Weeks of FUN!

How is it already November?! I feel like time is just slipping faster and faster away from me. I have some BIG news to share!!! :D (No, I am not pregnant :D)

I GOT A NEW JOB! I was offered a job at Duke University! I will be working for the Talent Identification Program and could not be more excited :D I had a colleague that I went to grad school with contact me and tell me about the position that was open and she thought I would be perfect for it! I interviewed for it and they offered the position to me! It all happened INCREDIBLY fast. It is such a great opportunity for my career and I am really happy that I get to use my degrees again :D 

I gave my notice a few weeks ago at my current job and I will miss them dearly. I have loved property management, but this job at TIP is just not one that I can pass up.

My last day with Weinstein is November 24th,  I'm off for Thanksgiving, and then I start at Duke on Dec 1!

SO EXCITED!!!!

Here are the other things of fun :D

1) Halloween- (I did say weeks!) I LOVE Halloween! This year John had to work :( So after I got off work, I went home for a little bit and handed out candy. Then I went over to Brad's for awhile to hang out. Hopefully, next year John will be off and we can throw a party or something :D Halloween and Thanksgiving are seriously my favorite holidays and I would love to do more for Halloween than we usually get to do :D Plus, we had SO many trick-or-treaters, It's fun to see all the costumes and hand out candy to kids!

The Hosts- so silly!

Thank you Sandlot and the little Minion. LOL

2) Krystal and Josh- They came down for the week and we just had a blast! They came in late Tuesday so I didnt get to see them much since I was already in bed for work the next am. But Wednesday came and they hung out with John some and then when I got home (John had to go to work :( of course) so we went up to 42 Craft Beverage and hung out for awhile and caught up. Then we ate dinner and I took them over to meet some of our neighbors and we had a really good time. And from here on out, just about each day they visited basically deserves it's own number:D

3) Surprise celebratory dinner!-  The Thursday Krystal and Josh were, after I got off work John had surprised me by getting a lot of our friends together to celebrate my new job with me!!! We went to Tyler's Taproom and had a great time. I seriously have the best husband in the world :D 

4) State Game- Two Saturday's ago was Homecoming at State! Which is why Krystal and Josh were here in the first place. lol. But the came kicked off at 12:30- which meant we got to tailgating at like 7:30am. IT WAS SO COLD. I am definitely not ready for the cold weather :(. But we had a great tailgate! We had so much fun and after the game, which we wont talk about, everyone came back to our house to grill out. Good times! :D 

Love this girl!

John's face is priceless. lol

So serious!

Kristain and Andrew!

We met some random guys from Scotland. They flew to the US and picked any game in NC to go to and they chose ours! :D So we let them hang with us :D

5) Maryland- Tuesday, after Krystal and Josh left Monday, we drove up to visit them! haha. John and I finally got some vacation time together and we wanted to go up there and visit them again. Another post to come for sure about that trip!

6) Job Interviews! John has had a few over the past few weeks and has another this week. MAJOR prayers are appreciated for one to come through!! :D

7) Neighborhood friends- John and I have been so blessed lately! So many changes going on, but a major one is that we've met a few couples in our neighborhood! One couple in particular we have become pretty close with already and just adore them. Slowly, we are getting to know more! We also had a huge block party- which is how it all began. One of the girls in the neighborhood put an invite on my door and I RSVP'd and volunteered to help put it on. It's been wonderful getting to know these people! Everyone in our neighborhood is so nice. I really love living where we do! We had about 50 people show up to the block party and we all brought food and even had the fire department come out for the kids in the neighborhood. It was awesome! 

8) Girls night! I had my first girls night out with these two lovely ladies from my neighborhood last night! We went and got Mexican :D Love these ladies already! It is a TERRIBLE picture of me- no judgments. :D

9) And always this guy: Just look at that face! Those ears!

28 things before 29 Summary

I still cant believe I am already 29! and a whole month in. Yikes. lol This past year as been a whirl wind for sure, so of course I didnt get to everything I wanted to get to. Again, I do it just as a guide, but I'm not upset I didnt get to it all. Life happens and SO many other things have taken the place. Here's the summary and keep an eye out for the new list. 30 is a big year!!!

Bold= Complete

Italics= In progress

Red= Have not completed...

1. Read 15 books
1. Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn
2. A Midwife's Confession by Diane Chamberlain
3. The Good Father by Diane Chamberlain
4. Before the Storm by Diane Chamberlain
5. Secrets She Left Behind by Diane Chamberlain
6. Keeper of the Light by Diane Chamberlain
7. The Lies We Told by Diane Chamberlain
8. Divergent by Veronica Roth
9. Insurgent by Veronica Roth
10. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
11. If I Stay by Gayle Forman
12. Where She Went by Gayle Forman
13. The Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
14. The Pretties by Scott Westerfeld
15. The Best Yes by Lysa TerKeurst
2. Run a 10k- I have not run an official race- but I've reached the goal of being able to run 6.2 miles!
3. Run a 1/2 Marathon!! (ambitious, I know)- yea, ambitious it was. Never happened. I got up to 6.2 and stopped. 
4. Lose 15lbs- ha. I've gained weight :(
5. Go fishing- 5/7 on our beach trip!
6. Try Geocaching
7. Start a garden of some sort- It's not a veggie garden, but I do have a pretty flower bed with flowers in it now! That counts, right? It sure was lot of work. lol
8. Start an IRA- Decided to not move my funds over from my 403B- yet. :D
9. Make homemade sushi- see blog post!
10. Create a first-aid kit for us and Carter- Still need to do this one :(
11. Go camping- and this one too. 
12. Take a random trip with John- Went to Kinston, NC and Pittsboro- see blogposts for more info!
13. Kayak 5 times this year
1. Corrolla, NC
2. Neuse River, Raleigh
14. Read through and study a book in the bible- Completed Job and Ruth
15. Host a theme party- Housewarming party! 1/25/14 and July 4th party! 7/4/14
16. Scrapbook our time in Miami- not sure I'm going to do this anymore I LOVED our time in Miami, but I have it all on the blog. I dont know if I want to scrapbook anymore or not.
17. Try 10 new restaurants
1. McCall's in Clayton, NC
2. Three Olive Pizza in Garner, NC
3. Yummy Yummy Japan in Garner, NC
4. Armstrong Seafood in Nags Head, NC
5. Terrafin Station in Garner, NC
6. The Clubhouse in Garner, NC
7. Fiesta Mexicana, Garner NC
8. Kings BBQ Kinston, NC
9. Carolina Brewery Bar and Grill Pittsboro, NC
10. Simple Twist Garner, NC
11. and lots more :D
18. Try 10 new recipes
1. Chicken Stir Fry with Peanut Sauce
2. One Pan Cheesy Smoked Sausage and Pasta Skillet
3. Sour Cream Noodle Bake
4. Layered Enchilada Casserole
5. Quesadilla Casserole
6. Meatballs
7. Million Dollar Spaghetti
8. Chicken and Wild Rice
9. Goulash
10. Sushi
19. Sew 2 items
20. Re-purpose a piece of furniture
21. Landscape our new yard :D
22. Establish a cleaning schedule for the new house.
23. Make a piece of art to go in the new home- I've started and almost finished!
24. Unpack everything and find a spot for everything- yea...
25. Find a church and get involved in it- C3?
26. Fence in yard
27. Host a family dinner (both of our families invited)- This thanksgiving will complete this one- a little late, but better than never!
28. Update a calendar with everyone's birthdays/anniversaries for the year and send out cards! I need to start on this like asap for next year. lol