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?