Our big day out

Since it was Nolan's birthday, and mainly because I needed any little excuse to get out of the office and get some fresh air, I convinced Nolan that he needed a day off. Which actually took a bit of convincing. So besides dictating his right to chose to go to work, I let him decide what he would like to go out and do. We ended up traveling downtown to Baltimore and went to the aquarium right on the harbor. We both really like animals, and fish especially sharks so we had a lot of fun.. Not to mention it was one of the only things to do that didn't require being outside in the blistering sweaty heat.
There were lots of big, angry sharks...
But Nolan's a bad A and scared them all away. But this aquarium had more than just sharks. Besides its gianormous sting rays, variety of fish, and a gimp sea turtle about the size of love sac(it was missing its left fin) they had a neat exhibition on frogs.
This fat one was our favorite. For obvious reasons.

The aquarium also had what they called the "Australian Exibit" where you walked through what felt like an Australian forest. Those are bats that were just flying over our heads. I didn't like that so much and was afraid that I was gonna get rabies. Luckily they already have a cure for that (thanks to The Office). ;)
Then finally after walking for what felt like days we then saw the aquariums 4D spectacle IMAX experience. And it was quite the experience. We got splashed by hump back whales, bitten by snakes and flew over the world's largest water falls.

After our adventure at the aquarium we were pretty wasted so we retired to Edo for some sushi and a bit of cola. After that I decided that I have a ways to go with perfecting my chop stick abilities.

On our way home Nolan decided to drive me through some of the area's that he installs in. It was so sketch. I felt completely out of place. He started driving me through the "less ghetto" areas, which I thought was completely ghetto and not safe whatsoever. Until he showed me the projects. It was definitely a humbling experience. We found these old projects that were boarded up and abandoned that honestly, to me, looked almost like concentration camps. It was so eerie with everything boarded up and trees and plants over grown. It looked like no one had been there in years, despite the fact that this area covered about 15 blocks. We later learned the the government closed down these projects, forcing all those people, which I would estimate to be thousands, onto the streets. It definitely was something I felt fortunate to witness. Helped put things into perspective and helps you realize how truly blessed so many of us really are.
- If you want to see what these projects look like, just look up either Nolan's facebook or myspace.

NOLAN'S 23rd BDAY SURPRISE!

This year I asked Nolan what he wanted for his birthday and all he said was, "Surprise me." So since I was limited on time and transportation I made a homemade bday poster and added some color to our pad. He was so surprised when he got home...Well actually this is him re-inacting his first responses because I didn't have the camera out in time. Pretty close though.. looks totally believable
He was so excited he even ate his candy before I could document it.. and if you know Nolan, you know he loves candy!

Nolan showing his enthusiasm about the sweet poker set he got for his birthday. Which I'm excited about, because that'll give me an excuse to practice up for my 21st next year. It came in a pretty sweet metal titanium briefcase with foam padding and swede for the chip holders making it look completely legit.