Downtown Charleston, SC

Well, day one on my much needed getaway was pretty uneventful. My flight into Columbia was delayed about an hour. Shannon was there to pick me up. It was so good to see her. It has been at least 7 or 8 years since we last saw each other. The best thing was it felt like no time had past at all. She lives in Goose Creek so it was about an hour and a half drive back to her house. We talked the entire time. Shannon has two cats and I am very allergic so our first stop was Walmart to get some allergy medicine. Since of course I forgot to buy it before I left. We hung out at her house for a little bit waiting for her husband Tim to wake up. He was working graveyards and so he was still sleeping. Once he woke up they took me to their favorite Mexican restaurant. It was delicious. Some of the best chips and salsa I have ever had. I am still craving them.

That first night was pretty rough. My allergies were terrible. I fell asleep on the couch and they stopped bothering me. But then I woke up and my eyes just went crazy. They were puffy, itchy, and bright red. Luckily the rest of the trip I didn't have a problem because I kept medicine in me.

So, day two was Sunday and Shannon took me into Downtown Charleston. I have no words to really describe it. AMAZING!!!! The weather wasn't really great. It was raining but not really hard. We walked around for forever up and down market street, over to the pier and down the battery, and then we walked back to Market Street to eat at Bubba Gumps. I loved the mashed potatoes!! The pictures above are what I took as we walked around.

Monday we went to the beach, Isle of Palms. The weather forecast called for cloudy and thunderstorms in the afternoon. It turned out to be a beautiful day. The sun was out and it was HOT!! We went back downtown later that afternoon and did some more shopping. I LOVE that place. I can't wait to go back.

Tuesday morning we got up and went to a plantation before I had to catch my flight home. We went to Boone Hall Plantation. If anyone has seen the Notebook they will recognize the plantation house. I am really glad we squeezed the visit in. I will post another slide show of those pictures later.

It's A Girl!!!

So Kaylee and Justin are having a baby girl. We thought we were lucky to get a girl with Mandy and Cory and now we get two!!! I am so excited. My poor wallet is going to feel the pain because I am going to buy way too much. I guess I better start saving!! Kaylee is due around Nov 9 and Mandy is due Aug 18. YEAH!!!!!!!!! I will post pictures of my trip to South Carolina sometime this weekend. It was a lot of fun.

PATHETIC!!!!!

So this is my pathetic attempt to keep myself awake this morning. I don't know why but yesterday and today I just cannot keep my eyes open. I was turning into a bobble head this morning. Seriously, I just about fell asleep so many times. And on top of that this office is like a subzero freezer in the morning.

So, it was only 9 am and I knew I had to get out of the office for a few if I was ever going to make it. I forgot to bring my lunch so I decided to drive to Wal-mart. I parked halfway out in the parking lot and made myself walk. I did a few laps around the store before grabbing what I went in for. I made chicken salad the other night so I went home and got some. On the drive back to work I was feeling pretty good. I felt like I was finally starting to wake up. And then I got back to work. The minute I walked back in the door the sleepiness hit again. Except now, 20 minutes later, I am finally starting to wake up due to the nice sugar rush to my head. I know it is only a short fix but I just need to get through this morning. I know the afternoon will go by faster (it usually does, sometimes). Plus I can go home and take a nap after work at 4 if I am still tire.

The Biggest Loser and more...

So not much has been going on. Life is pretty boring around here. Work, school, the gym, and sitting in my room watching TV. I watched the last half of the Biggest Loser finale last night. I was so happy for Jerry who one the at home prize. I can't believe he only spent two weeks on the ranch and was able to lose 177 lbs at home. He deserved it! Congratulations to Helen who one the $250,000 grand prize. She was the big (no pun intended) underdog. No one thought she would take it home. She looks amazing! When she came out my mouth dropped. I felt terrible for Tara who worked so hard and had hardly ever lost a challenge and was never below the yellow line. To win so many weigh ins and to lose at the finale, I can only imagine how heartbroken she was. But no matter what, the real reward was how great she looked and you could tell she felt good. I have never really watched this show before this season. I am hooked.

So, onto the "more..." part of this post. Bryan is going to be going to officer training for the Utah National Guard in a few weeks. He will be gone for two months in either South or North Dakota. I can't remember. Which means Sarah and the boys are moving in with us. It is going to be a huge adjustment but I am excited to have them. My mom is exhausted just thinking about it. They could stay down in Lehi in the apartment they are living in now. From what I understand Sarah doesn't want to be down there alone with the boys. They have a neighbor upstairs who is a little scary. I guess Sarah heard him fighting with the woman who lives there as well. It must have been pretty bad because Sarah called the cops.

We have so much to do before they move in. My mom wants to finish painting the hallway upstairs, paint Kaylee's old room, and move in the furniture my aunt gave her. Then once that is done we need to get the garage cleaned out. It has all our old cupboards from the kitchen when we remodeled it last year. My mom wants to use some to put up in the laundry room. Then we need to get the basement cleaned out and organized so we can hopefully get some tile or something down there and move the computer and the rest of the family room back down there. And then I want to finally get my bathroom downstairs done. I have had the stuff for it purchased for over a year now. My dad was supposed to help me with it but then they decided to do the kitchen and my project got put off. Plus, when we went to prime the walls to paint I noticed that the old paint was chipping in some spots. I started to peal it a little and it didn't stop. When Brad painted it years ago he didn't prime the walls first. So wherever the plaster was the paint just pealed off and where the drywall is it stuck. So we needed to replaster and smooth the edges where the paint had pealed but the guy who did it missed a few spots. I have been begging my dad for the past year to help me finish it. If someone will just finishing replastering and sanding the walls I can do the painting. Then I just need someone to help me lay the tile, put up the light, install the toilet, get the sink working, and I can hang my fixtures. It will just be so nice to have that bathroom when Sarah and the boys move in. This way I can keep all my makeup and hair stuff down there so the boys don't get into like they do. And we won't be battling for bathroom time in the morning, just shower time. Ha ha. We only have a few short weeks to get all this done. Move in day is just a few weeks away. Any help anyone would like to give would be so appreciated (especially with my bathroom).

Wow after writing and reading all of this my first statement is quite false. We have a lot going on and life is definately not boring. This was just supposed to be a quick post. So much for that.

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So this has been a slow but crazy week. I started two new classes at school and I am already having a hard time with them. I am so not a writer and I am supposed to write a 500 word essay, 1-2 pages double spaced, organized into at least five clear paragraphs (introduction, body, and conclusion). It is for a critical thinking class and the topic is "Identify the various positive and negative influences that have shaped you. Which one of these influences has had the greatest effect on you?" My answer? I don't know. I have been so tired this week I can't "think" of what to write. Or every time I do and start writing my mind ends up going blank. Or I getting thinking about something else. Or I get frustrated because I don't know how to word things or arrange them to make sense. I have to have this turned in before noon tomorrow. I know it's only 500 words. It shouldn't be that hard but it is. And now I have a headache. I am also so distracted because I want to go somewhere fun over Memorial weekend. I do not want to spend another one sitting at home alone. And I SOOOO do not want to go camping. I had the idea of flying to Charleston, SC to visit a friend who is living there now with her husband. I haven't seen this person in a good 7 or 8 years. The problem is the Delta flight I want (because the flight times are make more sense for me) is more than I want to spend for the dates I want to go. There is the option of coming home a day later but that means I have to take two days off of work (I would leave Saturday and come home Wednesday morning). I just don't want to use up the few hours I have saved. I have the money in savings. I can't find anyone who would sell me some sky miles because I would need so many. I just keep battling in my head whether to spend the money or not. Because I keep thinking of what I really should use the money for. I really should just keep saving it. But I really want to go. Can you tell I am torn? Does any of this make sense? Ugh my head hurts. I give up.