What I'm Loving This Week!

Well....yesterday I had a super cute post planned called "What I'm loving Wednesday!!"  

I had planned to link up with Jamie to share What I'm Loving Wednesday....but sometime yesterday a Mac Truck called strep straight up flattened me out!!

Oh dear Lord!  Some how I rallied and finished out work yesterday, but for the better part of yesterday and most of today, I was worthless and felt just terrible!  I wouldn't wish it on anyone.

I thought it could be the flu...I had chills, fever, sore throat, body aches.  But this morning when I woke up and my throat felt even worse, I was hoping for strep!  Yes hoping...strep is treatable, the flu...not so much!  I called my Dr's office and got an appointment for 1130 today.

My fever was up to 102.7 at the dr's office!  The strep culture was negative in the office, but she felt sure if they plated it and let it grow it would come back as strep, so unfortunately (or fortunately, whichever way you look at it) I didn't get a shot in my derrière - but I did get a z-pack!

Between that, some ibuprofen & a big nap this afternoon, I can already tell a difference in how I'm feeling!  Hopefully I'm on the mend....I need to be!!

Even though strep crept in, I'm still loving a lot this week!

Thanks to strep, spring break started a bit early.  And we have big spring break plans!!

Tomorrow afternoon I'm leaving on a small road trip with 2 of my bff's!  Hunter, Andrea & I are all VA bound for my cousin Erin's 1st wedding shower!!

I will be riding in the back seat like the poor little sick girl that I am.  I'm just glad I still get to go!!

I'm helping throw the shower with my mom, cousin & grandmother!  I'm so, so excited!  I think it's going to be a gorgeous shower...I can't wait to share pictures!!

Bright and early, Monday morning, B and I will be Miami bound for our week long cruise!!! I'm so, so excited!!

Oh I can't wait.

I'm just dreaming of views likes this, fruity drinks by the pool, relaxation, and walks on the beach!  When we originally scheduled the cruise, we didn't know it would coincide with our house closing and so much other stuff going on....but it will definitely be a nice break in the middle of it all!

While picking up some bachelorette party stuff this week, I picked up this new nail polish color...

I think it's the perfect spring break & cruise color!  What do you think!?

I also spent the last of my birthday money last week at Old Navy.  I picked 2 new tops as well as this new dress...

I'm excited to wear it on the cruise one night for dinner and get some good use out of it this summer :)

Ok it's past this sick girl's bed time!  I'm off to take some NyQuil & get some rest!

Happy almost Friday everyone!!

Spartan Race Weekend

Our Friday & Saturday this weekend were pretty low key....all building up for the big Spartan Race on Sunday!!  But more on that in a bit....

Per usual, Friday and Saturday involved a lot of couch and a lot of Dexter :)  Just the way we like it!  I also threw in a haircut Saturday afternoon and then we visited furniture row here in Charlotte and browsed about 14, ok I exaggerate, 12 (seriously, it was a lot!) furniture stores.  Just some perusing & getting ideas... no purchases just yet!

Saturday evening there were some crazy storms all over NC.  I was washing dishes, mid sentence talking to B, no lie, and happened to look out our window to see this....

Gorgeous, right!?

Well, if you're local, you may have seen this photo circulating around Facebook & the news lately and it is nothing short of amazing and absolutely puts my shot to shame, ha!!

How amazing is the photo!?!?

A local photographer, Chris Austin, captured the photo and the local news covered it here. I've already inquired and submitted a request to purchase a copy of the photo!  How amazing would this print look hanging on a wall in our new house!?  I just love it!!  Photo of a lifetime!

The storm blew over and before we knew it, it was race morning!  Brandon was so excited he could hardly sleep and ended up leaving his change of clothes, towel, and signed waivers!!  My competitive man :)  Whoops!  Even after turning around, we made it to the Whitewater Center around 915 & met my bro and SILs and the guys got numbered up.

My brother Josh, Brandon, my other brother Rob, & Josh's neighbor Ben
The Before!

Almost Race Time!

Still Clean & headed to the starting line :)

B's ready!!

3...2...

After the start, the men were lost in the woods and we didn't see them for over an hour! This race is no joke, y'all!!  We headed out to find the best spot to watch them and we parked over by this hill they would run up towards the end.  Once up this hill, we would get to see them in about 6 or 8 different obstacles and finish out the race!

Roen & Jude cheering everyone on!!

The kids loved cheering everyone on!!  They would yell "Good job!  You're almost up the hill! G-O, let's go!"  Haha, it definitely added some smiles to some weary faces coming up that hill!

Wells yelling "Good job!"

At the top of the hill, there was a wall they had to scale...and falling off meant 30 burpees!!  (If you don't know the h*ll that is burpees, google it!)

Scaling

Unfortunately, he fell off, so burpees it was!!

Next, was the 200 meter row!

And then the javelin throw - if you don't make it in - burpees again!  Luckily B made it!

After the javelin throw, they had to crawl across a rope bridge over the rapids up and down another crazy hill to the last few obstacles!  Almost there!!

Climbing up the slippery wall!

Then over the fire pit (not pictured)...

...and to battle the jousters and swim to the finish!!!  (not pictured)

B's official finish time was 1 hour 16 mins and some seconds!!  I have to brag on Brandon for a second....he got 80th overall out of 1600 people on Sunday!!  And 22nd in his age group for Sunday!  That's right, my hubs is a beast ;)  So proud of him!!

Josh making it up the hill!!

Rob battling up!

Slow & steady makes it across!

Rob rowin' it up!

No javelin success for either bro :( 30 burpees!!

Finally met up with my spartan!!!

Congratulating Josh on his big finish!!

And congratulating Rob!!

Woohoo!!  Spartan Finishers!!!  Such strong men!

So proud of my brothers & husband!

It was such a fun day at the Whitewater Center!!  I was pooped just from watching them, and all I did was stand around, haha!  They're apparently crazy, because they're each signing up again for next year!  And apparently I've lost my marbles as well, because tonight, I let B sign me up!!  Gulp.  So my year of training begins soon :)

Hope y'all had a fantastic weekend & Monday!  Here's to a short work week!!

Charlotte Bloggers Wine Wednesday

This past Wednesday night, I had the pleasure of meeting these lovely ladies for a little Charlotte Blogger Wine Wednesday at Arooji's in South Park!

(Thank you Katie, for all these wonderful pics!  Your camera is amazing!)

All the ladies!

From left to right - back row: Katie, April, Annie, Kate, Sara, Jordan, Maran, Lulu

Front row: Me, Christina, Sarah, Dee

This was my second time attending a blogger get together and it was so much fun!!  April was so sweet to organize everything and we all just had the best time!

Cheers!

Everyone was so sweet and down to earth.  Just the kind of girls you could sit around and with and chat for hours about life, love, and everything in between!!  Like you've known each other forever :)

It was such a sweet middle of the week treat to get know all these wonderful bloggers!  We took turns going around, introducing ourselves, our blogs, where we're from, what we do, etc.

We were definitely a loud bunch, too!!  Ha, but luckily we were pretty much the only ones there! (Although I don't know why!  The wine tasting/appetizer deal was amazing as was the food & wine, I definitely want to go back!)

I'm so thankful to be a part of this fun & crazy blogger world and for the wonderful friends I'm making along the way!!  Looking forward to doing it again, ladies!

Midweek Randos

Recently, sweet Mrs. KTLouise tagged me in an Eleven for Eleven post from her blog!  I did a Random Eleven post not too long ago when I was tagged by Chic Runner, so I'm not going to fully participate again, but I thought it'd be fun to answer KTLouise's 11 questions and throw in a couple other midweek randoms, also.  So here we go!

1 - Where were you born?  Right here, in good ol' Charlotte, NC.  My home :)  I'm such a towny - except my town's gotten pretty big over the last few decades!

2 - What irrational fear do you have?  Probably something with bugs - like them crawling in the windows while I'm sleeping.  Talk about hebie jeebies!!  Yuck!

3 - Where's 1 place you hope to travel before you die?  Just 1 place!?!  I guess Bora Bora. Or Hawaii.  Or Alaska.   That's more than 1 huh?

4 - What's your favorite summer cocktail?  My go to in the summer is usually a Bud Lite Lime, but that's not really a cocktail, haha.  So if we're talking cocktails - I think I'd pick a Mojito or Gin & Tonic!  So refreshing!

5 - Fine Dining or Casual Dining?  Casual.  Fine is good every now and then, but I'm more a relaxed kinda gal!

6 - Did you go to summer camp as a kid?  Oh my goodness, some of my best and most favorite childhood memories are from summer camp!!!  I think it's just a right of passage - every kid needs to go!!  My summer camps were always with my church and such an awesome time!

7 - Favorite comfort food?  Ice cream.  Any time, any day, any where!  Always hits the spot!

8 - Do you have any siblings?  If so, how many?  I am blessed with 2 amazing big brothers! I'm the baby :)  I'm so fortunate that they chose wonderful wives (one wife per bro, we do not endorse polygamy here!) so now I have 2 sisters!  And when I married B, I gained another wonderful sister & (her hub) brother!  I'm real blessed, y'all!

9 - Coffee or Tea?  Coffee - and make it Starbucks, please.

10 - Friends character you're most alike?  This is such a fun question, haha.  I guess Monica?  I definitely have an inner fat girl (that I suppress), I like things to be neat and clean (although I'm not near as compulsive about it!) and I can just relate to her wee bit OCD personality :)

11 - What's the 1st concert you ever saw?  I'm pretty sure it was Point of Grace when I was maybe 11 with 2 of my best friends, Ashley & Erin!  Haha, we got the shirts and cds and sang the songs in church!  I'm sure there's a repulsive picture of us (11 is like the beginning of the awkward years, ya know!?) in our PoG tshirts at one of our parents house.  Let's hope that doesn't ever get found!

Such fun questions KTLouise!!  Thanks for the tag!

Just a few other midweek random...

-- 3 years ago this very day....it was actually a Saturday....I met this handsome stud!!

Not from the day we actually met, but maybe 6 or so weeks later :)

Sometimes it seems like I've known him forever!  And other times it seems like 3 years is just this small blip of time.  Either way though, I'm so thankful he's mine & we're in it together, for the long haul!

-- Today, our due diligence date is up on our house!  (That's real estate talk, y'all)  I guess we're for real going through with this whole house business or else we loose out on some major moola we already paid forth.  So yes, we move forward!!  We close 3 weeks from today! :)

-- I need to ask a big favor of y'all - Sunday night we got a call about a family member of B's that's not doing so well.  I can't share too much (it's not really my story to share), but God knows and I know He'll hear your prayers for B's family and us.  So thank you in advance!

-- And so to end on a positive note, I am welcoming spring with open arms!

Welcome back warm weather - although that started a little early this year - spring break {we're down to 7 school days!!!} - spring blooms - and my allergies! YUCK - lighter evenings - and the urge to go sit on a porch and sip wine or eat dinner!  That of which I will be doing tonight, with some very *lovely ladies*!!

Happy Spring friends!!

St. Patty's Day Weekend

Oh boy, y'all!  Yesterday, was a day from the devil!!  

I had planned to come home and blog - but after 12 hours in my sweltering school building, it was all I could do to sit on the couch and eat a bag of kettle corn and a Reece's Peanut Butter Cup egg or three!  Oh boy, that's not so good for the bikini I'll be wearing in 2 short weeks on our cruise!  Whoops :)

Anyways, today was a new day which I was thankful for - His mercies are new every day, amen!?  And I got a pretty good work out in to make up for last night!

But back to my weekend recap, as the title says...

Friday was my blogaversary!!!  I can't believe I've been blogging for a whole year!  Where does the time go?  I attempted to celebrate that by giving my blog a little make over, but I quickly came to my senses (aka B told me to give it up!) because I have absolutely no clue what I'm doing....even with those free, do it yourself, here's how templates.  Ahh....one day.  For now, it ain't broke so I ain't gonna try to fix it!

Friday night we stayed in and kept it low key - a little Dexter, a little buffalo chicken pizza & some relaxation in preparation for the big St. Patty's Day Bar Crawl!

It's the biggest one in the world, y'all!!  Or so "they" say - they did the research and didn't find a bigger bar crawl so I'll believe it!  Saturday was the perfect day for it, too.  Maybe even a little too hot!!  We wore shorts in March.  Crazy!

Greg & B all decked out

Hunter & me :)

The ginormous crowd!!  A sea of green!

On our "crawl"

Greg & Ashley with a photo bomb courtesy of Hunter!  Haha

Love my girls!!  Hunter, Andrea & me

And I love my cowboy leprechaun ;)

It was a super fun day uptown!  We didn't really follow the suggested itinerary for the bar crawl, just went to some of our favorite bars that we don't frequent too often anymore!  We polished off the evening with some froyo & headed home.  Overall, I'd say it was a perfect success :)

Sunday we slept in a bit and somewhere in the day mustered up the courage to try a workout and make a trip to the grocery store!  Our run was difficult to say the least after our day of fun before, but we toughed it out and then headed right back to the couch, haha.  We both got ready for the week - all the sunday funday joys ;) i.e. laundry, work, cleaning, etc.

And alas, here we are, nearly to hump day!  Hope y'all had a fabulous weekend, friends & a wonderful start to your week!!

Blogaversary!

One year ago today, I started this here tiny little blog!  With an awkward little post, I entered this crazy, fun world of blogging!  And what a fun ride it's been so far :)  

I'm so glad to have started this journey in the blogosphere!  In the past year, I've gained this virtual scrapbook/diary/journal of our life complete with pictures and memories that I can go back and read at any time!  My little corner of the blog world has blossomed and I've gained new readers and new bloggers to follow!  I've even had the privilege to meet some "blog friends" and gotten to know these great women in real life!

So here's to hoping that my blog life continues to blossom!  And I sure hope you'll plan on sticking around for the rest of this adventure....wherever it may lead!!

Happy Blogaversary to me, Happy Friday to us all, & Happy St. Patty's Day Weekend!  May your beer be green, your clovers 4-leafed, & your luck abundant! :)

Wonderful Wednesday

Look at these temps y'all!  

This week the weather has been amazing!  It's technically not even spring, but I'm already itchin' for spring time with these warmer temps!  I can't wait til we have a patio (and maybe some patio furniture) to enjoy this great weather!

via

Since I've been in a professional development this week, I haven't been out of bed before 7!  My normal wake up time is 530, so 7 am is sleeping in for a weekday - and it's amazing what that extra hour and a half can do!  Wonders!    Especially since I'm fighting some sickness/allergies.  I'm so grateful for some extra shut eye :)

My man is home tonight!  B normally gets home Thursdays from traveling, but this week is home early!!  I love having him home an extra weeknight, feels like such a treat, haha.  Woohoo!

And here is exactly what we'll be doing tonight....

Wednesday night means my favorite TV line up is on & all new tonight!!  You will find B & I on the couch and not watching Dexter for once ;)  These are probably my 2 favorite shows on TV!  If you've never watched, you really should!

Hope you're having a wonderful Wednesday!

Weekend Bliss

Why can't every day be the weekend!?  Too much of a good thing?  Maybe....but I sure do love my weekends :)  We had a great weekend over here!  Nothing too eventful, which was nice.  

Friday night was pretty low key...we watched some Dexter, I blogged about our ridiculously busy spring & I made April's Frank's Pizza Chicken for dinner!  Oh my word, it was delish!!  B kept saying, "This is so good!"  We'll definitely be making this one again, so thanks April for the great recommendation :)

Saturday morning, we woke up bright & early for our home inspection!!  EEE....it's seeming more and more real with each step.  The inspection went really well!  In the words of the inspector - "This is what I would call a great inspection, I think you're getting a great house!" That was definitely reassuring and made us feel really good.  No major issues and that is a huge plus!

It was fun to spend a lot of time actually IN the house....exploring - looking back & discovering a lot of things we missed on our initial visit - planning what to hang here, what to put here - checking out the back yard!  We took a lot of pics, but I don't want to share just yet...not til it's really for real official (gulp).

After the inspection, we got a workout in & then I went for workout round 2, the Fun Run & 5K at my school.  Wasn't my best time ever, but it was pretty fun and I got to see some of my kiddos!

After my two workouts on Saturday, I think I fully earned some Kabuto's!  We met my parents, grandmother, niece, nephews, and bro & SIL for dinner.  My parents were in town keeping the kids for my other bro & SIL so they could go out and celebrate their anniversary (Happy 9th Anniversary Josh & Callie!)!

It was the kids first time at a Japanese Steak House where they cook in front of you - and they were mesmerized!!

Pure amazement!

Wells was actually not so sure...

But Jude was a big fan!

It was so fun to watch their reactions!  And the food was pretty amazeballs, too! Afterwards, we managed to save some room for froyo - let's be real - there's always room for froyo :) Rob & Gale joined us and we talked all things house!  They gave us some good advice since they were in our shoes just 4 or so months ago!

We came home to (need I even say it?) more Dexter and turned in pretty early.  I started feeling a little full in the head and my throat was a little sore all on top of loosing an hour of sleep that night - fantastic.

Sunday morning we slept in a bit and I made some chocolate chip banana bread muffins for breakfast...

Yum!

I followed that up with a good, long run to fight off that sickness, some laundry, and boat loads of lesson planning!  I wrote 3 days of sub plans....a bit overwhelming...but all for a good reason since I'm in a great math training this week!

In fact, this teacher has homework!  So I'm off to do my reading for my training tomorrow....thank goodness I get to sleep in a bit!  It's the little things ;)

Here's to a quick & easy work week!

A Busy & Exciting Spring

Holy moly, y'all!!  My brain has been a big ol' jumbled mess lately.  My brain feels like an ADD kid all jacked up on sugar!  It's probably because we have, oh, just 9.2 million things going on ;)

I keep going through my calendar each day and starting this weekend - we have something almost every weekend until summer time!  Whoa!

The good thing is - it's all super exciting, fun stuff!!!

It's hard to not be so excited with all this wonderful stuff coming up, so I couldn't help but start some countdowns!  Hold on, it's about to get real busy over here...

Tomorrow morning we have our home inspection!  We're so excited to go back, walk through again & check everything out!  Then, tomorrow afternoon, I'm running in the 2nd Annual Family Fun Run & 5K at my school!  I'm just running for fun, so I'm not too worried about my time!  Should be a good day :)

Next Saturday is the St. Patty's Day Bar Crawl!

It's the biggest bar crawl in the world!!  And a fun day of some bar hoppin' with the friends!  If you're in Charlotte, you should definitely throw on some green and join!

Sunday the 25th Brandon & my brothers are participating in the Spartan Race at the White Water Center.  My SILs & I along with the kiddos are gonna go watch!!  It should be really fun - I'm just hoping no one gets burned from jumping over fire or beaten up from the gladiator style jousters!

via

The next weekend starts Spring Break!!  Friday the 30th B and I leave for VA for a wedding shower for my cousin Erin!  My mom, grandmother, my cousin Ashley & I are all throwing it!  It's going to be so pretty, I'm so excited!  It's been so much fun to plan!

We come back to Charlotte Sunday, April 1st and fly out early Monday the 2nd for Miami!!  From Miami, we board our cruise ship to the Bahamas!!!

Hello vaycay!  That's right!!  We'll be boarding the Majesty of the Seas cruisin' for 4 nights in paradise!  All thanks to Brandon's hard work, by the way - he won the cruise from his company!

We fly back to Charlotte April 6th and 5 days later, April 11th we close on our house!!!  We are so giddy to close and have our house!

We won't be moving that weekend, though.  April 13th - 15th I'm off to Charlottesville, VA for my cousin Erin's Bachelorette party and Brandon is off to Hilton Head for a little Brocation!

My cousin Ashley & I have been planning an awesome girls weekend & some of B's best buddies are flying down from Michigan.  Lots of vacay time back to back - I can't complain!

After Bachelorette & Brocation weekend, we'll finally get to move April 20th & 21st!!  Woohoo!  I absolutely hate moving, but there's a lot of gratification in knowing we won't have to move for another 15, 20, or 50 years :)

We'll have a weekend at home, before heading back to Virginia the first weekend in May.  More wedding fun!  Erin & Ryan have a couples shower at the lake!

May will be a bit of a quieter month - I'm hoping it will consist of a little painting in the house & some furniture shopping!!  Memorial Day weekend is usually a good time, too!  I'm hoping for a good cookout and maybe some lake time :)

And then, before you know it, it's June!  June 7th is my last day of school & June 8th - 10th is Wedding Weekend!!

Good gracious...that's a lot, huh?!  So let me just go ahead and apologize way in advance if I seem a complete ADD mess between now and June - but I sure hope you'll stick around for all the fun!