So Close!!!

11 hours until the premiere of Eclipse!!! I can barely stand it! With the movie on my mind, I've barely been able to talk about anything else... and since I'm at work that means I haven't been talking that much at all (except to other Twihards, of course). I have seriously been waiting months to see this movie and it shows. Poor Jake, he sees the worst (a relative term) of it.

Awhile back I got an invitation to buy a ticket for a reserved theater. I kid you not, some women from work reserved an entire theater when New Moon came out and took their chances on selling all of the seats. Of course they ended up getting rid of all of them and people were so happy with the arrangements that they asked them to take on the task again for Eclipse. This is not a joke, these ladies are serious... and frankly, so am I. They created a website (check it out) and have been keeping it updated as the time passed before the premiere. I snatched a ticket pretty early on and have been anticipating this evening- the trivia, costumes, and finally movie for quite some time!

I'll be sure to recap everything tomorrow and if they'll let me/if I remember, I'll try and snag some pictures of the festivities! Bring on 88 adult Virginia Beach Twihards- we're finally united!!!

I prove my point

After Tzu & Diana's wedding a group of our college friends got together for dinner before parting ways. At some point a conversation started about being newlyweds and the adjustments to living together, etc. I, of course, shared a little about Jake's gross habits that may or may not be attributed to him being male. Either way, this had Jake spinning in confusion as he started debating over who was more gross. Are you starting to see where this conversation went? I called him dirty, he called me messy and we shared examples to prove our descriptions true with everyone- bless their hearts and ears for listening. I totally agreed that I am a messy person, but leaving a dish in the sink doesn't come close to some of his down right dirty tendencies. Just ask his parents about his laundry basket... gross!

Anyway, the group was laughing and the debate sort of ended with no clear victor... until now!

When we got home I opened the door and was immediately hit with an odor I could barely stand, let alone properly describe (don't forget, I was in New Orleans the entire week). I asked Jake what on earth happened and his response was priceless, "I don't know what the scent is but it was definitely here before I left. I looked everywhere for it." It took me no more than a few seconds to reach the top of the stairs where bags of trash sat in a large shopping bag. How did I know for sure the contents? Well, probably because I collected trash Monday night before leaving and set it right there for Jake to take out. I actually bugged him more than once that night about running it to the dumpster because the kitchen bag had banana peels and chicken trimmings in it. He of course assured me that he wouldn't forget to take it out and to stop nagging him about it. I would have taken it out myself, but I'm sort of a procrastinator when it comes to packing and I had a lot to get done before my 5am flight out. I should have known better.

Oh, and did I mention that Jake cut off the AC when he left on Friday? Oh yes, true story. So that bag of trash and all of it's pleasant contents soaked up the 100+ degree heat in our tiny little apartment for over a day. Totally gross. I think I prove my point and win the debate.

Elizabeth- please, please, please make sure you relay this story and final "point" to Jeff and Howard. I know they will have no trouble believing it.

not so lucky

This week I was in New Orleans for work and I honestly had a really good time (Sallie- don't worry, Law & Order was not watched at any point). The event itself went off without a hitch and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves- which means I did my job well. The only two problems I came across were personal ones... and I must say they came close to getting the best of me.

The first incident involved my Pandora bracelet. I was rushing to make an 8am meeting with the AVP of Marketing, so of course I couldn't be late, when I grabbed my Pandora bracelet and fought to get it hooked on. For those of you who own a Pandora, you know they can be tricky to get on. So, without having the time to waste I clenched it in my hand and decided to put it on once I got there. As I was walking I saw a charm fly across me and onto the sidewalk- I knew it belonged to me and immediately felt frazzled. I started searching the ground and found not one, but two charms on the ground (nowhere near each other). This of course made me check to see how many had fallen- my assessment led me to realize I had dropped 4 of my charms... out of 5 total! At about $30 a piece this had me upset. I looked quickly around me and had to decide whether to be late and continue my search or move on and hope that they'd still be there afterward. I moved on. When I finally left the meeting, my friends and I took to the streets in search of the remaining two. The sandcastle (my only charm from Jake) was found closer to my hotel and had been completely run over by a car. I held onto it anyway, despite the opening was closed from compact, call me sentimental. The other dolphin charm was never recovered. We came to the conclusion that with its round shape it was most likely stuck in the tread of someone's tire. How depressing.

As if that whole scenario wasn't bad enough, the next one proves my luck could in fact get worse. The following incident took place on Friday at the airport. Let me set the stage...

I had to get my Friday travel approved since our show officially ended on Saturday, but our friends, Tzu & Diana, were getting married so it was important that I catch a flight that gave me time to travel from Raleigh to Wilson. Well low and behold, when I got to the airport my flight was canceled!!! I had no clue until I was in the United line to check my bag. It was u n b e l i e v a b l e. I waited in line for 3 hours- THAT IS NOT AN EXAGGERATION- before I finally spoke to an agent. They of course had NO flights going out that evening because it was a small enough airport that flights weren't scheduled after 7ish... and wouldn't you know I didn't make it to the counter until 7pm!!! They put me on the first flight out the next morning and stuffed me at a nearby hotel with a $15 meal voucher. The story gets better, but I honestly don't want to think more about it- it was that awesome of an experience.

To end on a positive note, I met Nancy from Sacramento and we had dinner together and shared a cab at 4am the next morning. She was this cute older woman and we exchanged contact information. Who knows, if I'm ever in Sacramento I might give her a call.

No goodbyes, just an I'll see you later

Today after work I met my good friend Meredith for a farewell dinner and stuck around for dessert with some of her other girlfriends. Meredith and Marty have been preparing over the past few months for a move to St. Louis and tonight marked Meredith's last night in Norfolk. I don't want to come across as sappy, but I'm sad that one of my closest friends is moving so far away. At the same time, they are moving so Marty can attend Seminary, and I know that this is the right move for them.

After giving my "see you later" hug I headed home (with tear-filled eyes, of course) and was thinking of my favorite memories with Mere. I met her at Virginia Tech and lived with her in the Hasselhouse for two years. We graduated the same year and both moved to Tidewater immediately afterwards. Over the past three years I've watched Meredith start her career as a kindergarten teacher, get married and celebrate three anniversaries, move twice (St. Louis makes three), shop for houses, buy a new car, grow attached to Norfolk, embrace birthdays, and so much more. Likewise, Mere has seen me get engaged and then married, start my job, get involved with a church, make close friends at work, train and actually run in races (unlike the Shamrock 5K that we just walked to pick our shirt up for), apartment shop, gain and lose weight, plan for Tank and so on. I am so excited for this new chapter in her life and am happy to continue watching her hit these milestones! I hope this post doesn't come across as dark or depressing, because it really isn't meant to be! Besides, I didn't get her a going away gift, so this is sort of my little tribute that can count as that!

Here are just a few pictures taken over the years!

Let me introduce Meredith Cates

... and myself

First off, can I just ask how these two personalities got to be so close? You wouldn't think we would be, but I promise we are in fact friends... good ones too!

bonding at a birthday celebration

more bonding

Mere's return to the Hasselhouse after she got engaged

hanging out at the beach house the day I got engaged

Mere's bridal shower

... and mine

celebrating with her girls before the big day

... and me getting ready to do the same

Mere and Marty's wedding

... and mine and Jake's

In time I hope to add to these photos things like pictures of our first homes, baby showers, and hopefully more memories made back on the east coast! Until then, I'll settle for phone calls, g chats, and hopefully a visit here and there!

Tank Update

I assume you all are as eager to meet Tank as we are, but we've still got a few more weeks! The July 4th pick up date has been confirmed and we both have that Monday off already for the holiday, which works out perfectly. I mean honestly, how could I go to the work the next day anyway???

We're coordinating borrowing a crate and soft carrier for the trip and I've started acquiring a few things here and there to help him settle right in and feel at home! I also wanted to mention that one of Jake's patients is the proud owner of two boston terriers and Jake is already making sure to get training tips at each visit... thus the final decision to crate train. I'm sure there will be other life-saving insider tips and tricks we will be sure to incorporate as well, but time will tell!

I just can't wait! I'm hoping my business trip and the two weddings we have coming up will make the time fly by! For now, here are some current pictures! Oh, and I did I already mention we're almost 100% decided on Tank for his name? Well, we are.

all stepped out

Do you remember the post about my company's walking competition? Well the contest isn't over, but I definitely think our team is over it. We gave it a good run, but it seems like we're a million steps behind the team in first place. Currently, we are still holding strong to our 5th place standing out of 63 teams (we actually moved up to 4th and then back) but it seems impossible to catch up now. Not to mention, one team member has started experiencing shin splints and our pedometers are starting to break. The competition ends this Friday and I'll be sure to keep you posted on the outcome- our hope at this point is to just cling to 5th.

On a positive note, I actually started to notice a slight physical change after 2 weeks of consistent power walking during lunch and the two-a-day garage walks (we move at a sweat producing pace). I actually might try to keep the routine up but certainly won't be heartbroken to retire my "pedo". Not to be vain, but my clothes already fit snuggly and this little pink box that rattles when I walk isn't exactly doing anything for my outfits or my figure- you should see it sticking out on my hip... it looks ridiculous!

my worst (work) nightmare

After a nice weekend, I woke up this morning thinking about all I had to do and just knew the week would fly by... man, was I wrong!!!

I got to work 5 minutes early with good hair and a sweet tea (the day was already moving in my favor). A few minutes into being settled and checking emails, I got one of those annoying update pop-ups; the kind that ask to "restart now" or "restart later" every 5 minutes until finally you choose "now". After escaping it twice, I decided I might as well get it over with and reboot. My computer restarted and my previous windows and task started opening up, only now I couldn't interact with them. You know what I'm talking about, when your mouse moves on the screen but your clicking accomplishes absolutely nothing. Well, this wasn't a first for me, so I did the standard ctrl + alt + del to manually close things in my task manager. Long story short, I couldn't navigate this screen either and my computer was officially frozen. I powered down and attempted to reboot. I attempted again. And again. And again (after giving it some time). And yet again... until I got the hint that the black screen with a blinking cursor was the furthest I was going to get.

My next move (still hopeful my computer was just being sensitive) was to have a co-worker submit a help ticket for me and wait. They called me relatively quickly for more details and immediately suggested it could be my hard drive. Still not trying to panic, I brought my laptop down to the IT floor and left it to be worked on. Within 30 minutes, I got a call confirming my worst nightmare- my hard drive had died. There was no way to recover my files or my emails from the PAST THREE YEARS!!! I couldn't believe it. As a matter of fact, I don't know that it has actually sunk in yet. At one point my eyes watered up but I quickly snapped out of it and started planning how I could get any work done in light of my predicament, after all it was only 10am.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that our company's largest event (which I've worked months to plan) starts in just a week's time- but don't worry, they think they will have a computer for me before I head out of town. Sympathy welcome.

Victorious... again!

Something magical happens when my brother Tim and I get together to play cornhole... now that I think about it, the magic is victory!

We joined forces for the first time since Mother's Day and I have to tell you, it was AWESOME! Tim has an interesting toss style but it works so I won't judge and I on the other hand, offer zero consistency in my toss at all- I just get lucky (more than our competition does). When these two forces come together though, a win is always in order! We are currently undefeated and would like to challenge anyone who we haven't beaten to bring it.

We welcome competition, general viewers, and fans to the next match up... and if you're lucky you'll get to see me perform my newly created "victory punch". This is a move to be solely used in response to points earned when playing as Tim's partner and may have been enhanced and officially adopted after realizing all our competitors hated it!

making a list and checking it twice

There has been a TON going on (or so it seems) with Jake and me the past few weeks! To keep you in the loop, I've listed the things we've checked off so to speak. I know it isn't a lot for you to read, but it was a lot for us to do in the past couple of days. Enjoy and I'll post something more entertaining soon!

1. Jake started work @ Sentara this past Monday.
2. We've started making arrangements to pick up Tank/Samson/Dotson during fourth of July weekend.
3. I went with my mom to take care of just about all the graduation party needs... the beer is Jake's job.
4. I decided to join the YMCA and keep up with my spin obsession.
5. Bunco took place this past Wednesday at Dani's house and I didn't win a thing, not even most losses.
6. Jake started and finished the MS 2 day bike challenge last weekend & I cuddled with Boomer (our favorite Boston Terrier to dogsit) in his absence.
7. I bought a new bathing suit with not exactly perfect matching bottoms- this is a first for me, although I feel like it's becoming a trend.
8. I almost got a speeding ticket.
9. Jake and I tried HK on the Bay and had some awesome seafood (this is blogworthy because we never go out for dinner).
10. Jake finally took his PT boards today!
11. And most importantly, I purchased my ticket for the Eclipse midnight movie premiere!!!

let me know you're following

Ok, so clearly you are reading my blog, but the question is, are you "following" it? Really the only difference is that when you follow, I know you're reading.

Becoming a follower is fairly simple and it's nice for me to know and see. Here is one of the easiest ways to do it:

1. Click on the "Follow" button under the "Followers" widget on the right hand side.

2. Next, you'll then see a popup window asking what type of account you want to sign in as and follow from.

3. Simply select your account type and sign in.

4. Lastly, you'll see the below popup window asking for some basic information as well as whether you'd like to follow publicly or privately.

5. Fill in your name, select public or private, and then hit "Follow this blog". You're done!

Now, if you're interested in receiving updates regarding posts or comments then that is completely separate. Just click on "posts" and or "all comments" and select how you'd like to receive them from the following drop down menu. I know with Google they automatically syndicate to my reader page.

I honestly do love seeing who is reading my blog and staying updated with my crazy life- so thanks for reading...and thanks for following.

after much anticipation

I wanted to wait to share the news until I had all the details worked out, but who knows when that will be and I'm just too excited!

This past weekend, Jake and I sent in a deposit on a puppy! After much debate, we went with a Boston Terrier and he will be 8 weeks on July 4th! Dotson (his temporary name) currently resides in NC so we are still working out the details for picking him up, but rest assured he will be home sweet home at some point in July. The family seems very nice and turns out they live close to my grandpa in the boonies...small world.

Here are some pictures of him, he is just a bitty baby right now, but we'll have updates with photos as he grows!

This is the whole litter, he is at the bottom of the dog pile.

He is the little guy on the right with the dot.

His first solo photo.

Already up and checking things out.

Names we're tossing around include:

• Tank
• Samson
• Boone

Personally, I'm happy with any of the above and think we need to meet him to see what fits!

30 before 30

It is sort of a random time to be joining in the 30 before 30 blog fun inspired by my friend Elizabeth... but I'm sort of random, so really it's perfect! This blog has been sitting in my draft folder since March 30th and since I've already crossed one thing off my list I figured I needed to hurry up and post it! Enjoy.

1. Take a pottery class

2. Spend a weekend in the Big Apple

3. Read the whole Bible

4. Become a dog owner

5. Move with Jake to a new place for both of us

6. Host & cook a holiday meal for family

7. Travel to another country

8. Try my hand at cycling or a spin class, maybe form a hobby I really did do this after I drafted this blog, so I'm letting it count

9. Go on a mission trip

10. Visit a castle

11. Visit a vineyard on the west coast

12. Become very involved with or work for a charity/non-profit

13. Run more than one half marathon in a single year

14. Take a spontaneous trip (less than a week's notice)

15. Keep reading... I'd like to average reading a book a month, which equals roughly 64 new books by my 30th birthday

16. Discover my signature dish and perfect it

17. Confidently wear a bikini... in public, not just at the pool

18. Take a "girls only" trip

19. Buy a piece of art (not necessarily anything fancy, but a piece I love & appreciate)

20. Pay off more than 50% of our school loans

21. Be more proficient on a Mac than a PC

22. Become more versed in Adobe Creative Suite

23. Swim with dolphins

24. Take a professional quality photograph; I want people to assume I bought it

25. See/meet someone famous

26. Revamp an old piece of furniture

27. Throw/Attend a baby shower for either Alison or Dani (I'm ready to be an aunt)

28. Talk about/start trying for kids
29. Learn to ski or snowboard

30. Buy a house