Catching up (w Friends and a blog posting)

This blog is a few weeks late…sorry.  But I want everyone in the world to know that I truly am one of the luckiest girls ever!  Well you see, not only do I have a wonderful fiancé and absolutely amazing family, one of the most well behaved dogs you’ll ever meet and truly enjoy my line of work, I have some of the best friends in the world.

These are the lovely ladies that I met in college and here we are 3 ½ years later and we still take the time to see each other a couple of times a year.  It’s never easy getting to see one another, because we live all up and down the east coast.  So when we can accomplish the miracle of miracles where our schedules line up it’s always a good time.

This year we made it to our Alma Mater, East Carolina University, for the Oct 1 football game against the Tarheels.  We all stayed in Amy and Sean’s house and it was tight to say the least.  But we made it work and had some adventures along the way.

So here a couple of the highlights:

Stacey is now fully aware that sleeping on the couch is a bad idea: Jason and I slept on the air mattress beside her and we wake up at 7 am at the latest

Going to your favorite bar from when you when in college sounds like a fantastic idea.  Until you realize you have arrived at the bar so early they aren’t even charging a cover yet, you’re the oldest people there and showing up in jeans and a comfortable yet cute top was cute 3 years ago, but now, not so much.  Dresses and heels are the norm.

The UBE is beyond crowded on game day when tailgating doesn’t start until 3 pm

When you think you are at a standstill in the trip to the tailgate field, just tailgate wherever you’re at.  Like someone’s front yard

9 people, two cornhole boards, 3 coolers, 6 chairs, a couple of cameras and bags will all fit into a Yukon.  However, a Yukon cannot be successfully maneuvered out of a blocked parking space with only 4 foot of total clearance

Some people like to share, a lot.  Sometimes sharing is not necessary.  Fart biscuits can forever remain in the possession of the original owner from here on out.

Corn hole bags will not stay in tack during rigorous play if they are not stitched properly.

Asking a UNC fan if they want to lick your feet is not nearly as funny if you haven’t stepped in the muddy waste area near the port a johns.

Wrangling 9 people to stay together for the entrance to the football game is impossible.

When you jump to the front of the line as some line-cutters like to do…you are part of the problem for the rest of us.  Not the solution.

It doesn’t matter how long we have to get ready for the tailgating to begin, we will still be late

Watching the Pirates get beat badly is a lot easier to swallow when you have friends like these:

Here are a few more totally awesome pics for your viewing pleasure:

All My Love,
Meredith

Tedious Task Tuesday

It never fails...I can not stop cleaning.  Maybe my job has backhandedly created a complete germ a phobe.  It's getting a little out of control.  Jason officially called me crazy today.  So what I did I do that warranted a "crazy" title that incorporated cleaning?  I scrubbed the baseboards of my living room, guest room, master bedroom and the small bathroom in the master bedroom.....WITH A TOOTHBRUSH!!  Yes, a toothbrush. 

I actually started this task last week and accomplished my kitchen and dining room then.  It took almost an hour for each.  Yikes!  I then moved onto my den on Wednesday and stopped with the main bathroom.  It took another hour (or three).  I was not motivated to accomplish that one either.  I waited until late in the day to finish and then decided instead of doing my living room, I should vacuum and mop everywhere. 

So I had 4 rooms in my house with clean baseboards and I could not stand the sight of the rest of the house.  I'm giving me and Jason a bye on this one.  We have both decided that this is not all of our dust and that the majority of it was placed there by previous tenants.  That's our story and we're sticking to it!!  We have lived there for a year and the scrubbin' had not been bothered with previously.  They were definitely due.  Oh, and btw: a vacuum hose just does not do the job.

So I bit the bullet today and tackled three of the remaining rooms.  I officially looked like Cinderella in her non-glorious, before Fairy Godmother days.

I had a bucket, a toothbrush, a rag and two dogs who were more curious than George. 

It was quite the sight.  Hence the crazy crown bestowed by my fiance.

I only have 2 more rooms to go before I can officially cross this tedious task off of my fall chore list.  I am still in amazement at how gross this actually was and how I could have possibly let it get this way.  Just when you think that dusting, windexing, mopping, vacuuming, laundry, dishes, trash and general tidiness are enough, you discover how wrong you really are.  I have found more crap that needs to be cleaned but I still can't find those elusive extra hours in the day to accomplish that.

Oh and Dad: where am I supposed to find ammonia and does it prevent the dust from settling into the cracks in the first place?  If not, how does using ammonia for this problem benefit me in any way?  I'll still be on my hands and knees with a toothbrush cleaning baseboards.  Expect with ammonia, I'll smell like AMMONIA!!!

How do you other ladies do it?  I don't even have kids yet and am already contemplating a maid service!!

Somebody please help me with my cleaning addiction!!!  I don't think the paint or my future husband will be able to handle it for too long. 

Maybe....

Meet Shade

Hi....I'm Shade.  I'm Meredith and Jason's 3 year old lab mix sweetheart.

Meredith got me when I was 8 weeks old.  She was really giggly and flouncy that night.  Meredith kept squeezing me and hugging me.  She kept talking about some fruity cocktails she had drank, but oh I don't know that means.  She kind of looked like me too.  A little roll around the mid-section and brunette.  I knew she was going to be mine.  She took me home that very night and laid me on my Grandmama's lap and asked "Can I keep her?"  At 2 o'clock in the morning and with my lovely brown eyes, there was no way I was going back to my dog-mom.  I was at home.

Mama raised me to be a good little girl.  I sit when I'm told and come back to her every time she calls me.  My Uncle Splash taught me all my manners.  He was cool too.  He shared his bed when I stayed/stay at my Grandmama and Papa's house. 

But he went to Doggy Heaven a couple of months back and left me with Uncle Ted.  He's the lazy blonde one that only moves when I chase him.

Me and mama live in Spencer now with Daddy and my cra-ZE brother Zeus.  Mama and Daddy take me to the park a lot.  It was especially fun last Friday when we went early and there was still dew on the grass.  I am a big fan of licking the dew off the grass.  It tickles my tongue.  And I could slip and slide when I was chasing my ball.  BALL!  Oh man, do I love my ball.  I have a blue one that squeaks and tastes like peanut butter...yum-o!!  The squeakiest one is the red one.  It's small and gets stuck a lot under the table, but man does it squeak.  I can never get that squeaker thing out of that ball.  Someday....  And then I have a bunch of green tennis balls.  They go outside with me and I love to chew on them.  I also like to leave them where Daddy won't find 'em.  I chuckle a little when he runs over them with the lawn mower and yells a dirty word.  *HeHe*

I have another toy that I love too, GORILLA!!  He rolls funny and he squeaks too.  I've had him since mama got him for me.  You'd be jealous of GORILLA! if you ever saw him. 

My other thing to play with is this funny red dot.  I always know when mama or Daddy or Grandmama or Papa or Auntie Melinda are going to let me play with it.  It clinks when they get it down.  I chase it and chase it and chase it some more.  I lick it when I can and try to stomp it.  But I can never get a hold of that darn red light.  Someday....

If I stare at the laser, maybe it'll give up and let me FINALLY eat it

When I'm not playing with my toys, mama lets me snuggle up close with her.  Daddy gets jealous.  I have my own bed and I cross my legs when I lay down.  See...Good little girl.  I get to go and watch mama and Daddy when they play their games and I love to go on rides.

Because I'm a lady

Daddy is playing softball.  I bet that's a tasty ball too

I'm waiting on Mama to start her triathalon in the pool.

Yay!  She finished and I'm the one getting all the lovin'...It's a win-win!

You should try out this going on a ride thing.  It's fun most of the time, just not when Mama and Daddy go to that Uwharrie place.  It was very bumpy.

But my all time favorite thing to do is be in the water.  Any water is fine: lake, river, pool...you name it and I want to jump in it, chase my ball in it, fetch a stick in it, dunk my head in it, wade in it, let my mama hold me in it.  I love water.

Hey, there's my red ball and I'm swimming.

It's ok to be envious of me and my water ways.

But I don't love a doggy life jacket in the water.  Mama tried that one time.  Silly woman.  I refused to give her any kissies or snuggles or swim in it. That'll teach her!

Actually, I hate wearing anything.  Mama also tried to make me dress up for Halloween when I was 1.  She put this ridiculous red t-shirt with googly eyes on it on me.  Nope! Not Happening!!  I don't do googly eyes.  So I just laid down right where I was and pouted.  Mama called it doggy-comatose.  Hey, whatever works.  She'll learn someday.  She should stick with pretty collars.  I've got too much going on to worry with silly outfits.

I hope mama will be keeping you up to date on all my happenings as she writes her posts.  She's pretty cool.  Wait until you meet my Cra-Cra brother.  Zeus is on a whole 'nother level and he gets in trouble a lot.  But he's pretty cool.  He's big and he'll growl with me when I need him to. 

Until then, enjoy the fall.  Maybe I'll catch a leaf.  I bet that means snow is soon too.  Oh snow, I love snow too!!

SNOW!!!

Mama throwin' snow on me.

Must bounce in snow

Until next time!
All my love!
Meredith

What is this?

So, I may be behind the times, because I'm still totally new at this whole "blog" thing. 


I have recently discovered the world of blogging and noticed that middle aged women are VERY into it.  They share all kinds of good advice about home decor, sewing, mending, housekeeping, etc.  You name it and I bet there's probably a blog out there about it.  And if they can do, hey, so can I.  I'm hip like that, right?


So I thought this may be a very good way for my friends and family to keep up with me and Jason and our little family (Shade and Zeus).  And I think it may be a good way to share some of my creativity with everyone.  Maybe I want everyone to think I'm really awesome at crafting, or maybe I'm hoping that people will lend their advice and ideas on my projects so that they get better.  I really don't know for sure.


But anywho, this is me and my blog, let's see where it takes us, shall we?


By the way...WTH does blog mean?  What a crazy word.  I thought writing down thoughts and ideas used to be called keeping a journal or scrapbooking.  Does putting it on the internet garner a whole new, made up word for that?  Anyone else feel like they should say the word "blog" four times fast each time they say it, turning "blog" into "blog blog blog blog" with the same tone as the Governor from Blazing Saddles?

"Work Work Work Work"

Photo Courtsey of

BTW:

UrbanDictionary.com says that "blog" means: Short for weblog.
A meandering, blatantly uninteresting online diary that gives the author the illusion that people are interested in their stupid, pathetic life. Consists of such riveting entries as "homework sucks" and "I slept until noon today."

Merriam-Webster.com : A web site that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.

My blog will probably be more of an Urban Dictionary scenario, just for your future reference.  You're welcome

All my love,

Meredith

He Asked!!!

Jason Asked!!!!  YAHOO!!!  and by asked, clearly I'm referring to "Will you Marry Me?"  And of course, I cried and said YES! 

So here's how it all went down:

First off, I'm very nosey.  And by nosey, I mean I have a curosity about things that is not easily subdued.  Jason let it slip one night when we were discussing getting married (for the ump-tenth time) that he already had a ring.  Needless to say, I was very excited.  I was a good girl though and did not go on a hunt for said ring.  Besides, Jason said he also wanted to do more to it.  So it wasn't even the full ring that I would have found, if I had been so inclined to do so.

Skip ahead a few weeks and the ring appears with Jason in tow.  Turns out, this ring was a family heirloom of mine.  My great Aunt Polly's to be exact.  It's antique, vintage and gorgeous.  But not really Jason's or my style. 

So, next thing you know, we're off to the jewelers, for a second time.  Thats right, we had already been to look at rings once before.  The first time, we found a gorgeous ring at Ellis Jewelers.  We printed it out and posted it in the house for a year to stare in awe at it's awesome-ness and wait for a hefty paycheck to land in our laps.  Didn't happen.  When we went back, no more awesome ring.  Boo!  So off to Hayes we go.  Let's just say, a little bit of patience goes a long way.  'Cause at Hayes, there are hundreds of pretty pretty diamond rings to look at.  And even when you find a beautiful one that really catches your eye, there are 10 more that are so similar, you need a jeweler to point out the difference.  So we both narrowed down what we really liked (I liked, he he).  Zach (the jeweler) promised to hold onto the ring and gave Jason a wink and a nod.

And so, that brings us to the actual proposal.  Obviously, I knew it wouldn't be long after a second trip to the jewelry store, I just really had no idea how or where or when.

Well Jason called me up one night while I was at work and asked if I could get permission to come into work late on Monday, Sept 12.  Hmmmmm....somethings up.  But he made me ask no questions and don't be nosey.  NOT EASY!!!  I kept trying to slip in a question and see what was going on, but he caught on each time and wouldn't budge.

So here comes the weekend before Sept 12.  It's the opening day of hunting season (woo-hoo...) on Saturday.  So Friday, Jason has me help him hang a deer stand, feed his pets deer, and generally just stomp through the woods.  I make plans to visit friends on Saturday evening since he'll probably be back in the woods and then to watch the Panthers on Sunday with my family.

This is Jason during hunting season....notice the extra cheesy smile?

Saturday morning comes along and Jason hops up at 6:30 in the morning (a little late for hunting according to him, but hey, I figured why argue) and goes into the spare room and is not quiet!!  Next thing I know, the light is on in the bedroom, he yanks the sheets off of me and tells me to get up.  He said we're going on a trip, you're bags are already packed, so lets go.  Don't ask questions, just come on.  Holy crap...he's missing hunting season....this is BIG!!  I mean gargantuan! Ginormous...extra huge!!  

An hour later (yea, I'm not a quick surprise getter-upper), we're in the car.  Jason was very sneaky and canceled all my weekend plans behind my back.  Sorry Sarah and Kali!!

About 30 minutes into the ride Jason is whining that he'll have to stare at the rising sun the entire time.  I asked why and he said because we were going east until we couldn't drive any further.  DING DING DING!  We're going to the Outer Banks!!  I am so excited!  And Jason is only good at keeping secrets until certain points.  Then somehow, the surprise always slips.  Gosh I love him.  He showed me the hotel reservation and I am so super excited.  Oceanfront at the Hampton.  yay!!

Our Hotel!!  Gorgeous right?

 Photo courtesy of the Hampton


Jason had asked me to take along one nice outfit (I brought 3).  Saturday night he took me out to dinner at a restaurant of my choice.  I chose a place called Aqua S because it had a spa attached.  It just seemed swanky to me, and hey, I figured if he was going to propose at dinner, how awesome would it be at a place called Aqua S at the Outer Banks?  Well one very expensive cocktail and some seafood later, no proposal.  Dun duh...  But Jason said he was really full from  his fish and needed a walk out on the beach to work some of it off.  I should have been on to something at this point, since he had already complained that there wasn't enough food for him.  But that was before he actually ate anything, so I thought maybe he was actually more full than he had originally anticipated. 

So at this point, I was actually getting really sleepy.  Anybody who knows me, knows that I have a pretty regular bedtime of 10 pm at the latest.  Jason also knows this, but he was persistent.  So I caved, what could it hurt, he could be proposing then.  But honestly, I thought my chances of a Saturday proposal were shot.

So we take my camera back to the room and head out to the beach.  Of course I had my camera at dinner because I thought he was going to ask then.   Turns out, it was a very nice walk.  The moon was shining on the water and the stars were very visible.  And the steps over the dune to get to the beach from our hotel were lit up with light ropes and it was very pretty. 

So here it is, so pretty and warm and no one else out on the beach except us two.  Well what does Jason want to talk about?  THE TRASH on the beach.  And just in case you missed it, we had a visitor to the area about 2 weeks ago.  Her name was Irene.  She was big, slow and very messy.  And well, yea, she brought a lot of trash with her.  

So as Jason was making a big deal out of all the trash on the beach, I was looking at him and saying, "yea honey," "un huh, lots of trash, big deal," "Jason, it's just trash and drift wood and brush."  Well he wouldn't let it go.  And at one point, he literally made me follow him to look at all the trash *eye roll*  Next thing he's doing is toeing the sand and finds a bottle.  He looks at me and says "hey babes, look here.  What do you think it is?"  Me: "Jason, it's just a bottle, leave it there please"

But he doesn't leave it there.  So here he comes with a bottle out of the sand.  But....after giving this darn thing a second glance, it's not a beer bottle, but an unlabeled wine bottle with a message rolled up in it with a pretty ribbon conviently tied around the paper to allow for easy removal.  Now, my first thought was, how in the world did my boyfriend manage to find the only bottle buried beneath the sand that actually had a message in it from some far away land/pirate/Tom Hanks from his Castaway Island?  (I'm embarrased to even share that, but it's true).  

See dumbfounded look on Tom's face? Yea, that's me

 Castaway

So Jason removes the note, and hands it to me.  I unroll it and start reading and then it finally hits me...HE'S PROPOSING!!  No, you don't get to read the poem.  At least not yet.  I'm starting to get choked up and at the end of the poem it reads "Will you Marry Me?"  And then Jason is on one knee and I'm saying YES!!! as he slips the most gorgeous ring on my finger!!!  Hugs and kisses and hugs and kisses later, WE'RE ENGAGED!

My gorgeous ring!!

My ring with that pretty bow and bottle

I can not even begin to describe how excited both Jason and I are to finally be official.  We've been talking about it for a long time and I've practically got my ideas for the wedding on paper (ok, so I actually do).  We won't be setting a date for awhile but as soon as we do, we will be sure to let everyone know.

So there ya have it.  The proposal story, all rolled up in a bottle with a pretty little bow to help get it out.

Hugs and Kisses
Meredith