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...

graduation weekend

Chris & I were at home in Conyers this weekend to attend Chris' brother, David's, graduation from Georgia Tech. Here's a picture of the 2 Tarr brothers...(notice that Chris shaved his beard of more than a year off!)We hadn't been home since Februrary so it was nice to be there again. We were able to see nearly all of both of our families & really enjoyed that.

While we were gone, the bud on the rose bush that Chris' grandmother, Boo Boo, gave us (I call it the Boo Boo rose) opened! Now we have this beautiful pink rose to enjoy...

Our foxglove has also started opening some of it's blooms. We do love our flowers!

Abbey comes in 6 days...I'm really looking forward to her hanging out with us for a week!

sweet baby cap...

Check out this precious little baby girl cap I knitted with the help of my Knifty Knitter & my patient teacher Cynthia.

I'm planning to give it to our friends Chad & Mandy who have a little girl who should be arriving this very month!


I've already started knitting cap #2 so more pictures to follow soon!

...how does your garden grow?...

Well, we'll find out in the next few months.

Chris & I planted our garden yesterday. Our gracious neighbors plow a row or 2 in their back garden space just for us. We're so blessed to have such great neighbors.

We planted these tomato and pepper plants we bought at the Famer's Market last weekend...

and seeds for green beans, squash, zuchinni, and cantaloupe.

In about 2 months we're planning on planting seeds for broccoli and spinach that would produce in the fall.

Our sweet neighbors also invited us over to pick fresh lettuce from their garden. We did & it was so beautiful that I had to take a picture (I take pictures of everything). The lettuce will be tasty on the hamburgers Chris is going to grill for us tonight!

Fresh vegetables...yummy!

More new things to share...

I have picked up a few new clothes here and there over the last couple of weeks. I don't usually buy myself clothes often but I guess I was in a splurging mood, not that I spent much because everything I got was either on sale or a great price to begin with.

They're so springy & summery looking...love it!

Here's the sun dress I bought yesterday. I wish you could see more of the detail on it but the material is precious. It's very simple but cute! I might just mention that I love Kohls!

My mom & I found this shirt last weekend at Macy's on one of our shopping excursions. I wore it out to dinner last weekend & totally love it! I've always loved to wear green.

I found these adorable sandals at Kohl's yesterday. They look great with my new dress!

And last, but not least, here's the new scrub top I bought at Wal-Mart of all places. I got a pair of matching green pants too. I love the pink & green color combination and they're soooo soft.

That's all for the moment.

Things to share...

Here are some things I missed out on sharing when our camera was out of working order...

The 'T' hanging on our front door that I so dearly love...

The lamp on my desk in the office...
My newest tote bag...

Our basil that's growing like crazy (I wish my oregano looked this good)...
More to share coming later!

Earth Day

Today is Earth Day!

Since we moved to Durham nearly 3 years ago, we have been involved in the county's recycling program. It's been so easy since we moved into our house as we have our own recycling bins and just put them on the street for pick-up each week. We can recycle nearly all of our plastics, cardboards, glass and tin cans. It makes us feel like that one small piece at the time we are helping our environment.

About 3 months ago, we took another step towards "going green" and bought recycled cloth bags to take grocery shopping. I leave them in my trunk and every time I go to the grocery store or run in Target or Wal-Mart they go with me. I was appaled to learn that more that 500 billion plastic bags are used each year!!! Anything I can do to decrease that # is important to me!

What can you do to help our environment???

1 down...

I just finished the final for my last class this semester...

Seven credits and one semester down...

A break from classes until May 17th!