just gotta do it

Well Dave's home, and it's SO good to have him back. I'm sleeping better now that he's back and today is our day off together! As an NOC employee I get some pretty good perks, one of them being getting into the Bilmore Estate FREE! So, that's what we're off to do today.
It's been REALLY hot here, and I've been working SO much, I haven't had a day off since mom and B left; I worked almost 60 hours last week! I almost got heat stroke the other day I was out in the sun so long, but water is the key for overexposure to the sun--so drink up!
I lead my first raft trip all by myself yesterday. Which means it was just me as a staff person on that trip. My boat, and one other self guide, which I had to lead. It was fun! It felt good to be trusted that much, when I'm not even a trip leader, but it could just be that we're majorly under-staffed right now, but whatever.
Another thing I did yesterday, was I FINALLY got back in a boat in whitewater. I mean, I've been here since the 3rd week in April, and I've only been in a boat twice (and once was in the lake)! I don't know why I've gone back to being so scared of tipping over when I KNOW I can roll! So, one of my friends finally dragged me out to the river and helped me conquer my fear of it....I even ran the falls, AND I DIDN'T FLIP! That was only the 3rd time I'd run them, the other 2 were w/ the LDP and I flipped over both times. So, it was good to get that off my chest, now I can just enjoy kyaking...cause I really missed it, I just was scared of it to! Well, that's all for now. I gotta go wake Dave up and take a shower before we head out. I miss you ALL! And Spicer, I deserve and E-MAIL...fully loaded that is :).

weekend w/ the girls

The weekend w/ my lil sis and my mom was GREAT! We had an awesome time on Saturday going down the big Nanty w/ our lil mini me raft, we even bought the picture! Then Sunday they really like our church, which is good, I was sorta nervous they wouldn't. Then we went tubing! It was a blast, tubing in Deep Creek is the most exciting tubing EVER! We laughed all the way down--twice! Then that night we played Monop0ly, and I KILLED them...I've never won so big in my life! I think I landed on Free Parking like THREE times! Yeah, they're bad losers...jeez...but I'm not good at losing at Monopoly either, or anything for that matter, guess it runs in the family. Monday I worked all day, but then we went to see "Herbie" that night. It was actually pretty good! We enjoyed going to the movies together. Then we took a trip to Wal-mart and all overspent a bit. But I got the new Harry Potter book!!!!!!!! So it was all good. Tuesday morning we rode the Great Smokey Mountain Railroad. It was a pretty nice ride, and we got to chat for a long time and see some stuff we hadn't before. Then they rode the train back to Bryson and I worked for half a day. By the time I got home, they had all my laundry done, the house cleaned, and supper was in the making! Mom, you guys should come over more often!!! That really helped out alot, THANX MOM AND B! We had coffee and ice cream at the lil coffee shop in front of our house, and just chatted for a long time. Then we watched "dear Frankie" which is a REALLY good movie, I highly recommend it. It was a really good night. Good stuff.
Today was a long day w/ "Camp Barney." Great name hey? We mountain biked all day and had an awesome time, until a kid fell off his bike and had to go to hospital and get stitches...ugh. But all in all it was good stuff, aLOT better than the last group they brought. Ok. I REALLY stink. I'm headed to the house and a shower. I might head to a Princess Bride PJ party in a bit! lol Goodnight!

splashes and squeals

Today, for the first time, I did three raft trips down the river. I barely had time to eat lunch! But it was fun. The water was REALLY high today, so it made it alot faster and some of the rapids (especially Nantahala Falls) aLOT bigger. Now I'm probably gonna go home, take a shower (for the second time in a week, ewww I know, but hey, ya just don't have the energy after work--I even had a joke made about me today; "how do you hide a 10 dollar bill from Leigh?....you put it under a bar of soap! lol), cook something for dinner, or not, maybe I'll just pop in a frozen pizza, and watch the 4th season of Dawson's Creek. I think that's the one Candice and I ended on last summer. Yes guys, I like Dawson's Creek, but hey, ya gotta get your drama fix from somewhere right? Maybe I'll even read some of my new Glamour. Should be a relaxing night. Well, I'm off! Soap suds here I come...Lord knows I NEED 'EM!

out and about w/ some amazing thing

Well, I fell out of the blogging world for a bit, sorry about that, but I'm back for a catch-up. Here's what's been going on the past week. Last Monday, the 4th of July, was really great. I had to work that morning, but when I came home there was the big 4th of July festival on the next street over! So, we spent that evening eating hot dogs from the street vendors, listening to the street band (country of course), practicing a little kyak rolls in the river that ran through town (we had an crowd watching us, it was a lil intimidating), and ended the night watching the fireworks. It was a really great night. Then on Thursday, I had to drop Dave off at the airport, and I wouldn't see him again for over 2 weeks. That was hard, but we got through it, and I even got home in the POURING rain without getting lost. Also that day was a lil worry-some because that was the day London was bombed and we were both worried about Helen and the rest of the family in London (they were all ok though, thank God). That afternoon at work, I had THE most inspiring day of work in my whole life. We had the ACT group there, which is an amputi group. Those kids were TOTALLY and COMPLETELY amazing. Most of them didn't have a leg or an arm, but some didn't have either hand, but they still CLIMBED the Alpine Tower AND the Ropes course! Those children were the biggest blessing I have had in SUCH a long time. They were just kids that day, surrounded by lots of other kids just like them, who were determined to do everything, and they did! By the end of the day, I was almost in tears just by their courage and positive outlook on life. I wanted to take a few of them home. The rest of the week pales in comparison with that, but I have been having a good time, even though I've missed Dave alot. Sunday one of my best friends got to come over--I'm SO glad I got to see you Sheena, I really needed to. Then Sunday night I spent w/ some of the staff girls. Last night a couple of the girls came over and we cooked and then watched Jaws, and just hung out. So, I've been having fun and working hard. Hope you have too! I'll try to keep ya updated more often, sorry. I'm off to work now! Maybe I'll play ultimate frisbee tonight...if it's not raining to hard...but then again, that might make it more fun!

when it rains it pours

Well, this week was my birthday, not that I would let your forget, but just in case ya did, it was on Tuesday. So, Tuesday I happened to be working, which I have known for some quite some time, so that was ok. Wednesday night we had planned to have a few people over for my birthday. I even cracked out a new recipe from my sister-n-law, her enchiladas (THANKS BRANDY!). Yep, I cleaned all morning, relaxed in the afternoon, and started cooking about 5:30. Well, it started to rain around the time I had put the enchiladas in the oven and cleaned up the mess. Rain is fine, it rains all the time here, but then it started to REALLY come down. Well, there's a drain outside our apartment, and it got backed up. So where does the water go when the drain is backed up? Straight through the kitchen! Yep, about an inch of water came in in less than 10 minutes. It actually came in in WAVE form, no lie. As I was screaming and yelling that we were 'takin on water', Dave had the sense to jump outta the shower and run outside (in a towel no less) and unclog the drain. Yes, my husband can think on his toes. So, our guests understood about the water, and we called it an early evening. I was extremely stressed over the situation by then, and Dave wonderfully said, "you go out to the pub w/ everyone, I'm gonna rent a 'Rug Doctor' and suck up all this water, go have fun." Isn't my husband WONDERFUL! He stayed there and sucked up the water for 2 hours, and let me get my heart rate back to normal and enjoy my evening. And even though our house is still quite muggy (we're borrowing a dehumidifier tonight), it's SO much better because Dave can think on his feet. I love you Baby, thanks for all you do for me.