Family Time

I know it has been a while since I posted something new.....my grandfather reminds me of that every time I talk to him. So, I thought I might catch everyone up, however, there isn't much to talk about when you are out of work and stay at home all day.

Recently my parents and their friend Tommy rode their Harley's out for another visit. This time we were fortunate enough to actually get to do something exciting while they were here. We went to Folly Beach, SC for the weekend. Aunt Phyllis and Uncle Reb were nice enough to let us stay in their condo for the weekend and Abby, who lives in the condo, was nice enough to go away for the weekend so we could stay. Thanks to you all! We had a wonderful time! We went to the beach, ate tons of good food, and did a little site seeing in downtown Charleston. Here are a few photos from the trip!

Red hair, fair skin people don't take to the sun well!

After the beach, we went to downtown Charleston to have dinner. Pre-Dinner drinks and appetizers at the Noisy Oyster.

We ate dinner at Hank's. If you ever get the chance to eat there....by all means do! It was so scrumptious!! Mom, Dad and Tommy are still talking about it!

After a fantastic weekend in Folly and Charleston, Mom, Dad and Tommy had to venture on back home. Since I don't work I decided to follow along. I followed them home and spent a week with my family and friends! Here are just a few photos.....I forget about my camera sometimes.

My best friend Kakki.....this picture took 8 trys. They are called photo shoots when it comes to Kakki. Oh, and for those of you who know and remember Kakki....she is happily engaged and getting married this summer on the beach in Florida! I couldn't be happier for her!

Me and Gatlin

My Brother.....we spent lots of quality time together. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I am sure he was indifferent about it.
Last, but certainly not least...Mr. Corbin Max. Corbin is now 6 months old and weighing in at a whopping 24 lbs. Yes, I said that correctly....24 lbs. He was in his carrier about to leave and I picked the carrier up and thought I was going to drop him. He is a growing boy!

The end of my trip could have been the best part. My cousin, Chris, who has been in the Air Force living in Hawaii for 4 years finally made it home. He is now out of the Air Force and has been backpacking through Europe for 2 months and made it home. I got to see him for the first time in over 2 years! He will be making a trek around the Eastern part of the US visiting family and friends before he has to settle down and try and go back to college. He should be in my area around September, so be looking for that post.

I promise the next post will come pretty quickly...my Mom and I leave for Boston in a week!!!

Jackson Patrick O'Hare

One of my dearest friends, Krissy O'Hare, had her first child on yesterday. Jackson Patrick O'Hare was born May 12, 2009 at 2:46 am and was 7 lbs. and 7 oz. of pure Heaven!!!! I am biased, but he is absolutely gorgeous!!!! I went to see Jack yesterday when he was only about 24 hours old and might I say I only hope that I can look like Krissy after giving birth only 24 hours ago. She is a trooper!!! There aren't many pregnant women I know that get up run 1 mile then walk another mile and then go and pick strawberries exactly a week before your due date. That's Krissy!!!

Jack O'Hare. That is daddy Kevin in the background and his shirt said "Fo Shizzle"!!! It was kind of hard to take him serious with that shirt when he was holding Jack. Krissy did not want anywhere near the camera.

Krissy and Kevin are wonderful people and I have no doubts they will be even better parents! I am so extremely happy for them and can't wait to see Jack grow. B will be there!!!!

I am going to see Krissy on Friday when she gets home and Kevin goes to work, so more pictures to come and hopefully I can sneak Krissy in a picture.

Long Random Catch Up

I have been MIA from the blog seen for a while, but all for good reasons. I spent a week in Arkansas with the family. It was my grandmother's 82nd birthday. My aunt and uncle from Florida drove in to surprise her. I was very concerned about surprising an 82 year old woman, but she was a trooper as always! I got some good quality time in with the family and as normal forgot I had a camera, so there are minimal pictures to document this trip. I did get to see Corbin...you might remember him from my Christmas post. I have an updated picture of him.

This is Corbin after everyone had a hand at getting him to sleep. He is really good at fighting sleep! He and I bonded over him throwing up on me and him. It was such a bonding experience!!

My grandmother opening her presents. She is not normally one to love attention, but she made us all sing Happy Birthday to her. Afterwards, she clapped and had a grin from ear to ear. Pretty special moment for us!

My grandparents with their three children....my mom, my aunt (in the orange) and my uncle on the end. These pictures are pretty rare in my family. This hasn't happened since my wedding!

Most of my whole family on my mom's side. We are missing Ashley and my cousin Chris. Maybe one day we can get that picture!

I had a wonderful time with my family and hope to do it again in this month while I have the time. I have had some really pretty things in my flower bed growing and had to take pictures of them to show them off.

This is my Peony plant. I had three blooms this year!! I was so happy b/c last year was only one bloom! Peony's always remind me of my friend Krissee Day!!!

I also had some irises blooming. Ashley and I were really happy with them b/c we just so happen to have some that were orange and some that were white with purple. Even our flowers are Clemson colors! That really was not planned. I don't even remember where these irises came from.

I know it's pretty sad when you post pictures of flowers in your yard, but it is one of my hobbies and when you don't have a job......well, it's pretty much the highlight of your day!

We went to the beach over the weekend with 6 of our friends and had an absolute blast!! It was very relaxing and much needed! We are now gearing up for Mother's Day. I hope everyone has a wonderful Mother's Day!! Maybe next time I can be more interesting!

LA BABY!!!

On Monday, March 30th at around 2 pm, I got a phone call from Amy, my sister-in-law, and she said that she had two tickets to a live taping of Dancing with the Stars on Tuesday March 31st, would I want to go. (Side story: I watch DWTS every week with my father-in-law and my aunt. It is definitely my favorite TV show) After a near heart attack, I told her I was definitely in. The only catch was finding airfare that we could afford and that the tickets weren't guaranteed. We would have to stand in line and get there early to get a seat. We found really reasonable airfare and took our chances on the tickets. If we didn't get in we could still have a couple of days in LA and who complain about that?? We then found a nice hotel that was directly across the street from the DWTS CBS Studios and started packing for our 6:35 am flight Tuesday morning.

This is us on our way from the airport to the hotel. LA BABY!!!

We arrive in LA at 11 am PST and had to take a cab to our hotel, change clothes extremely fast (cocktail/formal attire was required), and walk to the studio to get in line. Luckily we were in line at 12:30 pm PST and they started taking people through security at 3 pm PST, so we were pretty sure about our chances to get in. After we were through security we were seated on benches, but not in the same order we were standing. Amy and I have a theory that they were strategically placing people dressed and looking a certain way in certain parts of the audience. We were then escorted into the ballroom. It looks just like on TV, but the dance floor is very small. It looks much larger on TV. As we were filing in the ballroom, it looked like our seats were going to be at the back of the ballroom and we weren't real excited about it. We were then asked to step to the side and were escorted across the ballroom to our second row seats right at the stage. It was more than amazing or awesome or any word you could come up with!!!!

They taped two segments of the show before the live taping b/c of the different stages. We got to see all of that and the live taping. During the live taping, one of the professional dancers (Tony Dovolani) was waiting to dance while Boys II Men was performing and he sat down on my lap and gave me a hug. I was in complete shock and told him he made my year. If you aren't a fan of the show, this probably means nothing to you, but Amy and I were in amazement. Tony was also, my mother-in-law's favorite dancer so it really made it even more special for us. I inserted a picture of Tony. He is partnered with Melissa Rycroft from the Bachelor this season.

After the taping of the show, we went to The Grove/Farmer's Market that was also across from our hotel. It is an outdoor shopping center with restaurants and trolley that runs through it. Two of the professional dancers, Mark Ballas and Derek Hough, have a band. The band was giving a free concert at The Grove and were signing autographs after the concert. Of course, we were all over this!!!! Also, before the concert, I spotted Steve-O and got his picture. After the concert, Amy spotted her favorite American Idol Danny Gokey and two others and got her picture with them. Here are a few pictures.

Me and Steve-O

Amy and her Idols!!!

Mark Ballas (red shirt) and Derek Hough (gray jacket)

Our autograph session and picture with Mark Ballas and Derek Hough

This is while we were in line waiting to get Mark and Derek's autograph and picture. We had been up for 23 hours at this time. Exhausted!!

The next morning we woke up with an excitement hangover! Not like any other hangover I have ever had, but it was all worth it!! We had the entire day to do whatever we wanted so we sucked it up and got going to explore LA.

The tickets to the shows that are taped at CBS Studios are free, you just have to stand in line. We walked over that morning to see if we could see a taping of any other show and just so happen to get tickets to The Price is Right. Luckily for this show you could go and get a ticket that held your place in line and we didn't have to be back until 1 pm PST. So, we were off to the Kodak Theatre, Walk of Stars and Rodeo Drive. Here are some photos from that adventure.

Hollywood Blvd. (where the walk of stars and Kodak Theatre are located) That is the Roosevelt Hotel in the back ground.

This is looking down Rodeo Drive. Yes, the streets really are lined with palm trees just like in Pretty Woman. This made me supremely happy!

The Tiffany & Co. store on Rodeo Drive.

After Rodeo Drive we had to get back to get our place in line for The Price is Right. Here is a picture of us in line waiting for our interview to see if we would be called to "Come on Down". We did not get to be the next contestant on The Price is Right, but a lady behind us did and she won the Showcase Showdown. Our taping will air tomorrow April 14th, so check us out. You might see us in the audience.

The next morning we had to be on a flight at 8:45 am PST (11:45 am EST) and I pulled in my driveway at 11:00 pm EST. I had such a good time, but was glad to be home and rest. We went full force for 3 straight days.

Just a few thank yous.....Amy, thank you so much for asking me to go. I had the absolute best time and I am so glad it was with you! I love you dearly and we now know each other a little better after this trip. :) Trey, thank you for not being able to go and telling Amy to ask me. Equifirst, thank you for laying me off so that I had no excuse not to go. Big thanks to you! To my hubby, thanks for being excited for me and letting me go. I love you tons!!! OH and thanks to Tony Dovolani for sitting on my lap and making my trip complete. I love him too! :)

It was 2 years ago today.....

that Ashley and I got married!!!! It really doesn't seem like two years to me. Man.....time flies when you are having fun! Literally!!! I married the most caring and kind man. I couldn't ask for anyone better!

Here are a couple of pictures of the night we got engaged (this same day 3 years ago). For some reason I don't have any of this night with just Ashley and I. I have seen one, but don't know where it could be found.

A picture from the honeymoon in Antigua....I really wish we could do that every year!

I have a lack of pictures from my wedding time on my camera and computer. I have great photos from the photographer, I just don't have access to put them on my computer. I have great photos that people have given me that they have taken, I just haven't scanned them. Sorry I don't have any thing better for you! We had an absolutely beautiful wedding that was perfect! We couldn't have asked for anything better!

All-Star Weekend Recap

The Rock Hill YMCA All-Star's almost did it! We came in second place! I know we all like to win, but you can't win them all. We started out with our first game on Saturday morning at 8:30 am. Not only was that hard on the boys, it was very tough for me! We lost that game, but luckily it was a double elimination tournament and we got to play again at 11:30 am. We won that game and had to play at 2:30 pm. We were really playing well at this time and won that game to go on to the championship game at 5:30 pm. By this time every one is tired...players, coaches, parents, and me! Also, by this time Ashley has pretty much lost his voice. The boys give the championship game a valiant effort. They came back and took the lead with only four minutes left in the game. Only to run out of gas and get second place. They truly played their little hearts out for four games. I know I could not have done it! Everyone was so proud! One of the parents offered to buy all the kids and the coaches pizza before going home. It really was so nice and I don't think the boys worried about losing once they heard about the pizza. Ashley completely lost his voice. I think he finally regained it Tuesday afternoon. I put him on a no talking ban for Sunday and Monday, but I am not sure he really listened. All in all it was a great weekend, just a really long Saturday. I spent 12 hours in a YMCA watching basketball in Anderson, SC.

The Rock Hill YMCA 11-12 year old All-Star Team

One last team huddle

The WONDERFUL Coaches...Kyle (l), Ashley, Drew (r)

I just found out that Ashley does read the blog and I need to make a correction. In the previous blog, I stated that he coached the wrong age group. He has always coached 9-1o year olds and 11-12 year olds. My bad!

Proud Wife/"That" Wife

For the past couple of years, Ashley has coached two YMCA basketball teams. Last year he had the 8-9 year olds and 10-11 year olds. This year he had the 10-11 and 11-12 year olds. This year the older team won the league championships in a game that was a nail biter!! It came down to the last seconds....the last 16 seconds to be exact. The boys won by only one point!!! So, that means the coaches of the league champions get to pick the players and coach the All-Star team. Ashley coaches with three of his friends Drew Jackson, Chris Bailey, Kyle Neely. This weekend we are off to Anderson, SC, to the All-Star tournament.

This is a picture of the Morgan Construction Company League Champions. Chris and Ashley are on the back row on the far left. Drew, who shorter than most of the kids on the team, is on the back row second from the right with the glasses and Kyle is next to him in the back.

I have to say that I am so excited for this weekend! Watching my husband coach these kids makes me SO proud of him. He (all with all the other guys) does a great job and is so wonderful with the kids. Not only does he do a wonderful job, he is extremely dedicated to the kids and the team. There is not a practice or game that he is not present for.

So, while Ashley is doing a great job coaching.........his wife is doing a terrible job at being a coach's wife. Oh, I am the crazy lady in the stands yelling.....normally at the refs. Ashley plays on two different church league basketball teams aside from coaching. Yes, in one league I was asked by the ref to be quite or leave (this happened at our church, the one we got married in). In a different league, I got into it with the wife of a player on the other team. Only to find out later she is very good friends with my sister-in-law. Yes, I do know we are at the YMCA and it is all fun and games, but I can't help it. If you don't know me, I am SUPER competitive. To the point, Ashley and I don't play games together. I can cheer him on, but I could NOT play for him, help him coach or be on his team. Oh and by the way.....he is just as bad as me in competitive department.

Yes, at the championship game for the older kids a couple of weeks ago, I did exchange words with a lady in the stands. Her son played on the other team. However, for the first time.....it WAS NOT my fault. She was just listening to my conversation. I have people who can vouch for that for me.

So....wish us good luck in the All-Star tournament. I have been told by the coaching staff that our team should easily win. Oh, and going to be on my best behavior. PROMISE!