Patrick and I laughed about Caden’s portrait for a solid 10 minutes, confirming that our 2 day long exposure to primer and paint fumes did in fact leave us with a pretty strong contact high.
Mattresses, Stacked.
My mom always told me that the fairy tale princess I was most like was the one in the Princess and the Pea because I was very particular about my bed growing up. Had I tried to sleep on this get up, I surely would have woke up just as bruised as the princess in the story, although the box spring on top would have done considerably more damage than any measly little pea.
Well, it was another jam packed weekend. And our last in Raleigh, can you believe it? Except, um. We actually weren’t in Raleigh, we were in Hertford. Hmm….
Well, anyways. The weekend started right on Thursday night with dinner at Chris’s house. He said he made us a hobo dinner but I thought we ate like kings. Some kind of chicken and vegtable thing over the grill with sweet potato fries. Yum. I am going to miss this kid mucho.
Friday night we headed to my parent’s house and promptly slept for 10 hours. Moving prep is hard work! The next day we got ready for best friend since pre-school James’s wedding to Abby. It was beautiful!
Here’s me and Dan (best friend since birth…literally) cheesing for the camera.
And of course we had to get our “Friends” shot. Left to right: Kyle, Me, James, Danielle, Josh, Gena. This was almost 7 years to the day that we graduated high school and took a picture just like this one. My how our lives have changed since then!
Sunday we got up for early church, then went out to play in the new toy!
A new fishing boat! Of course, we didn’t actually do any fishing, just rode up and down the river. It was the perfect day to be on the water.
I’M ON A BOAT!
Deep Creek, headed out to the Little River. We could get used to this!
Mom and Dad, trying to figure out how it works.
Back home, we made steak, grilled zuchinni, steamed green beans and cucumbers soaked in vinegar and sugar for lunch. Patrick caught me sneaking a bite. So worth it.
..because my mind can’t concentrate on anything this week. So much to do!
Which Bits of London Get Photographed The Most? – Londonist
A friend of mine goes to Brown… – Damn, Gina
A Terrific Gay Wedding Announcement – Friendly Atheist
Seinfield: It’s Been 20 Years AlreadY? – Film School Rejects
Blurry picture alert!
Our house was fairly full of pretty colors, but now everything is coated in a nice, safe beige. Yawn. But, color is personal, and we want to keep the place nice and neutral to appeal to potential renters. Hey guys, fresh paint!
All this moving is hard work! Luckily we’ve been drowning our sorrows in a few strong ones.
I kid, I kid! The ABC store is perfect for moving boxes. They are free, and almost impossible to overload due to their size. Perfect!
We’re keeping them corralled by the fire place for now, but I know it’s only a matter of time before they have taken over our living room.
4 sweet blogs added to my Google Reader this week:
Knock-Off Wood. Patrick, all I can say is, get your electric screwdriver ready. 
Make It and Love It. I will and I will.
It’s Great to Be Home. Love thier home renovations!
How about orange… Super sweet design.
What’s good in your neighborhood?
Once again, I find heading into the office a bit of a relief from a jam packed weekend.
Friday night, Patrick and I finally celebrated his birthday with our new tradition of a movie and Five Guys burgers. We watched Get Him to The Greek, which was one of the funniest movies I have seen in a looong time.
Saturday morning we were up early to begin painting the upstairs. While Patrick taped off rooms, I began rolling in the guest bedroom. We took a quick late afternoon break for more paint and groceries and got right back to it. By the time the day was over (around 11pm), we had 2 coats on the guest bedroom and office, primer and 1 coat on the guest bath and half our bedroom covered in primer. The fumes were pretty strong and all our stuff was in the middle of the floor so we opted to sleep on the couch, to tired to care. I slept great except for the fact that Caden kept trying to sleep on my legs. That part wasn’t so fun.
Sunday we got up around 8, exhausted and sore, and headed to church. As soon as we got home the painting clothes were back on. We finished the primer in the bedroom, put the second coat on the guest bath and a first coat on the hallway. Progress! We took a break to meet good friends Paul and Allison and thier super cute kid Ivy for dinner, and finally finished up around 10:30 with the first coat of paint in the bedroom. Back to the couches for bed, completely spent from the weekend.
Pictures!
I hate that this is so blurry, but Ivy loved Patrick and probably would have sat like that all night.
Ducks!
So glad we got this pic with the Shelors, I just wish we were a little more cropped in and centered. That’s what you get when you have a stranger to it. Thanks lady!
Because we’re moving to Tiger Country!
Now I know some of you are going “DUH!” and some are going “HUH?” because while a few people were in the loop, this will be news to a lot more people.
Sorry, work stuff. Couldn’t let the whole world know too early.
Anyways, now it’s all out in the open since we are at T-2 weeks. Before we turn around twice, we will have our bags packed and be on the road to Baton Rouge. And we can’t wait!
Patrick found out earlier this year that he got an equine internship at Louisiana State University, his top choice. We’re excited about crawfish boils, my darling friend Paige, and Tiger Football. Not looking foward to the muggy heat though.
We have a cute little rancher rental that Paige promises is in a good area, Patrick has his internship, Amos is shedding just thinking about the heat and I am looking for a job in earnest.
If you need us for the next two weeks, we’ll be at home, frantically packing and cleaning and painting getting our townhouse ready for two lucky renters (well, we think they will be lucky anyway).
While we are looking forward to what awaits us in Baton Rouge, we know how much we will miss our friends here in Raleigh, my stable job and our sweet little first home together, not to mention having both sets of parents an easy drive away. But hey, life is an adventure right? Bring us that horizon.
Wow. I guess I am just so relaxed from my vacation last week that I am still recovering from it, since here are at Thursday and I’m just now posting about it. JUST KIDDING! More like, since we got back I have been so busy that I have barely sat down. More about that later though 
My wonderful 10 day vacation started with a party in honor of Patrick graduating Vet School out in Belmont. Mom and dad made the drive and we were all treated to a massive appetizer spread followed by fried tilapia, shrimp, hushpuppies, onion rings and okra. Oh and cake. Not that there was room for cake. Because I am the worse blogger in the world, I only took one picture all night with my former roommate, bridesmaid, super great friend Jackie. Oh and it’s blurry and dark. Figures.
After church Sunday morning, Patrick and I got on the road to Surfside Beach. It took about 4 hours, and we arrived in time to make a quick grocery store run and get on the beach with our dogs to walk in the surf while the sun set.
Monday morning we got up, drank our coffee and moseyed on down to the beach. After getting settled on our beach chairs, the bottom dropped out. We packed everything up and ran under a gazebo just on the other side of the sand dune. As summer storms tend to do, the rain passed quickly and we got back on the beach. I swear, not 5 minutes later, it rained again. We packed up again and waited it out. The THIRD time this happened, we decided that maybe it just wasn’t meant to be and headed back up to the villa. I got a 2 hour nap (it was wonderful) before Patrick woke me up wanting to go to the Outlet Mall up in North Myrtle Beach. After a quick shower we were off. I only bought a new beach bag and a pair of compression shorts while Patrick got a button down and polo shirt. Afterward we headed to Barefoot Landing and walked off our oversized dinner (Outback gift card…yum!). That’s where we saw these big boys:
There were about a million signs ensuring us that the tigers didn’t actually live there, they only visited for a few hours a day. For something like $60 bucks you could get your picture taken up close and personal with one (no thanks!) to raise money to save tiger habitat.
Tuesday we tried the beach again but it was just too windy. We decided to head to a pool off the beach where the wind was cut considerably. I was happy enough there. Nice and warm, oh and did I mention the group of European guys in their European bathing suits training to be lifeguards? Yeah, I was just fine sitting there. Patrick, however was itching to get back to the beach. When we trekked back down, we were rewarded with this: finally, sun!
Oh yeah, and this guy:
Yep, I was there too, with a turkey sandwich.
So Tuesday ended up being a good beach day afterall.
Wednesday, however was a different story. We tried, but it was just too windy and cold. No worries though, I got another glorious 2 hour nap before we headed to Wal-Mart and bought a puzzle that we worked on (on and off) for the rest of the weekend.
Thursday was by far our best beach day. It was sunny and warm with a perfect light breeze. The ocean was just right for swimming and big puffy clouds hung out on the horizon. It was perfect.
Thursday night we drove down to Murrell’s Inlet to walk around. We took a few pictures of each other before someone volunteered to get us together.
Very nice.
Friday morning it was time to pack up and head home. It took us a while to get to the highway due to the beginning of Bike Week, but after that it was pretty smooth sailing.
Once we were home with the car unpacked, clothes in the washer and the cat satisfied that we were staying, I put my feet up and rested. I had a big day coming! Mom got to the house a little later and we headed to bed.
My alarm went off at 5am the next morning and I hopped up. I’d been awake for a while anyways with a mixture of nerves and excitement. It was time for my first triathlon. I won’t say too much about that here except that when I finally get around to writing about it, you can read a full race report here. Oh, I started another blog about fitness and whatnot, did I tell you?
Here is a picture of me looking ragged, worn out, stinky and very very happy. I can’t believe I’m sharing it.
There’s no rest for the weary though, and after driving an hour and a half back from Vass, NC, Patrick and I had to shower and get ready for a wedding in Greensboro (an hour and a half in a different direction). \
No pictures from the wedding (I was too tired to think straight, and my nose was beginning to peel from the beach anyway), but it was a beautiful wedding with a beautiful bride in a beautiful location. The food was good and the drinks kept coming (although only iced tea for me). You can’t ask for much more.
Sunday Patrick and I were up again for church followed by a trip to Lowe’s to get supplies. We began putting up the blue tape and didn’t stop until 8:45 that night. A little Harry Potter on the couch before passing out in bed.
Monday it was time to prime! We started priming the downstairs of our house in the morning, stopped for a little pool time with friends in late after noon, and put the first coat of paint on the walls Monday night. Let’s just say I wasn’t too sad at the prospect of going to work and sitting still the next day.
Whew. That’s quite a wrap-up. It was an awesome 10 day vacation. I’d do it again in a heartbeat! What are your summer plans?
