The Fair

Sunday night Mom, Dad, Ashlyn and I all headed off the the good ole Catawba County Fair. I hadn't been there in a very long time so I really wasn't sure what to expect. There were all sorts of people there. Definitely very diverse crowds. Britt was working, so unfortunately he wasn't able to go with us.
We ate hotdogs and french fries, corndogs, sundrop. After eating we took Ashlyn to see the animals. First we saw the cows. We left that are pretty quick after one almost peed on us, and another almost pooped on us. It was not a pretty picture. =) Then we let ashlyn feed the goats. She enjoyed that, and so did the goats. I don't know how they are even hungry with all of the people there feeding them.
After the animals we were off to the rides. Ashlyn is going to love big rides when she gets older, because she loved every one of them at the fair. She could have rode and rode and rode all night long. She absolutely loved it! Her favorite was Dumbo. Mom and I decided to put her on the Tilt a whirl with us. She was enjoying it until we started spinning very fast continuously. I was SOOOO dizzy when I got off of that dern ride. Mom and I were laughing hysterically. Ashlyn was fine though as long as she had our hands to squeeze. She was a little trooper!
We then listened to the music and watched the fireworks. It was a great night. I'm like Moriah, I really didn't know what to expect, but seeing that perma-grin on Ashlyn's face all night made the fair that much more fun! It was great!

Catawba County Fair

Mom, Ashlyn and me on the Tilt-a-whirl. Whooo, what a ride! =)

Ashlyn showing her tongue and her tonsils! Dumbo was her favorite ride. Can you tell?

I hated this roller coaster. I think that Ashlyn loved it though! It was SOOOO jerky. I have bruises all over my knees from this stupid ride. =)

This goat was eating Ashlyn's skirt. =)

Much needed....

I am so happy to have a long weekend! I have been sick with some sort of virus this week, so I am so thankful to have an extra long weekend to recover. Mom, Ashlyn, and I were hoping to head to the beach this weekend, but since we're not sure what the weather is going to be like we are going to stay in town. We don't want to get stuck in Labor Day traffic and then have terrible weather. That would really suck!
I guess that I'll use the weekend to go through Ashlyn's clothes and get rid of a ton of things that no longer fit her. Does anyone know of anybody that would want some baby girl clothes? I also plan to use one day for a good house cleaning; walls, base boards, everything. There is so much that needs to be done around our house. We still haven't even touched the basement yet. We are trying to decide if we will tile the entire basement, or just the half where we pulled the carpet up. I told Britt that if we tile half of it, we ought to go ahead and tile the entire thing. It will be alot of work though. Ashley - would Jon be interested in taking a look at it to see if he might be interested in the work and giving us an estimate? If so just let me know. He could probably get it done alot quicker than we could.
Some good news - we finally have furniture for our formal living room. Yippee!! This room has been bare for over a year now, but not anymore. A friend of ours is remodeling some rooms in their house, so we bought their furniture for a very small price. It looks like new, so we got a new sofa and love seat for almost nothing. Also, we are getting a swing set for Ashlyn for free. Can you believe that? She is going to LOVE it! I can't wait to see here face light up when she sees it! and you know that I LOVE FREE!!!
I hope that you all have a great Labor Day weekend. I'll keep you posted on mine. I'm sure that nothing exciting will happen, but if it does I'll let you know. =)

Bachelorette Weekend in Wilmington

A dear friend of mine, Ginger, is getting married September 23. We took her to Wilmington this weekend for her bachelorrette weekend. Five of us packed in Ginger's car. It was cramped, but we made it. Whooooo Hoooooo. We went to the beach on Friday, and then got ready for a great dinner. We ate at Great place called the Oceanic. They have the best food around.
After eating, we went over to Ashley's house to give Ginger her gifts, and her 'Special Cake'.

Saturday, we went to wings to get a few nik naks. Then we headed to the beach. We laid out on the beach all afternoon. We decided to change and head to Red Robbins for dinner. We need a Red Robin in Hickory, or somewhere close. Their burgers were off the chain!
Then off to the hotel to get ready for Rum Runners.

Finally we were all ready to head to Rum Runners. FUN FUN FUN!!!!! This is a dualing piano bar. They got Ginger on stage. It was the funniest thing! Next time that I go to Wilmington, I'm definitely going to this place. It was GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope you enjoy these pictures

Ashlyn and Carly

Ashlyn and Carly are the best of friends. I took her over to Carly's house Sunday evening and they played and played. We were going to go to the campground Sunday night, but Ashlyn was absolutely exhausted. These are a few pictures of the girls being their sassy little selves.

Campmeeting =)

GRAYSON IN HIS WAGON. CUTIE!!!
ASHLYN PUSHING HER BABY STROLLER.
ASHLYN PLAYING WITH HER FRIEND ACCROSS THE STREET.
GRANDPA DRUM AND ASHLYN. PRICELESS!!!!

OK....

So no pictures yet. I couldn't get my computer to cooperate with me last night. I'll try again tonight.

I just need a moment to vent. I'll try to make it quick. =) I know that life throws you many curve balls, but geez. Can't a girl get a break? Our microwave - still broken. Our china cabinet - still no glass. While we were gone to the beach we had so much rain that our basement flooded. Britt and my dad had to pull up half of the carpet downstairs. It is completely RUINED!!We have only been in the house for a year now after a fire and now we have flood damage. One extreme to the other. UGGGHHHHH!!!!! So now we are going to have to tile it or something. Which is going to be a butt load of money. Then Britt was going to play golf in Hickory yesterday and his truck wouldn't start, so he drove his Dad's old Oldsmobile. He got to Hickory and then it died on him. He broke down on Hwy 127 and had to leave the car there. Thank goodness a friend was following him and he was able to have a ride home.

I know that things could be a lot worse. At least we are healthy and have a roof over our head. We have awesome friends and family. I shouldn't be whining and complaining, but it seems as if we can never save money due to something breaking. Really, am I just a drama queen, or does it seem as if it is always something? And not just a little something. It's usually something major. It's just so frustrating. You get knocked down and as soon as you get back on your feet, bam your down again.

Ok. I'm finished griping now. I'm just so happy that I have the campground to look forward to for the next week. Going out there helps take my mind off of everything for a while.

Ashlyn LOVES Campmeeting!!

I can't believe that I have found someone who loves the campground more than me. I can't get Ashlyn to leave at night. She could play and play and play. Oh my gosh she love it!!!
Here are a few pictures from the campground.

Pictures from our beach trip

Some words of wisdom and humor =)

1. My nickname at work is now Marilyn Monroe. Yes I showed my ass at work. I mean literally showed my ass. I wore a dress to work on Monday and walked out in the warehouse to get a snack. I felt a little breeze under there. Sure enough my dress blew right up to my back. LOL!!!! I turned around in a hurry to see if anyone saw me. Only April, a girl I work with, saw me. When I turned around she was laughing hysterically. She got a full moon, and by lunchtime everyone at work knew about it. That's how I got my new name. =)

2. Why do I attract the biggest losers ever? It seems like anytime that I am pumping gas or in line somewhere, the grocery store for instance, I always have the trashiest loser in the entire store hit on me. What is the deal? Yesterday I had a man walk up to me while pumping gas, and say "I told my girlfriend that I was going to come over here and talk to this fine girl. I'm trying to make her mad. So what's your name pretty lady?" LEAVE ME ALONE!!!!!!

3. I'm sooo ready for a vacation! Can you tell?

4. It's finally time for campmeeting! I just love this time of year. Everytime that August comes around I think of the campground. I have so many great memories there! I'm sure that this year will be one of the best yet. I'll probably lose about 10 lbs chasing Ashlyn around. =)

5. Girls another fashion tip. Stop paying to have your eyebrows waxed. Just buy the eyebrow shapers. They are peel off. No mess, no fuss. And so much cheaper. You get a box of 30 for $5. They work great too!

6. Why do we still not have our glass replaced in our china cabinet? And why is our microwave STILL BROKEN???? I swear there is not such thing as GOOD customer service anymore. Get with the program people!!!!!!

7. Why are all of my flowers dying from the heat and dry weather, but weeds are popping up like crazy? Am I the only one who wonders how that happens?

I Feel Good!

Horray!!! I feel so much better this week. I went back to the doctor last Thursday, and since my regular doctor was on vacation I had to go to another doctor at a different location. This doctor was amazing! I think that I may switch all of my records over to his office. He told me that he thought that I was probably having migraines maybe once a month, but he thought that my constant recurring headaches are severe tension headaches. He started me on a different daily medication, and also gave me something new for my headaches to take when they first start coming on. I couldn't believe how personable this doctor was. I felt like I could discuss any problems that I was having with him. I just feel like he really evaluated all of my problems and gave me the care that I've been needing all along.
I really do feel like a brand new person. I am still getting small headaches, but my new medicine will take a couple of weeks to start taking full effect. He told me to stop sweating the small stuff. Stress is a huge cause of these headaches. So anyways, hopefully this doctor was my saving grace. =)
I just wish that this week would hurry on up! We are leaving for the beach on Saturday and staying for a whole week. I am SOOOO READY!!! We are going with Britt's family. My parents are also coming down on Thursday, so they will also get to see Ashlyn at the beach this year. She is going to be loving life! I'm kind of worried about how she'll act when we get back home. She will probably be a little devil. She'll have both of her Nana's down there, Pappaw Drum, and her cousin's Reid and Alaina to spoil her rotten. Oh my!! =) We're in trouble!

South Mountain State Park

The waterfall at the top.

Sunday afternoon we went with another couple to South Mountain State Park. I had never been there before. The couple that we went with have a yellow lab puppy, so we decided to take one of our labs along with us to enjoy the trails. We decided to take Nate, since he is the calmer of the two. Well Layla went crazy when she saw that he was getting to go somewhere and she wasn't. I felt really bad. I know they are just dogs, but I told Britt that we can't show partiality, so we put Layla in the back of the truck and off we went. Three dogs, Steven, Rebecca, Me, Britt, and Ashlyn all piled in Britt's truck.

We got to the park and started our journey. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into. I thought that it was going to be a park with some walking trails and picnic areas. It was all of that plus a bunch of rocks and hills to climb. I started off carrying Ashlyn, but after about 10 minutes of that I was worn out. Britt and I switched. I told him that I would much rather walk the dogs than to carry her. She's light as a feather, but when you are climbing up a mountain in 90 degree weather 26 lbs can make a huge difference.
Sweet sweet Rebecca offered to help me out with one of the dogs so she took Layla and I had Nate. We stopped half way up the mountain and let the dogs go swimming in the river. Nate has OCD when it comes to water. Once he gets in you can't get him out. He just swims around and around. I've never seen a dog who loves the water so much. We finally got all of the dogs out of the water and were ready to head up the mountain. Well Layla decided to take take off running while Rebecca was climbing across the rocks through the river, and pulled her off of a rock right into the water. I felt so bad! She was ok, but I think her cell phone bit the dust.
After Layla acting like an idiot I decided to walk both of them. I did not want my spaz dogs causing anyone to fall off of the mountain. There were so many rocks and steps to climb. I just knew that if I fell the dogs would just drag me up the mountain.
We finally made it, and I didn't fall any. The waterfall at the top was beautiful. It was definitely worth all of the hard work!
After catching our breath we headed back down the mountain. I normally would not even think about jumping into a river in the mountains. Not that the water is nasty, but the thought of snakes in the water makes my skin crawl. But by that afternoon I was ready to hop in any kind of water that I could find just to cool off. The water was calling my name. I jumped right in (with my tennis shoes on my feet in fear of stepping on a snake). The water was ICE cold. It literally took my breath away, but boy did it feel good to cool off.
All in all it really was a really great trip. And the nice thing was that it was only about a 40 minute drive from the house. Next time we will have to leave either the dogs or Ashlyn at home. All three were about too much to handle. Ashlyn enjoyed it, but she was exhausted by the evening. I'm really not sure why because she didn't do any of the climbing. Britt and I should have been the ill ones. =)
It was a great way to end the weekend!

I Finally have pictures of Halle's Birthday Party!

John Luke with Mommy Marcie. Isn't he adorable? =)
Ashlyn with "mommy" Bibi and Halle
Ashlyn and Daddy
Halle opening her gifts with a little help from all of the other children.

No sympathy

I'm not trying to be a whiner (hmm hmm Kellie =0), but I got another small migraine yesterday, and I didn't complain all day long. I decided to give my Imitrex another try after the horrible experience that I had the first time I took it. I broke off a very tiny piece of the pill yesterday afternoon and just hoped and prayed that this little amount would ease my headache without making me feel as if my heart is going to jump out of my chest.
The medicine did help relieve my headache, but not like it did last week. Last week my headache was gone in 30 minutes. I also still had the same side effects, though not as strong, but I did still have them. Call me crazy, but I don't like feeling like my heart is beating out of control. I mean that's just scary. This medicine has been linked to causing heart attacks in some patients. I just think that there is something in this particular drug that does not agree with my body.
I didn't complain all night last night. Britt already says that I complain with headaches enough as it is, so I just dealt with it in silence. This morning the headache came back. I know now that I am NOT taking the Imitrex ever again, so I called the doctor's office to see if there is something else that they can prescribe for me. Just my luck the office is only open half a day all week, and since I called after lunch no one was there.
I hadn't talked to Britt all day, so I called him to see how his day is going. While we were talking I mentioned that I had another terrible headache and he proceeds to tell me "Big deal. My mom gets headaches all the time too. There's nothing wrong with you." Let me just tell you that I am about in tears right now. I just WISH that he could experience the pain of the headaches that I am having and then lets see what he has to say. I mean why can't he show me any sympathy? I'm not asking to be babied, but at least show me that you care!

Not the brightest bulb...

This is a good one.

Our phones are down at work. After one of our customers trying for a few hours to call and fax an order, he decided to email us to see if something was wrong with our phone line. A guy I work with emailed him back notifying him that we are having problems with our phones, but if he needs anything to just email us. The customer emailed us back the order with a note at the bottom. I swear this is what it read word for word - "I know that you are having problems with your phones, but next time please CALL (and it was in all caps) to let us know about these problems." WHAT?!?!?!?!?!