Easy Weekend

Oh how I love my weekends, however, short as they always are!!!  Wahhh....seriously, can't we all band together to do something about this serious not problem & extend weekends!?  I really need a 3rd day!  Oh to dream.... :)

We were off to Raleigh this past Friday, doggy in tow, for a little business and pleasure.

Berkley had his first stay in a hotel (oh yes...we were those people with their dog at the hotel!) and did so well!!  He loved meeting lots of people, having the run of the room, and a lower bed so he could actually jump up onto it!  Haha, still slept in his crate, though like a champ!  Our little crate sleeper :)

Since we were away, it was one of those times where you're forced to relax, and I can't say I minded!  The weather was gorgeous, I got a good workout in each day, strolled with Berkley in a park nearby, did a little work, played a little candy crush, laid around!  Not too shabby y'all!

We grabbed a delish dinner out Saturday night at Cantina 18!  If you're in the Raleigh area, go there asap & have a skinny margarita!!!  So good!

I spent a good portion of my afternoon yesterday grocery shopping & then food prepping in the kitchen!  Eating clean, while not hard, does take some serious prep!  Well worth it, though!  After all...

;)

Manic Monday today wasn't so terrible, so I guess I can't really complain!  And I'm glad to have my hubby home for an extra night in the wake of everything that happened in Boston today!!

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In the midst of all that's awful, this quote gives me hope that maybe people are inherently good.

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There are always helpers!  Today, seeing the first responders run towards the blasts, we know some people are inherently good and it restores you just a little in the middle of all this evil.

I hope your Monday was easy and your loved ones are accounted for and hugged extra tight tonight friends!  Talk soon :)

Nerd Alert!

Here's what I'm currently doing....a little nerd multi-tasking at it's finest ;)

Writing progress reports (that go home Thursday.  Eeep!), watching the votes roll in, and snuggling my furry faced puppers!!  Think it's time for his first grooming!?

Paperwork lately is never ending.  Whoa!!  Thankful I can do a lot of it at home instead of having to do it at school.

Did you do your civic duty and vote!?!  I hope so!  We got our vote on this past Saturday!

Are you watching the results as they trickle in, too?  I'm glued to Fox News!

Since I always like to keep things friendly....

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Haha, unless your candidate was my candidate ;)

Stay tuned, I hope to be back tomorrow to catch myself up on the past {gasp} week & a half since I last blogged - oh wait, I'm sure you're not surprised by this anymore!

For reals, though....I shall return!!

Happy Election Day!  And God Bless America!!!

9/11 We Will Never Forget

It's hard to believe this is the 10th anniversary of the attack.  I've seen so much coverage of it this weekend and today and have teared up a few times - the ceremonies on TV this morning, the moments of silence, reading tweets at the gym, NFL tributes! Wow!

I was a freshman in high school and was walking to my 3rd block of the day when a friend from church stopped me outside in between buildings to ask if I had heard.  Somehow the planes had crashed and towers had fallen before I even found out.  The first words out of my mouth were something to the effect of "Oh my gosh!  Are we going to go to war??"  I had brothers around 18 and 20 and was terrified there might be a new draft!

During my lunch period I used a pay phone at school to call my dad who worked in a bank building in downtown Charlotte at the time.  I wanted to be sure no planes were headed to our big banking city.

As I searched for images to include today, I tried to pick up lifting ones. There were oh so many and oh so many sad and heart breaking ones.  But I wanted to chose ones that give hope, honor the memory, and look forward.

Those lost are gone, but surely not forgotten!  I choose not to remember this day as a day of defeat, but to remember this day as the day we all stood united as one nation under God, tall and defiant against the face of evil!

I will always remember President Bush's speech that night offering hope to our country on a day when hope seemed far.

"Terrorist attacks can shake the foundations of our biggest buildings, but they cannot touch the foundation of America. .... I pray {those who grieve} will be comforted by a power greater than any of us spoken through the ages in Psalm 23, "Though I walk through the valley of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me".  This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace.  America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time.  None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world. Thank you, goodnight, and God bless America."

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!!!!