Loooong Weekend :)

I sure do love long weekends, especially Memorial Day weekend!!  The kick off to summer, extra time with the hubs, friends, the lake, grilling, lounging by the pool, and a short work week the next week.  Yes please!!

Our weekend was jammed packed and an absolute blast!  But phew....today I could've used another weekend just to rest :)  My weekend got off to a bit of a rough start.  Thursday night I could feel the drainage taking over and my throat starting to hurt, so Friday morning I started popping the mucinex.  Luckily, Friday was a pretty easy day at school and I left shortly after the kids to come home and rest.  After a workout and some ibprofen on top of the mucinex (druggy, I know! Watch out!) I was feeling a bit better.

We had plans to meet up with our friends Greg & Ashley Friday night at Speed Street and then to go see Hangover 2.  (For any non-Charlotteans, Speed Street is the annual street party every Memorial Day weekend in downtown Charlotte with lots of local vendors and musical guests to gear up for the Coca-Cola 600.  Fun fact of the day: Its the longest race in the Sprint cup.  Learn something new every day dontcha?  :)  Anyways....Friday evening was extremely rather rainy, but we thought it had stopped.

We were wrong <insert not so happy wife walking downtown in the rain!!> and the bottom fell out on our walk to the movie theater.  So my darling husband that he is, hailed us a cab to take us the last 2 blocks <insert happier wife with frizzy, wet hair>.  At least its dark in a movie theater!  Can I get an Amen!?

Hangover 2 was hilarious!!!  Yes its crude and rude and I'm sure many people would choose not to see it.  But I saw it and laughed hysterically, I cannot tell a lie.

Saturday around noon we headed off to Lake Norman for the day!!  Our friend Mike has a boat and graciously offered a few seats to us along with Greg & Ashley.  We tied up to the "redneck yacht club" and spent the afternoon tanning and swimming :)

We wanted to venture out & try Speed Street again but we were worn out. Sunday was spent lounging by the pool and then we headed over to cookout at Greg's with he, Ashley and our friends Ryan & Kelly!  We just couldn't get enough of them so we spent Monday laying by their pool!  (I could get used to this!  I'll give you one guess as to where you can find me this summer!?) I didn't take any pictures though Sunday or Monday :(  fail!  One day I'll be better about that! Maybe....

This weekend was a great kickoff to summer....8 days now!  I see a light at the end of the tunnel...it is a faint light....but it's there!!

Finally, a picture of our cat who thinks he owns our house!  Crazzyy kitty.  Hooray for a short work week :) Be blessed!

Wordless Wednesday

If you know me, you know I sing.  I don't claim to be awesome (if you don't use it, you lose it!)....not so much a soloist....and I surely will not be trying out for American Idol next season.  But I can carry a tune.  I have been known to jam out to this lovely lady.  I love most of her songs, especially this one!  She sings right in my range and man, when I'm singin' in the car, I sound just like her :)

These are the days that I will remember

When my name's called on the role.

He'll meet me with two long stem glasses

and make a toast to me comin' home.

**guess I'm not so good at this wordless thing ;) worth a shot**

Weekend Recap & Randos

We had an ABSOLUTE blast at the beach this weekend celebrating my friend Alex!!  Our house was incredible!  It made me wanna sell all my belongings and become a beach bum.  I so would if I could!

Alex has the sweetest friends and the best sisters!  It was so fun to meet all of them!!  If you're a female, you can relate to this I'm sure - sometimes groups of girls can be catty and judgmental a little mean, ahem.  But not these girls!  They were all so sweet and I would definitely want them to be my friends, too, so I see why Alex is their friend :)

Here are just a few pictures from the weekend.  Not all the best pics were on my camera :( so these are a few off mine and until I can steal some off facebook.

Friday night fun at the beach house!!

Saturday - beach and out we went :)

I was the only married gal there, although Alex, Dana, and Courtney are right behind me, in that order.  All of Alex's friends are from the north and it was pretty funny how most of the southern girls were engaged/married and none of the northern girls were.  As you can see Lisa, above, has the most blinging ring of all of us (ha, the light up, battery operated kind :)  But her time will come!

Saturday night the group had dinner at Poogan's Porch in downtown Charleston! Oh my word the food was wonderful and our waiter had the cutest southern accent *ever*!!  The northern ladies were swoonin' over him and needless to say we were wrapped around his little finger ;)  From there we went out and a dance party ensued, although my feet were killin' me (dang heels!!) and I somewhat danced from my chair, haha.

And some Tuesday randos for ya:
-School today nearly killed me!  I'm soooo over testing and I know my kids are too! Frankly, its driving me to eat chocolate :(  this is no good for my weekend plans in which I will be wearing a bathing suit.  Ha!

-I'm only 2 sketches into SNL from this past Saturday on Hulu and I've nearly peed my pants laughing already!!  Too tired to finish it tonight, but I can't wait. Justin Timberlake was the host and in my opinion he is an extremely good looking actor & HILARIOUS!!  His comedic timing = impeccable.  I think I would just like to be his friend, I know he'd keep me rolling!

-I saw an ant on my couch while writing this and I've been SO itchy ever since. I'm sure he was an isolated little guy (better be), not sure how he got in here, but I just feel like they're crawling all over me now!

-Going to Target on Wednesday is apparently my new thing.  I think I've been to Target on a Wednesday each week for the past month.  And guess we're am I headed tomorrow?  Target!  My weekly run, gotta get the necessities :)

-I think all my friends should be on twitter.  #justsayin  My cousin Ashley is on twitter now and a few of my friends are!  I also follow a lot of the people whose blogs I read and I just think its fun!  I may even like it better than facebook!  So get on twitter if you ain't!

Almost over the hump!  Sweet dreamin' y'all!

Counting Down & Counting Blessings

So, I'm constantly looking into the future and counting down to things I'm looking forward to!  Which can be good and bad.  But that's another post :)  Here's an update on my current countdowns!

1 and 1/2 - My friend Alex (to the right of me in this pic) is getting married in less than a month!!!  Only one parent meeting and a day and a half of work are separating me from her bachelorette party in Charleston!!  All of the beautiful ladies in this pic are coming too, so I can't wait for a girls weekend at the BEACH to celebrate Alex becoming a Mrs!!

18 - I can FIN.UH.LLY update my phone on June 5th and guess what I'm getting!?!  An iPhone!  So long blackberry world, I will miss you a little bit, but not that much.  Now, my dilemma....black or white??  Tough decisions here. Thoughts? Also, I heard with Verizon you can update up to a week early for 20 extra bucks? If this is true, I can update in 11 days!!  Wooo

16 school days, 2 teacher work days, and 27 total days are all that's between me and summertime!!  If you can't tell, I'm very excited!  I have lots of plans and ideas of how I can fill my time not working (yes, not working...this is a first!) that I'm really looking forward to.  And of course I can't wait to sleep in, work out when I want, and lay by the pool quite often, as well :)

Speaking of work......I have to say I am blessed to still have a job!  Our district is going through budget woes (who isn't!?) and teachers unfortunately are getting slashed.  But, I still have a job.  And despite my complaints, stress, and frustration sometimes, I STILL HAVE A JOB!  And income.  So for that, I consider myself blessed.

6 months ago as of Friday, I married this stud!  He's got awesome dance moves (clearly, see above), he vacuums, lets me hit the beach with my girls for a weekend, and pulls the kitty away from me at 4am when I'm cranky and Benson wants to cuddle and purr like a motor (so really he's just watching out for Benny, cause I'm mean at 4 am)!  I'm so blessed that he's mine :) I won't get to see him much this weekend, but next weekend is a long one so we'll get to make up for lost time!

Since its not 4 am and my kitty is acting very cuddly, off to bed we go :)  sweet dreams!

Celebratory Weekend!!

This past weekend, B and I drove up to Blacksburg, VA to celebrate my cousin Erin's graduation from VT!!!!  She is now officially a Hokie Alumni!!

A very smart Hokie Alumni.....Erin graduated with a degree in Chemical Engineering!!!  Clearly brains run in our family ;)

Disclaimer - Most of the above pictures are products of Kristin Andrs' wonderful photography skills :) Our camera died and well I'm just not as good as she is!

We had THE.BEST.TIME celebrating with Erin and all of our family and many of Erin's friends!!!  It was rainy in Blacksburg, but that didn't stop the party :)  We left early Sunday to head back to Charlotte.  It was sad to leave, I've been going to VT for fun football games and visits for the past 6 years (including my friend Hunter's college days, it didn't take Erin 6 years, haha)!  But all good things must come to an end and I am so glad I was there to help Erin celebrate!!

I'm SO excited for you Erin!!  This next chapter will be the best yet and I can't wait to share more of it with you!  Welcome to the real world, haha, and good luck in Charlottesville and in your new job!!!  I love you!

And a couple funny pics to get your week off to a good start!

peek-a-boo

Look what we got in the mail....a kitty!

May your work week be short and blessed :)

Weekend Update & Counting Down

1.  My friend Ashley tweeted the other day, "@ashleyscott511 do they eat hamburgers and watermelon on the 4th of July in Mexico? #justwondering". This is a good question....to which I don't have the answer to!  Ha, but I will take just about any excuse to eat some Mexican food!  Since we didn't get to use Cinco de Mayo as an excuse, we figured Seis de Mayo was just as good as any :)  better late than never right!?

2.  By Friday nights, I am LAME-O!!  Getting up at 515 every morning sure catches up to me by Friday night.  We got home from our Mexican fiesta and I was pretty much in a food coma already, which didn't help my sleepiness. Since it was almost 10, I promptly passed out on the couch while Brandon watched the new Gulliver's Travels movie.  I didn't even make it through the previews, whoops!

3.  3 weeks ago, we got B's oil changed before we went on vacation.  Well Saturday morning, it was time for yet another oil change!  He travels oh so much that he needs to get an oil change about once a month, crazy right!? Can you imagine??  $$$$  At least its a company car so the expense isn't out of our pocket, thank goodness :)

4.  I'm pretty sure Saturdays were invented for the pool and grilling out!  My favorite!

5.  I'm pretty sure Sundays around here aren't much of a day of rest, hah. Our Sunday afternoons tend to consist of working out, cleaning, doing laundry, and getting ready for the next work week.  Blehh...

6.  Might be a little late here, but oh my goodness I LOVED the movie Country Strong!!  Gwyneth Paltrow, although she has a daughter named Apple (weird!), did an amazing job as her messed up character Kelly Canter! She was great on Glee earlier this year and I've always loved her voice (so I guess I'll let the Apple thing go).  Tim McGraw and especially Garrett Hedlund (with his amazing, deep voice) are lovely bonuses to the movie!!  I love me some country music and I'm contemplating downloading the soundtrack. Highly recommend it :)

Finally, my list of current countdowns (all helping me inch closer to summer!!).....
4 workdays left this week.
4 days until my cousin Erin's graduation weekend in Blacksburg!!
11 days til my friend Alex's bachlorette weekend in Charleston!
27 days til I get my iPhone!
23 school days left (32 days including weekends).
25 total work days (36 days in all).

Phew.....I think I can, I think I can!!

Be blessed y'all :)

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to the best mother around!!!

Mom, I am so blessed to have you as my mother!!  You're such an awesome mom and I'm so appreciative and grateful for all you've done for me throughout my 24 years.  You've set a wonderful example as to what a Godly mother should be and kept the bar high.  One day, I aspire to be even half the mom you are!

You're a fantastic Mimi and your grandchildren absolutely adore you!!  I can't wait to pawn my kids off on you for long weekends :) haha

I'm so thankful for our relationship and that you've become one of my best friends that I call each day on my way home from work :)  I'm so blessed to be your daughter and I look forward to our years ahead and when I become a mom!  I'm sure I'll be looking to you for lots of advice!

I am so blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful mothers!

I am so thankful for Joan, my wonderful mother-in-law!  She raised an awesome son and I know he's so thankful to have such a great mother!  One quick story about Joan, she used to make Brandon and Ashley a big breakfast EVERY morning before school with pancakes, eggs, etc to get them ready for their day!  If that doesn't deserve Mom of the Year right there - I don't know what does!  Haha, thanks for sharing your son with me Joan :) we love and miss you lots!

I am truly blessed to now have 4 grandmothers in my life!!

My maternal grandmother, Betty, aka Memaw :)

My paternal grandmother, Betty aka Grandma

Brandon's maternal Grandma, Mary and Betty

Brandon's paternal Grandma, Grandma Shuck

Both of my grandmothers are named Betty :)  I've had the privilege to really get to know my 2 Bettys and have them, 1 or both, live in my same city for many, many years growing up!  They are strong, wise, Godly women!   I love hearing stories from their lives, their marriages, their lessons learned.  I've loved getting to know Brandon's grandmother's as well.  We're SO fortunate to still have our grandmothers around!  I'm looking forward to having them around as great-grandmothers, too :)

Don't kill me for this one Aunt Stacy!! :)

My Aunt Stacy is like a second Mom to me!  She's an awesome mom (even though she used to be the "mean Mommy"! :) and aunt!!  I love spending time with her and I'm so blessed to have grown up knowing her and building such a great relationship with her!  I really look up to and admire her!  She's raised 2 awesome girls who I'm privileged to call my cousins and the sisters-I-never-had! Thanks for being my "bonus" mom!

My sister-in-law Callie is a wonderful Mama to my 3 beautiful niece and nephews!!  I think she was born to be a mom :)  When their youngest was born, they had 3 under the age of 4 and Callie handled it like it was no big thing!  Haha, she makes it look easy and is another wonderful example in my life of a great Mom!!  I already enjoy her perspective on "mothering" and look forward to having her as an aunt to my kids one day!

To all the wonderful mothers in my life and all the other mothers out there, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY and I love you!!  I'm sorry I can't see all of you today to share it with you.  It may not be mentioned everyday, but what you do does not go unnoticed!  Thank you for all you do and your example.  I hope to be as great a mother as you all are one day!

History in the making....

Wow, what a weekend!  First, the Royal Wedding on Friday and then the raid, capture, and defeat of Osama bin Laden last night!!  This will definitely be a weekend to go down in the history books.

There are certainly many points of view on the death of bin Laden.....celebration, closure, and justice being served.....the thought that none of us here are God and are we just as low as the radicals when we celebrate his death?  Questioning how his death will effect current threats toward our country and potential retaliation....remembering that Jesus loved bin Laden and died for his sins just as He died for mine, while trusting and believing in my government to take out those who are against peace, freedom, and our country.  And no doubt, bin Laden was against all of those things.

But despite your point of view, your political view, party, conservative, or liberal....thank you, thank you to all those in uniform and many thanks to our current president and his predecessors for their actions and efforts to take out this man and hopefully further cripple terrorism.  Sure the fight is not over, but this man, in one day ordered the mass murder of over 3,000 people in the attacks on the World Trade Centers.  And that was just one of his attacks!  There were many, many more where innocent lives were lost at the hand of this man.

Our great country, despite how awful this man was, honored his religious wishes and gave him a burial according to his beliefs.  That speaks volumes, I think, to our country's respect of human life - how even though we knew this man needed to be taken out to prevent further evil, in that we can still respect the loss of a life and be dignified beings.

Today, and everyday, I am proud to be an American!  I am glad my future children will live in a world that is Osama bin Laden free.  They will have to read about it in a textbook and listen to stories from their parents and grandparents, "Well when I was 14.....".  Even now, the students I teach have pretty much always lived in a post 9/11 world, or were at least very young when it occurred.  Young or old, though, I think we all felt pride today!  USA!!!!