It's going to be a long day

I have had a long week already. I had a huge exam yesterday that consumed the past few days for me. But, it's over, thank goodness.

Today Chad and I are taking somewhat of a road trip when we get off, to Greensboro. We needed to pick up a Christmas gift or two so we thought we would head up that way. I know it's crazy, on Wednesday at 4:00pm traveling all the way up there for a Christmas gift?? Well let's just say it's something we have had in mind for a while. It's going to be great! We are knocking out the Christmas gifts right and left. Maybe when Christmas comes we will actually be able to afford our wedding bands. That would be a relief!

I hope you all have a lovely day! If I can get through work, I will be having a great day!

Jumping out of my skin

A couple of weeks ago we found out some exciting news and have been sitting on it for a while. Or at least to me it seems like it's been a while. Things are progressing and we are hoping to have definite answers this week. Well, it's all very definite, but timing is key now. I am still a little leery of broadcasting online because we aren't for sure yet but hopefully in the next week or so we will at least have some photos. We just keep crossing our fingers and praying to God. We are ecstatic more and more as the days pass. This will truly be an act of God if everything goes as planned. I can't wait for you all to be excited with us because this has been something Chad and I have only dreamed about. God blesses us everyday and I praise him right now.

"I don't have a thing that I got on my own. I don't have a care that I carry alone. But I have a God, who's carrying me. I don't have a sin that He doesn't forgive, and I don't have a heart that is worthy of His. But, I have a God, He still loves me. So I don't need a temporary man-made deity, when I've got the real thing, I've got the real thing. The Lord of all the earth, the Maker of all things, He alone is the One True God. Kingdoms rise and fall, but even through it all, He remains the One True God."

Words and lyrics from Mark Harris' "One True God"

Lazy day

Chad and I have been going non-stop for a long time. I work 80 hours a week, basically with school and my "full-time" job. Chad is in his busy season at work so he's been working extra hard. I have been going through some stressful situatons so we have been escaping every weekend to some of our favorite places, Biltmore, Renaissance Festival, Gamecocks games, etc. We go non-stop all week, and then all weekend. Well, this weekend we had a choice, busy, busy, busy, or lazy, lazy, lazy. Well, as you can see we chose lazy. It's actually pretty awesome. We work too hard not to have a lazy day every now and then. It helps me get some much needed housework done that I can't do when I am so busy during the week. You don't know how much I wish I could have a day off during the week to myself. Those days don't happen much for me. Tomorrow we were going to go to the Balloon Festival in Statesville but I spoke to a Balloon man and he said the weather is probably not going to coopperate with the balloons tomorrow. So we decided to stay home and have another lazy day.

We are going early in the morning to my sister's induction to the honor society at Johnson and Wales. Then we are going to do our wedding registry at Belk's. I am hoping right about 2:00 and I can get in an afternoon nap, I don't see those much either. We have been enjoying our lazy weekend. Chad had a dental procedure on Thursday so he has been recooperating from that. His teeth look beautiful now. It's hard to believe you can erase 15 years of not going to the dentist. He is very lucky. Don't forget to take lazy days to yourselves. I don't know about you but I cherish those days just as much as the busy fun days away from home. : )

The Leaves Keep Falling

We live under about 8 big oak trees. Big oak trees equal about a zillion leaves. Our wonderful neighbors moved out a couple of weeks ago so we get to take care of the yard 100% now. I don't mind at all, it's actually kind of fun, until you bring in the zillion leaves that come to visit this time of year. I decided that we would rake our yard once a week until all of the leaves are gone. It's worked out pretty nice because we always have a pretty yard, not a leaf-covered yard. The trees return a favor to us when it's cold because they're like insulation to us , our vehicles are never covered in frost because of the trees. So... I guess it's ok that we have to rake every now and then. They keep our plants and house warm in exchange for cleaning up after their waste. People are saying we didn't get much of a fall this year, well, I don't think it's over yet. You have to have a few cold snaps to get acclimated to the chilly temperatures. I still think it's fall! I am going to enjoy my pumpkins and my mums for a little while longer.

This past weekend we helped Chad's brother and sister-in-law celebrate their 1 year anniversary. Time flies when you're having fun I guess. It seems just like yesterday that we were preparing for their wedding. They invited us out for dinner, hmmm? Maybe it should have been the other way around. I wish I could have invited them but then I would have felt obligated to pay for their meal, and goodness knows I don't have that kind of money laying around. I wish we could have though, maybe one day we can make up for our shortcomings. It was a lot of fun none-the-less. We went to a modern meditteranean restaurant at Southpark called M5. It was a beautiful restaurant and the food was just as good as the restaurant looked. I would recommend anyone to go there. We gave them one of our nifty pumpkins. I bought a couple and painted them a while back and people like them so much I have been painting them for everyone. Just give me a shout and you too could have a spider covered pumpkin. : )

I hope you all had as lovely a weekend as we did. We are looking forward to the weekend ahead. We play Vandy on Saturday which will be a lot of fun, and then on Sunday we are going to the gem-mine and Annual Hot-air balloon festival in Statesville. I hope you all have a great week! Cheers!

The love of my life and the Biltmore

Chad and I have been together for almost 6 years now. People look at us as a married couple and have looked at us that way for a long time. We don't really fight to speak of, we live together(for 2 years) and we have been sharing our assets for a long time. But I don't look at us as an old married couple. Our relationship is full of so many wonderful surprises that most relationships don't have. He still gives me butterflies and he still does those little things that make me fall in love all over again. The other day I was studying rather hard and I don't think I had gotten out of the chair I was sitting in for 2 hours. When he got home from work, he made me hot cider and brought me homemade vegetable soup. It meant everything to me. I love those days when he brings home flowers for no reason or just decides spur of the moment he wants to take me out. The busy life I have, he seems to do all the right things to keep me sane. I think we were meant to be.
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Saturday was not a good day for me. I had been looking forward to it for a while and all of the ends just didn't meet. Chad's parents cancelled due to illness and his brother and sister-in-law didn't come either so I was bummed. I feel like I have to work extra hard around them and when they didn't show up it made me feel inadequate to some extent (I understand their reasons but even still). Everything ended up fine, just that initial burn bothered me. We had a great time at the Renaissance Festival, we laughed, a lot, and he just kept reminding me of our little secret and it kept me upbeat and happy. It's the little things he does that mean the most to me. Like the wonderful day he gave me at the Biltmore.

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On Monday we went to the Biltmore house, and we had a blast. People keep reminding me of the rain, but Chad and I weren't bothered by the rain at all. We still hiked, saw everything we wanted to see, and did everything we wanted to do. And even though I didn't get nice sunny pictures of the mountains... When God closes a door he always opens a window, even though it was raining God still gave me great photos. This is the first time we have been able to come in warm weather, but guess what? It was in the high 40s. I think that's colder than when we went in the spring. It was wonderful. We didn't venture from the actual Biltmore property this time, we explored everything around the house. My favorite part of this trip was being able to see the four new rooms that opened. My favorite was the Nursery. It was beautiful and the coolest thing about it was they had a whole floor sitting area showing you how they went about restoring everything. I have to say I don't think I will ever get tired of the Biltmore, and we only have to travel 2 hours to get there. There were people from Wisconsin, Texas, Minnesota, New Jersey. And it is basically sitting in our backyard. We should all be happy, having such a place in the state we live in.

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Now that the Biltmore has become so popular you have to make reservations to get in the house. You have to pick a date and time, and a lot of times there aren't times available on dates you chose. But thankfully there was a 9 o'clock available for us when I made reservations. We went through the house in about 2 hours. We don't usually eat at the "Stable Cafe" but this time we decided it was a must. Most people think it's too expensive but the price was comparable to eating at a place like Olive Garden. Not too bad. We filled our bellies, Chad had a beer specially brewed for Biltmore and I bet you can guess, he loved it.

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Once we were full we started out on our journey around the estate. We were the only brave ones. But good thing because no one obstructed the view from my camera. Everything was so pretty despite the rain. We hiked to the bass pond this time. Chad wished he had his pole with him, but I think it is restricted anyways. We were able to get at least one good picture of us. I was hoping for some engagement pictures but the weather didn't cooperate. Can you see the flower Chad picked for me? It's in my hair, a pretty pink rose. That was probably illegal, but it's the thought that counts. One of my favorite parts of the day was seeing the Italian water gardens. Last time we were there they were working on them. This time they were blooming and full of life. I got some great photos of koi. Chad wants to frame a few for our bedroom. You can see the raindrops on the water, pretty neat. This was one of my favorite photo opportunities. I've told Chad for many years that when we buy our first house I want to put in a Koi pond. I guess we just have to buy a house first.

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Our day together was wonderful. It worked out since it was fall break and Chad's vacation days just got renewed. I think he has almost 4 weeks of vacation days now, so one day wouldn't hurt. The rest we will probably use for our wedding and our honeymoon. We're probably going back to Biltmore for Christmas too (by the way they were putting up Christmas trees while we were there, the fake ones). We're probably just going to buy a season pass this time, that way we can go whenever we want for a year, for free basically. We're going to do the Segway tour next time too, in hopes of better weather. It was a fun journey as it always is, and it was even better having my soul mate by my side.

Work, Date Night, and the Renaissance Festival, then... work again...

Unfortunately like my lovely fiance' I don't get to work 7-4, or an 8 hour shift, every day, 5 days a week. So last week I worked Wednesday all day, Thursday I went to school 7:00-12:30 then worked 2-9pm, then on Friday I worked harder than ever from 9-5 which amounts to about 19 hours I think, Lori too. So needless to say, oh wait I worked Monday too, all day and on Tuesday I went to school all day. But, anyways point being I deserved every bit of fun I had over the weekend. On Friday night my "fiance'"(I love saying that) treated me to dinner which was so nice after my long day. We were given some great news on Thursday but things aren't for sure yet so I am not disclosing any information. I don't want anything to leak out too soon. But it made our weekend, I think we celebrated... well, all weekend and on Monday(today).

Saturday we had plans with several people to possibly go to the Renaissance Festival. We were ready at 8am but the only person who made it was my sister, she always makes it! Chad's parents unexpectedly couldn't come and we never heard from his bro. We had a hearty breakfast out and were there at 10am when the gates opened. Chad and I have a routine when we go to the festival but it all went to hell when they started drinking alcohol. We made friends with so many people even the King and Queen! It was a lot of fun trying to describe Las Vegas to them because it is before their time. They wished Chad and I well. It was so special, they stopped just for my sister and I. My sister introduced herself to a lot of people including the town drunk, he held her hand for a while and was actually calling her "Britney Jill" so after that she referred to herself as "Britney Jill." It was freaking hilarious. She also made friends with the booger man. I don't think that's what he is but he told us he likes to pick his boogers, and he's green. His name is "Gilly Do." He loved my sister, I think he even tried to kiss her at one point. My favorite part was when we met Maximilian the knight who jousted earlier in the day. He was so handsome and so tall. My sister has been coping with her recent breakup, and I think he made her feel so much better. He was gorgeous!

We had so much fun! We stayed out there from 10 until 6pm. We met the tree man and he talks this year, usually he is mute, but he was very friendly to all of us, he even posed for a picture. We saw six or more shows, including the joust. We supported all of the traveling artisans by buying some of their art. We didn't even buy anything for ourselves, we spent all of our money on others. It was all wonderful and we are going back at least 2 more times we have marked on our calendar. Our sole purpose for going was for my sister. She needed this more than anything and we are happy to say she had a blast, so mission accomplished!

Oh, I forgot to add the Gamecocks won!!!!!! So that's 5-1 for us, and we are ranked 22nd! Go Gamecocks!!! I had to work on Sunday so we relaxed Sunday afternoon but today we went to the Biltmore house and it was wonderful. I will blog about it soon, with lots of pictures too!

No news

Just a typical Chad, Beth and Jack week. Work, play golf, study, go to school, work, study, take pictures, play outside, work, study, go to school, you get the point. Nothing exciting happening so far this week. I am recovering from my weekend illness. I feel a whole lot better this week, thank goodness because we're going to Biltmore on Monday. I have really been looking forward to this trip. We haven't been when it has been warm in a long time. I have seen some photos on News Channel 36's website of the mountains, and it is all just beckoning me. The photos here at the beginning are photos from people around Charlotte that have been to the mountains this past weekend. The colors are looking pretty nice.

Chad and I are going to get some engagement pictures made at the Biltmore. Nothing professional. We didn't hire someone to go with us. I will post some when we get back. We have planned to tour the Biltmore countryside this time. We're going to hike to the bass pond, and go see our groundhog friend that we see every year when we go. It's always cold about the time we visit, either at Christmas or in early March for spring break. So this year I think we will be very comfortable and able to do a lot more. I promise I will have plenty of pictures to share. You know me, I can't go anywhere without my camera. I only have my Nikon now. Sadly I passed on my Olympus digital pocket camera to my future "mom." She has been struggling with her camera for so long. Since I bought my Nikon I have no use for my pocket one, so I gave it to her. Chad paid $299 for it new about 3 years ago. I think she will get great use out of it. Sad to say I won't be able to hide my Nikon in the Biltmore. I will try to get some shots on the patio at least. See you all when we get back!

So much for fun

On Friday morning I set out to have a great day and to have a great date night with my fiance'. I headed to work and all was good. I tried to finish some jobs I had started and my boss and fellow sales associates noticed all the work I had done the night before. So my day was going great, everyone was happy and we were getting a lot of work done. I put out a lot of fall candles the night before but I had 2 shelves left and I decided I would go ahead and put out some Christmas ones. Well it was a bad idea because one of them set me off on a sneezing frenzy. The sneezing never stopped and then my nose started to run. Oh great! Let me just say that today (Sunday) I am congested, and uncomfortable. I have gone so long without a runny nose accompanied by a sinus infection. I guess it's time. Maybe my body is trying to tell me something. Maybe it's telling me to slow down? I work too much, and I don't have a lot of down time. No time to watch TV, no time to go shopping, no time to see friends, no time to watch Twilight, no time to do anything. I work, study, go to school, sleep, work, study, sleep, work, work, work, a neverending cycle.


I hope that next weekend will break the cycle for me. On Saturday Chad and I have plans to go to the Renaissance Festival with his parents but it might get pushed back to the next weekend. Because... The Gamecocks are 4-1 now and they play Kentucky next Saturday at home. Chad doesn't want to miss this game. So we are hoping that his parents will join us at Williams Brice stadium to see our Gamecocks slaughter the Wildcats. They haven't been with us to a game since they saw the Arkansas game three years ago. I work on Sunday for our infamous Ornament Debut. Then on Monday, the day I have been waiting for, for weeks. We're going to the Biltmore House!!! Yay! We're actually on fall break on Monday and Tuesday and I am off both days so hopefully it will be a great time for me to relax, and hopefully I will be feeling better by then. I bought my own insurance policy before the start of this school year, so at least I know I have good coverage in case I need to go to the doctor. But for now I will lay in the bathroom floor against the cold tile with my tissues in hopes that the stuffiness will go away.

Date Night

So I have been looking forward to this day all week. It is quite possible that I have had the week from hell. I know I have a job, Praise God! and I know I have a fiance' who is actually in the country but inevitably it still became the week from hell. I will spare you all because I don't really want to relive all that happened this week so you are off the hook. No long drawn out stories today. I will talk about how happy I am to be free this afternoon. I do have to work today but I am so happy that I am free from schoolwork tonight. Finally I can go out with Chad and not be lethargic. Sometimes I have these very long long long days, school at 7am then work, then I come home and Chad wants to go to the driving range. Sometimes I feel like I just want to lay on the cold bathroom floor and conk out but I go with him anyways. I hit two baskets worth of balls then I am really ready for bed. But I forgot who is going to do the pesky homework that creeps up after that? Oh well, not today, no homework, and we're not going to the driving range tonight.

We are going to do leisurely things, like walking the mall, having dinner together. Maybe tonight I can finally let loose and leave school and work behind for the time being. I will come back to it on Monday. Maybe I will have a glass of wine and then put the corks in my nose. This is the kind of night I have been waiting on. Sure it makes me look silly, but I need silly, I need laughs. So.... Itinerary for tonight, FUN, LAUGHS, SILLINESS, and above all DO THINGS THAT MAKE ME HAPPY, not stressed out and tired. I am excited now, countdown to Date night 8 more hours, can I make it?