happygirl.

Hello from Florida!

2011-09-22T13:33:00.003-04:00

It has been forever since I have updated..... I am down in the Florida Keys so I decided I would update the bloggie blog while I have some down time (the girls are sleeping and it is raining on and off outside so I got the computer out). For those of you who don't know, I came down to the Florida Keys with the family that I work for. We are getting near the end of the trip and we have had so much fun so far! I've become completely obsessed with dolphins and I am very thankful to be enjoying the sun and warm weather at the end of September!!! We have done some really fun things and the resort we are staying at is really nice! (Hawks Cay Resort). After the girls wake up we are going for a boat ride to a little island for the rest of the afternoon. Tomorrow we are going to venture down to Key West to do some very touristy things! We should be heading home sometime on Saturday! I will share lots more pictures when I get home and have time to rest! The picture above is of Reese and I at Bahia Honda State Park. We spent the day there where we took a bike ride, went hiking and hung out on the GORGEOUS beach! The picture is of us on the Flaggler bridge, which we had to hike to! Other activities we have been up to this week: fishing off the dock, feeding some tarpon, hanging out at the lagoon, theater of the sea, the dolphin research center, boat rides, shopping and lots more! Stay tuned for more pictures. :)

glow golf

2011-08-29T21:22:00.006-04:00

So many of you may know, but my fiance has been working at Lunar Golf at the mall! It is a glow in the dark INDOOR putt-putt place! It is kind of neat and he actually has fun doing it. I have been to play several times (I get to play for free) and I get to take people to play too!! This past weekend I treated little John and Camden to 3 games (54 holes) of mini golf! Haha. It was a little too old for John.... he had more fun climbing on things. But Camden did great... he got 2 holes in 1! Some of the holes are quite challenging! Anyway, it is a nice little treat that I can take 2 of my favorite boys to play at Tim's work! :) Love it!!!!

what can i say?

2011-08-29T21:18:00.005-04:00

we are loving picnics lately!!!!

And these girls are obsessed with 'ring around the rosie!'

Picnic

2011-08-24T21:11:00.007-04:00

I have LOVED the weather recently. This is my favorite summer weather! Not too humid and it feels amazing in the morning, in the shade or with a light breeze. The girls have been asking to have a picnic recently so we had a little adventure on Tuesday! There is the PERFECT place for a picnic in their neighborhood but the country club! Huge trees with shades, a field and a fence. We had SO much fun and will definitely be doing this more often. Look at these cute pictures we took! :)

just a few...

2011-08-23T17:20:00.000-04:00

...of my favorite things!

tea cup pigs. these things are real. google it.
I would pay good money for one of these. but only if i get the boots for free! they should come with the piggies.

YUP. i play computer games. i am a dork.

thank you, trader joe's.

i like pickin' em and eatin' em.

beautiful.

obsessed with these things right now. didn't help that they were on sale last week.

***Stay tuned for more of my favorite things!***
:)

2011-08-22T21:12:00.001-04:00

oh how i wish i had a best friend just like this. these girls make me smile every single day. im so thankful for them!

p.s. we had a photo shoot and THIS was the best picture out of about 25. it is very hard to get them to smile at the camera at the same time! any tricks?

Here I come...

2011-08-16T18:30:00.002-04:00

In exactly 1 month, this is where I will be heading for a week!! SOOO excited!:)

decorations

2011-08-14T12:23:00.007-04:00

I FINALLY have decorated my little apartment. I got really good deals on most everything and bought everything in these pictures for under $100.... and I actually LOVE them!

Digital wall clock - not that interesting but something I am really excited about!
For anyone who knows me, you would know that clocks with hands are not my friend. I often mistake the time OR I will look at it fifteen times and still won't remember what time it is. So I have been wanting a digital wall clock that I can see from the kitchen and living room. We have a clock on the microwave but we use the timer A LOT so I am often digging through my purse to find my phone so I can know what time it is.

This is a mirror I got at Tuesday Morning for $15. There was one at Target I wanted that is almost the exact same and it is $30.

I LOVE this picture. Lately, I have been obsessed with trees. Trees+swirls+pretty colors. Yay! This was on sale at Michael's AND the frame was on sale. I spent a total of $20. Without coupons and sale prices it would have been $50 for both of these!

I also love this. I didn't know what to do with the wall space where the tree is. I had put some vases here but it didn't look right. I thought about hanging several tiny picture frames in the space. I bought the tree and was going to put it on the wall in the living room but then tried this out and actually really liked it. What do you all think? The tree was $20 but I think it is worth it. You can take it and still use it! They are "stickers." I really like it and hope it isn't cheesy!

LOVE it with the shower curtain.

And love it with my other tree picture!!!

And then I got this for the bedroom above our bed for $6!! Woohoo!!

wedding planning

2011-08-13T18:09:00.016-04:00

So I have already been doing some wedding planning and have been for awhile! BUT I cannot find a place that I am happy with so therefore all the "planning" that I have done doesn't really count.

Here are some pictures (mostly from other blogs and from internet sites). As of right now, this is the kind of wedding that I want. :)

I want to have a "backyard wedding." I cannot find or think of a backyard that would work. If anyone has a lovely backyard that they would like to offer up, then let me know (haha). My idea is that I just want it to be a very fun and SIMPLE party with my favorite things and people. I personally am not "fancy" and don't like formal type events. I want it to be a relaxed, casual and fun atmosphere.... white lights, music, sweet tea, kids running around barefoot, homemade pies for dessert (and s'mores for the kiddos), white candles, laughter, bbq, pink lemonade, etc. I want to make a lot of the decorations. Unique. Simple. FUN.

Now, if I can just find a dang place then I can start planning this thing for real!

lola

2011-08-13T15:06:00.003-04:00

Formerly known as Bella, this is my old pup. There isn't a day that goes by when I don't think of her. I miss her terribly but love seeing pictures of her - I know she is happier and healthier!

(she is the one on top)

HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

2011-08-13T09:19:00.012-04:00

SO, I woke up this morning and decided I wanted to be apart of the blogging world again. I don't know if this is a one time thing or if I will start doing it regularly again... so for anyone who actually is reading this, thank you! :) I know my life may not be as interesting to some of you who have families and read family blogs but this is more for me to journal, express some creativity and have some sort of a hobby! And if I do continue to blog, I want to make my posts about crafts, wedding planning, yummy meals, deals in Raleigh, etc. So here are some recent pictures for you to enjoy!

Summer blueberry picking... one of my new favorite things!!! I only live about 25 minutes away from a local organic farm that has strawberries, blueberries and blackberries to pick in the summer! I have tried their organic beef and honey and it is yummy as well.

Pool days have been so much fun this summer!

So in love with this little ham!

One of my very best friends!!! (and cousin)

He has tie dye onesies...... my kids will as well one day! :)

WATERMELON!!!!!

Love these two pictures of Little Bits eating watermelon!

Well, there you go. There is my first post in a long time. Hope it was somewhat enjoyable! Haha.

Warms my heart.

2010-09-28T22:15:00.001-04:00

I stole this picture from facebook and I feel a little guilty. But I wanted to share it because it just warms my heart. Seeing this only confirms that I have made the right decisions. And it is so sweet. She has a new best friend for the rest of her life.

I still miss her dearly and I am still not entirely adjusted to not having a dog. I miss her most when it is bedtime because she was SO sweet. She loved to cuddle. And she would let me hold her while she was sleeping.... I slept with her like she was a stuffed animal!

Anyway... there is a little update for ya.

Lemon Basil Chicken..... YUM!

2010-09-27T21:55:00.003-04:00

So Tim's big birthday is tomorrow and we had his "birthday dinner" tonight. I wanted tonight to be special and I had an entire meal + dessert planned out that was gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free. Well, I had to completely change the menu because of the events last week. I made a list of things that he is allowed to eat and went with that. Here is what we had:

Lemon Basil Chicken
Marinated Asparagus
"Scalloped" Potatoes
Salad

I was pretty proud of myself! I wanted to share what I did to make the chicken because I did it without any recipes! I made a marinade from scratch and kept mixing ingredients until it tasted the way I wanted it to. The ingredients were:

1 cup of olive oil
1/2 cup of lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp salt
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
fresh basil, finely chopped

I literally just mixed that all together until it tasted yummy. I let the chicken marinate in that for almost a day. I had frozen chicken breasts and I just let them thaw in the marinade overnight.... Then I put them in a baking dish, chopped up a little more garlic, put a slice of lemon on top of each piece of chicken and then cooked them for 35 minutes at 375 degrees.

It was absolutely delicious. Especially to me because I LOVE chicken with anything lemon on it.

Oh and the asparagus.... I used the same marinade on it! And it was sooooo yummy too.

And the potatoes.... they we basically just sliced thin, cooked with onions and salt. I just wanted to play a little trick by calling them scalloped!

So phew, at least I know it is possible to make meals that we can both eat and enjoy together. I will try to work on taking pictures.... I have some fun things coming up.... like our new version of breakfast for dinner!

:)

Well, scratch that!

2010-09-26T20:17:00.003-04:00

SO this past week changed our lives..... Tim ended up getting really sick, going to the doctor and getting a ton of tests done. Thankfully his blood tests all came back normal. And now it appears that he doesn't have Celiac Disease. Now he has something worse called Allergic Colitis.... basically still the same thing as Celiac's but now he cannot eat anything with corn or rice.

No gluten (wheat, barley, rye), soy, dairy, egg, rice, corn and sugar.

Oh. my. word.

And not only can't he eat it but I can no longer cook anything with dairy, eggs, rice, corn or sugar. So what the heck are we eating?????? A lot of meat, raw fruit and vegetables and......... this shouldn't be forever... I will at least be able to cook with those things again but it may be somewhat long term for him.

HELP!!!!!!!!!!

I am back to nothing. BUT the good thing is that since he found all this out and has completely cut those things out, he is feeling so much better and even looks healthier!!!! Some things we have found that we will be able to cook and eat are buckwheat, quinoa, agave nectar, tapioca flour, egg replacement and several other things that I cannot spell or pronounce. So I will have to do some major research to find recipes that have these ingredients in them. Quite tricky.

I'm just sad because Tim's birthday is Tuesday and I was going to make him a birthday dessert (he hasn't had a single dessert in over a year). The thing I was going to try to make him had rice and corn flour in it so scratch that!!!!!!!!

AHHHHHHHHH.

The Gordons

2010-09-15T07:16:00.003-04:00

Heather and Chuck's wedding was this past weekend. It was a very unique wedding!! They are actually already married so they were recommitting their vows. The wedding was at Landmark in Garner. It ended up raining during their ceremony...... yes, their wedding was outside! They had purchased umbrellas for people to use. Most of my pictures from the ceremony didn't turn out! It was really fun though! The reception was at the same place but was indoors! Everything was simple but classy! It was a fun way to spend our Saturday night!!!

Gluten Free

2010-09-13T20:18:00.004-04:00

So I know my blog is probably a little boring to most people except my family members who live out of state. I have plenty of friends in the blogging world but most have families and blog about their kids. I mainly blog because I love to go back and see my posts from a year ago or two years ago... it is kind of like my journal of memories! Ha. So now that I don't have any "adventures" with my dog, I have even less to blog about besides the normal activities that I do... and those can be repetitive and I am sure not that interesting to most of the people who actually do look at my blog. I really want to get more creative and have more of a point of view of some sort. So I have an idea. It may not be a great one and I may not ever end up talking about it again after this post. So here it is: Seeing how the love of my life has Celiac disease, I have taken a huge interest in learning as much about this disease as possible. Along with that, I have also started eating (mostly) gluten-free and have become obsessed with researching gluten-free recipes. This maybe is not much more interesting to my blog readers but perhaps may attract others to view my blog that wouldn't normally. And this is all something that I am becoming more and more passionate about so I'm hoping to maybe connect with other people out there who are in similar positions or have advice or recipes to share.

So for those who haven't talked to me and don't know what Celiac disease is, this website gives a pretty good explanation: http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/celiac/#what. Basically he can't eat anything that contains wheat, barley or rye. But his case is severe and went undetected for such a long time so his body also created allergies to dairy, soy and eggs. AND gluten is also in things like shampoo, body wash, lotion, the stuff you lick on envelopes, etc. SO his diet is basically simple - he can eat meat, veggies, fruit, potatoes, rice, ketchup, BBQ sauce and not much else. In about a year or a little less, he can start inducing foods back to his body that contain dairy and see how his body reacts. When I first met him, I thought him having this disease basically just meant that he had a different diet and that was it. But there is a lot more to it. It affects so many aspects of his life..... and now mine too. :)

Now let me clarify one thing: I am eating mostly gluten-free under the roof where I live. I am in no way steering clear of gluten when I go out to eat. :) But I am eating out WAY less so it makes those meals even more delicious. If anyone is ever up for going out for Italian of any sort, let me know because I will probably jump on the train as fast as I can! I am eating gluten-free because just cooking with something that has gluten in it could make Tim sick for weeks. :( I made the mistake of making my favorite frozen mac & cheese in the microwave one day and sure enough, he was sick for several days. So it all started with that... he told me it would be best to not cook stuff like that in the microwave... the microwave will make the gluten circulate in the air which is what ended up making him feel sick. I didn't think about it, not to mention that I also felt terrible afterward! So it was because of that I decided to eat mostly gluten-free. I don't cook anything in the house that has gluten in it but I still may buy something like cereal to eat every now and then because that won't really affect him. But I want to stick to trying to not buy or consume those things! So far it has been pretty easy.... I don't know how long that will continue. But I would prefer to cook for BOTH of us.

So one thing I am trying to do is come up with recipes that are gluten/soy/dairy free. This is tricky and I have to get creative. I have had some help already from my stepmom who has to eat gluten-free as well. Most recently she introduced us to her version of Chicken Salad and I have added/changed to that slightly. My favorite thing that we do right now is fry the chicken salad in corn tortillas. Sound gross? It's not at all!

Our version of chicken salad:
-3 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
-roughly about 2 cups of hummus (we have only used plain but you can use any flavor to add some variety!)
- cut up celery and/or pickles
-several dashes of lemon juice

So then I take that and roll it up in a corn tortilla and fry it in olive oil. Yummy!

Alright, so there it is. I am excited to share our version of "normal" foods. Please give me feedback on what you think about these ideas AND a suggestion for a new blog title would be awesome!

And all thats inbetween!

2010-09-10T21:26:00.000-04:00

So I hope I haven't been too negative on here lately..... I just have gone through so many changes and all in a very short amount of time. I do not deal well with change to begin with..... so to have so much at once has definitely been overwhelming for me. But there have been a lot of happy times too. I am mellowing out some and seeing the road ahead of me and I am one happy girl.

The New Job!

2010-09-09T21:19:00.001-04:00

Last week I started a new nanny position with twin girls names Reese and Reagan! I am having a lot of fun with them but I am still in transition mode. I have the same type of responsibilities but it is also completely different! I am getting to know the girls and we have some fun stuff planned in the next 2 weeks! I will miss John terribly but I am also excited to do girly things! I am excited to watch the girls grow and change in the next year. They live in Wakefield so I am getting to know a different part of Raleigh! Their neighborhood is GREAT and it isn't too far of a drive for me going straight down Capital (yes, I moved but just into another townhouse in Cameron Village. Anyway, stay tuned for future posts about fun things I get to do with the twins!!!!

Another Goodbye

2010-09-08T20:55:00.005-04:00

Just ONE WEEK EXACTLY after I said goodbye to Bella, I had to say goodbye to my little John John. Oh how I LOVE this little boy. I have already seen him twice since my job ended so I am hoping to keep it up.... I cannot say bye forever to him. He is 3 years old and I first met him when he was just 3 months! I held him and fed him as a sweet little baby and now he is 100% a little boy.... collecting sticks, saying cute phrases, sword fighting... he is complete boy. I love our bond that we share and I love seeing him do things that I taught him. I am hoping and praying those things don't fade and that I can be apart of his life as he gets older. My last day, I spent crying all day and all night. I am a little bit tired of crying SO much. I have never cried this much in my life and tears start rolling down my face as easy as a blink of an eye. I know it is healthy to cry but honestly, I have cried more in the past 3 weeks than I have in an entire2 or 3 years..... maybe more! Anyway, my job with John has ended. I will post soon about my new job. I loved being a nanny to John. I will cherish so many of our memories and times together!!!

Goodbye Sweet Bella Luna

2010-09-06T17:06:00.014-04:00

Seems like I have been saying a lot of goodbyes recently! By far, the hardest goodbye I have ever had to say was to my dear sweet puppy. I think most of you know but I had decided to give her away. I had a ton of reasons as to why but the main one was obviously because Tim was so severely allergic to her. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been able to go through with it. But it worked out better for Bella in the long run. She wasn't living a very happy life with me. I wasn't spending any time with her and she was still spending most of her time in her crate. Poor girl. She had also gained a ton of weight because I wasn't exercising her. Anyway, she went with a young couple who had another puggle named Jacey (and they often called her Jacey Lou... how cute is that? Jacey Lou and Bella Boo). I am not at all worried her because I know she is happy and having the time of her life. I just miss her so terribly and with all my heart.

To so many people she was completely annoying. Most of my friends didn't like her and I think my family loved her because she was "family" but still were annoyed. I know she was hyperactive and not trained as she should be (all my fault) but she was my baby!!! She was so sweet and LOVED everyone and everything. It simply boiled down to I was not living a lifestyle that was suitable for having a dog.... I never was even when I first got her. It was never fair for her. I bought her tons on treats and tons of toys.... and before I met Tim I was doing a better job of exercising her and what not. But still, it was never fair. She was just so stinkin' hyperactive! And now she is spending her days crate-free with a constant playmate! And she is getting taken on lots of walks (and runs too). I feel that I did what was right for her but it was literally the hardest thing I have ever done all on my own. And writing this blog has been hard too! It has taken me 3 days to do it.... I'm moving at such a slow pace because I can't see the computer screen (due to the tears filling my eyes and running down my face).

I uploaded a ton of pictures..... some of my favorites of her and then some from her last week with me.

The first day she came home!

This was 3 days later after she had broken out of her shell. She was the PERFECT dog the first 2 or 3 days and then once she got comfortable she basically went crazy and started peeing all over the house!

Yes, poor puppy. This was the one and only time these silly bows were used!

Bella and my friend Julie! Julie was always great with her.... she would let Bella sleep on her head throughout the night.

Again, poor puppy. I think when I got her I was really wanting one of those cute dogs that you could dress up and fit in your purse. Heather and I took her into Harris Teeter.... I don't know how we got away with that! I also had bought her some doggie pearls.... I quickly learned that Bella was not a very girly dog.... she was more like a tomboy! Haha.

Gosh, this picture felt like it happened just last night. Bella was in the midst of being potty trained so I was taking her out in the middle of the night... well I hadn't woken up when my alarm went off but Bella did. I didn't get up but she jumped down from the bed and kept jumping back up to where my face was..... I was so tired but she was telling me that she needed to go out! Shows that she is a good dog and I was a bad dog owner!

Puppy pocket!!! I want to eat her up!

My all time favorite picture of her! I am getting it blown up in sepia tone and framed!!!

So sweet.... I was shopping and had taken her in the car... She curled up in the back like this. Ahhhhh, I love it!

Yep, there are those pearls..... totally don't suit her!

Bella as a pirate!!! She looks waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better as a pirate than with pink pearls.. hahaha.

Peanut and Bella.... I always called him her "uncle."

Bella and George!! This was my favorite stuffed animal of hers that she ever had. He was a frog. This was her first "big" stuffed animal and she had him for a long time... until she figured out she could chew off his eyeballs and get to all that stuffing!

Bella the bee. Her first Halloween!

Loved her bandana!

I love this picture of us.... I don't know why!

Bella at my Christmas party.... just days before she turned 1!

Super sized chewy bone... .It was for a dog that weighed over 100lbs. I was laughing so hard!

She loved sticking her head out the window!!!!

And she LOVED the beach. This was one of my favorite experiences with her.... taking her to the beach for the first time.

Bella the skunk.... her second Halloween!

I have like 20 pictures like this. She would pose for a lot of pictures.... it was so funny.

So snuggly!

Freedom in the snow..... she was so excited. Similar to the beach experience but she loved this way more..... and she wasn't on a leash. She ran and ran and ran.... for over an hour! She slept soooo good that night!

This was taken about a month ago. She looks so different now!

Her last stuffed animal I bought for her..... Frances the pig. Her new owners said she won't go to sleep without her! :)

AND now we are to the last night I spent with her. I had already moved 95% of all of my stuff out so I wasn't staying with her.... except the last night, I went back and slept on my air mattress. I spent the entire evening with her..... I gave her a bath! And she was so excited that I was there that she was SUPER cuddly with me! Ahhhhh.... it was perfect. I wanted to spend time with her that night so the goodbye part wasn't as hard the next day... but it may have made things worse.

And these last 3 pictures are from about 5 minutes before her new dad came to get her. She is clearly clueless and I was being very dramatic. But I am glad I snapped these photos!

AND THEN, I grabbed her, hugged her tight and I took her outside to go to the bathroom and her new owner arrived. The tears started rolling down my face as soon as I saw him and then it all happened so fast. My dad and her new daddy carried all of her stuff to his car.... He walked up and said "take as much time as you need" and like a silly head I said "it's best if you just take her and go." I handed the leash to him and walked away as fast as I could and then she was gone. Boy do I regret not kissing her and hugging her one last time. If only I could take that part back! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

I love her so much and I am hoping that it will get better but right now it just hurts so badly. It really feels like she died! I have talked with her new owners though and she is doing great! I am sure she hasn't even thought twice about making a transition... I am sure she would be happy to see me but that is how she is with everyone! I am the one hurting but I am trying to "heal." I guess it has been about 3 weeks now..... I still find myself waking up in the middle of the night looking for her or feel strange when I don't have to run home and let her out after work. I hope I am making the right decisions in my life but I know that she is better off. I am sorry for my first post back is so dramatic.... its a bit therapeutic for me! I had delayed posting this because I didn't know if I even wanted to but also because I knew I would get really upset by going through all her pictures, etc.

Okay folks, that's all for now! I need new suggestions for a blog title because I no longer have adventures with a dog names Bella Boo.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

2010-09-06T15:19:00.002-04:00

I haven't kicked the bucket.....maybe in the blogging world but not in reality. I have had a lot on my plate and no real access to the internet so I have been unable to blog. I am not entirely sure if I will keep it up because I hardly even check my friends' blogs anymore! :( Anyway, I have a few things to post in the next few days and then we shall see what happens from there!

Vote for Virginia Taylor!!!

2010-06-23T07:57:00.002-04:00

My friend Heather entered Virginia Taylor in the Parents Magazine Cover Photo Contest!!! I think VT is one of the cutest little girls out there so I have already voted for you. They would love your vote too! To vote, just click on the link below:

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/photo/357392

Lately

2010-06-22T15:42:00.002-04:00

The picture above is from my sister's birthday dinner..... she is 22. I cannot believe it. I had to think really hard about how old I was because I feel like I should only be 22. I have decided to not really celebrate my birthday this year. I don't like the age I am turning. I guess it does help having a boyfriend who is almost 5 years older though (makes me feel a lot younger). But when I think of being a quarter of a century..... my stomach feels a little icky.

On a brighter note, Tim is definitely staying.... for now anyway! My friend Heather's uncle offered him a job without even interviewing him. I am super proud of him because it is very physically demanding work and he has to wake up in the middle of the night. He is working really hard!!

And something I am OH SO EXCITED about is that my best friend, Catherine is coming back! Not for good, just a very long visit! She is coming next Wednesday so if anyone else out there wants to see her, you better book a time because she is going to be busy! And hopefully with me a lot of the time.

Her main reason for coming back is for Jessica's wedding which is definitely less than a month away! Actually, it is only 18 days away!! It is going to be busy but a lot of fun!!!!!!!! And it will distract me from my horrid new age.

That's all for now!

Sweet Eleanor

2010-06-22T14:28:00.007-04:00

I just wanted to dote on the new baby in my life, Eleanor. I just love her! Here are some more pictures from the hospital and some from a playdate today!!

I love the picture of me and Eleanor.... it looks like she is smiling! I didn't even notice that until I was uploading it just now! And the last one is of her big sis, Grace Elizabeth, giving her a kiss!!

Hopeful!

2010-06-17T15:29:00.002-04:00

Things are looking up for me! It seems as though Tim will be able to stay!!!! Many of you know that I was a complete mess for about a week. The stress is gone! YEAH! He had 3 interviews just today.... I am super proud of him. He at least has a job that he can start on Monday but he is hoping that something today will be a better fit.

SO happy and SO relieved!

Welcome Sweet Baby Girl!

2010-06-12T15:56:00.002-04:00

Eleanor Holden Robinson
June 11, 2010
2:55pm
7 pounds 1 ounce
19 3/4" long

One of my best friends gave birth to her little girl yesterday afternoon! I got to go and visit her today. I took pictures but haven't been able to upload them yet. I think this picture is just SO sweet of her. It was one that Caleb, Laura's husband, had sent with his phone right after she was born. She is so tiny, I could not believe it! She looks a lot like her sister but also very different too. She is just so sweet. I know I always say that about my friends' children but she is. She is absolutely beautiful! I couldn't get enough of her and I certainly cannot wait to see her again!

Congratulations Robinson family!! I love your sweet family of four!

You may not know it......

2010-06-09T14:00:00.000-04:00

but I AM still alive!

Whew! Things have been beyond crazy in my life. I have missed the blogging world. To put it simply, I just don't really set aside the time for it anymore. Part of the reason may be this guy:

A lot of you have been waiting for a picture of him..... I don't like this picture of us at all. I have a ton on my camera but guess what? The cord is MIA! This was our first picture together so it is old. And this isn't the best picture of either of us so not judging please! Whenever I find my cord or buy a new one then I will update with more pictures! :)

Also, Tim is in serious need of a job. He will do almost anything (except he can't work with flowers and food) so if anyone out there knows of anything, we would love the help! Otherwise, he may be moving back to his hometown in Indiana. :(

Above is Tim's sister, Ashleigh. They are roommates and she has very quickly become one of my best friends! I spend a lot of my time with her..... I am lucky that we have a lot in common so we do a lot of fun things together!

Other than that, I am thrilled that it is summer! John and I are going to the pool 2 or 3 times a week. We are staying busy with fun summer activities. My job with them will end at the end of August so I ambusy job searching and trying to figure out what I will do next!

My roommate Charlsie moved out. She got a last minute job in Charleston and had to move out within a week. I am VERY look that one of my dearest friends (the other Cara) was able to move in! We are having fun!

I am anxiously awaiting the birth of my friend Laura's baby girl. She was due on June 6 so it will literally be any time now!

And I am busy with all kinds of weddings and birthdays and concerts allllllllll summer. If I can get my blogging act together, I should have some fun upcoming posts. I hope this will suffice for now!

Happy Summer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Playing in Gatlinburg!

2010-03-23T21:43:00.000-04:00

When I went to the mountains, as you will see on my previous post, we were right outside of Gatlinburg. Originally on Friday we were going to go hiking but the weather wasn't great for it and no one knew what they wanted to do. Everyone ended up doing different things so me and 3 of my cousins went to downtown Gatlinburg for a couple of hours. I LOVE GATLINBURG. I always have and I always will. My cousin Jordan and I really wanted to go to the wax museum so we did that for part of the time and then the rest of the time we just went shopping.

A shot of the Great Smoky Mountains!!

Jordan and Matthew!

Forrest Gump and I.

JOHNNY!!!! I think he is the only wax character that looks real!

This is my favorite picture of Jordan.... haha.

Jordan and Leo....

We took a lot more pictures but some of them are embarrassing! I was offended that they didn't have Meryl or Sandra. We let them know that too! :)

Josie and Eli in an underground alley.

Jordan, Josie and I in a phone booth.

And Eli!

Woot woot.

Mardi Gras, Mountains and Marbles....

2010-03-22T17:27:00.013-04:00

..... That pretty much sums up the last month of my life. Haha. Not really, I have been busy but can't really say with what. Who knows. Whenever Mardi Gras was, some friends and I went to a party. I have never "celebrated" Mardi Gras before but I had a fun time wearing masks and bead necklaces! I think I shall start celebrating from here on out...

This is my friend Stephanie and I with our beads!

Stephanie, Rob and I with our masks!!

Okay and then maybe like 3 weeks ago or a month ago I went to the mountains again to be with my family on the weekend that my dear Aunt Ilona had passed away. This year was her 2 year anniversary and I absolutely cannot believe that she has been gone that long. Not a day goes by where I don't think about it but time has just passed so fast since the last time I got to speak to her. It was good being with my family. We rented a big cabin in Gatlinburg! Here are a few pictures!

This is the cabin. It is actually 3 stories but you can't tell from this view. I guess this is a side view. It was so big that I couldn't fit it in my camera and I was standing across the street from it!

The living room.

It came with a movie theater!

This was where I slept. They are queen sized bunk beds, pretty cool! There was also a hot tub on my floor which I took advantage of a lot!

My cousins Eli and Alison

Alison, Josie, Aunt Alida, Eli, my mother and Jordan!

Cute picture of my cousin Jordan!

**Stay tuned for some fun pictures from the wax museum!!!

And lastly I wanted to share about Marbles. The family I work for bought a membership to Marbles and John and I have already been 3 times in the last month. I love Marbles. John is at the perfect age for it and he just has so much fun. AND it definitely will wear him out!

This is my favorite part of the museum... A giant pig that drops balls out of it's tummy! How fun!

And John as the statue of liberty!

I have many more things to post so hopefully I will find some time this week to do so! :)

Congratulations Jess and Mike!

2010-03-06T08:32:00.003-05:00

My dear friend Jessica got engaged last weekend to Mike!!! I am so excited for her!! Jess and I have been friends for over 10 years now. We have had numerous conversations over the last 10 years about who we thought we would married, what our wedding would be like, etc! And now I am so excited that it is her time! Congratulations Jessica and Mike, I am so happy for you two!!!!

Another New Bed! HA.

2010-02-20T17:54:00.003-05:00

Yes,I have again bought a new bedspread. My last one was really cheap and it was a quilt. I don't like quilts. I have been collecting things for it over time and just now have been able to put it all together. And I am OBSESSED with my new pillows! Take a look....

I couldn't get a good picture because Bella was going crazy and jumping all over everything. But you get the idea!

valentine's day.

2010-02-17T21:48:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh..... Valentine's Day. Bleh. For whatever reason, I dreaded this so much this year. I do not like Valentine's Day and I never really have. I used to like getting those little cards from all my classmates but that ended in Elementary School. I think it is a silly holiday.... and it's fake. Maybe I will feel different someday but that is truly how I feel. I don't think it is just because I am not in love.... I really have always felt that way. Anyway, I was determined to have a happy day and I did. I started it off going to church, then went to the movies with my roommate an another good friend and then ended it with a fun little concert!!!

Yes, I saw Valentine's Day! I would recommend it. There were some really funny parts! It was definitely cute. And you gotta love ALL the famous people that are in it!

And then I went to see Joseph Arthur in Carrboro! I actually won free tickets so that was a nice little treat! I have seen him twice before.... once at Memorial Auditorium when he opened for Wilso and then again in Portland when I was visiting Catherine Bush! This guy is a bit strange but his music is beautiful! As you can see above, he did a little painting during the concert.... it was really neat watching him do that. If you ever want to check him out, listen to the song "Honey and the Moon." It's so beautiful! So all in all, a good Valentine's Day. I hope you all had a great one too!

goodbye peter pan!

2010-02-16T21:37:00.000-05:00

This is my good friend Adam. Most of my blog readers know who he is. This guy has always been a great friend to me and I am so lucky to have him in my life! He is one of the most caring and genuine people that I know. We have shared many deep conversations, laughs, words of encouragement and even some tears. In the past 6 months we have hung out more than we did in the past 2 years and I am grateful for that time. He has left for Colorado to start a new job. While I am sad he won't be here to hang out with me, I am excited for him as he starts his new adventure. I hope to be able to go visit him because I have never been to Colorado before! It could be a fun little trip. Anyway, Adam... if you read this, I wish you the best of luck dear friend.

Bella and the snow.

2010-02-15T21:28:00.005-05:00

Can you tell that my dog had SO much fun in the snow?

These are old but I just think they are too cute. I took her to work with me one day so I was able to let her off the leash in the fenced in backyard. She LOVED it! Oh my goodness! She ran the entire time we were out there. I don't remember her acting like that last year in the snow. She was very unsure of it but not anymore! This past week when it snowed, we got up early and played in it for about 30 minutes! It was much more fluffy and she kept putting her face in it and rolling around! So cute. Moments like these are why I love my c.r.a.z.y. dog.

2010-02-03T21:00:00.001-05:00

Camden and I sledding..... yes, I was a little scared. Do not laugh. :) That was a lot of fun!

snow adventures

2010-02-02T21:05:00.007-05:00

I am amazed that it snowed in Raleigh again this year. I had given up hope for so long. I was so sad to not experience very many snow days while in college....I was always hoping for a big snow so classes would be canceled. :) I am very happy that it snowed over the weekend so I could enjoy the snow with friends. My roommate was out of town and they were talking about the possibility of the electricity going out, so I went to stay with some friends just in case that happened. I wasn't sure how I would entertain myself in the dark with no electricity for hours on end. Plus, I get scared really easily and that thought gave me a fright. Kathryn and Devon graciously invited me and Bella over to stay! And boy was it fun! I also had a little treat on Sunday by getting to go and visit the Browns for the morning through the afternoon!

While at Kathryn and Devon's we did so many fun things. We played in the snow, made snow cream which was a failure, watched movies, cooked yummy meals, put a puzzle together, did manicures, took a walk in north hills (that is where they live) and lots more! And while at Ashley and David's we got to go sledding! You will see some fun pictures below!

This is Kathryn and Devon. The first snowflakes in Raleigh are falling behind them!

My attempt at taking a picture of the first snowflakes.... you can kind of see them!

I bought some boots to play in the snow but they still weren't waterproof.... so Cara covered them up for me with bags and duct tape.

Cara bagging Kathryn's feet!

Andy and Devon out in the snow!

Cara and Kathryn... this is a great picture!

Kathy trying to make a snow angel.... the snow was so hard! She had to punch and kick at it!!!

Kathryn and I with our plastic bag shoes!

This was during our walk around North Hills..... we are on Currituck here! Kathryn, Cara, Devon and me.

Laying in the snow!

I think this picture is so cute! Cara was throwing some up into the air.

I tried to do it too but it didn't work as well!

Now this was the next day at the Browns! Anderson and I playing in the snow! It is so beautiful outside.

Camden and I!

Look at the sweet little face!

David and Camden sledding down a fairly steep hill!!!

And David and Ashley! haha.

Stay tuned for a video of me and Camden going down the hill! :)

Ahhh.... the snow was so much fun to play in. Now it is ugly and brown so I wish it would just melt. I made my snow memories for the year so please go away snow ugly snow.

"Dennis Quaid is here!"

2010-01-22T20:44:00.001-05:00

Okay ya'll.... some of you may have seen this before but if you haven't, you HAVE to watch it. Most of you know that I LOVE the Ellen Degeneres talkshow! I watch it when I can and youtube missed episodes. She never ceases to make me laugh. [side note: she is the sole reason that I am watching American Idol this season!] Anyway, about a year ago or so she had Dennis Quaid on her show. She had him go to Starbucks and do this prank. She sets up the scene in this clip so please just watch it! I laugh so hard everytime I see it. I had forgotten about it but she had him on her show again this past week and replayed this video so I thought I would share it with you. I hope you enjoy it. It's 3 minutes long but I think it is well worth it!!!

VOTE FOR BELLA!!!!

2010-01-22T07:00:00.000-05:00

Bella has entered into the Bissell MVP pet photo contest. PLEASE click the button below to vote for her!!!!! The more people that vote, the better chances she has at winning. If we win she will be on the Bissell boxes!!!!!! How awesome would that be? We could also get a variety of prices like money donated to a pet charity of choice, Visa giftcards and more! Voting starts TODAY and goes until January 28. I am not sure if you can vote more than once.... maybe you can vote once a day! Feel free to get everyone you know to vote for her too! :)

Just in case that doesn't work, here is the direct link: http://mvp.bissell.com/mvp_PetDetail.aspx?id=8589956046

Kiddie Sleepover

2010-01-21T20:17:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I got to babysit Camden, Ava and Claire during their sleepover!!! We had dinner and then decided to go ahead and get in their pajammas to have a pajamma party.

Camden arranged this picture. Look at him with the ladies!

Then they had a dance party!! It was so cute!!!!! I just sat in the chair and watched them dance!

And then we had a movie night with popcorn!!! We watched Pippi Longstocking, one of my very favorite childhood movies! These kids are so much fun and it was a great way for me to spend my Friday night! :-)

Birthday. Birthday, Birthdays.

2010-01-20T19:26:00.000-05:00

In the past 2 weekends, I have celebrated 5 of my friends' birthdays. Woah! My friends Kathryn, Cara and Julie all have birthdays a week apart so we usually have an almost month long celebration. I love January! This year I also celebrated my friends Liz and Gardner's birthdays. It was easier because Liz and Gardner combined their birthday as did Cara and Julie! The celebrations came to an end this past weekend and it sure was fun! Here are my favorite pictures of all the celebrations!

Charlsie (my roommate) and I at Liz and Gardner's birthday. It was a combined party but a surprise party for just Liz..... Gardner was in the the surprise.

This is my friend Gina.... she moved back to VA at the end of last summer. Liz is her best friend and she came back for the surprise!

Liz was SO surprised!!

Then we celebrated Kathryn's birthday! We ate at the pit, went bowling and then went to sing karaoke!

Cara and her bowling ball baby!

Kathy and Carol.

And Kathy and Carol again. I love this picture of them!

Tay Tay and Kathy being loving friends.

The girls singing karaoke.... I sang 2 songs with them!

And then we celebrated Cara and Julie's birthday. We had a dinner party at my place for both of them with chocolate and cheese fondu. YUM.

Taylor and Cara: the lovebirds.

Cara and Julie blowing out their candles. Sadly this is the only picture I got of Julie all night! :-(

I am very proud of my happy birthday banner. I made it with all my leftover scraps of paper that I had used for my frames!

Here is a close up of Cara's name.

And then this is their "birthday cake." I made my mini cupcakes and homemade icing!

Virginia Taylor at 6 weeks

2010-01-19T22:15:00.000-05:00

My friend Heather's little girl is almost 6 weeks old! I can't believe it. She is so sweet and SO cute. I have gotten to spend some time with her and it just goes by so fast. I just love her so much. She has started to smile a lot! The mommy and daddy are both doing well! I have lots of pictures but these two are my favorite!

The Great Wolf Lodge

2010-01-14T21:27:00.003-05:00

WOW!!!!! Let me just say that if there is ever anyone out there who wants to buy me an expensive present, I WOULD LOVE TO GO TO THE GREAT WOLF LODGE. I am not joking nor am I trying to be funny. I sincerely want to go. Ever since they have been playing that catchy commercial 2 years ago, I have been obsessed with the idea of going. It is a bit on the expensive side but it is right up my alley. I love lodge/mountain type places and it has a huge indoor water park.... and I love water parks! Ahhhhhhhhhh. I just want to go. When Cara and I were driving home from Ikea when I was there, I saw it!!!! Anyway, its a bit of a small dream of mine to go. Yes, I dream big. HAHA.

NYE

2010-01-13T21:11:00.003-05:00

For New Years, I went to Salisbury, NC! I missed my friends here but I also had so much fun visiting the town of several of my close friends. We went out to eat with a big group of people and then went back to our friend Devon's house where we ate some food and played games! We had champagne at midnight and then we had a dance party!! It was super fun. The next day I went with my friend Cara to a mall in Charlotte! I was so excited to go there and have only been once a long time ago so I don't really remember it. I went shopping and spent some Christmas money while Cara was getting her hair done. And then..... we went to Ikea. I mentioned this before. I guess it wasn't smart going after I had walked around a mall for 3 hours and because it was New Years Day. I would like to go back sometime because I felt like I had a negative experience.... it was just SO overwhelming and WAY too many people. Anyway, I hope everyone else had a great New Years too!!!!!

Christmas

2010-01-09T20:48:00.000-05:00

Like always, I did not take many pictures at Christmas either. The only pictures I got are from our traditional poker game. I spent Christmas eve with my sister and then Christmas Day at my dad's with my grandparents. It was a fun time and I ended up staying over there for a couple of days.... with Bella too! They graciously let me bring her and she actually started to behave herself towards the end.

Barry (my oldest stepbrother), me, Sharon, Pops and my dad.

Natalie talking to Granny Jo about some Poker.

Popsicle and I. I started calling him Popsicle since his name is Pops. I have no idea why I have never thought of calling him this before, especially when I was little. I think it is cute.

My stepsister-in-law, Kristi and Sharon!

Natalie won the poker game and I got second place! Haha.... who would have thought?

Aunt Natalie and her neice

2010-01-08T21:12:00.000-05:00

On Christmas eve, my sis and my pup had a little photo shoot:

I have about 10 more but these are my favOrite. I think they are cute!

StUcK in some mUcK.

2010-01-07T20:57:00.000-05:00

I went to eat some Chili at my friend Taylor's house before Christmas. Well, it was RIGHT after we had all that rain for like a week straight. I pulled up to his house and the usual line of cars wasn't there so I pulled right up front. Well, there was no one parked there for a reason. The ground was a bunch of mud and sure enough, my car got stuck. And because I am not a very good driver and didn't know how to handle it, Cara and Taylor had to get my car out of the mess!

Cara turning the wheel.

Some of the damage I did to their yard..... oops! I feel really bad.

Notice Taylor pushing it! It turned out not to take too long.... maybe 10 minutes? But I definitely made a mess in their yard. And my tires had mud on them for days! My little car has never been in a situation like that before!

More frames!

2010-01-06T20:41:00.000-05:00

Just wanted to show some more of the frames that I did. I think these turned out better than the first ones I took pictures of. The grass one is what I made for my dad since he loves golf... I thought it turned out cute! I have had several offers from people who were interested in buying them.... now that I am done with Christmas presents then if you are still interested then I would be happy to make some. I don't know how much I will charge yet. I think they are easy but they can end up taking a lot of time! I don't really think I will be making many more for people in my life because I gave so many out during Christmas. It's a fun little hobby though and I am very gracious for the compliments that I have received thus far!

My Christmas Party

2010-01-06T08:07:00.000-05:00

I can't believe that it has been almost a month since my Christmas party!!!!!! Oh my goodness! I feel like this was just last week. Anyway I threw a classy Christmas party with my friend Cara and my roommate. It was so much fun and went by way too fast!

Cara and I. I am so thankful for her!

My cute sister.

My friends opening gifts. Haha.

Kathy and I in front of the tree! I like this picture!

And I hate this picture of me but I like the love that is being here... this is my longtime friend Adam. He is my buddy!

I had so much fun at my Christmas party! Despite the absence of a few people, I had almost all of my favorite people in one place. What could be better than that? I will tell you, we had a slumber party! I absolutely love slumber parties.... I have loved them my whole life! About 8 of my friends and my sister sleptover all in one room. After everyone else left, we stayed up telling jokes, tickling backs and eating junk food. I love it. We all got up early the next morning and went out to breakfast. I was so sad when it was all over. And I love that everyone was able to come to my place. I LOVE hosting and having people in my home. Sadly, I didn't get very many pictures because my camera messed up really bad. I had thought I lost all of my pictures on my memory card but thankfully it was just some button I had pushed. Anyway, I love my friends and I am thankful that we were able to have such a fun night!

Goodbye Christmas!

2010-01-05T19:27:00.003-05:00

Phew.... it has been a while since I updated..... again. Sorry about that! Sometimes I love to blog and other times I hate it. I have a mini update on my life below the pictures but please stay tuned over the next few days for some scheduled updates that I have planned! Here are two picture of my pup in her Christmas sweater that I love:

This picture here she was actually sleeping but the flash woke her up. Aww.

Update: The month of December was extremely busy for me. Despite starting my Christmas shopping in August, I still found myself rushing around 2 days before Christmas. And I took up making the frames so that took up SO much of my free time. I would make about 4 frames in a round and that would probably take me 3 or 4 hours to finish just those! In total, I think I made 17 frames. Anyway, I didn't go anywhere for Christmas but I did visit my friends in Salisbury, NC for New Years! New Years day I went to IKEA for the very first time and I definitely think that was the wrong day to go! There were so many people there that it was hard to look at anything at all. I was completely overwhelmed and after about an hour of getting pushed, I was ready to get the heck out of there and run for the hills. So, I had a very bad first impression of the place and can't say that I am that anxious to go back. I spent a lot of the past 2 or 3 weeks being sick..... which was NO fun. There were 3 days straight where I did nothing but lay in my bed. I definitely caught up on my movie watching though!!! If you want any movie recommendations then I would say 500 Days of Summer, All About Steve and Inglorious Basterds! All About Steve is very cheesy but I laughed out loud so much.... and it includes Bradley Cooper!!!!!!!! Other than being sick, I had a pretty good Christmas and I hope everyone else did too! I was so sad to take down my Christmas tree yesterday but I am ready to get back into normal life.... and I am ready for it to turn back into summer. I would be excited for Spring but I have a bad feeling it will be a bad season for my allergies. Okay, I have probably bored you long enough. Most of you know that I usually don't type this much! Again, stay tuned for some more updates. :)

Virginia Taylor Gordon

2009-12-10T18:43:00.007-05:00

My friend Heather just had her baby early this morning! She was born about 2:25 am! She was 8 lbs 11 oz and 21 inches. Heather was in labor for 20 hours. I got to go see the sweet baby this morning while John was in preschool and again after work! She is SOOOOOOOOOOO cute. Both times that I was there she was just so sweet and cuddly. Supposedly she has been fussy other times but I wouldn't believe that at all. I am so excited that this little girl is finally here!

How cute is she?

Chuck, the daddy, holding his little girl.

The mommy and her daughter!

Gigi and I! I loved holding that baby. I can't say it enough.... she is SO sweet.

My New Hobby!

2009-12-08T21:40:00.004-05:00

I have started making these cute frames...... or at least I think they are cute! A lady I babysit for makes them and has them all around her house. I asked about them and went to buy the supplies for myself. There was a picture frame I wanted to buy for my cousin for Christmas that is $20 at Swoozies. With my AC Moore and Michael's 50% off coupons, I was able to buy all the supplies for $16. I have made 12 frames!!!!!!!! I am mostly giving them out for Christmas presents to friends and will save some for birthdays. It is just SO easy and they turn out great. If you can't tell in the picture.... they are shiny!

Christmastime warms my heart,

2009-12-06T13:34:00.003-05:00

OH Christmas, how I love you! I could not get through the winter season if it were not for Christmas. I HATE how it looks outside, especially when it is cloudy but I love when all the Christmas decorations go up. And I love decorating my home. This year has been my favorite by far since I love my current home so much. It feels so cozy. The only thing I am missing is a fireplace! If I had that, it would be perfect. Here are some pictures of how I decorated my house this year. I definitely used some tips that I learned in my Festively Frugal Christmas seminar!

I also LOVE nutcrackers. I have started a little collection of them. I am going to hit the after Christmas sales and buy some more to add this year!

creepster.

2009-12-06T13:30:00.002-05:00

My dog sat like this one my bed for several hours just staring at me. I even left my room for awhile and when I came back she was in the same position. It kind of weirded me out because for anyone who knows me dog, she rarely sits in the same spot for a minute! Now I think it if funny!

This is SO cute!

2009-12-04T23:34:00.002-05:00

Okay so most of you should know that I am NOT a cat person. I used to love them when I was a kid but now I just don't care for them. Plus, I am allergic. Despite all of that, I think this is one of the cutest videos I have ever seen. I saw it on 'Ellen' the other day and wanted to share it for those who haven't seen it. And even though I am allergic, I do love kittens so that is probably why I love this video. I just don't like them at all once they grow up. tee hee.

Softball

2009-11-23T21:00:00.003-05:00

I love my softball team! I can't say it enough. I was so apprehensive about doing it but I have just had a blast.... I have had to give up my Sundays but I just always have so much fun. Now, it is almost over. We had playoffs this past weekend and we won both games! So the weekend after Thanksgiving will be our last game or games as it will be the championship. Something really excited happened to me this past Sunday though..... I scored 2 runs for the team! There was some about a suicide run and RBI but I don't know what those mean... but I did something right. I am by far the worst player on the team but I don't mind. I think I said before that pretty much everyone on the team played on their high school team and there are even some who played for their college!! Last weekend I made it to 3rd base for the first time but then got out because I didn't know what was going on. And this week I made it home twice! My teammates were yelling at me to tell me what to do the whole time but I was thankful because otherwise I would have probably gotten out. We had a joke that my goal was to hit a home run but my secret goal was just to score.... and then I did twice!!!!!

The girls on the team. I love them so much!!!!

And here is our team. I think 2 people are missing.

It has been such a blast!!!!! I think we are playing dodgeball or bowling as a winter sport with all the same people so stay tuned!

$6

2009-11-23T20:53:00.002-05:00

These are my new shoes that I LOVE. I got them for $6. I would have paid probably $30 for these because I think they are so cute but I didn't have to!!! They are actually from payless. I have never found a pair of shoes in there in the past 5 years. I can't even remember the last time I bought shoes from there. AND I love these! Can you tell I am excited?

Camden turned 5?????

2009-11-23T20:00:00.007-05:00

On Saturday I went over to the Browns to give Camden his birthday gifts and to watch the boys for a bit. I think I got some cute pictures!

Camden with his big bow. I love seeing him excited to open gifts!

I gave him Marble Works. This was something I had as a kid and absolutely loved! I had fun building this with him and I think that he quite enjoyed it himself!

Sweet Andy boy was in the BEST mood! He was all hugs and giggles!

Me and Cam. I think this is so cute of us!!

Boys will be boys.

2009-11-11T19:10:00.004-05:00

This past Friday John and I went to Baileywick Park with some other friends. We had such a fun time. I really love this park so much. We let the kids play on the playground for a good while and then we had a picnic next in a field. I had brought some balls for the kids to play with after they finished their lunch. We were sitting right next to a softball field and there was no one around so we let Camden and John go run around in the field. We couldn't see from their knees down while they were playing. The next thing I know John looks like this:

Yes, he is covered in mud! OH MY! My initial response to panic but he was laughing and having so much fun. So I decided just to laugh.

Camden was covered in mud too but by the time this picture was taken he had already taken off his shirt!

Another shot of John covered in mud! Thankfully we had an extra pair of clothes in the car! It wasn't too much fun to clean up and I don't prefer for him to play in mud all the time BUT it was a fun little Friday adventure.... and something he is still talking about! Like I said, boys will be boys!

Speaking of Meryl.....

2009-11-07T20:04:00.000-05:00

So I had been wanting to post this clip. This is from a new tv show I am watching called 'Modern Family.' I think it is so funny! I think on the first or second episode, they had this Meryl Streep reference. Ofcourse, I thought it was SO funny! So let me set the clip up.... the guy is Gay and LOVES Meryl Streep. He is a movie fanatic and is always bringing up things from certain movies. But what he says about Meryl is definitely something I would say!

My new obsession:

2009-11-06T20:44:00.000-05:00

RYAN REYNOLDS!

OH, YES! This was definitely sparked by the movie 'The Proposal.' I have never really cared for him before and I always forget that he was that guy on 'Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place.' I have seen numerous movies that he is in but have never really given him a second thought. BUT NOW I love him so. He is very beautiful, don't ya think? There are some PG-13 pictures of him that I really wanted to put on here. He has a very nice body! And I am not a fan of the fact that he is married to Scarlett Johansson. What a waste. Anyway, just thought I would share my newest celebrity obsession. Don't worry, I still love Meryl, Emma, John, Jake, Kate, Reese, etc! :-)

Halloween!

2009-11-04T18:06:00.013-05:00

Don't worry, Bella didn't mind wearing her costume after she had it on for a while. She had it on for about 6 hours on Friday and then ALLLLLLLLLL day on Saturday! As I mentioned before, I had people over on Halloween! Bella was a trooper. We had a fun night, even though it was a little hot. (Our heat had been on and once we turned the air conditioning on, it took too long to actually boot up so therefore we had an extremely hot townhouse all night).

Devon, Kathryn and Cara... they were greek goddesses and very beautiful!

Josh came for Halloween!!! That made me super excited!!

This is my friend Stephanie playing "Pin the face on the Mummy."

My sweet friend Cara. I love this picture of her. She will probably not enjoy that I put this on here though!

Funshine Carebear VS. Peter Pan

Kathy and I! I think I will frame this one!

Funshine + a sunflower!

My old roomie Ashley and I. She was a chicken.... I think her and Josh were the hottest (temperature wise) people at the party. I am sure you have noticed that it looks like we are all sweating in all the pictures! IT WAS HOT!

But it was a great Halloween!

Anderson turns 1!

2009-11-04T17:45:00.007-05:00

This post is long overdue. Anderson (the son of one of my dearest friends) turned 1 on the 22nd of October. I cannot believe he is already 1!!! It seems like just a couple of months ago he was born! Anywho, he is one of my favorite kids in the entire world and like a nephew to me! The Browns, who I consider family, graciously allowed me to attend their family party for Anderson. I was honored and thrilled to be able to go to celebrate that sweet little boy!

This is Anderson getting excited about opening some gifts!

I took this picture for Ashley's mom since I had my camera in hand. It was too cute not to post! What sweet grandchildren she has!

Singing the Happy Birthday song to Anderson! He loved it.... SO CUTE!

These were his little froggy cupcakes I made him. They don't look very cute in this picture but they were cute in real life (or at least I thought so).

YUMMY.

Playing with his new toys!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2009-10-31T10:30:00.004-04:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Halloween is one of the few things I actually enjoy about fall. I always LOVED trick or treating so much and I have such great memories of childhood. I still enjoy dressing up and doing Halloweenish stuff! :-) I am dressing up as the same thing I was last year.... Gretel. Hopefully I will take some pictures this year though. And as you will see below, Bella is a skunk! I think it is hilarious. She doesn't mind wearing the costume but just hates the part that goes over here ears. I have several friends coming into town to stay with me! So we are going to have a little get together at my place and then maybe stop by a few costume parties. I will do a post-Halloween update!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My dad's bday, Scooby Doo and the fair.

2009-10-30T22:11:00.005-04:00

I have been super busy again! Nothing new to report really! I was doing good with my posting for a while but now I am behind again. This is just a random post about the last week and a half!

Barry, Sharon, me, my dad and Natalie out to eat for my dad's 48th birthday. We went to the Flying Biscuit.... yummy! I think this is a great picture! If only Mitch were in it then we could get it framed.

One night some friends and I went out to Southpoint to meet a friend for dinner. After dinner we went Halloween costume shopping. This is my friend Devon as Scooby Doo! We were all laughing so hard when an employee came up to her and rudely asked "Are you planning on buying that?" Devon's response was "Maybe, I am thinking about it." And the rude woman was surprised and walked off. I am so happy that I have this picture.

So I went back to the fair the following Friday with another group of friends. This is my friend Andre. He played that balloon popping game and won! As a joke, he got a picture of Hannah Montana. He had a hard time deciding between that and the cast of Twilight.

Ashley and I in front of the fireworks!!!

Fair with the girls!

2009-10-20T21:02:00.003-04:00

On Friday I went to the fair with Ashley and Emily! We planned this totally last minute but I was so glad it worked out for us to go! We shared deep fried oreos and Wisconsin cheese sticks. And we rode 2 rides! We went later at night after their kiddos were in bed so it was definitely cooler outside but it wasn't very crowded at all! I think this is the least crowded I have ever seen it at night!

Me, Ashley and Emily.

Ashley and Emily with the fireworks in the background and hot chocolate in Em's hand.

Me and Emily. There weren't any fireworks in our picture so I cropped it!

I know this is a bad picture.... this was my attempt of taking one of the 3 of us. But i did succeed in getting the ride we rode in the background. THE FIREBALL. Except this one was actually called Freak Out or something. I ride this every year but I got SOOOOOO scared before getting on it this time. It was short and ended up being a blast! You may want to click on the picture so you can see the ride in the background!

Emily gets cold easy and doesn't enjoy it. This is her keeping warm!

This is me and my very favorite ride EVER! I made Ashley and Emily ride with me and I think at first they didn't think it would be very much fun! But then they liked it so much that we rode it again!!! I will never go to the fair without riding this!

I am not sure if I will go to the fair again. I may take John one day this week. I usually go numerous times but I may have had my fill! :) Thanks Ashley and Emily for going with me.... I had tons of fun!

The Proposal!

2009-10-16T20:01:00.003-04:00

I have been so excited to see the movie 'The Proposal.' I don't know why because it just seem like every other chick flick. I finally saw it and loved it! I do felt like it had a lot of potential to be better and a little bit more funny but I still loved it. I watched it yesterday and I have watched this one scene with Betty White and Sandra Bullock over and over again. I just think it is hilarious!!! So if you haven't seen the movie, here is a clip below! Just a warning to all the mommies, there are curse words in this clip but not super bad ones! I hope you think it is funny as I do.

To setup the scene: Sandra Bullock was taking a bike ride and heard some funny noises. When she discovered what it was she found the grandmother chanting around the fire. The grandmother made her come down and start doing her own chants....

HAHA!!!!!!!!!

NC Zoo!

2009-10-15T20:00:00.001-04:00

On Monday, John and I ventured to the zoo with the Browns. I was SO excited to go because I hadn't been since I was in middle school. I had a lot of fun with John and it was a lot of fun to watch Camden so excited about all the animals. Sadly, right after lunch it started raining and it cut our zoo trip short a little bit. I still had a great time and hope to go back sometime soonish!

John, Camden and Anderson watching the Sea Lions. I love this picture!

Willy, the polar bear. Even though he would love to eat me for dinner, I still love him! He was so cute and seemed to be posing for pictures!

And I love you too, Mr. Owl.

Camden and a Buffalo.

I bought a zoo poncho after lunch so I could walk around in the rain. I also didn't dress appropriately for the trip so I was freezing when it started to rain. The poncho warmed me up!

Hey, there's an elephant!

Camden got cold so he stole his mama's jacket.... haha!

John was exhausted!!! He fell asleep and missed the lions and zebras!

I love this picture too!

belleroohoo

2009-10-14T20:00:00.000-04:00

I have so many names for my pup. Here are some that I call her:

bella, bells, bella boo, bella cinderella, bella luna, luna, lulu, belsa, belleroo, belleroohoo, belleroohoohoo, babe, baby, babies, B, belle, penny, beluka, beluga, bella bumble, bella bee, bellet (like ballet), belette (like colette), bel-air, bella buddy..... okay you get the picture.

I talk to her a lot and she probably has no idea what her real name is. Is it so sad that she is one of my best friends? Probably. But I don't care. Anyway, this past Saturday I spent the night hanging out with my dog. We had a photo shoot....

Awww..... look at that face! I think she still looks like a puppy!

"What did you just say about me? How dare you! I am not a puppy anymore!"

"Hurry up and take the picture."

"Hold on.... I'm trying to see the scene with my cousin!"
movie: I Love You, Man.... her puggle cousin is in the movie!

"Okay, okay......."

"Seriously, you're still taking pictures of me. Seriously?"

Cara: "B Bop, take a picture with me! Smile!"
Bella: "UGHHHHHHHH."

"I have had it! I am starting to get angry now! I am ready to go to bed. Can you please quit taking pictures and go to sleep?"

"Here, let me sing you to sleep....."

Ya'll I know that was super cheesy! But I am a little loopy from some caffeine! I literally took like 80 pictures of her that night........ No, that is not how I spend every Saturday night! :-)

Softball!!!!

2009-10-13T20:00:00.001-04:00

So you may recall my mentioning of some softball playing on my part..... well I am loving it! I don't think I have played since I was forced to as a freshman in high school and I still don't have much of a recollection of the sport. I think what I do know is based off of the "baseball games" my cousins and I used to play in my aunt's front yard as children. So, I went to my first game 2 weeks ago. I anticipated NOT playing and was very content in watching my team play and cheering them on. Well, in the 3rd inning, the umpire informed our team that every person on the team had to bat. WHAT??????? I totally freaked out for a second and seriously contemplated making a run for it. But I sucked it and went to bat...... and I actually hit the ball and made it to 2nd base!!! So I have gone up to bat maybe 6 times now. I did strike out once this past Sunday. And I also was forced to play catcher because several teammates were absent and another was injured. I am actually really enjoying myself and I am enjoying learning the sport. When I first went to bat I didn't know what the heck was going on but I am slowly catching on. One thing I think is super silly is that they have a requirement that 4 girls HAVE to be in the outfield at all times. This is no good for me as we have mostly boys on our team! Oh yeah, and did I mention that the majority of these people all played on their high school softball team and we are playing in a very competitive level? YEP!

Kathryn playing first base!

Cara being silly!

And Cara batting!

Yeah, no pictures of me in action! Here is something maybe for you to get a giggle out of: our team name is Buns and Wieners. And we have a picture of a hot dog on our shirts. I guess that is what comes from playing on a team with boys?

Heather's Baby Shower #2

2009-10-12T20:00:00.013-04:00

On Saturday, Lyndsey, Heather's mom and I threw Heather her second baby shower. It was so pretty and a lot of fun! She got a ton of stuff! It is hard to believe that Virginia Taylor will be here in less than 2 months! Oh my word! I am so excited! Enjoy the pictures from the shower!

The cake in transport.... I was nervous to be in charge of picking it up but thank goodness it made it to the destination in one piece.

The clothesline.... I made this! I was quite proud of it because I think it turned out super cute!!!

The cake table. The napkins say "Mommy to be" on them.

The diaper wreath!

The cute pregnant girl.

The food table.... there were SO many leftovers!

Heather and all her gifts... woah!

Heather opening one of my gifts!

Heather with her cake. The pregnant lady on her cake matches the pregnant lady on the napkins exactly! Edible Art is SO great!

Heather and I.... I was having a super bad hair day... yuck.

Amanda, Addison and Lyndsey feeling Gigi kick!

Lyndsey and Heather's sign...... Whitney made it for her and it is so cute!

Green Acres

2009-10-11T18:09:00.012-04:00

This past Friday John and I went to Green Acres in Cary with the Browns and the Bennetts. I love going to pumpkin patches (but that doesn't mean that I love fall.... no, not at all). We took pictures with pumpkins, went for a hay ride, went in the corn maze, had a picnic and jumped in those bouncy house things (what are they called? I am drawing a blank). I am not sure why we thought the corn maze was a good idea. We got hot, the babies got heavy and the kids got hungry REAL fast. I had never been in a corn maze and it wasn't as much fun as I anticipated. Anywho, enjoy the pictures from the pumpkin patch! I don't have that many of John because I was switching back and forth between my camera and John's camera.

This is a cute brother picture!

Whats Andy got in his hand? Hahaha!

Haha, nice face Mecaden!

Camden, Anderson, Mecaden and Levi! John wouldn't sit down for the picture of all the kids!

Aww.... that is sweet!

M and C as cows......... MOO!

John on the hay ride! He was excited for the pond.... haha.

Mecaden on the hay ride!

While my camera was MIA.......

2009-10-11T17:34:00.005-04:00

In the midst of me not taking any pictures, I also left my camera at my dear friend Kathryn's apartment. When I got it back last week, there were LOTS of new pictures on it and they were not taken by me. They were all surprises! Here are just a few that were on there:

Hope that doesn't embarrass you girls but you took em! So boo-yah!

Patrick

2009-10-10T21:51:00.002-04:00

My cousin Patrick, from my dad's side of the family, thought it would be fun and cool to grow a funky looking beard. I went on vacation with him this summer.... when I first saw him I couldn't believe my eyes. Not to be mean, but he had the funkiest looking beard I have ever seen.... okay maybe not EVER, but I didn't expect my cousin to look like that after not seeing him for 7 months. He knows that I wasn't fond of it but a lot of other people weren't either. He totally loved it though. He recently had to shave it off because he is starting to coach a kids' basketball team.

This is his before picture:

And here is his after:

Isn't he so handsome with a clean shaven face? I think he looks like my dad here and I think my dad is super handsome too! Anyway, I am glad he shaved it off! He plans to grow a beard back though. We shall see. Patrick, if you are reading this, it is nothing but love dear cousin!

***This is my attempt at getting back into the blogging world! I have taken tons of pictures in the last 2 days so hopefully I will upload them soon!

SORRRRRRRRRRRRRRRY!

2009-10-08T20:33:00.002-04:00

Howdy.

I am so sorry I have been so lame about posting things. I have had zero desire STILL to blog about anything. But I think that I am getting back into it. I have taken ZERO pictures over the last month so NO picture updates for you.

Here are some highlights from my life:
-I am "blonde" again. My hair had gotten really light from the summer so it wasn't much of transformation for me. I got my natural hair color back and have blonde highlights. I like it a lot!
-I completed a 5k for Breast Cancer!
-I am helping to throw a 2nd baby shower for my friend Heather this weekend.
-I am playing softball on a recreational team and LOVING it!
-Bella has severely itchy skin. She won't stop scratching herself and it wakes me up at night. I need to find a remedy for this. No, she does not have fleas and yes, I am sure.
-Lots of people in my life are getting engaged...... it must be the season for it.

And here is an exciting story for you to read (at least I think it is exciting): So one of my guilty pleasures is to listen to Bob and the Showgram in the mornings on G105. I think they are really funny but sometimes I really don't enjoy their choice of topics. I don't get to listen to it much so it is really funny that I caught this. There have been so many times in the past that I have wanted to call and even attempted but then I get too scared and just hang up. WELL, they are taking emails now. So one day I decided to email them and THEY READ IT and talked about it on the air for about 10 minutes!!!!!!!! I was so excited! Bob referred to me as "this lady" which I find funny! I had emailed Bob to tell him that he should get a side job being a voice of a cartoon character. He always does different voices and accents on the show and he is SO good at it! So they talked about the different voices they could all do and the possibility of him getting that job!

Okay this is all for now. I will start to take pictures of my life again starting tomorrow morning. Hopefully I will have more exciting posts for you soon. Let's face it..... my life isn't that interesting without pictures!!!!!

Heather's Baby Shower #1

2009-09-15T21:20:00.006-04:00

As most of you know one of my best friends, Heather, is having a sweet baby girl in December. Her first baby shower was this past weekend. These are not my pictures.... I stole them from Heather on facebook!

Heather's diaper cake! SOOOO cute!

The ALMOND cake.... my favorite!

Heather opening her gifts with two cute little helpers!

Everyone at he shower! It was such a classy baby shower! I have never been to a baby shower where you were served a nice meal! It was a great time and I can't wait for baby shower #2!

UGH.

2009-09-15T21:05:00.003-04:00

Blogging has become more like a chore to me now. I don't know why. I hardly look at anyone's blogs and I have a hard time finding the motivation to update mine. I am trying to do better.

My camera is dead and I have failed to take a single picture in about a month or almost 2! So this will be a post with ZERO picture. I don't like that. My favorite thing about blogging are the pictures!!

What's been going on: Several weeks ago I went to the beach for the weekend with one of my best friends, Heather. Her family owns a trailer down at Garden City, which is just outside of Myrtle Beach and right by Murrell's Inlet. We got there late Friday night and left before lunch on Sunday so we didn't really have much time. On Saturday we went out to the beach for several hours, shopped at the outlets and then ate dinner at Drunken Jack's. It was so much fun! The next weekend I went to visit my cousin and Aunt in TN. The highlight of my trip was DOLLYWOOD!!!! I went over Thanksgiving and I wanted to go back when it was summer (for the water log rides!) Oh, how I love Dollywood. And I think I love Dolly a lot too. Something crazy that happened there was I was riding the scrambler (one of my favorite rides since childhood) with my uncle and it started POURING down rain. I was drenched and had racoon eyes (because of my make-up which is falsely claimed to be waterproof). After that it was time to go home. The next day was a more leisurely day with shopping and games. And then Monday (labor day) I headed home. I have been so busy but I don't really know with what!!!

Whats coming up: I am starting a recreational softball league with some friends. I will have a game every Sunday night until the end of November. Softball is not my sport. I am just doing it for fun so we will see how it turns out! I am also attempting to run a 5k in a couple of weeks (most likely I will be walking most of it) for Breat Cancer. I am "training" for it right now and Bella is training with me! I have also started a bible study that is every Monday night. I am so excited about the bible study. I am also helping to plan my friend Heather her second baby shower! That will be in 3 weeks and I can't wait! I love planning stuff like this! SO, I will be a busy girl.

I think that is about all for now. I know I am boring. SORRY. Blah. I will try to take some pictures of maybe something interesting. OHHH..... there is something big happening in my life tomorrow night that I will probably blog about on Thursday..... it's not really big for any of you...... and its not juicy. It's just a little bit of a change for me........

THANKS ASHLEY!!!!

2009-08-27T20:27:00.008-04:00

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!

2009-08-20T19:29:00.002-04:00

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!

2009-08-20T19:20:00.003-04:00

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.

2009-08-20T19:13:00.002-04:00

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.

2009-08-20T18:46:00.010-04:00

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!!!!

2009-08-20T18:16:00.011-04:00

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

2009-08-20T17:50:00.008-04:00

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!

2009-08-18T07:59:00.003-04:00

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!

Beach Bound

2009-07-17T21:37:00.002-04:00

I am heading to the beach in the morning and I will be gone for the week! I am going to Myrtle Beach with my dad, aunt, uncle and cousins and then will head to Topsail to finish out the week with the Thagards!

I most likely will be MIA for a while after that too. The day after I get home, my mom and cousin come for a week (and we are going to the beach in the middle of that).

And then a few days after my mom leaves, I head to Ohio.

Now, in the midst of all that, I have to be packing and completely moved into my new townhouse..... by August 2. If anyone wants to offer to help me that would be fantastic!!!!

Otherwise, have a great next 3 weeks everyone!!!

My new townhouse!!!!

2009-07-14T20:18:00.003-04:00

So in just a few weeks I will be living in this townhouse!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am SO excited.

It is literally in Cameron Village! It is right behind the library!

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and Birthday Celebrations: Part 3

2009-07-14T20:09:00.004-04:00

And I had one last celebration! I went to downtown live with some other friends - old roommate, new roommates and some mutual friends! Above is Ashley and I, my old roommie! Joan Jett was playing and it sure was crowded!!! It was super fun though.

This is my sweet friend Cari and I!

And meet Charlsie..... my soon to be roommate!! I already love her so much and can't wait for the next year!

P.S. I promise I am not wearing the same dress as on Friday night.... it just looks like it! The one of Friday actually had brown, yellow and white on the bottom half! :)

Birthday Celebrations: Part 2

2009-07-14T19:57:00.009-04:00

On Friday night, I went out to eat at Mellow Mushroom with all my mommy friends! Above was my birthday dessert!

All of us after dinner: Emily, Jen, Ashley, Chelsea and I.

After dinner we went to Solas..... it is a rooftop bar that was so cool!!!!! We sat on couches and just talked for a long time!

Emily and I!

Chelsea and I .

Ashley and I!

Thanks guys for taking me out. That was such a fun night!!!!!!!

I also got quite spoiled during the week. Wednesday night my friends Kathryn and Julie took me to Humble Pie and then Thursday Heather and I went out to eat and then when shopping!!!!! Sadly I didn't take pictures!

Thanks to everyone!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Birthday Celebrations: Part 1

2009-07-14T19:48:00.005-04:00

On my actual birthday, I went to The Pit with my family! This is one of my VERY favorite restaurants. It is an upscale BBQ place and I love the food so much. I used to love it because it had fried green tomatoes but now I know how to make those myself! For your birthday singing they have someone come and play the harmonica for you! I think that is so unique and I LOVE IT! Well, that night there were at least 5 other birthdays in the restaurant so we heard the tune of the birthday song over and over. For some reason, I got special treatment and the owner of the restaurant came and sang along with the harmonica. He is the big guy with the white beard up top..... also, he is famous in NYC! He sang in a bluegrass version and it was AWESOME. It definitely made my night.

My family. Left to right: Jen (Barry's girlfriend), Barry, Kristi (my other stepbrother's wife), Natalie, me, my dad and Sharon.

My sisters and I!

Bella and the beach!

2009-07-09T21:21:00.004-04:00

I had so much fun taking Bella to the beach! I took her out 3 times. She HATED it last year so much and was totally terrified of the water......... But this year so absolutely LOVED it!!!! It was so much fun! I added a video of her enjoying the beach too. I just love it so much and I hope you do too!!!!

Beach Trip!

2009-07-09T20:56:00.011-04:00

John running to the ocean!

He was a little unsure of the water at first. And some of the waves would knock him over but he would always laugh. He is such a beach boy.

Playing in the canal!

Kissy Kiss! How cute is this?

Haha! This mustache was 50 cents and well worth it! We had some good laughs!

Nick with the stache.

Nicholas and John walking on the bridge!

On the pier......

It was quite breezy on the pier. It felt so good!

I love you Topsail Island...... see you again next week!

So last week I went to Topsail Island with Nicholas and John, along with their grandparents! It was a fun week. I would get up and take John out to the beach before it was got too hot. We would go back for lunch and then John would go down for his nap. Then Nicholas and I would head out to the beach to ride the waves!!! So I got a lot of beach time. We also played in the canal, got henna tatoos, went on long walks, took bella to the beach, went to shops, played on several different playground, watched movies, ate very yummy food, went to the pier and lots more! I didn't remember until I was on the pier that I was absolutely terrified of them! And it was no fun having a toddler up there. I am so scared of heights so I don't know why I thought that would be a good idea. We spent about 10 minutes on there and that is it! Anyway..... the trip was really fun and I will be going back at least 2 other times this summer! Can't wait!

Gina's "Bachelorette" Party

2009-07-08T19:42:00.004-04:00

The same night as Ashley's birthday dinner was my friend Gina's "bachelorette" party. I wasn't sure if I was going to go or not but since Ashley's dinner ended earlier, I decided to go. Gina is my sweet friend who is a teacher. I don't get to hang out with her as much as I would like but we get along great! We just love each other and click very easily! I love friends like that. Anyway........ her best friend through her a bachelorette party..... except she isn't really getting married. Instead, she is moving!!! I am so sad. I thought it was so creative and hilarious to throw her a bachelorette party as her going away party! She is really bad at goodbyes so it was a different way to celebrate her. I think the funniest thing was that my guy roommate (Ben) really thought she was getting married. She had a (fake) engagement ring and had a ton of pictures of the guy she was supposed to be getting married to! He was a real friend of hers but had no idea she was doing this! Anyway, it was a really fun night! I will miss her so much but am glad that she will be back a lot to visit!!!

The first picture is of Gina and I and the other is with her best friend Liz, who will soon be my neighbor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ashley's 24th Birthday celebration!

2009-07-07T21:19:00.003-04:00

This year Chelsea, Gwen, Emily, Ashley and I celebrated Ashley's 24th birthday!! We went out to eat at Vic's, a very good italian restaurant at City Market. After dinner we went to the cupcake shoppe! I had never been before! I definitely want to go back again to try different flavors! I always love celebrating Ashley's birthday so much! She is one of my dearest friends in the entire world!

Catherine Wilson's Wedding!

2009-06-22T10:18:00.005-04:00

On Staurday I went to my friend Caterherine Wilson's wedding. I cannot believe she is married! Catherine and I have been friends since I was a sophomore in high school. We met at church but also went to the same high school and had a lot of fun times together! She is one of the sweetest people I know but also one of the funniest! She can make me laugh more than anyone. Anyway, I was honored to have been invited to her wedding! I took Josh along as my "date" and it was also fun running into a bunch of old friends!

I didn't whip out my camera until about 8 pm so I definitely missed a lot of good pictures. The wedding reception was in the towers at Carter Finley Stadium. I thought it was SOOOO cool that they had a slideshow of pictures over the big screen on the field! It was a very lovely wedding!

Josh and I! He is a good friends for coming with me!

Josh and I with Catherine! I am sad I didn't get a picture of her full wedding dress because it was gorgeous!

Lauren Davis and I. Lauren was Catherine's maid of honor. Lauren is also engaged and will be getting married in October. It was definitely good to see her!

This is JJ Johnson and I. By far, seeing her was the highlight of my night. She is extremely important to me. Sadly, we have lost touch over the last 4 years.... I hadn't seen her since her wedding day!! I wasn't expecting to see her and once I did, it was so exciting!!! And it also felt like I had seen her just 2 months ago or something. I love her!

I missed photo opportunities with Adam Gardner as well as Jon and Megan Horner! Sad day but it was definitely a fun wedding!!!! :)

2009-06-18T21:40:00.001-04:00

This is my very favorite commercial! I laugh so hard every time it comes on!!!

2009-06-18T21:36:00.002-04:00

I found this video with Ashley and David one night.... and it is hilarious to me!! I couldn't stop laughing.

Thanks to Emily for helping learn how to upload youtube videos!!!

My little sister is 21........ WHAT???????

2009-06-18T16:54:00.006-04:00

The birthday girl.... I don't think this looks her here but it's still cute!

Me, Natalie, and her two best friends, Ginny and Ann Marie.

Barry, Natalie, Sharon, me (sporting my new glasses) and my dad.

My little sister turned 21 on Tuesday. I absolutely cannot believe it. I feel like I just turned 21. It just seems like she should be turning 18 and not 21. Anyway, we went out to eat for her birthday at a very yummy restaurant in Carrboro, Panzanella! I had the best meal...... Lemon Parmesean Chicken! It was a very fun dinner and I am going back out there tomorrow to continue the celebration!

My new favorite tv shows:

2009-06-15T22:00:00.002-04:00

Law and Order: CI
This is a very risky move on my part due to the fact that I get so scared SO easily. But, I think I have turned over a new leaf. I am not AS scared as I normally am. Maybe I am braving it out. OR Maybe it will take a turn for the worse when I am home alone at night at 2 am and all these murder stories start popping into my head. We shall see. For now, I love it and am very addicted to this show! I never thought I would like Law and Order. I used to get annoyed on how it is constantly on TV but now I am thankful. HA.

And then my new obsession:

I have always wanted to watch 24. I had watched part of season 1 before but never finished it. I just finished Season 1 yesterday (I watched in 4 nights.... loser-ish, i know!) and OH MY GOODNESS. It was so good! I can't wait to watch all the other seasons!!!!

Be sure to scroll down because I have made several other posts!!! I was in a blogging mood tonight! :)

Mecaden turns 2!

2009-06-15T21:51:00.002-04:00

On Sunday, I went to Mecaden's 2nd birthday party! It was at Anderson Pointe Park. It was such a fun kid party and I was thrilled to have been invited! Mecaden is such a sweetheart and I love her so much. We have a secret little wave that we do (actually it used to be mine and Camden's but we don't really do it anymore.... not sure why). It's so cute when she does it to! Oh! I know.... it's the wave from the little rascals (the Hi sign or something like that). Anyway, it was super fun celebrating this sweet girl's birthday!

I couldn't decide on which picture I wanted to put on here so I just put both because they are both so cute!!!!!!!

Brown Boys

2009-06-15T21:41:00.003-04:00

I spent my Saturday afternoon and evening over at the Brown house. No, it isn't actually a brown house. The Brown family lives there! :)

David and Ashley went out on a date and I stayed there with the boys! We had so much fun as always. And as always, I took some pictures! After the rents got home, I stayed and had some real adult conversation. It was a great way to spend my Saturday night!

I was taking a picture of Anderson and Camden hopped in and shouted "BROTHERSSSSSSSSSSSSSS." It was really funny! And I think this picture turned about pretty funny too! Not sure what Andy was thinking!

I LOVE his face in this picture. This is such an intense crawl or something! He was acutally trying to chase Camden..... Cam circled by him probably 10 times before he made it around the loop. He was just happy and laughing this hole time!

If you don't ever get to babysit these kids, you should be jealous! :)