Just beautiful

I just love the romance of this table. Of course its very frou frou, but its so gorge I had to post, and anyways I love frou frou.

I am still here!

I really am starting to feel like everytime I get on here to post I'm sitting here wishing I was keeping up with my blog more regularly. I have to remember life is life and I will get around to it...eventually.
Lots have happened since I last posted. We repainted our entire living room, bought a few more pieces for the house, planted a few trees, gone to a bunch of baby showers and birthdays, and have barely had time to sit down and take a breather. Lots of life changes are upcoming and I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for them all.

Yesterday I went to my good friend Nicole's baby shower. It was adorable- tons of pink everywhere, itchy pink boas, and cakes and cookies galore. Little baby Elliott is going to be such a well dressed baby! I ended up picking her up a cute cupcake Life is Good blanket, a pink hair bow and pink socks from Janie and Jack, a tube of desitin, safety plugs for outlets, a boppy pillow cover, and a little bathing seat for bath time. Let me just say this week was my first venture into BABIES R US- Oh dear Lord I was overwhelmed! A tad bit excited to see all these baby things in one place, but most certainly overwhelmed. I must have walked around aimlessly for nearly 20mins before I felt I should start tackeling the registry. They do not make it easy let me tell you- half of everything was not where they said it would be on the registry, but thankfully I left with my few items.

Speaking of babies- EVERYONE is PREGGO! And let me tell you I hate the word preggo, sounds like the pasta sauce, but it is appropriate for the post. Lets see a list of my close girlfriends and acquaintances and those that are trying, pregnant or new moms:

Jessica- Baby Cole
Caroline- Trying
Nicole- Baby Elliott on her way
Yasmine- Baby Jaxon
Amy- Baby Braelyn on his way
Aimee- Baby Logan and trying again
Cheryl- Baby x on his or her way
Heather- not trying- one of the few

So as you can see a lot of my girls are there or on their way to baby land. I am really fortunate to have this great group so that when I become pregnant I will have a wealth of knowledge a phone call away. Now that being said I have some news....









No I'm not pregnant.






Well I am off to do the loads and loads of laundry I have waiting for me. Since Hubby is driving back from FL I plan to just putz around the house on this beautiful Sunday... maybe go for a walk. Oh and I should say I plan on losing some major poundage before I go to baby land because, well, my boobs can't get any bigger and my waist can't get any thicker and still put on the lbs for the baby. It just won't happen lol I won't let it lol So I will be joining my local gym tomorrow and I plan on picking up a scale today. If a depressing post comes after this one you will know I have faced the scale lol

Rainy weather

Its been raining here off and on for the past week and to the best of my ability I am trying to keep my spirits high. Unfortunately, luck would not be on my side. Tuesday evening while walking a friend's dog I ended up falling down three stairs- nothing major, right? Except all my weight landed on my right elbow as I braced myself. The pain- what pain?- I was seeing too many stars to feel the pain at first. Now I find my poor arm in a sling. MY RIGHT ARM!
Even turning the ignition in my car is a feat to behold.

In other news I should have new pics up of the house. We have been busy bees!

Also is anyone else having a slight girl crush on Kristin Cavallari from the Hills- she looks fab!!!

P.S. Kim spends $12k a month on her wigs? WHA THA (RHW lovers will know what I am talking about)
P.P.S. I can't wait for the RHWOrange County to begin!

Long time no blog

Well I have been M.I.A. from my blog postings, but I have been keeping up with all my favorite blogs. I love reading about everyones life and get so inspired to try new things around my house as well. My one major problem is that when I find a great blog I always forget to add it to my list- so then next time I am faced with 10mins of tracking it down lol. Oy Vey!

We have been doing a ton around the house... we are in the process of planting some trees and I have been weeding like a crazy woman... which brings me to the topic of poision oak!!!!!! O M G!

I have never had any encounter with this vile weed before- I even went all through childhood with no poison anything getting on me- until now. I am covered in the itchy red rash- I even have it under my chin. I have now used this awful experience as my get out of weeding free card. Hubs... it's all you!

We are also getting ready to paint our entire living room space (which is open to kitchen and dining room). We are getting rid of the pale nursery room yellow and painting it Baby Fawn by Ben Moore. My two aunts are interior designers and they swear by this color.... I was iffy at first, but now I think it will look great.

I also picked up this fabric (not EXACTLY the same but close) to do my dining room chair cushions in- fun, huh? Once I finish painting the room I will post pics- my new rug and the wall color will look great.

Who is the biggest loser...that would be Kanye.

So I'm sitting here watching the VMA's and did I just see what I think I saw? Did douche bag Kanye West actually jump on stage and call Taylor Swift out?! He basically just said she did not deserve it and Beyone had such a great video for Single Ladies- come on! Who does this guy think he is?Poor Tay Tay just sat there stunned. Somebody please put a muzzle on him... maybe the doctors should have kept his jaw wired shut after the accident. Sorry so harsh.. but nobody messes with my Taylor- the hubby and I love her music!

New decorating stuff

My new Chandelier from Ballard Designs with Seagrass lamp shades
I love starfish in window sills and you can see my topiary to the right. This is the window above the sink.

YUMMY! Homemade peanut butter cookies from the Amish!

Things I have to do more often....

I've been sitting here thinking of how neglectful I have been of myself in general. I seriously have not put on nail polish in over 3 months and my feet- oh Lord forget it! So as I was sitting here in a mindless stupor I was thinking of everything I should be doing for myself, and things I should do more often in my life in general..

Moisturize! (My bottle of Lubriderm is almost full still and my hands and feet are suffering)
Give myself my own mani/pedi
Call my cousins more often
Wash my hardwood floors more often... ugh these floors own me for life.
Try out the recipes I have been printing off online, watching on Foodnetwork, cutting out of magazines
Face masks
Drink more water sans crystal light (for some reason it feels cleaner w/o my beloved CL :(
Wash my car more often
Be more faithful to my self tanner instead of the sun
EXERCISE more often
Kiss my hubby more
Clear out my email... I have as we speak 1128 messages (I know-its serious-but this would be my work email-but still)
Use my Crest white strips more often
Have more dinner parties
Do more yoga
Throw away clothes I haven't worn in over a year (so.hard.to.do.- I will fit into those pants again,right?right?)

Why I love North Carolina

The hubbs and I at the spot where he proposed on the Blue Ridge Parkway

Bumble Bees!

Gorgeous Mountains

I have to say that I would trade palm trees for the mountains any day! Don't get me wrong- I love a nice beach day, but this summer it was so nice to not worry about hurricanes or deal with horrible heat. I found these pictures that we took about six months ago on the computer and got all sorts of nostalgic.... this was such a great day!

It's officially Saturday and I'm over slacking...

One of the pictures from our long week of moving in... hubby was less than thrilled- note the cheesy smile here. I'm in my "I'm going to document everything" mode haha
My furniture finally made it! And those hideous potato sacks I had up at first...

The kitchen better known as ground zero that week

Painting the fireplace- a gazillion coats of primer and paint later...

The kitchen- imagine new flooring, stainless steel appliances, and granite (I want it all now! err)

The sunroom off the house painted with Restoration Hardware Silver Sage. Very pretty!

My hubby on his new toy
Hubby and his father Jack

Peaches!

Apples!

Some of our land getting hay rolled

The view from our front porch- see the Bradford pears lining the driveway down?

More hay

So I know I have been slacking big time on putting up new pictures of our new "homestead". Honestly though- I've been so busy I can barely think straight. Busy in a good way, but busy none the less. I have yet to take some pictures of the decorating I have gotten done, but these pictures are of the first week we were in the house. It gives you some idea of what its like and wait to see the after pictures- it really has changed... A LOT. I should say though that I am NOT happy with the Buttercream yellow I bought from Restoration Hardware... totally too pale. It's of course perfect for a nursery, and I think my good friend Nicole (who's having a BABY GIRL!) might paint her walls in the nursery that color. Besides my paint debacle I have returned my Restoration curtains twice... and I think finally I got the right color and texture. I will post more about those suckers later....

A yummy Saturday.

We bought a yummy white chocolate raspberry filling cupcake from Sweet Cakes to share- so good! I have a thing for cupcakes, what can I say?

Barbee Farms=great fruits and veggies!

Today was such a nice day if you don't count the fact that I had to wake up at 6:30am to go feed the horses (at the local barn I work at every now and then). I got home and woke the hubbs up and we headed out to the Davidson Farmer's Market. Tons of fresh veggies and I love the fact that you can buy organic farm raised beef, pork, and poultry there as well. We ended up buying some hot italian sausage from a little farm about 30mins away from us as well as buying a cupcake from the local cupcake bakery. I came home and promptly jumped back in bed for a nice 3hr nap. Nothing like a Saturday, huh?

Devorah Rose and NYC Prep

I know, I know... NYC Prep just might be one of the lamest shows on Bravo, but like a junk food addict I can't not watch it. These little-excuse the language- rich bitches are beyooond. Seriously, PJ or BJ or whatever that kid's name is will probably look back on this show and cringe from mortification once he passes through this immature materialist stage in his life (or if you watch the RHW he may just end up as an adult on one of those shows lol). One thing that fascinates me is this girl Devorah Rose who keeps showing up on these Bravo shows. Granted she is the face and editor of Social Life magazine, but her interest in PJ or BJ or wait it just came to me.. PC is crazy. Isn't she like 26 years old? What is she doing being all up in a 18 year olds biz anyways? If I step away from my bitchy self at the moment I might think she is just really sweet, but then her voice comes into my head, and I doubt there are few things I hate more than people that talk like her (ooooooooooh, hello goooorgeous..::kiss kiss smooch smooch:: Oh My God in that either Malibu barbie talk). But then again I may have fell for exactly what she wants because here I have been reading up on her and finding out what her whole deal is all about... oh the perils of reality tv..why do you suck me in?

Today's Musings

This print above is from Sugarboo designs- love, love, love them muah muah muah (channeling Teresa from RHWNJ lol) I'm thinking of putting one near my kitchen- I have a wall that needs something different.

Hello again blogging world! Oh, how I have missed you! Seriously- I have just spent the past two hours mindlessly checking all my favorite blogs and some I just recently found that I am so in love with already. We have spent much of the past month working on the house and it is looking great- however I am notorious for my unfinished projects- and I have a lot of them them around here! I realized just how much "junk" we have and I already have bags to drop off at Goodwill.

But all in all it is more than a blessing- its a miracle what a great house we have found- our little piece of heaven.

On to a new note- would I be seriously suffering from a bad fashion decision if I purchased a pair of Uggs? I really do not care how much my husband hates them... they look soooo comfortable and I am already picturing myself in them this winter. My most recent purchase has been a pair of black Hunter rain boots- so comfy for all this wet Carolina weather we have had lately.

My parents are in town so tomorrow we are heading out to the Metrolina... a huge flea market in Charlotte. Now I finally have a house to decorate! Watch out fleamarket patrons.. I'm on a mission for a distressed hutch and may plow over you to find it! (No, but really, I hope I find one :)

What a strange journey this has been....

For some reason I do not know why I called this blog by that title, but it was the first thing that popped into my head and I think sometimes you just go with your gut on certain things. I guess it truly has been a strange journey... we went from Dan being laid off, buying a house (yes, I know, but we can swing it- although it has been very stressful), and we are now living in the country... and I mean the country lol. We really love it though! Its everything we ever wanted.. a big farmhouse on 3 acres with rabbits in our yard and horses next door. We have great neighbors too!~ But one thing I want to stress is that although I have always rode horses and loved the country, I never knew how great it could really be..
You see to give you a little information about the road we live on I have to start with our neighbors, Mildred and Kenny Wiggins. The road we live on is called Wiggins Rd. Kenny's father was the first to bring power lines down here and they farmed cotton and wheat where our house is now. They are 80 years old. See where I am going with all this? We moved onto a road that had more roots than the old Carrigan farm down the road. I love being a part of this history now- this is where passing down your land to your kids means the world to you and where neighbors invite you over to sit a spell. Granted big "city" things are merely 15mins down the road (Target, World Market, four star restaurants etc), but once you drive out here you make it to sweet tea sippin and slow talkin country life. One thing I still cannot get over is that we actually own a tractor- a tractor! Omg, I mean really O M G. Even as I write this I still can't believe two preppy kids are living out here and driving around a big orange tractor as old as dirt. This has been quite an adventure already and I can't wait to plant roots of our own on Wiggins Rd.
Friday night we had everyone out for a small get together and it was great. We invited our horse trainer neighbors next door who are luckily our age and have the sweetest baby boy named Cole. It was a lot of fun and was nice for all of our friends to see the new homestead. I can't wait to have some more parties out here- its a great place to get as loud as we want and not worry about our neighbors right on top of us. I will post some new pics soon of the place- I just got internet out here so I am on major catch up duty!

House updates coming soon!!!

So as I type I am literally COVERED in paint- with some nice streaks of primer in my hair. We closed on the house on Wed. night and have been working on it ever since.... I'm taking a quick break to go see My Sisters Keeper with the girlies, but I will be sure to post new house pics soon!

WW and my guilt. A very honest post.

So I have been not wanting to post this for the past week because I am completely out of control! Ever since I last posted of my 1.8lb gain I can't seem to kick my ass into gear and get back on the bandwagon. I don't want to make excuses for myself, but we are closing on a house this week, Dan is interviewing like crazy (nothing yet, but a 2nd interview on Thurs), and we BOTH had a major fall out with my mother (it could be a novel seriously- that will be a separate post).
Ugh I was so proud of myself and now I feel once again like an out of control food addict. I know everyone tells me not to be so hard on myself, and I truly do not go around whining to everyone about this so my blog is my only outlet. I know the issue with my mother is seriously affecting my eating habits. She was so pissed off she flew off to Boston for the week (thank God because Dan and I could not take anymore) and is flying back in tonight. Subsequently I have already had TWO- YES- TWO huge handfuls of those chocolate covered peanut candies called Goobers. I don't even really like them ! lol
I think what I am going to do is go in and talk to my WW meeting leader. She is in her mid 30s and seems so down to earth and cool. I actually didn't even weigh in this week because I knew how bad it was going to be...
Sorry for the debbie downer post... I have to get on the bandwagon and putting my eating out there into blog world makes me feel some what accountable for my diet. Thanks for listening!

My Papi

Our Father Daughter Dance.

Happy Father's Day to the best papi around. He just got back from business in China and he's pretty jet lagged, but I am dragging him to the Lazy 5 ranch to go pet all sorts of wild creatures lol. My dad has been there through thick and thin with me and has taught me how to be strong (well try to be) and successful (I'm trying I promise! lol).

I'm so glad to have him.

New Tunes!

So I decided to make a quick post every so often about new music I add to my ipod. I love to read about what other people have on their ipods and I get great ideas to add to mine as well. I always read my magazines suggestions for new tunes, but unfortunately nothing is really great. I love when you are working out or sitting out at a bbq and a great song that comes on that you really love and is so unexpected.
Recent purchases include:

Use Somebody- Kings of Leon........ Love this guy's voice! Mucho sexy.

Falling Slowing-The Frames......... I saw a dancer dance to this on SYTYCD and loved it.Very delicate and pretty!

Dirty Work- Steely Dan....... I love listening to old school songs while working in the house or the yard- it brings me back to my childhood listening to my parents music.

I Love College- Asher Roth..... I only really dig this song when I've been drinking... its a love hate relationship.

Fade into you- Mazzy Star...... Sexy. Enough said.

GRACE or coincidence???

So I have tell what happened to me today. The real point of the story happens at the end, but as a teaser I will say this truly will be a day I will never forget.

So to set the scene I was driving home from the barn this evening around 7pm. The road that leads from the barn is two lanes and VERY curvy. I travel this road normally speeding between 50-60mph (speed limit 45mph) and tonight was no exception. Out of no where this old school blue Integra comes up to pass me on A CURVE!!!!!!! I seriously thought I was seeing things as he must have been going 85mph. As we rounded the curve we both saw an oncoming car in the opposite lane. I literally had to slam on the brakes so he could squeeze through without slamming head on to the car. I laid on my horn and was downright pissed and shaken by the whole incident. I thought to myself this guy must be drunk because not even a sober stupid kid would try that move. I tried speeding up enough to keep him in view, but he was going so fast he was out of sight within mere seconds. I decided it would sound stupid to call the cops since I did not even have a license plate number.
A few miles down the road I went to turn on my blinker to take a left when I saw THE BLUE CAR flipped over on the side of the road! I was shocked as I almost felt like I knew this was what was waiting for me at the end of the road. I quickly drove over and ran to the car. It was completely totalled and the kid was crawling out of the window. He had massive head trauma.
A neighbor who was mowing his lawn came running over and said he had heard the crash and had already called 911. The neighbor was so shaken by the sight of this kid he just started nervously picking up the mangled pieces of car that were strewn everywhere and repeating that the ambulance was on its way. As much adrenaline as I had going through me I managed to stay calm and be assertive with the kid not to move as I knew he must have had neck injuries as well. The kid reeked of alchol. I felt a feeling of total anger and sadness ... it was like watching a movie or an ad for MADD. The kid's whole left side of his head had nearly tripled in size and his fingers were completely lacerated.
Soon the ambulance came as well as the kid's cousin who he had called from his cell phone. In all this confusion and mayhem he had told me this was the 4th car he had flipped. I truly wanted to smack him right there, but I did fear it wouldn't help the head wound he already had going on.
As the paramedics looked at him I backed off and waited with the neighbor and a cyclist who had saw the accident as well. Suddenly I looked up and noticed a mound of mulch which was nicely planted with shrubbery and in the middle was a 8ft wooden cross. You know the amazing pictures people send you in your email- this was exactly that.... It made every hair on my arms stand up. Just as I noticed the cross I looked over and the kid's cousin was pointing to the cross. We both caught eyes and I just simply nodded my head. After taking out three mailboxes and flipping three times the car landed up right right in front of this cross and within about four feet of it.

Later as the kid's cousin walked up to us the cyclist mentioned how lucky the kid was to be alive. The cousin simply looked at the cross and said it was grace.

Tonight was one of those moments in life where you feel like you were meant to be somewhere at that exact moment. I was meant to be there with those people and that kid and see that cross.
Now I will be the first to admit I am not the most religious person and normally lean more towards the agnostic side of things, BUT and this is a big BUT.... this just seemed bigger than any of us at the accident scene. I drove away with the word grace in my head...could it really be God's grace or just a mere coincidence? One really has to wonder.....


Disclaimer** I am so exhausted Im not even going to read over this post... if I have mispelled or seem incoherent I apologize:)

Lovely day on the lake...other than flashing people.

So Dan and I took the boat out for a great jaunt around Lake Norman. I was so excited to get back to working on my tan! Of course that brings to mind why I hate tanning when you have high lights that turn almost platinum in the sun! I had to wrap my tank top around my head so I wouldn't end up looking like I came off of some Vh1 reality show. Seriously I looked like I had a turban on my head most of the day (yes I forgot my hat), but I just came to grips that it can't get any blonder without looking like a bottle of bleach was dumped on my head. Then we decided to take a dip in the water- everything was great until I was coming up the ladder and my bagged out bikini bottoms fell down to around my knees. The TRAUMA of it all lol!~ But seriously if anyone knows how busy Lake Norman is on a weekend day you know that my buttocks was on show for about five boats around us. I ended up freezing in place not knowing whether or not to fall back in the water or continue climbing into the boat with my full moon. I quickly scammered up into the boat because I didn't want to go through the whole scenario again lol
Ok enough of my hair trauma and wardrobe malfunctions- the day was absolutely beautiful and we ended up coming back home and making a great dinner. I did a stir fry of green, yellow, and red peppers with mushrooms and chicken over Jasmine rice. We then decided to take a ride by our property. We seriously must drive by it three times a week. We close on the 23rd and feel like it can't come soon enough.
p.s. Did I say seriously enough in this post? lol

WHAT?! You are kidding me, right?

***Disclaimer: I apologize for the caps ahead of time***
So yes this post did merit the title. I'm totally bummed! I went to weigh in at my WW meeting tonight and I was dreading it... I have been traveling for the past four days on top of being completely stressed out with a house closing coming up and getting by business straightened out (Even though I THOUGHT I ate decently this past week- I only had one pretty fattening meal- and that was my meal I give myself once every two weeks for a treat). So I tell the woman how I'm dreading getting on this scale and you know how you give the person on the other side the whole story about how you thought you were doing good, but maybe you weren't, but you are praying the numbers aren't going to kill you. The numbers DON'T LIE. But what was truly shocking is after I got off the scale I asked if I had gained, and the woman politely said "you are slightly up." So I walk out the door (I skipped the meeting as I was late for a movie night with my hubbs) look at my numbers and DIE. LITERALLY DIE (in my best Rachel Zoe voice) Can someone please explain to me how I gained 1.8 pounds back?! Ok so I was seriously thinking maybe .5 might be appropriate, but 1.8- is this a cruel joke? Hubbs was so good and supportive and was telling me it was either water weight or maybe my treat dinner really did do me in (my Pad Thai was so spicey it was down right giving me heartburn as we were eating it- God, looking back was it even worth it? lol) or maybe because my hormones have been all out of whack since changing pills (I know I know...TMI) But I told him not to make excuses for me. I had slacked. I had not been measuring to the T like I should and lets not take into account all the "bites" I took of his food.
So I'm back to 5.4 lbs instead of 7.2lbs. Well, that settles it. I am going to get all Weight Watcher nazi on myself and get back on track. My goal is to lose not only the 1.8lbs I gained, but lose another 2lbs. I will let you know how it goes... ugh the suckiness that will be my week.

GAS give away!!!

So can you believe someone was smart enough to do a giveaway with a gas card?! Of course we all love beauty products and preppy stuff, but this is so practical and I'm so happy someone out of the goodness of their heart is doing a give away like this and thought to be so smart about it! Please check out Shasta at My Blonde Reality- her blog is a daily read and she will inspire you with her honest and sincere posts! P.S. Here is the link- Check it out!!!

Restoration Hardware

We have the closing for the house on the 12th (next Friday- yikes!) and I'm already scanning the home decor magazines. One thing I know for a fact that what I do not want to do is make paint mistakes like I have in the past. Our previous house (which is now our "rental/investment property" aka nothing is selling in this market any time soon) had nearly four different colors in our master bedroom (by the fourth one I was just over it and kept it lol). We did finally fine a living room color that we love by Ralph Lauren called "Wicker Matt" and its a great creamy pale butter yellow. I'm thinking I will probably do light yellow in the living room of this house, except it has to be exactly what I want as the house has catherdral ceilings and if its a color mistake - it will be a BIG color mistake. I might do a nice crisp khaki too.... I also love all of the Farrow & Ball colors... although its so hard to get a hold on the paint... its only sold in exclusive stores or you can order for a gazillion dollars lol I do plan on buying small sample colors if I can to try it out. I am currently in love with the above Restoration Hardware colors- I would love to do my whole house in them- I think they are pretty designer chic!!!

Magic Bullet?

So I received a Magic Bullet food processor for a wedding gift and it has ended up in my kitchen cabinet never being used (I actually think my hubbs is using one of the colorful rimmed plastic glasses as a doggy kibble scooper lol). I'm now itching to try it out.... If anyone likes their magic bullet please let me know and any tips/recipes would be greatly appreciated!

True love

In the beginning... yes I had very dark hair for awhile.
I love him.

On our honeymoon in Boston at the GORGEOUS Langham hotel.

In Marblehead, MA.

Cute hair babe lol

Half of the family.

True love.

I decided this morning over coffee that I wanted to make a little bloggy post about my hubbs . He is my true best friend and the best husband a girl could ask for... He always brings home flowers if I'm feeling down, writes me the sweetest cards, always gives me a bite of his food first (when I'm stuck eating salad), makes sure to plug in my cell phone for me at night so I don't forget, and makes me coffee in the morning just the way I like it (it takes a slight art to get it right lol). He really is so perfect for me and I'm so happy to have him, and in consideration of this I decided to post some of my favorite pictures.

Tonight Show

So I came across some really cute blog backgrounds and decided to finagle (am I even spelling this right?) the blog, but alas you can see what happened.... It was a sad moment and I was just so darn frustrated I decided I couldn't deal with it tonight.. I will deal with it tomorrow (in the voice of Scarlett O'Hara)I'm just too tired and I think I'm just going to watch Conan's debut on the Tonight Show and see how he does... I must say so far the new stage/ studio whatever you call it is pretty spectacular- and I do have to say Conan's hair is even higher than before! Really what wonder hair spray does this guy use..him and Rihanna.. for real!? I don't really have an opinion on Conan, but I will miss Jay Leno. I'm used to falling asleep to his stately chin every night lol.
In other thoughts, Dan and I are still closing on the house on June 12th (if our mortgage lady can pull off this quick closing- the sellers decided they wanted to go on vacation a week early and push up the closing- much to our mortgage lady's dismay). We just cannot wait to be in our own little home on our acreage and start our own family. As much as I love my parents- we just need our space desperately and cannot wait to unload all of our stuff that has been sitting in boxes in the lake house garage. I'm going into full blown decorating mode and will make sure to post some pictures asap.

5.2 lbs!

So I have a quick happy post to make--- So far I am down 5.2 lbs! How exciting is that?! I'm pretty happy to report that the weight watcher's diet has not been hard to follow- except for the one week during the month that I feel like I could eat a truck load of Peanut Butter Panic ice cream lol. I have been so busy I haven't been putting much into the whole exercise thing... which I thoroughly do plan on turning around, but so far 5.2 is so good! I'm a happy girl!~

Pretty

This Alice + Olivia dress is so pretty! I love anything in the mint pastel color and I love that it hides all flaws lol Pair this with a silver clutch and heels and it would be a great date night dress or even a pretty outfit to wear to a spring wedding. I found this dress at chickdowntown.com.

Its been awhile....

This was 8hrs into the ride and we look a little rough.. getting RESTLESS much?!

Driving into West Virginia

The lake where Dan spent his summers...Sylvan Lake.

So life has been crazy these past two weeks. Crazy in good and in bad ways. I guess because I am trying to be optimistc I will start with the good. Last weekend Dan and I made a spontaneous road trip to Indiana- Yes- I said Indiana- meaning 10hr car ride from Charlotte to a little hole in the wall town called Columbia City. You see Dan's grandfather is 94 years old and I have never met him. He sends us Christmas and Birthday cards like clockwork and out of the goodness of his heart always includes a little cash. After talking with Dan's father, Jack, we heard Grandpa S. was having to move out of his townhome into assisted living. We decided that we needed to go up and help Jack move Grandpa S. and also meet some other relatives that were unable to make it down to our wedding. Let's first start off saying that I was in a slight bit of culture shock once I arrived in Columbia City. I am not joking when I say when you are driving all you see is 100 acre farms, then the old farm house, and then another 100 acre farm. There was only a Dairy Queen and a Pizza Hut... and those seemed like the hip places to hang out for all the teenagers. Bloggers I tried my best to stay loyal to my weight watchers diet, I even booked it to the local Walmart to stock up on Smart Ones, but alas the Pizza Hut salad bar was my demise (but I'm back on as of the day we got back into town).

So not much happened the entire weekend we were there.. just helped move Grandpa S. into his new little apartment. I did get to see my first Amish horse and buggy though- let me tell you I was so excited to actually see this that I was nearly hanging out the car trying to take pictures of them troting by lol.

Ok so now on to the horrible, awful, depressing, maybe worst thing that could possibly happen to us. Dan lost his job.

Yeah, for real and totally not kidding and I have been bumming about it since last Wednesday. SO much so that I couldn't even bring myself to write on this blog since it seems like most blogs I read are so cheery and I thought this post would just bring anyone down that read it. Well, I realized that this blog is for me to get my thoughts out there and cover the good and not so good of our life. So here we are... our family of two has now joined the ranks of the unemployed. The whole situation was entirely fishy and the guy who made the most at his position ended up being the one let go. Dan has worked for Home Depot for the past few years and was in their management program. He had just been promoted to Department Head and his 5 yr plan was to become and store manager (for real the SM make close to $80-100k). The whole story of how this came about could equal about 5 blogging posts, but I will spare you all. Dan has an interview with Lowe's tomorrow so we will keep our fingers crossed. All I can say, and it might sound biased, but Home Depot lost a seriously good employee and a damn good future store manager. Hopefully Lowes will scoop him up. I have to keep thinking that everything happens for a reason, that there are not accidents, and that maybe there is a reason we live so close to the Lowes headquarters and we are living in LOWES country? I just have to keep telling this to myself. I guess we pick ourselves up and keep moving forward, right? Ugh if only it was easier to do than say. So I'm putting this out into the blogging world as well since I know Charlotte people read this blog or may come across it... if anyone knows ANYONE at a Lowes store or in management or if anyone knows a company looking for someone with management experience please get in touch! Thanks to everyone and anyone who read this and all my blabbering. Its nice to have a place to put it out there.