Birthday Week!!

Happy Birthday week Jill and Vicki!!!!!!!!

Here is a little back ground. Jill left for school after high school and stayed away for 10 years while she got all three of her degrees. I'll brag on her a little because she worked really hard and finished with her PhD. She always had that as a goal and did whatever she had to do to get there. While finishing at the UofA she met Vicki. Whoop!Whoop!They eventually moved to North Carolina after Jill graduated and have been here for two almost three years now. I find it very cool and that out of allllllll 50 states that I ended up in NC too and only a few minutes away from the two of them. They are the best. I have mentioned it before, but they are always watching out for me, inviting me to fun things, and don't invade my space all at the same time. :)

Over the last year we have gotten to do a lot of fun things....often times I am camera-less. :( We got to experience Beer Fest, kayaking on the lake and bird watching, talks around the fire, geocaching, many dinners, Pride, dog shows, concerts, the beach trip, and many other things that I am forgetting......but they were all a blast and things I may not have thought to do!!! I have a list a mile long of things I want them to expose me to: camping/hiking, white water rafting (I have been, but I want to go with them), and BINGO night.Us at the Willie Nelson, John Mellancamp, Bob Dylan concert

Group Shot....This is the usual crew.....I heart them...even Marble and Big White Dog.

Jill and I then...... ........and now!!

GOAL: to step up our individual picture taking, and do a better job of documenting our time together!!!!!! Looks like we should go to BINGO soon...so I can get started

I really am glad the two of you live near me. After 1o years of Jill being gone, it is so nice to get to do some fun sisterly things together. I hope the two of you had great birthdays....and continue to celebrate on your wilderness adventure this weekend! I love you!!

10 Honest Things About Me...

A few of my friends have done this little honest post and while I am experiencing a little blogging lull, thought I would give it a shot.

1. When pumping my gas it is a must that I land on a complete dollar amount. For example : $##.00. The .00 is crucial. I would prefer the big number to be a multiple of 10. But on a bad day I'll settle for a multiple of 5. Nothing erks me more than $40.01. I have flooded my tank trying to make it to $50.00. Seriously, this ruins my mood and sometimes my day.

2. I have never done any coloring on my hair. I'm allll natural people. HA Sometimes I think about doing a little something to freshen up my look...but to be honest I'm too cheap to keep up with a hair color....and it is something I am proud of.

3. In every bathroom except my own....I rip off the end of the toilet paper and toss it in the toilet or trash....then go about my business. That may be a little TMI....but you NEVER know whose hands were on that roll before yours....and to think you are about to put those germs on your body. EEEEW. Think about it next time you are in the stall....I bet you consider the same.

4. I don't like to read aloud. It isn't because I can't...I just prefer not to. To be as out going as I am...this is strange I realize. I think people are drawn to call on me because they think I won't mind....but NO. I have even been kicked out of a college class for saying "I would rather not." I thought I was being polite but my professor thought otherwise. It is nothing personal, I just don't wanna do it.

5. I LOVE Special K with Strawberries. You think I am kidding, but I could eat it for every meal and be so happy. I recently had a friend tell me about the off brand. I was very skeptical at first...I'm not a fan of most off brand cereal....but I gave it a shot....and I am an even bigger fan. It taste the same and it was cheaper. WOORAH!!

6. I HATE the second half of doing laundry. Folding is for the freaking birds. I love sorting laundry, tossing it in the wash then to the dryer....but then the dreaded buzzer goes off....it is like I become the laziest human on the planet....I would rather do ANYTHING than fold the laundry. If you have tips to help me get over this, please share. Blah!!

7. When I fly I give God a little shout out! Nothing too major....Just a "Hey Big Guy, could you keep me safe while I'm floating in the sky at 3000 feet?" So if you and I ever fly together...if my eyes are closed during take off...please don't bother me....me and Jesus are having a heart to heart. :)

8. Mine and Justin's show together is The West Wing. We have every season!!! The West Wing NEVER fails us. When we didn't have cable, we had The West Wing. When a storm comes and the cable goes out, we have The West Wing. When there is nothing on TV, you guessed it....WE HAVE THE WEST WING!! I think if Martin Sheen ran for president, I would vote for him.

9. The people who deal with me on a daily basis know this, the rest of you may not. I am the most indecisive person around. Decisions stress me out!! It drives Justin NUTS! I tell him he should be thankful that I'm not overly demanding and that when I have an opinion he will be made aware. ;)

10. I could live in jeans, flip flops, an E t shirt, zero make up, and sporting a side pony. THAT is perfect day in my book. :)

Whew...this was almost therapeutic! I hope you will take the time to share 10 honest things about yourself.

Happy Birthday to me....I turned 23!

I turned 23 last week. It was a great birthday! I must thank many of YOU for making it great! I received cards, gifts, flowers, dinners, cake, dinners, love, a trip, calls, text and any other form of social media you can imagine. I truly am blessed with the very best friends and family on the planet. Take a look at some of the things I got in the mail....Thank you for all the love. It means SO much!

Jill and Vickie hosted a fine dinner party for me. Complete with Robin and D, and my favorite "yellow dinner". Yellow dinner includes: mac and cheese (the blue box), fish sticks, Jiffy corn bread, creamed corn and yellow cake with chocolate icing (out of the box). I promise Jill offered to make ANYTHING I wanted or to even go out....but this is what I wanted. It reminds me of my childhood and it NEVER gets old. The evening could not have been any better. Thanks girls for making my real birthday dinner perfect!

The weekend after my birthday we joined our friends Julianne and Andy in CHARLESTON, SC! It is SUCH a fun place. Justin and I called it our "weekend getaway". We picked this place to celebrate my birthday together! Justin got us a really nice hotel room. I was so excited to see the room. Check out our views....

Our view to the left.....Beautiful right???

Aaaaand our view to the right.....

SERIOUSLY? A BASEBALL FIELD? Let me tell you how this went. Just flung open the curtains to see our view and was like..."come look at this!!" So I run over and THIS is what I see. He REALLY wanted to go to the game...or at the very least see the score board...but I'm pretty sure he got the hint that I didn't think that was a very good idea. ;)

We got allll dressed up and headed for appetizers with friends and then out to a local place. This place was too cool. It had tables on the top of this building complete with lights and music, running water and a view to absolutely kill!!!! We loved it so much we stayed for dinner and the remainder of the evening!!
Me and Boyfriend :) Thank you for this wonderful trip, you are the best!
Julianne, Andy, me and Justin. We are SO glad they are back!!!!!! This was also a celebration of Andy's homecoming from Afghanistan and Julianne's visit to Washington. YAY for togetherness!Look who we ran into....Huck!!!! I knew she was in town, so we text back and forth about our plans. We were headed to the same place. How strange is it that we are in South Carolina and we see each other. I loved it. It is always nice to see a familiar face and friend! We took this picture to make our cousins jealous. We miss you KB and Rebecca!!!!

You would think this is MORE than one girl could handle for one birthday. But one week late Julianne and Autumn were set on taking me out! We picked an Indian restaurant in town and totally stuffed ourselves. HA Which made for the perfect girls night. We talked about allllll kinds of things....and it was perfect. Thank you girls for being willing to take me out. You both are precious friends!!! (3 bloggers and no camera....we stink)

I'm telling you it was an AMAZING birthday. I expected nothing and got all of this. :)

I am one lucky girl!!! Thank you again!!

We Welcome Visitors....

A few weeks back Justin's sister Jen planned a last minute vacation before the kids went back to school. I was so pumped to hear they had decided to come to North Carolina! They went to the Biltmore House before making it to our house....all 6 of them. If you remember, Jen brought Stephanie and Peter back in March, but Greg, Abigail and Gretchen got left at home. We were excited to have the entire family here at once and Peter was excited about showing everyone around our house. :)

We did a few fun things while they were here. One of which was a baseball game and the other was visiting the local ice cream shop that has HOMEMADE ice cream and FREE testers. (AMAZING!!) Take a look at some of the pictures I got of the kids.

Stephanie's food pictures. She is the most fascinating little girl! She is the littlest thing and has the appetite of a 12 year old. I mean really, look at that grilled cheese...it is as big as she is.

Peter at the game. Peter fits in with his Uncle Justin and Grandfather when it comes to baseball. He really seemed to enjoy himself at the game...but could you not with that view??

Stephanie, Gretchen, and Abigail at the game!!

Group shot at Sunni Sky's on the swing.

Another group shot by the giant ice cream trashcan. Please look at Peter!!!! He did this with NO coaching. I thought it was hilarious.

I think it was a pretty successful visit. We had good family time, adult time, fun time and all went well. We love having guests, especially family!

Thanks for coming to visit us Wanings! We can't wait to see you in a few months. :)

Also.. HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY PETER!!!!!