Davis Worldwide

2009-07-06T15:31:00.000-07:00

Danielle and I completed the Buster Brit Triathlon at Oak Mountain on June 13th. The race was not postponed despite the horrible weather and lightening strickes minutes before the race started. We definitely had a good chance of being those people on the news that you say "what were those idiots doing, they deserved it."

2009-06-12T12:28:00.000-07:00

What is better than studying for the Bar exam? Answer: Anything, but especially going to the lake for a day to get away from the books. Danielle and I went to Lake Wedowee for the day with some friends. This is how serious the weekend was (just look at that face):

Compliments of Megan:

2009-06-05T09:33:00.000-07:00

We accomplished one of our New Year's resolutions last night (6/5/09) - playing guitar and singing in front of people!!! We played for my first time ever (and our first time together) on stage at a coffee shop in downtown Birmingham called Urban Standard on 2nd Avenue. Our friend, Katie Lantz, signed us up to play at an open mic night they have once a month. There were probably 40-50 people sitting around the stage - spectators, other people playing music and some who just got up to read poetry. Danielle's mom surprised us and drove down from Lexington to watch us play, so we played a second song (Flies on the Butter by Wynonna Judd) because it's one of her favorites. We hadn't practiced the song, but had a great time fumbling through it. Click (or copy and paste) the link for our cover of "Angel From Montgomery" originally written by John Prine and covered by a number of artists including Susan Tedeschi and Bonnie Raitt.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSkOWuspSq8

Post accomplishing our New Year's resolution
First time on stage together.

Surprise visit!

2009-06-04T14:51:00.000-07:00

Lea's graduation from Transylvania University Sean's graduation party

2009-06-03T21:36:00.000-07:00

Danielle and I went to the Tyrone Wells concert at Workplay theatre on 6-3-09. Opening acts included Tyler James and Andy Davis. First concert I have been to without an encore (a little weird in my opinion - I needed closure!)

2009-05-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Graduation from law school on May 16th, 2009.

2009-05-17T21:45:00.000-07:00

New additions to the family. Danielle and I came back just in time to see her sister's (Chelsea) baby boy, Langley, born on May 5th. Much to our surprise, my sister (Ashlye) was induced two days later and we traveled to Mobile to meet baby Ward. Both Chelsea and Ashlye were originally scheduled for delivery three days apart in late May. Howard Ray Hix III

Chelsea and Langley Combs Schomp

Getting ready for birthing babies

2009-05-17T21:32:00.000-07:00

A few more Hawaii pics. Coincidence: Danielle and I set a wedding date for April 25th, 2009, but obviously cancelled the date to get married in New Zealand. However, before we cancelled the wedding we had decided on dancing to Ray LaMontagne's song "You Are the Best Thing" from his Gospel in the Grain album. On April 25th we were in Hawaii when my sister text us to turn on SNL. Ray LaMontagne was on SNL (which was a rerun from a month or so earlier) playing "You Are the Best Thing", so we decided to get a pic and dance to the song on our original wedding date.

Waterfall on the Big Island - on our way to Hilo airport to fly home

Setting foot back on the mainland in Lexington, KY

2009-05-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Arriving to the Big Island Hawaii for our final destination before home!

4 Seasons resort beach

Lagoon in front of the Fairmont Orchid resort. We were able to snorkel with 5 to 10 wild sea turtles every day that fed just off the jetties in this picture.

Part of the waterfall gardens around the resort.

2009-05-17T20:47:00.000-07:00

Arriving to Fiji!This pictures captures 30 years of history. Over 30 years ago my parents married and went to Hawaii on their honeymoon. While there, my parents decided to play an innocent game of ping-pong. My mom, who grew up playing sports and had great coordination, defeated dad the first night they were in Hawaii. Feeling severely dejected and emasculated, my father walked away from the table without saying a word to his bride and proceeded to go swimming around 9 pm off the coast of the island. Mom always said she thought they would be flying home the next day after the way dad acted about losing. Now, after 30+ years, I am proud to illustrate this picture taken immediately after my defeat over Danielle during our honeymoon. Truly a great day for male Davises! Pool-side bar at Sonasali resort

Fijiians climbed the coconut trees to retrieve fresh coconuts for us to drink

Fiji sunset

2009-04-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

Rotorua. Danielle and I randomly ran into a friend in my study abroad while hiking the Tongariro crossing. His car had broken down on the north island and he needed a ride to the airport the following Monday. We were both going to Rotorua for the night and he wanted to attend the Maori cultural dinner. Although we were skeptical and felt the event was a tourist trap, we decided to attend. On the bus ride there Danielle, without me knowing what she was doing, nominated me as a "Chief." This required me to lead the entire bus in several songs, but more importantly when we got to the dinner it started with a ceremonial peace offering where warrior Maori came out dancing around with weapons, sticking their tongues out and yelling chants. This is not really my thing, but as fate would have it I was selected by the warrior to accept the "peace offering" while about 200 other tourist stood around watching this spectacle. The facilitator told me to "walk very slowly and carefully so as not to show a sign of disrespect to the Maori tribe." On the verge of breaking out into laughter I picked up to the peace offering. In the end, the warrior shoved his spear close to my face and then walked away, which meant we could all enter the tribal grounds - HURRAY (I've never felt like such a tourist, but Danielle seemed to get a good laugh out of it)!!

2009-04-30T20:59:00.000-07:00

Lake Taupo - Easter weekend. Keeping with tradition, we woke up Easter morning to two chocolate Easter bunnies with their ears bitten off. For as long as I can remember my dad (aka Easter bunny) would open each chocolate Easter bunny box the night before Easter and take a bite off the ears of the bunnies before replacing the bunnies back into the Easter baskets.

2009-04-26T19:36:00.001-07:00

Danielle and I took a trip up to New Zealand's north island. While the south island is better known for the outdoor trips, the north island has a hike rated the best 1 day hike in New Zealand and rated by some travel magazines as a top ten 1 day hike in the world - The Tongariro hike! We decided to make the 8+ hour hike over some of the most diverse and difficult terrain I have ever hiked (we even got to hike across an active volcano peak where you could scratch the groud and feel hot steam coming through the dirt). The hike is usually not too bad in the summer; however, a snow storm put a ton of ice on the ground for our hike. I am not exaggerating when I say that this was the most nervous I have ever been! Parts of the hike were completely iced over and the trail did not have any proper footing. During the winter this trail requires a professional guide and I'm pretty sure they were not expecting a snow storm this early in the year because we were not equipped for this hike. Danielle and I decided to make a side track to complete the Tongariro Summit. Our camera died after this summit. We completed the 19 kilometer track in 7 hours with a run through a fern forest to catch the 3 pm bus back to Lake Taupo where we stayed for the weekend.

2009-04-09T03:19:00.000-07:00

A few more Abel Tasman pics

Swimming at one of the bays we pulled in to kayaking

Overlooking the bay where we dropped off our kayaks

Sunrise the 4th morning - we camped in a secluded site right off the beach!!

Low tide crossing -- during high tide this area floods with water over your head.

2009-04-09T02:54:00.000-07:00

The slideslow below includes pictures of our Abel Tasman National Park trip. Abel Tasman is located in the northern most point of New Zealand's south island. We covered the Coastal track over 4 days and 3 nights. We took 2 person sea kayaks the first 2 days paddling around small islands off the coast and saw tons of seals and bird life. The 2nd day we dropped off the kayaks and unloaded all of our backpacking stuff stored in the hull of the boat. We backpacked to our 2nd campsite of the trip crossing several places where we had to take off our shoes and roll our pants up. The third day we backpacked all day to a secluded campsite on the beach. The fourth day we backpacked back to a water taxi pickup. We covered over 20 miles between the kayaking a backpacking.

2009-04-09T02:53:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-04-09T01:05:00.000-07:00

More Fox Glacier ice climbing
Preparing for our last 2 climbs. Danielle tried to bail out on the last climb, but after a little encouragement she made it to the top!!
Ice picking through a cave - Danielle caught this picture at the last minute. I started to slide as we went through this cave and if my ice picks had not sunk into the ice I was on my way to sliding about 150 yards down the glacier.

2009-04-06T21:10:00.002-07:00

Fox Glacier heli-ice climbing (See Slideshow below): Danielle and I had the opportunity to go to Fox Glacier. We were helicopted into the glacier and hiked for about 45 minutes to our first ice climbing spot. We were able to climb 6 walls. It was probably the most unnerving experience because the ice is constantly melting around you and the only thing securing you is a screw put in the ice by the guide once you determine where you want to climb. The view was amazing with pure blue-white ice formations surrounding you and green mountains with waterfalls overflowing onto the glacier.

2009-04-06T21:10:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-04-06T15:52:00.000-07:00

Ice cream on the beach in Sumner (south of Christchurch) after mountain biking Beach in Sumner

Beginning of the side biking trail - if you fell to the wrong side it was a long hard way to the bottom.

Mountain top rode overlooking Christchurch and Lyttleton Harbor

2009-04-06T15:40:00.000-07:00

We took a Gondola ride in Christchurch to the top of a mountain and biked down about 10 miles.

We got to take a small hike once we were on top of the mountain before we started to mountain bike.

View from one of the stops on the bikes.

Gondola ride up the mountain.

2009-04-06T15:22:00.000-07:00

Danielle and I drove up to Kaikoura, which is famous for whale watching trips. The weather was bad the day of the trip and we didn't get to go; however, we saw some incredible stuff to make up for the lack of whales. Here is a seal randomly sitting on the rocks just off the road into Kaikoura. A view from the Peninsula hike we did in Kaikoura.

We saw one of the most spectacular sights I have seen. This is at least 500 dolphins less than 100 yards off the road leading into Kaikoura. We literally looked over and saw the water churning with what we thought was fish. The dolphins were clearing the water and doing flips - it was seriously better than any show I have seen at an aquarium.

More dolphins!!

2009-04-06T15:07:00.000-07:00

Lake Wanaka continued....There were several island with hikes and several hikes around the coast of the lake. This is one hike our ground made up to a point overlooking the lake. This is the 2 man life boat attached to the house boat. This was an innocent trip during the day, but 5 people in the 2 man life boat at 3 am was another story especially after the motor flooded without paddles in the boat (fortunately Danielle and I were not part that diaster).

We played Charades at night to keep us entertained. This is Danielle's acting out the "Secret Garden" -needless to say, nobody got her clues.

2009-04-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

10 of us rented a house boat March 13-15 on Lake Wanaka and of course jumping from the topped the list. The water in Lake Wanaka was cold enough to take your breath away, but was crystal clear and the locals said it's pure enough to drink.Putting together a puzzle during the down time - a picture of a Koala no doubt.

My first fishing lesson with Danielle on Lake Wanaka.

This house boat was built by the owner after he traveled to the U.S. and got the idea. It had 2 queen size bed state rooms and 2 bunk rooms and a huge kitchen/living room.

2009-04-05T17:47:00.000-07:00

Hanmer Springs....honeymoon. We stayed at the Braemer Lodge outside of Hanmer Springs, which are known for their hot springs. Unfortunately the hot springs looked more like a theme park (think kids playing Marco-Polo). However, the horseback riding and hikes around Hanmer were amazing. These pictures include a 3+ hour waterfall track we hiked one day. More pictures to come from our horseback riding experience.

2009-03-30T02:40:00.000-07:00

Mona Vale Homestead

We're still not sure--something about koalas--

2009-03-30T02:31:00.000-07:00

Our little reception at
Mona Vale Homestead

2009-03-30T02:18:00.000-07:00

Husband and Wife--just taking it all in!!!

Daddy hugging us good-bye
He had flown in only hours before just to give me away and then literally left from the gardens back to the airport...what an amazing father!!!

I think I laughed the whole day--the happiest day of my life! My mom was just too beautiful!

Mom's Pictures--our real photographer

2009-03-30T02:08:00.000-07:00

Mom sewing my dress two hours before the ceremony...she saved my life!

Wedding Help!
The night before Ladd and I were running around Christchurch looking for shoes, accessories, and I decided to get my make-up done at MAC...this guy also saved my life!

2009-03-29T02:25:00.001-07:00

Disclaimer (from Ladd): The 4 post below are slideshows of some of the wedding pictures. I am not a very good "picture picker outer," so another round is forthcoming from Danielle. We are getting an opportunity to do so since our wedding that I felt it was necessary to continue posting to keep up with our activities.

2009-03-29T02:20:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-03-29T02:15:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-03-29T02:07:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-03-29T02:01:00.000-07:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-03-18T03:22:00.000-07:00

Akaroa Harbor. We took a day trip about 1 1/2 hours East of Christchurch to this harbor, which was formed by a huge volcano erupting out into the Pacific. We took the pass out to the open water and got to swim with Hector dolphins (smallest and rarest dolphins in the world). Unfortunately my camera died as I was trying to get pictures of us with the dolphins. Scenic drive back from Akaroa Harbor

No, this is not the camera creating a rainbow. On our way to Akaroa we saw this rainbow, but more importantly we saw where the end of the rainbow touched down in this valley surrounded by mountains covered with more shades of green than the large box of crayons ever conceived. Definitely a first for me.

Disregard the wings ready for take off -- the end of the rainbow is the important point.

New Zealand

2009-03-18T03:08:00.000-07:00

Arriving to New Zealand!!
This is just ridiculous (and we actually shipped bags home). I'm pretty sure Danielle brought her Frodo costume just in case.View outside of our flat in Christchurch (I need a better pictures because the view is actually pretty spectacular). We are living in a separate apartment above a Scottish family's house about 2 miles south of Christchurch's city center.
Our first meal in the Sunny Somerfield apartment

2009-03-18T03:01:00.000-07:00

Packing up the night before leaving Melbourne (refer to subsequent pictures of our light packing)

My roommate George Halencamp and I leaving our home of 8 weeks in Hawthorne (a suburb of Melbourne).

Australian Football

2009-03-18T02:35:00.000-07:00

Danielle and I went to an AFL (Australia football) game at the Telstra Dome in Melbourne. AFL looks like a combination of rugby and soccer, but much more intense. If someone gets knocked out on the field, the game keeps playing and they bring a stretcher on the field to carry the player off. It basically makes American football look like patty cake.

Celebrating with friends the night before we left Australia for New Zealand.

2009-03-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

Scarborough Beach
We saw the most breathtaking sunsets and sunrises in Perth. Above, this meal had to be captured by photo. It was the most incredible meal I'd ever eaten, literally, ever, Ladd spent most of his dinner sitting and staring at me in awe of how quickly I consumed it--it was definitely something to be remembered.

Ladd making friends with the rodent-like creatures on Rottnest Island.
These little guys are a mix between a kangaroo and a glorified rat, purposely, Ladd waited until we got on the island to tell me they originally called the island Rat's Nest, because the explorer thought these fellas were rats, if you ask me, they are!

2009-03-17T19:30:00.000-07:00

Our bike rentals in Rottnest Island, Ladd laughed for a good five minutes when he saw me with my helmet, sunglasses and jean shorts.

One of the hostels we stayed in --Emperor's Crown

2009-03-17T19:24:00.000-07:00

Ladd and I spent the day exploring Melbourne's Botanical Gardens

One of Melbourne's many beautiful Cathedrals

Playing guitar waiting on our train to the beach

2009-03-17T17:49:00.000-07:00

Biking around Rottnest island (30 min boat ride off of the West Coast from Perth). The island has a 23 km bike ride to 9 different beach. It started windy and cloudy, but by mid-day Danielle and I had found our own private beach overlooking crystal blue water.

Spending Valentine's Day at the Park in Perth

Park overlooking downtown Perth

Danielle is probably going to kill me for this picture. We took the red eye back from Perth on Sunday night/Monday morning. We left at 11:55 pm and got back to Melbourne around 6 am. Needless to say, we were both a little delirious on the ride back because we had been surfing and sitting in the sun all day.

2009-03-17T17:37:00.000-07:00

Perth - Scarborough Beach. Most beautiful beach I have seen to date
Surfing at Scarborough Beach in Perth

Danielle on her way out to surf. I would like to brag on her for a second and say that she got up on her first try!

Any avid surfer will be acutely aware that this surfing attempt did not end well for me. I'm pretty sure the nose of the board was digging into sand at this point.

2009-03-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

Sunset on the Indian Ocean in Perth, AU

The sunsets on the West Coast had by far the most brilliant reds, yellows and oranges I have ever seen.

2009-03-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

Danielle's arrival to Australia on February 4th after not seeing her for over a month!!

I had to go to class the day after Danielle arrived, so we were apart for a short period of time. When I met back up with her she had already found some sketchy Chinese man to give her hickies all over her back (less than 24 hours in Australia!). She told me the process is called "cupping," but I'm not sure how that is suppose to add any alternative comfort to my skepticism.

Danielle and I rented what the owner called a "beach front house." After a 2 mile walk with luggage from the bus station only to find a roach infested crack house, we made other arrangements. You aren't truly roughing it in Australia unless you carry Louis Vuitton luggage for 2+ miles down a broken sidewalk.

2009-03-17T17:00:00.000-07:00

Diving on the Great Barrier Reef in Cairns, AU (this was taken after our night dive where we saw a 6 foot+ shark circling us just on the edge of our light beam)

Arash, George and I playing aboriginal instruments in Cairns

Merely here for proof I made it to the AU Open where I saw some of the greats first hand- Federer, Nadal, Serena Williams, etc

Great Ocean Road trip in AU - pictures of the 12 apostles

Wildlife

2009-03-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Davis' blog

2009-03-16T12:42:00.001-07:00

With the encouragement of our family (mostly Ashlye), Danielle and I decided to start this blog with hopes of allowing us to memoralize some of the amazing journeys we have been blessed to experience together. We say that life seems so short, but when we look back and reflect on our time together, the stories are endless - and this will only catch the highlights.