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 :)

spring break relaxation...

so i'm in fayetteville at the moment, uploading a few pictures and updating the blog. spring break has finally made it here, and after an abbreviated week, it's nice to sleep in, get stuff done and have a little bit of fun.

friday was a vacation day for me and justin, so after getting the oil changed, mailing off taxes and doing some shopping, we decided to take part in some traditional easter egg dying (dyeing?) anyways, we had a great time and ended up with some colorful, creative eggs. i have the standard "here's justin with the eggs" picture, and then some of my more artsy ones.





the rest will be up on flickr in a little bit.

so, now we're in fayetteville, getting ready to go to dinner with mom, grandma, alan and rachel. tomorrow will be the easter sunday service at hay street and a BIG lunch at grandma's. then we're heading back to greenville to do easter dinner at justin's mom's house, and on monday, i'll head up to virginia beach to see linda! so excited... i'll update more later. until then--happy easter!

coasting on through...

so here we are, post-dance, post one time-consuming student, and heading into the abbreviated week before spring break. things haven't looked this good in a long time.

this past week was most likely one of the most stressful i've had thus far. i'm sure i've said it before, but this is the real deal. i had a case that was requiring about half of my time during the day, and dance decorations that were requiring the other half. not much else got done, but it was a relief to have the case resolved (although very tough to deal with) and to have friday night go so well and get so many compliments on the hard work that we all put in. as promised, i took a few pictures of my decorations. in this one, you can see the silver stars hanging from the ceiling, the tulle fabric draped from the ceiling to the windows, white lights on the window sills and around the edge of the room on the floor, and my balloon columns in the corners (in all pearlized white and silver, of course). i thought we carried out the "dream come true" theme quite well, keeping it quite elegant and celestial.


the food room also turned out well, with more stars in the windows, white lights, and table centerpieces incorporating mirrors, glass beads, and candles. notice the cake (and how much of it was not eaten). things get interesting later...i would not have been able to make it through this crazy week without my friends, including these girls (shona and jennifer), joann (with and without the e) and my new kindred spirit, lisa. lisa interviewed me when i first came to oakwood because she has a masters in marriage and family therapy, so she was the closest match to my degree to be able to talk the "technical" talk with me. she has since become one of my favorite people who always has a smile and will always tell you what she's thinking, good or bad. her honesty is refreshing, and what most people will usually hold in or save for a card, she will tell you to your face and surprise you with her sentiments and opinions. she and i think highly of each other, so compliments flow easily between us. but this week, just when i needed to hear something positive, she fulfilled that need so perfectly and sincerely that it caught me off guard. that day was a bit emotional for me anyways, but i cannot express how positive she has made this whole experience. at the end of friday night, we were able to exchange high fives and hugs, and there was no one else better to work with on this whole thing.


so--the cake. you have to understand, it was 11:30, i had just climbed up and down a ladder about 40 times to take down all of those silver stars, i was disassembling my photo booth (another popular feature this time) and everyone was packing up food, vacuuming and making sure that we left this building in the best condition possible. the problem with holding a dance in a brand new building is that technically, you can't leave holes, marks, chips, nicks, ANYTHING anywhere, cause it's brand new and they'd like it to stay that way, thank you very much. but we had this cake and it's a bunch of women and we're trying to be good and not take it home so we eat it and get fat--so we decide we should just get rid of it because there was another whole cake that hadn't even been touched. i missed the part of the conversation where this idea was suggested, but i was called in and told to bring my camera because "lisa's going to stick her face in the cake." she prepped for it, made sure that she didn't lose her will and...




SPLAT. how satisfying that must have been, to push her face into the sweet, refined sugar frosting. i had a small slice of the cake earlier in the evening, and it was good. like smooth, melty wedding or really really good birthday cake good. but we've both been working on eating better, so it was easier to ruin the cake than to take it home.






and when she came up, it really wasn't as bad as it looked. but she did have a mouthful of icing. yum!

we had the brilliant idea of going out to breakfast afterwards, but since we didn't leave the school until 12:30, i didn't get home from IHOP until almost 2. the rest of the weekend was spent recovering from staying out so late and spending the evening with scott and melissa, justin's step-brother and sister-in-law. today was spent at church, softball practice and running errands. i've got piles of laundry that need to be done, a load in the dishwasher waiting to be washed, and a floor that desperately needs to be vacuumed to get rid of all the cat hair. but that's okay--cause the dance is over, this week will be over before i know it, and the joy of spring break is calling. ahhhh.....i can hear it already....

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

spring forward...

it's sunny outside, and will be for another hour or two. this makes me happy. daylight savings time should make everyone happy. the world is just better when you can enjoy being outside until 8, 9 o'clock at night.

i am more exhausted that i can describe. it's the week of the formal dance, there continue to be dramatic moments at school that i must deal with, and situations where i occasionally go "i just don't know." oh, i will be happy when i have a supervisor. but otherwise, life is good. i painted and hot glued fishing line to about 100 silver stars today. imagining what it would look like when they are hanging from the ceiling at the dance is what got me through it.

it's time to switch out winter clothes for summer clothes. just as i look forward to my blue jeans and comfy sweaters in the fall, i look forward to my flip flops and sundresses in the spring. who am i kidding? i wear flip flops all year long. but the sundresses--that's the fun stuff.

got a haircut. it's short again--curly, cute, and so much easier to deal with. i'll get a picture up at some point. i get bored so easily with my hair. i've been this way since high school, pretty much, and previous to that, i had the same hairstyle for yeeeeeeears. i think i must be making up for lost time.

family get-together this weekend for my cousin meghan who's getting married in september--loved the house, great to see everyone, and learned again how to shag. shag is one of those things that is hard to find outside of the south, but it has this relaxed, laid-back feel to it that makes it look like coordinated laziness. when you first learn it, it's very precise and exact, but as it becomes more comfortable, you start shuffling your feet more than picking them up and feeling the music more than finding the beat. it's one of those things that i think is very distinct to eastern NC culture, but i had yet to take part in.

book club last week--this time it was discussing "shop girl" at a.j. mcmurphy's, and my dinner was on jennifer as payment for taking pictures last month. so much fun, as always. i love those women--they really do represent many different walks of life, but i find that talking to them is both educational and entertaining.

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

why i love my job

my computer was in the gym. we were going to listen to our song for colorguard and practice with it. and this is what happens (on a sticky note, of course).


HEY!
HI MS> MASON
yo hi dude dude
what is up homedog??? haha i crack myself in half
lol!
HEY DUDE!!
omgsh!
did u go to the crowder concert??
it was awesome! i luved it
mis amigas y yo were jumping up and down the entire time in the artist's section!!
it was totally worth the label of awesomeness!!
hahahahahahahahaha!
hehehehehehehehe
im supposed to be practicing my speed spins right now i just don't feel like it! so anyways this is allison your computer is cool. i meant cool beans. totally!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! flags is cool and is fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! omgsh! dude!! so anyways my name is Allison and i am a person and mg is a person too!!!!!!!!!!!!!! nemo like finding nemo did u know nemo is nobody in latin
hola me llama chrissy yo dude what is up home dog blerb spongebob rocks my socks

oh, to be a 7th grade girl again...

and... breathe.

so it is now post-auction time at school, which means it will be time to focus on the upcoming formal, spring break, and everything else that will soon be taking lots of my attention. but auction was great--my photo package went over extremely well, i love the family that won it, and i had the best time spending time with my friends, justin and performing with the oakwoodettes. yay for fancy nights spent at the hilton feeling pretty and having fun.

i know it's late, and i fully intend to go to sleep in about 10 minutes. so bear with me while i get this all down before i prepare for the beginning of another week.

chicken and pastry went over extremely well at young adults. i love trying out recipes that are successful. recipes that are more trouble than they're worth are not so much fun. but this one turned out well and i had so many leftovers, i took them to work. yum!

this seems like an extremely long month paycheck-wise. i'm being very frugal until the 31st. i've figured out that it's probably because february is a very short month, so march seems long in comparison. go figure.

the aquarium stand at work is almost finished. i will soon be working on a paper mache moon for our formal photo backdrop. i LOVE these kinds of projects. i also love when i address issues with kids and hear from their teachers a week or so later that everything is great and going wonderfully. though i know it isn't guaranteed to stay that way, it still makes me feel good.

justin's dad and step-mom, kim, were in town this weekend. we were all couch potatoes for a couple of days. we watched basketball, went to the movies (v for vendetta--psychological thriller with a tad too much violence for my taste) and ate and ate and ate. i now feel like i should go to the gym for days to make up for it. but it was still good to see them and spend time with his family all weekend. i feel like i have lots of laundry to do and tons of TV to catch up on, but otherwise--i'm good. this coming weekend---going to fayetteville for a bridal shower for my cousin meghan.

april fool's is coming up. i feel like seeking some healthy revenge for last year. ideas?

alright, that's it for tonight. i'm spent. later, y'all :)

*gasp*

wow, can you believe it's 2 1/2 months until the end of school?

ha--now that's a look of surprise.

actually, it's a look of a happy, go-lucky girl in the apple store at streets at south point (and her ever-adoring boyfriend in the background). i would have way too much fun with photo booth and an iSight camera. in the meantime, though, i think i'll set my goal at purchasing adobe photoshop elements (the much cheaper $90 version of the typically $500 photoshop software).

i love photography. as i get older, there are more things that i wish i could have included in my life plan. the fun thing is--with some of this stuff, it's not too late. hallie, at work, has helped do wedding planning for several of her friends, and she has one now that's looking for a cheap amateur photographer for their wedding. i told her i'd think about it--can you imagine how cool that would be to add that to my "portfolio"? (i don't actually have a portfolio, but i'm starting to think about it...) i only get nervous because these are someone's WEDDING pictures and i would feel awful if the lighting was horrible or everyone was blinking or i captured all of the double chins in a room. there's just some things that i would love to get technical instruction on--but for the moment, i'm having a good time.

so yeah, we went to southpoint on saturday since there was nothing going on in greenville. i got to see my aunt and my cousins, which was always fun. there's something fun about going to the mall when you know you can't spend much money. you end up taking silly pictures, getting massages in the chairs at sharper image, and watch ncaa tournament games on really big tvs. always fun...

it was a terribly busy week at work. a few new kids to work with, several class discussions, and lots of preparing for the auction and the formal coming up in a couple weeks. the auction is friday, and i have been roped in to being part of the entertainment. this requires a couple of practices after school during the week, on top of my regular meetings and colorguard practices. i'll be glad when that's over, though i'm very much looking forward to friday night. opportunity to get dressed up, see all of my friends at work, sing and dance a little bit, and get to raise lots of money for the school--doesn't get much better than that!

hosting young adults tomorrow (and i also have the day off, so that's great). i'm trying out a chicken and dumplings recipe that my mom gave me, so we'll see how it goes. i'll spend most of the day cleaning and cooking, but i also plan to go to the gym, return a skirt, and see what else i can get into. i am veeeeeery much looking forward to my next vacation--spring break!--where i'll get to go up and see linda at virginia beach. and today, i just made reservations for the ferry on the first weekend in june for justin and i to go to ocracoke with his parents the week they're renting a house over there. can't wait for the summer :)

alright, i should get back to doing some work. later, y'all...

odd bits...

i always buy fruit in pieces of three. not grapes and strawberries, of course, but apples, bananas, pears, oranges--always three.

i don't mind washing clothes, and i don't even mind folding them. i hate putting them up. i'll let them collect in large, folded piles in my laundry basket or on my floor before i'll get around to putting them up.

i leave shoes everywhere. that's one of the benefits to living by myself.

i could not live without my replaytv. it is the most beautiful, amazing, wonderful piece of technology invented.

i always secretly wish i was at the beach. no matter what the weather.

i could eat cereal for any meal of the day. maybe not all three meals in one day, but it is an excellent alternative.

acoustic guitar is my favorite sound, seconded only by really really good piano.

i've been drinking diet sodas for so long that real soda is just too sugary and thick for me. but every now and then, i'll get a craving for it and have to have a "shot" of it (or maybe a sip.)

okay, now that's it :)

sunburn in march?

oh yes, it's possible. aloe has once again become my new best friend.

it's the end of a gorgeous weekend, with 80 degree temperatures and lots of sunshine. hence the aloe. but i spent as much time outside as possible enjoying every possible moment. we had our first picnic of the spring out at the town commons saturday for lunch, and went from there back to the daffodil field to take pictures of carter and sadie, jennifer's (from work) kids. we decided that she would just pay me back by buying dinner at the next book club, and it's helping build a growing collection of great photos. i even put in a package for our school auction offering an hour photo shoot. we'll see how that goes in a couple of weeks... at any rate, we came out with some excellent excellent pictures. click on the website to the right to see them all...
so it's spring break for all of the college kids here. my spring break won't come until april. but that's just a few weeks away now, so it'll be here before i know. tentative plans so far? going to see linda up in virginia beach for a couple of days and... that's about it. let me know if you have any ideas :)

first softball practice of the season today (more aloe). it looks like i will be splitting time between catcher and right field this season, which is fine with me. i still hate batting and opted to have my first batting price of the season at the local batting cages instead of embarrassing myself infront of the team today. i just stress out at batting. amy, the p.e. coach at work, has offered to help me as well, so hopefully it'll all come together and i'll feel more confident about batting. but until then--i just don't like it!

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

in like a lion...

out like a lamb. waiting for that lamb part--we got a taste of it this past week, and it's gonna be a greeeeeat spring.

after completing an extremely successful routine to "respect", i put my colorguard on the task of finding a new song for our next performance. between my 5 (yup, i got one more) 7th grade girls, we had a tough time finding one that they'd all agree on. and when it came down to making the decision, the only one that fit the bill was---"whip it", that crazy 80's song by the band devo. now being a child of the late 80's, i can understand the pleasure of this song and how much fun it must be to my 12 year old girls. however, from a choreography standpoint: it's extremely fast, it follows no basic "verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, verse, chorus" pattern, and it also goes into like 6/8 or 3/2 or something crazy there in the middle. so i sent them back to the drawing board and then finally came up with one on my own. so now i'm listening to "what i like about you" by the romantics about once a day to come up with our new routine. the girls love it, and we learned some new tosses that i'm going to add in there. oh yeah.

middle school drama wears me out. i know i was probably this complicated when i was younger, but it just seems more emotionally draining now. i still love my job, though. (in case you were wondering.)

we watched "walk the line" tuesday night. great movie, very much in the same category as "ray" where you can just see how the music and the musician take shape. i joked around that i would love an accent like reese witherspoon has in the movie. i have had so many comments over the years that i emerged from the south relatively accent-free and only in certain settings (or around certain people) does the accent actually come out. even then, it's not really noticable except with certain words. like "country"--ironically enough.

friday night was the 9th grade sponsored "pizza/bingo" night, meant to be a fundraiser for the freshmen trip to NYC. they were about halfway to their $3,000 goal before friday, and after selling pizza, bingo cards, taking in donations for haircuts (yes, a mom was there doing haircuts--i got one and she was fabulous and evened out some of my crazy layers) and taking in bail money for the basketball coach who was "put in jail"--they surpassed their goal. it was great to be a part of that and help out. i was actually the one counting all the money as it came in, so to be able to give them that news was exciting. i so enjoy being there for those school events. i understand how some teachers need that distinction between free time and school time and to put in extra hours at school with those activities can be hard. but i learn so much from those events and parents get to see me in a more relaxed setting and it's just nice to be able to relate to the kids on a different level. so until i get burned out (or become involved in my own family) i'll be there for those dances and festivals and fundraisers and such.

every now and then, when i'm at the grocery store, i'll pick up a pack of 5 catnip mice for $2. cheap enough for an occasional treat that grace and milo can enjoy. they don't last long, though, because about 2 hours after i've put them out on the floor, all 4 or 5 mice seem to be gone and nowhere to be found. well, justin noticed that milo seemed to be pawing under the couch for something, so he lifted it up and we discovered a stash of about a dozen mice and other cat toys under there. even after we got them out, they continued to lose them under the couch. so now, there are rolled-up t-shirts lining the front end of the couch and the chance for the mice to stay out in the living room has significantly increased. silly cats.

saturday, after running errands and doing some shopping, justin and i decided maybe it was warm enough to get some fresh air. so i directed him to outside of winterville to a little place where i had been once before. yup, the daffodil field. the weather around here has made our daffodils bloom early, and this little grove of trees and flowers was no different. i had fun taking some pictures (which you can see all of them here) but i thought i'd put a couple up. those of you who don't know the story of the daffodil field--about three years ago (wow, that long?), linda, jessica and i went out to the daffodil field to take pictures of us to put in our brand new apartment we were getting that fall. it was a beautiful day and we ended up with some awesome pictures--BUT all three of us ended up with poison ivy in some form or another on our bodies. i was particularly concerned because i had a formal event in about 2 weeks that i had to be ready for. so i was careful yesterday to avoid any suspicious looking plants (plus it was chilly so i was well covered.)

last night's excitement came from #15 UNC beating #1 duke 1) at cameron 2) on senior night 3) right before the ACC tournament. first time they won at duke in 5 years, first time they won at duke on senior night in 10 years. i was never so proud of my tarheels (even though they let duke score 8 points in 51 seconds with 2:30 left in the game--talk about trying to give me a heart attack!)

and finally, the oscars tonight. the oscars, the golden globes and the emmy's are like my superbowl, world series and nba finals. i can name the nominees, i can tell you who is predicted to win, and who should win even though they won't. i watch them all the way through, and i will be able to tell you the next day about what celebrity wore what dress and whose hair was just way too much for their outfit. oh yes, it will be a good night tonight.

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

this month has flown by...

and it's very hard to believe that it's almost march. i cannot wait for springtime to be here :) today i bought bright, pretty tank tops with the hope of warmer weather to come.

went to fayetteville this weekend for the simmons' annual dessert drop-in. back in high school, i would work at them and take coats and stuff, but this time, i was invited as a guest. mrs. simmons fixed about 15 different cheesecakes and 15 other desserts/cakes and everything is so delicious and even if you wanted to try them all, you couldn't. i was stuffed by the end of it, and i also enjoyed the company of maggie and her friends from winston-salem. thinkin' about going up to see her for "shag on the mag" again this year--and, of course, graduation! we'll see...

friday night, justin and i met up with his friend jon and gf sandy for dinner at starlight cafe. i had just been joking a couple of weeks ago about how i could never get him to go there cause it was so fancy. but there we were, only 2 weeks after my first trip to starlight with the girls from work. i had some excellent jambalaya, justin got a great steak, and to finish it off, i got to try the creme brulee topped with vermont maple sugar. soooo good. it was fun to visit with jon and sandy--very easy going and we all had a good time.

wednesday, we had book club at chico's and discussed another one of our fun, "chick lit" books. we had the craziest waitress who sounded like an overly perky flight attendant, and with the 9 of us there, it was a full table. last time our book had involved secrets, so we all told one of our "secrets" and had to guess whose secret was whose, etc. well, this time, to go along with the book about careers, we went around and talked about what jobs we would be interested in if we could start all over. we were allowed to choose one realistic one (that we could actually do with our degree or if we went back to school) and one over-the-top one. so there were a few interior decorators, wedding planners, chemists and architects in the first group, then lots of singers, actresses and rockstars in the second group. personally, i said "music therapist" for the first (since that was almost what i did in college) and then for the second one---

samantha brown. if i could go back and redirect my life to fulfill the shoes of anyone, it would be her. i mean, she's gotta get too old to do these shows eventually and then, the travel channel will need someone to take her place. i'm tempted to make a video in samantha brown style and send it in, just to let them know that i'm out there. i literally cannot imagine any better job--travel around, stay in fabulous hotels, eat amazing food, go to all the touristy spots and some undiscovered places in between, and capture it all on camera, being able to make people laugh and entertain them. yeah, i could do her job. now, if i could only figure out how to work it into my life plan... ;)

and i've got a semi-busy week ahead. conference on tuesday about "adhd and other disruptive behavioral disorders"--yeah, i know you're jealous. and then helping chaperone "pizza/bingo night" on friday. always a good time!

i think that's all for now. before i leave you, enjoy a west virginian mountain sunset...
later, y'all...

can we say cold?

so i am back from west virginia (in fact, only about an hour back) and have caught up with my digital life, as well as most of real life, too. the cats are happy and playing, clothes are in the washer waiting to be washed, and all of the e-mails have been checked. time for a post...

i would like to rant on UPS and how they have made my life difficult. i have a package from j.c. penney's where i ordered a couple of cocktail-type dresses for upcoming events where i need something like that. i can never be at home when they try to deliver, even when the first attempt takes place at 7 pm and they say they'll deliver after 5 pm the next day and i get home at 4:45 and they tried to deliver already. but how about this--after making their final attempt on wednesday, i end up having enough time to go pick it up at the big shipping place on thursday afternoon. i go in with my slip to pick it up--and the lady tells me they put it back on the truck today. "after they already made the final attempt to deliver yesterday?" i ask, slightly letting the sarcasm get in. "yes," she answered, "can i have them hold it for you for tomorrow?" argh... i'm going to go pick it up tomorrow afternoon... if it's not there, i will be upset.

so, the trip. well, we managed to get out of town thursday afternoon at 6:30--not quite when we planned, but good enough time to get us to warrenton, VA by 10:45, where we stopped for the night to break the trip up. back on the road friday morning, where we made it to morgantown, wv, by 1 pm without too much trouble. lunch with justin's grandma and some social time with her, and then on up the mountain to his dad's house. we went out to dinner in town that night and i got to see what a friday night was like with the locals... pretty quiet, to say the least, but we all had a good time.

saturday was skiing, and we had been waiting to see what the weather was like before we decided where to go. when i woke up saturday morning, it was snowing and there was already an inch and a half on the ground. predicted temperatures for the moutains? highs in the teens, lows in the single digits with wind chill in the negatives. let me just say that short of the trip to cleveland where the great lake up there was frozen over, i have rarely been exposed to temperatures like that, and certainly not for long periods of time outside. but we bundled up and headed towards wisp in maryland. along the way, snow continued to fall along the backroads, and though i felt very safe in justin's dad's four-wheel drive jeep, i told both of them, "where i'm from, if we see snow like this, we put a pot of soup on and call it a day." but not the case here--we made it to the resort by 10:15 and were on the slopes by 11. i did great on the greens, had one bad run down a blue and made it for it with one decent run down the blue, and then finished out the day with some more easy greens. by 4:30, my hands were numb and the battery in my phone was about frozen. i did get a few pictures in before my camera batteries went dead, and they revived themselves enough to get some sunset shots on the way home. pardon the blurriness, they were taken from the car.

my new favorite family member? river, the seven month-old son of mandy, one of justin's stepsisters. she was about to pop in august when we were up there, and this time i got to meet the little guy. i must admit, i was smitten and he did enjoy being infront of the camera. we got to spend time with the family all saturday night and sunday, which was nice since we were definitely sore from the skiing (i've still got a few spots where i'm trying to work out the kinks). and today--yeah, it was 10 hours straight on the road, with stops all along the way. it's a long trip, but after a good weekend like this one, i know it was worth it.

the surprise i got when i got home? alan, who had been taking care of the cats while i was gone, cleaned my apartment. and my car. seriously, i know it was a little cluttered, but was it really that bad? anyways, i am appreciative and i suppose i will make sure it's in better condition next time before i leave and put him in charge...

this was a great trip for me and justin, again. just when i think we can't get closer or understand each other better, it happens. gotta love that--and i certainly love him.

alright, that's all for now. time to get ready for bed and see what the weather's going to be like tomorrow... i'm thinking cold...

later, y'all!

take me home, country roads...

off to west virginia tomorrow afternoon for some family time, some skiing and a wonderful looooooong weekend with my valentine.

be back sometime monday! call me if you need me..

countdown to v-day

wow--so it's been a busy week. work has been crazy with lots of drama, a few big developments in cases, and a few giant steps forward for some long-term cases that i've been working on for the past couple of months. give and take--yup.

there was one final performance for the colorguard (went well, even though i actually messed up a small sections--whoops!) and at young adults monday night, i got a cake, singing and yes, candles. so i did get to blow out some candles! birthday wish issue averted :)

valentine's day dance at school friday night. i had used most of the day to catch up on my un-scheduled cases and then got started helping them decorate in the afternoon. i had worked on painting a background for pictures that i would take--very valentines-ish with hearts and swirls and stuff like that. we hung up the fabric for the stage, had hearts and lights and flowers everywhere, and had my picture booth set up for business. i went home to get cleaned up, then came back to school to go with hallie and shona and her daughter skylar out to dinner to finally use our starlight cafe gift certificates. we had all gotten them from students through out the year, and since our significant others certainly wouldn't do well with that kind of restaurant, we went and had a girl's dinner out with fancy food and lots of laughs.

came back for the dance and though i had a great time, the night couldn't go by without a little bit of drama. i'm waiting to see how i'm going to deal with it tomorrow. pictures were awesome, though. can't wait to see the kids' reactions tomorrow when i deliver them to homerooms. my favorite picture? the one with my friends. man, i know i'm in the right place. and as i was dealing with drama on friday night, i was reminded by a parent, "atleast you know you'll always have a job here!" ha--in some twisted way, i know it's true and i'm happy for it.

got to see my girl linda saturday for lunch, and we sat around talking for a couple hours afterwards. it was so wonderful to see her, and i loved being able to talk about everything with her, just like we used to when we were getting ready in the morning or late at night before we went to sleep. it's hard to believe how far we've come and how much we've grown up just in the past 6 months since we moved out of our apartment, but it's always nice to have a reminder of how close we were--and how close we still are--when we get back together.

excited about tuesday... and thursday, when we leave for west virginia for the long weekend. ski slopes, here we come!

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

and before i go to bed...

let's all say one last "happy birthday" to me!

it's been a good one. but you know what i just realized? i never blew out a candle. plenty of people sang to me, plenty of cake/pie was eaten, but i never got the opportunity to blow out a candle. does this mean no birthday wish for me?

quick update on the rest of my birthday activities--saturday really was all errands and productivity. however, it was good productivity, like going shopping for iPod accesories and returning extra colorguard shirts and trying out multiple office chairs at staples. also, i'm keeping my fingers crossed that in a short time, some bonus money will be coming to me by way of jewelry consignment. i finally found a store that would take care of the selling part for me, and i jumped at the opportunity. here's to letting go, reaping the rewards, and looking to the future...

today was church in the morning, brunch afterwards with everyone, some two-hand tag football (where, by the way, i continue to show off how little i actually know about playing football though i have been spectator to countless games) and chili cook-off/superbowl party at church, with the second half spent at justin's place watching the end of the game.

can i take a moment to point out that the steelers have just won their first superbowl in twenty-some years on my birthday and that my boyfriend is a huge steelers fan and could easily see this as superstitious (hence the reason his favorite black hoodie hasn't been washed since play-offs began. yes, that's gross.) i'm like the ultimate good luck charm. go me!

watching the steelers win was exciting, and i easily fell back into the feelings of last april, watching UNC win the NCAA championship. being so excited but not wanting to get too certain of things, even when they were up and only a few minutes were left. tonight, i sat there with 3 seconds left saying, "can't get too excited yet, the game still isn't over" even though the steelers were ahead by 11 points and it essentially was over.

i had a great birthday. i love all of the friends and family members that i got to see, and even more that i got to talk to on the phone or online. i am so blessed, and this past year has only shown me how wonderful things can be. here's to 23--may it be as good as 22 (or better!)

later, y'all.

happy lauren's early birthday!

i've always been one to drag out my birthday celebrations for a week at a time. start one weekend, continue on through to the next weekend--that's just the way it is. and this year, the main celebrating has been going on beforehand just because i happen to have to share the day with some big football game. go figure ;)

but let me tell ya, it's been a great birthday so far. i know it's been a while since i've posted, so let me try to catch up a little bit.

i loved "beauty and the beast" last weekend--the CFRT did such a great job and really worked hard to bring the details of the broadway version to a smaller stage. it also reminded me of how much i enjoy that soundtrack and, in particular, "home" and "if i can't love her." two songs that were written for the broadway version that are just amazing. ("home" made me think of matthew playing it on the piano at the top of the stairs in jarvis and me singing along with him) and justin enjoyed it as well, although it didn't hurt that it was based on an animated cartoon and featured dancing flatware. nothing too heavy for his first venture into the world of musical theater.

busy week with many more referrals, new students, and catching up with old students. my work needs me, and i love my work. doesn't get much better than that.

COLORGUARD performance on wednesday--went sooooo well. they looked adorable, they didn't drop a flag, they acted as though they were having a good time, and got sooo many compliments. we perform again on monday, and i have a feeling it will go just as well. yay for a fun opening performance! click on "my pictures" to see a picture of them.

yesterday, i got my "birthday button" from the front office which meant for the rest of the day, i had many people wishing me happy birthday. my seventh grade classes made signs that they put on my door, they sang to me, and the faculty members gave me a card while hallie brought in a pie. so very nice to have so many people involved. we went out to dinner with mom, grandma, alan and rachel last night before alan's first concert with the wind ensemble. skipped out on the concert, though, because matthew called me to tell me he was in town and was going to hang out with the scholars group and for me to come with him. he said they were going to this party for a guy that john knows and that i should meet them there since it was over near the hospital and at first, i said, "i really feel weird about just showing up at a party for a guy i don't know and you don't know and we don't know what the scene is like there." so then once they got there, they called back and insisted it was fine, very laid-back, so i went over to visit for a while and apparently i made the right decision. not only did i get to see all of the scholars people (matthew, katrin, rachel, luke, john, his new gf) but then i saw caleb, who was long ago friends with crystal (my first roommate) and then i saw heather, megan's friend who apparently also knew matthew, and then megan came (who has a birthday sunday, too) and her justin was with her (who is long time friends with linda) and as we all sat around talking and joking around, we came to the conclusion that it really is a small world after all.

(by the way, this party was in celebration of the guy's divorce getting finalized. who knew that was worthy of celebration?)

so now it's my early-birthday day where i've been told i get to choose whatever i want to do for the day. and surprisingly enough, it's been difficult for me to make that decision. the furthest i've gotten is that i want boulevard bagels for breakfast. i'll go from there ;)

justin gave me his gift last night, and i had been speculating with everyone for a while about what it might be. my guesses had been either an iPod of some sort or maybe a necklace or earrings. i was correct on the iPod side--a nano. i've already started playing with it and getting it all set up and i'm very excited about the many uses this could have. i'm equally nervous that the cats are going to see it as a playtoy and bat it under the couch. here's hoping to not losing it.

that's all for now---go steelers!