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.

Tammy & Matt's Wedding

Matt & Tammy October 10th, 2009

Matt & Tammy were married on 10-10-09. It was the best wedding ever! There were only 50 people there, so it was very quaint and intimate. The ceremony was in Southport, NC at the Shoreline Church Chapel. It was a small cute little chapel. The wedding was at 4pm, and it was supposed to rain pretty badly right at four. However, the sun was out nice and bright and filled the chapel full of sunlight. It was beautiful. The ceremony was 15 minutes. They even had a sand ceremony, which I thought was really nice. After the ceremony Tammy had all the guests do a group picture. It was just great, as everyone there knew Tammy & Matt really well and everything was really relaxed.
After the ceremony, we went to the Oak Island Golf & Country Club about 5 min away. What a beautiful golf course. The trees were amazing, and you could see the ocean from the club. It started to rain when we got there, but it only lasted 5 min. O'dourves were served, and they had beer & wine there for everyone. Then everyone across the stree to the beach where we did a prayer and made wishes on sea shells that Matt & Tammy had collected and then we threw them back in the ocean. It was absolutely beautiful!! The sun was setting and I couldn't imagine anything more beautiful.
Afterwards we headed back to the club for dinner. The tables were decorated very well, and the color theme was purple, Tammy's favorite color. It was just what she wanted, and it looked great. They did the toast and then we ate. Food was great. Baked ziti, green beans, prime rib, and mashed potatoes. All of it was delicious.
After dinner we danced all nite on the patio. It was so much fun, and I even danced even though I can't do it very well. Once the party was over, we all headed to Matt & Tammy's condo and partied till 2am. It was just the most perfect night. Full of friends, laughter, and fun.
If I decide not to elope, I will do this for my wedding. I don't want too many people there, just my close friends and family. I want it to be a day of celebration, but most importantly, a day that is all about me and my husband and us committing our lives together. I think people forget what the wedding day is all about, and instead just focus on the party. Tammy definately did it right, and I may just take her up on her offer and let her plan my wedding, whenever that may happen (prob no time soon lol)!!!

Here are some pics from that great day!

Firefighter fighting fire - a must see

I saw this and thought it was hysterical. At first I thought it was set-up, but nope, it's for real. I feel bad for the poor fire fighter. The media made him look like a pot head, but you must see this. I have no idea how to post the video, but here is the link. You have to watch it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuecxDm2B9w

SICK

I tell you what, I am sick of being sick. Mom and I have both been sick as dogs for the past 2 weeks. I first got a cold, it turned into bronchitis, and then I got a fever! Mom had some sort of flu, got better, caught my cold, and now she has a fever! I don't like being sick, but would rather it be me than her as she has too much stuff going on. This is crazy! We both need a vacation and we are both exausted. It's been nice living with mom though, as she has really helped me out when I was sick and too busy, and I am able to do the same for her. It's nice having someone there to help you out when things are crazy, and crazy they have been. It's going to slow down a bit for me in another week, and I hope it slows down some for mom as well. We just need a break!

Bathroom COMPLETED!!

The Bathroom Renovation - Project #1

So, when I first moved back to Fayetteville, NC I thought I would renovate all the bathrooms in the house. The bathrooms all have the same octogon pink colored tile, which is horrible looking. The vanities are all 20+ years old. I figured I would start with my bathroom and then move on to the other two. I guessed it would take me 2 weeks to do mine. Was I wrong!!

I started with taking the wallpaper off the walls, which didn't go very well. It ripped the drywall off with the wallpaper, as the contractors who built the house didn't prime the walls before applying the wallpaper. I thought, well, just take down the drywall, it will look better and be easier, WRONG!! Mistake #1

I ripped the floorand vanity out, as this was easy. It only took a sledge hammer and a little sweat. Mom thought the ceiling was going to fall down, as the bathroom is over the kitchen. But it didn't and the floor was gone.

Our friend Greg came and pup the drywall up for me, as it was much harder than I thought. That took about a month to happen, as he would do it when he had time. Once the walls were up, he came and put down the tile. It looks great!

I then went and painted the walls. The first color we chose looked pink, it was supposed to be sand colored. So, back to Lowes I went, and got the current color. It looks great. Then it was time for the vanity. This should have been easy, but it wasn't. The vanity goes right against the dorr, and the door molding is right there. So, I had to get inventive, and put a piece of wood between the wall and vanity to ensure the drawers wouldn't hit the molding when I pulled them out. This took about a month to finally accomplish.

Then the baseboards. Oh, the baseboards!! I have learned I cannot measure!! And I learned that when doing a project, you need to have the proper tools. So, after trying to cut baseboards with an extinct saw (dad's) I went out and bought a 10" compund sliding miter saw!! It ROCKS!! LOVE IT!! The baseboards look great now.

This is a quick summary of the 6, yes 6 month project of renovating the bathroom. It is done now, but I need to paint the trim, do some touch up, and fill in the holes from the nails in the molding. It shouldn't take long, but I need to do it.

Here are some pictures of the finished project.
I will do a better job with writing about the second bathroom I am going to do.

The bathroom was supposed to be a 2 week renovation project. Well, it didn't happen that way. I learned to NEVER take drywall down, that cutting and measuring baseboards are NOT easy, and when you put in a vanity, make sure it's not too close to the door, as it causes issues. I think I did everything wrong the first time on this project, but at least I learned. Plus, I got a really cool 10 inch compound sliding miter saw, yes it ROCKS!!

I thought I would be funny. This one is for you dad!


This is the view from the door. You can get a good look at the tile floor, which looks great, thanks to our friend Greg Brown who did it for us. Also, get a look at the baseboard. Yes, I painted and cut them all. It took forever, and I learned I need to measure more accurately the first time.

This is the new vanity, and you can see the towel rack that Christian put up for me. As you can tell, it was a group project. I had help, thankfully.

I thought I would wave to you all!

Yet another view from the door.

The toilet and the towel rack

A great view of the vanity that was a pain in the butt to install. See how close it is to the door frame, yea, that caused a major problem that I finally figured out, with Christian's help of course

The bathroom was supposed to be a 2 week renovation project. Well, it didn't happen that way. I learned to NEVER take drywall down, that cutting and measuring baseboards are NOT easy, and when you put in a vanity, make sure it's not too close to the door, as it causes issues. I think I did everything wrong the first time on this project, but at least I learned. Plus, I got a really cool 10 inch compound sliding miter saw, yes it ROCKS!!

Love you all

Bri

Life update

I graduate in only 4 days! Unbelievable!! I am so excited. Can't wait to go to Greenville this weekend with Adam to go and party!! Mom is coming down on Saturday to watch me walk and then we are all going out to dinner, with some friends of course. It will be awesome, I can't wait. Adam and I will be there for the entire weekend, and then we will come home on Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day with mom.
I am back at work, which is really good for me. I need to get back into a routine. State walked in on Monday, so work has been 12 hour days, but I still love it none the less. The bathroom still isn't finished, but all I need to do is put the countertop on the vanity and nail it to the wall. I just need someone to help me bring the countertop upstairs. Then I will be able to use my shower again, and I am sure mom will be happy. But, the toilet is in, so that is good.
Also, I am going to be an aunt. Andi is pregnant, so the entire family is excited. It will be cool to have a little Nichols/Raponi running around. I probably won't get to see him/her for a while, but its all good, pictures will work for a little while. Congrats Andi and Tim!!!

GRADUATION... its almost here

Graduation is May 13th. Its amazing how quickly it is approaching. I can't believe that I will finally graduate and have my bachelors. Most people are really happy about this and say it was a long road, blah blah blah. But for me, it was a much harder road. It took me 8 years from high school graduation. I wasn't in school the whole time, as I was deployed twice, but it feels as though I was in school a lot. I never really got that whole "college experience" except for one year, and that was one of the best years of my life. I met some great friends and got to play Rugby. It was awesome. I even drank a little bit, not much but a little. It was fin going to BW3 at 11am with my coach and having drinks at the bar after classes. This is when I found out what I had been missing for so long. Just having good friends makes life so much easier. But after that year I decided that I would move to New Orleans for a boy that I met. Of course the boy only lasted 3 weeks, butI decided to stay anyways. It was probably one of the best things I could have done for myself, because I learned more than I ever thought possible about myself. I went to school full-time online and worked full-time. It was crazy, but I did great that first semester, 4.0GPA. The onlything that suffered was my social life, but I was used to this. Then, in 2008 I decided to go back into the Marines full time. That was good and interesting. I had always wondered what it would be like if I did active duty again, but I realized that it wasn't for me. I got out after 6 months and moved back to NC with mom. That brings me to where I am today. One paper away from graduation, still having to realize that I actually did it. I actually did everything I needed to do to get that piece of paper. And now things are moving right along. I start my internship for AIT next month, and then I will be an administrator. I will have a career, and a good one at that, and one that I know will fit me and my personality perfectly. I think that this is the best job choice I could have chosen. Its weird how things are starting to fall into place. At times it felt as though I would never be at this point, and there are times when I am waiting for someone to shake me and wake me up. It can't be true that life is actually working out, but it is. Life is coming together.
I even got a new car, well its used, but its new to me. I never thought I would ever get one, well at least not in the next few years. Its amazing and I love having something that is dependable and really nice. I mean I can roll the windows down with the push of a button. The lights turn on at night when I am driving. The driver's seat moves with the push of a button. Its just amazing to have something that is nice. My parents have helped me out with the car, but I really want to start working so I can pay them back. I am not used to having to have other people help me out financially. I have been on my own for so long and haven't had to ask anyone for help. But its nice knowing that they are there and willing to help.
Things with Adam are going well also. Again, this is weird for me, since I am not used to having a boyfriend. He's a great guy though and I enjoy his company. Currently he is in the Appalachian mountains hiking for the week. I think that its good that we can both do our separate things and still be happy. I do miss him, but know that I need time to get away and so does he. Its good for both of us. Time will tell with him, as my Mama always says.
So I have learned a lot these last couple of years. Things have been hard and good. Life is never what one may expect, but I am really happy the way things have worked out. I wouldn't have learned so much about myself and life if I didn't choose the road less traveled.... and that has made all the difference.
I will definately post some pics of me receiving my degree.

The Beach

Today is Wednesday and the last day at the beach. I was invited by Jennifer to go to the beach for 3 days 2 nights. She paid for the room and said all you have to do is show up. Its been nice. I figured that I would come and try to learn how to do the vacation thing. Actually relaxing and enjoying being away. Well let me tell you, itsnot as easy as one may think, well not for me anyways. I am trying to learn to be in the now and enjoy everything and not to worry about everything I have to do. Its hard for me. I don't know how people are able to do this for an extended period of time. I always think about what I could be doing at home or what I should be doing. Its hard for me to be out of my little bubble with the little amount of structure I have created for myself back home. I don't know why. I thought I was doing really good and relaxing, but it was pointed out to me last night that I need to loosen up. I am too uptight. The girls said it in a nice way and weren't trying to hurt my feelings. They said that I need to let go and just have fun. Well, I was for me. I wasn't in a bad mood or anything. I am just uptight, but that is ME! That has always been me. I don't think I will ever be described as a laid back person. God just didn't create me like that. But Lord knows I am trying.
I wrote most of my paper yesterday, and that really helped my stress level. I was almost panicking about it. I should have written it a long time ago but never did, and now I just wanted to write it and be done with it. So the girls left me alone for the day and I wrote about 20 pages. It helped that I had written a little while I was in England. Now I only have 5 pages left. Once this paper is finished I just have a few little tests to do and I am done, then I will graduate.

A weekend of babysitting

So, I am at it again, yep you guessed it, BABYSITTING! I hate babysitting. I have been doing this since I was eleven years old. I used to made $2.50 an hour for 2 kids. Ya, it wasn't much, but you won't believe the amount of money that I had saved up from babysitting. Its a pretty prosporus job. The only problem is that you have to work in the prime hours, such as Friday and Saturday nights, and on the weekends. This is when everyone wants to go out on dates. Or you work the holidays like New Years Eve. Babysitters make prime money these days.
I however have had my fair share. I am tired of it. I love the kids, but I don't want to give up my entire weekend anymore to watch someone else's kids. Ya the money is okay, but if you have the money and can't spend it then who cares right? I think that this is my last weekend. There are other things that I want and need to do on the weekends, and laundry is one of them. When you are older there are responsibilities, and I am sure that the kitchen in my mother's house is looking horrible and that I need to be there to clean it. Because I am sure that the dishwasher is full of clean dishes, but there is no way that my mother will empty it. I swear its a game we have, see who empties it first. I always lose. I just get to a point and I can't take it anymore. I can only handle dirty for so long.

Well, say farewell to the babysitting days!! This is my last weekend, unless I get like $750 to do it. Saying farewell to another chapter in my life.

Golfing with Poppy... My memories of those days

So my sister decided to write a post about golfing with Poppy on the weekends when we were kids. I thought I would write my memories about those times. Its amazing how two people can go and do the same thing but have different memories and recollections of those times. Its pretty cool and makes me miss those days as a child.
Mom was usually working on the weekends, so Dad was left taking care of Andi and me. It seemed like we went golfing almost every weekend when we lived on Ft Bragg. As my sister said we would always get there early, usually Pope or Striker. I liked Striker better myself, but Andi liked Pope better. Anyways, when we first got there Andi and I would ask Poppy to get a cart. We loved driving the cart, but I don't remember ever getting one. He would always say, "we can either get a cart or go to Burger King afterwards." Well, my sister and I loved food and still do, so we would always say Burger King. However, I never remember dad taking us afterwards, lol. We Would get a snack before we started though. We'd eat whatever unhealthy thing dad got us at the first hole. Then it was time to walk, and walk we did. We ALWAYS did 18 holes. I always loved the 8th hole, because dad would give us money to get food at the snack bar, and by the time we got our food we would meet him at the back 9 holes. I remember pulling dad's clubs, but that only lasted a hole or so before I gave them back. He would always laugh because we could never last that long. Andi and I would get bored, so we would play with the golfball retriever. I forgot about that until she mentioned it, but it was true. We would try to retrieve forgotten golf balls from the lakes. It was crazy, but we usually only got grass and crap. But, it gave us something to do. I remember that I used to love to clean the golf balls. They always have a little cleaner at every hole to wash the ball, and for some reason I really enjoyed this.
Andi mentioned some rules that dad taught us for golfing:
Be quiet
Don't laugh when people go into the woods or water (they got mad)
If there is a coin on the green, don't pick it up, its to mark the ball (note, dad and his friends thought it was hysterical when I thought I found a nickel on the green. They had to explain that it was there to mark the ball.)
Hold the flag still
Don't walk between the ball and the hole on the green, it will affect the next shot
Always bring a jacket


There is one memory that I am really fond of. This was when Andi was older, so she didn't go anymore. It was a REALLY COLD day. We drove about an hour to this really great golf course. I just thought it was a long drive. The weather wasn't the greatest, it was misting outside. I had brought plenty of clothes, but it was cold. I was miserable the entire time. It was so cold outside that we were the only idiots playing. Everyone else was inside the clubhouse. AND, the was ice forming on the golf clubs when it misted! It was horrible!! I was so miserable, I swore I would never again go with weather like that. Dad played terrible, it was really cold and so did his friend Mike. I don't think I will ever forget that day.

I had such a great childhood with so many wonderful memories. Its weird how soemthing will make you think of a time in your childhood that was forgotten, but now you remember it like it just happened.
I can't wait to have my own kids one day (no time soon many years away), so I can create these awesome memories with them.
Thanks mom and dad for giving me and Andi a great childhood. Thanks Andi for being there for me to kick my ass all the time and to allow me to make your life a living hell when I was a kid. It was fun. Remember me kicking your bedroom door all the time? I think of that and laugh now, lol

Catching Up. Life is GREAT!!!

Its been a while since I have posted anything. Life has been really crazy. Things are really good right now. Its almost surreal, because everything is going so well. I finally finished my internship for college and my last class is done! The only thing I have left to do is to write my 25 page paper and take a test and then I am done with school!! I have been working as an Admissions Coordinator where I did my internship. Its okay, not my favorite job, but its a job none the less. I will start my AIT internship there in about 2 months, and that will go for 5 months. Then I will be a licensed nursing home administrator. I can't wait to finish and get my own facility. I will finally be starting my career and making a decent living! Its all coming together. I am also dating a really great guy, Adam. Adam is a 3rd grade teacher here in Fayetteville. He's awesome. We;ve been dating for about a month now, and he is unlike any other guy I have dated. Uusually I say, "oh this guy is great, BUT" Well, there is no but with Adam. He has never been married, engaged, and doesn't have any kids! He has a good career he enjoys and seems to be really good at. He owns his own home and even has a car! This guy sounds too good to be true! He likes to go hiking and we will be doing this sometime soon. Wants to go to the vineyard also, which I think is great. My sister asked me if he wants to do things I like, and amazingly I said yes, cause he does. He actually asks my opinion on things and doesn't like it when I tell him to decide. He actually wants my opinion and cares if I am having a good time. Adam likes to golf, and even wants me to go with him. This reminds me of the times when I went golfing with my dad as a child. He used to take my sister and me with him almost every weekend to the golf course. I have fond memories of golfing with dad. Andi and I would raise hell on the golf course. Good times. So I am really excited about going golfing with him. I am really excited about this whole thing. My sister was teasing me and giving me a hard time about Adam. It was finny. This is the first guy that she hasn't said "what are you thinking you idiot" Well, my sister was right. Finding someone who really cares about you is worth it. You shouldn't settle. This is so different from the last 3 relationships that I had. I am just really excited to see what the future will bring. We are going to see Hoobastank tomorrow night. They are an awesome band. I can't wait.
Life is GOOD!! And I will be going to England to see my sister, brother-in-law, and my dad. Its gonna be great. Can't wait.
One more thing. We finally have LIGHTS in the bathrooms!! No more dark showers!
AWESOME!

Drywall removal, don't try this at home

Have you ever wanted to do a do it yourself (DIY) renovation? Well, don't. Its not easy let me tell you. All I wanted to do was take down the ugly wallpaper from the bathroom, paint the walls, change the vanity, and retile the floor. I expected this to take 1 week. Well, I'm going on week 3!! The wallpaper didn't come off that easily, took 2.5 days, and when it did come off, it took off the backing of the drywall with it. So, I thought, "oh, I'll just take down the drywall and put up new and improved drywall." Not the smartest idea I ever had. I have spent 3 days now trying to take down drywall. ITs messy, dusty, and just not fun. But, the good thing is that we will now have moist/mold/termite resistant drywall. Plus, I will not have to scrape the wallpaper glue from the wall, so that's good. I figure once I get that up it'll be a piece of cake. All I will have to do it paint and do the floor. Luckily the bathroom isn't too large, so the floor should be pretty easy. I do like doing the renovations though, because when it is all done its a good sense of accomplishment. I will have done it, nobody else. Plus its cheaper, and it will look so good when it's done. I can't wait for it to be done. Then I get to start on my mom's bathroom. What joy. I will NOT remove the drywall this time though, as I think I have had enough of that. Plus, I want to finish her bathroom quickly, as I know it will be a pain for her not to have a bathroom. It will be a nice present for mom, and she deserves it. I know that there are many things that she wants to do to the house, and I want to do them all, cause the house will look nicer, but also because mom works hard and she deserves to come home to a house she loves. Once the bathrooms are done I will paint, and then I will talk her into buying plantation blinds. They are expensive, but they are so pretty.
Have a good night everyone. I have to go to sleep so I can finish will taring the wallpaper down tomorrow.

Match.com

Well, I have done it. I finally broke down and joined the dating website match.com! I don't really know what I am looking for, mainly just people to hang out with, nothing serious at this point, since things are really confusing and unsettled at the moment. But you know what, I think that everyone's life is confusing and unsettled. How many people do you know are completely 100% satisfied with how things are going? You may know many, but I bet you they are all old, lol. I think people my age are just like me, confused, excited and yet a little nervous about what the future holds. It seems as of lately things have really just been crazy. First my truck dies, then the VA tells me I owe them money, and then my internship falls through. I thought that by moving home everything would just work out perfectly. I would have my truck, an internship, savings, and then get a great job somewhere in Raleigh. Well, surprise surprise. Life doesn't always work out the way we want it to. I guess there is a reason for this that I will doscover later on, but right now it just makes no sense. Oh well, what doesn't kill us makes us stronger. I did learn one really good lesson though, and that is to save ALL documents, receipts, paperwork, etc. My mom is really good at this. She will save bills, receipts, warranties, etc. for years. She probably has warranties for things that we don't even have anymore! I used to give her a really hard time about this, but have learned why she does it. Because it may be years later, but someone will come back to you and say, you never paid for this, or this was never reconciled. But, if you have the paperwork, even from years back, you can show it to them and protect yourself. So thanks mom, you teaching me to keep all my files over the years has helped me and is paying off.
So back to the match.com thing. So, as I said, I joined, about a week ago. Its been interesting. Its kinda like we are all cattle, being put in a herd and being chosen by who looks best and has the best qualities, then to be slaughtered. Well, not really slaughtered, but you get my drift. So this is how it works. You make a profile, describing who you are, what you do, education, favorites, places lived, etc. You even have to write a paragraph about yourself and what you are looking for in a partner. Then you can post pictures of yourself. If you don't post pictures, don't expect anyone to talk to you. People are so picky these days let me tell you, and I guess I am too. So once you have your profile, you can view other guys. If you make your profile available for public view, meaning everyone can see it, and go and look at someone else's profile, then it will store in their memory as who went and viewed their profile. I have had about 200 people view my profile. Some of these people seem a little creapy, crazy, or just odd.
Also, you can "wink" at someone or write them an email. Let me tell you, I have had some really freaky people "wink" at me and email me. I forgot to mention that your profile states your age and the age of those you are seeking. So, when I get a "wink" from a 50 yr old, this is really creepy. I have had several winks from old men or really scary looking men, or those red kneck country boys that think a good date is going mudding or shooting cans off a log. Its been interesting let me tell you. However, I have had some hot, nice guys "wink" and email as well. I even met one and he seemed pretty normal. I am supposed to go out with him again this weekend, we'll see if he calls. Dunno. Whatever. Really, I just want to date several people to get a feel of what I am looking for and interested in. I have been known to date some real "winners." At this point I know my mom and sister are thinking, yup, Dwayne and that other idiot Lance. But, I also think that every person you date you learn something from. I don't regret dating anyone that I have dated, because I have learned more about myself from doing so. If you don't get out there and try, how will you know what you want? If you don't try different flavors, you won't know it when you find that flavor. I just want to settle for vanilla anymore, but am looking for the other flavors that are out there. We will see. I will have to keep you posted on how this thing turns out. Time will tell as my grandmother says.

Trying to lighten up ... think BLENDERS

I figured that since all I really wrote about this week was bad stuff (even though other people thought the posts were hysterical) I would write something that doesn't really pertain to anything. The only problem is I can't think of anything to say. Give me a minute, something will come to mind. Nope... not yet.... gimme another minute.
Okay, so I got something. Blenders. Do people even use these things anymore today? I own one, and I can count on my hands the # of times I have used it. They are a pain in the butt. You MUST add liquid, otherwise you aren't blending a damn thing, just burning up the motor. Then, when you do want to blend something liquid, like ice cream, you usually don't have it in the house so you have to go out to the store to buy the ingredients. So why have the blender, since on the way out to the store, you could just go and buy the stupid shake you wanna make. Plus, its probably cheaper just to go to McDonald's and buy the thing.
I'm currently "visiting" my mom. This means that I am staying with her for a little while until I finish school and get a job, which hopefully will happen by April. Its now January. Anyways, I noticed that my mom has a blender. I have to say that she has used the blender, but to save time, buys premade shakes. So you see, there really isn't a reason to own a blender. They just take up room on the counter. This being said, I still own mine, and probably won't ger rid of it anytime soon. I know, what can you say?
Have a good night all.. I am tuckered out and ready to go and get under the covers, because my mom's house is ALWAYS freezing. Why? Beats me, it just one of those facts.

Renovations begin...bathroom #1

I have always wanted to renovate a house. I think that I would be awesome at flipping houses, because I love to do the work and I do good quality work. I don't belive in doing a half ass job, because it will just cost more money in the long run, more time and more frustration. I have finally convinced my mom into letting me renovate the bathrooms. I have decided to start with the one directly at the top of the stairs. It was the one my sister and I used growing up. I figured that if I started with this one I could take my time and learn along the way. I didn't want to do mom's first because I know that she wouldn't like waiting 3 weeks for it to be done. Not that I plan on it taking that long. However, now that I have started, its going to take me longer to do this thing than I thought.

I go and get wallpaper remover. I am a pro at removing wallpaper. My cousin Keri conned me into doing her house, and it was the ugliest and oldest wallpaper I had seen. I figured that if I can remove 60yr old wallpaper, this would be a breeze. Well, as usual, I was wrong. I started by taking everything off the walls, mirror included. That mirror is heavy by the way. Then I put the wallpaper remover on the walls. It was the concentrate stuff, and didn't work very well. So I just pulled off what was already peeling from being on the walls for the last 25yrs. It was cool. A lot of it came right off with no problem. I left the remaining for the next day when I would get new wallpaper remover. So I go and get the gel stuff, it works the best and paint it on. I start to peel the paper off. It comes off in the smallest pieces, if it comes off. I put on another coat, then another coat, then another but to NO avail. At this point the walls are soaked and still have this ugly wallpaper on them. It finally starts to come off, but you guessed it, it peeled right down to the drywall. So now I have brown patches everywhere that I will have to spackle. Turns out that the idiots that built this house did a crappy job. Instead of priming the drywall and then putting the glue on for the wallpaper, they just stuck on the glue and then the wallpaper. To top it off, they also put tape around the corners of the ceiling, so when I went to put off the caulking the popcorn decided to come off as well. I had planned on removing the popcorn ceiling, but wanted to wait until after the wallpaper was off. ITs now Tuesday, that's right. I have spent 2.5 days peeling wallpaper off the wall, and there is still glue all over the place. The bathroom looks horrible and I am ready to take a hammer to the damn walls. I go to Lowe's to look at replacing the drywall. Its pretty cheap and they have a type specifically for bathrooms, mold and moist resistant. So now I want to replace the drywall. The guy said its easy but time consuming. No more time consuming then peeling paper I tell him. So now the bathroom still looks like crap. I plan on taking the popcorn off the ceiling first and then removing the drywall. I want to contain as much of the mess as possible. I will add pictures of the bathroom in its current state and will also add pictures of my outfit, as I need to have a mask and goggles. This should be interesting. Will let you know what happens later. God PLEASE help me with this. I have a feeling its going to be bad before it gets better.
Well I got the supplies I needed. But I only got one roll of plastic tarp. This was me trying to save money. As usual, me saving money meant spending more of my time. So after I used all the plastic tarp in about 1 minute, I decide not to go back to Lowe's but to get creative instead. So I go and get the back plastic trash bags and cut them up and then tape them to the walls. This is to prevent the popcorn and the water from getting into the molding around the floor. It also helps to contain the mess. Now I will still have to go back to Lowe's tomorrow and buy more tarp because I plan on attaching it to one wall to the middle of the ceiling to hopefully catch all the popcorn as it falls off the ceiling. The last thing I want to do is clean popcorn up for a week, because with my great luck it will take that long. So tomorrow morning I plan on wetting the ceiling and starting on the popcorn. Wish me luck. I'm sure it will go badly, but you never know,
I might just get lucky.

Unloading the UHAUL

Its Friday, and I decide that I really need to start unloading the UHUAL. Its the last thing that I wanna do, but it must be done. I figure I will do it before mom starts nagging me about it. I have to give her credit though, mom has been really good with me. She hasn't yelled about my mess, nagged me about anything, and wasn't offended by my bad moods. She's just given me my space and left me alone until I was ready to talk. I think she has finally learned how to deal with me, which isn't an easy task I may add. There are only a few people that know how to deal with me when I am having a hard time, which seems like its pretty often, lol. But its true. Anyways, so I go to move the UHAUL into the driveway. As I'm backing in, I notice something attached to the tire. Once I park it, I notice that the thing attached to the tire is a balloon the size of a child's head protruding from the tire. Great, this is all I need. It looks as though it will bust at any moment. Only me, only me. So I start unloading the truck. I have most of it done within 30 minutes. Mike's estimate of a few hours was wrong, but that's no surprise. The only things left in the truck are the mattress and bedroom furniture. I leave it for later. Audra calls later that day and says what time do you want me to come down. She offered to help me move the truck. I told her that if she was gonna come, then come on Friday. She shows up that evening with the kids and we decide that we will unload it in the morning. Off to bed for me, it had been a rough copule of days.
Saturday morning Audra helps me to offload everything left on the truck. 10 minutes later we are done. Now she wants to rearrange all my crap in the garage, because you know that I did not have any type of organization when I put it in there. Me plan something? Yeah right. We decide to bring the truck back to UHAUL before anything else. Once the guy came to change the tire we brought it back. Then Audra say, do you mind if I go to the consignment shop and look for some clothes. Well, we all know this isn't my thing, but I don't mind. She came all the way down here to help me out, so the least I could do was to go with her to the store. 2 hours later we finally leave the store, lol. Audra had tried on about everything they owned and when she went to pay for it couldn't find her card, so we left empty handed. You know that I found the card about 30seconds later, but she said she'd return later to buy them. Fine with me.
The rest of the weekend was noneventful. It was just mom, me, Audra, Taylor, and Kurtie. It was really nice having them all here, and I think that they really had a good time. We didn't really do anything, just hung around and relaxed. I think that everyone needed that. It was really nice seeing the kids too, since the last time I saw them Taylor was 7 and Kurtie was 2 and a holy terror! But boys are like that at that age. They have really grown up and matured. Taylor is very quiet, but sweet. Kurtie was such a well behaved 8 year old, I was really impressed. Audra has done a great job raising her kids, they will both be very successful and happy when they grow up. As I was saying, it was just a real chill weekend. I even washed mom's car and my car (the GiGi). Now mom can see out her windows when she drives.
Sunday I took Kurtie to FunFunFun. We had a great time. I think I had as much fun as he did. We used over 200 tokens and 2 hours later were ready to go. It was nice doing things like that again. Its also nice to see kids having a good time. I love it when children are happy and you were the source of that happiness. Its pretty cool. Audra and the kids left that afternoon and it was just mom and I. I decided to start doing the renovations on the bathroom that night just to get started. I will have to give you the details in another post though.

The Saga Continues... Will it ever end?

It's now Thursday. The UHAUL is sitting in front of the house still loaded, thanks Mike. I'm in no hurry to offload it, since I have the truck for 5 days. So I decide to go out and look for cars. I go to Toyota and find a Highlander that I really like. I go to see how much it would cost and all of that, and they do a credit check. Now, I am known for my frugality and cheapness. Which means that I have great credit, which I am very proud of. I almost think that this defines the type of person that I am. I may not have crap right now, but I have good credit! So what a surprise when they check my score and its a 610!!! What the hell is going on! Well, the VA had put 2 deliquencies on my report. Well I am freaking out and leave immediately. I call the VA to find out what is going on. Long story short, when you are a reservist and you are not drilling, you do not rate the reserve GI bill. So, the year that I had dropped to the IRR disqualified me fore benefits that year. Which means that I get to pay back $8500!! That's right, it is EIGHT THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!! I'm freaking out at this point, but was proud of myself, I only cried for a minute, mainly out of frustration and my damn luck. So now I have to talk to them about removing this off my credit report. They make me fax in my lease to prove that I had moved, since they kept mailing the letters to my old address in Greenville. So, I go to mom's work to fax it off. All is good. I get back in the truck, it's daddy's truck (I hate this stupid truck) and go home. I'm at the light to turn left. I look up, it's green. I am the third car in line thank God, because the first car goes when the light turns green, and this white car nails him. I mean it was bad, I was like oh crap. Well I was gonna call 911 but there was no need. All of a sudden I hear sirens. There are 5 count them 5 undercover police cars that swarm the vehicle that was hit. Before I know what's going on everyhone in that car is in handcuffs! It was crazy. And the crazier part is that only 1 cop went over to see if the other vehicle was okay, which you could tell the guy was hurt. I'm telling you, that's all I needed that day, was to get nailed. It would have topped my day off, but luckily God didn't want to give me more than I could handle. He did however have another surprise for me though. So I'm on the way home and there is no gas in the car, and I mean no gas. Not a surprise though, as when I got in the GiGi the day before there wasn't any gas in that one either! So I go to Hess because Mama gave me a $50 gas card for Christmas, and I am broke, so I figure I will use this. I fill the truck up, it takes 16 gallons because its so empty. Then, all of a sudden I hear what sounds like pouring water, only it doesn't smell like water. That's because it wasn't water. Nope, it was gas pouring out from un der the truck. GREAT! This is all I need right now. So, I go inside and feeling like an idiot tell the cashier that there is gas all over the ground, and that I will call a tow truck to move my truck. I call mom, and she's like "did you over fill it?" What in the world woman? I have been driving for 10 years, so I think that I know how to put gas in a vehicle. No I didn't overfill it I tell her. So she gives me the number to the tow trucking company, second time in 2 days may I add, and tells me to call Greg, our mechanic. Luckily his work was only a 1 minute walk away. I go over there and tell him and he comes over. God Bless this man. He is the best mechanic in the world. He's laughing, starts up the truck and moves it. Then he asks me if daddy ever filled up the truck, or only put $15 of gas in at a time. I dunno I say. So he says its okay to drive it, and that there is probably a hole in the tank, and that he will fix it. But could I first just drive it and use some of the gas up, because changing a full gas tank wouldn't be fun. No problem. I take it home. Mom calls and says lets go to dinner. I know you need a break. Yeah I need a break alright. I should have ran away to a deserted island. All I wanted to do was just leave and leave all my problems behind. So we go to dinner and I explain the VA situation to mom. She's like, don't worry, you are going to come out of this with them owing you money. Always the optimist my mom. Sorry mom, but that isn't how my life works. I get to pay back ALL the money, oh joy. So then she offers to pay my deby, saying that she and dad haven't really paid for my college, and this is the least they could do. No way. I have the money, and dad is in Iraq to save money for him and mom, not to pay my debts. I was grateful for the offer, but could never accecpt it. I chose to pay for my college, I chose the hard road, and I am grateful for it. It made me who I am today. And it allows me to say I did on my own. I am proud of this. I know my parents feel a little guilty that they paid for my sister's tuition and couldn't for mine, but I don't feel bad about it at all. As I said, things have worked out for me. If I didn't have to apy for college then the events that took place in my life might not have happened. Things happen for a reason mom. "I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost - Road Less Traveled My FAVORITE poem.
We get home and all I want to do is to get away from everything, so I do what I do best in these situations, sleep my problems away. I was so upset I didn't even want to talk to my dad when he called. So mom had to explain the VA situation to him. I just didn't want to talk about my problems anymore, I had had enough. I was just tired of explaining things, as I had been doing this for 3 days now, ever since I moved back to NC.
Well, that day finally ended, maybe tomorrow would be better. I doubt it though.

Moving Day 2, the Saga continues

Tuesday: The final packing and first day and driving
I get up at 7am and take a shower. I go to wake up Mike and he's not ready to get up, but I make him anyways. We pack the remaining items in the house and make a few trips to the dumpster. Luckily, the apartment complex has several grocery carts that people use to bring items to their apartments, so I used one to take out the trash. I start putting things in my truck, the S-10, since the UHAUL is about full. I will call my truck Betty, as this is her name, to prevent any confusion between the UHAUL and the S-10. I named her years ago, and she is affectionately called Betty. Anyways, we are now down to the last few items. The bistro set and the grill. The bistro table never made it to the truck, as there wasn't room, and it was already had a huge chunck of it broken off from the move down to New Orleans. We go to put the grill on Betty, and Mike wants to stand it up and tie it down that way. I am arguing with him telling him that its not a good idea, since we have to drive 17 hours, and I don't think it will make it. I finally agree with Mike to do it his way. You should have seen us trying to life this thing up in the bed of Betty. I almost dropped it a few times, and I think I came close to throwing Mike's back out. But we finally got it up there. We do a final check of the apartment, and I vacuum and get rid of all the trash. Its now 10:30.

We are getting ready to load Betty on the Tow dolly, but Mike doesn't know what he's doing, so I say lets go to UHAUL and have them do it since they are professionals. He thinks I'm an idiot, but I don't care, I don't want anything to happen to my truck. This is Bety we are talking about, and she has been good to me and I love her. So we get to UHAUL and I ask them to help me load this thing, since I have no clue as to what I am doing. I ask if there is anything I need to do to the truck, like disconnect the drive-shaft. Oh no the kid says, its good to go. So they hook it up to the trailer, and we a all set.

We go to my old job so I can say goodbye to all my friends. I will miss them dearly as they are great people and they are the reason why I decided to stay in New Orleans for so long. James wanted to take us out to lunch, and since it was already late, I said why not. Well, Mike wasn't too happy, but I didn't care. This was going to be the last time I saw them for a long time.

We went to get Po-Boys. Yet another great New Orleans' food staple. We had Roast Beef Po-Boys, James' favorite. When we finally got back and got on the road it was 1230.

We decided to take the Causeway instead of going through the city. The Causeway is the longest bridge in America that doesn't have any land for 23 miles. James is very proud of this, and tells us to go this way. So, I take the first shift of driving, and we are off. I was a little nervous at first, especially with towing Betty, as it makes it harder to turn and stuff. Everything is going well and we are doing good. We stop after 2 hours just to walk around, as Mike wants to stop a lot to break up the monotony of the trip. I usually don't do this, but whatever. So I go to check on Betty, and notice that the straps holding the tires to the tow dolly are completley undone. The only thing that was keeping her on the tow dolly were the chains that are there just in case this happens. This made me a little nervous, but we fixed it and off we went.

The trip was uneventful after this. Just a lot of driving. We were making great time, and I thought we could get past Atlanta by 10pm and drive straight through. The only problem. Well, there were 2 problems. 1) Snow. Fayetteville got 6 inches of snow. Go figure right. It never snows, but when I want to move home, we get 6 inches. So the roads are icy and this might be a problem when we get close. 2) Mike. We get right outside of Atlanta and he wants to stop for the night. He's tired and says that if we drive through the night it will mess up his sleep pattern, and he wants to work on Thursday and doesn't want to be all messed up. I'm pissed, but whatever. Fine I say. So I get past Atalnta and we stop. Its 1130 eastern time. The room cost me $80 after taxes. Mike wanted to get up at 5am and leave my 5:30am. So that means I paid $80 for only 6 hours!!! Well, we get on the road and Mike drives. Then we stop after a few hours and I drive. Then we stop again and he takes over. Its 10:30am All of a sudden I hear Mike say "oh shit!" and then he pulls over on the side of I-95. We are 85 miles from Fayetteville in Florence SC. I'm asking him what is going on. Betty is smoking he says. So we both jump out of the UHAUL and run to see what is going on. Sure enough, there is smoke and oil pouring from Betty. I pop the hood, and since Mike is a wimp, open it up to see what is going on. There is oil everywhere on the left side of the engine, and its pouring from under the truck. I'm freaking out! So I call mom to get the # for the tow truck. Since there is no way we can tow it anymore, since we have no clue what is wrong. Its going to be an hour wait the lady says. No problem. Well, Mike didn't want to wait, and he wants to leave the truck attached to the tow dolly on the side of the road. Hell no! I say. I tell him I am not leaving my Betty here on the highway, especially since we don't even know what's wrong with her. I also tell him that its not like we have anywhere we need to go. But Mike was in a hurry because he wanted to be home at a decent hour so he could relax before going to work the next day. What a jerk! I was so mad at him. Here I am paying for everything for him since he was supposed to be here to help me out. The whole purpose of him going to New Olreans was to help me move back to NC. He knew it would take some time to do all of this, but now he's in a big hurry to get back to Raleigh. He wasn't even scheduled to work on Thursday, but just wanted to go in and make some extra money.

Anyways, the tow truck driver gets there and looks at Betty and says "you blew the transmission. That is transmission fliud all over the place. You should have towed it from the rear, since its rear wheel drive. Since you towed it from the front, the back tires were turning, and that meant that your transmission was still running. That was going to happen eventually, I'm surprised it lasted this long." So, he tells me I will need a new transmission, about $2,000. He asks what do I want to do with it. Its gonna cost $60 a day to keep it in the yard at the tow truck company. Or he could tow it back to Fayetteville at $3 a mile. Or, he would buy it from me since it was already gone. $800 he would give me. I told him to keep it for now, I will sell it to him, but let me take care of the insurance first and talk to UHAUL. He was really nice, and said he would keep it at his house and it would be safe and free. Remember, my grill is still attached to the back of this thing. There's no room for it in the UHAUL, so it stays with Betty for now.

So, now we have to drop off the tow dolly since we can only drive 45mph with it empty. Mike tells me to find a UHAUL so we can drop it off. I call them and they tell me that its gonna be extra since its not the dropoff location specified on the contract. I'm so mad at this point I tell her whatever, and we go to drop it off. The manager was awesom e and took the dolly for free, he was glad to have it, he needed some he said. He gave me great advice on how to deal with UHAUL since they killed Betty. Once we dropped off the trailor, we were on our way back to Fayetteville. In the meantime I am on the phonw with UHAUL telling them the situation. The manager in LA told me that he was really sorry and that he would do everything he could to fix this problem. Then I call the insurance company and put in a claim. Oh how I love dealing with those idiots.
So we are still on our way back to Fayetteville and I am ready to just offload the UHAUL and chill for a bit. However, Mike didn't want to help me offload the truck, he said it would take hours and he just wanted to go home to Raleigh. So, I had to switch vehicles and drive 2 hours to Raleigh to drop him off, and then 2 hours back. By the time I got home it was 6:30pm! I was exhausted. What a horrible day. I think that my friendship with Mike is over. I mean with friends like this, who in the hell needs enemies. Sometimes I wonder.

Thank God we made it home safe and nothing really bad happened. At least Betty is replacable, I am not!

It was great to see mom again and to be home in NC again. Even though my day was horrible, it was nice to relax with mom and just chill.

More on what happened with UHAUL and the VA to come.......

Moving Day 1 The fun begins

So, this is to tell you how the move went. And from this move I now have my "classic story" as my sister says. I tell ya, only me and my luck. I wonder sometimes if God just looks at my life and wants a laugh, so he allows stuff like this to happen. However, I know He has a plan, and that something good will come of this, I'd love to know what, if you have any ideas let me know.

Here goes:

Day 1 moving. Jan 19th Big Mike arrives - 2 hours late let me metion

So, Mike was supposed to help me move, and I bought his plane ticket to fly down and help me. I figured that it was cheap, so why not. He was supposed to arrive at 1230, but since he knows everything, he decided that arriving to the airport 2 hours early was stupid, "you don't need to get there that early in Raleigh" he says. Well, he's an idiot, and missed his flight. Thus he didn't get in till 1430.

The plan was for him to get there at 1230 and then go to Lowe's to hire some Mexicans to help us load the truck. You see, ever since Katrina there have been Mexicans waiting outside of Lowe's looking for work. YOu just go to the parking lot and hire them to do whatever you need. They can lay tile, hang drywall, you name it. Also, they are probably the hardest working people that I have ever met. They will do anything and not complain. They also work for next to nothing. My neighbor hired them to move him in after I mentioned this to him, and they only charged him $12 an hour and were done within an hour. So I thought this would be a great asset in my move.
I was supposed to pick up the UHAUL at 1030 that morning, but since I had to get a trailor to pull the truck, my S-10, I told them I would wait till Mike got there to help me take it back to the apartment. So, we get there, and this thing is TINY. I mean, small. It was only a 10 footer, since Mike said, "that's plenty" Well, HE WAS WRONG!!!!

By the time we got the truck and got back to the apartment, it was already 3:30pm. We went to Lowe's immediately to hire some Mexicans, but they had all left for the day. So you know what that meant, yup, we had to do it ourselves. I was not a happy camper, and I let Mike know this, as it was his fault for missing his flight!
We got the truck to the house and Mike saw the boxes and stuff. Well, he realized that it was going to be a tight fit. I went to go watch tv for a little bit to relax. All of a sudden, I see Mike taking clothes that I had already packed and stuffing them into my dresser drawers! I said "Mike, what are you doing?" He says, I need to make room and get rid of some of the big boxes you have. Don't worry, it'll be okay." I asked again for the fifth time by this point "do I need to go and get a bigger truck?" "Oh no" he says "it'll be plenty." So, I am angry at this point because I know its going to be a pain in the butt to pack this truck. This was about 5pm.

At 5:30pm my great friends Karla and Severin, friends from my old job who are great people, came over to help me pack the truck. I was already freaking out, because of the truck size. Severin was great, and was trying to calm me down. He and Karla know how I get, so they are really good with me in these types of situations. So we start loading the truck. My mattress goes first. Its it wrapped in a blanket or selofane? NO! DO they try not to drag it on the floor of the truck to prevent it from getting dirty? NO! So, this just makes me even happier, and I am yelling at this point that Mike is an idiot and the truck is too small. Karla is yelling at me to calm down and relax, but I am just not having it. So we start to load the other items in the truck. It goes pretty well and was uneventful, except when I was yelling at them not to break my teacups or new tv or new radio, or anything for that matter. I love my teacups! We finally get the truck loaded, and luckily just about everything fits. The only things that weren't packed that night was the grill and the bistro patio set, along with some final boxes. Karla and Severin went home at about 7 pm, so it only took us about and hour and a half to load the truck. Not too bad.
I was done for the night. I didn't want to do anything else, as I was completely stressed out. So, Mike and I went out for dinner. Acme Oysters was my last good dinner meal in New Orleans. It was only a block from the house, but surprisingly I had only been there 2ce before. I thought we would get some good New Olreans food before I moved away.
I had jumbalaya and charbroiled oysters. It was great. New Orelans is known for their oysters. Charbroiled Oysters are great. Theyt are cooked in their shell on the grill in a butter sauce. If you never had them you need to try them if you ever visit New Orleans. They are great.
Anyways, after dinner we had to go to KMART to buy some straps for my S-10 that we were going to be pulling. Since the truck was so small, we were going to put the grill in the back of the truck and strap it down. We wanted to get everything we needed that night for the next day, so we could get an early start back home to NC.
By the time we got home it was 8:30. So we just sat there and talked for a little bit, since my tvs were packed up. I was sad about no tv. Then we went to sleep. Luckily Mike had pulled my comforter from a box when he was trying to make room, so I had a blanket to sleep with. I didn't think about keeping things out for the night, so there were literally nothing to sleep with. I had to go to KMART and buy Mike a blanket, since all the others were packed. I went to bed around 9:30 and had to sleep on the floor of my bedroom. Mike slept in the living room on the Lazy Boy chair that I still had. I decided not to take my couch, Lazy Boy or entertainment center, and Karla said she would take care of them for me. So Mike had something to sleep on that night. About 11pm I woke up to the loudest snoring of my life! The door was closed to my room, and I could still hear him snoring! So, I did get some sleep, but I was woken several times due to his snoring.
Well, that was day 1. I will break this story up into days, as it is a long story and was VERY eventful.

MOVING DAY

Today is moving day. Well, kinda at least. I get the UHAUL today and will have it packed today. Mike flies in at 1430. It was supposed to be 1230 but his flight left early and he missed his connection. Its kind of a blessing, because that gives me more time to finish packing. Also, I know that spending 2 whole days with him 15 of which will be in a UHAUL truck, will be very interesting. While I love Mike, he's my best friend, we can only be together for so long before we argue. We both have very strong personalities, and at times we can clash. But, I am very grateful that he is coming to help me drive, since it will be a long trip and we will be towing the truck.
First disaster. I was looking at my school schedule and noticed that I needed to read my book. Guess where the book is? You guessed it, I packed the damn thing!! I can't believe it. Now I have to go and find what box it is in and retrieve it. Oh what fun. Plus, I haven't yet gotten rid of my Lazy Boy, the Loveseat, or the entertainment system. That will be interesting as well.
Packing the truck. Since I live in New Orleans this shouldn't be a problem. See, all you have to do is go to Lowe's and hire some Mexicans. They have been there ever since Katrina. They stand outside waiting for people to hire them for the day. They are really hard workers, and its pretty cheap labor, only $12 an hour. Can't beat that! You know that I am really cheap, or as my mom says frugal, either way, I like my money. So I think that this is a good deal.
I am really excited to leave. I wish that I could leave today, but Mike wants to wait till tomorrow afternoon. I don't think this is a good idea. I would like to leave tonight and get there tomorrow afternoon. Its going to be about a 15 hour drive, so I would like to leave at night and get most of the driving done. You know when a decision is made you just want to put it in action? Well, that's how I feel. I just wanna get home and get back into a routine.
I will write more in a day or so and let you know how the move went. Wish us luck!

Once a Marine ALWAYS a Marine

So the title, Once a Marine Always a Marine. Its something that I will have to live by. Today was my last day working and probably the last day that I will ever wear the Marine uniform. While I have been looking forward to getting out and moving back home to NC, it is a little sad. The last six months have been hard, but I have learned a lot. The Marines that I have worked with, while I might not have always liked them all, have been there for me when I needed them. Its like a family. Even though you don't always get along, everyone has each other's back. I will miss being called a Sergeant. I will miss the shop talk and the craziness that goes along with the Marines. I will also miss the wonderful pay, holidays, and 96s that we got every time there was a holiday. But its time to move on. Its time to start my life and step back out into the real world, where there isn't always that job security, or those instant friends that you make because they are in the same situation as you. Its time to face reality and stare fear in the face. I have a lot going for me. I have an education, savings, friends, family, and a really good head on my shoulders (most of the time). Its great having so many options, but it seems as though having so many options means that I have a really hard time making up my mind. To clear my mind a little I thought that I would write some of these options out. Put them on paper my mom and dad and even sister always says.
Option #1
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job in Raleigh, buy a house, a car, and hopefully meet someone and get married and have a family
Option #2
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job w the VA in Fayetteville for 2 years, buy a car, then move somewhere else and settle down. Where I do not know.
Option #3
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, take Chemistry and Genetics, apply to PA school, get accepted, go to PA school, and figure out life from there
Option #4
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job at the VA in DC, buy a car, and maybe a house (This is a very scray option)
Option #5
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, apply for a job anywhere in the country, move there and buy a house

So do you see my delimma? I have TOO MANY OPTIONS!! I want to try them all. I think the reason why I hop around from thing to thing is one fear, but two because I never want to say "what if" What if I would have went to PA school. What is I moved to Raleigh. What if I could have gotten a great job in Europe. I want a good career, but I also don't want to miss out on finding that partner in life, that guy that makes me happy, and I don't want to miss out on having a family. I worry that I will never have those things, and I think that is why I am putting everything I have into making my career the best it can be, because it may be all I have.
I joke with my sister saying that I will be the rich aunt, but you know I think I will be the rich, single, childless aunt, and that scares me. I am not feeling sorry for myself, because I have a lot to offer someone, and I think that I may just find that someone. I am just putting my fears and concerns on paper. Most people don't understand me, and they don't understand the reasons why I do the things I do. And you know what? they don't have to. I have finally figured it out. I am okay with me for the first time ever. I am happy with me. I just hope that I will have everything I want. But if I don't get it, then it will be okay. I will just be the best me.
Semper Fidelis
OORAAHH!

My Classic Story

Okay. So my sister has a blog too and she said that I should write my classic story as she did. So here it is, and of couse its associated with cooking.
My grandparents came to visit me when I was living in NC. Whenever they come I have to make sure that I have all the proper food and stuff. They like orange juice, Cracker Barrel cheese, crackers, coffee (I always have this), half n half, etc. So I make sure that I put on a little production to impress them whenever they come. This time i decided that I would make a roasted chicken. I have done this before, and knew it would be easy and good.
So I prepare the chicken, add all the spices to it, and stick it in the over. About an hour or so later we take it out. I go to cut it and immediately I hit bone. Now remember, this is a 6 pound chicken, so when I cut into it I'm thinking "where the hell is all the meat?" So I continue to cut into this damn thing and still keep hitting bone! By this time my grandfather, Papa to the grandkids, decides that he is going to take over. I let him and he starts hitting bone immediately. So here we are, my grandfather, grandmother, and I are all standing around this damn thing wondering what the hell is going on. Then my grandfather say, you dope, you cooked it upside down! Sure enough he flipped it over and there was all the meat. I felt like a complete idiot, and of course my sister thought it was hysterical when I called to tell her what happened. There is a postive thing that came out of this though, which is when you cook the bird upside down, it becomes more tender because you are cooking it in all the juices, so it doesn't get dry. Lesson learned. Now I always check when I cook any type of bird.

Here is a story that I think is completely hysterical:
It was around 6pm and we were having our normal dinner, pasta and ragu. My dad was famous for saying, lets have pasta tonight, like we didn't already have it the previous 3 nights. I swear, we must have eaten pasta 4 times a week, its amazing we weren't fat little kids. So anyways, the cheese ravioli was done and my sister and I were getting our plates. I made mine and went to go sit at the table. I guess I dropped a ravioli on the floor on the way to the table. My sister starts to walk to the table with her plate, slips on the ravioli and she goes flying along with her plate of ravioli and sauce. It lands all over her brand new Biology book, which she screamed cost her $130!! She was a sophmore in high school at the time. The book was brand new, and now its covered with spaghetti sauce. All I could do was laugh. It was hysterical. Just writing this story I am doubled over with laughter. So funny.

Another great story I won't soon forget. It had to be over 10 years ago. My mom was vacuuming the kitchen floor and I was in the kitchen with her. Well, she had left a cabinet door open. At the exact time that I went to close it to prevent her from hitting her head, she wacks her head right against it. It was hysterical!! You could see her whole body move to one side like she was knocked out!!! She didn't get knocked out but it looked like it. I laughed so hard, and this only pissed her off more. I tried to appologize, but couldn't stop laughing. She got mad and told me to leave. I laughed the entire time it took me to walk upstairs. This was HYSTERICAL!!! I still can't tell the story without laughing my ass off. Sorry mom, but that was a classic.
As you can tell, whenever people get hurt I have to laugh. It pisses them off, but I can't help it. Its so funny to me.
Well, these are my stories.