Christmas time of year

Thanksgiving was amazing. I loved being around all the family and I got to see the new HARRY POTTER MOVIE!!! It was the best of the H.P. series yet, LOVED IT! Plus, Bethany, Dave, and I went after Thanksgiving shopping around 7 am the next day, LOTS of fun. I bought a lot of stuff, mostly for myself, oops! But, I did get a few Christmas presents, so I wasn't completely bad.
Dave and I picked up our first Christmas tree the other day; it was so exciting! The house smells SO wonderful now (real tree smell). Shannon (big sis) had given me a few things to decorate the apartment with, and they were a perfect amount; couldn't have fit any more in! We put TONS of lights on the tree....500 to be exact (that's what the box said). So, the tree is very bright and beautiful. We decided not to overstock the tree with ornaments (since there's really not much room for them after the lights anyway, lol), but we bought just enough and added a few I had bought just for our first year. We'll collect tons over the years I assume. Before we decorated we had to go buy a Christmas cd to listen to. It's sort of an tradition that my family always had. It has Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, and a whole lot of the classic singers; great cd. We thought about buying some eggnog(another tradition) but realized neither of us really like it, so we had hot chocolate instead (new tradition of our own). I LOVE Christmas! Makes me extremely happy and oft times giddy (just lookin at the tree!). Well, I gotta head outta here to meet the youth. Youth group (or 24/7 as it's called for the highschoolers) will be starting soon. Love you all!

Thanksgiving and Snow

Well, as promised, I will tell you what my favorite things about Thanksgiving are. I'm going to use bullets, cause I'm a violent person.

• Number one HAS to be family. I love spending time with all my extended family. I also love that it's only short period of time. It keeps it sweet and not too many arguments can break out in that time.
• Turkey. My Grandmother cooks the best turkey.
• Dinner discussion. Kyle (cousin) always has hilarious jokes about work and people in general.
• Nephews and Nieces. They are always running wild and amusing everyone.
• Football and parades. Watching football on Thanksgiving with family and shouting! What could be better! The parades are pretty cool to watch too, they have some really amazing floats in the NY parade.
• Leftovers. Enough said.

the end

It snowed in Bryson City yesterday. It snowed alot actually; it was REALLY beautiful. It came down most of the day! But, it didn't stick. Which was fine with most everyone, considering there will be quite a bit of traveling going on today and the day after Thanksgiving. I still get REALLY excited every time I see it though--I called Dave up from work and said "IT'S SNOWING!!!" Then I said, bye! lol I love snow! Canada really spoiled me with mass amounts of it. I really miss looking out the window of that rickety, old house and seeing 4 feet of snow this time of year. ~sigh~

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

MY SUPER-FLY BOOTS!

Go here to see my new Rain Boots/ Wellies!!! THEY'RE AWESOME!!!!

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=2-5/qid=1132355849/ref=sr_2_5/602-8926420-5350239?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B000AXBWO0

back at the parents

Well, we made it here. The drive seemed extremely short, but maybe it was because my parents and I just chatted the whole way home. Dave is spending the day in Asheville looking at different gear shops and probably doing some bouldering. I'm heading to my older sister's house to see the kids soon.
It's so much warmer here than it was in the mountains. Although that should be assumed I suppose, considering we're in the piedmont now. I packed too many warm clothes me thinks, or just too many clothes in general. But hey, at least I don't lock my own kids in the car...lol Sis

A short good-bye

Tomorrow I'm headed to Asheville to hitch a ride home with my parents. My dad has been there for the last couple of days for a business conference and I decided (since I haven't heard back from the jobs I applied for) to take off for a few days. I'm going home for Wednesday and half of Thursday, then heading to Winston-Salem to hang out with my college friends for a few days. So, I'm sure I'll blog from there, but it may be a few days, or tomorrow, who knows. I hope to see my wonderful nephews while I'm home, I miss my boys.

Speaking of twins, I had some VERY bizarre dreams this week. On the same night I dreamed that I had gotten two puppies, one that was white with brown spots, and one brown with white spots. Then I dreamed I had twin boys, one blond and one brown headed. I pray that this is not a vision of the near future. lol

I'm headed out for now. I still need to pack. I've been in the bed most of the day, trying to get rid of THE worst head-ace I've ever had. I woke up with it, and have NO idea how I got it. It lasted most of the day and subsided FINALLY around dinner time. I think it may have something to do with not drinking much water lately, and possibly stress. Dave was very, VERY sweet, and made sure I didn't move too much and stayed in a dark room. He even brought me my lunch!

So, question of the day***what is the weirdest dream you can remember having?***

Belated Happy Birthday

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY CHRISTOPHER SPICER! I meant to blog this on your actually birthday, but I forgot, SO SORRY! Although, since you haven't blogged in 5 dog years, I'm not sure you'll even read this! I hope things are going WONDERFULLY for you and Emily and that your birthday was a big success. I love and miss ya Canadia boy!

Birthday wishes aside, I have gotten over my food poisoning. I called my mom yesterday and found that she had gotten sick too (I gave her some of my lamb, oops!). But, she made it out alive as well.
Tomorrow Julie (my small group partner for the high school girls) and I will be going to eat lunch at the highschool to encourage some of the Christian girls that we know there to come to the youth group! Plus, there is one that already comes that just needs to know that we care about her, so, we'll probably be doing some image boosting as well. Of course, hopefully, we'll be putting our face and name out there so that girls that aren't in the youth group and aren't Christians will get to know us by our (hopefully) weekly visits and we will begin a repore(I have NO clue if that is how you spell that) with them too. Pray that everything goes well in that and that maybe we'll have one or two more girls there on Wednesday nights. Then, tomorrow night Dave and I will be going to Skate and Bike night at the camp just to hang with the kids (mostly guys) again, and hopefully I'll remember a few more names (I'm SO bad with names).
Please continue to pray for a job for myself as the options around this area are few and far between. I am still doing some work at the resturant at NOC, so at leaste I'm getting in 15 or so hours next week.

Thanksgiving is coming! For us US citizens that is. For you Canuks it has come and gone, but that doesn't alienate (no pun intended, ha ha) you from the question of the day. So here it is:
***What is your favorite thing about Thanksgiving?*** I'll answer that for myself next week!

food poisoning

Yesterday was so amazing. The Biltmore Estate was beautiful all decorated for Christmas. There were MASS amounts of people there, but it was still fun. I overheard one of the employees saying there would be 6,000 people there today---SHEW! Glad we didn't go today. My parents and I had a great time just visiting together. I bought a Christmas tree ornament for Dave's and mine first tree of our own this year. After we left the estate we went to dinner. We had a great dinner and chatted for hours! Then I drove home. I made it home fine, but then something started churning in my stomach. I had Greek food, and everything was wonderful...except the lamb didn't taste quite right. I told Dave about it, and he said that kind of lamb was very rampant for food poisoning. It's the kind that is sliced VERY thinly and put in a rotisseri style case and cooked. SO, I was suppose to be at work right now. I had every intention of going. I got up, got ready, even started driving! By the time I got to the center of town every lil bump in the road almost made me throw up. I stopped by Dave's office and called in sick. Ugh, I really wanted to go to work today too. But, I was going to work at the restaurant at NOC, and being around food right now is the LAST thing I think I could do. So here I am, trying to be as still as possible and hope this goes away quickly. At the same time I'm mainlining Pepto Bismal (i love the taste-yes weird, but quite helpful in times like these). I'm heading to grab my book then lay quietly in the sun. yuck.

***question of the day*** Have you ever had food poisoning? How do you get rid of it?

frozen

when we woke up this morning, it was FREEZING! And I do mean freezing, as in freezing temperatures, as in 32' F (which is 1' C for all you Canuks and UK'S). Seems we may actually be headed into winter! Although, it is suppose to be 65 again this afternoon. Well, Just thought I'd drop you all that very chilly note, ha ha. I'm off to see my mum and dad at the Builtmore House! Thanks for all the encouraging notes on my last blog, they really helped "up" my mood.

Question of the day: Honestly, how many people sometimes wear things because they look good instead of how they feel or keep you cool/warm? My husband is ALWAYS saying no one else does these things (i don't do it ALL the time!)

Crashing cymbals

Today was an emotionally exhausting day. I went to apply for a job working as a substitute teacher first, no prob. Then I got on the internet to see what I could find out about going back to school in January to get a degree in English Education. I got onto both sites of the schools I will be attending (Western Carolina Uni. and Southwestern Comm. College) and found the classes that I would need to take. I also found out prices for tuition....ugh. Tuition isn't bad for a state school if you are in state, but it's still more than we can afford right now. So, we're going to have to go for state financial aid and I'm definitely gonna need a consistent part time job, and it just started weighing down on my shoulders. I started asking myself these questions: what if I can't make it? What if I can't pass the classes? How long is it going to take me to get done with? But then, I looked at the class descriptions, and they sound like a blast! I love English, so the act of going back to school won't be that bad. I mean, in an English education degree there is little other than English classes. Yes there will be one more science which I will have to slave over (I'm NOT the best at science) but all in all I can get through it God willing. Now I just need to find a consistent job (sounds like an echo from several of my blogs huh?). I know I can do it with God's help, but it's not going to be easy.

p.s. my parents are coming tomorrow! We're going to see the Builtmore Estate together. Can't wait!

Question of the day: When something comes up that you know is going to be a struggle, physically and emotionally, what do you do to get yourself through that task?

to infinity and beyond

Well, the last day at NOC went well. I'll still be working at the resturant some during the next couple of months if they need me, but other than that I'm done. I'm pretty much just cleaning house and doing laundry today. Tomorrow night is Skate and Bike night at the camp. We have started going just to get to know some of the kids in the community that we don't see at church.

We did go see Jarhead last night---different reviews of the movie from Dave, but I liked it. It's pretty graphic at points and there are DEFINATELY some things that could have been left out, but I liked it. I wouldn't recommend anyone under 18 go see it though. Pretty much any of those movies make me want to go in the service still. There was a stint in high school when I had decided I was going--but got talked out of it. Sometimes I wish I had gone, because I don't feel I have the liberty to go anymore. If there was ever another war where they really needed people though, I would still seriously consider it. I would love the chance to fight for my country, no matter how hard it was to actually get on the field (boot camp, etc). I'm the kinda person that watches G.I. Jane and gets inspired to actually enlist. I talked to several marines this weekend, they were part of the group that was at NOC, and it just sounded amazing. I would love to jump out of a plain for a living. I mean, it's scary as all hell, but if it wasn't, you wouldn't do it, it would be too easy.

***So here's my question of the day, to the women out there: have you ever wanted to go into the service? Why or why not?***

I'm going to start doing those alot; Q's of the day that is.

last day

Tomorrow is my last day at NOC for the winter. It's a lil nerve wracking considering that I don't have another job to replace it yet. Hopefully soon though. If I can get my butt in gear and apply to different places. I guess I'm still stupidly waiting for the job that I REALLY want to call back--that being the store that just opened up in town called Rural Girl (i hate that name though, who can say it anyway!). It's a cool hippie type store (obviously my style) that has clothes, throws, candles, jewelry, and just gerenally cool stuff. I didn't think I would ever want to do retail work, but, like I said, it's just a cool place to be. I just finished updating my resume yesterday and plan to turn it in to the school for some substitute teaching and any other place I can think of around here. The problem being that there really isn't all that much work available in a tourist drivin area in off-season. Oh well, I know God will get us through the winter. We're going over to some friends house tonight to watch the last several Survivor episodes that we've missed. I'm excited about that. Tomorrow night I think we may go see Jarhead. That movie looks really good.
P.S. Bethany-if we can work this out I'd love to try and see the Harry Potter movie together. Don't know how that would work, but maybe it's a possibility.

brown milk

I went to the doctor several weeks ago to get a check-up and ask a few questions. I have had exzema since I was born. It is a skin condition that makes your skin very dry and itchy sometimes, and can break out easily into rashes. Well, I haven't had problems with it since I was 8, however, this fall, it came back with a vengence. So, I asked my doctor about it, and she said---milk. Milk is a skin irritant, and really isn't meant for adults to drink. It also produces mucus by masses so winter cold season isn't a good time to drink lots of it. Anyway, she said, stop drinking milk, use this creme (can't pronounce it), and some olive oil. Well, it's clearing up pretty well, but there's still one problem. I love cereal. I love eating cereal in the morning. And it's just not that great with water (0r orange juice, tried that by accident one day...ewwww). So, I've moved on to something different. ¬cue the point of my title¬ soy milk. Yes folks, I now drink soy milk. Did you know soy milk is brown? I pretend it's chocolate milk. It tastes pretty grainy to me, but I'm getting use to it. And by the time you get done w/ your Frosted Mini Wheats, it tastes pretty much the same as regular milk--AND IT'S GOOD FOR YOU! So, that's my story for today.
p.s. pray that I can find a job soon. My last work at NOC for the season is next weekend. I would love to do something I haven't done before, and something that isn't a desk job. Thanks!

first personal encounter

Two little old ladies just pulled up to my door. They were looking for my neighbor, but I told them she hadn't been here much the last couple of days. I had a sneaking suspicion I knew what they were there for. I didn't think they were family of hers. They weren't family, but they soon figured they'd just talk to me. First we started talking about the weather, then Halloween and trick or treaters. Then it started edging where they wanted it to go. They said some awful things happen on halloween; they really didn't know how people could let kids be a part of such a holiday. Then I ask the question of the day--"do you go to church in town?" "We're Jehovah's Witnesses, we go to a place called Kingdom Hall to worship where we can learn about The King and his scriptures." Ah hah, we have a winner folks. And so we've gotten to the point of their visit. I was glad Courtney wasn't home. They read me two scripture verses, 2 Peter 3:13-14. They talk about a new heaven and earth and hope and peace. After one of the ladies read them to me, she said "doesn't that sound good?" I just nodded. She asked if I ever thought about those things. I said yes, that I got to a church in town called Franklin Grove. That was a good length of time for me. I hadn't figured out what to really say to them. My dad would always ask if he could pray with them. So I just thanked them for stopping by, and took their 2 pamphlets they had given me. They said I had made their day. As soon as I closed the door I prayed for them. Next time I'll have a good answer, be able to witness to THEM. But it brings up a good question, this whole experience, what can you say to someone when you know so little about THEIR religion. I plan to read the pamphlets.

if it can't see over the headlights, run it over

....well I did. I didn't do it on purpose, I PROMISE, but I did hit a black cat today. It ran right out in front of my car, I EVEN SWERVED! I looked back through my rear view window and could see it squirming in the road, so I knew I hadn't killed it. I thought about driving off, but then thought it might be someone's pet, and maybe it could be saved. So, I turned around. Yes folks, the person who sorta hates all fuzzy beings turned around for a hurt animal. When I got back, it was gone. But, there was an old couple standing out on the porch across the street who said it went that way (and pointed down the street). So I went a couple of steps in that direction and found it on the porch of a house, sorta shivering and looking pretty scared. I asked the old man if he knew who's it was. He said it was sort of a stray, but the porch it was sitting on, the guy who lived there, fed it. So I went and knocked on the door and told the man I had hit his cat and his back legs looked broken. He came and picked the cat up and it made some awful noises; it's back legs just sorta dangling. I guess it pulled itself off the road w/ it's front legs. I said I had swerved but it ran right under the car, and I was really sorry. I was heading to church at the time. The pastor told me the guy would probably shoot it. I thought that was a good idea, I didn't want it to be in any pain or anything. If I had killed it I probably woulda kept going. I thought about going back and running over it again, but, like I said, it was gone when I got back. So, that's the sad story of the day. Sorry cat lovers--I'm sure the cat is in a less painful place now---the ground.