THANKS ASHLEY!!!!

My dear friend, Ashley, recently visited California on vacation. While she was there, she took several pictures for me. See below and you will understand how excited I was. And when I say excited, I mean that I had happy tears streaming down my face. Yes, I know I have problems.

Ah, Meryl's star.

This is by far my favorite. I asked Ashley if she touched the hands and she said no. I find this funny because that is the only thing I would care about doing if I was there in person.

Oh, Jack Bauer, how I love YOU!!!!!!!!!!

Hermione, Harry and Ron!!



These pictures mean so much to me. I want to go there one day so badly but it really may not be good for my health. I am also sure that some people would mistake me for a stalker. When I was in NYC I really wanted to sit outside of the 2 story Whole Foods and just wait for a celebrity. I was convinced I would see someone famous because I see celebrities in PEOPLE magazine all the time who have shopped at Whole Foods. My friends weren't really up for that so they forced me to go sight seeing all day. Anyway, thanks so much for taking these pictures Ashley! Don't be surprised if they end up blown up on my wall! :-)

I'm baaaaaaaaaaack!

So I think I have 5 new posts below! I have been the last 2 hours in Cafe Carolina updating my blog and surking the web! I don't have internet and I sadly won't have it for another 2 weeks or so. I just couldn't wait that much longer to update my blog, catch up on everyone else's blog and catch up on my celebrity gossip! I hope you enjoy the new posts for now. I could have easily had about 10 posts but I just decided to not put some things up and to combine several of the posts!!!

Enjoy!!!!!!!!

Girls Night Out!

Ashley, me, Laura, Gwen, Chelsea and Emily!

Gwen, Emily and I

Laura, me and Ashley


This past weekend we had a Girls Night Out! We decided we are going to start doing this once a month (hopefully) and we scheduled it this month when Laura was in town so she could go! It was such a fun night. Everyone came over to my place and we walked up to Fosters for dinner. We didn't have a very good experience there but I am willing to give it a second chance! We did have the manager be really rude to one of us and I am not in anyway pleased with that. After dinner we walked to the Fresh Market and each picked out a dessert. We went back to my place and drank wine, ate our desserts and just talked for several hours!! I love this girls so much and I am so blessed by their friendship. I always have so much fun. Sometimes I get really sad because I am the only one of them not married and the only one without kids. I very easily can feel left out and like I don't belong but it really doesn't matter to them.... they include me in all their marriage and baby talk anyway! I always have a blast with these girls and I am so lucky to have each and every one of them as a friend. I can't wait for our next GNO!!!!!!

Sweet baby.

I love this picture of her! She has been so sweet the last 3 months. I think she might finally be showing signs of calming down some (knock on wood). The move didn't really phase her but she has been better since we have moved. And I think she is loving all the walks I am taking her on! We have so many places to walk and explore..... it's tons of fun. It might be a little sad but I love my dog soooooooooo much....... I missed her so much when I was in Ohio. And I honestly don't want to do things with other people sometimes because I just want to be with her. HAHA. Anyway, Bella is happy, healthy and loving life!

OHIO.

After all my beach trips and moving day, I headed to Ohio for a visit with some good friends who I really actually consider family. The girls, Erika and Kirstin, are like cousins to me and their mom has always been like another aunt. As always, I had a blast. And again, I didn't take too many pictures. But enjoy the ones I did take! hehe. :)

We did a lot of stuff...... we went shopping, we ate at a lot of really good restaurants, we went to Pioneer Waterland (we do this every year..... its a waterpark!), we ate at an Amish restaurant, went to a flea market, watched movies, went to Chagrin Falls (a cute little town with shoppes and waterfalls), went to see Julie & Julia and lots more!

Kirstin and Erika

Erika and Jackie in front of Chagrin Falls.

Chagrin Falls (I always thought everyone was saying Sugar and Falls - ha).

Erika and Jackie in front of their 'Sold' sign at their old house. I absolutely loved their old house. I grew up visiting it in the summer!

Kirstin and I.... this isn't a very good picture but it was one of the only ones I got of her!

Erika and I. She is 14 but I think she seems 18 or so!

I made Erika pose for this picture. Yes, she is taller than me. So is Kirstin!!!

This is their new house. It is so beautiful!

Saying by at the airport. I think I ran away like 5 seconds after this picture was taken because I don't like to deal with saying goodbyes anymore.



Thanks for having me! I had a blast.

The Big Move!!!!

After several weeks of packing and unpacking, I am all moved in. It was not an easy task. As you will see below, I was at the beach quite a bit and I somehow managed to get almost everything packed by moving day (with a lot of help from a lot of people.... a special thanks to Ashley who came over at like 9 pm the night before moving day and helped me pack until very late at night). I definitely think parts of moving are fun with there is so much involved in moving! I hope to not move again for a while. We shall see! I also threw away or donated about 40% of my things. It feels good to not have so much junk and BOY did I have a lot of it! So here are some pictures of my place. You will have to forgive the mess. Please notice how Bella was trying to get in every single picture I took.

Picture of my room. I LOVE that it is green. I plan to get a different bed spread soon (I know, I know) so it will look better.

Another angle.

I love my windows.

Our cute bathroom!

Part of our living room and you can also see our dining area.

Our pink downstairs bathroom, probably my favorite thing about the house!

Dining area..... still have a lot to fix up here.

Our red kitchen!

Another angle....

and another. Yes, our washer and dryer are in the kitchen.



I love my new place so much! It has taking some getting used to but it feels like home now and its great coming home to a place that you love! I haven't felt like that in a long time! We still have a lot to do but it is definitely coming along!

Last 2 Weeks in July

First of all, I did not do a very good job of taking pictures during my beach trips! I am so sad. The few pictures I have from the last two week in July are below.

My first trip was to Cherry Grove Beach in South Carolina with my dad. I was there for about 5 days. My dad and Stepmom rented a condo with my Aunt and Uncle. This beach was so different then what I am used to (Topsail and Wrightsville). The water was very shallow very far out and the waves were tiny. I have grown to love big waves even though I was so scared of them when I was younger. Some of the highlights from the trip are that I found a sand dollar and I won the poker game (that has NEVER happened before). It was a very fun trip and went by way too fast. At this point, I can't remember the time frame but at some point I left Cherry Grove and headed towards Topsail Island......

On the way to Topsail, I stopped in to see my good friends Laura, Caleb and their daughter, Grace Elizabeth. It was a short visit but I was glad to have gotten to see their house and where they have been living. I also enjoyed seeing sweet little Grace Elizabeth. She is at such a fun age and just loves to smile! Laura and I got breakfast and then I had to be on my way! I finished out my week at Topsail Island with the family I work for. The highlight of that beach trip was riding the boat out to a small island for the day. It was so beautiful and definitely something I have never done before.

I headed home that Friday only to return back to the beach the following Monday!!!!! My mom came for a visit to Raleigh and we went to the beach for a couple of days. We went to Topsail again and I was able to take the boys and stay at their house. I have the most pictures from this trip but there still aren't very much!

My cousin Jordan, me and Natalie before dinner at Mollie's!

Jordan, me, Natalie and my mom before eating at Sear's Landing.... yummy!

Our last day of this particular beach trip we went tubing in the waterway!!! This is John playing on Big Bertha before putting her in the water.

Nicholas and John on big bertha! John didn't like it very much. He rode through the canals for about 5 minutes and was ready to get off!

Me and Bertha!

Nicholas being a dare devil.



I had such a fun time being at the beach so much this summer!

Be Back Soon!

I promise that I will be returning to blogging soon! I have missed it! Things have been crazy. I am almost all settled in my new place and I just got back frmo Ohio late Wednesday night. Our internet at our place isn't working so someone is coming tomorrow to hopefully fix it. And when they do, one of the first things I am going to do is start updating my blog from the past month!!!

Hope everyone is doing well!