No BIG plans weekend!!!!

and I'm sooo happy!!!





Sevy and I are staying HOME this weekend!! We're doing absolutely NOTHING!! That's right...nothing. We're sleeping in, hanging out in our PJ's and going with the flow. We all need weekends like this during some points in our life.





Quick update:


Meredith's baby shower was sooo pretty and she got some cute stuff.


I had the BEST time making the baby shower cupcakes and cake topper. Its actually got me wanting to make another one SOON...it doesn't have to be a baby shower...just any occasion that deserves a cake!!! Soooo if you need a cake or cupcakes...please let me make them, I don't think Sevy wants to eat another cupcake for awhile, lol. That's the only bad thing about this hobby....you don't want your creations to go to waste, so for me, its far and few between the times I get to do what I love and make a cake!.....do you feel sorry for me?? good!!! What kind of cake would you like??? hehehe oh I'm good ;-) you almost want to come up with an occasion for a cake just to help me out dont you, ha! Okay...maybe I'm not thattttt good...but really, let me know if you need some cupcakes!





Sunday was AWESOME!!!

Thats Daddy, Sevy and Me!! We took on THE BIG MOUNTAIN ;) Actually, they call it Brown Mountain...but it was a BIG ride for me!! I had a BLAST and I'm chomping at the bit to get back out there!! We got up early (I think around 7am) and didn't get home until after dark. It was a real challenge for me and I think I improved my riding skills a bit. I was proud of myself :) No major falls this time and NO bruises!!! I DID...however...get stuck in a MAJOR mud hole!!! I came around a turn and could see my dad and brother sitting on a rock up ahead, I smiled and twisted the throttle just a bit harder...it was almost break time!! or so I thought. About that time I came to a split in the trail. To the right was a small trail, beside a tree and rather bumpy. To the left was a HUGE mud hole. Now, first of all...when you're zipping through the woods its sometimes hard to judge the best path...and usually mud holes were no big deal to me. I would just hold my feet up and splash right on through. I hit the mud hole going...eh' a pretty good speed...and came to a DEAD stop!! I screeched and started to yell for my dad to come the rescue when I realized the hole was so deep it was up over my tires and the mud was coming into my boots. However, when I looked up...in search of my hero's (dad and brother) whom I just KNEW were rushing to my rescue...I was surprised to find them laughing...and laughing HARD. I was furious!!! How could they!!! I fussed at them both and hobbled on up the trail, unclipped my boot straps, kicked my boots off, pulled my sopping wet socks off, dumped the water out of my boots, wrung my socks out and sat down in a huff. They knew the whole time how big that mud hole was and they were just waiting. After I lectured them for a bit, I finally apologized because they promised they didn't know the hole was THAT big. So all was forgiven. My socks were still a tad damp, but my boots were strapped back on and off we road. I'm definitely hooked on this new sport!!!

My baby brother, I lovingly refer to as Ninny or Keek, is actually going on his first big dirt bike race this weekend. I'm VERY sad I will miss this event. He is an AMAZING rider with LOTS of skill...I'm worried (b/c I worry alot) and excited all at the same time. I can't believe I'll miss his first big race...but I hope he does well and maybe there will be others in the near future. Keep him in your prayers...although FUN, riding can be a bit dangerous (as my mother will GLADLY tell you all about her broken hand/finger).

Happy Friday Everyone!!!!!

courtrooms, camping and cupcakes

I spent the better part of last week stuck in a room the size of my closet at home, no windows, no paintings, no fake trees or plants...just four walls and a handful of chairs. It was pure torture. Okay, so it wasn't as torturous as I'm sure getting your finger nails yanked off with pliers would be...but it was close, haha.
I lost respect for mankind, really I did. It was sad. No, not sad because it was a murder trial and some innocent person was taken from the earth...no it was sad because it was a civil law suit. A lady was filing a law suit against the city of columbia for a small...what I would call fender bender....what did the lady want?? over 1 million dollars. **sigh** and we wonder why our world is crashing down around us. Greed. Selfishness. Stupidity. Laziness. The trial lasted FOUR days!!! Those are four days that I will never get back. What a waste. The scary part? Some jurors wanted to award her the money she wanted. The part that was the saddest....her attorney kept going on and on about how she was a "good christian woman"...this made me the saddest.
Okay...so thats enough with the depressing worldiscomingtoanend talk, haha.

We spent memorial day camping!!! I NEEDED to camp after the week I had!! We spent our days under the open sky and our nights under the twinkling stars. The smell of a camp smoke is one of my favorite smells. I ate one toooo many smore's and roasted hotdogs :) I spent time walking in the creek, turning over rocks and digging in the mud. I fell asleep cozy under a sleeping bag, on the floor of a tent, listening to frogs croak and crickets sing. Of course we spent alot of time riding too!! I would like to think I'm getting better at my riding skills...though I still have the minor accident here and there...we all do :) I do believe I sprained my wrist on a nasty fall this time. I also took a nice little dive over the handlebars and slid belly-to-dirt down a slippery little hill. I spent alot of time cleaning mud off of myself...but it was fun. I discovered that I'm not very good at riding over wet tree limbs but in the end I was able to conquer much of the trails with limited falls. Monday came wayyy toooo quickly. We packed up and went to meet my mom and dad for dinner. Dad surprised sevy and myself with a cool ramp to load and unload our bikes with...handmade!! very cool. He also got us new riding shirts...we'll be riding in style now, hehe. My poor bike suffered a flat rear tire and needed a few minor adjustments, so its currently visiting the bike doctor this week. We had ALOT of fun and I can't WAIT to do it again!!! Camping is definitely in my blood and something I enjoy doing very much!!

This week will be spent making cupcakes...again :) Starting tonight I will be working on decorations for 40 little cupcakes. I'll try and take pictures as I go. These are for my cousin and her baby shower on Saturday. I have many ideas, but limited time...so hopefully I'll get most of my creations done and worthy of presenting baby Henry with, hehe.

Yipee for a four day work week!!!!! Though now...its only three :)

Cupcake Wedding Cake

So my daddy actually emailed me the pictures of my cupcake wedding cake. So here you go, you can click on the pictures and they should appear larger :)

The bride said her wedding colors were ivory and black, she wanted a cross topper and her wedding flowers were tulips and daisies. She expected 50 guests and other than those bits of information, she told me to do what I wanted. This is what I turned out:

I found a stand online and had it and the black cupcake liners shipped. The stand was actually made out of styrofoam. I went to Hobby Lobby and found pretty, silky, ivory fabric and black ribbon. I also got some pearl pins. I draped the clothe over the stand and used the pins to tack the cloth to my liking. Then I took the black ribbon and pinned it around the bottom of each stand layer. This took a longgggg time, I just couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the stand, but I was pleased with how it turned out. I wish I could get the stand back, but the bride technically paid for it...so its hers to keep.

The cake has about 68 cupcakes total. All chocolate with homemade butter cream frosting. My sweet mother actually helped me ice the cupcakes. I like the big, fluffy, swirl for my cupcake icing...she perfected her icing skills and did a marvelous job!

The mini cake on top is chocolate with buttercream frosting and daisies. I made the cross topper by mixing gum paste and fondant icing. I rolled it out, using my nice marble roller mom got me :), and then I just cut a cross shape out by hand. I let that harden (over night) and then mixed gum paste and hot water to make edible cake "glue". I hand glued each of the little sugar pearls onto the cross. Then I used luster dust (an edible sparkle, glittery powder) to make the cross have a little shine. I took a star icing tip and made the little stars that outline the bottom of the cake, then took a sugar pearl and placed it in the middle of each star.

I'm pretty proud of the way my very first cupcake wedding cake turned out :) I also heard that the cake was a big hit and the bride LOVED it!!! yahoooo...thats all that matters!!

REALLY RANDOM...

I've been saying I would post pics for a longgggg time...but I haven't....but now I am :) However, this creates a very random post, with a bunch of random pictures. I'm sorry for the randomness...but really, what else would you expect from ME?!! Enjoy...or don't, I'm just clearing my conscious and posting pics like I said I would, hehe.

These are from the circus...if you remember wayyyy back when, for Valentines day, Sevy got me tickets to the circus. It was a lovely date night, that I posted about...well...heres some of the pics:

This guy was on a motorcycle, on a high wire, balanced by a girl swinging below him!!:

The cute mini horses doing fancy little tricks.

Pretty picture I took on one of our many random drives on a sunday afternoon:

Me and my Mommy :) On our wild girls weekend on the coast (excuse the wild, wind blown hair!!):

Little Sevy posing for a picture...don't worry, he DOESNT ride w/out a helmet!!:

Sorry...but this is the only picture I have right now from my wedding cupcake cake...its the cake topper. It is ivory with a white cross and flowers. I made the cross out of gum paste and royal icing, then glued little sugar pearls around the edges of the cross, one little pearl at a time :) When mom sends the finished picutres, I'll share:

MY BATTLE WOUNDS!!! This was from the first ride, a couple days after the ride:

OUCH :(...hehe, but really it wasn't as bad as it looks:

Last Sunday, getting ready to ride in Swansea at Palmetto Motorsports Track:

So I live with a really big kid...I like to call him a tornado on two legs, or a Tasmanian devil, or just plain WILD. I love him to pieces, I really do...but he is ROUGH on our house...he's def. all boy. Anyways, he has a bad habit of PLOPPING down on the couch from a standing position. Our poor couch just gave up one day and the supporting bars gave out...from that day forward if you sat on our couch...the couch literally sucked you in!!! It was reallllllllly embarrassing and annoying. So while sevy took a nap on Saturday after he went fishing and before dinner, I decided to perform surgery on our couch and fix the sucker!!! I took a mid-picture...but forgot to take an after. I will say that it was a success and our couch came out of surgery with 100% recovery!!! I flipped it over, performed a small incision in the bottom fabric and then purchased a 2x4 to replace the broken support boards. Cut the boards to size and drilled those puppies in!!! wala...a new couch :)



The underside of the couch, during surgery:

The end.

I told you...reallllllllllly random :)

I'm on jury duty allllllllll week, yes...feel bad for me!!! haha.

My moment as a Mom....

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

a day late.
but my theory is, why do we need to devote one day to our mothers?? She went through more than one day of being our mom. We should let our moms know how much we love her and appreciate her on a daily basis. HA....okay...so that was also my excuse for not seeing my mom on mothers day.
BUT I did see my mom on Saturday and we spent a very nice time together...she even took me out for brunch...yes...SHE took ME out for brunch...LOL...**sigh** oh the joys of being a mom ;-)
Because moms are really super heros under cover...my mom flew to my side friday evening to help me ice some cupcakes and then deliver them on Saturday. We had fun...or I had fun, hanging out with her in my kitchen on friday evening. We had icing up to our eyeballs. Cupcakes and cupcake supplies were piled up all over the kitchen. We went to bed after 1:30am. That's because when she signed up to be a mom, she signed the dotted line that said "will not complain when child needs help, advice or supermom powers; no matter the hour!!"
Dad and Sev got up Saturday morning and took off to ride dirtbikes in Sumter, SC. Mom and I ran to Lowes, so mom could get flowers for MY flower bed (another thing moms do). We came home and mom planted flowers and worked out in MY yard while I finished up the last of the cupcake stuff and then packed the car. Mom then road with me to Florence, to deliver the cupcakes (about 11/2 hour drive). We had a tad bit of trouble finding the wedding reception location...long story....but because my mom is also required to be patient (another dotted line she had to sign) we ended up finding it just in the nick of time!! Mom then helped me set up the cake and we snapped some pictures...another thing moms do, take pictures of their childs creations be it good or bad :-) It was 90 degrees and the wedding was OUTSIDE!!! We left before my cake surely melted....it would have crushed me :-( to witness that!!

On our way home, mom and I decided to stop at TJMaxx and just "have a look around." As we were looking, mom walked off toward one part of the store and I another. As I was browsing the racks I felt something awfully close to my back side. I turned around and this little boy, who couldn't have been over 4 years old, was standing directly behind me clutching a fire truck. Thinking I was blocking him for going to wherever he was going, I moved to the side only to have him move to the side with me, while looking up at me and smiling...odd. I started walking...he started walking....I stopped, he stopped....I looked down at him, he looked up at me with a huge grin. "Where is this kids mother!!!"...I started walking again, he started walking again.........thinking: "I don't know where HIS mom is...but I'm going to find MINE!!!" He followed me all the way across the store and stopped when I stopped beside my mom. I looked at mom and said "he's following me!!" with panic in my voice. Mom (because shes a mom, she knows what to do in these situations) smiled down at the little boy and said "honey, are you lost." He then proceeded to grab my hand. I said "where is your mom??"...and thinking about the germs that kids have on them, yikes!! he said "I yo mamma"......huh?? Mom and I smiled at each other and then proceeded to say "wheres your mom?" ...." I YOMAMMA!!!" pointing to me!! My mom: "Whats your name" child: "marcus". My mom:"Okay marcus, lets go up front and look for your mom" child now named marcus: "I her mamma!" pointing to me and by now he is clinging to my arm and I'm bent over trying to pluck him off of me and trying not to laugh or get totally freaked out. I had just been adopted!!!
We started walking to the front of the store and Marcus proceeded to grab a buggy and climb inside, while holding my arm, and told me to "push". I just stood there...there is no way in this world I am going to push this kid in a buggy, who isn't even my kid OR my buggy for that matter...around the store...I was helpless!! People were looking and this kid was yelling and insisting that I was his mom!!!...............wanna know the funny part..........he was African American. WHERE WAS THIS KIDS MOM????
Mom went the rest of the way up to the front of the store, while I stood, helpless, beside the buggy, with the kid yelling that I'm his mom and clutching my arm. The clerk at the counter came over to us..."whats your name?" "marcus" "whats your moms name?" "Patrice" "where is your mom?" Marcus points to me "I HER MAMMA!!" Clerk smiles, people look and FINALLY his mom walks around the corner.......does she act likes shes been wondering where her 4 year old has been gone all of this time? NO Does she act like its weird that her son has adopted me, some white girl, as his mom? NO...she simply says "marcus, get on over here and stop messin'".......
and in the words of Marcus, "mom, I YO MAMMA!!" and THANK GOODNESS for that!!
Some moms just don't get it.

Anyways....thanks mom for being my mom and my super hero!! We have a joke in our family, if you need advice or help with things around the house, cars or anything electronic...call dad....but if you need a hug, compassion or someone to call at 3am when the house alarm is screeching and you're home alone....call mom!!!

LOVE YA MOM, HAPPY LATE MOTHERS DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

"Dad, why are you walking like an old man?"

Those are the words I spoke to dad after his first big ride a few weekends ago.
Those were the words I followed up with a laugh and some eye rolling.
Those are the words that dad responded to with "keep talking linds, just keeeep talking."
Those are the words I had to eat this past weekend.

Friday afternoon:
Me: "I can't wait to ride!!"
Dad: "You're going to learn what is like to use muscles you didnt even know you had!"
Me: "Right dad, right. No worries!! Tell you what...on Sunday I'll even wash your truck and moms hoopty (what we call her expedition) if you'll buy me a pair of riding boots!!"
Dad: "okay linds, deal."


We had the best time Saturday. Dad, Chris, Severyn and myself got up Saturday morning around 7am. We loaded up the trucks with bikes and gear. We stopped for gas, food and to fill the cooler up and then headed for the trails. I was lucky enough to have my dad for a riding partner. My brother rides a dirt bike much like a jack rabbit and Severyn was quick to follow in his tracks. I discovered I ride much like someone thats afraid of breaking bones, lol. It took a few minutes for me to get the hang of riding. I have respect for those that can ride faster than a snails pace. Luckily, my dad is pretty patient and a great teacher and before long I started feeling a little more "froggy" and started taking turns a little bit faster and a little bit harder (this is not to be confused with the way my brother rides, I will NEVER be that froggy!!haha). I was prepared to fall, I was even prepared to get hurt...but I was NOT prepared for the complete and total muscle exhaustion that comes along with riding. After a good while of riding I took a turn and took my first fall. It was more like, I took a turn and my body just gave up. I just laid it right over. My first battle wound was formed on my left elbow...not too bad. I jumped up, brushed it off and we took off. Not even a few hundred yards up the trail...another left turn...another lay down. Second battle wound to the left arm. My body was beyond tired. Lucky for me...my dad knew the signs of exhaustion and suggested we rest. After a few short minutes I was feeling better and ready to go. The rest of the day went well. I improved a little and learned ALOT. I watched some very experienced and talented riders (my brother and dad being two of them) and saw some the CUTEST little kids, on the worlds SMALLEST little dirt bikes. Seriously, cute. One little dirt bike had TRAINING WHEELS on it!!! We even saw the worlds smallest, female, dirt bike rider...okay, so I don't know that for a fact...but she was sooooo tiny and couldn't have been over 5 or 6 years old. She was decked out in all pink riding gear and was just getting it on the trails. I was impressed...and lucky for my pride, I was at a stop, so she didn't pass me while riding ;-)
Later on in the evening we decided to go for one more loop before calling it a day. Chris and Severyn took off. Dad and I took off...but at much slower pace. Suddenly it began to rain. My goggles were covered in rain drops, I was once again at the point of complete muscle exhaustion and we were only about half way through the last loop. I took another left hand turn...and lost it. This time...a bit harder. I fell off the high side of the bike and took a little bounce before landing in the middle of the trail. Ouch. Its funny, but when you fall (or at least when I fall) the first thing I can think about is if the bike is okay. I scrambled to my feet and pushed the bike up. It was all I could do to hold the bike up while my dad came and got it back onto the trail and put the kick stand down. Man was I beat!! I was wet, I was covered in mud and I was BEAT!! We still had half the loop to go (about 5 or 6 miles) before we would be back to the truck. We got back on and started off...at a much slower pace. I was at the point where I couldn't even stand up when we went over bumps. I just couldn't. I had no strength left in me. I was able to twist the throttle and keep it on the trail...but that was it. I don't remember a time that I've ever felt like my body was that useless. We made it back to the truck safe and sound. I was drenched, I was muddy, I was exhausted and I had the best time EVER!!! We rode 44.7 miles.

I was prepared for the dirt.
I was prepared for a fall.
I was NOT prepared for the screaming muscles the day after.

Sunday morning:
Dad: "Lindsey, why are you walking like an old lady?"


PS. I DID manage to wash both moms expedition AND dads truck on Sunday!!

"Lindsey, you're going to get dirty."

My dads words...when I got my DIRT BIKE...yipeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

I'm thrilled beyond words!!...okay, not really, we know I'm hardly ever "beyond words" haha, but still VERY excited!!

Sev picked me up from work Thursday and we headed to Charlotte to take a peek at some dirt bikes I found online. We arrived at our first destination and I decided I did not like the bike from the get-go...too short. We went to the next place and from the start I liked the looks of the bike, but once ridden, not so much...it was too tall, and a few other minor issues that I didn't know much about and was too afraid to purchase the bike w/ little knowledge. Sev however, loved the bike. It was just the right size for him. I was still a bit skeptical so we left with no purchase. We came home and while a bit disappointed...happy that we didn't just jump on any ole' bike and actually took our time to look at different bikes and decide what we did and didn't like about each one.
While at work on Friday I started talking to my dad about the second bike we had looked at. I told him how much the guy was asking for it and what all I saw wrong w/ it. We talked a bit about the bike and finally decided that it just may not be such a bad bike after all. I decided I would call the guy and name my price. This is where my biggest part comes into play when purchasing big ticket items. I'm a low baller, hardheaded purchaser (its my job) :) So I put my best skills into play and haggled the guy down...SCORE!! We had a bike for sev. Only problem....to get it at the price I wanted, we had to pick it up THAT day. So, Sev got off work at 2pm and drove all the way to Charlotte, by himself, to pick up his new "toy". He drove back to Columbia just in time for me to throw my over night bag into the truck and take off to Greenville. Sev wasn't getting a bike without me...oh no!! So we met my dad and his buddy in Greenville and looked at a bike for me.....the bike was just right, the price (after I put my skills to the test again) was just right. We had TWO bikes!! I'm now happy to have a Yamaha TTR125L and Sevy is thrilled to have his Honda XR200. Once we had both the bikes, we took them to my parents house and unloaded them in my dads shop. Friday evening I got to scoot around in the neighborhood...trying to pick up tips and learn all about riding a bike. Saturday came and found us in my parents yard, helping with chores. Cars were washed, plants were planted, holes were dug, oil was changed, garage was swept out and then mom and I took our chore super powers to my grandmas house and did the same for her. Saturday night Sevy, dad and I played around in the shop, working out kinks in the bikes and learning a few things from dad. Sunday, mom and I went to Greenville to attend a church service at NewSpring. We ended up seeing Aud there and she stayed with us for the second service and then joined us for lunch after. We got to spend some time with Lexabean at PF Changs (YUMM) and then we went out for an ice cream treat!! Mom and I came back home to start getting ready for Christophers birthday dinner. Mom made her famous lasagna and I made cupcakes. We were graced with Christopher's presence sometime in the afternoon and then enjoyed a nice meal with him before we headed back down the road to Columbia. The weekend was over alllll tooooo soon...but I can't WAIT for next weekend!!! I'm getting a helmet this week and then...I might just get dirty ;-)

Happy Birthday Baby Brother!!

Today is my baby brothers birthday!!! He IS the baby, even if he is over 6 feet tall (2 heads taller than me!!) and now in his mid 20's.

I've often times wondered what it would be like to be an only child. No one to fight over the bathroom with, no one to share the attention of my parents with, no one to share toys with, no one to worry about stealing the last of the good cereal, no one to fight with....but then I would have had no one to blame the hole in the wall on, complain to about mom and dads stupid rules, be the "robber" for my pretend role as "cop", chase around the yard on a scooter, play marco polo with in the pool, talk into jumping down the laundry shoot, Drive mom and dad CRAZY with(my personal fav), wake up on Christmas morning and share in the spirit of the holiday, give nicknames too, and share in the chores with. When I think about all the things I shared with my brother growing up and lessons I learned from having a brother...I guess I'm pretty lucky he came along ;-)

Then sometime I think...what if I had a sister!! Oh no..lets not even go there. Having a brother prepared me for ALOT of what its like to live with a boy!! I think he helped prepare me for married life. He taught me all about living with...the toilet seat up, clothes in piles on the floor, strange odors, a messy eater and basically all nasty boy habits. haha.

I don't believe I liked him much at first. I've heard stories ;-) but I think over time he started to grow on me and now I don't know much about life without him. So heres to 24 years with a brother!!

HAppy Birthday Nin :-) Hope its a great one!!

Moms on facebook, I want a dirt bike...

and this post is going to be entirely RANDOM, but that's okay...its my blog and I'm a pretty random person in general.



I stayed up entirely toooo late last night. WHy?? Trying to convince my dad that we should get dirt bikes or four wheelers and teaching my mom how to use facebook.



Unfortunately, my dad is far too logically minded and therefore has the tendency to convince himself not to do some things that require the "flybytheseatofyourpants" mind set. **sigh** and my mom...well....bless her heart (that's what you say in the South you know)...she's just technologically challenged.



I'm pretty tired today. Thankfully its FRIDAY!!

Anyways, in my quest to talk my dad into getting into the whole riding scene with me, I started thinking about how life is wayyy too short. If I were to die tomorrow, did I do everything I wanted to do while here on earth? heck no. Now I'm not a huge risk taker...and fortunately I have alot of my dads logical sense...but I am a big dreamer and I do, quite often, think about things I really want to do or try. This got me thinking (dangerous and confusing I know! hardyharhar), how many people have things they want to experience in life and have yet to do it? and how many people are just content with the things they have already done and the life they currently have? and how do you get content? and when do you get to the point where you think you've experienced enough and you don't want to learn anything new or try something different? I am constantly struggling with exactly what it is that I want to learn next. I'm pretty jealous of the people, like my mom, that grew up knowing exactly what they wanted in life from the get-go. Mom, wanted to be a teacher from the start. She wanted a family, two kids, and she wanted to be a teacher. Shes pretty content with the life she has, never heard a complaint one from her. ME...on the other hand...I have no clue what I want to do. I just know I want to do alot. I never really feel settled. There is constantly something I'm itching to try next. Unfortunately, this is bad because it causes me to start and stop alot of hobbies and start and stop alot of "life plans".

Today at lunch I was sitting in my car (I do this often, sit in my car and read) and I looked up to see a squirrel in the bushes beside my car and I thought "my kids are definitely going to have a hamster as a pet." (Random, I KNOW, but I told you I'm pretty random). Then I thought "I don't want kids!!" If it isn't pretty obvious by now...I really don't know what I want. Alot of people (mostly men) would say this is because I am female and we never really know what we want. However, I want to know what I want...man my life would be easier if I did. So how do you get to that point where you have a Eureka!! (eureka...I like that word, I can just picture a little man jumping up high with his hand in the air shouting EUREKA!! It just HIT ME!!)moment and know that you're doing exactly what you want to be doing with your life and you've experience all that you want to experience??

I don't know if I'll ever find the answer to that question......

in the mean time I really want a dirt bike.

HAPPY FRIDAY ;-)

Easter Weekend Recap...

Mom fussed because I always say I'm going to post pictures...but then I don't. I'm sorry! The main reason for this is, I update my blog during a free moment at work. I don't have pictures on my work computer. When I get home from work...the last thing I want to do is get on the computer...so no pictures :( I will try and work harder at this but I thought I should give an explanation, since mom said something.

SO....without any pictures: Easter Weekend Recap.

I had Friday off of work. My plans were to sleep in as late as I wanted! Sev had to work that day, so that meant the WHOLE BED to myself for a few leisurely hours!!! hahahaha (evil laugh). Uhm..nope.
I went to bed at 1am on Thursday night. I was busy cutting out the rest of the clothe for my mother-in-laws quilt and then cleaning my house. If there is ONE thing I cant STAND its leaving my house messy and then coming back on a lovely Sunday afternoon to a MESS, bleh, hate it!! So I fall asleep at 1am. 6:30am....I'm awake. Sev is getting ready to leave for work and...I can't sleep. My lovely, moments alone in the middle of the bed dreams...dashed!! I can't sleep...its pointless. I'm up. So...I:
Baked cupcakes.
Worked on the quilt.
Made Peanut butter icing for the cupcakes.
Cleaned the kitchen.
Got Ali up (yes I have to get my dog up, he is LAZY!!! and refuses to get out the bed on his own before 8am!!! Most morning I carry him from his bed to the back door and say "outside or kennel up??" he runs into his kennel and curls back up.)
Got dressed in gym clothes.
Took Ali to the groomers.
Went to the gym.
Went to walmart to get muslin and batting.
Came back home and finished piecing the quilt.
finished baking cupcakes.
packed.
Took a shower.
Made lunch.
Sev came home.
Sev left to get Ali.
Sev came back home.
Packed car.
Headed up the road to Inman, SC.
Friday night mom and I decorated the cupcakes and I was beat!! Dad and sev hooked some tail light thingamajig up to his truck (don't ask, don't know, don't care to know).
Saturday morning, sev left at 6am to fish with my dad.
I left the house a little after 10am to spend the day with my Gma Nail (who by the way is WAY COOL!! I rarely spend time w/ her but I really should more often, we're alot alike and I like the way she thinks!! She doesn't talk much, but when she does I listen!! She gives great advice and has the most interesting stories...you can really learn alot from people that have "been there, done that").
Grandma and I:
Talked.
Looked at her book collection.
Looked at her past homemade quilts.
Finished piecing together my quilt.
Fixed my sewing machine.
Ate lunch.
Ate homemade (by gma) bread and butter pickles.
Looked at her backyard (shes got lots of flowers and lots of gardens!).
Shared a cupcake.
pinned the quilt to the batting and muslin.
finished the quilt (in a cool "hidden stitch" technique gma taught me!).
Before I knew it, it was time to go :-( I will not let as much time pass between now and when I hang out with her again!!
Saturday night I met mom for Mexican.
Sunday Sevy and I woke up and looked over our Easter Bunny surprises!! I tried to wake Chris up (in typical "lindsey" fashion) to no avail :-( We had to leave before he woke up!!
We went to sev's parents for Easter and Sues B-day.
We gave her the quilt :-) She said she loved it!! wahooooo!! (I forgot to take a picture, can you believe that!!! Good thing Sue said she didn't mind if I snapped a picture of it the next time I'm up! and I WILL post pics of that!!!).
We shared a nice brunch...eggs, cinnamon rolls and fruit salad.
We left and went to my aunts house to have our Easter get-to-gether.
I ate WAYYY TOOO MUCH!!! All the food was wayyyy too good!!!! I don't even like potatoes but the way my aunt makes them, should be a sin!! (do NOT want that recipe...its a recipe for DISASTER for my thighs!!!haha). We played outside for just a bit. Chased Perrin and the dogs around for a few minutes. We didn't hide eggs this year :-( guess I'm too old...bummer.
OH I DID get to feel the professor move!!! like 3 different times!!!! It was weird...just as weird as the first time I felt Pbug move and Alexabean move....its just a feeling you don't get used to!! It felt like an alien inside mer. yikes. However, from the way he kicks...he is def. going to be a professor and NOT a soccer player, haha.

That pretty much sums up our Easter weekend :) It was nice, quality time, spent with all of our family.

Last night I was pretty tired. Guess all the running around over the weekend caught up with me. I came home, cooked dinner (grilled chicken tenders and sweet potato fries), cleaned the kitchen, made tuna salad and chicken salad (in big batches) for easy lunch prep, planted cilantro in my indoor herb pot, took a shower and got in the bed...only to wake up seconds (well, what felt like seconds) later to my alarm clock.

The weather here as been CRAZY today!! It has been thundering, dark as night and pouring rain (I mean POURINGGGG rain) one second and then the next its sunny as sunny can be. Silly weather...though good for my flowers I'm sure!!

woohoo for 4 day work weeks!!

That's right...I'm thankful for my job and the money it brings...but I'm also thankful when I get a four day work week!! Yipeeee.

We had a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful weekend...my favorite kind!!
Friday night I got home and we went straight out to my favorite, bad for you, place to eat...for Wings, home fries and we split a keylime pie!! We then rented 3 movies and headed home!! I fell asleep during the first movie, haha.
Saturday we woke up and I cooked veggie omelets. Then sevy left to get us a rental boat and I picked up the house, cleaned up from breakfast, packed Ali's items and packed a picnic....by then sevy was home and we were out the door, headed to the lake. We caught NO fish...zip zero. However, by the end of the day I was casting like a PRO!! I was pointing out places I was going to cast my line and hitting the mark...PERFECTLY. Oh...I was the only one to bring something into the boat...and it was a fresh water clam. Alive. You wouldn't believe me if I told you...so I'm going to end that story right here, until I post the pics. We enjoyed yummy chicken salad and pimento cheese sandwiches...from the fresh market, yummmmmm, chips/salsa, and some fresh baked cookies...from the fresh market, double yum!! I got a bit of a sun burn...but not horrible. We beached the boat at one point and got out on the island to run around w/ Ali...he had a blast, digging and tearing around on the beach like a wild man. I read some and just enjoyed the peacefulness on the lake. Oh...and I used my PINK fishing pole...so chick ;)
We got off the lake around dinner time. We came home, showered, put Ali down for a nap (haha, really though he was out COLD!) and then went out for oysters. We came home and put in the 2nd movie...I fell asleep, LOL.
Sunday we woke up and made whole wheat, flax and soy pancakes. I really liked them, Sevy...not so much. He said they were grainy. I froze the left overs and it looks like I'll be the ones to eat those for future breakfasts! Then we headed out to Lowe's (our local farmers market was closed). We got a TON of flowers, some potting soil, some wood to make a flower bed around our mailbox, a new grill cover, some gardening gloves for me and a pot to put my cilantro seeds in. We came home and proceeded to spend the rest of our Sunday BUSTING OUR TAILS!!!!!! It was soooo fun and therapeutic!! We dug trenches, pulled weeds, planted flowers, made a flower bed, mowed the grass, used the weed eater, moved plants to other locations (no mom, not the tree..we left it), played with Ali, potted flowers, dug more trenches, watered flowers, planted more flowers, scrubbed the grill and put the new grill cover on and finally....spread new pine needles....**Sigh**. It sprinkled a little on us, but it didn't slow us down...if anything, it kept us cool :-)
Before it got dark I cut sevs hair and then we put some chicken sausages w/ moz. cheese and sun-dried tomatoes on the grill. We had those along w/ some crispy potatoes and salad (made w/ local greens from the local farmers market!!). After we washed all the mud from ourselves, we got into bed. Sev went to put the 3rd movie in and I stopped him....yeah, I KNEW I wasn't even going to make it through that one, hahaha. This morning, it was hard to get out of the bed...but knowing that I only have a 4 day work week made it easier :-)
THAT was a perfect weekend in my book!!!
It's almost Easter...I love Easter!!

Wet Weekend...

Happy Monday!!!

My goal for April is to be POSITIVE!!! and since April 1st is Wednesday...I'll start working on my goal today.

It's Monday, hurray!!!! (I'm struggling here).

So this past weekend was, fun. Friday night sevy and I relaxed at home. We threw some all natural, local farm raised steaks on the grill. I stuffed some mushrooms and cooked up some Brussels sprouts and we had dinner!! Then we did a whole lot of nothing, haha. I think I'm one of the biggest twilight fans and lucky for me, sev doesn't mind!! So we ended up watching twilight for the oh-i-dont-know-like-1202938949020193 time after dinner, lol.
Saturday we woke up to........rain..........I mean, really what else did we expect it rains almost EVERY durn weekend we have plans to spend together! Oh well. We made the best of it. We went to the local farmers market (yes again...we're pretty much hooked) and loaded up on some fresh, local, produce. Lets see. We got baby collards, a mixed bag of salad greens, some cilantro seeds (I love cilantro and I think I can grow my own, we'll see...I'll update my progress w/ that), we got some blood oranges, asparagus, some fresh baked cinnamon swirl bread, a cream cheese braid, some steel cut oats milled here in cola, some speckled grits also milled here and some all natural, local farm raised chicken breasts. I was wanting some local pork tenderloin b/c we got some of that last time and it made THE BEST BBQ EVER!!! but neither of the local farmers had brought any this time, boo! For breakfast we got an all natural, made w/ all local ingredients, crepe. YUMMMMY!!!! I had mine w/ local honey (something I have NOT been able to get enough of lately!!!) and sev got strawberry jam in his (also super yummy!!). They were sooo good. While not all that filling...they def. held us over until we broke into our cinnamon bread and shared a slice. Then we left and headed out in search of a dress I could wear to the wedding we were attending that evening. I found a simple little dress pretty quickly and in no time flat we were back home and getting ready for the evening.
I want to say that I am greatly enjoying the local farmers market!!! If I could, I would buy ALL of my groceries there...though it is a tad bit pricey compared to our grocery stores...but I do like supporting local farmers so we're trying to do what we can. Also, I can't say ENOUGH about local honey!!!!! I have SEVERE allergies (those that know me can attest to that!!!!) I am VERY excited to say that I have had not ONE allergy attack since the pollen has started dropping by the pounds here!!! Not one!!! I've been eating local honey religiously...though its not all that hard, lol....and it really is doing something for my allergies, I really believe that!! Plus it is sooooooooooooooo good....I think I could pour it on anything! We've probably gone through half a gallon in the past month or two...for real. I also enjoy sourwood honey (our local honey man makes this honey, but its not considered local b/c he actually has to keep those hives in Boone NC b/c thats where the sourwood is pollinated from) they call it the "champagne" of honey...and baby let me tell you...it is AMAZING!!!!
So...while I was picking over the yummy looking asparagus...I ran into a basket of blood oranges. Now, I've never seen a blood orange. I've only heard of them...and only once have a heard of them. My cousin spoke about them in a few posts back and while I was interested...I forgot about them. So being the adventurous one, lol...really how adventurous do you have to be to try some yummy looking fruit, lol.....I grabbed up a pound of them. They are really beautiful, small, redish orange skin and looked so juicy! I ate my first one today for snack...........OH MY GOSH are they good!!!!!!! I don't know how long these beauties are in season...but I have found my new favorite snack!!!!!! I was shocked at how BLOOD red they are!! I was thinking more along the looks of like a ruby red grapefruit, but these little guys are RED RED...lucky for me they don't seem to stain...b/c I had blood oranges juice dripping off of myself and my desk (haha) oh but it was so worth it!!!!! If you run across these little babies....try one, you'll be glad you did!!

So Saturday night we met up w/ Jessie and Don and attended Kerry and Royals wedding. It was sooooooo beautiful!!! I was sad that it rained, the location was absolutely gorgeous...probably one of the prettiest wedding locations I've ever seen. It would have been a spectacular outside wedding...but lucky for the bride, she was smart enough to go ahead and order a tent...which kept the party dry!! It was sooo pretty. The tent had strings of lights on the ceiling on the inside and it looked like we were under stars. The food was great and the bride was gorgeous. We had a nice time. The band she had was a island band and the music was sooo neat. I loved the drums and the style of dancing that island musics brings. We had a great time and weren't quite ready for the evening to end when the bride and groom drove away....apparently neither were the bride and groom b/c they met us out on the town later on. Where most of the wedding party ended up!! We danced the night away and ended up spending the night in the Hilton in downtown Columbia. We had a blast and such a fun time seeing all of our friends from all over. Sunday was pretty relaxing. I cleaned a bit and just enjoyed the weather. Sevy left for a few hours to go walk around the local fair grounds (they were holding the sportmans classic there this weekend). He returned home and we shared a pizza and some icecream....a perfect ending to a nice weekend.

We have plans to go fishing and camping next weekend....if the weather holds up!! I told sev I would attempt to fish IF he finds me a pink fishing pole...haha. I have very fond memories of fishing w/ my dad...........I hated it. LOL. I LOVED spending time w/ my dad....thats about the only reason I would go, that and for the fact that my brother wanted to go BADLY and I couldn't let him do that....**sigh** I was mean, I know.

Anyways.....HAPPY MONDAY!!!!!

CUPCAKES!!!

Everyone knows that I'm now into this big, ole', yummy, cupcake fetish. I can't get enough of them...not only eating them, but pictures of them and recipes of them and anything made to look like them. They are just so cute and fun to make! Anyhow, I love how my family and friends have noticed my new love and have jumped right in to share their cupcake finds with me :-) I'm loved!
Last week I received an envelope from Henry and his mom. In it was pages from a magazine that Henry's mom cut out for me...on the pages? cupcakes!!!!
My mom called to tell me that she picked up a magazine w/ cupcake recipes in it for me last weekend. Then my aunt sent me a link for cute cupcake creations. My best friend just sent me another link....I just love the love my new love is getting me :-) Thanks family and friends.

So last weekend I made keylime cake cupcakes. Yum. I LOVE keylime pie...it is probably my favorite dessert...EVER (I would even eat keylime pie over a cupcake...well maybe). So what could top a keylime cupcake?? uhm...nothing. I made another batch to share w/ Aud while she visits with me this weekend. I also received two new cupcake cookbooks in the mail last week!! One is the book I've had my eye on FOREVER, its from William-sonoma and its ALLLL about cupcakes! I found it on Amazon for CHEAP and had to have it :-) Along with that book I found a little cupcake cookbook with all vegan cupcakes...hmmm, my first thought was "yeah right NO..if I'm eating a cupcake it is going to be an all out normal cupcake, don't ruin a good thing!!" Then I read the book reviews...this little book had over 200 reviews!! All positive. Most of them were from people saying "I'm not vegan but I had one of these cupcakes that a vegan friend of mine made it it was AWESOME, I bought the cookbook asap!!" Other reviews swore that the vegan cupcakes out did any regular cupcake any day!! They also claimed that the vanilla vanilla (no I'm not stuttering) cupcake recipe was worth the price of the book (a mere 4 bucks I might add!). So I'm excited to try one of these recipes out soon...don't worry I'll have sev be my taster before I offer them up to family :-)
I also got the CUTEST set of cookie cutters to use for cupcakes. Mini Noahs Ark!! So cute. I took pictures of all of the above mentioned things but haven't uploaded them yet...I will in time.
So tonight I'm icing the keylime cupcakes with buttercream icing. I'm making a batch of dark chocolate cupcakes w/ strawberry butter cream icing and banana cupcakes w/ peanut butter icing. Then I'm going to venture outside of the sweet cupcake zone and try my hand at zucchini feta cupcakes and tomato basil cupcakes. Don't worry...we're not eating all of those this weekend :-) I'm taking alot to the people at work and I'll freeze the rest!! I've got to practice my cupcake skills though!!
So that's my cupcake news.

Its Thursday and sunny out. I'm excited the week is almost over. I'm spending this weekend with Aud and doing nothing but girl things!! Chick flicks, cupcakes, pedicures and shopping...that's it. I hope everyone else in blog land has a wonderful weekend. Oh I also want to say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to my cuz...it was this past St. Patty's day that she and her husband have been married 2 years!! It seems like just yesterday we were getting our hair and makeup done w/ little green shamrock stickers on us for pinching protection, hehe! No she isn't Irish, lol, it just happened to be St. Patricks day that Saturday.

What does jury duty and a raw chicken have in common???

ME.


So Wednesday evening I decide I am going to cook a crock pot chicken for Thursday nights dinner!! I get the little chicken all prepared. I take a whole chicken, cut up some carrots and toss some peas and chicken broth into the pot with the frozen chicken. I season that sucker and leave him to be thawed by the next morning so that I can cook him up for the next evening. He looks GOOD...well as good as a raw chicken with bumpy skin and a bony butt can look. The next morning (yesterday morning) I get up and go through my usual morning routine. Get ready for work, throw my lunch into my lunch bag, brush my teeth, pack my breakfast, let ali out, put ali up, put my shoes on...and go turn the crock pot on. My mouth waters throughout the day as my mind thinks about the chicken getting nice and yummy at home. 5 o'clock comes around and I head off towards home, towards a nice crock pot full of cooked chicken and veggies!! I get home, get the mail, let ali out, let ali back in, take off my jacket and shoes while licking my lips and open the lid to the crock pot.....uhm.....the chicken still looks like it did this morning....what gives? I pick the chicken up and yep...its cold, its cold and limp. What?? I look at the knobs, its on low...I feel the pot...its cold...my eyes catch the cord and follow it up to the outlet....only...the cord doesn't lead to the outlet. No. The crock pot cord leads to the end of the plug in...inches away from the outlet it should be plugged into. What? I remember looking at the outlet this morning to make sure it was plugged in!! I look at the outlet again........that's my can opener plugged in!!!!! I cooked a raw chicken w/ no electricity...and I'll go ahead and tell you, it does not work people!! So here I am with no dinner, a cold chicken and the days mail still in my hand. I open it up...I have jury duty next month.


Jury duty and a cold chicken.


ITS FRIDAY!!!! we're going to the circus tonight!!!!!

Can we Conclude that Charleston is Cursed?

Yes...Yes we can.

For the Na*l family that is.



Friday night Sev and I went out for oysters...as planned! Yummy! Then we headed on in to downtown Columbia and ate ice cream at marble slab..eh' not my fav. icecream place, but it hit the spot. Then we took a walk down Gervais st. and across the river. It was a nice evening. We returned home to fall asleep with plans of waking up early to meet my mom and dad.

Saturday morning Sev left early to meet my dad at Lake Murray and my mom took sevs truck back to my house to meet me and drop of "the pig" or better known as her dog "penny". Then mom and I headed out and down the road to Charleston. We ate lunch at the Mustard Seed and strolled around a few shops in Mt. Pleasant before we headed on into downtown Charleston. While heading to some shops in Mt. Pleasant we came within inches of getting creamed by a guy on a motorcycle!! I think I even said a few choice words, oops! Thankfully, he was able to recover in time and kept from hitting us...but it was scary and shook me up for a second or two.
The we headed on into Charleston and walked around King St., Market St, and Meeting St....did a little bit of window shopping. Oh yes...and we DID go to cupcake!! and they had my FAVORITE cupcake on the menu, double dark chocolate w/ lemon icing, YUM! We got two of those little yummies and continued to stroll. I picked up a nice little book "Common Sense Baking"...I'm ready to try some recipes! Then we found our way to the roof top bar where we shared an appetizer of pizza...which turned out to be more like a flat piece of bread w/ cheese on it...oh well, bread and cheese, we didnt turn it away! We decided to skip dinner (the "pizza" was enough and we had lunch late) and go straight for dessert!!! (no we had NOT eaten our cupcakes yet, we saved those!) We went to Kerminsky's (sp??) and split a toll house cookie pie...yum yum...while sitting in the Charleston place hotel. Then we decided to call it a night and head home. However, before all of that...as mom and I were driving around downtown trying to find a parking spot (long story short) a man stepped off the sidewalk and PUNCHED MY CAR!!!! WHAT?? yes...this man was getting ready to go across the street and mom and I can't figure out if he was mad b/c maybe I cut him off or just mean...but I NEVER saw him and before I knew it I heard a "WHAM" and seriously thought a person on a bike or motorcycle had hit me!! (we had motorcycles in front of us) mom said "no that MAN just HIT your car!!" I was pretty shocked and in disbelief. I didn't really know what to do so I just continued to drive. We found parking sometime later and got out to put our jackets (that were in the trunk) on. That's when I realized that the man not only hit my car but managed to put a big dent in my car :( :( :( Being the mother bear that she is...I think my mom was more upset than I was. She immediately started looking up and down the streets in search of the man that hit my car. Lucky for him..we didn't find him, haha!! We really didn't know what the man looked like, it all happened so fast and like I said I never saw him. So really, there was nothing that could be done. I chalked it up to "what goes around comes around" and either I deserved it or he would get what was coming to him. We didn't let it spoil or evening!!
While heading out of Charleston mom got the wild idea to drive up the coast and stay in litchfield (south of Myrtle Beach). So we took to Hwy 17 and arrived around midnight...with the time change it was 1am before we found our pillows and fell asleep. We're wild I tell you WILD!! haha. kidding. The next morning we enjoyed Starbucks on the patio and then we took a 6 mile jog/walk on the beach. It was fun and so nice out!! Then we headed on into Garden City where we ate at The Gulf Stream Cafe. We split one of our cupcakes for dessert!! Then we did a bit more shopping before catching HWY 378 on into Columbia. BUT BEFORE all of that...as I'm driving down 26 heading home and mom decides to turn around and head up 17 I get PULLED OVER FOR SPEEDING!!!!! okay...so I've almost been creamed by a motorcycle, I get a nice big ole' dent in my car AND NOW I'm getting a ticket!!!!! waaaaaa. I could only be honest and tell the officer that I honestly had no idea how fast I was going or even what the speed limit was!! I was trying to hurry and turn around and we were kind of lost and trying to decide what exit I needed to get off of and I just wasn't paying attention. LUCKILY...because mom and I are HOT babes...he let us off........hahahahaa Okay so that probably wasn't the reason...but for our sake, go with it! Then while out shopping later in Myrtle, we went to put some purchased goods in my trunk and mom hauls back and wacks the inside of my trunk w/ her fist (lol, I'm being dramatic, she just pushed really hard)....POP...out goes the dent from where the guy hit it!!! Yipeeeee!! It still had a small small dent...that of course will ALWAYS bother me...but not bad. **update, I just got back from getting my taxes done and sev was actually able to pop the rest of the dent out while standing in the parking lot!! woot woot!.

What makes this story match its title is the fact that something always happens to my parents when they are in Charleston. The last time, my dads bike was stolen. He HATES Charleston...hates hates hates it. Therefore, of course his words of "comfort" when I told him my sad story was "well that's what you should expect from Charleston" lol. So...Charleston is Cursed!!

However...mom and I had a ball and I'm sure we'll see Charleston again sometime in the future!!

Oysters and Beer

Okay so I'm not one for beer...but that's what we're having tonight, sans the beer for me!

I LOVE me some oysters, mmm mmm!
Its date night for sevy and I. I love date night. Yes we're married and no we don't have kids but I think we still need nights that we consider "date night", where sevy chooses where we go and what we do and I get to feel "pretty". Soooo sevy chose oysters and beer...lol, typical sev move. Whatever, I'm excited....the weather is AMAZING and its Friday, cha ching...how could life be any better?...don't answer that.
This weekend is suppose to stay amazing weather wise (so maybe we'll get SNOW!!! haha kidding local weather man bust) so sev is hitting up the lakes w/ my diddy and I get to spend some time with me madre'. We're thinking about walking the streets of Charleston...possibly visiting my favorite cupcake bakery on king street! wahoo...a sunny stroll and cupcakes, again...what could be better?
Sunday we don't have any plans (well besides watching perry noble on the computer, yes aud we're hooked), unless we spend the night in Charleston and soak up more sun...we'll go and do whatever tickles our fancy! Sev and dad will once again be...fishing..blah.
...by the way...what does "tickle our fancy" mean? hmmm....

So that's our weekend and I'm super excited its Friday!!

We did have a little scare this weekend...I forgot to mention in my last post.

We came home Saturday evening and Sev ran to get the mail out of the box before coming inside. I was busy getting our purchased items out of the car and balancing my coldstone cupcake. I looked up to make sure sev was back inside the garage before I closed the garage and saw him standing there, in the rain, holding our mail with this look of...I don't even know how to explain it...like "oh no" kind of sorta....on his face. I immediately said "what, whats wrong?" thinking in my mind that I had forgotten to pay a bill or something and we were getting something turned off or kicked out of our house...I mean, seriously that's the type of look he had on his face. He started walking into the garage and said "uhm, I got a letter from the Army and all I can see from the outside is the word "orders"." I rushed over to him and yelped "open it, now" he was taking entirely too long for me. At this point my heart was in my throat and I was feeling physically sick. We walked inside and while I tried to remain calm and under control (my dad says I'm overly dramatic and I admit I can be!) I opened the fridge to put my cupcake away and tears just started falling. You know those tears that you didn't even plan on crying...just big ole' tears spilling out of my eyes. I was actually embarrassed for Sev to see me crying so I tried to hurry and wipe my eyes before I looked back at him and asked him what it said. He opened it and said it was NOT orders calling him back up..Praise the Lord!!! ...but just a memo about his orders to report for his routine check-in. I lost it. I didn't even realize I was that scared about him getting called back up. I mean, we've been talking alot about it and we know its a possibility...but I guess I didn't really sit and ponder the idea hardcore. It didn't really HIT me until I thought he had orders in his hands. "I can't do this again" was all I could think. There was no hiding the relief and tears began to spill out of my eyes AGAIN...this time even Sev looked like he could cry. We just hugged and he said "its okay, I'm not getting called back up". I realized just how HARD those deployments were on us emotionally. I mean, sure when he was getting ready to deploy and was deployed it was hard and I knew at the time that it was hard...but there was no way around it and it was what he had signed up for and what I had married into...it was our life and we just dealt with it. Now that he is Army free and we've come to realize what life is like w/out the Army and how much worry and stress has been removed due to being out of the Army...it was like a ton of bricks hitting us square in the heart when the thought of another deployment was in our face. I regained composure (b/c I'm trying not to be dramatic dad!ha) and silently said a prayer of thanks. I told Sev I was sorry for crying like that...I know the last thing he needs is his wife going bonkers if he were to get called back up! oh and yes...later we ate our icecream cupcakes, obviously from my last post :-)


Anyways, I ran across this article a few minutes ago and it made me think of our scare and then about all the people who were facing similar situations...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090301/ap_on_re_us/military_mom

I pray these deployments can all be over soon.

you don't say "snow" around these here parts!!

Not unless you want EVERYONE and EVERYTHING to go crazy....
People going frantic over milk and bread. Gas stations running out of gas. Snow plows and sanding trucks lined up for "battle". Winter coats pulled back out of the closets. Chains strapped to the tires. The sheriff on the news giving "how to stay warm and safe" tips. Trash bags draped over all of the newly planted flowers. Kids running amuck b/c SCHOOL IS CLOSED!!
That's right...ALL of those things happened here yesterday.

Why? because the local weather man fore casted S-N-O-W.

What happened? nothing...not a durn flake one!

**Sigh** come on Columbia!! Get it together already, this is the second time this year they have reached "panic" mode b/c someone mentioned s-n-o-w. Silliness.

*****************************************************************

So this past weekend, other than the crazy "possible snow" induced panic, was nice!
Sev and I spent Friday evening at home with a homemade pizza, hand dipped chocolate strawberries and a movie!! We then woke up to a WET Saturday morning!! It had rained like crazy and was still coming down in buckets! I had been planning all week to go to the local fresh farmers market...and rain or even s-n-o-w wasn't going to stop me! So we bundled up in what rain gear we have, and headed out. Apparently we didn't have enough rain gear to handle the amounts of rain that were dumped on us....but we did have fun! We were soaked, but we enjoyed a hot breakfast. Fresh local eggs, sausage and stone ground grits, mmmmm mmmm! Then we got what I was searching for...some local h0ney! We even helped support the local farmers by getting some organic, farm raised chicken breasts and sirloin steaks. I'm excited to taste what fresh is really all about! I wanted some local produce, but the rain had already chased that farmer away. After the market we both looked like we had just taken a swim fully clothed. So we went back home to change and dry off. Then we headed back out to some outdoor stores. I was hunting a pair of hiking pants and Sev...well....being a man and all, he just wanted to look at the outdoor "toys". We ended up walking away with a sweet pair of hiking pants for me, a jacket for sev (one he has been wanting FOREVER and we finally found on sale!!) and two bags of nasty, slimy looking , fishing worms ("b/c linds its fishing seasons and these are new colors I HAVE to try if I'm going to catch the biggest fish!!" whatever, haha). Then we hit up COLDSTONE!!! and guess what I got!!!??!!! Well...none other than and ICECREAM CUPCAKE!!! Thats right, coldstone makes icecream cupcakes now....and I got one! To be honest, it disappointed me a little, there wasn't enough cake..but whatever, it was a cupcake, it had icecream and it was cute! Then we headed on home to hang out with Ali. Severyn woke up at 5am on Sunday morning to check for S-N-O-W (yes I'm going to continue spelling it, we don't want another panic attack around here!!). When he discovered there was none on the ground he decided we needed to go out and FIND some!!! So....off we went....in search of that cold, white stuff. This is the part my brother just finds odd and swears we're acting like old people(chris: "seriously linds, that's like what mom and dad do, you don't do that unless you're old or you have a cool car...mom and dad have the little white car and their old....whats your excuse...you're weird!"). We just spent the day driving around and exploring roads we had never been on before. We stopped and had a GREAT linner (this is what sev calls a late lunch, you know...in between lunch and dinner) at a little place called "Rockaways" it was YUMMY! I had the pimento cheese and fried okra and sevy had the rockaway burger, a burger piled high with pimento cheese!! Yikes, it sounds like death by clogged arteries...but it looked Gooooood!! Then we continued our drive looking for...yeah you know.
Obviously, we found no s-n-o-w but we had a GREAT time together :) Even when we had to stop and fight the snow crazed masses for toilet bowl cleaner and air filters ...we had fun :)
We came home to watch...what else but the WEATHER REPORTS, duh....and then drifted off into sleep with visions of snowflakes dancing in our heads ;)

Happy Monday!!!