Winners and a bit else...

Congratulations!!! Ladies, send me an email with your address and your prizes shall arrive shortly. The top winner wins the Emulsion Pens and the bottom winner wins the Daisies.

Thank you to all who entered.... expect another give away very soon!

Also, just an update. Although my parents do not live in New Jersey anymore they still own our house (it is currently being rented). Today my dad sent me the pictures of the storm and damage and it broke my heart. I know it isn't as bad as it could be, but seeing all the trees I grew up with lying flat and our barn hit plus our roof damaged.... well it wasn't a great email to receive.

Luckily no one was hurt and everything of course can be repaired. In the top right picture of the collage you can see the tarp covering the roof which was exactly over my old room and my parents' old room. Sigh. I hope everyone up north is safe and recovering and gets power back soon!

Also, this is my 600th post. Crazy.

Enjoy your Halloween, stay safe!

Hurricane Sandy

Here in Eastern North Carolina Hurricane Sandy wasn't very bad. Friday I went to Ben and Chelsea's to celebrate Ben's birthday and when I woke up Saturday morning the rain had started. It was a day of staying in my pajamas and watching TV and snuggling on the couch with Rylie. The wind picked up last night but it wasn't too bad. I ordered Chinese and did not leave my house.

So for the past two days that has been my main source of sustinence. No need to cook when the hubby isn't home! I woke up this morning and went to church and by the time I got out the rain had stopped. I made a pit stop at Lowes for some spackle and then came home. All day it has been pretty windy but the rain hasn't come back. It is definitely chillier today than it has been since we have moved here but its not bad. The sunset made everything glow pink for about half an hour.

Now I am done with my weekend football games (victorty to both South Carolina and the Giants!) and catching up on my poor blog. To all my family and friends up north, especially in New Jersey, please stay safe!!!! I am thinking about you and praying for you.

Don't forget to enter my give away!

Zebra Pen Give Away

Recently I was contacked by the Zebra Pen Company to review and sample their products. They have been in business for over 110 years and their products work wonderfully in the military field! Since my husband has switched to being a Ground Radio Technician he does a lot more paperwork than he did as a grunt. I gave him packs of pens and pencils to take into work to get a wide sampled field.

Since men and women of the armed forces need a durable pen to carry in the pen pocket on their combat uniform, the following were sent to us to review:
· G-301 (ARV $3.09 each) The first retractable steel gel pen offering a stylish design with world class quality.
· F-301 (ARV $2.77 each) Ballpoint pen featuring a contemporary stainless steel barrel with stylish design and world class quality. Features a non-slip grip for writing comfort and ease. The textured grip color corresponds to the ink color.
· M301 (ARV $2.69 each) A light-weight, yet durable mechanical pencil boasting non-slip grip ensures full writing control.
· Z-Mulsion Pens Emulsion ink is the perfect balance of oil and water. It is quick-drying and smear resistant while maintaining a brilliant and bold writing line. It is the best of a ball point and gel in one! Available in Z-Mulsion (MSRP: $1.65 each) and Z-Mulsion EX (MSRP: $2.25 each).
· NEW 301-A (ARV $3.29 each) The classic 301 steel ballpoint pen design, now with fashionable metal barrel colors.
· Daisies (ARV $3.75/5 pk) Ballpoint pen featuring floral designs in five vibrant colors.

The guys at my husband's shop LOVED them. Apparently they started hoarding them (including his Master Sgt with the mechanical pencils) and they were quickly all claimed. They are the only pens my husband will now use at work and I had to set some aside for him to us at home. They are durable, write extremely well, don't smear and they are replaceable! If for any reason they fail to operate the pens are able to be exchanged (as long as they are not abused or physically damaged).

Zebra Pen products can be found nationwide at Staples, Office Max, Office Depot, Wal-Mart, K-Mart, and other office supply stores, discount chains, food and drug retailers, stationery stores and wholesale clubs. For more information on Zebra Pen products, programs and promotions, log onto www.zebrapen.com or visit its Facebook page at www.Facebook.com/ZebraPenUS.

Now I have a pack of the Z-Mulsion Pens Emulsion Ink and the Daisies to give away. Sorry overseas ladies but this give away is for US readers only. There will be two winners, one for the Daisies and one for the Emulsion Ink.

Rafflecopter will walk you through the give away which will be opened until October 31st!


a Rafflecopter giveaway




Note: I was given the pens to review and give away but all opinions reflected in this post are my own (and my husband's and his Marines').

Mom's Visit

My mom made the seven hour trip to come see me act in the show and it was great to have some time with her! We managed to do a nice bit of shopping and my mantle looks so wonderfully fall-y right now!

I also got some nice fall sweaters and plaid shirts that I have been wearing regardless of the 80 degree weather.

My mom came to the show Saturday and on Sunday she stayed home and set the mantle up for me. We all went to Texas Roadhouse Sunday night for dinner and celebrated with a nice big drink!

Monday we hung around the house and I fianlly got to sleep in a bit. I did a quick commissary run and we then drove down to Surf City to have a late lunch/early dinner at Buddy's. There was practically no one there and we got a choice table right on the ocean side deck.

The view from our table. Pretty spectacular. After we filled up on crab legs (my usual) and delicious New England Clam Chowder we took a walk down the beach. Tons of people were out fishing and we had a really great evening with a spectacular sunset.

 Evidence of my new plaid shirt! It worked at the water as it did get cooler as the sun went down.

While we were at the beach my mom presented me with a business idea for the two of us. My dad is in the same boat as Ryan and we have a pretty good idea in mind. We have some research to do but I am excited for the first time in ages about even the possibility. If it works out I will be sure to fill you all in! Fingers crossed for us!

Tuesday we went and got pedicures and then drove into New Bern. We spoiled Rylie a bit and got her some things for her birthday and we had a really good breakfast for lunch. At home I made my first ever roast chicken and we all had a great dinner together before I went to ballet.

My mom left yesterday morning and Ryan left for Louisiana to visit his best friend last night. For the first time in seven weeks I am home, not at rehearsal, and my husband is gone :P Go figure. I already am bored as can be and dont know what to do with myself. Ugh. I had plans to meet up with people this weekend but with Hurricane Sandy possibly coming through that may not work out.

And today Rylie girl is ONE! The Dup is officially stepping out of puppydom... sort of. We celebrated before Ryan left and gave her some yummy treats and a cute birthday bandana.

She was pretty excited!

Well.... that is all for now I suppose. Glad my blog is finally slowly coming back to life. I even wrote my first spousebuzz article in ages. Check it out!

The Show Must Go On

I cannot believe the show is over! It feels like the past seven weeks have flown by. I am not sure what I am going to do with myself now, it hasn't really hit me yet. My mom came in on Friday and just left this afternoon, so I have been pretty distracted. Top it off, Ryan leaves for Louisiana tomorrow to visit his best friend Josh for a few days. My first week/weekend home with no rehearsals and I have no husband too! Typical.



Last minute set decoration and construction. I miss building and painting! I came in to help out.

Opening night was a rush. Having an audience that laughed (and even gasped when the murderer was revealed) was fantastic. The only problem was the heat. It felt like it was a 100 degrees in the theatre and being under the lights? Oh it was awful. I usually don't sweat easily and I was soaked through! When we looked offstage all you could see in the audience were people fanning themselves with the programs. Luckily for us the President of the college was there and he left at intermission due to the heat. The next day this little beauty was set up in our green room pumping cold air into the theatre.

What a difference! Sure we lost some of our get ready space but we were just fine.

Friday was definitely different, and not just temperature wise. One of the actors in the show was in a car accident on his way to the theatre. He called us from the ER (since he doesn't have a cell phone) an hour before showtime. Luckily he was ok, beat up but nothing serious, but we still had a show to do. Fortunately our Stage Manager is an actor as well. He has seen the show hundreds of times and was able to go on instead. In the hour before showtime we were doing quick understudy rehearsals and line runs.... hectic! The actor was unable to come back for the other shows and our Stage Manager filled in the rest of the run. Between that news and a small and rather quiet audience Friday was the roughest of our shows. But thank you Annie (from simplify) for coming! I am sorry I didn't get to see you afterwards.

One of my new buddies Lacie was kind enough to do my make up and hair for the show. I couldn't resist a few self portraits backstage...

My mini make up hoarde

 Saturday my mom came to the show with Ryan (who also came opening night) as did the lovely Mrs Sykes and my ballet teacher! I was feeling the love that night. We had a fun audience who was really into it! A lot of people used their programs to guess who the murderer was.... my husband guessed before he saw the show (he did help me with lines enough and I never let him read the end parts) and my mom was surprised by the reveal. Not bad! Whenever the murderer was revealed a lot of people gasped or reacted and it was hard to keep a straight face!

The red and purple flowers are from Ryan and the white are from my mom. Gorgeous.

We had a low key cast party Saturday night and Sunday was another great show. We were kind of miffed because they closed the parking lot in front of the theatre (which we had reserved) for police driving training and our old people matinee audience had to hike across the campus. Not cool. But we still had a large turn out!

I have spent a lot of time with these wonderful people and I will miss them dearly!!! Thank you all for your support (:

It's the Day of the Show Ya'll

When I went to Catholic for college someone started saying "It's the day of the show ya'll!" in a very particular voice that unfortunately I cannot replicate in type, but it has always stuck with me. Every opening night in college for every show someone would be shouting it to fellow cast and crew as we saw each other throughout the day. As I awoke this morning it was the first thought that popped into my head. After two months the day has arrived, tonight is opening night! I can't believe it!

We have never performed in front of an audience. Our preview had maybe one random person there who couldn't come for the show but even he had seen act two in rehearsals. Tonight will be different. I can feel anticipation running like a current under my skin and a flock of bumble bees (forget butterflies) has been buzzing in my stomach all morning. It is a good thing surprisingly. I think if I ever were to do a show or a project and not be nervous/mildly stage fright ridden there would be a problem. This feeling makes it worth it. If I weren't nervous it would make me more nervous if that makes sense!

Yesterday my neighbor Miss Donna showed me that we made the local newspaper too!

Pretty cool! I made sure to go buy an extra copy too, just in case. I cannot tell you the last time a show I was in made a newspaper, probably high school!

Mel, the guy playing my husband, also helped me out today and got me a free haircut/trim. He works as a barber and insisted I go (yes, my split ends were that bad) and he would take care of it. I just got home and even though only an inch or so of hair is gone it looks miles better already! The woman doing it really wanted to take off more since it is thinning at the bottom but I knew our director wanted nothing more than a trim! Me too, truth be told. It seems to take a lot more work to grow my hair out as I have gotten older so cutting off a lot, even to help it grow, makes me hesitate. We shall see how I feel after the show.

So if you live in Jacksonville please come see the show! Apparently the elderly population of Jacksonville is notorious for coming regardless but we'd love to fill the house. Especially with people who won't say, "Wait, what did he say? I can't hear him!" very loudly during the performance (it happened in the spring show!). Tickets are disturbingly cheap and I would love to see you all there. 8pm tonight through Saturday and a 3pm matinee Sunday at the community college. My mom is driving in tomorrow and staying through Tuesday and I am very excited!!!

EEEEK! My first opening night as a performer in three years. I cannot believe I waited so long! I love this cast and crew and the show is a fun murder mystery with a twist ending that I think everyone will enjoy.

See you there!

Another Wishful Wednesday

This week I wish....

That the show goes well. Opening night is TOMORROW.

My husband was not assigned duty for Christmas Eve.

The job search was going better than it is.

I could just be paid to act. Life would be so grand.

What are you wishing for this week?

Mum Fest

Rehearsals are going well. We have officially entered Tech Week... aka Hell Week. So there was rehearsal this morning and run throughs with lights and cues, a "cue to cue" run, and a lot of time of me up on a ladder! When I got home Ryan and I got in the car and headed off to New Bern for the Mum Festival. North Carolina is big on festivals and I was pretty excited for this one! All of New Bern was covered in booths and tents... everything from food to games to sellers to rides. We spent a good bit of money but we planned it in advance so we were prepared!

We arrived in the late afternoon and the place was definitely busy!

Neither of us had really eaten anything big beforehand (luckily!) and the first thing we did after getting a lucky free parking spot was hit the food.

All this for $20! Ryan got a gyro and I got a "steak and cheese" which we swappedx back and forth. Then we got dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) with greek salad and wing chips. Delicious! We found a curb at the bank drive thru and chowed down. Once that was finished Ryan went on a mission to get some fresh lemonade and not have to spend $6 on it. He was gone for awhile and I was starting to get antsy, I had his phone to boot, but he came back with not just lemonade...

He had fried oreos too!!! They are a huge favorite of mine and I rarely get them! I was so excited that I didn't even glance at the $4 lemonade. Good job Sweetie! After we ate about 3,000 calories each we walked around to all the tents and made our way to the rides.

Ryan tried to get me on the ferris wheel but I am terrified of them. It was 4 tickets each and a dollar a ticket so I was not spending $8 to do something I am a little petrified of. Then Ryan made the mistake of talking to the carnies at the games. Big Mistake. We got suckered in to no less than three games.

Check out my $15 bounty! $5 each and if we played just one more time it could have been bigger. No thanks. Ryan caught on and we walked away with the little gang I had collected. We picked up some more food stuffs to take home.

Naturally my husband found the hot sauce guy and bought a bottle of something he had gotten many times before at Firehouse Subs. I also got a box of beer bread from a Tasefully Simple lady after I explained to my husband the concept. We also hit up the NC Lotto area and bought a bunch of scratch offs, won a tshirt and then won back $12! We had maybe a total $2 profit since Ryan used his to buy more but I held on to my bounty proudly.

As the sun and the temperature dropped we made our way back home. I jokingly started to play Pididdle with Ryan in the car and by the time we got back to Jacksonville we were both shoeless, shirtless and Ryan was beltless. Forget mid twenties, we are kids at heart!

Now Ryan grilled up some chicken and we are going to watch the Gamecocks take on LSU. Go Gamecocks!!!!

Happy Weekend all! And thanks for sticking with me in my lack of bloggingness lately. A review and give away will be up shortly as will more information about my show.

Wishful Wednesdays

See... this is why I have a prompt! A week of no posts and now I am back!

This week I wish...

Both our families lived closer. I enjoyed visiting the inlaws in SC and I am missing my own parents too!

That groceries were not so pricey. Gah. Same goes for gas.

That tonight at rehearsal everyone is on top of things. It is scary to take four days off with less than two weeks before the show!!!

The show goes well. Crunch time ya'll!

Super Ty still gets his miracle. Please pray for them.

To go to a Renn Fest. Man I miss those... NC you are letting me down there! Maryland had a killer one!

To go apple and pumpkin picking. 

I lived close enough to Disney to still work there. It is Food and Wine Fest time in EPCOT and the pictures on Facebook are killing me.

My blog had more going on. It is lovely that google is bringing people based on my Dos and Donts for a Marine Corps Ball entry, it is getting to be that time of year! I am glad it helps people though.

And last but not least...

I wish the beautiful weather would hang around. I can do 70s and sunny!

Big or small, silly or serious.... What are you wishing for this week??

Wishful Wednesdays

When your mom calls you and tells you that you have been neglecting your blog it is time to write again. My life has been busy, but not interesting. Writing just hasn't been there and I have been lacking in picture taking. Daily life revolves around keeping up with the house, playing with The Dup (aka Rylie), rehearsals, and quality time with my husband. I rehearse every evening from 6-10 and he barely sees me once he gets home. It is only temporary, I mean the show is in less than three weeks at this point, but I know we both don't like missing out on time together.

So I decided to come up with this prompt to make myself write, even if it happens once a week it will bring me back until my motivation fully returns.

Wishful Wednesday. Simple. What are you wishing for these days? It can be big, small, or anything in between. These are my wishes for the time being...

I Wish....

Super Ty could have a miracle. I have read this blog for years and it is breaking my heart. Please pray for Ty and his family during this incredibly difficult time.

Rylie would listen. This dog is driving me crazy and just not listening. She listens to Ryan more than me, but even that is dwindling.

The show goes well. It is getting into crunch time and the butterflies are coming!

I could find a day job I love. Nearly impossible in this town.

I could make money acting. I love it and I don't mind in the least doing this show for free, but it would be nice to be paid to do what I love!

My house could vacuum itself.

It would stop raining so Rylie can be in the backyard without looking like a chocolate lab.

I had a killer fall wardrobe... and a need for one. SAHW really don't need to look good.

and last but not least...

I wish my blogging motivation would return. I miss blogging and feeling like I had a purpose. I miss writing for SpouseBUZZ. I wish for more purpose.

What are you wishing for these days?