Annual Christmas Tree Trip

Every year we travel to Boone, NC and get our Christmas tree. We always go the Sunday after Thanksgiving and leave that morning to make it there by lunch. We eat at the Daniel Boone Inn and then make the venture to try and find the best looking tree we can! This year was no different except IT WAS RAINING! We have never had bad weather on this annual trip but this year it rained on the way to Boone and then stopped when we arrived to eat. The rain held off until after we left Kilwins Chocolate Store (always part of the annual trip) and started to head home. Besides being cold we had excellent weather when picking out our tree which we owe all thanks to our Gracious Heavenly Father who knows that I would be utterly disappointed if I didn't get good pictures! (I'm sure that wasn't His reasoning but whatever it was, I am very grateful!) Here are a few pictures from our excursion!

Disney Magic!

17 days and counting! That's how many days we have until we leave for Disney! We are so excited and despite Tony and I being in our late 20's I think we are just as excited as Abbygale. We have 5 days in the parks and one of those days Abbygale will be treated like the princess that she is! She is going to visit Bibbity Bobbity Boutique where they will pamper her and dress her up like the Princess of her choice! If that wasn't enough we will leave the boutique and head over to Epcot where we are scheduled to have lunch with a Princess! They will read a book and several Princesses will wander around and greet everybody. This as you can imagine is what Abbygale is super-excited about! I am excited about this as well because the scrapbooker in me can see the endless possibilities of pages galore devoted to this one experience! :) Because of that and the once-in-a-lifetime experience that this trip will be (I've NEVER been to Disney either) I purchased a whole separate scrapbook just for this trip! Abbygale is 4 and is already on her 3rd scrapbook so I knew that I would need to just do a complete separate book for this! I am just as excited about scraping the trip as I am going! I will be sure to post pictures on here as well but it might take a while since I'll be drowning in pictures up to my Mickey Mouse ears!

Haircut

I absolutely hate getting my hair cut. I go in with this idea of what I want to have done and to my dismay I end up leaving with something not so much like I wanted! This however is not Samantha's fault. She is the BEST hairstylist that I have ever had! She does exactly what I tell her to do. I plan a trip to see her and all week have a picture in mind (and sometimes in hand) of exactly how I want my hair to look. Then when I get in that chair all the bravery in my body flows out onto the floor and I chicken out! I end up telling her "I want this picture but not so....whatever!" She is a saint for putting up with my spacy-ness when it comes to what I want. Anyway here is a new picture of my new hair (I know that me putting a picture of myself is a miracle anyway~usually I'm behind the camera!) It's not exactly what I pictured but you get the hint!

Growing Up!

Well many of you know that my "baby" turned 4 yesterday. I say "baby" because if you give Abbygale the ammunition and say that in front of her she will tell you that she is not a baby but a big girl. A big girl. Big in terms of size, yes. When compared to other kids her age she is tall. Big in the size of the things that she knows, yes. She is only 4 and cannot only spell her name but write it too. She is very advanced in most aspects of her "book smarts" too in the fact that she can already speak two languages and we are working at home with her on addition and subtraction. All this and my "baby" won't even start kindergarten for two more years!

But before this post turns into a "look what my child can do" list, I say these things with great hesitation. I am 100% completely proud of her, don't get me wrong. I just loathe any new milestone because it does mean that she is getting older. I want her to grow up and be successful but there is a part of me that wants to 'freeze' her now! I hate the thought of her ever leaving me! :) I know most parents feel the same way (I am sure that some parents throw a party when their child leaves but they probably are the exception, at least I hope).

All this from the one that wakes up at 12:18 am on the day of her child's birthday every year just to be the first to sing her Happy Birthday! She is still unaware that I do this now, but I wonder when she goes to college if her and her roommate will appreciate this gesture of love?!

I spent much of this week reflecting on my "baby". Four years ago we were so ecstatic to become parents. I remember the first time I felt her move, the first ultrasound and of course the day she arrived. For weeks we thought she was coming early. For almost half the pregnancy I was on bed rest all but four hours of the day. We prayed she would just make it to full term...she did and even had to be induced at 41 weeks! That is Abbygale's personality though. Even that small she told you how things were. She is very much in charge of her self and very headstrong with what she wants (I have no clue by the way where she gets that!) ;) I think sometimes it's that independence that scares me. It scares me because I know she will be able to take care of herself and one day will no longer need her Mommy. Oh well, until that day comes I will enjoy every minute of my "baby"!

Interview with Abbygale

I got this idea from a friend and it turned out too cute! I "interviewed" Abbygale yesterday on the way home from school and here are her answers.

How old are you? 3
How old is Mommy? 54 (thanks for that abbygale)
How old is Daddy? 54
How do you bake a cake? Decorate it!
What is Daddy's name? Daddy Tony
When is your birthday? October 23
What is your favorite color? Purple, Pink, Blue, White and Yellow
What is your favorite animal? Rudolph!
What do you want to do when you grow up? Drive a pink car and be a fire girl!

Mud Run Update

A few posts ago I told everyone about a Mud Run in Columbia, SC that some friends and I were going to be participating in in September. Due to other circumstances it ended up only being two of us that actually ran the Mud Run. Carrie and I had a blast and Shree was able to get some great pictures of us! Thanks Shree! We had a blast competing but it was super hard. I ended up with several scraps and bruises but overall we did great. We finished the entire course in 1 hour, 21 minutes and 54seconds! The course was over 4 miles long with 30 obstacles along the way so this was a great accomplishment to me! The last part of the course was carrying a team mate 100 yards! If you were a team of four you had a stretcher to carry one person on but if you had two like us then you carried somebody on your back! Next year we are trying to get a larger group to go and compete and hopefully the guys will be able to attend then as well! It was a ton of fun but a lot of hard work too!

Undying Love

Death is a crazy thing. It emits so many emotions from so many people. Some people react sad while others hide how they feel and "deal" with it internally. I say these things because everyday in my commute I pass by a pretty large cemetary in Gastonia, NC. About two months ago a person was buried fairly close to the street and this location allowed me to observe their graveside in passing. Right after the burial an older gentleman began sitting by this graveside. For almost TWO WEEKS straight I watched him daily sit in his chair (yes he took his own chair) and just sit right beside this grave! I had thoughts to myself like "Wow he must have really loved her" and "Man he must be really sad and alone to just sit there". I assume that this was his spouse but I guess it could have been a child, a friend or just about anybody. Slowly over the weeks he taperd off his visits and I rarely saw him. I still look daily to see if he will be there and two days this week he was back. Just sitting. Just watching. Spending time with this person that he must have loved oh so much!

This is where my mind starting racing and I began to wonder. How many people will be stricken with grief if I were to die? And how many of them would come and just sit with my body after I was gone? I wonder if Tony would come and sit and if our love is the undying love that this man obviously felt for this person that he lost. I have on many occasions almost turned the car around to go and speak to this man. Then I think, he is with that person alone because he wants to visit them and their memories, not some crazy stalker woman joining the two of them. A love that never wants to let go, but no matter how much he tries or sits or waits, he will never bring that person back. I guess that's why God gives us the days that he does give us. So that we can create that love while we are alive.

NC ZOO

We have this tradition that Abbygale goes to a different zoo every year. We have seen Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC (several times), Knoxville Zoo in TN, Lazy 5 Ranch in Mooresville, NC and SeaWorld in FL.
Well this year we decided that the NC Zoo was the place to go so that Abbygale could see Polar Bears! We try to find a new animal at each zoo we go to. Knoxville had a Bengal Tiger and of course SeaWorld has Shamu! Abbygale was really excited all week about this trip. We started on the African side and made the Polar Bears one of the last things that we saw. We saw some cool stuff before we got to Willy the Polar Bear though. One of which was a smaller elephant (not sure how old) and it was rolling around in the mud. Now I've been to zoos as stated above but I've never seen an elephant act like a pig!
Well after the elephant was done acting like a pig, he decided to go "clean off". He got into the watering hole there by all of us and starting swimming! I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it myself, so I'm attaching pictures. At one point he was completely submerged in the water. It was really cool. Well of course the highlight of the day was seeing the Polar Bear, Willy. Abbygale just loved him. Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure! When we go to the zoo each year, Abbygale always gets a new stuffed animal. It is always a new animal that she doesn't already have and preferably one that we saw that day. She got a polar bear this time of course. Here she is getting ready to leave the zoo with her new animal.
Just in case anybody is interested, Riverbanks Zoo is an awesome zoo and great for young kids. The NC Zoo has A LOT of walking but is good, just tiring. The Knoxville Zoo was really good too. It was easy to navigate but you had to pay to park where we don't at the other two. Side Note: We have never been there but the Atlanta Zoo just had a new Panda Cub on Saturday. This gives them a total of 4 Pandas. We are trying to get a trip together to go but if anybody has been there, please let me know how it was. Thanks!

MUD RUN 2008

Well myself and a few girlfriends of mine will be participating in the Marine Mud Run Challenge at Fort Jackson in Columbia SC in just a few weeks. Tony and some guys ran the one at Belmont Abbey College a few weeks ago but I was unable to participate due to health reasons (see prior posts). Two of the girls participating with me also ran the Belmont Mud Run and had a blast. I did at least get to go watch! Well in preparation for the Mud Run on Sept 20, 2008 I have been riding a bike every other day and I usually ride around 4 miles each time. Well Sunday 3 of the 4 of us participating went to Crowders Mountain State Park and hiked together. I was told that we would be doing 2 miles - 1 mile there and 1 mile to hike out. Well apparently she read the map wrong and we actually hiked 1.7 miles there and 1.7 miles back! Thanks Carrie! ;) Anyway this was some major hiking! It took all I had to get to the top of that mountain. It was very steep and rocky. I had never even been to Crowders Mountain, let alone hike. It was beautiful when we did reach the peak though! I will post a picture later. I really thought that Monday I would be terribly sore. I was a little sore yesterday but today, when it should be worse, I hardly feel anything at all. The funny thing is a friend of mine at work found out that I was participating in this and said, "YOU are doing THAT?" I said "Yeah, Why?" and they said "well I definitely have to see pictures of this!" I got to thinking though, it should actually be pretty funny. I hope we do get good pictures!
Here is a link to see the Mud Run...www.usmcmudrun.net

Politics At It's Finest

I have a love/hate relationship when it comes to politics. I love to see what is going on and learn abou the "leaders" of our country and what they stand for. I am not obsessed with this task though and I am the first to say that I do not keep up with politics the way that I probably should. I think that is because politicians don't listen to the average person anyway and let's face it, I'm just a regular woman from a small town in a state that doesn't have enough electoral votes for the things to really matter anyway. Well at least that's how I feel sometimes.

Even though I feel like that I am still responsible and I vote. I vote because people who don't vote really shouldn't complain and I feel like in case the vote actually did come down to one vote (which it never will), that I would regret things if I hadn't voted. And even as I might be somewhat responsible in knowing things that go on, I never ever try to discuss politics with people unless they initiate it first. I tell you this because of the following story and I want you to understand my position on this.

Sunday I went to Pizza Hut with my mother to pick up some "Dunkers" for my grandmother (They are pretty good by the way). While we were waiting on our order a gentleman in his mid to late 50's began speaking to me and my mom. My mom and I exchanged the usual "wow he's talkative look" but we were pleasant and just spoke back when it was appropriate. Toward the end of the conversation, he made a blunt statement about Barack Obama and how he really hoped Obama won the presidency. My mouth fell to the floor! First of all, like stated above, most people don't tell strangers their political beliefs. Second, this was a middle aged white man saying he wanted Obama to win. Let's all face it, that's not his normal group following. After I composed myself, I said "you have to be kidding me" and he stated "no that he really thought things would be better if he won". I said "McCain would be better, at least he has SOME morals". He proceeds to state, "McCain is just like Bush and look where we are at now, McCain does not need to win anything". After looking at my Mom in disbelief I proceeded to say, "McCain is not great, I'll give you that, but who is? McCain and Bush my be from the same political party but they are not exactly the same. When voting for the presidency you are voting for the lesser of two equals. Neither candidate is great and neither one will "Save" our country but when you look at each individually, at least McCain has SOME morals. At least he doesn't kill unborn babies!" At this point my mother's mouth fell open and so did the man that I was speaking with. He said "you ladies have a great day", grabbed his order that had recently been finished and walked out the door.

Now usually I don't show my cards. I will discuss politics and things if it comes up between friends and people but usually family is the only one that I out right discuss this topic with. This year is different. This year more and more people are being outspoken about their beliefs and their likes and dislikes about each candidate. While this blog is not intended to endorse a particular candidate, it could probably come across as such. Like I stated to the man at Pizza Hut, I do not like either candidate. They are both people who should put their faith first when they make decisions, everyone should, but especially since they are both in high prominent places. Both candidates are not fit for the position they are both vying for but that wasn't up to me, or any of us "normal" people. Us "normal" people spend our time looking at both candidates and are faced with the reality that neither one represent the type of person we would choose to be in the white house. WE ARE PICKING BETWEEN THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS! For you that may be one person but for me it's John McCain. I, again, don't agree with all of his positions but when I go to pick between the two, I have to realize that a candidate that can vote to kill an innocent child would do WHATEVER it takes to get their way. Obama is a pro choice supporter and McCain is not. Obama would kill an innocent baby and that is murder.

Whatever your beliefs are, you are entitled to them. Just as I am entitled to mine. I normally don't express my opinions on politics so loosely but felt compelled to do so after Sunday's incident. Whoever you vote for, you have to live with that and that's your decision to make, just make sure you vote! Christians need to speak up for what they believe in!

Weekend Getaway!

We had a blast this past weekend when we got to get away and go camping with some friends of ours up at Chimney Rock. Abbygale loves camping and we got to camp for two days and play in the creek right by our campsite. Our friends, The Maynards, that we went with are a great family to hang around and we love their company. We had a great time all weekend and the kids had a blast!

All In God's Timing...

Well as many of you know from my last post Tony and I just found out we were having another baby. However it wasn't in his plan for that to come full circle. One week after we found out we were to have another child we found out that we were now in the process of having a miscarriage. Many of you know that this isn't the first time this has happened to us but I think we will get through this one much better than we did the last one. Our relationship is a ton stronger than it was 5 years ago when we lost Christian and that experience gave us insight into how God really does love us and wants the best for us. We know that God gives but he can also taketh away. While my selfish side would like to be mad about that, I can't. I look around at the the "things" that I do have, i.e., a wonderful husband, an awesome daughter and the best family, and I know that I am lucky. I am lucky to have these great things but most importantly I am lucky to have a Heavenly Father who will be with me when no one else knows I've been crying and will be with me when everybody else forgets that I may still be suffering inside. For that I am grateful....and everything else will fall into place.

From 3 to 4!

Tony and I found out yesterday that we are going to HAVE ANOTHER BABY! We are super excited and so is Abbygale. She is going to be an awesome Big Sister if the last 18 hours are any indication. She is very protective over me already. We should be due sometime in April if we've figured it out right. Please keep us and our new little miracle in your prayers. We are sure that this was God's plan for us and can't wait to meet our new little one!

Monkey Joes

Tony and I were enlightened yesterday when we had the privledge to spend a few hours at Monkey Joes with Abbygale's class for a field trip. For those of you who don't know that's a place to go and just run wild. The building is FULL of anything and everything that is inflatable. All the slides, play areas and even "baby" area is full of inflatable fun! Adults can "play" too if your child is a certain age and may need help. Tony and I had a ton of fun in the obstacle course running around like we were kids again. We helped kiddos climb, jump and slide when most of them couldn't or were just way to tired to continue. I even enjoyed it when I was "dog piled" by 6 kids in the jumping inflatable. Besides feet in my stomach and hands in my face, I laughed harder than I had in a while, and that was nice!

T-Ball

Abbygale is playing T-Ball for Belmont Parks and Rec department this year. I can't believe that they start playing at 3 now. Tony and I both played T-ball but we didn't start until we were 5. I'm beginning to wonder if 3 is too young. Most games so far, Abbygale plays in the dirt and grass and is completely uninterested in the game until it's her turn to hit. Last night's game was a little different though. She was actually running after the ball and in the last inning even got into an argument with a little boy because she got the ball from him. Yes they are on the same team! Her 'tude', as I call it, came out with her hands on her hips and she told him how it was! I was embarrassed and proud all at the same time! :) Afterwards we tried to explain that they shouldn't argue because they are on the same team. Everybody says she is "following in her mommy's footsteps" by playing ball. I just have to wonder if she is old enough to play yet or if she really likes it or not. I mean she was the only one that HAD to take her pink princess horse last night to watch her play! (And yes her bat and glove are both PINK too!)

Your Princess Forever.....

Abbygale used to be tomboy. I say that with just a hint of sarcasm. She has always loved the colors of pink and purple and for heaven's sake her bedroom looks like grape tylenol has been poured out on the walls but she was really never into "girly" items. She wouldn't play dress up, she didn't watch princess movies or even play with princess items. This was the little girl that always played with the Thomas the Tank Engine trains whenever we would go to Toys R Us. She was always the longed haired kid among all the boys. She loves to hunt, ride 4-wheelers and play in the mud, but lately she is changing.

I have seen this change gradual but it is here. She has requested all Princess things lately and even likes to watch the Little Mermaid now. This weekend we went shopping and her awesome Aunt Stephie bought her a new Princess horse. The horse is pink and for the last 4 days has gone everywhere with us.

Yesterday I picked her up from school and she stated, "I want to be a real princess." I proceeded to tell her that she is a real princess to me and her daddy but that did satisfy this 3 year olds desire to have "pretty" things and dress in "pretty" clothes. She told me she needed a dress and a crown with pretty shoes. I laughed and told her to tell her daddy that. We walked in the door and she went running to him and said, "Daddy if you buy me a princess dress, and crown and that stuff...I'll be your princess forever!" :) Too cute! This morning putting her back in the car to go to school he said "my little tomboy is turning into a princess" and I said "that way we can have a son and have one of each"!!! We will see if God fulfills that desire but for now I'm braiding hair and listening to a new Princess Cd with my little girl, who despite what she thinks in her blue jean shorts and t-shirt, really is and always will be our little princess.

Blogging....

Well, this is completely new....and weird! :) I was told "blogging" would help with stress and give me a good sounding board so here goes! I will try to update regularly but we all have a life so we'll see how often that really happens! I will admit it feels really strange to type stuff on the computer for just anybody to read. I'm not a secreative person or anything, it just seems crazy that some stranger out there will read things about me and my family. However as my mom would say I've never met a stranger in my life and will talk to just about anybody anyway so in that regards everybody knows me anyway...