big weekend...

the rest of the week flew by after valentine's day, and before we knew it, it was time for our three day weekend (or for us oakwooders, three and a half days--i LOVE half day fridays).

so justin and i continued our house search and stopped in at the model home of the neighborhood at the top of our list. i had gone to an open house last weekend and talked to a real estate agent there, and he happened to be at the model home that day. we looked at floor plans, got to see a couple of homes that were in progress, and by the end of the afternoon, had seen a house that was about 4 months away from being completed. if we got in now, we could choose our carpet, tiles, paint colors, countertops, lighting fixtures, appliances--pretty much everything except for the vinyl siding and shutters (which was already on the house, obviously.)

we left the house and i said to justin, "i really liked that house." he replied back, "i loved that house. we need to get it." and coming from his background of architecture and designing huge, luxurious homes, that's saying a lot. i had been reminding him that we weren't going to be able to have our "dream home" in our starter home. however, in this situation, i think we're going to be able to come pretty close. granted, it's not the exact layout that he's had in his head for years, but it's definitely a great way to start out.

so we spent the rest of the weekend talking to a few more mortage places, and on my school holiday today--i went and signed our contract for the home. we put some money in escrow (i keep thinking of joey on "friends"--"and i looked on the map and i can't even find 'escrow'!") and now have a ton of paint, countertop and marble samples to choose. just when i thought all the decision making had ended with the wedding planning--we're back to square one :)

but we have a closing date (june 8th--right after i get done with the school year) and a lot to be excited about.

sights of valentine's day at work...

valentine's day at any school is a little hectic. lots of candy, emotions running high, and tons of class parties. so while i had some free time this afternoon, i went around and took some pictures. enjoy my favorite pictures from today and more, of course, to the right on flickr :)

keep on trucking...

so my 24th birthday was fabulous. it was quite the productive trip to fayetteville where we had a practice hair appointment, ordered flowers, and saw a wonderful production of "cinderella" at the CFRT. we were also able to eat lunch at the haymont grill, our recently chosen rehearsal dinner spot. by the time we got back, we were heading to the annual super bowl/chili cook-off at church for some good food and the first time seeing friends there in a couple of weeks. we also celebrated with them the next night for my birthday, so it was wonderful to catch up.

my friends at work had a great lunch planned for me on monday, complete with homemade cake and festive candles. it was very sweet and i was reminded how happy i am to work there! the rest of the week really seemed to fly by, with a fun night of trivia with jennifer one night and a couple of relaxing evenings with justin as well. it helped me prepare for last night's festivities, the valentine's day dance.

i am proud to say that my middle schoolers did an excellent job of getting ready. we also have some awesome parents that are born party-planners and are happy to step in with decorations. we went out on a limb and hired a high schooler for the DJ--a wise move, as he was not expensive and did an awesome job. he had done several other parties for our students and was extremely popular. everyone behaved well, looked gorgeous and we only had to reprimand a couple of some close dancing. the clean-up was done by 10:30 and i was home right before 11. that's a good night in my book :)

today, justin and i headed over to minges colesium to watch his niece, destiny, perform in a cheerleading competition. i must be honest, though i've occasionally paused on the cheerleading competitions on ESPN, i've never actually attended one. the parking lot was full and we made it in just a few minutes before her performance. i did get to witness one of the "individual" performances, which is exactly what it sounds like--one girl performing a routine on her on. destiny's group did extremely well, and even though it was just an exhibition performance and they weren't competing, they have an exciting couple of weeks coming up. their group won the last competition in charlotte and are on their way to nationals in atlanta next weekend. i'll add a couple of pics here on the end.

and on the house front, we are now pre-approved for a mortage. let the house shopping begin!

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

the last few days of being 23...

so it's less than a week until my birthday, and oddly enough, i keep forgetting this.

it might be because we're in the middle of the last big push of wedding planning. in addition to my fayetteville birthday theater performance at the CFRT (this year it's rodger and hammerstein's "Cinderella") we also have a hair run-through, a meeting with the florist and with the rental people for tables, chairs and tents. We'll also meet with people at the church to start planning the ceremony, and we did have a wonderful first meeting with our pastor last weekend. It was so good to see Carl, Mary Ellen and Ellen again--I know they will make the wedding wonderful!

i should be back in time for the super bowl party on sunday afternoon, and though i don't have any huge plans for my birthday, the bridal showers and bridesmaid parties over the next few weeks should make up for it.

it's been incredibly busy at work as i received several new referrals and finished up my case study for the first review period on my LCSW. things don't seem like they'll slow down anytime soon, but i did enjoy watching the kids play in our brief snow flurry this morning. if only it had stuck...

that's about all i have time for now. later, y'all :)

feels like winter again...

this is a media-filled post...

the past couple of weeks have flown by as i've gotten back into the swing of things at work with dance, superbowl and wedding planning. lots lots lots and lots of planning. it can be overwhelming at times, but i know in the end, it'll be worth it.

we were able to enjoy a wonderful 50th anniversary lunch with grandma and grandaddy down in beaufort last weekend, with gorgeous blue skies and 70 degree weather. quite a change from this weekend, with temps not getting much out of the 40's and rainy, dreary weather.

thursday night, we were able to go have some engagement pictures taken. though i went in only planning to get the traditional "shoulders up" portrait for the newspaper announcements (we're putting out 6 in total) we ended up getting some of the other poses they took. my favorite is below, and we'll be sure to have links when the other announcements get posted.
friday afternoon was casino day at school, and i had a great time taking some more "artsy" photos as well as pictures of the kids enjoying the games. it took a lot of work to set up--it's a huge fundraiser for our athletic department, and they're trying to add new stuff every year--but the kids loved it and it was well worth the time and effort we put into it this week while the students were taking exams.



and finally, today we got the enjoy the smooth sounds of the equinox tuba quartet. alan asked me to come a little early to take pictures of the guys, and i was also able to record a couple of the pieces they performed. they have a great sound and definitely performed a variety of music.
and a couple of their songs "with this love" and "power"




three months and counting to the wedding... later, y'all :)

quick post

there are tons more pictures loaded up on flickr--check 'em out.

the impromptu FTS band reunion picture that has been making it around facebook as well.



and our brief stop at the kyle house to see our future reception site all decked out for christmas...
a crazy new year's eve young adults' style--matt watching in awe as nathan chugs the leftover sparkling grape juice. imagine what would happen if we actually drank alcohol...
and the family photo of the livengood/britner dinner we had this past weekend. it was great to have everyone there together...
other noteworthy occurances--
arranging ceremony musicians, ordering invitations (that had to be re-printed because of a typo), and going in for my first gown fitting.
going back to work and staying in greenville for the entire weekend for the first time in about a month--here's to falling back into a routine!
and being reminded today that my birthday is less than a month away... it just kinda snuck up on me...

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

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 :)