Whew!

Man, what a vacation. Chad and I have needed this more than you will ever know. Today we found out some disheartening news. My paw paw passed away last night. What do we do from here? egh. I am stuck. Chad and I went to see the Southernmost point in the USA this evening and we stood together watching the sunset and I couldn't help but be comforted that my paw paw is resting now. He wasn't deathly ill that I know of, he just grew tired and his organs began to give out. But I feel better knowing that he is resting safe in the arms of God and it won't be long and I will see him again. The sunrises and sunsets are amazing here in the Keys; it's almost like in the "City of Angels" when they go see the sunrise and you can hear singing, or music. Enchanting.

Today was a nice relaxing day. We went parasailing this morning and it was AWESOME! Neither of us have ever been before so we sat on the back of the boat and he punched it! We paid an extra $30 to have him videotape and take pictures, I can't wait to see them. He took "oh hell what did I get myself into," and "thank goodness I am not going to die" pictures. I can't wait to see my face. We were sky high and the water is so clear you can see turtles, sharks, corals and all kinds of other sea life. Words can't describe my happiness.

We spent the rest of the day by the pools at the hotel; there are four. I had the most amazing panini from the cabana by the pool. Chad was recuperating from all the scotch he had this afternoon. When you are relaxing and sitting I don't think you realize how much you have had until you stand up. I don't think he will ever do that again. I sat in the pool listening to other people; most of all the people are talking about work. It is sad that you go on vacation and you talk about work. Work is the furthest thing from Chad and I's minds. Hmmm? Yep.... Gone!

This evening after Chad had a nap we went to the Southernmost point in the USA. 90 miles from Cuba. Then we went to Duval street. We saw Maragaritaville, Cowboy Bills, and we went into pretty much every gallery we could see in an hour. Tonight wasn't the night we planned to go to Duval Street and they suck money out of you for parking so we had an hour and twenty minutes. I am more for the tasteful stores, like the galleries. I am not so sure about those stores with the " Hookahs?" Chad says in India they use them to smoke tobacco but here in the USA those lazy bones smoke weed in then. Stupid if you ask me and Chad and I are totally against that stuff so we just walked by those stores. Definitly make time to check out all the galleries, absolutely amazing!

All in all it was an amazing day and I look forward to spending more time in the ocean tomorrow at Fort Zachary Taylor. If you are home check out the webcam. We will be there! Have a Happy Hump Day!

Looks Like We're Going to Be Stuck Here For a While

So... Looks like we are going to be stuck here in Key West for a while, road closed, might have to get a job. I don't know if we will be back? Send some rum, wish you were here.

Noooo, not really. We don't have our computer with us but I figured out how to blog on my iPad so guess what, I am blogging for you!!

I have already talked to a few friends and family about our adventures here already. We have only been here for a day but we have done more here in Key West at the beach that we have ever done at any other beach. We decided after we saw the bluest of blues oceans that we needed to explore those waters so we decided last night that we would do a 30 mile tour of Key West's oceans, on a jet ski. Neither of us have ever been on a jet ski so it was an experience. With Chad's motorcycle expertise he took right to it. Did I mention that Key West's waters have been affected by the storms off the coast of Mexico? That means big waves, and us on a jet ski, INSANE! It was loads of fun and my legs are killing me from clenching to the seat!! It was amazing, we saw things we wouldn't have seen otherwise, sea turtles, C130s dropping Army Rangers with parachutes, cruise ships from the ocean, we saw where the submarines hid out during WWII, it was awesome! Don't worry I bought a waterproof camera, and I took pictures, when we stopped of course. We also saw the house from Real World Key West from a few years ago, it rents for $4500!

Since we were so mesmerized by the blue waters we have a reservation to go Parasailing tomorrow morning. We have also already been to Duval Street, Mallory Square, and Fort Zachary Taylor. We hope to go see Smather's Beach tomorrow after our Parasailing adventure. We get a discount for watersports since our hotel allows them to use the bay our hotel is next to. It helps out a lot on pricing, that's why we are doing so much, and WE'RE ON OUR HONEYMOON!

I can't believe we are married, Chad always shows me his wedding band, it makes me feel tingly inside. I am so happy. Can't wait to show you some pictures. : P

I'm Getting Married Today!!!

In less than 10 hours I will be Mrs. Chad Graham. It is going to take me some time, learning my new name. :) I am being a nervous bride this morning, thinking of where I need to be at what time, and what I still need to pack for Key West? I won't blog again until we are back from our honeymoon but I am sure I will be full of stories by then.

If you are interested we are going to meet you guys in front of one of the web cams in Key West. On Wednesday night we are going to drive to Marathon and stand in front of the Sombrero Beach Point Camera and wave at our family and friends. All you have to do is go to www.floridakeyswebcams.tv and click on the Marathon Cam (The one with the big palm tree), then one person will have to control the camera to turn to us (my sister will do this), all you have to do is click on our cam and we will be there. We are going to try and be there at 7:00pm. If it doesn't come up for you, I think you have to have a flash player. It will blink at the top of the screen asking if you want to run the flash player; it's that simple. :) Hope to see you there!

I guess it's time to quit relaxing and get to work! I will see most of you at 6:00pm tonight. Have a great week!

What Would Jesus Do?

Jesus... Have you ever seen the movie, "Jesus?" I don't know if it is nearly as accurate as "The Passion of the Christ," but it is a little bit easier to watch. It's one of my favorite movies. When I picture Jesus in my head, I picture the gentleman who played Him in that movie. I don't know what Jesus looks like, but I have a perfect picture in my head of what my Jesus looks like. I often flip to the book of Matthew in the Bible to read about Jesus and I often put in that movie to have a picture in my head.

We go through so much day to day and we complain, "gripe" and grumble but have you ever taken a look back at your life and realized how blessed you really are? Is it worth all of the grumbling? I read about Jesus, and I read things Jesus has said and I am reminded what he went through, for me, and for you. Do you realize that without him we may not be here today? Do you realize how much pain and suffering he went through? Then, how can you complain right now? You are alive, walking, breathing, and most of you don't live a very shabby life. If you are reading my blog, you are on a computer; probably your own. This also means you have some form of Internet, right? Do you know how many people live without those things in their lives?

We all have bumps in the road but we should all be thanking God everyday for the many blessings that we have in our everyday lives. Have you thanked God for that drink of water you just had? Some people don't have clean running water. What about that vacation you keep talking about? Have you thanked him for the job that you have that gave you the money for that vacation? What about your family? I know for certain that your family life isn't always the best? Everyone disagrees, even the best of relationships have disagreements. Don't annex family out of your life, one day they may be all you have. Forgiveness, also mentioned in the book of Matthew; Matthew 6:14-15, For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you; but if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Please forgive. There is no use in being against people, be the good person and forgive and move on. Your life will be so much better, and God will forgive you.

Sometimes I just get so fed up. Some people don't even take the time to realize what they do have. They spend all their lives talking about what they wish they had, or wishing they had what someone else had. Feel blessed with what you do have and promise me today that you will remember what Jesus went through for us. I can bet you it was a million times worse than the stress that you have been through this week. Kneel and pray, right now. Thank God for your life, and thank Him for giving you His life.

This Will Probably Be My Last Blog... As a Single Lady

I can't believe we are getting married on Saturday! Chad has been telling me all evening, blog, blog, blog, blog about something. What should I talk about? Lori keeps nudging me to post some pictures from the bachelorette party, hmmm? I don't know if I am up to that tonight. It was a lot of fun. 5 of us went to Strike City and it just happened to be "Island Night," which was so perfect! We bowled for 2 hours; that's a work-out. Then... We went to Beantown? It was fun and I am sure I made some memories I will never forget, hehe. Anyways, we had a blast! Jill, Lori, Korie, Tammy and I. I don't know if I am ready to post pictures quite yet, silliness! Chad's bachelor party? I didn't have anyone document that. There were 5 of them as well, Randy, Ken, Keith, Richard, and Chad. All I know is he was home around 3:30am about an hour after me. After all of that, I know we have some great friends and we thank God every day for blessing us with them.

Tammy told us she had a dream that we had a baby, and since she has been unemployed, she babysat for us? hmmm? Don't think we are ready for one of those yet! We still have so much life to live as newlyweds. Why rush into things? I will be 25 in September and Chad is 26. I think I want to be 32. 32 is a good age to have a baby. That gives us 7 years. 7 years to conquer the world! 7 years to grow our nest egg and buy a house, 7 years to have the job of a lifetime, 7 years of quiet nights, sounds nice. 7 years.

Key West... I have kind of forgotten about our trip to Key West. We have been so busy planning this wedding the past week that I almost forgot to get the suitcase out! We are doing a lot of this wedding stuff on our own to save money so it's a lot of work. It will all be worth it though. I am most looking forward to being able to finally call Chad my husband. Forget the rehearsal dinner, forget the flowers, the cake, the dress, forget all of that stuff, what means the most to me is our vow to one another, being able to call each other husband and wife. I can't wait Chad! I love you.

With this ring, I thee wed...

I am so happy to tell you that Chad's wedding band finally came today. We had his wedding band special ordered from Ireland. Since we have been tracing Chad's roots we have become more interested in Irish/Scottish history. I always told Chad I would order whatever he wanted or go to a jeweler and buy which ever band he wanted. Well... he decided several weeks ago and it finally came today. What, only 4 full days left until the BIG day. Great timing, huh? The bands are finally together. Chad bought mine months ago; Chad was a little more choosy but I think he is so excited about this one!
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His is engraved with the Celtic Lovers Knot. The Lovers Knot design is attributed to sailors and seafarer's who would weave the knot with two pieces of rope to give to their sweethearts as mementos. Pretty neat!

Happy Birthday, Happy Father's Day!

My family likes to do both together. My mom and dad were both out of town this week. Both for completely different reasons. Mom was in Beaufort for business and dad was in Texas because my Paw Paw is under care of Hospice. My mom's birthday was on the 16th so we didn't get to celebrate until last night. My dad was home in time for Father's Day but I don't know if he was happy to leave his dad, my paw paw.

Do you know what it is like to be separated from your family? The only family I know here in Charlotte is my immediate family (mom, dad and sisters). I never grew up around 95% of my family and we were lucky if we were able to see them every 2 years. It's hard and it is not the best feeling in the world. The grandaddy that I got to see several times a week died several years ago. Now we reach as far as we can to try and touch the ones that are still alive in Texas. I am getting married next week and none of my family will be there. It's hard and I am not going to say this about you but some people in the world take for granted that they live 2 hours, 1 hour, or even 30 minutes or less away from their families. I don't and when you have one who lives half-way across the country who is dying, it is hard. You cling tight to the photos of the summer you spent with them, or the long-weekend they spent with you, the pictures when you were young, and they were young, wishing you could go back to those moments.

What do you do when you are this far away? I breathe a deep breath and let out a huge sigh because from here I can do nothing. Yesterday was Father's Day and I didn't send my Paw Paw a Father's Day card. Now I am feeling regret, would he have gotten it? All I can do is pray at this point, maybe he might make it and prove to everyone what a strong man he is?

At least I got to spend Father's Day with my dad. I will continue to ponder and pray for my Paw Paw but I truly am blessed to have spent Father's Day with my own dad. Chad was able to see his dad on Father's Day. Chad and I are blessed. Sometimes, well, all the time, I pray to God that I would be just a little bit closer to my family. Right now I can look forward to a trip with Chad to Texas, next year... What will next year be like? Well, for today, I will continue to live for today. Thank you God for giving me today. What will today be like?

Key West is Beautiful Tonight!

So... Only 11 more days until we hit the road. I haven't really been able to get excited about Key West because of all of the stresses of the wedding planning. Chad and I will be in Key West for a week and then we have several days to make our trip home. We are going to explore the gulf coast of Florida on our way back. I have heard there is some killer seashell seeking to be had over there. If I lived at the beach I am sure I would have barrels of seashells everywhere. It's almost like birds foraging for food; in the end they are rewarded. So I dig in the sand at the beach and in the end I am rewarded with magnificent seashells.

Chad proposed in August of last year, it has been 10 months. We have known about our general wedding date for a long time; sure the location changed a couple of times. We always knew we were going to get married in June. I always wanted to be a June bride. Here we are almost a week away. We can't even believe how much time has flown. He will be my husband, and I will be his wife. hmmmm : ) When Chad and I are in Key West I am sure we won't even look back. We have been waiting for this for so long and it is finally happening to us. Our animals will be in good hands, and we have a house sitter. All we will be worried about will be beautiful sunsets and each other, as it should be.

If you want to see how Key West is doing tonight, check out the web cams at:
www.floridakeyswebcams.tv

End of an Era

This weekend Chad and I embarked on ending a long journey we have been on together. A lot of money was put into this journey, more than you can even fathom. We decided after long discussions that we were going to sell our 120 gallon fish tank. Since we are getting married we have so much stuff and need the extra space. We have been taking care of fish tanks for almost as long as we have been together. It was something we thought we would learn about together. It started off small and grew and grew and grew. Amazingly after taking the fish and coral to a gentlemen in Belmont and spending 8 hours cleaning everything, we sold the tank just hours after we finished. It's gone already. We thought it would be much harder to sell, but it's gone. We decided that we are going to continue to rent for a few years because we are growing a nest egg for a down payment on a house. The more we put down the less we will have to finance.

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I was so sad to get rid of Kevin and Spot. They are the fish we have had the longest. When starting out in this hobby we had a 46 gallon tank and we experienced things like ick and we never had fish for long. Once we were able to get rid of the ick, these guys have lived the longest. 2 years I think. They are my babies. This nice gentlemen in Belmont, NC has a small shop called Advanced Aquatics and he only has the best specimens and no ick. So we took Kevin and Spot to him and I know they will go to a good home.

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Now there is an empty hole in our home, a silent area which once was filled with noise. It's strange and sad but I know we will have a nice fish tank again some day. Now we will work on getting new flooring in our house; hopefully laminate. Our landlord has always said she would put in new flooring but we never could because of the big tank. After everything settles down from the wedding we will look into flooring. Now Charles has his own area. He doesn't know what to do either. I even washed the cover to his bed so now he is really confused. He's my baby too. I think he could sense my sadness. Him and Chad stayed on me all night so I wouldn't have tears. They did a good job. I would like to go see my babies if they haven't sold already. maybe Saturday.

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The end of an era. Hmmmm... What territory will we conquer next? How about an Ant Farm? I am trying to talk Chad into another bird; a cherry head conure (I posted some videos of them on my video bar). He wants one too but not this soon. I will keep you posted on that one. Thanks for reading.

11 more days! 12 until Key West!

2 More Recipes on My Learning to Cook Blog

Here is the link if you want to check it out:

http://www.learningtocook-beth.blogspot.com/

Yesterday I made Tex-Mex Spaghetti Casserole and Spicy Crab Dip, Enjoy!

Today is Friday. I should be shouting from the roof-tops that it is finally Friday but, silly retail hours... I have to work tonight and tomorrow. Jack is in the other room telling me, "Night-Night Momma." It's not night-night time Jack. Silly bird! These next two weeks are going to be crazy. I am trying to work more before we go on our honeymoon because I don't get paid vacation either; that's practically 2 weeks I will be going unpaid. We will make it. I am excited about getting away to Key West. Only 16 more days until we leave, 15 days until we say I do.

Time flies when you're having fun!

Thoughts

Do you have a favorite smell? My favorite and Chad's too in the whole wide world would be lavender. Several months ago we planted lavender in our garden. Monday it flowered for the first time, and without a doubt the best smell ever! We will forever love the smell of lavender since our trips to the Grove Park Inn and Spa. We have missed that this year. We put it on hold due to our wedding plans. We hope to get back to Asheville next spring if not before then. We are going away for Christmas together to create our own memories and our own traditions but we are going back to Key West. We haven't even been and we are already going back. How does that happen? Charlie and I are lounging at least the first part of the morning. There he is, already taking a nap, and we just got up! Silly dog!
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My showers... I feel so blessed, these special people in my lives took out the time and money to plan such pretty showers for me. I will be forever grateful. the first shower I went to was the one Chad's aunt Nancy planned (his sister-in-law took part too but she wasn't there at the time). Everything was so pretty, she had all of the colors matching, it was perfect. The games we played were hilarious, and the food was perfect. I think we were all ready for a nap by the time it was over. Jill took a picture of my tattoo; Nancy touched it by accident. It is still healing but it doesn't hurt anymore so no worries. It is perfect though, I love it!
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I had been bothering my mom and my sisters about honeymoon gifts. We have received a lot of household things but nothing for the honeymoon and we are going to KEY WEST! We have no beach towels of our own, no beach bags, we needed sunscreen, etc. So my mom blessed me with beach towels and a beach bag at this shower! Yay! We are so excited, our fund is growing slowly but surely. We found this website: http://www.floridakeyswebcams.tv/ it is awesome. We go online everyday to see the sunset, and to see how the weather is, generally. It is so cool. If you have time you should check it out. I am going to change my video bar to show videos of Parrot Key which is where we are staying, check those out too. Most people we know have never been but are hoping to go soon. I hope to provide them with lots of info when we get back.

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The next shower was thrown by my best friend Lori and Melanie! I was anticipating them both but I couldn't wait to see what they had planned because it was all top secret! It was so great! The food was great, the dessert, even better. And I think I laughed really really hard a few times, so good news, I lost weight too! hehe, probably not! My mom surprised me with an even prettier beach bag, beach towels, sunscreen, and tanning oil. When I held the towel up I didn't even realize, I kind of looked like a mermaid.
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I was also so surprised and so happy when I opened Shannon's gift, a handmade, knitted blanket for Chad and I. It was so special. We definitely passed that one around, and someone actually tried to steal it! My sister got it all on camera too. Handmade gifts are always so special. We will cherish it forever. I also received some of my china, towels, and other various things off my registry. We are so excited to finally have a full kitchen, almost. We haven't had to return anything, everything was perfect!
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All in all it was a great weekend. We have one more shower this weekend. Our church decided that they wanted to throw us a shower too, so we have that one on Sunday afternoon. I am so excited to see everyone at church. I think it will be great! This one is a uni-sex shower too so men and women will be there, I am so excited! Chad and I have been so blessed and we have been staying on top of Thank you notes. I mailing a whole stack today. Thank you to all of you who have done so much for us! We love you all!

I am alive at 12:25

I just paid a pile of bills, egh! I guess it will be ok though because when we are in Key West I won't have to worry about bills being due. I am starting to get excited. Less than 3 weeks now and I will be Mrs. Chad Brown-Cracker (Mrs. Chad Graham). I had two lovely showers this weekend and we all had so much fun! I don't have too much time to blog about it now so I will do a special bridal shower blog with pictures sometime soon. Maybe tomorrow? I am off the next two days to finalize some wedding details so maybe I will scratch in blog time somewhere in there.

I am alive at 12:25. I can't complain about my life because God has really blessed Chad and I. It's a beautiful day outside and I have 11 and a half more hours to live before tomorrow. Hope you all have a blessed day!

Check out my youtube videos in my video bar. A bulldog who thinks he's a hound, hehe.

Rite of Passage

I think I am ready to share our news about our "rites of passage." It's almost been two weeks; I can't even believe it. I can't even believe I did it, without screaming like a little girl. .

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Chad and I got tattoos to celebrate our, "union." Nooooo, we didn't tattoo our names on our butts or anything, and I can assure you Chad doesn't have my face tattooed to his shoulder or my name in a heart on his heart. We put a lot of time and consideration into where and what we were going to get. I always said I wanted a tattoo but nowhere on my body.

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Well, I decided after looking at probably a million peoples tattoos. I decided I wasn't going to get what they got. I knew I wanted to do something meaningful. I took a tinsy winsy piece of family history and twisted it into something current. I took one of Jack's feathers with me, and I took an American Indian tattoo and just put Jack's feathers in it's place. So I now have two of Jack's feathers attached by a small yellow bead. Oh yeah, on my foot. Chad and I didn't tell anyone what we were going to get. Especially me because I didn't want to second guess what I had finally chosen. Many people said I shouldn't get it done on my foot because it would hurt but they way I look at it is you are going to have that tattoo on your body the rest of your life, the pain will only last for a short period of time. So... get the tattoo where you want it.

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Chad looked into his family history; he is Scottish by the way. He chose a Scottish Highland Cross, with lots of Celtic knots and he had it tattooed on his back. We had discussed getting them in Key West on our honeymoon but I couldn't bring myself to do it. I wouldn't be able to see the tattoo shop beforehand, so we decided not to go that way. We looked into every tattoo parlor within 50 miles of Matthews. We chose Tattoo Bill's off of South Tryon. Many celebrities including Paul Sr. and Mikey from Orange County Choppers have been there. We went a week ahead of time so I could check out their setup, and I was satisfied.

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A really nice girl named Madison tattooed me. She said I did well for my first tattoo especially considering it was on my foot. It only took about an hour. Chad's took 2 and a half hours, whew! A really nice guy who has been doing tattoos for 31 years named Will or "Snake" did Chad's tattoo. We both survived and we are both proud owners of our first tattoo's.

No showers for our showers

It is a pretty day outside, the birds chirping, and warm rays of sunshine on my face. I hope God blesses our wedding day with a beautiful day like today. I have a bridal shower today, yay! All of this excitement the past few months and the wedding is just three weeks away. There has been a lot of stress and anxiety but most of that was lifted on Wednesday when my mom and I went over to the Reid House in Matthews to finally see the inside and sign the contract. After all the remodeling it is beautiful, and after all that we have been through with them they lowered the price $350 for me, yay! That $350 can now be put to good use.

I hope the showers will be a way to getaway from some of this anxiety. My future sister-in-law was unable to be at the shower she helped plan so I hope Chad's aunt Nancy isn't feeling too burdened today. We will get there early to help her out some. I bought gifts for both of them to thank them for all the time and effort they put into it but I guess I won't be seeing my sister-in-law. I will save it for a better day. I do appreciate all the work it takes because I was right in with all the planning for the one my mom and sister threw and I too have thrown showers myself. I always feel like the hostesses deserve something too because it is a lot of work! I will have to think of something special for Melanie and Lori too! We have another shower tomorrow which I am excited about too!

Everything is coming together, and it's starting to feel a little better. Ask me how I feel when I am in the car on the way to Key West for our Honeymoon. Hopefully I will feel better by then. : )

Ouch Charlie, That Really Hurt.... Charlie bit me.... Check out the video on my video bar, hehe