Pacific Northwest bound

We fly out to Portland in less than 48 hours...I'm so excited!!!

Here are some possible souvenirs to bring home that I'll be keeping an eye out for while we're gone:

1) I won't be bringing it home, but you better believe that I'll be having a cup of coffee at the 1st ever, original Starbucks! What should I have...hmmm?

2) Oregon has more than it's fair share of vineyards & wineries...a bottle of Oregon red wine would be a nice souvenir!

3) Powell's City of Books-the largest bookstore in the world is in Portland...I'll definitely be there (probably with a Starbuck's cup in hand!). I'll probably have to buy a book there just to say I did!

4) I have a new interest in pottery. Several stores in & around Portland have pottery made from the ash of Mt. St. Helens...how neat!

5) We'll definitely be hitting up Pike's Market while we're in Seattle. They apparently have great local crafts so who know's what awesome treasures we'll find there!

6) There is a lot of Native American history in the Pacific Northwest. We'd like to pick up another handmade totem pole replica to add to the one we bought in Alaska.

7) And best of all...I plan to take hundreds of pictures to capture all of the amazing thing we see. Pictures are the best souvenirs of all.

Pacific Northwest, here we come...

apples galore

Chris picked nearly all of the apples from our apple tree on Monday. It seems that there are about 30 lbs. of them thus far! We knew we had to do something with the ones he picked before we leave for Portland this-coming Tuesday. So, today we made 14 jars of delicious apple jelly. It was a lot of work, but it will be worth it!

On other random notes:

-We got almost 5 inches of rain from tropical storm Hanna in about an 8 hour time span!

-About 3 or 4 weeks ago I treated feet & my back to a pair of these Dansko clogs to wear to work. I cannot tell you the amazing difference it has made throughout the day. They were well worth $105!

-My parents wanted to buy me a cedar chest for my 25th birthday. It's something I've wanted for a long time. To make things easier as far as delivery with the distance we are from home, they gave me $ to pick one out. I went yesterday & ordered this beautiful chest. I can hardly wait to pick it up when we get back home from vacation!

-We leave for Portland Tuesday at 6 p.m. We're so looking forward to it!

-Last week I bought Randy Pausch's book, The Last Lecture. It's so inspiring. I think everyone should read it!

Think that's all for now. I'm off to continue the packing process!

dental woes & my burn...

At my 6-month dental check-up 2 weeks ago, my dentist found a decay in the next to last tooth on the upper right side of my mouth.

I went last Tuesday to have it filled. About 1/4 of the way into the process, the dentist stopped to take x-rays of the tooth pulp telling me that it seemed like a deep decay. She said I might need a root canal...ahhhh. So, I sat freaking out in the chair until she came back from looking at the x-rays & said that it was deep, but not to the pulp. 2 hours later...I finally left, but with only 1/2 of the filling done.

Needless to say, I was less than pleased. It took until about Saturday night before I could stop taking the extra strength Tylenol & could chew on the right side of my mouth.

Of course by then Monday rolled around & I had to go back for the 2nd 1/2 of the filling...wahoo. It was far more painful than the first, but luckily today it's feeling much better & I can officially chew on the right side of my mouth.

All in the midst of this, a rather unfortunate accident occurred last Thursday evening...it goes like this. I was cooking risotto for dinner. I had the broth that I had been boiling for about 15 minutes & I was in the process of slowly adding it to my risotto, chicken & tomato mixture. Somewhere in the process of adding it, I flipped the pot of boiling broth...ahhhhh. I was on the phone with Chris & I was literally screaming. I felt like I was burning all over. It was a horrible feeling. He got me calmed down & sent me to the shower. Looking back on it, it's sort of funny, but there I was standing clothed in my pajamas holding the phone out so Chris could keep me semi-calm. I feel so thankful because when it was all over and done with, I have a burn about the size of a half dollar on my right upper thigh & that's all. It's healing well (I know this because it itches like crazy!) and hopefully it won't scar. It was definitely a scary moment though.

I'm glad all of my woes are resolved so that we can enjoy our weekend at Lake Hartwell! Be back Monday!

A beautiful day for a baseball game...

Yankee Stadium...

there are almost no words to describe how amazing it was to be there. Although I have seen it many times on t.v., being there myself made it come to life.

Our seats were perfect & of course I took advantage of it & took over 100 pictures just while we were there. I also tried out the video capabilities on my camera & videoed the traditional 7th-inning singing of "Take me Out to the Ballgame" while I panned around the view of the stadium. Maybe by the time Abbey & I have seen a game at every baseball park I'll have a video of "Take me Out to the Ballgame" at every stadium!

We each enjoyed a slice of New York-style pizza & a hot dog while we were there...delicious!

It is such a shame that in just a short time the originial stadium will stand no more. It will always be known as "The House that Ruth Built".

The new stadium stands just across a 2-lane street from the original stadium & looks nearly just like it except it's bigger.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures...

NYC: Day 2

By 9:00 we were strolling from the cafe where we had breakfast to Rockefeller Center. We had just enough time to visit the NBC Store, see the NBC Rainbow Room, and buy a pair of designer sun glasses! (What trip to NYC would be complete without a pair?)

Then at last it was time to head to Yankee Stadium. We hailed a cab, which by the way we now are experts at, and off we went. I took lots of pictures from the window of the cab as we drove through parts of the city that I'd never seen. The views of Central Park were great, although I never got any good pictures of it.

Here's a random picture of a neat bridge from the cab window...sad thing is, I'm not sure which bridge it is!

New York City: Day 1

Well...We have returned from N.Y.C. after an amazingly fun, quick trip! We managed to cram a lot of stuff into less 2 days in the city.

Even though this is my 3rd trip to the city, I never cease to be amazed at everything from the massive buildings, the expansive number of stores, and of course, the charming residents & their lifestyle which I know I could never get used to.

Here's a recap of day 1...

I left Raleigh just before 9a.m. Saturday. Just before landing we flew right over Shea Stadium, home of the NY Mets. I was also able to see their new stadium just next to Shea. It was pretty cool.

After meeting up with Abbey, catching our shuttle to the Flatotel & storing our luggage there, we hit the streets! We had lunch at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company (I definitely recommend the coconut shrimp...), and then we headed off to the Toys R' Us across the street where we rode the ferris wheel! Yes the two of us, at the ages of 19 & 25, were definitely the oldest, childless riders, but we had a blast. We rode in the orange & yellow Little Tikes car...how fun!

We walked around a little bit more & then we were off to stand in line at the TKTS booth for our 50% off Broadway show tickets. We were in line about 2:00 p.m., & had awesome tickets for GREASE, starring Taylor Hicks, before 3:30 p.m. We found the theater & scouted out a place for dinner & then headed back to the hotel to get our luggage & get ready for a night out on the town!

We put on our fun little dresses & headed out for dinner at a little Italian trattoria where the caesar salad & fettucini alfredo was delicious! We walked just next door to the Brooks Atkinson Theatre where we saw GREASE which was totally awesome. I loved knowing all of the songs & being able to sing along. The cast was so amazing & each of them were so perfect for their roles. I love Broadway shows!

After the show it was back to the hotel to get out of our cute, but most uncomfortable shoes & then over to the Cafe Duke for smoothies followed by part of a movie & then it was time for us to rest up for day 2...

Weekend recap..

We went to Carolina Beach on Saturday for an anniversary celebration. We had a great time. It was very hot, but my new tripod shelter courtesy of Chris' parents came in very handy. The beach was not crowded at all & the current was calmer than the last time we were there.

We stopped back in Wilmington for dinner at Elijah's Oyster Bar on the river. We enjoyed our delicious dinner on the deck with a view of the river. It was a great day-long getaway.

Sunday we had to catch up on some things around here, including homework, boo.. :-(. Chris did install our gutter guards which has been on our to-do list for a while. We love to check things off of our list.

Only 5 more days of school for this semester...yeah!!!
One of my classes is over, but my stats open-book final is open until Tuesday. Then, 3 weeks off!!!

Sissy & Jennifer are headed up today to visit until tomorrow afternoon & then we'll head home for a pre-birthday weekend in GA. We're looking forward to that.

Next weekend Abbey & I will be in N.Y.C.. We're soooo excited. We've spent so much time planning & anticipating the trip & it's finally almost here! There will be so many pictures to share.

Off to clean the house before our company arrives!

Anniversary, the beach, & early birthday gift...

Wednesday is mine & Chris' 3rd anniversary! It's so hard to believe how fast the 3 years has flown by. It's been wonderful, and I am so thankful to have been blessed with such a wonderful, loving husband.

Here are two of my favorite pictures from our wedding day...

To celebrate our anniversary, Chris is taking me to the beach Saturday. We'll just be there for the day, but that's plenty of time to take in some sun, sand, & a nice dinner. We're looking forward to it!

In preparation for our beach trip Saturday, Chris gave me an early birthday present on behalf of his parents. They had it shipped here probably 3 weeks or more ago, but I was told I couldn't have it...gotta hate that! When Chris told me his beach plans for us, he told me I could open my birthday present from his parents on Sunday before I went to work, so I did & they got me a tripod shelter for the beach. It's perfect! Chris set it up in the backyard overnight to stretch it out a bit & check out how to get it all set up. I think it's going to be perfect to shield some of the sun, but not too much & have a cooler place to chill out in the heat of the day! I can't wait to try it out on Saturday!

$82...

that's how much I made at the yard sale on Saturday.

I didn't think that was too bad especially since I had nothing big to sell. It was mostly all small stuff. It was little work for me too since I had been setting things aside for a yard sale for quite some time.

I'm just happy to have the stuff off of our hands!

We spruced up the yard a bit Saturday evening & then treated ourselves to a delicious dinner of grilled prime rib, grilled squash/zuchinni/tomato medley, roasted red potatoes, baked beans, and a peach cobbler (with fresh peaches!) for desert. It was so delicious.

I got the bedding put on our guest bed Sunday afternoon. It looks great. I'll have to take some pictures of it to post soon. Now we're just waiting on our next set of company. Sissy, Steve, Benjamin & Jennifer are coming up on August 7th which is just around the corner!

I'm working nights this week. It's a nice change of pace from the last few crazy weeks around here.

More later in the week...

yard sale & misc. updates

It's been a busy week...

last Saturday night was Tom Petty...it was awesome!

He played for over 2 hours & played all of the hits.

I love going to concerts where you know the words to all of the songs.

We had a great time!

I was in charge M, T, & W at work this week.

I was definitely ready for a few days off.

I had lunch & browsed at the mall with Karen today.

It was nice to be out & about on such a nice day.

Peppes & Pop kindly advanced my birthday check this week so I could buy a comforter set from Linens N Things that I had falled in love with.

I have waited this long to buy a comforter for our guest room because nothing seemed to be exactly what I was looking for...until now!

I bought it today & can't wait to get it on the bed!

What's keeping me from getting the new comforter on the bed???

A ton of stuff piled up in our guest room in prep for a yard sale Saturday a.m.

I've been wanting to have a yard sale for quite some time but didn't feel like I had enough stuff.

A friend of mine mentioned the same thing to me, so we decided to have a multi-household yard sale at another friend's house this Saturday.

I'm looking forward to cleaning out some clutter &hopefully making a little bit of money in the process.

Off to make some dinner...

stranded...

that is a mild exaggeration, but I stopped by Kroger on my way home from work tonight to get some rice for our stir-fry dinner, milk & a birthday card for a co-worker.

I came out, got in my car & my car wouldn't start...OH NO! I called Chris & he was on his way, so he met me at Kroger & jump started me.

The good news...we made it home fine.

The bad news...my car ran for about 10 minutes after we got home & then died again.

Chris thinks I need a new battery so he's taking mine out now so he can stop & get me a new one tomorrow.

Bummer...hopefully the new battery will solve the problem.

Good night!

household tips...

Here are 3 of my favorite household tips I've picked up along the way...

*After halving a cantaloupe, scoop out the inside with an ice cream scoop. It's a clean swipe & all of the seeds & goo are gone!

*Never know what to do with grease after cooking...Allow the grease to cool for just a couple of minutes, then take a sandwich baggie, open it & place it inside of a juice glass, pulling the edges of the bag up over the edges of the glass. Pour the grease in. After the grease completely cools you can zip up the baggie & toss it...so convenient!

*After burning a candle down in a jar or a votive holder, place the jar or holder into the freezer for 1-2 hours. This is just long enough to pry the candle's edges off of the candle holder and the remaining piece of candle falls right out, leaving your holder or jar for another candle or use. Chris' grandmother, Boo Boo, passed that trick on to me!

What are your favorite household tips???

Saving $ & earning FREE stuff

These days I think everyone is looking for ways to save money & get FREE stuff. Here are some of my favorite ways...

Right now Kroger has a promotion going on where for each $300 gift card you buy, they had an free $30 to it! We heard about this a couple of months ago & read up on it & decided there really were no strings attached so we did it. I bought 2 more yesterday, totalling $660 but we only paid $600...$60 in free groceries works for me! Check it out, I think the promotion ends at the end of July!

This website is great...www.mypoints.com. Sign up to receive e-mails based on your interests and preferences & for each e-mail you open & 'read' get 5 points. You can also take surveys and earn points for shopping online. After accumulating points you can redeem them for giftcards to popular resturants and stores. I recently redeemed my 6th or 7th reward gift card from them. It's no hoax...it works!

Another great site...www.opinionsquare.com. Here you can take surveys that earn you points which you can then trade in for merchandise or gift cards. I love it!

more later...

July 1st...

I can't believe it's already July 1st...time flies!

Chris & I went to Carolina Beach Sunday...

we had a great time despite the heat,

the wind (sand was blowing everywhere),

and the strong currents.

We stopped at a seafood restaurant on the way home for dinner.

I'm off until Friday, so I'm enjoying that,

but it means I have to work the weekend of the 4th...boo.

We're looking forward to next weekend's Tom Petty concert!

Off to do more homework...

baby Cady

Just a few cute pictures of me & Chris with baby Cady Eggleston on Sunday night.

You can't see her all that well, but she's a doll!

I just love the one with Chris holding her. He actually looked mildly comfortable & she wasn't crying...2 pluses!