and I could not go because I could not get off of work. Neither of us has ever been the Vegas and we thought it would be the perfect excuse.

The Super Bowl was spent at Chelsea’s parent’s house. They do a big super bowl get together every year. Sadly.... my Terrible Towel did not pull us through this time. I do find it funny as to how different my passion is for pro vs. college football. I like the Steelers and I certainly root for them, but it nothing compared to my love of FSU. I usually describe it (tastelessly) as that I would not beat my wife if the Steelers lose.... but if FSU loses... :-)

This past weekend was our first away from home since the Chick-fila-A Bowl at New Years. We went to the farm to visit Mauri’s folks and her grandmother. We also got a chance to see the cabin Mauri and her brother are having built on their land in SW GA.... Eventually we will likely rent it to hunters that we lease the hunting rights on the land to.

The next 2 weekends will be split between doing taxes and going to Mardis Gras parties down here. Once is at a friend’s house while the other is a fancier black tie sort of thing.

Finally, the weekend after that we are taking a short (5 day) trip to Jamaica. We are using some CC points and plane vouchers to stay at the Ritz down there and unwind for a bit. Neither of us has ever been to Jamaica so it should be fun, but in the end I am sure we will agree that we like our beaches more. :-)

Anyway, I promise to keep up with me blogging more... I assume you have given up on my wife by now. :-)

Enjoy the remainder of your winter... we have been enjoying 70s as of late although I think they might come to a temporary end next week. Until then we will soak up the sun!

Have a great week!

Chris

Christmas card time...

Wed, 8 Dec 2010 00:50:01 -0600

(If reading on FB... click here to read the whole entry on our blog...)

Our Christmas cards/change of address cards arrived in the mail this week so Mauri and I will be busy getting them out hopefully by this weekend. Maybe it was a cheapness... maybe procrastination... but this year’s card will serve the dual purpose of... #1 reminding everyone we still do not have kids... so you get more pictures of us and #2 we have moved to Florida and until now you might have no clue how to reach us! :-)

Anyway, above is the front of the card and below is the inside. The picture on the front left was taken at the wedding we went to in San Fran in May. A wonderful trip! The one on the front right was taken at the FSU-BC game when our friend David who has super FSU powers (he must give a lot of money) got us onto the field during the game for a picture with Osceola and Renegade. Notice the Gnome made the photo op as well.

Expect the card in the mail soon. If you do not get one... let us know your address because we must have lost it!

Merry Christmas,

Chris

thanks for watching

Wed, 8 Dec 2010 00:37:52 -0600

(If reading on FB... click here to read the whole entry on our blog...)

Last December I started a tradition at my station with a new segment called ‘Chris Smith’s Lights.’ It is a segment where I solicit viewers to submit holiday light pictures from around our area and then show a few in the segment. It was a pretty nice success last year and we even had sponsors for it so the station made a few bucks too.

Most folks seems to enjoy it... and I like it too! Christmas lights have always been a favorite of mine since I was a kid, plus my best friend in 1st grade thought my name was actually Christmas and not Chris Smith. Flash forward 30 years and television brilliance was born... or so I thought. :-) Anyway, here in the buckle of the bible belt one viewer did not like my segment. Here is the e-mail exchange between us...

Enjoy,

Chris

From: WM916@aol.com [mailto:WM916@aol.com]
Sent: Saturday, December 04, 2010 9:44 PM
To: Chris Smith
Cc: Curt Molander
Subject: Lights

They're CHRISTMAS lights - not Chris Smith lights, celebrating Christmas and Christ not a weatherman. Please change the name to honor the Reason for the Season or I'll change the channel & tell my friends to do the same.

-----Original Message-----
From: Chris Smith <chris.smith@wjhg.com>
To: WM916@aol.com
Sent: Mon, Dec 6, 2010 11:48 pm
Subject: RE: Lights

Dear WM916@aol.com:

Thanks for taking the time to contact us here in the VIPIR7 Weather Center. We always appreciate hearing from such dedicated viewers as you. Our holiday lights program, Chris Smith’s Lights, is just a play on words… nothing more, nothing less… no intention to diminish the reason for the season.

The whole thing came about because when I was a kid in 1st grade my best friend thought my name was ‘Christmas’… throw in the fact that I love Christmas lights and voila… my attempt to showcase some of the great light displays around the panhandle.

I hope if you see any displays or have a great display yourself that you will submit a picture!

http://wjhg.mycapture.com/mycapture/photos/Album.aspx?EventID=899277&CategoryID=56247

Thanks for watching!!!

Sincerely,

Chris Smith
Chief Meteorologist, WJHG-TV
850-230-5291
chris.smith@wjhg.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/smithwjhg
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/chris.weather

From: WM916@aol.com [mailto:WM916@aol.com]
To: Chris Smith
Subject: Lights
Well, I DO think it is diminishing Christmas. I have forwarded your reply to other Christians. We'll see who joins me in my 'protest' of the lack of respect (my opinion) of Christmas. I have changed my channel as of tonight. Hope & pray more join me.

Bill