The best love

"The best love is the kind that weakens the soul and makes us reach for more. It plants a fire in our hearts and brings peace to our minds, that's what you've given me, and that's what I hope to give you forever..." ~Nicholas Sparks "The Notebook"

My day off, paper flowers and "Mo"

So today I had the day off. I never get Fridays off, but I did today and it was so nice. My sister moved up to Raleigh this weekend so everyone was gone. Since she's living in the dorms at NC State she can't have all of her animals so I inherited one. His name is "Mo," like a Mohawk, because it looks like he has a Mohawk. He is a guinea pig. He is not quite full grown yet so he's small and sweet. It kind of satisfies my urge for an animal with fur. So since I can't have a dog or a cat, I will have a guinea pig. He's so cute, he talks too, sounds just like a baby pig. I love his face, when he looks at you it's just, awe.... I have a new little cuddly bunch of joy to take care of. So on my day off I tried to figure out which of the bags of stuff I feed him and which time, and filling up his water bottle. He always wants attention to, so good thing I was off, so he could get better acquainted with me.
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I love to watch Martha Stewart, I don't always get to watch her because she comes on a noon time but when I am home I love to get good tips from her. About a year ago I saw her make these flowers out of crepe paper, they were so pretty. She said you could buy all of the stuff to make them at Michael's. So I went straight to Michael's but they didn't have any of it. On Thursday Chad and I went to Michael's because we were in the shopping center and I found the packets of stuff to make the flowers. I was so excited. While I was baking a cinnamon cake to take to Chad's parents for our cookout I made a few for Chad's mom. They look so real. Martha says that they don't require water, attention, they don't make a mess, and they last forever. How perfect! Sorry I don't have a real picture, I took what ones I had made to Chad's mom. I also got these cute little galvanized watering can pots to put them in. It's so cute. I have a bunch to make. I have enough for all of the special ladies in my life, my mom, Chad's mom, and Chad's brother's wife, or my future "sister"-in-law. No matter how much she hates me I still include her because I don't hate her and neither does Andy's parents. If she only knew how we felt, but she doesn't take the time to think about how her "in-laws" feel. We still care about her, none-the-less. Pointing fingers is not a way to solve anything. So I am making her some flowers too.
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We went for a cookout at Chad's parents' house Friday evening and we had so much fun. They even picked some crab apples off the tree and grilled them, how inventive! We filled our bellies to the brim so that we could sleep good because Saturday we went fishing. We had been out to Badin Lake before but this time we all explored to find new places to fish. We didn't catch much because we walked and moved around so much but it was fun. It's nice being off Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I have gotten some much needed rest on these days off. On Saturday evening we went on a hunt for my new camera. I would love to have a Canon but they are $100 more expensive and $599 is a pretty hefty price tag. So I have settled with a Nikon D-40 but get this, every place we went the camera either wasn't working or the store was closed. So I am hoping to go to Wolf Camera today because they know what they are talking about. So it's Sunday, today we are going to fly kites in Concord at Frank Liske park, then we are going to Wolf Camera. I want to be sure that this is the camera I want because it is very expensive. I keep checking the photography classes at UNCC, but they are all still full. I'll keep checking. I love photography, I would love to take the digital class so I can learn to use my new B-camera. Chad says we have to call it the C-camera because we already have a B-camera, oh poo!
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Well, now you know about my days off. They were wonderful and restful. Next weekend I won't be so fortunate because I have to prepare to go to school.
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God please watch over me, and let me get through these last couple of semesters.

Years of Love

Love doesn't make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worth while.

~Franklin P. Jones

Now that we have told our closest family and friends I can blog about our good news. While on our vacation Chad asked me to marry him. We are so excited. I don't even know where to begin. We will probably be having our wedding away just with our immediate families in August of next year. It will give both mine and Chad's family a chance to get away together and celebrate as a family. When we get back from where ever we may go, we are going to have a big party or reception as it is called. We started making a list of our closet friends and family that would make the trip and it quickly grew to over 100. Chad is a very private person so we decided to take my family and Chad's family away somewhere that they have never been and get married there. It is all about our families and we want everyone to have a good time.

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Our party... well, it's going to be big because I can't imagine cutting anyone out. I am thinking it will be just like having the ceremony with everyone because we will have a projector screen to show pictures from the actual ceremony, maybe we will get someone to video record it, hmm? It's going to be exciting none the less because I already have people recommending djs and everything. I have even had people asking where we are registered already. It has only been a week! Everyone is so excited for us, they have been waiting in anticipation for so long I guess.

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I know you are thinking, what about the ring, and the proposal, how did it happen?? Well, the ring is more than I could have ever dreamed of. I have had people all week complimenting Chad's great taste. I think I have had the question, "Did Chad pick it out all on his own?" about 100 times. Yes he did. I also had someone ask if Chad could pick out her jewelry from now on. It's not your conventional solitaire it is actually two diamonds together I guess it could symbolize Chad and I and the union we are going to make? Then all around it, it has little stones lining the band. Very sparkly. I didn't want him spending a ton of money, but I guess it's ok, I am so happy.

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Ok so the proposal, well, we had been in Savannah all day but the sunset was gorgeous that night so we went out together for a walk as it was getting dark. I have had people ask "How did he keep it a secret all week?" Well, I had some banking problems when we got there. The bank never deposited my check, yeah, weird I know. So I was a big wreck at the beginning of the week so he couldn't see laying that on me until the bank settled THEIR problem. Anyways there are these cabanas on the beach at the place we stayed and they are $60 a day, yeah I know. So we didn't rent one, but we would go visit them in the evening because they were so nice. I decided to sit down and we leaned back together and there it happened.

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I was so happy I can't remember everything he said verbatim but it was mostly, that he didn't have me wait 6 years without reason, in our 6 years together we have built a foundation for a happy, healthy marriage and that he has loved me since he saw me at Guitar Center that first day and when we played in our cheesecake at the cheesecake factory and when he put his arm around me that first night. It's making me melt as I sit here thinking about it.

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I am so happy! My family is so happy, and Chad's family, well, words can't even describe. We are so excited about the future and I can't wait to have all of you there to celebrate! I will let you know when I have more details.

R and R

This is the latest that Chad and I have ever been on vacation and it was so worth the wait. I have almost 300 pictures from our trip documenting all of the fun we had. I did get into few fights with my camera but all is good because the love of my life is buying me a new camera for my birthday. I hope that my parents will get me a tripod so I can get some better moonlight pictures. This picture to the left is a photo of the bass pond and the indoor pool area. The photo to the right is a sunset picture I took looking through the sea oats. It is currently the photo on my computer wallpaper.

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While on the beach we listened to XM Radio and I found a new love fo David Cook. I love his new song "Come Back to Me." I took the photo to the left one morning after carrying all of our stuff to the beach. The palm trees are so pretty but with the Palmettos come palmetto bugs and they are huge nasty roach thingys. eeewww! The photo on the right is of a starfish I saved. He was stranded on the sand and I pushed him back into the water. We saw a bunch of these little guys. Since there is really no slope to the beach a lot of sea creatures call this beach home. There were 1,001 sand dollars which was really neat.

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Every night that we were at the beach it stormed but it only lasted 2 hours late in the evening. It always left behind the most pretty sunset and gave way to awesome sunrises. The photo on the left is me the morning we came home. Excited to get home to Jack but still sad to leave the routine we had created. The photo on the right is Chad and I at the most pretty sunset. We were both a wee bit tipsy from he 190 proof frozen beverages we had from Frosty Frogs. In Hilton Head as long as it is concealed like in a styrofoam cup you can take it from the restaurant, so that's what we did. I believe it was 22 ounces. It took me an hour to drink it I think.

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This picture on the left is a moonlight picture when we all went fishing, Emily, Dylan, Chad and I. It looks like it is bright outside but it is just a high shutter speed which allows more light into the camera. That is my sister, getting a little tired, we didn't catch anything that night, but we had a blast together. This last picture for this post on the right is Chad and I underneath the Oak Trees at Harbor Town where the Hilton Head lighthouse is. One of our last nights out. It is so pretty down there because of all of the spanish moss. I will have more pictures for you to see soon.

The Adventures of Chad and Beth

We returned today from a restful trip to Hilton Head Island. You would think that it was in Ohio because there were more people from Ohio there than South Carolinians. The locals make a joke out of it and have tons of Ohio paraphernalia for sale. It was so much fun and we had many wonderful moments together, as a family and as Chad and Beth (The Browns). We didn't really go anywhere but we did a lot. We spent 6 hours each day on the beach (we stayed on the beach from 9 until 4 basically). We are brown as brownies, well not that dark but pretty caramel. We ate in almost every night, everyone taking there turn to fix dinner. We ate out twice, at Paula Deen's and at a great seafood restaurant called Aqua Grill. I could go on and on and on about our trip because we had so much fun and so much happened.

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After being down there for two days and realizing how much room we had my parents wondered why we didn't invite Mike and Ann, Chad's parents. It was too late to invite them because his mom's schedule is so crazy but we had room enough for 4 more people. My mom, dad, my youngest sister Emily and her boyfriend Dylan, and Chad and I were all who went. The place we stayed was so awesome. It is a time share place that was given to us for a week by one of my dad's home owners. It was so nice, they even roped my parents into a meeting about buying but since my dad is out of work they declined. The property at Hilton Head is sold out but there is a new property at North Myrtle that is just as great. They are still two steps from buying it, dad said when he gets his job back they are going to call them. It would be awesome to have a Marriott time share.

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The biggest part of our trip besides going to Paula Deen's was spending every day out on the beach. Hilton Head is a very different beach than what we're used to. The beaches are so wide, so at low tide the beach is hundreds of feet wide so if you sit too far back you have to walk a quarter of a mile to the water. It is awesome. It doesn't slope much so when the tide is high the water is still very shallow. This makes it perfect conditions for sand dollars. However you cannot take live ones from the beach, it is against the law. There are thousands of them beneath your feet in the water. When you step on them it just feels like a bump in the sand but it turns your feet yellow. The only problem I had with Hilton Head was seashells, there are none! I found a little baby jars worth of seashells, little miniature ones. Oh well, we are going to Oak Island with Chad's family, hopefully in October.

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One of my most favorite parts of our trip besides the cabana and besides Paula Deen was the lighthouse. I have a checklist of all of the lighthouses in the Carolina's and I am determined to keep checking them off, well, Hilton Head gets a check, and it was beautiful. What made it even more grand was all of the live music and all of the great boats coming in. We went earlier in the afternoon but when I saw the sunset we made a quick run back to the lighthouse so I could score some good images. These are all my own photos. I took almost 300 pictures on this trip. If you need a photographer, here I am. We did not climb the lighthouse because we were so mesmerized by the music and the wonderful yachts coming in. Maybe when Chad and I are retired we will be blessed with a beautiful sailboat to sail around the world.

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There is so much to say about our trip, so many stories to tell, but I think I will scrap them (scrapbook). I am sure you will all get to see the pictures soon. After I pay $100 to have them all developed. We made some great memories together this past week and as every day passes I realize more and more than Chad and I are meant to be. People say, you've waited six years for him? Well, those six years mean more to me than anything and we have made a strong foundation for our future together in those six years. After this trip, it is for sure now that there will be many more where that came from.

One True God

"I don't have a God I can put on a stand, or a God I hold in the palm of my hand, I have a God that's holding me. I don't have a God that I can create in the place I live with the money I make, I have a God, he made everything. So I don't need a temporary man made diety when I've got the real thing. He's 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. 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 sin that He doesn't forgive and I don't have a heart that is worthy of His, but I have a God who still loves me. So I don't need a temporary man made deity, when I've got the real thing. Who is the King of Glory, The Lord Strong and Mighty, The one true God."

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

This song touched me this morning while I was getting ready, thought I would share it. : ) Have a Blessed Day!

Beth's Day off

So I never have days off during the week, until last week. I had Monday, Wednesday and Friday off, now I am off today, Monday. hmm? I have been able to do much needed housework and spend that precious time with Jack... and at the gym.

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Oh the gym, something we all, well, most of us despise. I have been recording my weight for 21 days. I have lost 9 pounds. 9 pounds is good, I feel ten times better than I did a month ago. Changing my diet was key, I still have down days when I can't turn down the chocolate cake, or peach milkshake. But, I have tried to limit those days to one. I must be doing something right. 9 pounds in three weeks, hmm. I don't know if I would still be on Biggest Loser with those numbers but I am headed in the right direction anyways. When I tried to lose weight about a year ago, I was trying to lose 9lbs in one week and it wasn't happening so I got frustrated and quit. Now I am being more realistic and not giving up. If you're trying to lose weight, don't give up, take baby steps.

So what am I going to do today. Everyone who has a vehicle, be grateful. I have no "ride," no car, no money for a car, and no clunker to trade in for $4,500. Thanks Obama for helping my sister and not me. He's helped me other ways, I guess. When I am off I sit, at home, pondering, like I am now. The beach is three days away, that's worth something. This time next week, I will be on the beach. My Mom said something last night. Well, Dad said, "Momma, what does vacation mean?" Then Mom said, "It's when you put your bathing suit on when you wake up and you don't take it off until you go to bed." That's exactly how I hope our vacation will be. The only day we're going out, is the day we're going to Savannah. hmmm...

My goal is to catch a salt-water fish, maybe to eat. I am hopeful. You see there are these people that say you aren't going to catch dinner off of the surf. Well, I am not pessimistic like that, because, I am going to catch something off of the surf and I will have pictures to document it! I am and I will. Where there's a will there's a way. I have never been surf fishing before, but I have been bass fishing, it's not the best picture, but, I caught it, all 4 pounds of it, twice! The mommy and the daddy. And I caught a crappie. That was the best because I had never seen a crappie before. I was almost more excited about it than the others. At that time I think I had beat both of the boys on biggest fish. They didn't catch anything that day because they were too busy lifting mine out of the water! I am sorry about the quality of the photos, I took pictures of pictures because I don't have these on my computer.

Anyways, blah blah blah. Beach in three days, ohhh I can't wait. Hope you enjoyed my ponderings. I will have plenty to talk about when I get back, I am sure.