Renaissance Festival Wedding?

Chad and I went to the driving range yesterday afternoon and we came home to the silliest message on our answering machine. It was my friend Lori saying that there was a contest at the Renaissance Festival where you could win having your wedding there in a couple of weeks. Hmm... You think I am not going to try? Chad and I are all about spontaneity, this would top all spontaneous things we've ever done. Well... besides getting married in Las Vegas. At the end of her message she said that she was really looking forward to our Renaissance Festival wedding. (Photos courtesy of royalfaires.com). We always go two or three weekends each year to the Renaissance Festival. Oh how I would love to be a traveling artisan. We have made friends with a few of the artists there just from going every year. Chad tells me every year how we should just get a season pass. I'll never forget the years that they had Boo and Brew. They would sell tickets for this one night when they would open at 7pm until midnight for halloween. It was so much fun, a lot of people dressed up in silly costumes, plenty of beer to go around, and shows with a "loose cannon" as they say. It was 30 degrees that first time we went. It was soooooo cold! But we had a blast. They haven't done it the past couple of years because of rain. When it rains at the Renaissance Festival it gets so muddy.

10 more days and we can finally go to the Festival! We can spend all of our money and have a great time in the process! Actually for this weekend only if you have a coupon you can get in as a couple for $20. That is a deal because they are normally $20 a piece. When you get there you have to delight yourself with a visit to the Cappuccino Inn for a warm caffeinated beverage. Then you go and see your first choice of shows which usually for us is Don Juan and Miguel. After that you mosey down the lane to visit some of the artisans and hear the harpist. You just have to make it by 11:30 to see the Jewels of the Caravan for their first show. They are the best belly dancers you will ever see! Then at noon you have to go and see the first Joust. After that you will be ready for a Turkey Leg, and you have to have one of these if it is your first time! You can wash it all down with a margarita or a beer. Make sure you bring your id because there is plenty of alcohol to go around. You absolutely have to go see Dextre Tripp, he is amazing! He does crazy things on a rope! You also need to see Drums and Drones, we've bought a couple of their cds because the music is so relaxing. We love Celtic music! Don't forget to see the glass blower too, we always go say hello to him and buy something to support him. You could go see the second joust but there are so many other shows that it's ok to miss this one. Just make sure you see the joust to the death because it's pretty fun. It makes for a long day but it is worth it. Chad and I usually stay until they close the gates on us at 6. If you get a chance to go it's so much fun, something different to do in this sleepy town. It goes on from October 10th- November 22nd. You may spend $100 there but it is a $100 well spent!

Tests, Golfing, and Trying to Keep My Sanity

So tomorrow is Test 1 in my Business Law class. I feel like I know my stuff but you just never know? Sometimes you go into a test and think "Hell yeah, I made an A for sure!" Then you don't do so hot. So I am going to carry my business law book around in hopes I might see something I didn't see the first time that might help me on the test. Since I go to UNCC now this whole test thing is a little bit different. If the classes were large at CPCC most of the time you took your tests in a testing center. This is a little bit different. Since there are thousands of kids that go to UNCC compared to CPCC I guess you just take your test in class with the 399 other kids. My first Accounting II test was interesting. 300 calculators going at the same time, you can guess how I did on that test. I was pulling my hair out! I think my Business Law test will be a bit better because there are no calculators involved. But there are still close to 400 people. Whew! I have been doing a little better with my anxiety and my hair isn't falling out as fast. I bought a new Pantene Pro-v shampoo that is supposed to help with breakage and falling out. We'll see how it goes.

Chad and I have picked up a new hobby that has been longing for us. A way to take out stress on something, a golf ball actually. Chad and I have been hitting golf balls around. We found a really good golfing range and golf course off of Providence Road called Charlotte Golf Links. We went yesterday and it was a lot of fun and relieved a lot of stress for me. Actually I hit better with a 3 than I did with an actual driver. I was hitting the ball almost as far as Chad. Golf is an old past-time for Chad. He used to go everyday and every weekend with his friend David so he's pretty good at it. He tells me I have a good swing that I just need a little more practice at not digging the ground up. We're hoping to go and actually play 18 holes one day but our weekends are pretty full.

This weekend we are going to the Gamecocks game on Saturday, and helping our neighbors move on Sunday. Then the following weekend we are going to the Renaissance Festival, I work Sunday and then on Monday we are going to the Biltmore House. So maybe the weekend of the 17th we will be able to play a round. I think my dad is going to go with us, we offered to pay his way as a part of his birthday so I hope he'll go. He's really really good and he's played most of the golf courses around Charlotte, so maybe he'll have some good tips for me.

Once I get through my test tomorrow I think I will feel a lot better. I also have a meeting with my advisor about my "future" which should be interesting. I think this is the part when I need to tell them what I want to do the rest of my life. I will let you all know what I decide, it too is something that has been plaguing me. But I think I have made up my mind, we'll see what my advisor thinks. hmmm? Then we're going to hit more golf balls, yay! Hope you all have a lovely week!

Welcome Christmas

Welcome Christmas, what? Today is September 23rd, not December 23rd. Oh well, I guess that's what I get for working at a Hallmark store, for 7 years. Christmas for 8 months out of the year. Good news is that this year I learned from some mistakes and have finished our Chistmas shopping. Yes I said it, we finished our Christmas shopping with the exception of Hickory Farms and those few items that don't come out for a few more weeks. Chad and I, for the past few years have been waiting until we get our Christmas bonuses to buy presents. At the end of last Christmas season I bought big containers and started filling them as I found things for people. It is going to make this Christmas that much easier and Chad and I can use our bonuses on that new TV we've been saving for and on our wedding bands. We felt like waiting until the last minute only made things more stressful so why not buy things through the year as we travel and as we go places and skip the whole stressful Christmas shopping part. When Christmas comes we can enjoy it with our families and we can do the thing I have been waiting to do for so long... Buy our wedding bands.

I don't know what I would do without my lovely friends at Hallmark. They are making this wedding thing so exciting for me; always asking questions and providing advice. It makes me so excited. They are all such good friends. Tomorrow we are making a trip to Asheville for Hallmark Christmas open house convention. Melanie, Shannon, Barbara and I are making the trip. I am so sad my bestest bud Lori couldn't come. Maybe we should have planned a little better. I will bring her back something special. Look what happens to us when we see Christmas stuff, look at Shannon's face! I don't think our faces will look like that at 7:30 tomorrow morning. We'll make it, and I will take some pictures for all of you to see what Hallmark is up to. I hope you all are getting ready for Christmas, before you can say Merry Christmas it will be here. Enjoy fall while it's here but make sure you get in on some of those end of summer sales before they're gone. Once they're gone it's full on Christmas for everybody. I will have awesome fall pictures from Biltmore in a couple of weeks. We are also going to the Renaissance Festival that weekend too. We have another coupon if someone wants it. Two tickets for $20. The tickets are usually $20 each so it's a very good deal. If you have never been, this is definitely something to see. And 2 for $20 you can't beat it. The coupon is good for opening weekend October 10th and 11th. Let me know if anyone wants it.

Go Gamecocks!

Our weekend was incredible. I think I took a nap for 4-5 hours on Sunday trying to recoup. We went to the Gamecocks' game Saturday night. Let me just say that I would go to a college football game any day before I would a pro game. We had front row seats to the Panther's game a couple of weeks ago, and let me tell you, NO SUPPORT, AT ALL! You go to a Gamecock game and the stadium rumbles. It holds almost 90,000 people so if you get one side screaming GAME and then the other, COCKS, the stadium moves. It is unreal, unlike any other sporting event I have ever been to. We left the house around 1pm, the game didn't start until 7pm. We got there around 2:30pm. Yes, I know, 4 hours of tailgating, and it was awesome. There is no team like the Gamecocks I have to say. Check it out. When you get there, there are all of these zones fenced off. They all have names, "The Coop," "The Touchdown Zone," etc. Not just anyone can get into these areas. You have to either have a "Cock-a-boose," or a parking place. These parking places cost $15,000 each, the "Cock-a-booses," anywhere from $250,000-500,000. These tailgating areas are unlike any I have ever seen. We have been Gamecock fans for almost 10 years now. My mom's business owns a "Cock-a-boose," and several "Touch-down Zone" parking places. We had plenty of places to roost for 5 hours, and there was plenty of food to go around. If you ever get asked to go to a Gamecock game, do not turn it down because it is so awesome. Starting about an hour before the game, every 15 minutes they play the rooster call warning that the time is drawing near. We were so excited by then. When you hear that sound it's like it runs through your blood, excitement comes over you and you can barely sit still.
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We were lucky enough to get 50 yard line seats for this game. It is all free, we didn't pay a penny, except for the t-shirts we bought. It's all paid for by my mom's company, pretty sweet. We never know about seats until we get there. But, since we have touch-down zone parking there are huge big-screens under the awning there in case we don' t have seats. But, this game we did. We played Florida Atlantic, which is not a well known team but it was still fun. We had a lot of fun leading up to the big game. My dad snapped this shot of this little girl enjoying a Corona, not really but it looked like it, hehe. We had a pretty good time tailgaiting this time because we were celebrating my dad's birthday and my sister Jill got to go. She always seems to be the life of the party. I think she had too much to drink at Childress so she laid a little low at the game. Usually there are a lot of recruits hanging our at our cockaboose so there's not much room inside. But there were no recruits there that early so we got to enjoy our food in the cool air. It was nice getting in out of the hot sun. Otherwise we stayed outside of the caboose underneath a tent to see all of the activities going on outside the stadium.

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Game time finally came around and it was time for "Cocky" to reveal himself. I think he is the coolest mascot! They have a huge unveiling of him at every home game. He's hidden in a black box that shoots out smoke, and then he pops out! The team shortly follows him. This is the best part of the whole game, besides the winning part. There are just no words to describe how this stadium feels, it really shakes because of all of the excitement. It was a good game, we played poorly in the first half still with a lead but we came out in the second half full of force beating FAU 38-16. We had a great time and can't wait for the next game. Unfortunatly we can't make it to this weeks Thursday game against Ol Miss but we are going to the next one against South Carolina State before facing Tennessee. I am so glad my parents brought me up as a Gamecock fan, I don't know who I'd be without being a fan of college football. I am also glad Chad took to it almost 6 years ago, because then where would I be? Who knows? All I know is this is one of the many things we agree on, and I am glad of it.

The Harvest

Much to my surprise there were many grapes still on the vine at Childress but you could tell where they had already been. They picked, I don't know 7 bins full just for the grape stomp. When we arrived I was so surprised by how pretty it was decorated and I couldn't help but run through my mind how pretty it would be to have our wedding there. The band was there warming up, they had candles lit, service people there to help, and plenty of wine to go around. Now don't think we are changing our minds now, it will just be a very nice Plan B. I just wanted to say that it was lovely and I would tell any of my friends.... Shannon.... to get married there because they throw a good party and the food was spectacular. This harvest party was much like one of their pairings parties, where they pair some of their best wine with food. You visit 6 or 8 different tables, to try 6 or 8 different wine and food pairings. At the harvest party they featured Mr. Childress' red varietals. I think they were all very good but the first station was my favorite which was"Pinnacle." If you ever get to Richard Childress' winery/vineyard, make sure you taste his "Pinnacle." It is a very full-bodied red wine with a mixture of Cab Franc, Merlot, and Cabernet Sauvignon. It has some cherry flavors with a spicy smooth texture. Try it next time you go! I think if you do his signature tasting you get to try it, which is $15.

Once you make your way around and taste all of the wine and food you get a free glass of wine out of all of the ones you just tried. Then they had little stations set up around where you could try other things they have, such as the wine-a-rita which was wonderful. You have to pay for every glass after your free one which was ok because we just ordered bottles after that. The band was great, they were called "The Plaids," I would hire them in a second for our wedding because they played awesome music. Don't you think it would be so much more fun to have a band rather than a DJ? I don't know? Maybe it's just what you prefer? We really liked these guys, we might hire them because they were awesome! My parents kept saying we shouldn't stay all night because we have a long day tomorrow but we couldn't help but stay. Plus... I wanted to stay for the "Stomp." I had been awaiting this moment all day, to finally get to stomp the grapes.

That time finally came too, and they had two ladies dressed up as "Lucy." It means something to them because their grape crusher is named Lucy, she's not real, it's a machine I mean. Soooo many people wanted to take part in this momentous occasion. I thought a lot of people would sit out because they didn't want to get their feet dirty, but boy was I wrong. I quickly pulled off my shoes and got in front. I was one of the first ones in, and then more people piled in. It was so weird, having grapes beneath your feet, ewww. Squishy and then little rough parts, and then sticky. I just couldn't believe that's what they used to do back then. I mean I could think of a lot of different ways, oh well, I can now say I have stomped the grapes, yay! Before anyone r got in, when we were all down there alone, we tasted some... and you wouldn't believe how sweet they are. No wonder they have such good wine, they have awesome grapes!

We all went back upstairs after I had my stomping fix to hear more of the band. Nothing could have prepared me more for what happened next. My sister was a little wild when we got back to the band. She had us all dancing! She was dancing with anything that had legs. She danced with an old man! CRAZY! At one point they played a Journey song and we were all dancing with our "significant others" and she was all alone, so she invented the "circle dance," where we all get close and dance in a circle, all 5 of us! We had a newspaper person from the "Triad" taking pictures of us, pretty hilarious! Maybe we will dance like that at our reception, one big circle! My sister was so silly, she even went up there and grabbed the microphone herself. The band wasn't up there but she didn't care, it was so funny. We had such a good time, great food, great wine, and great friends. I would recommend to anyone to try and go to one of their parties because it is so much fun. Worth every bit of our $25 each.

I can't wait until we get married, we are going to have so much fun in Las Vegas. If Vegas is half as much fun as this was, I will be happy. I know it will, probably just the bachelor/bachelorette parties alone will be just as fun. I can't imagine the wedding part of it. Then we get to come home and throw a huge shindig. You can bet there will be some Childress wine there. I hope you all will be there to share in our joy!

Childress Winery and Vineyard Annual Grape Harvest

My birthday was last Friday September 4th, whooo! I am officially 24 now. The lady at Costco tonight told me I was too young to buy alcohol, I told her to take a second look, yes, 24! Mean old lady. Anyways, almost my whole family was gone on my birthday weekend, so sad when that happens! But my wonderful Graham family took excellent care of me on my birthday. A few months ago, Chad and I and my parents made plans to go to Childress for the harvest of the grapes to celebrate mine and my dad's birthday. My dad's birthday is on Monday so perfect timing. The shindig at Childress is on Friday, it costs $25 per person and it is going to be great! Food, Wine, Music, and they let whoever wants to, stomp the grapes. Of course they don't make wine like that anymore but it's going to be fun, and perfect place to use my new camera. I was missing my family on my birthday, not to mention I had no birthday cake, so this is going to be a great way to make up for missing them. I will definitely post lots of pictures.

It's going to be a long weekend. I have school from 7:30am-12:30, work from 3-9pm, then I rise and shine early Friday to work 9-5pm then mom and dad and Chad are picking me up from work to drive to Childress which means getting home late. Then Saturday I rise and shine early again to be at work 9-1pm then mom and dad and Chad are picking me up at 1 and we are leaving for Columbia for the football game which doesn't start until 7 so needless to say we will be home really late. So I am hoping on Sunday I will get some resting time. I think I exhausted my future "mother-in-law" today when I told her our plans. I am exhausted just talking about it. But, it's going to be tons of fun, I hope the Gamecocks can pull out a win this week after the stressful game we played last week.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your week and I wish all of you a restful weekend!

Wedding Planning Bliss

Today I had my first bite of wedding planning bliss; I went to look at wedding dresses. I didn't really know what to expect so I went to the place that is advertised and people talk about, David's Bridal. There is a very large one across the street from the mall so that's where we went. My sister Jill accompanied me, I know I can always trust her opinion.

As soon as we walked in we were greeted. I filled out a paper with all of our wedding details so they would know who else would need outfitting. I didn't really know what to expect but my "helper" or salesperson was very nice and she knew about all the dresses they had. All I brought was a magazine with a few "dog-eared" pages. I didn't know if I should take my spanks, my strapless bra, or my slip? They actually provided all of that for me which was nice. They gave me a "Bridal" packet with some samples and a catalog of all of the dresses. She helped me every step of the way. It helped especially when she brought me some of those heavier ones. She just lifted it over my head like it was a feather. My sister took some photos of the ones I liked best, so far. I can't really post them though because Chad is one of my frequent blog viewers, Hey honey! I want him to be stunned when I walk down the aisle. I think he had an idea of what I wanted but my vision has made a 360 since I tried them on today.

It was so much fun and I look forward to my next wedding dress-a-thon. I am going on Wednesday with my future "Mother." She wants to check out Belk's sales for a dress and then we are going to go look at more dresses for me at someplace different. It is kind of hard planning it because Chad and I are always together so I have to plan it on days when he's not with me. I am sure all of my closest pals, you know who you are, will get to see photos of the dresses I liked best. It's so exciting! If anyone has any ideas of places around here, please let me know.

Day Trip

Today we decided to take a break and go outdoors. Those of us who live in Charlotte are very lucky to be half-way from both the beach and the mountains. Well... I guess we're a little bit closer to the mountains? We got up this morning when our bodies were ready to get up, about 9am. We had a nice breakfast and then we packed up the car for our "day trip." My birthday was last Friday and to treat myself, the week before I bought myself a Nikon D-40. I have been so busy with school and work that I haven't had a chance to take any really good pictures with it. Today was going to be that day. We decided to head towards the mountains. We didn't know where we would end up, we just knew Asheville was about 2 hours away. We usually take 321 to 40 but today we took 74 "around the bend." I didn't like it as much because you go through Gastonia, and Shelby and some other little towns. A lot of stop and go. My favorite part about going up 321 is once you get past Hickory it's like the mountains appear, and it is always so pretty.

Oh well, we didn't go that way but we still had fun. We saw some places we had never seen before or hadn't been to in years. About noon-time we made it to Lake Lure. It was so pretty. I was surprised because there weren't that many people there. I guess it was kind of like the calm before the storm because once October comes the mountains pretty much become a zoo. I don't know if Chad had ever been to Lake Lure but it's been about 10 years since I've been there. I think once he saw it he started planning his fishing trip there. You can rent motorized boats so I think he was thinking it would be perfect for he and his dad. Chimney Rock is also right there by Lake Lure and goodness it's been probably 15 years or more since I have been there. Probably when I went with girl scouts. It is actually $14 per person now to go to Chimney Rock. Crazy! We might do that excursion when we go in October to Asheville.

Since we vetoed Chimney Rock we followed the river a little bit until we found a clearing. By clearing I mean clear of people. There were a lot of people picnicking by the river. I wanted a place to set up my tripod to take slow exposures of the river. I got a few neat filters from my future in-laws for my birthday, a polarized and UV filter. When I was photographing the river the polarized filter made a huge difference, you could see the bottom of the river through my camera, just like polarized sunglasses. See the difference? The photo on the right is polarized and the one on the left is not. Pretty neat!

We had a great day together. We were only gone for about 5 hours. We got a lot of vitamin D and a lot of exercise. I can't wait until October when we get to go to Biltmore. Since Chad and I have been together, ohhh about 6 years, we venture to Asheville every year. This year we will have gone twice. We usually go in the spring. Since we might be going to scope out Vegas this coming spring we figured we'd do our trip in October to be sure we don't miss it. I don't think we have ever been in the fall together, to Biltmore I mean. We've been at Christmas, on Christmas actually, and then in the spring. So this will be fun, and pretty, I am pretty sure the colors will be changing by then. I am sure I will have plenty of pictures to show you. It's officially 1 month from now, we are leaving on October 12th. What a great day this was!

My fiance'

You know when you start back to school after a long summer break it's always hard trying to get back in the groove of things. I guess I assumed after 3 weeks I would be well into my groove. But I wasn't and I am not. Working almost full-time with Christmas almost in full swing and taking 3 harder classes at a new school, is all kind of getting to me. Don't get me wrong, I am going to make it, it's just taking a little more adjusting time than I thought.

I don't think I would be as sane without the love of my life, my "fiance'." It's so funny saying that because we have been together for so long it just doesn't seem real. He keeps me from going insane through all this. I only have to work 9-5 on Friday and then I am off Saturday and Sunday so I picture us having a great weekend of relaxation. I wonder if he has figured out what I have planned for Saturday? We are going to ride up 74 towards Asheville to hunt for waterfalls. Now that I have my great camera I haven't even been using it. I haven't really had the time, but I am hoping on Saturday we can find some great NC waterfalls. I will definitely post some photos when we go. We are going again October 12th when we go to the Biltmore house with his parents. I love fall, I know it's not officially fall until September 22nd. But I am ready to welcome it.

My fiance', (I love saying that), got more front row seats at the Panther's Game for Sunday, in the end zone. He asked his brother already. If his brother doesn't go, I guess I will be second choice. But if he does go, I am going to look for a wedding dress. I don't know if there is a season for wedding dresses or not but I am hoping it might be the off-season, which might mean good deals? I am thinking $150, I think that's fair. Tommy Bahama has a "dress" that I am considering if David's Bridal doesn't produce one I like. I think it will all become more real to me when I put the first one on. If anyone wants to go with me, I am hoping to go Sunday, the invitation is open. I love all of this fiance', wedding stuff. Did I tell you? I am having my bridal portraits done at the Biltmore next April! I will keep you all posted on my wedding happenings. Especially you Bojo. : ) luv u

Stress Relief, Where Are You?

Where are the friends when you need them, where is the money when you need it, where is stress relief when you want it most? This weekend I was hoping for a chance to let loose and relax but it didn't happen. Online accounting homework, due, Online calculus homework, due, wedding contract, due, due, due, due, due. When does it ever end? This wedding stuff is lingering over my head and no one seems to understand. They want you to sign your life away to them and then pay them loads of money. I think I want to enjoy the fun part of being engaged before I sign all my money away. Our wedding is ten months away, what will a couple more months of making them wait for my money, hurt? None, I say!

I am so stressed out in need of some serious stress relief. You know I tell these things to Chad and he just doesn't understand, like most men, I hope. It's like he thinks it all just happens, no stress necessary? Well, plenty of stress I think. Trying to get a family of 15 a couple thousand miles away for a wedding. It doesn't just happen I can tell you. It's making the beach look much more nice. But, in a few months I will revisit the contract and the reservations, and the money and maybe I might feel a little better? Maybe there won't be as much homework due, and maybe there might be more money in my bank account?

I have all of these great stress relievers sitting around and it's almost like I am ignoring them. I have a new camera, one of my favorite things to do. We have a PS3 and one of the most fun games out there "Little Big Planet." I don't know why I can't relax. I don't know what my problem is. Is there anyone out there that understands? I am so tired and stressed. I think I need someone to Hail Mary me out of this before I go crazy.