Ronald Reagan

I am not much for being one of those people who are over the top about politics. I am informed and I will vote, but discussing politics with most people just makes me mad usually. Anyway, I'm only saying that because I thought this was a great video and something to remember as you are voting this year, or praying about the future of our country. 

Thanks you, Ronald Reagan, for this!

Friday Favorites!

So glad it's Friday! We had an amazing trip to Maryland and we are so sad that it's over! Here are the favorites from the week :D

1) Maryland Trip- DUH! I'll do a full post on that later. But seriously, it was one of the best trips we've ever had!

2) Grandma!!- Johns Grandma came to be with Aunt Vicki while she had a surgery this week (that's not a favorite) but while she was in the hospital Grandma got to spend the night with us. She came over last night and had dinner with us and then we hung out and talked for awhile. Then this morning I got up early and made her and John some breakfast. She's SO sweet and we had a really good time with her- even if it was short. And of course Carter could not get enough of his great grandma!

3) NC State WIN!- Of course it's a favorite :D 5-2! Excited and nervous for the game tomorrow!

4) Ultrasound- Tracy my office supervisor, took me to an ultrasound with her! It was incredible! You could see everything!! And we got to hear the heartbeat. Her husband came too and he made jokes the whole time. He really wanted to tell the nurses that we were Mormon and we were his two wives. lol. Luckily, he didnt have a chance. Anyway, super neat!! Kinda made me want to be pregnant, but not really ;D

5) Mom's house- MY MOM SOLD HER HOUSE! Well pending an inspection. Such a blessing for sure! If everything is okay with the inspection, she will be moving out Dec. 17th and into her new house Dec. 18th! So happy for her :D

No so favorites:

- Carter has a dead tooth :( Apparently it can happen by chewing on a bone or what not. It sucks. Luckily it's not bothering him right now and it's not infected. However, we'll eventually have to get it pulled. They can do a root canal, but they are expensive and my friend, Abby, who is a vet said they dont usually work anyway and she recommended against it. So he can keep it until it bothers him, breaks, or gets infected. Still sucks though :( It's one of his front canines. When we do have to pull it, he will look funny!

-Mold- No resolution to the mold in my apartment. We left and were totally fine in Maryland. We felt refreshed when we got up and didnt feel sick at all. When we came home, you could smell it.  Seriously, our apartment smelled off. Annnnd now we are feeling sick again :(. I complained again and they gave us an apartment that we could just sleep in, but said the reports from the tests they ran said everything was fine. There is no way that's right. John and I are not sick people and yet we are sick every time we go in our apartment. There is a noticeable difference in how tired we are now too. Ugh. So just a VERY frustrating situation that I dont know how is going to get fixed. If at all, if they say the reports are coming back fine. Keep us in your prayers on this one!

Anyway, aside from all that- Happy Friday and GO WOLFPACK!!!!!!

Grovetoberfest!

A few weekends ago John and I got tickets to go to Grovetoberfest in Miami. Since we brew our own beer we thought it would be neat to try out Miami's beer festival. It was SO much fun! 

We got to sample a bunch of different beers and check out what different breweries did. There was also plenty of food to purchase and of course lots of people watching took place!! We got an early admission ticket and got to go in an hour earlier than the majority of the people. After the hour, it got crowded. So I highly recommend getting an earlier pass if you do a festival like this! Ours was a groupon, so it was actually cheaper than the normal tickets too. Score! :D When we arrived we were given 3 chips to vote on our favorite beers. None of the ones we voted on won, but it was still fun. Some of my favorites included Schnebly's coconut beer (we've been to the tour before) and a maple bacon beer. It seriously tasted like pancakes and bacon. YUMMY! 

Having some fun! Miami so pretty. 

                                          

The weather was absolutely perfect too! It was the first weekend we had where the humidity wasn't crazy and it wasn't burning up outside. The breeze from the water was cool and it was just perfect for an outside festival. We also got lucky that it was our off week in football so we didn't have to worry too much about missing anything. 

We left a little early to beat the rush out and walked up to CocoWalk. It's an outdoor mall type area. It's a really nice area and since the weather was fantastic we decided to hang out and listen to some of the live music and just spend some time together. 

The park the festival was in was Peacock Park- so they had peacocks everywhere!

                                         

CocoWalk!

                                         

We ended up getting dinner in CocoWalk at Chili's. Their guacamole is to die for! Seriously amazing. We got the bottomless chips (duh) and they ended up running out! how does that even happen!? haha. John and I have gotten in the habit of sharing an appetizer and then an entree. It's fun to get appetizers and if we do that then we both end up with food left over from our entree. So we split now and it's fun :D So we did this night too and shared a great bacon cheeseburger. :D 

We ended up staying out too late to catch the  metrorail back home, so we caught our first cab in Miami! Cross that off the list. haha. Luckily, we werent far from home so it wasnt expensive at all. John ended up needing to give the cab driver directions to our apartment since he wasnt from the area. He had to give the directions in Spanish! He did such a good job too. I'm so impressed with how good his Spanish is getting. Proud of you hubby! Anyway, the day was amazing. It was a perfect date day and night for sure! :D

The next morning we got up and decided to try out a restaurant my Maw Maw and Paw Paw used to love when they lived here. They used to know the owners so they went there all the time. It was neat to try out one of their favorites when they were younger! The food was really good too. They had a pig cooking out back and it smelled amazing. It wasnt NC good, but it was really good for pulled pork that we've found here:D We ended the weekend resting and watching football. Needless to say it was a great weekend!!

Friday Favorites!

Happy Friday Y'all!!! :D So glad that it's already the best time of the week. haha. 

1) The Weather- it has FINALLY started to cool off a little. And by a little I mean the humidity isnt near as bad. It's still in the 80's though. haha. But if the humidity goes away more- I'll be a super happy camper.

2) Spontaneous Date Night!- I love these nights. John had a not so great day at work yesterday so we decided to go out for drinks and dinner. The weather was amazing so we sat outside and enjoyed the weather. Then we watched most of Wall-E. :D 

3) Wolfpack win!!!- what an a-mazing game! Hopefully we will beat Maryland in two Saturdays!!

4) Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest- SO stinking good. I have about 50 pages left. I am going to be sad when it is over.

5) MY BIRTHDAY!- I saved the best for last :D I had an amazing birthday! Thanks to all who helped make it special. 

I hope you have a great weekend! I know I plan on it!

My TO DO list...

I really enjoy having a list and some goals I want to focus on accomplishing for the year. I got close to finishing it this year too! Life happens, but maybe next year I'll get it all done. I did however, complete most of it and tons of stuff not on the list, of course. :D 

First- A recap:

1) Try 5 new restaurants 
       1) Burger Brothers (Maryland)
       2) Joe Squared (Maryland)
       3) Cadillac Ranch (Maryland)
       4) Moon River (Savannah)
       5) Shake Shack (Miami)
       6) Benihana's (Miami)
       7) YardBird (Miami)
       8) Nikki Beach (Miami)
       9) Flanigans (Miami)
      10) Scotty's Landing 
      11) And many others...
2) Go see 5 different live bands
             1) Big Popa E and the E Band
             2) Live band at Scotty's landing (never got his name :( )
             3) Joel Dasilva and the Midnight Howl
             4) A few in Key West- but didnt get names
             5) Brad Gibson Band! :D 
3) Start the AFs top 100 movies (15)
          1) Gone With The Wind
- As much as I love movies- I just didnt get around to this. I blame Desperate Housewives ;D
4) Volunteer- 1)Relay for life volunteer!
                         2) Shake-A-Leg Miami
5) Run a 5k in memory of my dad (I would love to make this annual)
       -Completed April 26th!
6) Lose the rest of my unwanted weight (20/25lbs)- nope :(
7) Read 15 books
        1) From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris
        2) Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris
        3) Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
        4) Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris
        5) Grave Secret by Charlaine Harris
        6) Gone With The Wind by Margaret Mitchell
        7) Hunger Games bySuzanne Collins
        8) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins       
        9) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
      10) The Horse Adjutant by Leon Schagrin and Stephen Shooster
      11) Counterfeit Gods by Timothy Keller
      12) Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris
      13) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson 
      14) The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson
       15) The Girl Who Kicked A Hornet's Nest
8) Scrapbook our honeymoon-Completed 12/11
9) Scrapbook our first year with Carter- over the summer
10) Create a Family tree- Just never got around to is :(
11) Go Paintballing- We decided we would rather go with friends
12) Learn to Sail- went with my in laws and hubby! it was SO much fun!
13) Learn to play a song on the guitar- I should just give up. But I really do want to learn it!
14) Get life insurance- Yikes.
15) Try 10 new recipes
            1) Crab Rangoon
            2) Pumpkin Pie Cheesecakes Bites
            3) Cheesecake Mousse
            4) Pumpkin Pillows (like pumpkin wontons)
            5) Pumpkin Muffins  
            6) Baked Onion Rings
            7) Creamy Mushroom Soup
            8) Chicken Ropa Vieja
            9) Mexican Pulled Pork Tacos
            10) Asian Noodle Pasta
            11) Zucchini Chips
            -I made A TON more! Please check my blog to see the rest!
16) Attempt to brew beer- our first batch is an Autumn Amber Ale! YAY!
                                 1) Autumn Amber Ale- "Currituck"
                                 2) Honey Bee Ale-
                                 3) Nut Brown
                                 4) Apple Ale
                                 5) Pumpkin Ale
                                 6) Oatmeal Stout 
17) Send a “just because card” to 10 different people in my life
18) Find a church- We keep thinking we wont be here that long, so we have not put a lot of effort into it.
19) Teach Carter 5 new tricks
        1) Give it and Take it
        2) "UP"- he stands on his hind legs and balances
        3) Kisses
        4) "High Ten" 
        5) Say Your Prayers
        6) Find your "Steak"- starting to teach him names to his toys
20) Do 26 random things with or for John
21) Do 26 random acts of kindness for other people
22) Decorate for each major holiday in our home (start collecting items for each holiday!)       
        1) Halloween! 
        2) Thanksgiving (we just left up our "fall" decorations, since there really are not a ton of Thanksgiving decorations people leave up)
        3) Christmas! 
        4) Easter- just a little, I need to collect more things!
23) Start a card/gift collection- (you know for those times when you don’t have time to go out and buy something- I would love to already have stuff on hand!)
       -I've started! But this should really be an on-going thing.
24) Get a massage (got it in Maryland with Krystal:D)
25) Compile a book/ recipe box with all of my favorite recipes- made this in an excel sheet and it's an ongoing project
26) Add 5 new things to our State room
         1) NC State Game Day Football
         2) Johns picture (the one he took and I got blown up :D)
         3) ACC Baseball! We actually have 2 now- one we found and one signed by the entire UM 2012 team- I am sure you are asking yourself "how does this fit in to the State room? Well one day I would like to have representation from all the ACC schools and pictures with us at each school! and whatever we got when we visited.
         4) NC State Piggybank- SO CUTE! and we'll probably use it to store game day stubs or something :D
         5) NC State Coasters!- Krystal gave them to me as a gift and they are a great addition!! I think I like them more and more every time I see them :D
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I think I did a pretty good job :D 

New List:

1. Make a homemade apple pie from scratch- I have always wanted to be good at this.
2. Attempt to can something (pickles, salsa, etc)- Seems like a fun hobby.
3. Organize files (medical, dog, auto, personal, etc)- Too disorganized for my good.
4. Read 15 books- 5 of which should be considered a classic- I LOVE to read.
5. Run another 5k- with improved speed- I can do it!
6. Go fishing- I havnt been since I was little and I think would be fun.
7. Try Geocaching- I have been DYING to do this.
8. Go to a festival in Miami- I want to expereince more of Miami while we are here.
9. Start a garden of some sort- Veggies and such are too expensive. Growing would be fun and much easier.
10. Learn calligraphy- I have always wanted to learn this. No reason, just want to.
11. Get an IRA- I need to retire y'all! The sooner the better. haha
12. Complete 10 pinterest projects- LOVE pinterest. Some really good ideas on there.
13. Join twitter- I never joined because I thought it would die down. It hasnt. Time to join I guess.
14. Try 10 new baked good recipes- I want to be REALLY good at baking yummy treats :D
15. Make homemade sushi- We are kind of obsessed with sushi and it would be fuN.
16. Try 10 new hair-dos- I need a new look or atleast new ways to do my hair.
17. Create a first-aid kit for us and Carter- Safety first.
18. Go camping- I love camping. and I really want to again BAD!
19. Take a random trip with John- with no phones to close out the rest of the world for awhile
20. Kayak 5 new places- now that we have an awesome new kayak!
21. Read through and study a book in the bible-  Maybe Esther?
22. Host a theme party- This would be awesome. Maybe for our 5 year anniversary?
23. Scrapbook our time in Miami thus far- So many memories to capture- and I have so much scrapbooking stuff still. haha
24. Try 10 new restaurants- This is always fun and food is yummy
25. Sew 2 items- I need to bust out my sewing maching and use it- for reals.
26. FINISH CORNHOLE- only been on my todo list for like 4 years
27. Move HOME!- A girl can dream right? But really- I expect to live in Raleigh by my next birthday at least!

Here is to a great 27!

Another year older!

Wow, it's truly amazing how time seems to fly. I cannot believe another year has already passed! Well I must say that, I had a great birthday :D I dont mind being 27. However, it does feel weird to say. 27. Geez it sounds old- but I still feel like a college kid! haha. 

John was making fun of me for being old- as usual- but this time he said I was close to 30. Ugh. lol. Then I thought about it. I dont mind being 30- I'm just not ready for it yet. I feel like your 20's are a time to have fun, enjoy yourself, and be selfish. Your 30's are time for a family. And I am VERY excited about that stage of my life- BUT I am also looking forward to enjoying the rest of my 20's. haha. Just not ready for the kids yet. One day. 

Anyway, this weekend was wonderful. Friday when I got into work my staff had decorated my office :D That always makes me feel so special. Then before lunch they brought me a cake and sang to me. I love my birthday. haha. I ended up taking a half day after lunch and John took me out to sushi for lunch- YUMMY. We just hung out that night and relaxed and started to watch the Bourne trilogy. We had only ever seen the first one and that was a long time ago, they were pretty good! We finished 2 of 3 that we own that night. So a late night it was! haha.  I always forget how much I love to watch movies.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!!!

 I am STILL finding hidden sticky notes places. haha :D

Saturday, we watched football all day- duh. What an amazing football weekend it was too! SO many good games on! We were going to watch the 3rd Bourne, but the games were too good. And of course the Wolfpack boys pulled out a fantastic win for me ;D. John and I were holding onto each other, jumping up and down during the end. haha. It was a lot of fun. John also let me open my present from him and my family that night. HE GOT ME A KINDLE!!!!! The actual kindle isnt here yet because they are back ordered. But I got the case! haha :D AND two movies from the family: Wall-E and UP! both favorites of mine :D SO excited to watch them! and BEYOND stoked for my kindle to get here! ahh!

Sunday, my actual birthday, we had planned to go kayaking, but it rained all day. Shocker. So we took Carter and went out to lunch instead. Shake Shack (which I wouldnt normally eat at anymore because it's SO bad for you, but it was my birthday so I did!) allows dogs on their patio. So we ordered some really yummy bad-for-you food and it was AMAZING. For working at UM, shake shack also provides free custard and this weeks flavor was PUMPKIN PIE! It really doesnt get much better than that. haha I may have been in a food coma afterwards and may or may not have taken a nap :D Then it was more good football and cuddles with the husband :D I really couldnt be more happy for such a relaxing birthday. 

Birthday present to myself: I took the day off on Monday! It was awesome to sleep in. Then I got up and cleaned. lol. I had to force myself not to clean on my birthday, so it had to be done. I enjoy it though. I LOVE a clean house and it makes it easier to relax. Then I went for a run and read all day. It. was. wonderful. 

I am SO blessed to have been able to have such a great birthday :D I have an amazing husband who made it great for me. I love him so much. So here's to another year! and a great one at that! I feel like 27 is going to be awesome :D

Oh this face...

Chris comes to visit!

My little brother, who isn't so little anymore, came to visit for his birthday! He's the big 21! I feel so old. haha

His birthday and trip fell at the perfect time! NC State also happened to be playing in Miami while he was in town. So of course we had plans to go. Chris flew in late Thursday night. All there was really time for was cupcakes, since John and I had to work the next morning early. Friday, I took him to lunch on campus and showed him around some. After work, John and I wanted to take Chris out and treat him to a nice dinner. We took him to YardHouse and ate a very yummy dinner! I let John order for me (because I always end up liking his food better anyway) and he surprised me with a steak! It was amazing. and very sweet. lol. It was really nice to hang out and just catch up with my brother. We spent the rest of the night getting ready for the game the next day.  

   John and Chris at dinner

Saturday we got up at the crack of dawn to load up the car since the game as at 12. We had to run by Johns work for a little bit, so I used that time to cook the food I prepared for the game- Cheesy Brunch Bake and Prosciutto wrapped Mac and Cheese Bites. We also made some NC pulled pork to take and I brought more cupcakes. :D When we got the stadium we set up near some NC State fans- we couldnt find many at all! and the parking lot was EMPTY. These people do not know how to tailgate! We got to use our new tent too! Which was a blessing because it was SO hot out. We had a good time tailgating and were glad there were a few NC state people around to hang out with and play cornhole with :D 

It's hard to see- BUT the black bag caught in between the red bags and didnt go it- I dont think I could do that again if I tried! haha

While we were tailgating, there were some older UM fans next to us struggling to put up there tent. I went over and helped them. Later he brought me an entire cooked fish as a thank you. It was SO nice. It was however, the entire fish. lol. I found out later that he caught it himself! I love nice people. Later I took him some pulled pork and his wife loved it, so she made us some conch fritters (they had an entire fryer and huge propane tank!) and then I shared some of the mac and cheese bites. It was nice to have some fans next to us that were so friendly!! Even if they were UM fans...haha. 

The ENTIRE fish! including the eyes...lol

Anyway, the game was the hottest game I have ever sat through. EVER. I thought tailgating in Atlanta was the hottest, but this game definitely topped it. It was SO hot that we ended up watching some of the game from the consessions to cool off. The game was also terrible. I cant believe we didnt show up :(. However, Scotty McCreery did end up sitting in front of us for awhile!!!!! We talked to him for a minute and i got a hug :D Apparently, I am a star struck blubbering fool. lol. I may or may not have even told him that I loved him. I'm not even ashamed. I have now also fulfilled one of my miami bucklist items which includes spotting a star!! :D It was awesome :D The game was fun too- even if the loss was awful. I do have to say that my employees didnt even give me a hard time. They really couldnt though because they didnt play well either. We just played worse. haha

Scotty's the one on the right :D We didnt wanna bug him again for a real picture. 

GO PACK!

Sunday, we went to the beach for part of the day. Chris decided he wanted to go to the dog beach so Carter could come. lol Carter was IN LOVE with Chris and even slept with him every night. It was super cute. So we took him- he was restless most of the time and the water was kind of gross, but the weather was perfect. We played with Carter a lot, relaxed, and ate lunch. After a few hours we went back home and showered and then played games. We taught Chris one of our favorites games! Now we have another person to play with when we move home- YAY! Then we watched football and lounged around. 

Monday, it was time for him to leave :( On our way to the airport we took him to our favorite cuban restaurant for lunch, Savor Miami. As always, it was amazing. Then we dropped him off at the airport and went back to work :(.

He loves his uncle Chris!

The visit was so much fun! I also dont think that I have spent that much time with just my brother in years! So it was nice to talk and catch up and just spend time together. I miss you already, Chris!!!! (so does Carter! he's still sleeping on the guest bed. haha)