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!

a new look

I gave my blog a make-over this morning, obviously!

I like the nice clean, fresh colors!

I got this cute layout FREE from The Cutest Blog on the Block..check it out!

yesterday...

was such a great day!

We got new cell phones yesterday & switched our plan to Verizon. I am already happier with Verizon than I was with AT&T. We each picked our own phone & luckily picked different ones. It was such a pain with us both having the same phone before. This is a picture of my new Motorola Moto. I love it! I'm especially enjoying utilizing the voice-activated commands on it.

We made our monthly trip to Sam's yesterday & I stocked up on fruit in mass quantity. I do love fruit! We bought 2 pounds of strawberries & a fresh pineapple which is so delicious.

Our Tom Petty tickets came in the mail yesterday!

We enjoyed Karen & Barron's wedding. It was so beautiful. She was such a beautiful bride & they are such a happy couple. We're blessed to have them as friends.

We ordered our plane tickets to Portland last night. We'll fly in on Tuesday, September 9th & be gone for a week! We're so excited!

Moving on to today...we took dinner to our friends Chad & Mandy and met their sweet new baby, Cady. She is a doll. We both held her & Chris looked so sweet holding a baby. She almost fell asleep in his arms but he gave her back to me & she did fall asleep. Adorable!

Lyndsey sent me a couple of new pictures of Miss Scarlett. Look at her in this most adorable dress I sent her this week....how sweet!

Off to spend a little time with Chris before bed...

I ate all night & slept all day

That pretty much sums up the last 3 nights & days for me as I've been trying to work 7p-7a.

I say try because I was struggling. It seems like it's getting harder to adjust to night shift instead of easier. That's probably because I only do it every 5 or 6 weeks, but that's certainly ok with me.

I went to breakfast with Kerri & Rachel this a.m. at Elmo's...soooo yummy! I came home & got in bed at 9:30 & was up by 1:15 so I can do some catching up & try to get my body back on a somewhat normal schedule.

We're dog sitting my in-laws dog, Jasper, who's an Italian Greyhound. He's such a cute little dog. He & Sadie play well together so that's good. He'll be with us for more than a week so hopefully they'll still be playing well when it's all over & done with. I'm going to take some pictures of the 2 of them. I love having another photo subject around!

Off to listen to more lectures & read more journal articles...

random notes...

* I got my hair cut this morning at Aveda. Nothing major, just a shape & trim.

* I'm working nights for the next 3 shifts starting tonight. I haven't worked nights in about 6 weeks, but I think it'll be a nice break. At least I can probably get a lot of homework done.

* The dinner I went to last night at the Angus Barn was great. It was definitely the best steak I've ever had, of course it was filet mingon. They fed us appetizers, salad, a huge meal, and a desert sampler. I was so stuffed after we left.

* Last night, Chris & I bought tickets to the Tom Petty concert on July 12th!
* Karen & Barron's wedding is this Saturday at 3 p.m. We're so happy for the 2 of them!

* Chris & I have planned a trip first-thing Saturday morning to the Durham Farmer's Market. I want to get some fresh lettuce, corn (if they have any in yet), strawberries, and some blueberries.

* Chris & I are talking about buying a new mattress for ourselves. We definitely need one. It may wait until after our trip in September since we're saving up for that now.

* I picked the first squash out of garden a few minutes ago. It's a big one, but I don't think we're going to have that many this year.

* My mom bought me a lavender-scented reed diffuser. I put it in the living room yesterday & absolutely love the way it smells.

* We're more than 1/2 way through the summer semester...yeahhh!!!

* 2 months from today is the Yankee's game that Abbey & I have tickets to see!

yummy...

I had this delicious strawberry poppyseed salad at Panera today. It was so delicious that I had to share.

It was covered with fresh strawberries & blueberries, pineapple tidbits and mandarin oranges with some scattered pecans. The poppyseed dressing was delicious!

I will definitely get it again & I'd love to try to make my own version of it at home!

today...

is off to a good start. I went for a short jog a few minutes ago before it gets any hotter.

We had a quick, but nice trip home this past weekend. We enjoyed spending some time with our dads on Father's Day, and we're glad we got to see David once more before he flies out to Portland on Friday.

I'm meeting up with my friend Katie and her baby, Wyatt, this morning to hang out for a little while. That should be fun!

Tonight, I'll be going to a work inservice here. I can't wait. I've never been to the Angus Barn but have been wanting to go since we've moved here.

Sometime today I have a 2 hour stats lecture to listen to. Notice I'm writing about that last!

headed home

This is a shot of one of the beautiful lilies blooming by our front door.

Chris & I will be headed home tomorrow evening for a weekend in GA with our families. Chris' brother, David, will be moving to Portland, Oregon next week to take a job with an architecture firm there. He seems very excited about the transition and we are excited for him.

We're especially looking forward to hearing how he likes Oregon after he gets settled in as we're hoping to visit him there maybe in late September or early October. We had originally thought of flying into Portland and staying there for a few days & then driving south into northern California. After we found out that Seattle, WA is a mere 2 hours from Portland, we're actually leaning more towards flying into Portland and driving north instead.

From what we've read, Portland & Seattle possess some of my favorite things...bookstores, coffee, and good seafood. Portland, OR is home to the largest bookstore, housing over 1 million books...wow! I can't wait to check that out. We're also scouting out some coastal towns to visit to check out some lighthouses and other beautiful scenery. Just outside of Oregon there are several vineyards and wineries we'd also like to check out. Planning it all out is going to be so fun!

I'm off to finish my statistics homework & to pack for the weekend at home!

Survivor's Day 2008...

was a success!

But, it was ohhh soooo hot! It was 102 on Sunday so we had to do some restructuring & move some things indoors, but overall it was great.

I think the biggest hit, atleast for the kids, was the appearance of the Durham Bull's baseball team's mascot, Wool E. Bull. I had worked it out for him to come for about an hour & have some pictures made with the kids. They loved it.

The pinwheel project I picked turned out beautifully! I was so happy with them. They were a hit & looked great too! Here is a pic...

Perhaps best of all, I saw one of my favorite past past patients today. He couldn't make it to Survivor's Day yesterday, but stopped by to say hi today! He's very dear to me & I'm so pleased to see him doing well!

this weekend...

will be a busy one!

I worked Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday and was at work 1/2-day yesterday & will be again today prepping & putting the finishing touches on our National Cancer Survivor's Week events. Our big closing event is coming up on Sunday where I'll be all day! I have been in charge of planning activities for the children's corner since February. I can't wait to see how it all turns out. I'll be sure to post pictures soon.

Tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. there is the potential to witness a historical event. Big Brown could win the Triple Crown! I have loved horse racing since I was little & mom used to always want to watch the races on Saturday afternoons & we would cheer our favorites on. It's been 30 years since a horse has won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, & the Belmont Stakes races (Triple Crown).

We're having some friends over tomorrow at 5:30 to watch the race & then we're going to grill the last of the salmon Chris caught this time last year in Alaska...yummy! I'll be so happy to have that space back in our freezer! We're also going to grill some corn on the cob & our friends are bringing other sides & deserts. I want to come up with some cute little appetizers, but just haven't decided on them yet. It should be a good time.

Somewhere in the midst of this craziness, I have school work to do and have to clean the house. I also want to be able to sit back & enjoy this weekend and all of the fun things going on. Thank goodness for my best friend here, who just like in this picture, rests his arm on me a lot & reminds me to take a deep breath, relax, & enjoy life!

back to the bucket list...

If you remember, earlier this year I shared my "bucket list" of things I wanted to enjoy at some point in my life.

I have been blessed to cross several of these things off of my list already. Just earlier this year, my mom & sisters I went skydiving as you may remember & had the time of our lives!

Both Abbey & I would love to visit every baseball stadium in the U.S. So after much searching & harassing Ticketmaster, we have the tickets!

On Sunday, August 17th, my sister Abbey & I will enjoy a good 'ol fashioned afternoon game at Yankee Stadium before they tear it down at the end of the season. How sad that such a piece of history will be no more...While we're in New York, we're also going to visit Shea Stadium, home of the NY Mets. Even though we won't be able to see a game there, we'll atleast walk around the outside of the stadium & snap some shots.

Here's a shot of the historical park we'll get watch a game in just in the nick of time...

We can hardly wait for a weekend in New York City & a Sunday afternoon baseball game...it doesn't get much better than that!

catching up...

Just a few things to catch up on...

I was the charge nurse this entire weekend. It was a busy holiday weekend at the hospital for sure. We did have a 'cookout' Saturday for lunch so that was fun. Chris & Sadie spent Saturday & Sunday at the lake so I'm so happy to have them back home.

Today's my only off day until Friday & it'll be yet another busy day...I'm doing homework & listening to lectures this morning along with making a trip for groceries. I have an on-campus stats class from 1-3, a walking tour of the location for our National Cancer Survivor's Day event coming up next Sunday, and then an evening with the girls to put together wedding favors for Karen & Barron's big day...whew!

Speaking of the wedding, here's a picture of the dress Abbey helped me pick out at White House Black Market for Karen & Barron's wedding...love it! I also found these great shoes to go with it!

RN, BSN, OCN...

That's my official new title as I passed my Oncology Certified Nurse (OCN) exam this a.m....wahooo!!!

I was so pleased to pass & so pleased to have it behind me!

Now's it's back to work on changing my credentials to RN, MSN, OCN...

beach bums...

Abbey & I headed to Carolina Beach yesterday for some fun in the sun!

It was a cloudy, breezy day, but nice regardless. However, with the cloudiness the water was cold to say the least. We dipped a few times, but not didn't get too wet! What we did get was too much sun...even with my careful every hour reapplications...boo! It's mostly on the backs of my legs where I apparently did not apply as much as I should have. I usually try to be so careful with my skin too.

Anyways...here are some more shots of our outing yesterday...

Abbey's nearly here...

We should be leaving in about 20 minutes to pick up Abbey at the airport. We're so looking forward to her visit.

So far, we have very few definitive plans, but we do have tickets to a Durham Bull's baseball game Thursday night. We chose Thursday as that is $1 hot dog & french fry night at the ball park. A great night to take in a game!

We will also probably see a movie and there will definitely be plenty of shopping to be had. I'd like to maybe pick some strawberries one day & depending on the weather do some more fun things outdoors.

We had a nice, uneventful weekend. I had to work today, but yesterday we cleaned out our shed & did a bit of yard work. I do wish I had taken before & after pictures of the shed clean-out. It was rather drastic!

Chris made dinner last night for us, corn on the cob (delicious!) & jambalaya (also delicious!). He can be quite the chef when he wants to be. We ate out on the deck with the tiki torches lit & enjoyed the nice weather. I love this time of year!

Off to pick up Abbey...