I can honestly say that Dewey and I are crazy. Yesterday was such a beautiful day outside, we decided to park downtown and walk 7 miles to Furman University (our old neck of the woods). Of course, that meant we had to walk back from Furman as well. We walked 14 miles total. The first 9 weren’t too terrible, but the last 5 were miserable! We were so sore! I’m not entirely sure what made us think that a 14 mile walk would be easy/normal/fun. We are both sore (and I’m sunburned) even today! Although we are sore, it really was a lot of fun and we have no regrets. Yesterday was so beautiful that we couldn’t stomach sitting around without going outside. Today, we’re having lunch with Chuck at noon, headed to the mall, and then sitting down the rest of the day. I don’t think we’ll even walk 14 miles again unless it’s an emergency..our next goal is to run 10 miles.
A Trip to See Anna!
I finally made it up to VA to go visit Anna! I am so glad that I did! I was there Friday-Sunday, and we had a BLAST! I left Greenville on Friday. I am proud of myself since it was a 4 hour 45 minute ride, I didn’t get too ‘antsy’ for once. Normally the drive to Roanoke is breathtaking, but terrible weather got in my way for the entirety of the drive. Since my car is so small, the ‘big guys’ always cream me on the interstate. I arrived to Anna’s house just shy of 3PM! We hung out around her home for a while and then ran errands and caught up. Before too long, it was dinner time and we headed to Cheddar’s. YUM! I loved eating there. It was my first time at one, and they have the BEST broccoli/cheese casserole and mudslide martinis. After Cheddar’s we walked around Barnes and Noble for a while, and then had ice cream! Afterwards we headed home and watched girlie junkie T.V. until bedtime.
Saturday, we were healthy girls and headed to YMCA (after a yummy breakfast at Famous Anthony’s) for a core class, and for Zumba! Both were fun, but I am STILL sore from the core class! It was definitely not easy. Zumba was…fun, but I am TERRIBLE at it! I didn’t care though, we had fun and it gave us a good laugh. Plus it burns a ton of calories, which was a good penance for eating crappy at Cheddar’s the night before. After working out we headed to THE STAR! It’s my favorite thing to do in Roanoke, and I always ask/beg Anna to take me.
STAR!
We were going to go into the mountain, but the wind was CRAZY and it was cold. So, instead we did a tiny bit of exploring before heading to Olive Garden for a yummy lunch.
Mountains!
When we got home we relaxed for a bit before getting cleaned up and attempting to go to the museum. Since it closed at 5 we weren’t willing to pay for just 20 minutes. So, instead we made jewelry! Both of our necklaces turned out really cool, and I’m glad we were able to do something fun. Once we were done, we headed to Metro and had the “pretty pink drink” that Anna and I love so much. Instead of going out, we decided to order Chinese in, enjoy wine, and enjoy the warm fire pit outside! GREAT CHOICE! It was a ton of fun just relaxing and getting to talk, since we truly don’t get to see each other enough.
Sunday morning, too soon I headed back to Greenville. It was SO much fun hanging out with her this weekend. I really wish I could have stayed longer!
blogthings.com Sucked Me In!
I took a few useless quizzes today. One of them was “What Color Martini are you?” test. It says, that I am a red martini, meaning:
“You are bright and capable. You are intelligent enough to master almost any subject.
You are approachable and genuinely nice. You are the friendly face in the room.
You are naturally comfortable in unfamiliar situations. You are good at finding your niche.
You are not easily offended. You know better than to take anything personally. “
I’m not sure if I agree with all of those statements, but I would like to think that I am nice, but sometimes I do take things personally.
The last test that I took is the “What Color Eyed Woman are You Really?”. It said:
“You’ve got the personality of a blue eyed women
You’re intense and expressive – and always on the go
You’ve also got a sweet, playful side – which draws men in”
I’m not quite sure what did or did not draw Dewey in…but I am definitely intense and expressive.
Thank you blogthings.com for a counter-productive afternoon 
1 Year Anniversary
Well, we’ve made it a year! I can’t believe how quickly time has gone by! I am incredibly excited that we have reached this beautiful landmark in our marriage. For our anniversary weekend, we decided to be “tourists” in our own town of Greenville. We stayed downtown in the Courtyard Marriott, and had a blast! We promised one another that even though it is in our city, we would try new things, and there would be NO returning to the apartment until Sunday.
Friday, I didn’t have to work! I spent a little bit of time shopping, running errands, reading, and relaxing. Around 3:00 we headed downtown to pick up our 5K packets, and then it was check-in time at the hotel! It was so pretty! Since we live in Greenville, neither of us had ever stayed in a hotel downtown before. It was a great idea for an anniversary. After exploring the hotel a bit, sipping coffee, and unpacking, we headed to Trio. YUM! We had delicious pasta for dinner, which was perfect for the night before a big race. Afterward, we took a light stroll downtown and headed back to the hotel to relax for the night. We had a big day ahead!
Saturday morning, we woke up bright and early and headed to the Headstrong 5K in Greenville. This was our first trail run. The race was a third 5K for both of us, but we were both VERY surprised by the difference. In speaking with the organizer, he said most runners add anywhere from 2-4 minutes in length to their time. It is incredibly hard to get around slower joggers since the route is very narrow, the terrain is less familiar, and typically the course is trickier. I was certainly no exception. My first 5K was 36:15, my second was 29:16..my third was 32:13. I finished 30/59 runners. However, I ran 1.5 minutes in the wrong direction, which would have brought my time to 31:08. That is still worse than October, but in keeping with the mindset that most runners lose time, I’m not too upset. Once I discovered that I had picked the wrong direction to run, I lost my “mojo”. My pace significantly slowed down, and my frustration kept me from running to my full potential. Overall, my pace per mile was 10:22 (again, this included running the wrong direction). Dewey’s time was only seconds better than mine. He ranked fourth place in men’s 30-30. However, despite my terrible time, I’m proud to say that I won FIRST place in Women-Ages 20-29! When they called my name, I could hardly believe the news! In fact, I feel a little guilty because I yelled “What the HELL?!” I am still in shock over winning, especially because I think that my time was so terrible.
Here I am, shocked and proud:
After the race, Dewey and I headed back to the hotel to relax. For lunch we ate at Coffee Underground for the first time, and loved it! He unsurprisingly had a burger, while I had an omelet. I have passed by Coffee Underground a billion times, but had never actually been inside! It was really cool. There is a theater inside as well as two seating areas. I’m glad we decided to give it a try; we will definitely be going back! Saturday night was the celebration night. We enjoyed a 5 minute walk to a fabulous dinner downtown at High Cotton. We had fabulous cocktails, appetizers, salads, and dinner. Luckily we had reservations at 7:30, because it was extremely crowded. Dewey and I ate so much we thought we’d have to waddle back to the hotel. At the hotel, we had another drink before heading upstairs to pop the bubbly from our wedding. We also enjoyed our amazing leftovers from the rehearsal dinner.
Dewey and I at dinner:
Today, we sadly had to check out and return to normalcy. We left around 11:15 and headed to Panera for a quick bite of soup before seeing “The Vow”. GO SEE “THE VOW’! It is amazing! Even Dewey enjoyed it, and he usually teases me over ‘chick flick’ movies. We briefly came home to unpack, and then headed to run errands, and then headed to Olive Garden for an early dinner. Afterward, we headed home to enjoy our wedding cake! Even a year later, it still tasted delicious.
I can’t believe it has already been a year. Time goes by so quickly the older we get! It’s incredible to me that I am a wife. After seeing the “The Vow” today, I’ve realized how truly lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband. It was a perfect weekend.
Valentine’s Day 2012
With an anniversary that is so close to Valentine’s Day, it has become somewhat minimized (Dewey and I would rather go ‘big’ on our anniversary this year). We exchanged cards, and he got me delicious Lindor chocolate! However, the real gift today was a reminder of how blessed/lucky/happy I really am.
Very close family friend, Lib Hayden lost her husband last week. The memorial service was today, and it was done beautifully. It broke my heart to see her sadness reflected on their family members. All the while, my husband was beside me. To my left was my mother, also a widow. It really made me realize how truly amazing it is to be young, in-love, and to be married to such an amazing man. Yet, every time I find myself smiling today, I also feel a small pang of guilt. How can I enjoy myself when I know that the Hayden family suffered so much pain today? In the end, I have come to this conclusion: I know that Mr. Tom was in Heaven with my dad laughing and smiling at the stories told today, and loving to see his closest friends and family gathered together. I will keep the Hayden family in my thoughts and prayers this week, and today in particular.
Meanwhile, I can say for certain that my real Valentine’s day gift today was love, health, and LIFE.
“Firefly Lane” by Kristin Hannah
I am not even going to bother writing my opinion of this book, because it was SO good! I think every woman will be able to relate to this book in some way or another. It is an amazing story of two girls as they become women and journey through all of their ups and downs in life. It tackles the teen years, college years, and adult years. As a wife, I can relate to nearly every portion of the book. READ IT! Everyone should read it!
One of the Greats!
I received sad news over the weekend-our close family friend “Mr. Tom” Hayden is no longer with us. He was definitely one of the greats, and I will be at the memorial service tomorrow at St. Mary’s to support his wife, “Ms. Lib”. My heart goes out to her and the rest of their family. He had recently been moved to a nursing home. I have many beautiful, fun, funny, and wonderful memories with him, and I know that he is in a better place, reuntied with my dad!
We’ll all certainly miss our wonderful Tom Hayden.
Weekend Recap
I had another wonderful weekend. Friday, after a long week at work, Dewey and I chose to take it easy. We cooked dinner and watched t.v. and movies most of the night. We always like to catch up with one another on Fridays and relax together.
Saturday, I finally got to see Chuck’s new place! I’m so excited that he finally moved to Greenville! He needed help finding good locations for his artwork and some of his rugs, so Saturday afternoon, I helped him place everything. Once Katherine got into town we went to World Market and found him a great media console for his new place. We had a good time looking around everywhere and getting things set up.
After we ran errands for most of the day, I headed home to get ready! Dewey, Chuck, Katherine, and I all met up with David and Helen at David’s house before dinner. We had a few drinks, and then headed to “Smoke on The Water”. It was delicious! We waited until nearly 8 to head to dinner, yet there was still an hour long wait for us when we arrived. Since we had such a late dinner, afterwards we headed back to David’s instead of going downtown. We hung out at David’s for a while and then we called it a night. (I’ve been really slack lately about bringing my camera around.)
Sunday, I had a day-date with Towe! We had so much fun! First, we were all business at Panera, determining which flights we want to take out to Colorado in May! I think we have it all figured out, and will be buying our tickets in about two weeks! We are so excited! After lunch, we headed to Barnes and Noble to feed our caffeine and book habit. Of course we both got a coffee and a book. I got the Grimm’s fairy tales! I won’t be reading it straight through, because I’ll get too tired of fairy tales, but it is really fun to read periodically. After Barnes and Noble, we headed to Charming Charlie to look at their cute jewelry. Somehow we resisted the urge to buy their stuff, which was very hard to do. Next, I used up the rest of my gift card (thanks again Chuck) to the Loft. It was a beautiful day outside so we enjoyed walking from place to place. After we finished shopping we headed home. We hadn’t had a day-date in forever! It was great to see her and hang out.
Sunday night, Dewey and I watched the Super Bowl at home. We almost went to a party, but we were pretty exhausted from the work week already, and I knew that if I was up late, I’d be worthless Monday morning.
These are the types of weekends that make it nearly impossible to be cheery on Monday. I wish it could have lasted longer!
“The Best of Me” – Nicholas Sparks
I am the first to admit that a cutsie love-story is perfect for a snuggly Sunday inside with a cup of coffee and a bum outfit. However, with the “Best of Me” by Nicholas Sparks, I am left in awe of his inability to recreate himself. Authors and readers alike tend to stick with what they know, choosing to find a genre that ‘works’ for them. With Nicholas Sparks, there is no exception. Unfortunately, his book might as well be called “The Notebook-edited”. The pattern is becoming a bit repetitive: Boy loves girl, boy protects girl by breaking her heart, girl moves on, boy doesn’t, the two meet again, and BOOM! they are back in love. With “The Best of Me”, Nicholas Sparks chose to revert into a pattern that has turned him into a famous author. Sadly, the plot was of the most predictable status. Yes, Sparks creates characters that the readers sympathize towards; yes, Sparks writes very well; and, yes, Sparks is able to produce a book that is hard to put away. However, nearly from the beginning, we are sure that there will be happy endings for some, and sad endings for others.
The story is of two lovers- Amanda and Dawson. Amanda is wealthy, and of a well-respected family. Dawson Cole is the offspring of a family full of criminals. The two fall madly in love, all the while fighting with Amanda’s parents to prove he is not the average Cole. Dawson lives with a man named Tuck, who gives the two a safety-zone for their budding love. Upon seeing the family turmoil, Dawson shocks Amanda with a hasty breakup stating he won’t be the one to hold her back. He (stalkerishly) never falls in love again; Amanda is his one true love. Amanda marries a man named Frank-an alcoholic after their daughter Bea died from cancer. Tuck ultimately dies, but not without plotting to bring Dawson and Amanda together once more. Predictably, sparks fly as the two see each other after 20 years apart. Long engrained family rivalry produces problems for Dawson, as Amanda parallels his tragedy with one of her own.
Although the novel is predictable, the reader is able to wonder what will happen to each of the characters. There are many different sub-stories within the larger. The book is hard to put down, as we read further to seek the safety of our favorite characters.
“The Best of Me” is well written, but repetitive.
