Renovations

We have been undergoing some pretty big renovations around here. Jeff and I have been talking about hardwood floors for a long time. Our carpet is the original stuff and not the best stuff. The house is only 5 years old and the carpet looks like it is 15 years old. Jeff did his research and convinced me (after I was worried sick) that he could do the job himself. We picked out the wood we wanted and the project began. Because of Jeff's work schedule, the project is slow-going, but the floors look great and Jeff is having a great time. One room is complete and in about 5 minutes, room number 2 will be done.

The blue tape holds everything together tightly until the glue dries.

The man with the skills fitting in the last piece.

Cooking Oil

With my newly discovered allergies, eating out requires many more questions. The peanut allergy seems to be the biggest one. Sometimes waiters/waitresses are overly worried about it. We had a waiter at Outback in North Myrtle Beach tell us that they did not use peanut oil in the restaurant, but that some of their food came from factories that also processed peanuts. Good work, Outback waiter!

Then we get the folks who are completely bothered and almost ticked off that we even ask. Hello, people! This is literally life or death for me!! Take a look at this trip we took to Wendy's.

Jeff: Sir, what kind of oil do you use in your fryers?

Drive-thru guy: Uh....well....um....we use cooking oil.
(sidebar in the car between Jeff and SE: cooking oil??? That's like saying, "what kind of pencil do you use?" and having someone answer, "A writing pencil!")

Jeff: Sir, my wife has a peanut allergy and we want to make sure that the french fries are not cooked in peanut oil.

DTG: Oh, I don't think we use peanut oil.

Jeff: Well, we need to know for sure so could you find out for sure.

DTG: (with an immediate answer...could not possibly have had time to even ask someone) We do use peanut oil.

Jeff: Thanks. (and he drives off)

Jeff and I knew that the guy had not asked anyone and they probably didn't use peanut oil, but I would rather him tell me yes and be wrong than tell me no and be wrong.

Birthday Fun

So for all three of you who read my blog...maybe you knew this about me...maybe you didn't.

I LOVE NASCAR.

I take that back.

I love some good ole redneck car racing of any kind. Drag strips. Two young bucks on a country road. Talladega. Doesn't matter. I love it.

Is it the wrecks? Perhaps.
The suspense of the final lap? Oh yeah.
Is the people? Um...oh YEAH.

Jeff and I were introduced to a show on the History Channel called Madhouse. It is a reality show that documented the lives of handful of guys who race at Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, NC. We loved this show because these people are crazy about racing (and maybe just a little crazy in general... ut in a healthy way). When the show ended we were a little sad, but thanks to the Internet, we located the Bowman Gray website and race schedule. Things totally fell into place. My birthday fell on a race day, Jeff had the weekend off, and (drum roll please) it was $1 Ladies Night! It was unanimously decided that we would drive up, watch the races, and drive back. My little sis, Bekah, joined us and off we went.

Waiting to go in the stadium. We were about an hour early and it was HOT.

They were giving free stuff away all night, ranging from a free meal at Waffle House to a riding lawnmower. They announced that they would flash a date on the screen and if it was your's, you would win a gift certificate. Sure as the world, they showed Jeff's. He won a $25 gas card so we actually made money on this trip.

There were several races (between 6-8) followed up by a demolition derby. They racers we watched on television and pulled for (Go Myers brothers!) race the cars you see above, which are called modifieds.

Check out all the people! A man who was in line with us had been to a race two weeks before and he told us to immediately go and find a seat when we got in because he had to stand during the last race [even though the stadium holds 10,000 people].

Bekah and I taking it all in. In the first lap of the first race, a car completely flipped in the air and hit the wall. All of the metal unfolded itself off the car as it flipped. The driver was okay...okay enough to try to fight the guy that hit him. Jeff and I thought it was cool. Bekah was completely traumatized.

We forgot to buy earplugs so I figure all three of us will be in line to purchase our hearing aids before all of you.

We had so much fun and plan to take in one more race before the end of the season.

Where Were You on the Night of July 24, 2009?

I was right here at the Hoop-De-Do Revue at Fort Wilderness in Disney World, enjoying a little finger foods with my peeps for my birthday.



For my birthday this year, I will be here, at Bowman Gray Stadium, enjoying a little bit of redneck modified NASCAR racing. And yes, there will be pictures.

Cuteness

Toward the end of last week, I made the not-so-long (if you don't get lost) trek to meet Miss E.Claire and visit with Cam, Heather, and Jason. Here are just a few pictures (because there are so many more).

The Late Show with E.Claire

E.Claire and big sis, Camryn

Tonight, Jeff and I went to Abbeville for Grayson's first birthday. Grayson is my sweet friend, Hannah's, youngest.

Big sister, Claire, slam-dunking on her brother's new basketball goal. Each shot was followed with jubilant clapping and an "I did it!"

Cute cousin Peyton sippin' on her Capri Sun.

Birthday Boy Grayson enjoying his cake.

Baby Love

We have been inundated with babies these days. From college friends to high school friends to church friends to old friends, we have been seeing photos of, visiting, holding, and buying gifts for lots of babies. And I personally am loving every minute of it.

This July officially marks 3 years of Jeff and I not preventing pregnancy (after 3 years, I am tired of saying "trying"). The first year was okay. A few tears here or there, but no real worries. After some testing, we started on some fertility help, but after a miserable 3 months, we decided we were done with that.
I was furious. This stuff was supposed to work! I was supposed to be pregnant and I wasn't month after month! I was very angry with God. Had He seen how great my husband was with kids? No problems with a fussy one or even a dirty diaper. And me...the only jobs I have ever had involved children. I mean, I practically raised a set of twins that I babysat for. Were we just not good enough?

After much prayer and buckets of tears and still no baby, I am completely content. God has taught me several lessons through all of this. The biggest one for me is the realization that He is in total control. I remind myself of that daily (sometimes hourly, especially when I don't like what's going on). He is laying out what is best for our family every second of every day. How can I be unhappy about that?! He has also taught me that He picked the most perfect person to walk beside me. Can't say much more about that guy without tearing up.

With all of that being said, God is giving us a little nudge to open ourselves up to different options for enlarging our family. Fostering, adopting, and fertility treatments are all on the table at this point, and I feel like God is saying, "Go ahead. I've got it all figured out."

Top 12 Things I Love About a Cruise - Part 2

Picking up where we left off...

6. Towel Art and other bedtime stuff
I loved coming in to our stateroom after dinner to see the bed turned down, our "Fun Times" telling us the next day's activities, our chocolates, and our towel animals. Can you guess the animals?

animal 1

animal 2

animal 3

animal 4

1-walrus, 2-jazzy rabbit with sunglasses, 3-chillin' by the pool rabbit, 4-elephant

5. Crazy games and activities.

Our cruise included two full days at sea. This means there are tons of activities to participate in and/or laugh at. We watched people do sound-bite trivia, minute to win it games, and so on.

Guys on one side and girls on the other. You guessed it: Time for a heated game of Battle of the Sexes.

Ladies cheering "You can't do that!" when the men are caught bending the rules.

4. Music and other spontaneous entertainment

There was no shortage of music on this cruise. Every kind you can imagine folks. And I loved the random acts of entertainment, even when it happened in my stateroom.

The Fantasy Band, my personal favorite group on the ship

Some reggae dudes, my personal by-the-pool favorite

One of our table-mates dancing with Sherwin, our waiter. All of the waiters and assistants danced for us one night in the dining room. I had a hard time keeping my seat because I love to kick up my heels.

This would be Jeff's impersonation of a fly (this is also the entertainment in my stateroom).

This guy and another guy randomly popped up on the ship to break dance. They were known as the Fun Force. Both of them had tried out for So You Think You Can Dance and made it to the third round. They were very entertaining and I loved how they seemed to just pop out of thin air.

Our ship had two water slides and this was the first thing Jeff wanted to do once we were settled into our stateroom. Woooo hoooooo!

3. Jewelry

You can get some amazing deals on jewelry in the Bahamas, and it is the real stuff (we have the papers to prove it). Two words folks: duty free!

Blue and white diamond earrings. These actually uncoil and become a dangling earring with the blue diamonds at the bottom.

This ring has blue diamonds on one side and when you separate the two bands and flip them over, there are black diamonds on the other side.

2. Midnight buffet

This had to be a separate entry from food because there is nothing like having a piece of pizza, a chocolate ice cream, and a hot chocolate at midnight after laughing your head off at a comedian, watching a great show, or shaking your groove thing. I deleted this picture accidentally, but I will upload it later.


1. KARAOKE

We ended most every night with a good hour of karaoke watching (too chicken to participate). We heard some great stuff and some not so great stuff. We witnessed some random people singing together, a few back up dancers, and some great sing-a-longs.

R-E-S-PECT...find out what it means to me.

This act was a family affair with sons backing up their father.

I do not remember what this guy was singing, but the guy in red felt the song needed a little Irish step dance to make it complete.