post-holiday wrap-up

so after several days of traveling on the road and visiting family, it's nice to be back in greenville and settling into my vacation routine. makes me miss summer a little bit, but then again, i am almost getting to the point where i miss daily social interaction. always happens about this time...

we had a great time in fayetteville, even though we were trying to avoid a virus that was going around. had lots of meals at grandma's, a couple of church services on sunday, and a big breakfast christmas morning before we opened presents. i'm also failing to mention the dissapointment that was the papajohn.com bowl. poor pirates...

then we "swam" back to greenville (cause it was pouring the whole time) for lunch at justin's mom's house with all of the family here. again, tons of presents, playing games, and by the end of the afternoon, i was about ready to crash. it all catches up to you eventually.

so now it's just been taking care of mundane details, getting back to the gym, and shopping for wedding accesories. i've been successful on most parts. i still have a ton of stuff to do, but it's getting taken care of, slowly but surely.

and we'll be heading back to fayetteville ONE MORE TIME for sarah's wedding on saturday, along with some quick wedding stuff. i'm hoping ordering the invitations and scheduling a fitting for my dress. we'll see.

quick hop to tv watching--my new favorite show that has also won with the critics? tbs's "my boys," which wrapped up it's "season" tonight. but all of the episodes are available online for free at tbs.com. think girly show about relationships with a baseball twist. it's been a welcome change to all of my reruns.

and if i don't get a chance before it comes, happy new year, y'all. see you in 2007

back from the mountains

as promised, a picture from the former "ec scholars" night on the town...


so we're back from our trip to west virginia, and had a great time--even though it didn't quite feel like winter. it was in the mid 50's or 60's most of the week, no snow at all, and though we had ski clothes, we didn't get a chance to use them. it would've been a waste of time and money. we did get to see lots of family, spend time with justin's dad, stepmom and stepsisters, and help out with the youngest one, his nephew river. at a little over a year old, he's full of energy and requires a lot of attention!

now i'm in fayetteville, with justin and alan joining me tomorrow in time to watch ecu take on usf in birmingham at the papajohns.com bowl. we'll do the traditional christmas eve at hay street on sunday and then breakfast and presents and such here at my grandma's on monday before heading back to greenville for lunch and presents with justin's family for the afternoon. busy day, but it'll be well worth it.

i leave you with some pictures from the mountains. a gorgeous sunset and some shots from our adventure of cutting our own christmas tree at a farm nearby. enjoy, merry christmas, and take care as everyone is traveling. if you want to get together sometime next week in greenville or fayetteville, feel free to drop me a line. i'll be looking for some company :) later, y'all.

seasonal slacker

alright, alright, i know i haven't posted in forever.

but i do have excellent excuses.

they would include:
various holiday parties and concerts
shopping
eating (a whole lot)
tons of travel time on the road
seeing some long lost friends
and general holiday merriment

the more important occurances from these past few weeks:
-holiday banquet at church and the return of rob and nathan in the young adult parody of gnarls barkley's "crazy"--they were awesome, the slide show behind them was awesome, and they initiated justin into the group properly. honorable mention: "the coastal plain companion" (parody of "prarie home companion" on npr) and matt's fabulous re-telling of what might happen if i tried to organize a live nativity play with all of the kids and animals including "yo momma" the llama. yeah, you just had to be there.
-singing christmas tree at snyder and getting to introduce mike and debbie to fayetteville, to hay street church, and the holiday tradition that is "the singing christmas tree." so great to be there for this special time of year.
-traveling to durham this past weekend for an awesome time with ashley, linda and mateo in the brightleaf square district, as well as a fun afternoon with my bridesmaids (minus maggie--we missed you, chica!) painting pottery in the city market area of raleigh.
-concerts at school and dip day/secret pal reveal--i love this time of year!

and finally--our beginning preparations for the trip to west virginia. we're leaving friday right after i finish at work, and though it won't be as cold as last winter, it still will be a december trip to the mountains. i'm keeping my fingers crossed for enough snow to make skiing fun, but not so much that we can't get back home :)

i'll try and get pictures up soon from my evening with the college buddies. i can't find the cord that goes with my camera, but i'll keep looking. should turn up somewhere.

that's all for now--later, y'all.

quick one

alright, don't have much time to talk right now, so here's what i see as being important at this moment--

love is in the air. here's to the future mr. and mrs. alan and rachel and mr. and mrs. baxter and maggie :) lots of diamonds coming out, people... must be the holiday spirit. not to mention two weddings in the next month, helping plan a couple more, and my own. it's kinda cool joining the married world with the rest of my friends.

i'm about wii-ed out. it's been played non-stop around me for the past week, but man--it is cool. here's to entertaining family and friends across the state with justin's newest toy.

one step forward, two steps back. here's to guest lists, rehearsal dinners, ugly invitations, florist losing information, and save the date cards. all in my brain right now... so ready to get some of this stuff officially checked off.

and here's to the holiday season. i've got the tree up, tickets to see snyder's singing christmas tree on saturday, presents bought, a few christmas parties to attend, and i'm loving every minute of it.

that's all for now-- later, y'all :)

turkey day

so it's been a while...

but it's been busy and i'm soooo glad it's finally thanksgiving break. lots of meetings, lots of events and just a general build-up to these next few days of relaxation and family time.

spirit week turned out so well and we had a fabulous time with our final "pie in the face" contest. we ended up having not one, but three participants, and the kids loved it.

a picture of the "pieing"...

i've also gotten back into doing some kid photo shoots--lots of parents wanting them for christmas cards, etc. i had one this past saturday that turned out so well, and it's ended up getting me a lot of "word of mouth" advertising. i am definitely enjoying getting this experience and taking some pretty awesome photographs.

so i have today off, and tomorrow justin and i are heading to fayetteville for thanksgiving at my grandma's (along with invitation choosing and honeymoon booking--we're determined to be productive!) saturday will be thanksgiving at his mom's house, and sunday will be thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family. we'll be doing WV family right before christmas. i'll also try to be extra productive today with some possible christmas shopping

and i guess that means i'd better start getting ready... happy thanksgiving! later, y'all

back in the swing of things...

so it's spirit week at school, which means i'm figuring out the appropriate way to celebrate themes like pajama day and celebrity day as a faculty member. i always loved homecoming week in high school, so it's kinda cool to be so involved this year with our similarly planned spirit week.

and in true nostalgic fashion, i was able to go back to dear ol' FTS this past friday night to watch them compete for (wait for it, wait for it...) the conference championship. those of you who came through during the late 90's, early 00's with me will be gasping in disbelief much like i did when i found out what was at stake. i mean, c'mon, this was the football team that led us on an 0 and 11 season my freshman year (and made the cheerleaders yell at us because we didn't show appropriate signs of respect for our losing football team on the way back from one of the games--hello? if you want respect, win some games. 'nuff said). anyways, it was senior night, way dejavu to be back, and so cold. i mean, soooooooo cold.

so we were freezing our tales off and got to see chris emano who was also in town, a glimpse of wood stewart, and a conference title for my alma mater. it may have been won in overtime, and they might have allowed pine forest to score with 40-some seconds left in the game and tie it up with a 2 point conversion--but the bulldogs are conference champions for the first time in 20 years and i was there to see it :)

a few pictures to commerate the occasion:

the student celebration on the field after the 24-21 victory in overtime (you can just see the scoreboard in the corner)


the new field house at the baseball field end of the stadium. i was quite surprised to see this addition!
and us after three-plus hours in the cold. you can tell the temperature by the shade of pink on my nose...

i also took some pictures of the band trailer and names on the back...but by that time, justin was freezing and it was time for me to stop taking pictures.

we also got to see a ton of family at my great-aunt betty's 80th birthday party. it was a potluck (yum!) out in the middle of the woods near hope mills (brr!) but still a great time. we headed back to greenville afterwards and joined justin's side of the family for dinner yesterday afternoon. lots of plans being made for the holidays and wedding stuff. if you want to get on our calendar, let us know now! (it's filling up fast).

that's all i can think of for right now. later, y'all...

and october's over...

where'd it go?

so happy halloween to everyone and i hope you're all having a safe and spooky evening. i apologize for the lack of posting, but it's been one crazy latter of half of this month and i'm just now getting to the point where i'm catching up.

we had a weekend full of wedding stuff (where i did get a dress, a florist, and eventually a photographer), homecoming weekend complete with parade and winning football game (check out the pictures on flickr!) and a halloween themed weekend with a school dance, a family wedding and trunk-or-treat at church. should have pictures up from that soon...

and in between, it's been busy at work and busy with my friends and family. so much going on... and just keep my family and my school in your prayers. just taking things day by day.

i'm ready to see what november brings and looking forward to some more beautiful fall weather. lots of fun stuff coming, and i'll be sure to keep you posted :) later, y'all...

100th post!

so i'm back from cheerio, without too many bruises from the caves or blisters from canoeing. and we had an amazing time! i added a few pictures below--and have some addtional ones up on flickr. check 'em out if you get the chance.

and now i'm in fayetteville, doing wedding stuff and being extremely productive. after a couple of days of searching, i have a dress. like literally, it's hanging in my room right now. i have information on how to order bridesmaid dresses. and by tomorrow, i'll have a catering menu, a florist and possibly some rental stuff or a photographer. we'll see what happens.

so enjoy the pictures and i'll be relaxing and checking stuff off my knot.com list. later, y'all :)

cheerio, here we come...

in less than 24 hours, i will be heading to the mountains for four days with 56 kids and four other chaperones. whoa.
when we get back, i'll have less than 24 hours to unpack and then repack for a long weekend in fayetteville where we have wedding stuff scheduled almost non-stop. i must find a dress. not that i'm particularly worried about it, but i really must find a dress.

it's one of those crazy times where i'm convinced that once i get through it, life will be ten times better and hundred times less stressful. but it's the anticipation and actually getting through it that's the tough part.

don't get me wrong, i'm thrilled about going to camp cheerio again and i cannot wait to spend time with these kids and my faculty friends and being in the mountains again, doing all that campy stuff. but it just seems different this time. it's going to be tough being away from justin, i feel like i'm missing time to work on wedding stuff, and i am slightly concerned about bringing both the 7th and 8th grade--two totally different groups.

but i remind myself--a week from now, i'll have a dress. i'll have a menu. i'll have a florist. i might have some tents and tables reserved. cheerio will be a fun story to tell at lunch, and i will be able to breathe again :) yay.

the fall festival this past friday was wonderful--had to be held inside, but i had the best time painting faces and taking pictures (i won't put them up on my flickr site, but if they get put up on the school's website, i'll link to it). we passed on the football game (ecu won), but enjoyed running errands and watching movies on saturday. sunday was spent cleaning, cooking, packing and painting, and for whatever reason (i really don't remember now) i volunteered to host young adults tonight. crazy, yes, but i'll live and we'll all have a good time enjoying our "breakfast for dinner" (one of my favorites to cook). i love hosting and i cannot wait until we have a nice big house so i can do it all the time.

prayer requests--for my dad, who is getting his last major medical procedure done and having a pacemaker put in today. and for my dear friend ashley and her mom, who need lots of support and prayers right now. and for my friends that are lonely and need to know that people care about them.

alright, that's it for now. enjoy the fall weather and i'll be back on the flipside.

finally fall...

well, almost. there are a few more 80 degree days left. but there have been some gorgeous days :)

so it's been a busy week--student council elections, supervision, and fun times with the family at alan's concert. there was also the promise of a beautiful weekend, so justin and i made plans to stay in virginia beach at linda's place and then head to busch gardens on saturday for some rollercoaster riding and their annual "howl-o-scream" events. with short lines, 70 degree temps, and more haunted mazes than i could handle, it was one of the best day trips we've taken in a long time.

this is a re-take of our "tired picture by the swings in new france." that one was taken last june. this one was muuuuuuuch more comfortable. even with sweatshirts :)


the fun big swings in germany while we're flying around. i used my wrist strap to take this one...

and this was one awesome shot i was happy to get. the loch ness monster loops lit up at night. i used the night scene feature on my camera, was able to find a flat surface on the bridge and voila! very cool picture. i LOVE the reflection in the water.

we also had a great time visiting kenny, stephanie and kaleb at their place in VA beach and spending a little time on the boardwalk enjoying the sandcastles at the boardwalk festival. it was tough coming back to greenville and getting ready for the work week, but now i've gotten all of the traveling and amusement park adrenaline out of my head, i can focus in on wedding stuff. and there's a lot of it coming up...

alright, that's it for now. later, y'all :)

in the "office" hanging out with my "girls"

alright, some post office prattle.

number one, you can verify with justin, i so called the "jam" situation before the new episode came on. i knew they wouldn't put them together--hello, it's only the 3rd season? but i also knew pam wouldn't be with roy--the kiss would have shaken her too much. jim would take the job, pam would be single, and they would pine for each other for atleast another couple of months. save it for february sweeps or something :)

on the whole oscar situation--we knew that was coming. i didn't expect them to open with it, but i read a column by the girl that plays meredith after the fact where she said there had been fear that "the office" would lose it's cutting-edge social commentary, that uncomfortable comedy that made us laugh, made us cringe, and made us look at the way we handled those "difficult" situations. that they would go for the safer, slap-stick comfy comedy that they knew would fly over without making too much of a stir. let's face it, if you have a show that has put episodes out there like "sexual harassment," "diversity day" (looking back, that was only their second episode! can you imagine coming out with that and what guts it took?) and now "gay witch hunt," it's obvious that "the office" has not lost their edge. if anything, they're taking even bigger steps into getting those topics out there. i watched the movie "crash" recently, and it very much focused on those same, awkward, uncomfortable and down-right "ignorant" (if i may quote oscar) statements that a lot of people still hold to. it's handled smartly, with wit, with a bit of sarcasm, and with characters that we love even though their faults cause such drama. it's one of the best shows out there. *off my soap box*

gilmore girls tonight. i am a big luke/lorelai fan and not a christopher/lorelai fan. i'm only tolerating this because i see it as a step that must be taken in order to get l&l together by the end of the season. the whole long-distance rory/logan thing smacks a little too familiar with me (yes, yes, i admit it, i cried during the season finale) but i'm interested to see what they do with rory while logan is away.

and just to round out the whole tv conversation, i'll throw these opinions out there: loved "studio 60" and "6 degrees"--which with my luck means that they'll be canceled by november. only watching "survivor" to see how long candice lasts (yes, i graduated high school with candice on the raro tribe--she was two spots ahead of me in class rank, that smarty pants) and because i'm getting bored with extreme home makeover, i might pick up "amazing race" instead. the DVR is working overtime right now...

alright, off of tv. afterall, i do have a life.

friday was a fabulous social with oakwood folks where there was karaoke, lots of homemade hor's dourves and salsa dancing. you know that sounds like a good time. justin also purchased his new car that day, a blue honda civic that i'm sure we'll have a picture up sometime soon. saturday was the ECU football game vs. WVU, which is the only game of the year where justin could care less who won. (WVU won, obviously--ranked number four in the country--but we did come close). and then sunday was destiny's birthday party, where we celebrated her entering the double digits. it's a busy week, but not too crazy. alan's concert on thursday night. end of student council elections at school on friday. whoo....

a couple of photos to share before i go fix dinner...

taken at dinner on the way back from the beach a couple of weeks ago. it makes me want to be there....



and a very welcome site around greenville. a new sheetz gas station opened on thursday, which means they have 10 days to sell gas below cost to drum up business. which means it started a major competition between the greenville gas stations where the price dropped about 50 cents in two days. flippin' awesome.

counting down the hours...

you have no idea how excited i am about this one...





though i am a bit dissapointed that tomorrow's episode is titled "gay witch hunt" and not "pam and jim get together and live happily ever after." but i guess you need something else to base the show on, so i'll just be patient and see what happens.

yay jam!

things are picking up...

so after wrapping up our first full week of the year (including another crazy book club night and another near-death moment for the mustang--she's close to dying, folks--it's only a matter of time). that's why justin and i have spent time researching car loans and preparing to purchase a new car within the next couple of weeks, possibly by this weekend. ahh, the memories.

this was a fun, productive weekend--a bridal fair in fayetteville where i got some great tips and ideas on other possible vendors. then it was off to raleigh for the rascal flatts concert with maggie. we had an excellent picnic dinner out in the parking lot and then made our way inside to the lawn. the remainder of the evening invovled some amazing music, some kinda decent music, an unusual amount of talking in between songs, and dodging some extremely inebriated college boys and girls (and there was one chick that was determined to tick me off--took a whole lot for me not to react). i did have a great time visiting with maggie, but the night was almost spoiled when it took me an hour to move about 15 feet in the parking lot. as much as i love live concerts and going to alltel a couple times during the summer, there have been a few times where i almost think it's not worth it. maybe i will spring for the "family safe alcohol and smoke free zone" next time, or even actual seats. or possibly just stick towards the back of the lawn with all the rest of the sober people.

and it's a busy busy week at school and everywhere else. i have about 5 sticky notes on my desktop with stuff that needs to get done this week, and a few more things that aren't written on stickies. i do LOVE that it's a new season of tv, and my dvr is chock full of fresh new shows that i can watch at my leisure. right now, i'm watching "studio 60 on sunset strip" and am counting down the days until the new episodes of "the office," "grey's anatomy" and "gilmore girls" come on. i'll get a chance to catch up on those this weekend in between the ecu/wvu game and justin's niece's birthday party.

favorite story of this week? this one i always knew i liked madrid.

okay, that's it for now. later, y'all...

another mid-week post

so it's our first full week of school--i know, sad stuff, huh? and it's going well and i continue to love my job. colorguard is starting up, i'm getting involved with student council stuff and my new class is coming together nicely.

i got the opportunity to catch up with lisa last week--i miss her a lot at work and she's doing quite well in her doctoral program. afterwards, justin and i caught up with the church crew for dinner and then enjoyed a quiet evening and movie.

saturday, we were incredibly productive--we registered at two stores and made it down to the beach to take some photos that we could use for our save the date cards/engagement announcements. it was a little tough because we were using my tripod and timer feature on the camera, but some of them came out really well.


the last one is a little too dark, but the sunset was gorgeous behind us and we had to capture it.

sunday was church, lunch in goldsboro with dad for his birthday, and registering at two more stores before we called it a day. i've also managed to get the caterer/cake person lined up, and i'm playing phone tag with a hotel person about reserving a block of rooms. it feels good to get a lot of these big details taken care of, and i'll be headed to fayetteville this weekend for a bridal show before the rascal flatts concert in raleigh with maggie for her birthday :) very excited about that!

alright, i will update more later. until then, enjoy the rest of the pictures on my flickr site. later, y'all...

short week, long weekend...

so a little late in posting this week, but it wasn't your typical week either. we had our second week of school--went well, not too many issues, and finally getting into the swing of things. the weather was crazy, with a heat index of over 100 early in the week and then tons of thunderstorms and rain at the end of the week, culminating with tropical storm ernesto on thursday night/friday morning. the flooding and rain was enough to get us out of school, so with justin's car in the shop, we headed to raleigh to put his macbook in the shop as well. both of these visits should hopefully take care of the immediate problems. i did get lunch at the cheesecake factory out of it (with a white chocolate peanut butter truffle cheesecake slice--yum!), so definitely worth the trip :)

saturday was spent car shopping--not terribly exciting, but necessary when justin's looking at getting a new car sometime next month. he's leaning towards a jetta or a civic--still a little bit of time for him to decide.
sunday we got up and headed towards pittsboro to have lunch with the family, and then back towards chapel hill for my cousin meghan's wedding. it was the first jewish wedding any of us had been to, so the boys got to wear the complimentary yamukahs (with the names of the couple and date printed on the inside) and the program offered some great explanations on the symbolism of the wedding ceremony. the ceremony was outdoors on a shaded patio area--overlooking the golf course and lake. gorgeous, a little warm, but overall, a very neat experience.



we were then able to go upstairs in the clubhouse after the wedding and enjoy the cocktail hour before dinner. it was great to see all of the family that had come in for the wedding and people that we hadn't seen since our own engagement. though our wedding will not be anything close to the size of this one, it was fun to pick up some ideas and enjoy being a guest while knowing you're also planning a wedding. we all ended up out on the terrace and enjoyed some of the drinks and snacks before heading into the ballroom for dinner.






dinner was served after the introduction of the couple, a few toast and a big welcome to all of us. they went all out with the dinner, including a four course meal, live band, chocolate fountain, and following the cake-cutting, lots of dancing. we got to see some of the traditional jewish dances, lots of beach music and shagging, and just some plain crazy wedding dancing. it was entertaining, to say the least. justin and i headed back before it got too late, and we were able to enjoy our labor day holiday with kenny, stephanie and kaleb, and a cook-out with the church crew.


i know i've been mentioning the changes i've made to my office at work, and i finally got a chance to put up some of the pictures. i painted it blue over the summer, and then this past week, i decided to add some butterflies to my main wall--just to brighten the place up a little bit more. i finished them today, so i thought i'd give you a nice view of what you see coming down the hall as you look into the window at my office. very kid-friendly, and it just makes me happier to be in there. i had a blast painting those, and it makes me miss my crafty stuff. gotta find an outlet for that at some point...





alright, that's all for now. later, y'all :)

head first...

into the school year.

so i'm happy to be back, and i'm happy to see all my students and spend time with my friends and feel productive! and begin the whole counseling process again. it's taken a while to adjust, though, but i feel like i'm finally back on track. we kicked it all off with open house on tuesday night, my first day back and teaching my health class on wednesday, and my first "thank goodness it's friday" of the year at the end of our abbreviated week.

i also had the joy of celebrating justin's birthday this week, with a lovely dinner out and more shopping for the nintendo ds. we're definitely trying out the whole "sharing" aspect of the ds, even though it was his birthday present, because i have discovered the fabulously entertaining mini-games with the super mario brothers, mariokart (always one of my favorites), brain age (my purchase!) and tetris. all games we can both enjoy, and enjoy we have :)

we headed to fayetteville on saturday this weekend to celebrate mom's birthday today. it was also the first time we'd been to hay street since the engagement, so it was nice to see lots of family friends and visit with them. we have ideas of what needs to happen next with wedding planning, but they just haven't happened yet. i'm trying to keep a positive attitude without stressing out too much when it seems like "the list" is building up. it's very easy to get overwhelmed with the details that are way off in the future--but in the end, the time will fly by, it will only be a one day event, and the only thing that will matter is the fact that justin and i are happily married.

in the meantime, we have finished up the process of selecting our attendants (bridesmaids and groomsmen) and will soon have a caterer and perhaps even a florist. all in due time :)

that's all for now, later, y'all.

three days til the children come...

so, the faculty meetings have begun and we're in full swing preparing for the school year. i enjoyed my last few days of the summer doing some tutoring and getting together with my other teachers friends. we also did a lot to get ready for justin's move on friday. he picked up the truck in the morning, and friday afternoon, we spent about two hours moving his stuff out, putting half of it in storage and splitting the rest of it between his room at heather's and my room. it's nice to have that taken care of, and they should be able to clean it over the next week or so before the end of the month. it was HOT, though, on friday, and i was never so glad to be moving. i've lost my tolerance for the mid-summer heat, and it's hard to believe that i used to be able to stand out in it for hours on end at band camp.

speaking of band camp, i was able to relive some of my "glory days" with the marching pirates on saturday. dr. knighten let us know about a marching pirates alumni event that evening (which included some great parker's barbeque). it was awesome to see some of the former marching pirates people, especially courtney (always a pleasure!) and some other past ECUMP leaders. the evening would not be complete without a small group joining the sousaphones for the pre-game run-on. good times, good times.

AND i got the exciting news last night that there's another engaged girl out there that will be planning along with me--linda and brandon will be tying the knot next summer! i'm so happy for them and couldn't think of a better couple out there :)

we had justin's family birthday celebration tonight at his mom's house. it was great to see everyone and i went ahead and gave him his gift--a nintendo ds lite. he knew he was getting it and went ahead and bought a game to go with it. so now we're figuring out all the neat features on it (with the promise that he will use some of his birthday money for a sports coat--a necessity for a wedding we're going to next month).

okay, that's all for now. good luck on the start of school! later, y'all :)

and now...

we have a preacher! everyone say "woo hooo!"

you've gotta rejoice in the little things when your "theknot.com" list still has 170 items to be checked off.

planning continues...

more details now...

so...adding some pictures from inside the kyle house now. there are four major rooms, all decorated in the historical style with lots of great architectural details--14 ft ceilings, chandeliers, ornate cornices and a great staircase in the center that leads up to the second floor. there is a foyer that connects the house to the episcopal church beside it, and then they have a great back lawn where we could put up a tent and tables if need be, as well as a playground for the kids. not to mention the huge magnolia trees in the front with the covered front porch. it just fit the size that we needed, with lots of options for mingling and places for people to sit and talk. our big decision had been deciding what kind of reception we wanted, and after we discussed the rehearsal dinner and what that would involve, we agreed that it would provide the "sit-down meal" that justin's northern instincts wanted and the reception could be more of a classic southern deal. so check mark for that one :)

besides the reception research, it's been a busy weekend. friday evening was the kenny chesney concert in raleigh--i went with justin's family (scott, melissa, tyler and destiny) and we all had such a great time. it's amazing how that type of concert can bring out the redneck in people. more overalls, straw hats and lack of shirts than i've seen in a long time. i also got to see maggie and baxter before we left fayetteville on saturday--always great to visit them. this afternoon was spent going to raleigh to pick up justin's newly fixed computer from the apple store, and to extend the trip (so it wasn't a 3 hour round trip for a 15 minute task) we stopped in and visited matthew cook for a little while. i miss having him closeby for our weekly chats, but it's still nice to have our catch-up conversations every now and then.

i start work again on wednesday...where has the summer gone?

alright, that's it for now. later, y'all.

we can check another one off...

we've decided on a reception site--the kyle house, built in 1855.

(sorry for the crappy picture--i forgot to take any of the outside of the building, so this is the only one we could find online)

more info to come.... :)

here we go, here we go again...

for your entertainment...


and yes, here we go again. into the school year, into another move, into wedding planning and everything else these next few months will bring.

so yeah, there's one more week of tutoring and then faculty meetings will begin, followed by the school year. i'm excited about seeing what this school year will be like--the changes with the new building, meeting new students, seeing some of my old favorites, spending time with my friends everyday instead of just one or two days a week like this summer. getting started on those LCSW hours and also trying my hand at teaching (health class for 9th and 10th). i cannot say enough how much i love my job and how perfect it is for me at this moment.

another move...for justin. atleast i don't have to move this summer. but justin's roommate is moving out and we're unfortunately 4 months short of needing a year long lease. so the most economical solution we've come up with is for justin to scatter his stuff around greenville for the next eight months, stay in the extra bedroom at his sister's place and save money for our many upcoming needs (new car, new house, new furniture, etc.) i'll be keeping a few things here, so that's led me to clean up here and throw out some of my stuff that needed to be purged. and so as not to impose on his sister, he'll be over here more often for dinner and to use my internet and tv, etc. so it'll give us a good taste of how we handle more of the "day to day" stuff together. so far, so good :) but it does stink to have to move in august--again. oh well... it'll be over soon.

and as far as wedding planning, we're heading to fayetteville this saturday to take a look at reception sites. we have a couple of ideas in mind, but after seeing them in person, i'm hoping we'll be able to reserve and have that detail taken care of. as long as i have the big details taken care of by the end of the month, i'll feel good about it.

this past weekend kept us busy, with lots of errands on friday, then our "fun with h2O" event at church and some car work on saturday, and on sunday, a trip to raleigh for lunch at carraba's, a visit to the apple store and a quick catch-up with justin's cousin before he heads back to california. lots of stuff going on, but it's all good...

alright, that's it for now. later, y'all.

mid-week post

so we have a date penciled in... now just following up on the rest of the details. at least having one thing done makes me feel better :)

i've been spending a lot of my free afternoons cleaning up and throwing out old stuff, since i know i will have to consolidate it at some point in the future. it's amazing how much old stuff i've held on to, and also how just seeing a piece of paper or little trinket will totally take you back to that stage in your life. i ran across a bunch of old movie ticket stubs in my desk drawer and i could tell you who i saw each movie with and where it was and about when it was. i also found enough important papers to fill up my new file box i bought around tax time (after i got in trouble for not keeping better track of my paperwork.) and i've taken a lot of pictures through out the years--even found some negatives (from the pre-digital days). i think for all of these reasons, i should get into scrapbooking. the trouble would be actually trying to organize all of these things into some sort of scrapbook. i'm just not sure i'm ready to make that jump, cause i'm somewhat afraid of the time and money that i would inevitably end up spending...

and it's hot. let me just put that out there. it's reaaaaaaally hot.

okay, that's it for now. later, y'all.

vacation is over...

and school is two weeks away... sigh.

but i did have an excellent vacation along the outer banks with mom and grandma.

we headed towards the beach and stopped at all the little coastal towns, visiting historic districts, estuariums and local restaurants. once in manteo and nags head, we did all the touristy stuff--festival park where the elizabeth II is docked, fort raleigh, the aquarium, the lost colony, and the elizabethan garden where i had a great time taking some pictures...

loved this gate--


and the statues...and with all this "elizabeth" stuff, i did enjoy seeing elizabeth play in the concert at the festival park friday night amongst heat lightning storms. beautiful music, but scary skies!

in manteo, we relaxed one evening along the waterfront and watched boats coming in and out of the harbor...
and on the way back, we stopped in columbia and edenton for some more historic districts...


more pictures up on flickr as well--check 'em out!

fun stuff? finding a "life is good" store that had stuff from the past couple of years that has long been off the website. enjoying some relaxing beach time. and having dinner with justin's mom and stepdad when we came back into town--along with seeing justin for the first time in five days--i was starting to miss him a bit ;)

so now it's two more weeks of tutoring, a couple of weekends starting the wedding planning process, and before you know it, school will be here. i'm off to enjoy the remainder of my summer vacation :) later, y'all.

been home for 24 hours...

and that hasn't happened since about a week and a half ago.

it's good to be home. for four days :)

so i finally got my computer back and have loved uploading my pictures (on flickr, of course) and also having the potential to mess with them on photoshop elements (installed while my computer was in for its annual check-up). i also love it when i have great pictures that don't even need photoshopping (like this one of the sunset in west virginia)


as promised, there are plenty of pictures up from our trip to WV, including the family reunion at alpine lake...

and the pittsburgh pirates game...
(i'm thinking we need to find some new poses for pictures--oh well.)

the trip to myrtle beach was fantastic, with lots of bonding among our group from work. i can't believe i've only known these fabulous women for a year, but we had a great time and will plan to do it again. not a whole lot of pictures from that, but it's myrtle beach--you can imagine the kind of trouble we got into. i did love getting a voice mail from john bream while i was in WV and then happening to run into him at broadway at the beach. such a surprise!

and now it's tutoring for the next few days until it's time to go to the outer banks with mom and grandma for our abbreviated summer vacation. while we're there, i'll get to see elizabeth again, even after she stopped in to see me this morning for breakfast :) such great times catching up with her.


and the exciting professional news of the day? i can now add "p-lcsw" after my name. the letter came in, and i'm now officially approved to start becoming a licensed clinical social worker. AND it came with a certificate. can't wait to frame it!

i'm continuing to collect information about wedding planning, even getting a book from one of the teachers at work. it's great to start this process, but i almost feel like i'm already behind. i know i'll start to feel better once we get some of the basic details nailed down, but i can't do that until i stop traveling, and that won't be for another week or so. oh well--once it starts, i'm hoping it will all fall into place.

alright, that's all for now. later, y'all.

the washing machine is running...

and i'm getting ready for a fun-filled beach weekend with my girls.

as far as WV?

family reunion? check

a couple of cook-outs celebrating our engagement? check

visiting the exciting towns of rowlesburg, bruceton mills, kingwood and albright? check

"roughing" it at the camp site by the cheat river? check

and taking the scenic route home via washington d.c.? check (but never again)

off to the beach! pictures up later (promise). later, y'all :)

heading up the mountain...

so just posting right quick to let you know i'll be offline for the next few days. we're heading up to WV for a week, and when i get back, i'll be turning around and going to the beach with some girls from work. and on top of all that, my computer is at school right now, getting its annual check-up.

so i'll be back online the beginning of next week and will update you on all the fun stuff from west virginia to south carolina and everywhere in between.

until then... later, y'all :)

big news...

so in case you haven't heard...

we're engaged!

on the beach, sun was setting, and he asked me to marry him :) and i said yes.

the rest of the evening was spent calling people, sharing the good news and having dinner with a lovely bottle of champagne.

saturday, we rode down to visit dad, grandma and grandaddy down east. they were glad to see us and celebrate, and we also got the chance to go out on the boat. here's one of the pictures i managed to take before we got completely soaked from all of the waves. i like to think of this as their "sailors on the high seas" pose.
this was also probably about 15 minutes before the motor started acting up and the boat broke down (luckily near a bridge where we could get out and call for a ride). never a dull moment...

we also managed to visit aunt esther and hear some amusing stories. she's 97. you can imagine the time range of the stories we heard! and the visit wouldn't have been complete without dinner at the driftwood for some fresh seafood.

we had a great time sharing our news with everyone at church today, and visiting justin's family in town to talk to them. it's so great to hear all of the congratulations and know that our families are so happy for us. i know their support will be important in the next few months.

so, in case you're wondering: no, we don't have a date set. we've been engaged for about 48 hours. it'll take some time to check availability of places, etc. but we're leaning towards the springtime--maybe april? after tax season and ncaa tournament, of course.
it'll be in fayetteville. we love greenville but nothing beats my home church or the historic houses in the haymount district. fayetteville is centrally located off of 95, has plenty of hotels and lots of other options as far as wedding stuff goes. just makes sense for us.
oh, and the ring looks like this:

i helped pick it out and i love it. it's very "me."

i can't even explain how excited i am about the coming year and the future that awaits us. justin has brought so much to my life and we're incredibly happy together. it just makes so much sense--we just understand each other and do what we can to have the best relationship possible. and i love him very much. in the end, that's what matters the most.

hard to believe this eventful weekend is coming to a close, but it is and it'll be back to tutoring and stuff this week before we leave for WV on friday. lots to do!

until then... later, y'all :)

happy 4th!

and a happy independence day to all :)

i just got back from enjoying the greenville fireworks at the town commons with justin, katie and nathan, and jennifer and kenny. we were up in the grassy part and had to look almost straight up to see them. so great to be close to the action.

wanted to share a few photos from our beach excursion a little over a week ago. in the first one, you can just barely see a rainbow. it was much prettier in person (didn't quite transfer over to the photo--oh well).





a classic "do it yourself" picture of us. i now realize how cheesy the hat looks, but when you're fair-skinned and have naturally wavy hair, there's only so much you can do to help it after you get out of the ocean. that seemed like the best option.and my naturally-handsome boyfriend. it's rare that you get to see his hair all tossled like that, so i take advantage of it when i can.

this past week was one of my busier weeks during the summer. after the DCI trip on sunday, i got up monday to baby-sit justin's niece and nephew, tyler and destiny. their mom, melissa, was teaching summer school and was looking for some help watching them this week. so i took monday, wednesday, and friday (my typically free days during the week) and did the summertime routine of bowling, matinee movies and ice skating. all in all, we had a good time hanging out together.

tuesday and thursday are my tutoring days, and i was back in my office this week after painting and having my floors done the past two weeks. i love my very very blue office. it makes a world of difference and will be so much fun to decorate this coming year. i also got to catch up with jennifer and hallie for lunch on tuesday, and we discussed the activities for the "book club beach weekend" (or as some are calling it, the "literature conference"). good times will be had by all :)

friday afternoon was the "good luck in Ph.D. school" party for lisa, my kindred spirit that i found this year. (for those of you who need a frame of reference, she's the one who stuck her face in the cake). lisa's going back to school and will be sorely missed (especially by me) but we had a great time sending her off at chili's and i know we'll be staying in touch.

it was a fairly lazy weekend, with some cooking and movie-watching, but little else as far as productivity goes. i headed home to fayetteville on sunday to spend some time with mom and grandma, and came back monday night to prepare for our fourth of july celebration.

and so i'll leave you with this photo, taken tonight on my "fireworks" setting for the camera. gotta love that. family vacations coming up, continued bonding between me and justin, and trying to squeeze every last moment out of my summer break as i plan for the coming school year. have a good one! later, y'all...


oh, come on, neighbors. must you really set off fireworks this late at night?

update on DCI

it rained... and rained... and rained... and rained.

and yes, it was rained out--or rather, in, indoors with a standstill performance in the gym. nothing says "blast zone" like 134 brass, percussion and "front ensemble" people performing about 10 feet infront of you.

and unfortunately, that left very little room for the colorguard (which was the sole reason my students came to this performance.) we saw one guard the whole night, and though the girls were impressed with that one guard, it didn't make up for the fact that they had to watch 7 other shows without guards. however, the music was awesome, i literally got goosebumps when the first corp hit the first big chord, and alan's hooked again. he's talking about marching crown next year.

okay, that's all for now.

weekend's amazingly coming to a close, though i still have a big event this evening--DCI show in benson. keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't get rained out, that they'll atleast do standstill performances (and that we aren't too delayed in getting back...)

colorguard camp this past week went incredibly well. two new girls, three of my regulars and a performance at the end of the week where all of the parents and even a few of my friends/family came.

only a couple of tutoring sessions this week with all of the colorguard stuff. and of course, a couple of losses in softball with some hot, muggy, humid games (even at 8:30!)

friday afternoon trip to the beach--so nice and so needed. we got down there at 5, stayed out on the beach until 8, got dinner at a diner on the way out and were back to greenville by 11. it hit the spot.

housewarming party for justin's sister on saturday night--grilling out, lots of conversation, and even a game of "cranium" that lasted late into the evening.

and next week looks like tutoring, baby-sitting, and softball (though they will be the last two games of the regular season--thank goodness!)

that's about it for now... i've got writer's block or something. anyways, later, y'all...

little tidbits

tuesday--first win of the season in softball. thursday--lost again by 15 in a shut out. can't win 'em all...

tutoring sessions for the week--check. i like this job.

my office at work is now a lovely, bright shade of carolina blue. i painted for many many hours last week, and i've come to the conclusion that painting cinder block is not as easy as you think. hallie's office has a little picture of sunflowers and ladybugs on one wall. i think i'll stick to that kind of painting.

milo does not do well in the car. he also doesn't do well in the vet. he howled, hissed, growled, and panted (yes, panted) his way through the entire visit, to the point where his shot required me, the vet, the vet assistant and a towel over his head to get through it. it was a pleasant afternoon...

end of the school year breakfast with the girls at the mennonite restaurant--check. huge pieces of french toast made with homemade bread and homemade butter syrup and a big mug of coffee...oh my goodness...doesn't get much better than that.

father's day lunch with dad in goldsboro--check. family time and barbeque=good stuff.



wedding photographers have a hard job. i now appreciate that since i took a stab at wedding photography (my "professional" look in the picture.) long day, about 450 pictures (and this was a relaxed ceremony.) i can only imagine what's invovled in photographing a larger, more traditional ceremony. at any rate, i'm happy with the way the pictures turned out, and i put some of my favorites up on flickr. justin and i finished up the night hanging out with his friend kenny and his son kaleb. fun times.

and this coming week is my colorguard camp in the morning, with a culminating DCI show in benson on sunday evening. gotta go ready for it now...

later, y'all.

quick post

yeah, yeah, i know it's been a while. but i've been enjoying my summer :)

so what's happened over the past couple of weeks? well, let me fill you in...

there was the last week of school, which included exams for the older kids, lots of field trips for the younger ones and days where i just wasn't sure what i was getting paid to do. but we had a good time and i can't believe i've said goodbye to several students that i won't see again. there was also the "end of the school" dance where i helped organize and decorate along with some 8th grade parents, and was the object of some very overt attention from the hired DJ. we're talking making the oh-so-mature "turn around and pretend you're making out with the wall" motion towards me, along with a not so appropriate dedicated song--"let's get it on." yes, that made for an interesting night.

ocracoke...oh, i've fallen in love with it. you can check out my pictures with the link to the right, but man...it doesn't compare with being there. we rode bikes, we went to the beach where almost no one was there, we shopped, we strolled around the quaint little village and ate wonderful seafood--it was just amazing. i didn't want to come back, but i had to finish up my teacher workdays.

monday, there was a surprise field trip for the teachers. we were told to come wearing comfortable clothing and that transportation would be provided for us. well, the bus pulled up and was all decorated with vines and gardening stuff, and we all piled on to go to our secret destination--a backyard barbecue at one of the faculty member's houses. there was also a pool in the backyard, along with a trampoline, and by the end of the afternoon, half of us were in the pool with our clothes on and drying off by jumping on the trampoline. there's a reason we work with kids :)

we finished up the rest of the week with meetings and supply orders and coordinating my tutoring schedule for the summer. it's looking like tuesday and thursday mornings only, which is great cause i can enjoy the rest of my summer as well.

and this weekend, it was visiting with justin's friend jon, seeing a couple of movies, relaxing and enjoying the first of what will be many three day weekends. justin's four ten-hour days schedule gives him fridays off, so we will be enjoying that for the next couple of months while i'm off as well.

coming up--my first wedding photo shoot. i bought tons of photo stuff this weekend, including a 1 gb memory card, rechargable batteries, an oh-so-cute camera bag and a portable tripod. i feel like i'm almost an "amateur professional"--ha, we'll just see how the pictures come out.

alright, off to "sunday in the park." i love free outdoor concerts in the summer. later, y'all.

finally posting

it's memorial day weekend, and i have enjoyed every minute of it. so relaxing.. and i still have one more day of it to savor. and then...

three and a half days. three and a half days. no, seriously--three and a half days. where did this year go?

oh man, the past couple of weeks have been crazy. i cannot believe everything that i've squeezed in and how quickly it's all flown by. let me see if i can summarize:

kenny chesney concert tickets have been purchased for august in raleigh. oh yeah... i cannot explain how excited i am about this.

croquet excursion with the church crew last friday along the new bern waterfront. pictures are up on flickr (to the right). i was not good at croquet, and neither was my croquet partner (justin). but we had a good time and the game ended with an entertaining race in which marilyn and i pushed croquet balls on the ground with our noses. we literally stopped traffic in the park--but it was fun (and further proves how silly we can be when we get together). we all ate dinner at a little cafe in downtown new bern with amazing black bean hummus, delicious crab cake sandwiches and the biggest sweet potato biscuits i've ever seen. yum!

my colorguard--it's been a busy wrap-up to our season. we had pictures taken on monday (which you can see under "recent events" here ) so that we could be included in the athletic banquet slideshow on thursday night. that went amazingly well--it was so great to be a part of those festivities (and to be considered an athletic activity! take that, morehead scholarship committee) and to see my girls be recognized for their hard work. and then we had the faculty/student softball game on friday, which i was organizing and running and (after some minor sound system issues) was a huge success. we had softball, we had hippity hop races, we had water balloon tosses, and the final colorguard performance. the kids loved it, the faculty had a great time, and i got tons of "thank yous" from parents who were so glad i put it all together. also--i got to use the yearbook camera (a high tech SLR with an amazing lens) and take pictures of field day with the lower school kids. so awesome.

this was a fun weekend for me and justin as we checked a couple of things of our "things we should do list." for months now, we'd been talking about making "the world's greatest sandwich" from the movie "spanglish"--if you haven't seen it, one of the extra features on the dvd is actually a clip showing you how to make the sandwich. well, on saturday we went to the grocery store and actually got the stuff to make the sandwich for lunch. it was huge, it was filling and it was sooo good. afterwards, we went to target for some browsing and i ended up buying a $10 inflatable pool that we then promptly brought back to my place and filled up on the back deck. i know where i'll be relaxing in july...

saturday night, we headed out to "little" washington where we strolled along the waterfront, watched the sun set over the river and enjoyed the laid-back atmosphere. we tried to eat outside by the water, but the restaurant was so swamped that we were ridiculously convinced by the host to leave before we sat down. so we found a great little cafe place that was much more capable of feeding us and then headed back home relaxed and refreshed. i do love those waterfronts....

alan turned 20 yesterday! happy birthday to him. mom and grandma came for lunch, cake and presents today. we're going to dad's tomorrow for more lunch, etc.

thursday--end of school dance. friday--end of school and the beginning of our weekend at ocracoke. it's so close, i can taste it....

later, y'all.

7 days, 7 days, 7 days...

quick post before i head out to young adults...

so i know it's been a while, but it's been busy. first of all, let me say that my mother's day/graduation weekend was fabulous. pictures are up on flickr, but i had to add this one in of me and the special grad. and her family is just so awesome. i will always be thankful to have them in my life. now she's in richmond, starting law school and the next step in her education. simply an amazing girl (now that i've forgiven her for not letting me get any sleep pre-graduation night :) )

softball: another loss and one rain-out. did catch a pop-up foul at home. that makes being catcher worthwhile (just barely). still apathetic and slightly wondering why i agreed to do this (especially when i get weird sunburns due to sunday afternoon practices. i hate the pink leopard look.) i can make it, i can make it...

done with my "sex ed" classes. can we say big sigh of relief?

colorguard performance this week--i spent last night ironing letters, letters and more letters on pink t-shirts so now we have "eagles colorguard" shirts with our names on the back. cheaper than screenprinting (and my only options since i totally procrastinated on ordering real shirts). here's to michael's and my ironing skills. this afternoon, one of the parents who's in charge of the athletic banquet this week came to take pictures to include in the slide show. i was quite pleased to hear that we would be included in the banquet, especially after not being considered an "athletic activity" during high school.

LCSW exam prep session this past saturday. man, i have a lot of studying to do. i will fully admit now that in grad school, i memorized information solely for the test and promptly forgot it. luckily, i will be able to study this summer and review all of the theories and therapy styles and ethics questions and everything like that for hours on end. and about four years from now, i'll be really glad i did it. talk about delayed gratification...

and it's exactly 7 days of school left (taking into account memorial day and half-day fridays). wow. where'd the year go? i will miss my kids over the summer--and my faculty members a little bit more. i feel so blessed to have a job where i look forward to going to work every day.

that's all for now... later, y'all.

happy early mother's day

so i'm in fayetteville, posting cause there's nothing on tv. and tomorrow, after the mother's day festivities finish, i will be off to winston-salem to celebrate the culmination of four years of hard work for miss maggie grace. i'm almost as excited about the opportunity to photograph wake forest's campus. ever since i walked on that campus eight years ago during our spring "college tour" trip, i have always loved it and appreciated it for the classic red brick, magnolia tree lined quads and wrought iron work. it is truly gorgeous--and i'm truly happy to be sharing this experience with maggie and her family (who have adopted me as a daughter more than once).

it's been a busy week with me, with another loss in softball and some minor drama at school. when is there ever not drama? we've also gotten to the point of the year where we're doing our sex education that has (not surprisingly) fallen under my umbrella to organize, facilitate and in some cases, teach. another reason i should have a written job description next year ;) anyways, it's almost over and it has actually gone incredibly well. we had a few complaints last year about how it was handled but there have been none so far and i've actually received several compliments. always a good sign.

i stopped in and listened to the band practice the other day since i wouldn't be able to attend their concert. i miss band rehearsal. sounds crazy, but i really do. i need to find an outlet for this....

and justin is wonderful. i am constantly reminded of that and i appreciate it more and more every day. the more i learn of the world and other relationships and how things could be--i'm so happy that we have one another and that things are the way they are. just had to share...

later, y'all.

four weeks left...

and so we're in the final stretch.

i just finished watching the gilmore girls season finale--wow. the last scene with rory and logan got to me a little bit (too many teary goodbyes in the past at airports, etc.) but i'm really wondering how they're going to resolve this whole luke/lorelai thing. and now i only have four months to wait and find out :)

much better weekend than last weekend. nice, relaxing and productive. i had a photo shoot saturday afternoon for the engaged couple, and they turned out so well. it had rained all friday night, so the ground was soaked but i thought ahead and brought a neat sheet for them to sit on. well, i got extremely muddy and wet in the process of taking the pictures, so i changed as soon as i got home and threw my clothes in the wash. of course, about 30 minutes into the cycle, i gasped and realized that i was also currently washing the check the girl had given me earlier. at that point, it was dissolved and turned up later in my lint trap. oh well... life goes on.

softball game tonight, and after our long practice sunday afternoon, we were feeling pretty good. we did great the first few innings, but then hit some rough spots and ended up losing by four runs. we did have a second occurance of a guy saying "easy out" when a girl got up to bat for the first time (this time with katie.) and of course, she ended up getting a hit and on base and eventually scoring. but what makes these guys think that it's okay to say that when we're not supposed to say anything negative like that as it is? when i asked to see if we could do anything about it, i didn't get much of a response, which of course makes me more determined to actually do something about it. it's just like--if they want girls to play, and they need girls on the team in order to play--then stand up for us and don't let us have to deal with this when guys never hear anything like that. so there.

(by the way, i scored a run tonight.)

busy stuff at work. LOTS of drama today. doesn't look like it's going to calm down any as we get to the end of the year.

and this coming weekend, it'll be home for mother's day and then on to winston-salem for maggie's graduation. yay :)

until then... later, y'all.

little notes...

busy back at school--a few regular cases, a few new ones that are trying to pop up in the last 5 weeks. it'll be a huge push to the end of year, but i'm looking forward to it. i've got tutoring lined up to keep me busy through out the summer, a colorguard camp, and a few photography appointments. nice.... (considering all three keep me occupied, happy and bringing in some extra cash)

softball--great game on tuesday (17-10), not so great tonight (1-18--yeah, seriously). i did have an experience tuesday, though, where the first time i got up to bat, before i had even swung at a pitch, the manager of the other team was saying to his players, "alright, defense, easy out, easy out." that got me mad enough to hit a line drive to 3rd that got me on 1st and eventually got me home. i do not consider myself the best softball player, but atleast give me the benefit of the doubt. especially in church league! goodness...

by the way, we have our pink shirts now. they're like fuschia pink. they're awesome.

so i started feeling a little yucky friday afternoon and just figured i had some food poisoning. i had a school event in the evening, so i sucked it up and went on (a foot soak spa party courtesy of some oakwoodettes). well, i barely made it through without getting sick, and the minute i got back, i was in the bathroom. it stayed with me through the night and saturday morning, and it wasn't until i talked to a few more oakwood people that i found out it was not food poisoning, but one of the most widespread stomach bugs we've seen move through the school in a while. five teachers out this morning, several students went home, and about 8 or 10 teachers reported having it over the weekend. craziness...

did another photo shoot with one of my 7th grade girls sunday afternoon. they turned out BEAUTIFUL... i love doing this kinda stuff. :)

and that's about all for now...later, y'all.

back to school...

man, this past week has flown by. i can't believe i'm already preparing to head back to school. but what an excellent, amazing and relaxing spring break it has been.

so sunday, after heading back in from fayetteville, we stopped at justin's family easter dinner. we had an easter egg hunt, ate out on the back deck and played croquet. pictures are up on flickr if you want to take a look. monday morning was spent getting ready for virginia beach and going back to the oil change place because i had been told that i was leaking oil on driveways everywhere i went and something must've been loose. it didn't take them too long to fix it, and then i was on my way up to see linda.

the drive itself was not horrible. i had decent directions, and for the most part, it's a very rural drive until you get into suffolk, va. then it was all congested highway and included driving through one of the big tunnels outside of norfolk. of course, it was pouring down rain the whole time, but i made it to her apartment without too much trouble. brandon was there, and it was great to catch up with both of them when we went to "cheeseburger in paradise" for dinner (yes, jimmy buffett theme).

tuesday was spent walking down to the boardwalk in virginia beach and watching all of the tourists who were desperately trying to turn the 60 degree morning into a "beach day." linda's apartment is only a mile from the beach, so we took advantage of it and walked around for most of the morning. in the afternoon, we went into norfolk and explored the waterfront area along the elizabeth river. she took me to a huge mall called the macarthur center and then to a local restaurant called kelly's tavern for dinner. i loved the "freemason historic district" the most--that's where i took these two pictures. there are more on the photo website, of course. norfolk is covered with these mermaid sculptures in all different styles and places. it was interesting to see the different styles the artists used in designing the mermaids. i also just loved the idea of having the mermaid as one of your city's mascots or whatever. i think virginia beach had dolphins everywhere--just as good, of course. :)

wrought iron work and cobblestone streets. it was just such a contrast to the busy, metropolitan business area that was just a few blocks over.

and tuesday night, we continued a tradition and watched movies and made chocolate chip cookies (while snacking on the dough some as well). though we've both come a long way over the past year since we moved out, it was still comforting to be able to spend some time together with just us. i was so happy to see where linda lived and all of the things her new city had to offer, and she really has done what she can to make it her home (though i know her heart will always be in eastern north carolina). i caught up on laundry, doctor's appointments and cleaning on thursday while also taking some time out to get a slush at sonic with katie. she and i are both in agreement that we will go crazy this summer if we don't get part time jobs or something else to do. luckily, i've already gotten confirmation that i'll be doing some tutoring this summer along with a colorguard camp at school.

there had been talk earlier in the week about going to the beach on friday with justin, his mom (debbie) and possibly his sister-in-law (melissa) and her kids. well, justin had to end up working, the kids had activities already scheduled, and it ended up just being me and debbie. both being beach people down to the core, we decided to go and made a day of it--walking around the cute little shops in beaufort, eating lunch at clawson's and spending a few hours out at fort macon. the water was chilly, but it was just warm enough to be able to get in and enjoy it without totally freezing. so after getting totally relaxed and rejuvenated for the upcoming push to the end of the school year, we headed back to greeenville. all in all, an enjoyable day with lots of great conversations. i was so excited to get back and see justin, since i hadn't spent much time with him since i left for linda's. we ticked a few things off our "to do list" this weekend, got wet running through parking lots during some major rain storms, and had a fresh home-cooked dinner last night. today was all church and softball (with our first game on tuesday, we needed to practice!)

now, just a few fun tidbits.

my upstairs neighbor is hispanic and loves to play salsa music on the weekends. at first, we thought it was a video game because the bass line sounded fairly repetitive--but we've now learned that it's just one of their favorite songs. every now and then, when the tv's off in my apartment and the music is loud in hers, i can dance around the kitchen listening to the songs.

our softball shirts are going to be pink. most of the guys were actually supportive of this. i plan on getting pink tie-dyed socks to match.

there are six weeks of school left after we get back.

i get to see maggie graduate in three weeks. i cannot wait to take pictures at the ceremony. how gorgeous is that going to be?

in two weeks, i'm taking the engagement pictures for the couple that has asked me to photograph their wedding in june. i'm keeping my fingers crossed that all goes well with that.

justin had never seen "mr. holland's opus" so we watched that last night. that continues to be one of my favorite movies of all time. it makes me miss performing so much that it almost hurts. notice that's just performing--not necessarily practicing. now if i didn't have issues with practicing, then maybe i'd be doing something entirely different right now.

and that's all for the moment. later, y'all :)