4th of July... a little late!

For the 4th of July we both had a long weekend so we drove up to the mountains to see my parents. The weather was a pretty nice change from the heat and humidity here but it did sadly continue to rain throughout the weekend. For the 4th itself it was really nice, despite the rain, because the fireworks were not crowded and the traffic coming and going was not bad at all!

So. Much. Rain.

Ryan's mom, her boyfriend and Ryan's sister came up to join us for the weekend too. It was nice to have all of our family under one roof for a change! We had a nice time shopping on Main Street and eating the delicious buffet at the Cherokee Casino. Ryan and I also won a good bit of money playing roulette! A definite first, we usually leave in the red, never in the green.

Ryan was embracing his inner leprechaun while we shopped.

Outside the casino

My mom got Ryan and I tickets to see Jeff Dunham ages ago so the three of us went to the show after the buffet dinner. He was hilarious!!! The best part of the show was easily when he messed up with Bubba Jay, went on a huge tangent from that and then forgot where he was and just kept winging it. It was uncensored and absolutely hilarious... the three of us were laughing so hard we were crying! Even though we were up there in terms of seats I loved seeing him live!

I also got myself a Peanut bobblehead (it was all that was left merchandise wise, that area got severely picked) which to the chagrin of all around me I keep playing with. It talks!

It was also nice to be reunited with the Dup. I think she missed us...

But she adores my little brother too!

And I will never say no to family time. This was probably the last chance my family had to see Ryan before he deploys and I made sure to force him into some pictures. Tough cookies my love. :P We had quality family time, sparklers, laser pointers and puppy time.

Of course being back home has mostly been more rain, heat and humidity... but I am glad to be a complete family of three (or two and a dog) once again for a little while longer.

Make Me Smile

I LOVE I Love Lucy. This article is motivation like no other. I definitely am going to do that audition at the end of August! There is a marathon on Hallmark Channel this weekend, I totally plan on watching it.


I also love Bloopers. This one definitely made me giggle.

This quote made me actually laugh at work... Fred is one of my favorite characters in the Harry Potter series.. and if you have not read book seven you may want to skip this part!

"(When Book 7 Deathly Hallows came out) We were in Japan actually, when it was released. And the Japanese version hadn’t come out, but the English version was out there. So, I got it, and ‘cause I was on holiday, I turned my phone off so nobody could tell me what happened. I blitzed through it in like two days. I couldn’t put it down. I remember I was on the bullet train and the part what happens to Fred, and I was like [makes distressed sound]… and literally at that second the ticket guy came around, asking for my ticket and I was like, ‘I just died, mate. Leave me alone!’"
— James Phelps aka Fred Weasley


I finally got my VA tax return check in the mail. This week. Plane ticket fund has grown!

Our company newsletter had this to say...

One large movement is the Power IT Down
initiative which asks all of us to power
down our PCs, monitors, printers and other
peripherals for one day on August 26th. For
those who sign up, the sponsors will make
a donation to the Wounded Warrior Project
which supports injured service men and
women. What a wonderful way to commit to
reducing energy while supporting a fabulous
cause that reinforces the fact that we should
slow down just a bit and relax. If you run into a
client who will be on vacation on August 26th,
ask them to visit http://poweritdown.org. Although
Carr Workplaces can’t participate
fully and shut down on that day, we will
employ some measures to reduce the energy
load from our network and servers.

We cannot do it, but we are encouraging our clients to! You should too!



Last night I was outside and my neighbor Brittanie came out with Mollie. Mollie charged at me and said hi and jumped in my lap and smothered me with kisses. Britt said I needed a snuggle buddy and gave me Molly for the night. And she did snuggle with me! But she came in and ran all over the place whining and looking for Ryan. How do I know? Because she ended up stopping outside of his closet, sitting, whining and looking at me like, "I smell him in there, let him out!" I opened the door and she sniffed around and looked at me again before just jumping into our bed and curling up on Ryan's pillow. But she did snuggle with me all night!



Sadly... not much else.

My manager is off today and my coworker left at 2 for a doctors appointment... so I am alone in the office. Just what I need right? I have plans with Carrie tomorrow, maybe Mount Vernon. For the first time in a long time I am dreading a weekend. It will be a lot of empty space and time that I just am not looking forward to trying to fill.

At least Ryan has a room now and can settle. Maybe we can try and skype this weekend, if he can get it to work on my old lap top!

Haircut

Ok so it isn't a huge difference, but I got an inch or so taken off and then some layers and angling in the front. Look ok? I hope so! It has been over a year since my last haircut (pre-wedding in fact) and now I remember why, they are so expensive! Geeze! A wash, cut, and blow dry is $45?! Without tips?? Ugh. I'll be going again next year I suppose....



Don't mind the web cam picture, but it is less work! :P

Silly Cars

So my car has decided lately it wants to sort of start and then stall out two or three times before actually starting. I was getting my oil changed today so I asked them to check it out and I needed a new air intake filter (pump? valve? something) and new spark plugs.

The amount of money that has gone into this damn car the past two years or so could buy a new car (and by new I mean a new to me/used working car)! Let's see:

New Starter
New Tires (2 flats thanks to a random screw in a parking lot and a curb, that one was me)
New Rotors
New Brake Pads
New Brake Lines
New Cylinders (Front and Back)
New Air Intake thingy
and New Spark Plugs

All together easily almost $5,000! UGH.


On a more positive note I had my make up trial today and Denise did a wonderful job! I am glad that is one more check I can make on my list!

And my little brother has a terrible stomach bug. With how much trouble I have had lately with my stomach let's hope I don't get it! I've used enough sick days to cover me the next three years.... fingers crossed!

Promotion and Other Things

So Ryan picked up CPL today! I am so proud of him!

And then I find out he has duty on Valentine's Day so we will not be spending it together. We were going to have the whole house to ourselves as my family is going to the new house in NC for the weekend and I am home with the dog... so now I am just going to be by myself for the big VDay. It kind of sucks. I hate how used to the fact I am seeing him ever weekend almost now. He drives up to NJ and I get to spending the weekend with him, but he isn't coming this weekend as I am going down on Tuesday to do a marriage prep thing for the Corps and now he isn't coming for the long weekend. I just cannot wait until we can always be together. I can come home from work and he'll be there or when I wake up in the morning he will be.

Three months cannot come soon enough!!!

I started work at the pharmacy, from 8:30am-5pm Mon-Wed. So Kohls called me back today adn I am interviewing on Thursday and probably going to work there nights and some weekends when Ryan can't come up. I will definitely be keeping busy (and earning money) to say the least.

We have a DJ, picked out our menus, accumulated addresses, are waiting for our Save the Date cards, going to mail the invites, and set our songs. We are making a lot of progress, we still just really need transportation (yikes $$$!) and flowers. First dress fitting on Saturday!!! Wish me luck!