Eric Church & Norfolk VA Weekend

NORFOLK VIRGINIA GET-AWAY WEEKEND

What a great weekend! This weekend Josh and I went to Norfolk, VA to see Eric Church. Eric Church is Josh's favorite country singer. We were supposed to see him in Raleigh the week of the state fair, but the tickets were sold out. Since he couldn't see him then, I looked to see when he would be playing somewhere relatively close to Fayetteville and Norfolk was the only place. So we decided to go see Eric Church and make a weekend out of it. Norfolk had the festival of lights on Saturday the 22nd, so I thought it would be great to stay there for the weekend to see that as well.

The concert was great! Josh and I both had a great time. Eric Church is a great artist and has some great songs. It was one of the best concerts that I've ever been to, and I know Josh had a lot to do with that. After the concert we went downtown to a sports bar and had cheese fries with ranch! The diet was out the window but I could care less, as life is just too short.

Saturday Josh took me to Virginia Beach. It was only the third time in his life that he had been to the beach. We walked the beach for a few miles, just taking our time and enjoying the scenery and one another. We got some great pictures of the ocean and of us together. Josh was trying to find seashells during our walk, but there were none to be found except some broken ones. He was looking for the "perfect" seashell, one that wasn't broken. However, he found one and decided not to get it because it was broken, but I thought it would be cool to keep it as it didn't matter if it was perfect, just that we had something to remember the day by. Right before we left we hit the jckpot of seashells and we collected a few of them. I showed Josh what a razor clam was, an oyster shell, and explained Quahogs to him as well. It was really cool.

After our beach excursion, we went to the Pirate exhibit. Not something that I would usually do, but I have to admit I really enjoyed it. The beginning was really depressing, as it discussed the slave trading and how the slaves were treated back in those days. I was about to cry, it was really sad. Then it changed to more of the pirate stuff and that was really cool. The coolest thing was seeing hundreds of pounds of silver coins. There were a lot of coins!!

After the exhibit we grabbed a bite to eat and then headed to the parade. Again, we were close enough to walk as everything was only 5-10 minutes from the hotel. The festival of lights was a little weak. The only thing they did was to light up the buildings. But it was cute none-the-less. Then they had a parade. It was cute for the first 45 minutes, but then it got really repetitive. There were at least 10 JROTC teams out there. It was funny to watch them trying to march and stay on foot. It reminded me of my boot camp days, and Josh was just shaking his head at how bad some of them were, lol. We left the parade early because I was about to freeze. My teeth were chattering I was that cold. We went back to the hotel and I took a nap while Josh got to watch his football team (Nebraska). We were both exhausted and passed out by 10:30pm.

Sunday morning I woke up before him (as usual, but I am learning to let him sleep in). I walked downtown to the Starbucks to get him some Apple Cider as he doesn't like coffee, and something to eat. The walk was really relaxing for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Josh liked the fruits from that labor, as I mentioned, he loves Apple Cider.

We left Norfolk at 11am to go back to Fayetteville. On the way we listened to Dane Cook, one of his favorite comedians. This guy is really funny. Then we stopped in Smithfield so he could get me a coffee cup to remember the weekend by. What a sweet, great guy. I ended up getting a travel mug that had tractors on them, as it reminded me of a song that we listen to. The coolest part was that I didn't even have to explain the reason why I chose that cup, he already knew. After that we went to Wilson's Leather to look at some jackets, and then went to Reebok so I could get some new sneakers. I now have a pair for Josh's, a pair for the car, and a pair for my house. How awesome is that!!!

Once we got home Josh told me not to worry about cooking, as he had a surprise. That amazing man cooked me breakfast for dinner. Pancakes, eggs, and a bagel with orange juice. He even did the egg whites for me, as he knows I like them. Also, he used the sugar free syrup I like instead of the regular kind. What a considerate man!! This was a great way to end a great weekend.

I have never really done anything like this before, just going away for the weekend like that. It was something that I always wanted to do, but never have. I am so glad that we went and that Josh had such a good time. I look forward to many more weekends with him, and many more fun times. I have the greatest boyfriend ever!!!!

What a sexy man!!

The Great Weekends Continue

Had another phenominal weekend with Josh! Things are going great, and we are both having a great time. Josh had Friday off after working crazy all week. I had an interview for a job with a headhunter in Charlotte. It was a good interview, I learned a few things, but will not take a job that far away from Fayetteville. Then I got a call from Bill for an interview with a great corporation on Wednesday. Fingers crossed on that one, and I will keep you updated on how that goes.

So about the weekend. Josh surprised me and just came over around 5pm on Friday. After I finally got ready, we went to his place so he could get ready so we could go out. We planned on doing dinner and then pool. Dinner was good, and I even had fried zuccinni sticks!! It was good. By the time dinner was over, we just decided to go home and chill, pool can wait.

Saturday morning he cooked me breakfast again. What a great man, he cooks my egg whites for me!! The only thing missing here is the coffee, but we are working on that one, lol. We hung out for a while, and then went to mom's so I could pick up some clothes. That is the only pain, in that I have to pack a bag whenever I go over there. However, I am slowly leaving stuff over there, but not too much. I don't wanna move too fast, and am cool with the way things are going right now. One day at a time I believe. Josh was sweet and helped mom fix her phone. Then we went over to Christian's to get the dress altered for his wedding. Then it was off to Tre's to hang out with them. It was cool. There was no schedule and we just did whatever and hung out with friends.

Then it was off to Greenville. We stopped in Smithfield so I could get a watch. Lost my last one. I got two, and they are very similar and cute. Josh got some things as well. The drive was great. We listened to country music and sang the entire way. That man can sing let me tell you!! THe 2 hour drive flew by. Got there and did dinner. Sandy said 5pm, but ya, the party didnt start till 9pm. Oh well. We hung out and he met everyone. We both came to the realization that while we both like going out and having a few drinks, doing it with a bunch of 18-20yr old college kids is not as much fun as before. Their mentality is very different. We both just sat by the great fire Josh made and relaxed. I forgot there were even other people there. We left about 11pm, we had had enough. The next morning we met Lee, Jan & Roger at Starbucks for the Sunday ritual we all started when I lived in Greenville. That was one of the best parts of the weekend. It was great a nd relaxing, and I just love them! They are some great people and really seemed to like Josh, but who wouldn't. Then we went home, yet another great drive. Once back, we relaxed, took a good nap, and hung out. Finished the night with some pizza. Josh was sweet, took me to get mom dinner, and then took me home. Then we just relaxed till it was time for him to go home, as he had to work on Monday.

It wasn't anything too exciting, but it didn't have to be. I had a great time with a great man. It's amazing how someone can make things so much fun and relaxing at the same time, and you can be yourself the entire time. How cool!

Here are some great pictures of us from that weekend. Looking forward to many more great weekends to come!

Awesome dinner tonight

I cooked dinner for Josh tonight and I have to say that it was really good!! My friend Jennifer had posted the recipe on her blog, and it looked easy and healthy so I decided to try it. The only problem? Well, there were two. The first one was that Josh has nothing in his house for cooking. Everything is instant and either cooked in the microwave or in the oven. So, we went to the store to get food. Besides chicken, eggplant was a main ingredient. Go figure, Food Lion didn't have eggplant. So we got everything there and then went to Wal-Mart and yup, they had sold out of eggplant too!! By this time I was flustered cause I didn't know what I was going to cook. Josh was great though, and said just improvise and cook whatever, plus I made sure that there was peanut butter and jelly in the house just in case!!

I cooked the Mediterrean Chicken but just left out the eggplant. I also did mashed potatoes and a veggie. It was all really good, even if I did have to mash the potatoes with a spoon as Josh has no mixer, and the skins were left on the potatoes because he doesn't have a potatoe peeler either!! Nor is there a strainer. So, I will be bringing a lot of my kitchen stuff over there, so when I do cook there will be something to cook with. However, I will give him credit, as he has pots and pans!! Josh liked everything and even went back for seconds!!! It was really cool getting to cook for someone other than myself or mom. I had a lot of fun this weekend, and am actually excited about the next meal I will cook. I am thinking about eggplant parm this coming weekend. He's never had it before!!! And he's never had hummus or heard of it! It was hysterical. I told him, I am going to learn a lot of things from you, and you are going to learn a lot of things from me. This man will know all about food if I have anything to do with it.

Here's the recipe. I added half a red onion and a Tbsp of garlic as well

1 pound chicken
1 pkg baby portabellas
1/2 red onion
1 pkg cherry tomatoes
1/2 lg eggplant
1 Tbsp garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tps italian seasoning
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Tbsp EVOO
1/4 to 1/3 cup Basalmic Vinegar

Again, this is the receipe that Jennifer created. She's got some great recipes on her blog. You should give them a look.