DADDY & DAUGHTER

Happy Birthday to my DAD!!

There is no other person I'd rather share my last name with, my love for Eastern NC, my love for NCSU, my love for food, and the memories of my grandmother with.  I still wish you could have shared your green eyes with me, then maybe my blog name would have been better  :)

All jokes aside, I hope your day is simply fabulous, and that you know how much I appreciate you always being a part of my life, near or far.  I LOVE YOU!

*Sorry for taking a picture of a picture with my phone...I know the quality is no good but I just had to share.

my birthday one month later

I've told you once, but I feel like I need to say it everytime...I am sorry for being such a slack blogger.  This post is from my birthday, although it was late March and it is mostly pictures I just wanted to share  :)  We had dinner at The Broken Eagle downtown Kinston and then met up with more friends at the House of Wang and it was such a fun night.  I am extremely thankful for the friends and family that God has blessed me with.

Josh & Ashley Deaver..my very first best friend I can always count on.

Joseph & I 

Mallory, my sweet little helper

Patrick & Ashley, who so graciously made it to dinner after moving into their 'temporary' house ALL day and having to take cold showers..love them.

Mom & Lisa, BFF's

SISTERS!

Andrews' men

And there you have a quick glimpse of my birthday dinner.  I was blessed with a Michael Kors watch, a Bailey's Gift Certificate, CAbi sweater, "the" Nine West nude heels I drooled over, money, a tervis tumbler, some new wine, a sassy new purple clutch, and a fabulous napkin holder.  Now I just have to get used to my new age  :)

TOOTHLESS T's

So, we are two kickball games into the season...and our record is 0-2...not something to be excited about!  It would be nice to leave the field with a win, but we will take the loss as long as we are having fun and not getting hurt.  I mention 'not getting hurt' due to a game last year that caused one of our players to loose his two front teeth.  And he didn't have a jacked up mouth either, he had pretty, pearly white, straight teeth.  You see, that's what happens when you play 'ball sports' and you don't call the ball!!  Although I never was a 'ball sport' person, that game in particular showed me the importance of teaching kids early on to claim your game!!  Who knew kickball would be so dangerous!!  Two of our guys both went full-force for the ball in the outfield and collided.  Guy #1 elbowed Guy #2 directly in the mouth.  Guy #1 ended up catching the ball and we got the out, while Guy #2 ran off the field and motioned to another teammate (who just happened to be a nursing student) to take him to the ER.  Mind you, his hand was cupped under his chin, full of blood, and his two front teeth were literally, poking out of his top lip.  If you look closely at my team picture I posted before, you might can see Guy #2's missing teeth.  He was such a good sport about it, and even came to games after that one to support our team.  He also interviewed for a full time job at Spirit Aerosystems prior to getting his implants (aka, with no front teeth) and got the job!  Guy #1 had to have stitches in his elbow, and he is still playing with us this year.  Guy #2, however, was inspiration for our new team name.  Last year, we were 'Kickin It Old School', and this year we are the 'Toothless T's'.  Guy #2 approved of our name prior to having our tee shirts made, and I can honestly say the name is starting to grow on me.  Guy #2 has not quite made it to the field this year just yet...

 

You may have noticed the term 'ball sports' above...yes, I created that myself.  I danced and cheered growing up, and attempted to play soccer once in high school.  Basically, I lasted on the soccer team for about 3 weeks, aka, long enough to get a sweet hoodie that I still wear today.  I consider cheerleading as much of a team sport as any other sport, therefore I always feel the need to identify 'ball sports' from others.  I'm not going into a lot of detail with my reasoning, because that's not the point I'm trying to make here.  The point is, this 'non-ball sports playing girl', caught an air ball and got an opposing player OUT in our second game!!  I don't know who I impressed more, my teammates or myself!!haha.

KICKBALL DEBUT

We have our first kickball game tonight!  That's right, I know you're thinking about playing kickball in elementary school on the tiny field, but I'm talking adult kickball!  This is our second year playing and I'm so excited I can't contain myself.  And by excited I mean I am ready to get out there and kick the ball as hard as I can, only for the pitcher to catch it mid-air.  Excited means that I enjoy the adrenaline rush when I am brave enough to play in the outfield, but when the ball gets anywhere near me, I look around for the closest guy on the field and allow him to show off by catching or throwing for me.  Excited means our team has better cheerleaders than any other team.  Seriously, we have 3 current high school cheerleading coaches on the team, and I think all but 1 or 2 of the other girls also cheered while in school.  We were not your average ball-sport girls.  We are also the ones who usually enjoy being the catcher!  Excited also involves huge team dinners after games that include adult beverages as our very own personal reward, win or lose.  This picture is of our team last year, "Kickin' It Old School", although some of the people have been replaced but it is mostly the same crew this year.  I highly recommend you check your local Parks & Rec. Department to see if they offer adult kickball.  It is a great spring co-ed sport for your weeknight activities!

frustration

As I've stated before, I am blocked from blogger at work.  This is very very extremely aggravating.  I got the bright idea last week that I would write an email to myself, and then I would copy/paste the email's contents from my smartphone to blogger for a new post.  During working hours.  "WHAT?", you say?  If you only knew how excited I was for my newly invented trick.  Until I got to blogger and could not paste my text!  I repeat, I could not paste my text!!  I had logged in on my phone, everything looked the same as always, and I thought it was going to be a piece of cake while I surprised my friends with a post during business hours on a day that I was working.  WRONG!!  I tried multiple times for a good 30 minutes.  FAIL.  EPIC FAIL!  So then, not only was I mad at myself for spending time doing something non-work related while at work, I was mad because I practically wasted my time in general when my plan didn't even work!!  SO, my apologies for not being a creative go-getter and keeping up with this blog-world.  I confess, I get sucked into Criminal Minds on Wednesday nights.  I can also sit and watch HGTV for hours on end.  No lie.  But I do occasionally come up with good blog topics and I apologize that I have let you all down.  I am going to try to create some scheduled posts and remember to blog on a regular basis.  I know I've said this before, but it gets frustrating when I don't have the time, can't access the site, and my home computer is antique.  OK, my computer is not really antique style like the humongous monitor I had in college, but apparently laptops 5 years ago weren't made for a million pictures and I am too scared to delete them all.  I keep telling myself this is why my computer hums to me on a regular basis, and my battery life without the power cord is literally, one minute.  Maybe one day I will do some research and make a decision on the best computer for my needs.  I hope that day is soon.  However, I think an advanced smartphone is more affordable and realistic for the near future!  Please bare with me and I hope to be back in the regular blog-world soon!

Double Date Night

Last Wednesday, we had dinner with my dad and Diane and it was so nice!  We don't get to see each other often, but I am simply impressed that my dad has a smartphone and uses BlackBerry Messenger  :)  that has been a great way for us to keep up with each other a little better.  Since they live in Newport and his work schedule is never the same (he is gone for days at a time & then home for a few before heading back out), we got the idea to plan a dinner for one night in the month of April.  We decided it could be a late celebration for my birthday, and an early celebration for his birthday (April 30) and Joseph's (April 22).  Originally, the plan was for Joseph and I to go to their house and enjoy some of my dad's chicken wings.  However, it works out best for all of us that we get together on a weeknight, so I mentioned meeting halfway in New Bern since Newport is a good hour drive for us.  I told my dad the three good local restaurants in New Bern, being Captain Ratty's, Morgan's, and The Chelsea.  He browsed their menus online and told me exactly what I wanted to hear when he had decided the place.................MORGAN'S!!  That is my favorite and I can hardly wait to meet them there in a few short hours!!  This post was originaly written last Wednesday but I could never post it so I will keep the excitement for your imagination.
I have come to a realization that my dad and I always manage to find a way to talk about food.  Whether it's a new restaurant he has tried or a new restaurant I am trying.  It could be that he tells me of their latest home cooked meal, or I might tell him of Joseph's latest kitchen creation.  I think it's safe to say that I get my love for good food honest!

I can proudly confess that I eat whatever I want to eat, although I try to stay on the healthy side of things.  It doesn't always happen though.  Especially at Sunday Lunch at 'Grandma Jean's'.  However, this is my reasoning for working out - so if I want to have fried chicken, fresh green beans, homemade biscuits & gravy, creamed corn, homestyle potatoes, strawberry shortcake, and sweet tea every Sunday - I CAN!!  I try not to indulge in meals like that often, but it is impossible to pass up lunch at Joseph's grandmother's house on Sundays.  The. Best. Meals. To. Ever. Hit. My. Mouth.  PERIOD.  My goal in life is to be able to cook as good as she can one day.  Maybe one day.

I always look forward to a good meal, is that bad?haha.  My coworker Amy & I are going went to Pizza Villa for lunch today last Wednesday, which is another favorite local restaurant of mine.  She is from New Jersey, so I had to break her in to one of Kinston's finest eateries, and now she loves it.  I thoroughly enjoy sharing my happy times with others, and I hope my dad enjoys Morgan's tonight as much as I do!

*Now it has been 6 days since we met for dinner, and I can say that we all enjoyed our meals.  It was agreed that we should meet in New Bern more often as it was a 35 minute drive either way, and they have a lot more to offer than Kinston or Newport!!  Maybe this can become a once a month ritual  :)

yes, I am still alive..

I often say to people that I haven't heard from in a while, "Oh, so you are still alive!"  Yes, it is a slightly smart response but it is something that I have always said when I miss someone.  So if you have missed me, I'M BACKKKKKKK!  Our training classes at work are over (woooooo!), and this upcoming week will be my first normal 5 day work week since January I do believe.  Maybe not, but it sure feels like it.  I don't have any after-hour visits and I should work 7:30-4:30 Monday through Friday.  That rarely happens!  I can not tell you enough how aggravating it is being blocked from blogger at work.  Google Reader is the next best thing, but if I want to see pictures on anyone's blog, it involves me having to use the ol' Blackberry.  Have I ever mentioned how I dislike having to use the blackberry for internet purposes?  Joseph has a Droid and it has really spoiled me.  They seem so much quicker and clearer and easier to use when navigating the World Wide Web.  Anyway, I rarely comment blogs because of this and I definitely don't post as much as I would like since we are blocked.  Since my work seems to be at a steady pase these days and my evenings are now free, I am going to try and get back in the habit of posting and I hope it will keep you all entertained.  Ashley, of The Deaver Family, has really gotten into her blogging and I so enjoy her daily posts because they are always so funny!  She has given me a hard time lately because I've not been posting, so I have a few up my sleeve and hope to return as a regular blogger soon!

I will share with you that Joseph joined me in 'Body Combat' this morning.  HI-LARIOUS!  He lasted the entire class, and claimed that the push-ups & sit ups were the 'only bad part'.  I am anxious to see how sore he is tomorrow!!  This afternoon, we are going to Mother Earth Brewery to hear a band and enjoy some time with good friends.  The boys are looking forward to grilling out tonight and watching the Final Four games.  I really wish there was still a team in the ACC to pull for, but at least I will be un-biased tonight.  Hope you all have a wonderful Saturday!