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.

ins and outs

This last week has been interesting. Not really busy I guess, but it sure had felt like it. I haven't worked much, for MY department anyway. I have worked quite a bit for Rivers End Resturant at NOC though. I worked there today and yesterday, and I'll probably be working there Monday and Tuesday. Then next weekend is THE big event at NOC. It's the Guest Appreciation Festival. NOC sells ALL their used kyaks, paddles, spray skirts, helmets, etc etc etc. It is the biggest gear and boat sell on the east coast. Anyway, there are also some fun events that happen during GAF. Dave and I are in charge of the movie premier night on Friday and the halloween haunted trail on Saturday. Plus some pumkin carving and apple bobbing, and a few costume contests in between. Hopefully we'll be able to put OUR costume pictures up on here, if we remember to get pictures of them. I think they'll be pretty hilarious.
This weekend Sheena, my best friend, is FINALLY coming up to see us. She came one day in the spring, but that was really rushed. She is currently stuck in traffic between here and Asheville. Hopefully she'll be here w/i the hour though.
I think tonight is some formal for the highschool or middle school around here, cause I've seen 2 couples go past in prom gowns and tux's so far. They're really cute though. Anyways, I gotta get outta here, hopefully Sheena will be here soon. ttyl!

so long dear tag board, and goodnight

I have figured out why the pop-ups are popping up when you access my blog. It was my tag-board that was doing it. See, they use different companies advertising to pay for tag-board.com. So, I have gotten rid of it. This is how much I love you Shannon. Now, no more pop-ups will bother us, but it is sad day. I will miss you tag-board, but it is worth the sacrifice. Maybe I will find something better to replace you.

you can never say "i love you" too many times in one day

i'm listening to the Charlie's Angel soundtrack right now. Jake,one of my best guy friends, downloaded it for me in highschool. It's the only good thing about the movie--the music that is. But this blog isn't about Charlie's Angels, at least I don't think so. I mean, I know several Charlie's, but none of them have angels. I'm sure the one's that are married think their wives are angels (maybe), but only one of them is married, so the rest I don't know about. ANYWAY--getting past Charlie....

Dave and I have been married 6 months. It doesn't seem that long, it's flown by. It's almost winter and it still feels like summer to me (maybe it's because the leaves haven't even started changing here yet, all the locals are very upset about that, it's not good for business, all those old people come to the look at the leaves and THEY'RE ALL GREEN). Marriage is alot like I thought it would be--good times, tough times, fun times, rainy days in, tired evenings dragging in from work, laughing so hard you cry, crying over 'spilled milk', being completely idiotic w/ each other, and snuggling whenever possible. But this is what I've found out about Dave in the last 6 months.
1-- he falls asleep as soon as his head hits the pillow-sick, mad, or @ 8 pm
2-- if i'm reading, he's sleeping, he says my voice is just soothing, but whatever, I put him to sleep
3-- he really hates to clean, unless he just happens to be in the mood
4-- he does NOT know how to match clothes- Dave, camo and stripes DON'T go together Honey.
5-- it's not the different side of the road, he just can't drive
6-- if i don't fall asleep before him, i'm gonna get "run over" by an 18 wheeler
7-- he thinks he's invincable
8-- he assumed he would always live like a boy
9-- "clean" is a optional word in the mens dictionary
10--he loves me no matter how bad of a mood i'm in

These are the few things I'm learning about marriage:

1-- no matter how many times you wash clothes, the basket will be full by the end of the week
2-- pasta is a great meal to cook when there's not much in the house; "we have a tomato, some garlic, a mushroom, and half a squash-PASTA IT IS!"
3-- as long as there's food in the house, they're happy
4-- a hug at the beginning of the day & when you walk through the door at the end of it, make an AMAZING difference to a bad day
5-- if you can laugh at yourself, no matter the circumstance, it can probably be fixed, or ignored till later
6-- they fell in love with who you are and who you will be, not just who you were, so remember to let each other grow and encourage lots
7-- marriage is great for the ego, all the things you hate about yourself they probably love the most--cause it makes you you!
8-- anything you do together is time well spent
9-- you have to listen with your heart, not your ears sometimes
10- if you want to love forever, and to share your lives together, you have to always forgive, always keep that secret language you have between you, make big decisions together, tell the truth, think-then speak, love each other unconditionally, and pray together
---I love you Dave--you are trully my other half. I've never met someone who's let me be more completely me, and helped me find out what that is. You make me shine.

Dumbledore is not dead!

OK, so you remember my rant on the latest Harry Potter book, and how I hated the ending. Well, I know if you are a real Harry Potter fan you've already read it, so I'm spilling the beans on the ending. Dumbledore DIES! If you don't know who that is, OBVIOUSLY you're not a fan, but he's really the main adult character of the book. He's Harry's mentor, advisor, & friend, and also he's the headmaster of Hogwarts (the school--duh). It was a VERY traumatic end to the book I looked forward to for over a year, and I was not happy about it, and extremely depressed. Well, recently some new light has been shed on this very grim matter. One of Dave's friends e-mailed him this site-- www.dumbledoreisnotdead.com !!! If you ARE a Harry Potter fan, this will give you SO much hope for the last book, and maybe a little solace that things may turn out alright for Harry in the end. If you're not a fan, you've probably stopped reading this by now, and don't wanna try the site anyway. Have it your way, your missing out.

Dawson's Creek

Yes, all of you LDP that were with me are groaning at the mention of that show (except Candice of course). I was sick on Friday and rented it from the video store. Season 3 that is. I had rented season 4 last, but realized I hadn't seen all of season 3, so I'm back tracking. I'm almost done, and Dave is SOOOO glad! :)
We went boating again last night and I tried the Jackson Fun one more time to see if maybe it had gotten better since the last time I was in it. It hadn't. I REALLY detest the seating arrangements in that boat, they are HORRIBLE!!! I was surfin lots and I've almost mastered rolling w/0 a nose plug. I don't wear one anymore cause I just hate the way they feel, and am doing pretty well rolling w/0 one. I've also got my stern squirt from both sides! I LOVE doin them now! They're so fun! I'm terrible at enders, but that's Dave's forte. Anways, the real drama comes in towards the end of the evening last night. We were still boating and I was getting tired. I told myself just a few more stern squirts and we'd go. I wet exited 3 times in the next 15 minutes, and the last time, Dave's pretty sure I concussed myself. Yeah, I was acting sorta weird for the rest of the night, laughing hysterically one moment and crying the next, it really scared him. I must have hit my head coming out the last time, on the boat actually. I just don't understand how you get concussed wearing a helmet! Whiplash maybe, they say it can happen that way too, I dunno. It was weird though. He wouldn't let me go to sleep, so I stayed up and watched Dawson's Creek until he was convinced I was ok to go to bed. Fun night all in all I would say! lol The moral of the story is--don't buy a Jackson Fun, they can get you concussed!

a view through the window 

foot in mouth disease

I'm going to try and make up for my horrible rant on Democrats now. Not to say those 2 mornings were fun, or even pleasant, but all democrats are not responsible for it, and all them do not act that way. That guy was just being a jerk, and his political views had very little to do with it. If he had just kept them to himself and agreed to disagree nothing would have happened--he was immature like you said Molly.

I guess I've just been having a really hard time lately with unpleasant people. See, around NOC, Christianity isn't really looked highly upon. If I were a Buddhist or had a Guru, or just thought that people were generally good, then I would automatically be accepted. The problem is, I'm not, and I don't condone those things. I'm sorry I don't think one person is responsible for the destruction of the world. I don't play the blame game every day, and it seems like everyone there does--even with the staff around them. I hate it, and it's discouraging. First, I wish people could be more accepting of each other. That is one thing I have learned being at NOC, that you have to accept people for who they are, not what they do or believe in. I guess that pretty much contradicts everything I said in my "democrat" blog, but I was angry, and I jumped into the blame game w/ both feet, sorry. I just want to serve God so much, and it seems there are so few Christian ministries to work in around here. I know my work place is a HUGE mission field, but I don't know what to say to them! I don't know anything about Buddhism or Guru's, and I'm such a bad example of a Christian that going on looks alone they're NOT coming to Christ. I just feel very defeated most of the time--there for the pay check but checking out. I love working in the outdoors, but how am I suppose to use that for God? I don't know yet. I feel like every time I start a new job I think, "this is the place I'm gonna start fresh for God, be an example from the beginning." And that lasts all of 2 days. Where to start? I don't know, but I feel like I'm being beat down from every direction at work. I really don't want to argue w/ anyone, I just want to run away from it---but is that the answer?

This is a picture from Hurrican Katrina...amazing huh? I have lots more, if you want me to e-mail them to ya just ask! 

Amazing Grace

I love this feeling that I have right now, the one that I get after being around Christians all night and having great discussions about God. It’s amazing isn’t it?! What God can do with your heart and your desires when you let Him? I would NEVER have imagined I would have wanted to do God’s will with this kind of desire when I was in high school. God was always a “I know I’m really suppose to want to do this stuff but I really just do it cause I have to” kinda thing. I love the fire that He has put in me right now; the heart he’s given me for missions, or just to serve Him in any way I can and to the best of my abilities. I almost cry when I think of how far God has brought me. And then I think of the rest of the journey, but I know that He’s going to walk with me the whole way. Wow, just wow is all I can say right now. We just got done with a small group meeting. I have to tell you, before we went I had almost decided I didn’t want to lead one anymore, that I hardly knew these people and how could they really ask me to do something like this so quickly! Well, too bad Satan, I’m not backing down, I’m just gonna have to study harder and pray more. Jason, the youth pastor at our church, just gave me a great entrance to a ministry/internship for next year. He wants me to intern at the church and work with the youth while I go back to school and finish a degree. The church pays for school and I work for them! It sounds amazing, and I am YEARNING to work with kids in a spiritual arena again. He always wants me to start helping out with youth group now, maybe w/ a girls Bible study group, which I am ECSTATIC about! I miss serving SO badly. I know God has a place for me, that he is going to fill this void and this yearning, and I can’t WAIT to see what he does with it! GOD’S AMAZING!

Political controversy

Let me give you this scenario. I walk into work at 7:30 in the morning, not a time I really like to be at work, but I have to, so that’s that. Into the kitchen I go where I usually get to talk to my favorite cook, he’s usually a laugh. Not this morning mind you, he’s ranting about how republicans suck and so on. I laugh and say, “hey watch it I’m a republican.” Ok, he takes that in stride w/ just a few snide remarks, then goes on to say one of many remarks he would make that day about how George W. Bush was the worst thing this country had ever seen and he was running it into the ground. Now at this point I probably should have just walked away, but, I didn’t think it would be that bad if I just jokingly said, “hey I voted for him.” No, wrong answer. I then got berated for the next hour about how I was affecting children for years to come and how could I do this to the world and was a I rich or something, how could I afford to vote for Bush??? After a bit of that and almost being in tears I finally left, because you just can’t argue w/ someone who is only going to see his side anyway and is blaming the countries debt (which we have been in since basically the beginning of our country) on one president. The next morning, guess what, the same thing—I yelled back this time, although it made no difference, he just yelled all the louder.

If you are a democrat, I suggest you probably not read the rest of this blog, I may offend you, but I just need to let off some steam.

Why is it exactly that Democrats get SO pissed when they find out we voted for a Republican presidential candidate, and yet, when was the last time you EVER heard of a Democrat voting for a Republican???? It doesn’t happen unless they are just a registered Democrat and always vote Republican. I mean, when exactly did the right for speech in this country start to infringe on other people’s decision to vote???? You voted for who you wanted to, SO GET OFF MY BACK!!! I’m sorry your presidential candidate didn’t win. Blame it on a miscalculation or a screw up or whatever you want to, but it’s not MY fault cause I voted for him, you lost GET OVER IT OR MOVE TO ANOTHER COUNTRY! And maybe if you do move, you should move to a place where they don’t GET to vote, and see how it feels when people infringe on your opinions. I just wanna know this---how does a miscount of votes that happened in the previous election get someone REELECTED in the second??? I don’t infringe upon you being a democrat, even though I still think you need to get saved (LOL), so don’t infringe upon mine. Didn’t you mother ever tell you, “If you can say anything nice, don’t say anything at all?” Well, I am, so just shut up.

Renovation complete...and other stuff

Well, I fixed the new color (I didn't like the last one, what do you think of the new one?) and put the tag-board and links back on...YAY! It took me alot of time, but I finally figured it all out. Hope ya like it.
In other news, Dave and I went kayaking last night at a lil place in Bryson called "the Dip." the Dip doesn't sound really that big or exciting, it's just a wave to play on right? No, it's really a BOAT EATING MONSTER! Yeah, we got up to the Dip and it looked too big for me, so I told Dave to go for it! lol He did, and at first he looked like a pro, surfin the wave and stuff, but then I realized it was sucking him in and spitting him back out repeatedly, he didn't WANT to go back in. Then it flipped him over a few times and he came out sputtering. But you looked GREAT while you were in it babe, promise, no one woulda known the difference! lol So, after we both figured out the Dip was too big for us, we went to Dip Jr. It's just a bit down the river from that in a nice wave to play in without eating you alive. We had a blast! I tried out a Pyranha Sub 7 kayak and he tried a Liquid Logic Vision 44. I did an STERN SQUIRT! I REALLY GOOD ONE! Dave taught me how to do it, and it felt so good! He was doin great stern squirts and BEAUTIFUL enders, you woulda loved it Scott. I also did some pretty mean surfin if I do say so myself (although I'm still not up to par w/ the Dip). Anyway, we had a really good time, even if Dave did have to drag me out there. That's how it always happens though; I never wanna go and he REALLY wants to go, so I drag myself out there and end of having lots of fun. Well, that's the end of my tales for now. I think I found the boat I wanna buy though, I really like the Sub 7, but I like the Jackson Fun too, it's just the seat adjustments really suck. Any advice Scott? SCOTT? Ya out there??? We haven't heard much from ya in a while buddy! E-mail us or somethin k? Peace out yo! lol

Technical difficulties

As you may see, this site is having technical difficulties. I tried to change just the color of my template but it erased the tag board and my links. Hopefully they will be back soon. Keep checking!

Taming the beast

Well, we didn't so much tame it, as it rode us. We were down at the beach this last week, during hurricane something or other (the one after Katrina if that helps, lol), and the weather got a bit fun. Monday afternoon they came through w/ a truck saying there was a mandatory evacuation for Oak Island (that's US!). Well, it was ONLY a tropical storm then, NOT EVEN A HURRICANE, and we knew it was just cause everybody was freaked out over Katrina's damage that they were even saying that. So, of course we had to stay and ride it out. The bridge to get off the island closes down after sustained winds of 40 mph. It started coming in hard on Monday night, the whole house was rocking and creaking throughout the night, but of course Dave slept right through it (except when I woke him up, he was very sympathetic for all the 30 seconds he managed to keep his eyes open). Then Tuesday the power went off at 7 am. The Summer's family were down at the beach w/ us, along w/ my whole family (excluding Shannon and Shaun's family). As soon as we got up, Brad, Daddy, Dave and I rode around the island to see if anything had power or was open. We got to the LAST gas station before the bridge and it was open! It had a generator of course, but we bought coffee and those lil white donuts and got the morning gossip, so we were doin good. The lady said the worst of the storm was yet to come (we didn't mention that to Laurie and Mom, they weren't very happy we had stayed by this point). The wind and rain had done some damage to the roads, and a couple of signs and awnings, but other than deep water that was it. We played the LONGEST game of Phase Ten I think I have EVER sat through, and then we went looking for adventure. The kids had woken up by then and were starting to get restless (NO MTV, WHAT DO WE DO???). So, after pushing the warnings of our mother's aside, we went out into the storm, dressed in our bathing suits and holey soles; we were prepared for anything. We played in the ditches by the house, as they had become pretty powerful streams by then, but we had to hide behind bushes every once in awhile, because 75 mph rain hurts! Then, we headed to the beach. Brad and Daddy geniously explained to us that because the sand was so wet it wouldn't be flying around, so we would be fine (ha ha). By the way, even after Laurie and Mom's warnings, they were too curious to stay inside, so they came too. We started running for the beach. We had to wade through a lot of water even to GET there, but we were there. We headed over the sand dunes and......................................we got PELTED w/ 75 mph rain AND sand. OUCH OUCH OUCH OUCH! You could hear everyone screaming. Brad, Daddy, and Dave were trying to get to the water just to step in a lil, everyone else was running screaming for cover. We waded EVER SO quickly back through the water and to the house. My ears were killing me from very cold rain and wind being pushed in them, but we had HAD our adventure. We played some more card games and did a few more runs around the island in the truck, to pick up gossip magazines and the other necessities, and waited out the rest of the storm. The power came back on about 7 pm. 12 hours w/o power, and we had survived. The bridge was still closed, but we had our TV back! And we could cook spaghetti! Yes folks, that is our story, and we're stickin to it. I would do it again, Mom and Laurie, not so much--but it was fun, just sittin around thinking of things to do and just being w/ family and friends. I had a great week at the beach guys, it was so much fun. Thank you Mom and Dad for letting us come. Thanks Brad and Laurie for letting us tag along, we enjoyed your company very much.

The End....until next year

Saying of the week-- "IT'S ONLY A PHASE 1 HURRICANE, HOW BAD CAN IT BE?"

Like my dad's new car? It's VERY fuel efficient. 

a higher calling

I've been wanting to blog about this for a long time, and never really got around to it. There's been a real burden on my heart lately to do something of a bigger purpose than helping people have a good time on their vacations. It started with watching the movie "Hotel Rawanda." I think that every Christian, and really every human being, should watch this movie. I cried several times through the movie. It's not a happy movie, but one that is needed, to see humanity as it is. I felt so completely useless afterwards. I knew I had done so little to help anyone other than myself! I have been yearning lately to be used by God for His purposes, to help other people see him, but help them physically too! I feel restless at my job. Don't get my wrong, I enjoy it, but I need to do something more. The whole jest of this is to say, please pray for God to tell me what he wants me to do, and to give me the patience to wait if he chooses not to tell me soon.

see, they think so too 

3.65

There is no end to this madness, people here are just plain STEALING our money now.! Did they pay 3.65 per gallon to get the gas in the gas station? NO!!! They paid 2.50, but now they're selling it for a DOLLAR MORE! I'm done w/ the gas ranting for now, but if it hits 4.00 I'm hitch hiking to work ever morning!

P.S. ATTN: DEE DASILVA---first you tell us you're engaged then you just leave us hanging for a month!!!! Helloooo??? We want to know what's going on, and what your going to do next! And Disney World is not an option. lol Love ya!

and the waters keep on risin'

or maybe the rising part is just the gas prices.

Well folks, we're in our new place. "In" not meaning ANYTHING is in it's place, other than the bed cause we had to sleep there last night, but we're in at least. We no longer live in a mold infested apartment!!!!!!!!! WUHOO! Guess that's all there is to say about that really, Dave can tell you how the moving in process went and so on, considering I wasn't there for most of it :).

I do have a few comments to make on the gas prices however, considering we just paid THREE DOLLARS AND TEN CENTS PER GALLON to fill up our car, because everywhere else for the next 3 counties it out of gas and there is very little left! Yes, it may be up to a week and a half before there's more gas! So, we're gonna be carpooling alot, to say the least. I believe the apocolypse is coming when the gas prices in the US of A reach this high, or maybe we're just getting our due for having the cheapest out of the REST of the world for so long, who knows, but we may be seeing Jesus soon! lol I'm out to organize my house. Toodles!

P.S. pray for New Orleans considering the death toll is being projected into the 1,000's there because of the water levels.

just for the rush of it

We found an apartment this morning. We started moving in this morning. We have to be out by tomorrow. We ACTUALLY have to completely move tonight. I'm working till 8 pm. It's raining lots....remember that hurricane coming through? yup, it's hit. We stuffed a towel under the outside door of our old apartment last night so it wouldn't flood on the last night. Did I mention Dave and whoever he found from church is moving our apartment right now? K, just thought I'd tell you. By the way, for those of you who are wondering, we still have the same address and phone number. I don't like hurricanes--I would never live in Florida--I mean, what ARE those people thinking???? I'm done, gotta go back to work, then move for the rest of the night. OH! Pray for our landlord to let us out of our lease (the old apartment) and give us our deposit back, or at least reimburse us for the "carpet doctor" we had to rent all FOUR times it flooded.

additions

As you might have noticed, I've added a sidebar. The sidebar is a place just to leave me a note or whatever you want really. It's not a place to comment on the postings, it's just there so that you can leave random bits of info and we can correspond a bit more. We'll see how it goes. If no one likes it, or it just doesn't work for this blog, then I'll take it off. This site is now under construction and may be making more random changes in the next few days...the time has come for some change :). Talk to ya soon!

a tablespoon of salt

It's not quite a teaspoon of sugar, but I think it has the same ring to it, lol. The other night Dave and I were cooking my mom's lasagna recipe (which was very good inspite of everything mom, thanx), and Dave misread my my cooking directions. See, Mom had just been reading them out to me really quickly, so I had written down 'tp' for teaspoon, and 'tbs' for tablespoon. Yes, I realize those abreviations don't quite match up, but I was shorthanding it ok? Anyways, he thought tp was tablespoon and ended up putting a tablespoon of salt and a half tablespoon of pepper in the recipe instead of the teaspoon size to fill the quota. He didn't tell me he was second guessing the measurements, nor ask me if that was right till AFTER it was out of the oven. None the less, it turned out ok. We just had to drink a lil more tea w/ our salty lasagna, lol.
On a serious and GOOD note, we went and saw an apartment tonight. It's REALLY cute but slightly smaller than our apartment right now. I like the way the space is arranged though, even though the bedroom is pretty tiny (our bed will still fit in though, so we're good). Not sure if this is the one we will choose, but at least we're actively moving towards getting out of "the wetlands" as I like to call our apartment now.
p.s. Molly, we want to send you something--what's your new address over there?

long lost friend

A long lost friend called me the other day. He was an ex-boyfriend actually, but we were friends much longer than we were anything more. Our relationship ended badly, and I'm pretty sure we were both to blame; neither of us were the people we needed to be at the time. After a few months I missed that friendship really badly, and ever since I thought about him and wondered how he was doing. Well, he left a message on my answering machine...yesterday I think. He use to NEVER leave messages, he hated them, but guess that changed too, or it was just an important message. He called my parents house and asked for my number. My mom said he told her he was engaged! I'm SO extremely excited for him, and I'm so glad I'm gonna get that chance to "end" things well. We use to e-mail each other mutiple times a day during high school, and then...nothing really, for several years. I always called him on his birthday though. He always said I could never remember it, so I decided to annoy him after we broke up, and prove that I could....I've called him every year since :). Anyways, I haven't talked to him yet, but I'm looking forward to hearing about all the wedding plans, and the girl, who's gotta be something special, and how great his life is going. I love that, that an old friend is doing well, and I get to celebrate w/ him now. Thanx --to you know who you are, thanx for calling, it means alot to me. God has grown us alot huh? I wish you all the happiness a wonderful, Christian marriage brings, it's GREAT!

Cool sign huh? It's right before you come into town, I love it. Dave took this pic. :) 

P.S.

Because I keep getting adds for other people's businesses on my blog, I have now added a word verification process where you have to type in a word that you see on the screen before you can comment. It's just so computers can't automatically post their crap on my blog. Sorry guys, I know it's an extra step, but I've been getting a lot of spam lately. Please still comment! I love all of them!

God's dry shower of blessings

"I have faith God, I have faith that it won't happen." Ten minutes later; "ok I DON'T have faith God, I just don't have enough, I have ALOT of hope though, does that count? I have VERY great hope, that this downpour, will NOT flood our apartment."

As Dave and I drove home today, I felt a sense of dread, but not as much as I do usually when I just KNOW the apartment was flooded. It was a peace sort of, that even if the apartment WAS flooded, even though the ropes course and the river WERE flooded, that God would help us get through it, no tears this time. Dave said if it was flooded, he would see it as a sign, that we WERE suppose to move. I asked him, "So you WANT it to flood??? You're just temping God aren't you!"

So we walked in, to our house, fully fearing that we would be waiding through, but IT WAS DRY!!! We praised God IMMEDIATELY! Because you know what??? The drain outside our apartment was TOTALLY clogged up, AND GOD STOPPED THE RAIN!!! I TOTALLY believe HE was the ONLY reason it didn't flood today, just to show us that He can and will take care of even the little things. We definately needed that miracle today. And Dave still thinks we should find a new place, so I guess the miracle was as good of a sign as the house being flooded :); it takes more to NOT flood than to flood(sorta like the fleece in the Bible w/ the dew and stuff, lol).

Well, Dave's first day at NOC went REALLY well, but I'll let him blog about that.
GOD IS GREAT! .....even on the rainy days :).

Drying out

The apartment had dried out and the smell is slightly less disgusting than is was a few days ago. We haven't found a new one yet, but we're definitely looking. It's still a possibility that we MAY end up in staff housing, but like I said, no definates yet.
Had my first Team Building Raft trip the other day, well, that I lead anyway, it went suprisingly well! I mean, I HOPED it would go well, but I was a lil worried. I had one of my friends who works in the outfitters store on he river w/ me, he'd never been on one either, but we had a blast. Since most of the summer staff that were still in school have left now, almost ALL departments are short staffed, so everyone's been working everywhere. It's a nice change to the monotony.
Dave is starting to train on the river tomorrow, to check out as a guide! I'm really excited about it, I think he is too,lol. He's also gonna get trained on the Alpine Tower and Ropes course, and guess who gets to train him? ME!!! I think it's HILARIOUS! Not sure he does though, lol.
Well, I'm off early today, and I'm just playing around on the computer, maybe I'll visit a few new sites, or just get on my regular (ebay and all the blogs I read). Or maybe I'll just go home and read my new Glamour magazine, it's the 800th edition special, so it's HUGE!!! I LOVE IT! It's my one REALLY girlie indulgence, and I look forward to it EVERY month.
Well, I'm off. Gotta hit the post office before it closes.

Screaming at God

Screaming at God

Today on my way home, I yelled at God while trying to drive through my tears. “Just ONE night w/ my husband God, just ONE night to relax and enjoy the time we have together. I just wanted ONE rainy night NOT spent sucking up the water that is pouring into our apartment!!!!! I know it’s not your fault, but couldn’t You have just STOPPED IT?!?” Dave was yelling at God about the same time I was, but something like “I PRAYED about this!!! Didn’t you HEAR ME?!?” That was just hours ago. Once again, our apartment has flooded. We’ve been here 4 months and it’s flooded 4 times. So, first thing Monday morning Dave is going to talk to our landlord, and see what we can do to get out of our lease agreement, considering OBVIOUSLY this has happened before, and they said nothing but “keep the drain clear otherwise your house MIGHT flood”. By the way, the drain was PERFECTLY clear this time, and the water STILL came in. The moral of the story is, if you find an apartment, and the price, size, etc seem too good to be true, it probably is. Anyway, as we are a bit calmer now and not screaming at God, we are still sucking up the water that is in the apartment, taking shifts w/ the Rug Doctor. But we realise this could be an opportunity, not sure what for yet, but maybe there’s a reason that it’s pushed us to move out, or at least start looking, who knows. Just trying to remember what I said to a close friend last night…hmmm…something like “it’s not the end of the world, there are other things you can do! I KNOW God has a reason for this, and He’ll use it in a great way, something you may not see right now, or ever, but at least someone knows what’s going on.” Well, guess I could take some of my own advice right? Gotta go, it’s my shift. Pray for us, to find whatever God is having us search for, or at least a dry place to live, if only temporarily.

don't count your chickens before they hatch

I had my very first corporate group that I hosted all by myself yesterday. I was pretty stressed about it at first, as they are some of our most high paying guests, but it turned out better than I could have imagined. The rafting trip was amazing, and some of the ladies on my boat gave me the most gracious compliments on my raft guiding skills, which REALLY made me feel good. Two of the ladies were very nervous about rafting, and they told me that I made them feel totally at ease and they felt I was very professional at my job--wow! I hosted their dinner last night too and they were a delightful bunch of people to converse w/, asking me questions about my job and the area, and telling little tidbits of their life too. All in all, I'm not so scared of corporate groups anymore.
On a personal/spiritual note: Dave and I have been reading a book called "Priceless" that we were given as a wedding present. It's a money management book, but it's REALLY good. It's written by a Christian, and I highly recommend it. Anyways, I'm trying to find ways to save money in small and big ways, and I think that's what God is pushing me to do right now, for reasons or purposes I'm not sure of yet. Also my devotions lately have gone towards really enjoying those priceless moments in life--like Dave's and mine first camping trip together, our walks in the evening (which are becoming more frequent), or our Sunday mornings when we get to go to church together. Please pray that my prayer life will become more fervent too--I desperately need to stop, drop, and pray more often. Well, I gotta get on the river! I'll update soon.

belated Rowling outrage

Yes folks, I am VERY mad at J.K. Rowling. If you don't know who this is, you OBVIOUSLY don't like Harry Potter, or at least haven't read them yet and found out how great they are...well...until recently. I won't blow the whole thing, but the ending to the last book, "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince", was AWFUL! I finished it around midnight one night and got a TERRIBLE night's sleep for the rest of it. As you know, I was SO psyched about the new book coming out (it came out July 16th just in case you forgot), but it ends TERRIBLY!!!! J.K. Rowling, I have half a mind to boycot your next book, if it weren't for the fact that I HOPE you redeem yourself and finish the series off right. Don't go the way of superman and spiderman Rowling, alienating the hero from their friends and killing off their "family" is just OVERDONE!!! Ok, I'm done now. Dave and I are going out to Yummi Yummi Chinese resturant in town for our 4 month anniversary. Yes I know you're not suppose to count it till a year, but hey, we like celebrating, and chinese food, so why not!?! Gotta jet!

they were the best of times, and the worste of times

camping was really great. We found a awesome lil spot right by a small waterfall. We built a fire and had smores, and swam, and then went to bed smellin like smoke (I love the smell of campfire smoke while camping). Then we lazed around the next day and swam some more and sunbathed at the top of the waterfall. In the afternoon we went kyaking; the first time we'd both done the whole Nanty since LDP. Last night we went to a Big Lebowski party, which was obviously a good time. Today was suppose to be my court date, strange you say, as it's on a Saturday, but I didn't think of that. Yes folks, the officer wrote down the wrong date, the court date was actually YESTERDAY. Now I'm gonna have to try and get MORE time off to go and deal w/ this stupid speeding ticket. But, the fact that he wrote the court date down wrong, could help me out alot. Who knows. I'm off to work in a few, but then there's a baby shower and staff goodbyes tomorrow. Well, talk to ya soon! oh, and pray for my family...they all just left on a Mission trip to Mexico today, and they'll be gone for a week.

Summer heatstroke

it's a bit warm here, very warm, the salt deposits on my face would show you that if you could see me right now. I just got off the ropes course, and it was HOT! Dave and I have a day off together tomorrow, so we're heading out tonight to go camping, just overnight though. We're going up to a little river where there's some really pretty waterfalls and things, should be a good time if it doesn't rain :). We went to a place called the "Fun Factory" in Franklin the other night w/ some friends from here. It held it's name well and was good fun. We played laser tag and lots of video games. At the end of the night we had lots of tickets and we put them all together and got LOTS of pointless little things that kept us amused for at least 5 minutes. However, I found out something new about Dave in those 5 minutes. He's terrified of Chinese Finger Traps. you know those lil paper/straw tubes you stick your fingers in, and if you pull on each side your fingers are stuck in the middle? Yeah, he REALLY hates those...and I just CAN't stop laughing over it! I told him I was gonna wake him up one morning by putting those things on his fingers then tickling him...wouldn't that be a RIOT? Well, I thought so anyways. Just thought I'd blog and say hello! I miss all you guys, and for those of you in Canada, Dave and I hope we will be seeing you this January!!!! More details on that later, gotta go meet Dave for dinner. Miss you all!

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.

my watering can--part of my birthday present from Dave. ISN'T HE CUTE!!! 

the joy of silence, beauty, and the stories of our lives

buckle up folks, you may be in for a long read.
Today as Dave and I were driving back from my parent’s house, I started noticing more of what surrounds me up here in the mountains. I turned off the radio, which I don't do often when I'm not here, considering we don't get radio here because of the mountains, and just pondered inwardly. Dave had dozed off, and I was now in my own little world. The sun was heading in for the evening, and the sky was turning pink, and the mountains were just coming in to view. It was beautiful, magnificent even. The mountain air flowing through the windows--I was speechless. It was nice just to sit there driving, and just enjoy the drive for once. I didn't talk for a couple of hours, even after Dave woke up, I just wanted to enjoy the peace surrounding me, just enjoy those moments of wonder at what God has created. Then I started to watch movies in my head. Do you ever do that? I have a great imagination, and memory, for the movies. I like to watch them again in my head, and then change the story line alot. I also like to put a soundtrack to life. Something will happen, and I'll just think of a song, and maybe I'll "hum" it in my head for the next hour. While driving I was thinking about the book I'm reading right now called "Damned if I do." It's a book of short stories, and I highly recommend it so far. It's so much like life. Our life is just a big book of short stories. How many times have you written stories, books, novels, in your head?! I know I must have written hundreds by now, but would anyone want to read them, I dunno. Anyway, the book has sad and happy, funny and helpful, and even mad stories. So do we. We're not happy all the time, alot of our stories are sad, but they're written anyway. Because, if we didn't have those sad or mad stories, we wouldn't enjoy the happy, helpful ones just as much! I guess this blog today is just about enjoying life. Take the time to look around you, to see the beauty in your town. Even if it's just the wild flowers/weeds growing in the cracks of the cement--stop--breath deeply--and remember that life is worth living, every moment, if only for those few minutes that you smile, or even grin and bear it.
My mom's birthday was today, and we (my mom, my 2 sisters and I) went out shopping and to lunch. It was great! I enjoyed their company so VERY much...even when the twins were screaming through lunch at Cracker Barrel. I love you 3 wonderful women. You three are what I hope to live up to. Mom, you have given me more strength than I could even have wished for. Shannon, you were that shoulder to cry on, and the one who told me when I needed to shape up. Bethany, if I can grow to half the girl you are at 16, wow, you bless me every time I think about you. Thank you, my wonder women, for being my inspiration to push forward and live life to the fullest. I love you all SO very much. Happy birthday Mom.

p.s. my birthday is tomorrow, the 28th :)
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HI's and LOW's

So this week started out REALLY well. I had Sunday AND Monday off, which seems like an eternity after a 57 hour week. Sunday we went to church and I had a long nap in the afternoon---oh so nice. Monday we slept in and I went to the library in the morning. Then we painted our chairs some more and picked up some movies we had wanted to see for awhile. Tuesday was back to work as usual. Except we had a group 0f 92 come in, and that wouldn't be that bad if they weren't SUPPOSE to be a group of 52. Yup, they called on Sunday, TWO days before coming, and said, oh, by the way, we're bringing 40 extra people--see ya then! Yeah, so it was a lil hectic trying to get 32 people through the swing every 2 hours--but I did it anyway. Tuesday night however, was AWESOME. NOC hosts a Raft Guide Olympics every year, and Tuesday was the day. Different teams from all different companies compete. They have to go through a pretty complicated run down the river; hitting eddies, flipping and re-flipping the boat, and slalom through different rocks. Plus, they had to run Wesser Falls, deflate their boat, put it on the truck, and run back to the rentals area. It was pretty sweet to watch. After all the competing we had a big Togo party! It was awesome. We danced until 11 and we could dance no more. Wednesday, back to guiding a group of 92 down the river--8 guided boats, 6 self-guided boats = chaos. Thursday, my last day before I go home to see my parents, work is ok, but I wanna get home to clean the house before we leave the next day. So, I'm goin a lil fast, and sorta zoning out trying to remember all the things I need to do. I usually slow down after one particular bridge when I see the speed limit sign, but I was in my own lil world when I got pulled over. It was a highway patrol car, so obviously there was no getting out of it. Yes, I got my first speeding ticket, and there's a mandatory court appearance--ugh. Anyone have any advice for me? I need to get my speed reduced to, well, keep my license. That made my day definitely suck. But, now we're back at my parents house for a weekend of visa work (finger printing and the such), wedding receptions, and birthday lunches. So hopefully it will be better than my more-lows-than-highs week. PS--my birthday is this coming Tuesday!

How far would YOU go …to get out of using soap?

This is not a story to tell to the young. Viewer discretion is advised

Tonight I learned a new thing about my husband folks, and I jump at the chance to tell you. Yes folks, he has a foot fetish. Now before you recoil in horror, listen to the story I’m about to weave. Tonight we were about to head to bed, but quickly remembered we had just put clean sheets on the bed. Well, there’s little to nothing better than clean sheets….when you’re clean. However, our feet were pretty dirty from walkin around a bit in flip-flops today. SO, instead of going to bed dirty or having to take a full shower, we opt for just washing the feet. To Dave, “washing” as a term, is used lightly. If you can't SEE the dirt, it’s obviously clean (no matter how many times it’s been used). So, he turns on the water, rinses them off, and dries. I say, “aren’t you going to use soap? If you don’t use soap, they just LOOK clean.” He claims they are clean, “Look at them,” he says, “they’re clean!” So I say, “Well, if they’re clean, lick ‘em then.” Now, this wasn’t just a touch them with the tongue then quickly recoil thing. This was a, lick ‘em from heal to toe and in-between the toes type of deal. So, what does he do…he whips out the tongue and quickly obliges. All I can say between laughter and being grossed out is ‘ewww’. “They’re clean” he states again, and walks outta the bathroom.
For all Nelson family reading this, I'm sorry you had to find this out. It must be a great awakening. Or, you either knew he was like this, in that case....YOU NEVER TOLD ME???? Well, I will leave you to your nightmares of Dave licking his feet. Goodnight all.

The South will RISE AGAIN!!!  

most EXCELLENT adventure

Well, I promised to tell you more about the tubing, so here's a short synopsis. On Monday, my day off this week, Dave and I decided to go tubing in Deep Creek. It was TONS of fun --till it started to storm and the rain started to hurt. Then we were trying to get the tubes back on the top of the car in the pouring rain w/o soaking the car INSIDE and needless to say we ended up getting soaked even more while laughing too hard to actually tie on the tubes. But it was fun. A church group was watching us w/ this ordeal from their dry van, guess we were a good show.

Yesterday I had THE most awesome raft trip group EVER. They were a couple of highschoolers and one or two college students. They were GREAT! We got stuck on THREE rocks AFTER the last rapid cause I was laughing so hard I couldn't even guide! GREAT day. Well, I gotta get outta here now, I gotta go do the same group on the Alpine tower, should be another good day, if the mosqitos would leave us alone and it doesn't pour too hard, lol

ps my shoulder is doing much better thanks to a friend in massage therapy.

cool shot of the side--ps dave took all these...GOOD HEY!!! 

the buddha painting 

the infamous chairs 

remember this Candice? 

what shall I do today>.....TUBE!

I LOVE TUBING IN DEEP CREEK!
more to follow, but most go host a group now, just thought i'd give ya a taster.

for Molly---i'm still here and kickin

This post is dedicated to Molly. Just so you know I'm still here, and I read your posts tri-weekly if not daily.
Well, since my last blog I've been trying fruitlessly to recover. The problem w/ my recovery program is that...well...I don't really have one. I've been working as normal and raft guiding even more. So, my shoulder has steadily declined. I woke the other morning (i use that term loosely, it was around 2 am) in great amounts of pain. I haven't been sleeping since then because my muscles seem to like to tighten alot during the night...I think they are playing tug of war. So, I finally called my boss and said "I'll take the workmens comp., thanks." So I'm hoping to go to a massage therapist soon. And that's all of my aches and pains we shall discuss.

Dave and I did finally end of strawberry picking. They are delicious...I especially like having them on waffles w/ whipcream...mmmmmmm. We're still painting our chairs too. I have tried to put things that mean alot to me on there. Buddha is a big part of my chair. About now my family and all Christian friends are freaking out thinking I have converted to Buddhism, but I have not. So...I will explain.

During the time Dave and I were on our honeymoon in Hawaii, we went to a Buddhist temple just to site see (they're VERY beautiful and elaborate). I was amazed at the quiet and reverence in which these temples were set! There was just an "awe" about the place. You were advised to take your shoes off at the door and light a stick of incense for a loved one at the feet of Buddha. My spirit was so quieted. I thought, "How different Christian churches would be, if we would just take ONE hour out of our week, and be THIS reverent to our God." I left there feeling very convicted to seek those quiet moments with God at all cost. And so, I have a picture of Buddha on my chair, and every time I see it, it reminds me to listen to the verse, "BE STILL and know that I AM God."

P.S. Chris---Dave and I went to see Star Wars III just because of your recommendation! I was a lil skeptical at first (because of the first one) but it was REALLY REALLY GOOD! Thanks Chris! Hope you had a great time in Bon Echo!!!

Bruises were immanent, death was assumed

This past Thursday we had a trip of 44 duckies. On these duckies were children in the 6th grade. If you calculate right...that means we had 44 6th graders...good job. Imagine, a sea of yellow w/ paddles flying everywhere, and trying to heard these masses off of ALL the rocks, trees, and rapid holes on the river. Yes folks, that was my day. I was assumed it would not be a fun filled day, because I was the sweep. I hate being in the back, you always get stuck w/ the teacher/kid that just CAN'T figure out how to paddle, no matter how many times you tell them they're hold their paddle backwards. Well, the day got even better when we got in the area of "turtle rock." Turtle rock is one of the most dangerous rocks on the Nanty. It looks all cute and shaped like a turtle, but it's undercut, which means the water goes under the rock. Several people have died under this rock, really. They float under it and can't float back out. Well a kid in a duckie gets stuck right ON this rock. So I go over to push him off before he tips over. I get him off, and then the current tips MY boat over and pins it on the rock. While trying to push my boat off and not get sucked under I'm banging around and it was just NOT nice. I finally get my boat un-stuck and get back into it. My left shin looks like a pinllata(sp? spell check just didn't have it!) it has so many colors, and my neck turns to the right...sometimes. So there's my saga...i have to go back to work now. Just thought I'd entertain you w/ my life for a few minutes. Sure sure...enjoy yourself while I'm in pain...thanx alot.

the LDP way....

today was my day off, something I had looked forward to since I found out I would have a full day off. I had it all planned out. We would sleep late, make a full Southern breakfast of eggs, grits, and bacon, biscuts on the side (and throw in a good cup 'o tea for Dave)and then painting and strawberry picking in the afternoon. Sounds glorious huh? Yes, it would have been. But at 10:00 this morning, while the grits were simmering and the biscuts were burning, my wonderful boss Cindy calls. She wants to know if I can guide this afternoon because a huge group is showing up and they're short a few guides (try 5). At first I think, "No, I'm not giving up my wonderful day w/ my husband"...but then the money starts to talk, "You're not getting many hours this week, and last month's start up phone bill still has to be paid!" So, what do I say? Yes, I would love to, I need the hours. I sorrowfully smile and my wonderful husband, who is completely understanding, and says it was a choice he understands, and that there is plenty of time for strawberry picking later. So, we have till 1 pm to spend time together. We ditch the dishes (which are already 3 days old but stacked neatly in a huge, dirty pile...so sorry mom), and go to ACE Hardware to buy some paint. See, we got these old wooden chairs from my grandmother, and the only restraint was that we MUST NOT bring them back. Then we got this funky idea to make them chairs that resembled what our fun side, or what we really liked, would be like. So, we're both painting them bright colors w/ lots of pictures, then adding our favorite magazine cut-outs. Dave's will probably have lots of rock climbing and kyaking involvment, and mine will be a lot of Glamour magazine and hippie stuff (along w/ some kyaking and rock climbing, lol). After the painting, off to work I went, and he came along and rock climbed while I guided some Puerto Ricans and Floridians down the river. It was a mulitguided trip, as my co-worker Stephan would say, because the Puerto Rican man in front of me kept trying to steer the boat, but what can ya do, he's on his vacation and you can only tell him politely once that you can't steer when he is doing that. It was a good afternoon all in all; then we hung out at the Paddler's Pub and watched "Absolutely Fabulous" (a show which you BBC lovers would probably appreciate). So that's my day. Sorry I didn't fill ya in on the last week, since it's been since then since I wrote, but hey, I'm married now, I gotta have a FEW secrets. ~off into the mystery I ride....on my raft~

High as a kite...but not on Hokah

Well, today I FINALLY got to do the famed NOC ropes course. I have been helping run groups through, but I actually got officially trained today. So, I conquered the ropes course...although I have to say, the swing at the end still took my heartbeat up a couple of notches. I had to count to three and then just close my eyes and go...scary stuff, but cool I could still get the rush. I also scalded my shoulders and neck, so now I'm a redneck...it only took 21 and 3/4 years, but it finally happened (my younger brother has been waiting for this day).
So, for all of you who like me are nieve and don't know what Hokah is, I shall tell you (because I didn't know till, oh...Sunday afternoon). But I must tell you the story that preceedes it first, it's only fair. So we walk into this shop in Asheville, a very cool shop I must say, and just start browsing. I immediately started looking at the really cool throw pillows (the housewife in me is kickin in). Then I noticed the "drug" parafanellia (sp?)...or at least that's what it LOOKED like. There were these MASSIVE water bongs. However (or at least this is what my obviously very 'in the know' husband tells me) they would not actually work on pot. Hokah (you get to find out now...excited???) is an instrament in which you smoke very wet (sometimes flavoured) tobacco. This store actually had tons of different flavors, including: grape, apple, margarita, taquilla...etc etc. The guy even said he could mix the flavours so you could get an Apple Margarita! So downstairs from this shop was the actual Hokah bar. And there ya have it folks, now ya know. There was also some cool mullet shampoo that I thought Shawn Pyle would love to have had, and a cool mullet care kit...I still may send it up to him, but he would have LOVED to see it...here's to you Shawn, one who is always infinately fascinated w/ mullets.
tomorrow I clean life jackets in the morning because the dam on the river is still not fixed...fun stuff. sianara! I know that's misspelled, give me a break, I was homeschooled! lol WARNING!: the previous joke is only to be replicated by homeschoolers. If otherwised stated by another party, aforementioned homeschooler will turn into mad, defensive, homeschool monster and claw eyes out.

a beautiful walk in the park.....

well, we didn't get to go in the duckies on Saturday...cause the dam was broken! Yup, when we got to NOC all ready to go, we looked at the water...and well...there wasn't much to look at. There were lots of lil kids floatin in the non-existant rapids. Even Wesser Falls (the grade 5 rapid) looked pretty dinky. But, we waded in the river and skipped rocks, and Dave found me a VW Matchbox bus, so it was all good. Then we went up to Cherakee and walked around too, good stuff. Then that night we went to Dave's photo shop where he volunteers and he took pix of us in old-timey clothes. It was so fun! It reminded me of playing dress-up w/ B as a kid. Good stuff.
Yesterday we dropped Bethany off to mom and dad, and then spent the rest of the day just walkin around Asheville. We saw some of the most incredible art work and really cool shops. We ate lunch in a park, and Dave fought off the dirty pigeons for me very valiantly. Then we walked into a privately owned, non-chain related bookstore of a pretty good size (amazing hey? it wasn't a Barnes & Nobles!!!) and bought a magnetic poetry set! We've both wanted one for quite some time, so it was neat that we finally bought one. Then we found a coffee shop called "Old Europe" and had some deliteful coffee and the MOST enticely delicious keylime pie I've EVER tasted. We drank our coffee and played w/ our magnetic poetry set on the silver tray that where our delicasies sat. It was wonderful. Then I got a really cool silk hat! And we met a traveling artist on the curb (we gave him our change, and he gaves us some poetry!). It was a great day, I'll let Dave tell ya about the guy that stopped us in the street to tell us about his dead mother and a really amazing church and that he likes to party...OH and the Hokah bar...but that's his story to tell :). beautiful day.

sis is here!

Bethany and family finally arrived yesterday around 3:30. Mom did a quick scope of the place and we got advice from the Everettes on TV antennas and they were off to the Wild's for the weekend. So, now it's just B, Dave, and I, left to our own devices.
Last night Dave cooked spaghetti and B and I prepared the salad and extras, then we were off to see Monster-N-Law at the movies. Yes, that IS the one w/ Jennifer Lopez in it, and no, I'm NOT a huge fan of hers. BUT, B was the guest, so we let her pick...and boy are we glad! Cause it was HILARIOUS! Yes folks, J Lo picked a good script this time (maybe it has something to do w/ her NOT putting one of her fiance's/ husbands in the film, but who knows...I pitty Mark Anthony..ahem..her husband, jeez you people are NOT up on your movies stars are ya now). So, if you're looking for a funny, NON chick-flick comedy, go see it! Dave and I both loved it!
So in about an hour we're off to take some duckies down the river! Neither Dave nor B have gone on duckies before, so I'm excited...I just hope the ducky's don't get too tired, that always sorta sux...lol...I'm hilarious. I'll keep yas posted!! Toodles!

Good times...

So Mother's Day weekend at home was great. I really enjoyed seeing the family, and I think my mom was actually pretty surprised!!! Cool deal.
Now I'm back at work waiting for dinner time to roll around so I can go host my group...well...Stephan's group, but we switched, so whatever. I was out on the ropes course all day today, and BUDDY was it hot. I was melting! Just thought I'd tell ya that Buddy. Buddy's not use to warm weather, he lives in Alaska, I just like making him jealous....HA HA SUCKA!!! Anyways, tomorrow I'm back on the river w/ a corporate group. We're doin something really cool too! It's called a "team building raft trip." There are 4 parts to the Nanty that they will guide...they get to decide who in the group will guide. The leaders and I aren't in the boats, we're in lil duckies along side of them. At certain points on the river they get to choose whether or not to do different challenges, like guiding blindfolded, hitting rocks and spinning, or catching eddies. I think it'll be cool!
Most importantly tomorrow, MY LIL SIS IS COMING TO SEE OUR NEW PLACE AND STAY THE WEEKEND! I'm really excited to spend some time w/ Bethany, I really miss not seein her all the time. I'm gonna take her on a duckie trip on Saturday too! WUHOO! Well, I better not make this blog much longer...so i just wanted to tell you guys that our wedding pictures should be up on www.1photofactory.com pretty soon! So check 'em out! LOVE YAS!

Happy Mother's Day

Don't forget people! Tomorrow is MOTHER'S DAY. And if you did forget, send flowers and a nice card...ASAP! And if it's really bad, send a gift certificate for a massage or manicure...that should definitely help. I'm back at my parents house this weekend. I surprised my mom by showing up at my nephews b-day party today and am staying for the mother's day dinner tomorrow night! Anyways, I just wanted to blog quickly....but I had this thing on my mind that I read from "a mommy's blog" (the link on my page to a random mom's blog). She was talking about unlikely angels coinciding w/ past relationships. A few years ago I had been through some tough relationships that ended up making me feel pretty worthless when all was said and done. Then, I started dating one of my friends that I had known for a lil over a year. He was the first non-Christian I ever dated officially, and he was the nicest guy I had yet to date at that time. He treated me with respect, he protected me, let me cry when I needed to, we hung out with his parents (who I actually really loved--and they loved me too...of course!). We just hung out, and talked LOTS about everything in our every day lives, and things we wanted to do, and what we really believed in (sometimes spiritual sometimes not). It was a short relationship, it lasted for that summer. Actually, the end was decided before we started dating. Weird huh? We just decided we would date for the summer because he was going to college, and I was going away too. I came out of that summer w/ a lot more courage and respect for myself than I went into it. He was and is still a wonderful person whom I admire very much for his strong, moral character, but I couldn't share my faith w/ him. That summer my faith was very weak, I really didn't care about it much. But the funny thing w/ God is, once we give ourselves to Him, He's not just gonna give us up just because we're walking away from Him. He's going to pull us steadily back towards Him, and keep reminding us that "hey, I love you, and you belong to Me." Well, what I wanted to say here is that that guy was sorta like my unlikely angel. He made me believe in good guys again. He made me believe in good friends again. And even though he wasn't a Christian, he helped push me back to my faith. To you summer boyfriend, I will forever remember you, and continue to pray for you.

Ants!!! ¬not the movie¬

statement: I hate ants
truer statement: i hate ants in my kitchen, crawling all over my sink!!!
We have ants. I have squished many an ant in the past week. I have drowned, salted, and poisoned ants this week....and yet....we still have ants. I need some heavy duty ant killers people...suggestions?
So, I'm feeling better, if any of you were wondering, your sleepless nights are over.
The LDP chilli night went wonderfully, thanx to my mom for supplying the recipe. The LDP loved it! They scraped the crock-pot clean! And of course we supplied them w/ lots of corn bread, and...sshhhh, don't tell Spicer....ice cream for dessert! We had a blast hangin out and swapin horror stories of a 10 month Medeba journey...:)...lol. Then most of them piled into our living room and watched "Bourne Identity", while Emily tried to explain to Michael where they were going the next day. She kept asking him, "so do you know where it is now?" And he would say "no, somewhere around Asheville." Ah Michael, still as clueless as ever. So, it was fun anyways.
And that's my news folks. If you are wondering why you haven't seen any wedding pix yet, it is because...well...NEITHER HAVE WE! Whenever we can get back to my parents area and finally look at them, then I'll tell ya a site you can look at them on.
Now I must go back to my slaughter of the ants....~BATTLE CRY~ AAAAAAAHHHH

Beef, it's what's for dinner

It brings ya back to the old days...the old days of working w/ LOGS of ground beef at Medeba, and even longer back, at camp Merriwood for me. Yesterday we bought a 10 lb log of beef. See, tomorrow Dave and I are cooking chilli for 15 people. That chilli needs 4 lbs of beef, and we wanted 1 for last night's dinner. So, when we got to the store, and saw that buying 10 lbs of beef would be the cheapest way to do it, we jumped right into the mass of blood. Sounds delicious when I put it THAT way huh? lol Well, the LDP won't be reading this till AFTER they eat it, so at least they'll have THEIR appitite.
We bought a TV last night. Yep folks, we now own a 20' tv...although we don't actually get tv channels. We watched Boune Supremacy on our brand new tv. Let me tell ya, it's nice to curl up on your couch w/ your hubby after a long day at work, and just watch a movie and eat Hamburger Helper (psst...that's what we were eating).
Today I took my first sick day at work. We went to a flee market yesterday and I starte sneezing in the masses. I THOUGHT it was just allergies, but when it lasted all night (incurring no sleep for me) and on into today, Dave decided I was sick. I didn't decide that until everything started spinning and my head floted off to some amusement park somewhere (dangit, why didn't it take ME with it!!! I mean, come ON, it needs legs to get on SOME rides!!!). So, hopefully I will be fine tomorrow. Ok, let me refrase that. I HAVE to be fine tomorrow, I have no choice but to work. I have a group, and there's no one to take over for me. So tomorrow, no more whining, I must suck it up and be a big girl...and go to work. So long guys...I have to go to the potty.

Scotty too hottie

Tonight Scotty too hottie is staying at OUR house! Can ya believe it!!! He came ALL the way from CANADA just to stay with US!!! Ok, not really. He came all the way from Canada to paddle rivers with the 2005 LDP, and they just happened to be in town. So N E WAYZ, he's stayin here. We just had a nice dinner at Pizza Hut, and now him and Dave are chillin on our "porch". I use that term lightly cause, well, it's hard to explain. If ya ever see it you'll know.
So I had my training on the Alpine Tower on Sunday, and guess what??? It SNOWED all morning!!! I'm tellin ya, the weather down here has been weirdly VERY COLD lately, but hey, that's what fleece is for right? Did my second raft trip today, NOT with girl scouts. But I gotta tell ya, just because ya got healthy adults in your boat, doesn't mean they paddle better than the girlscouts, cause they didn't. Somehow we managed to get stuck on a rock on river left before going over the last rapid of the river (which just HAPPENS to be the biggest), and we went down BACKWARDS. Well, it was fine and all, there's a first time for everything right? It was fun anyways. That's all for now folks. Gotta get to bed! I'M A WORKIN GIRL YA KNOW!
Thanks for all the comments by the way. They've all been SUPER sweet and encouraging. I love you all so much!

from the place where marriage is....

Before I say anything else...HAPPY BIRTHDAY B!!! My lil sister, Bethany, turned Sweet 16 today!!! I'm sorry I wasn't able to be there B, but I love you with all my heart babes, and I'll have you up to see our place soon!!!!

So, I have now been married one week and one day…weird huh...but it's GREAT! I love being able to come home to him every day, and having someone sleeping beside me. Married life is good. I know it won't be easy, but at leaste we'll have each other to lean on to get through the tough spots. ANYWAYZZZ.... Dave and I are moved in to our new house in Bryson City….w/ a few boxes here and there and MANY “thank you” cards to write. By the way, if you are one of those people that haven’t received your “thank you” card from us for your wonderful wedding presents, it’s coming, promise, just give it a week or 2.
Well, since the day we got back from our honeymoon, which was last Sunday, I’ve been working constantly and Dave’s been playing the “housewife” for the week; cleaning and arranging various things. I think I’ve said “Dave where is ____,” or “Dave, where did you put my ____” at least 30 times in the past several days. But, work is great! I’ve met some really awesome people and I did my VERY FIRST trip guiding a raft down the Nantahala today! It was cold and rainy, and I had a girl scout group who didn’t paddle much, but it was still fun . Tomorrow I train on the ropes course, and then I’ll get to start working there. Yesterday Dave and I paddled a kyak again for the first time since LAST Spring, it was a lil shaky, but it came back to us surprisingly fast. We also watched the movie “Deliverance” at the Paddler’s Pub at NOC (open every night from 5-10). The guy who started NOC, Payson, was actually a stunt double in the movie, and was the person who recommended filming the movie at the Chatooga river, a couple of hours away from NOC. So, that’s why we watched it. Well anyways, I’ve been exhausted at the end of every day, so I’m heading to BED!!! I hope to hear from you all comment wise! I’ll try to return to my e-mailing schedule soon!

the wedding....and beyond....from HAWAII!!!

hI GUYS! I'M IN HAWAII...and I took time out of my relaxation to blog to YOU! The wedding was BEAUTIFUL....and I pulled through with only breaking down crying fully once...and only partially during the ceremony. I cracked a lil while trying to say my vows. It did rain a lil, so we had it at the the Depot where our reception was, but it was still gorgeous...I can't wait to get pictures on here! The whole day I was telling myself "treasure this, remember this, GOd please let me remember every moment of this day." Everyone was popping in to see me before the wedding, and they were like, "are you tired of smiling for pictures yet?" I just kept saying, and thinking, "no, these are real smiles, all I think of when they say smile is 'I'm getting ready to get married to Dave!'" The reception was wonderful, our DJ, and my long time friend of the family, Marty, was great. He got everyone involved dancing, and the dances w/ my Father were SOOOO special. I loved every minute of it. Then, after my brother and younger sister decided last minute to trash the car, we left for our honeymoon! We didn't fly out for Hawaii until noon the next day, and the flight went REALLY great, and that's an accomplishment, considering I really don't like flying. Anyways, the weather here is BEAUTIFUL, and VERY hot. Dave and I both got burnt yesterday, but we covering ourselves in ALOE and sunscreen today. Our hotel room is ocean front, and has these huge windows we can open to catch the breeze and watch the surfers. We have so many things we want to do! Sometime this week we're gonna rent Mopeds and go scoot around the island, and today we're going to ride on a huge...well...i don't know what you call it, but it looks like a water trycicle...it has HUGE plastic tires that keep us up. We're also gonna go hiking to see the beautiful mountains a couple of miles away, and the waterfall around there, and maybe get a 2 person kyak and have some fun w/ that. Well, that's it for now! I'll update you guys more when I get home. I just want to send a special note to my parents and my family that were involved in the wedding: Guys, thank you so much for making my day so special. I could feel the love all day, from brunch w/ just the girls, to the father/daughter dance, to the hugs from my brothers....I love you all SOOOO much. Jeez, I'm almost crying now...ok...gotta stop this before Dave gets back from getting breakfast for us. I love you ALLL!!!!

the "end of days," "down to the wire," "cuttin it close".....etc etc

Well folks, the movin in went good! We got everything nice and tidey in our news lil apartment...and I got a brand new orange waterproof jacket (that was a side note but hey, there was a big thing at NOC, so I got a great deal, lol). Anyways, the apartment is ready for when we come back from Hawaii on the 17th.
Other than that, I'M FREAKIN OUT! There are 2, COUNT THEM, 2 MORE SLEEPS till the wedding...TWO! Yes, Dave is staying w/ his groomsmen for the next 2 nights, and I'm here...well, going nuts. I'm not having second thoughts, let's get that out of the way, cause I KNOW you were thinkin of asking....but I am getting nervous....ok so I'm nervous...well really just a small nervous wreck. BUT, I'll be fine. The rehearsal is tomorrow, there's an 80 percent chance of rain tomorrow, and clouds and scattered showers on Friday. So none the less, our outdoor wedding will probably be under a shelter...and not at the exact location where our Plan A was...but Plan B is pretty also, so I'm not sweatin that. OK, so for all of you not coming to the wedding, and just reading this, PLEASE pray that I don't lose it that day and forget his wedding band, or my dress, or the vows we wrote for each other, etc etc etc......I want to be relaxed. Just pray that God would give us BOTH peace and joyfulness that day. Anyways, toodles till later! Don't know when that will be!