Christmas Christmas Hurry Fast....

I said "goodbye" to my favorite sister today...until CHRISTMAS! That seems so far away...

I love my Lil Sis. Mom and I helped her shop for her upcoming trip to Australia.

Her and BIL will be there for 2 weeks in November.

My sister and I are different in so many ways...

She is 5'10" and skinny...I am 5'1" and not so skinny.

I am adopted and she is not.

I have children and she does not.

I am a country girl at heart...she loves the city.

I am a christian...she is not.

How do you hug someone in August...

and say goodbye...until CHRISTMAS!

Lots of tears...

I had a great visit and I am really really really going to miss my Lil Sis. Please say a prayer for me...I am flying to my parents' home today. Then on Friday I will be driving the 4 hours to my home. I can't wait to squeeze my favorite people!

The Results of My Accidental "Artisty-ness"

Please exscuse my made up word in the title I just finished watching Real Housewives of New Jersey and Teresa was talking ALOT!

We picked up our pottery yesterday. This is Lil Sis's bone canister for my furry niece, Morgan.

My mom's lovely creations. Love love love the owl!

My Mary Engelbreit-ish spreader...getting on the plane with this is gonna be interesting...

and Lee DeWyze {the cat}'s bowl. I love the paint with the speckles in it.

This was so much fun and if you are ever in New Bern, NC stop in and see what you can create!

"Working A Puzzle Exercises Your Brain"

My mom and Lil Sis love to work puzzles so they pulled out a 2,000 piece one the evening we arrived. I would rather spend a week stranded on a dessert with "you know who" than work a puzzle. My mom told me 2,867 times that "working a puzzle exercises your brain."

So I eventually gave in and this is me putting in the last piece. I figure why waste all those hours that I could spend twittering with my celebrity BFFs or winning Fast Money on Family Feud for all my facebook friends. The last piece brings the most satisfaction. Ahhhh...my brain felt so refreshed...like it had just run a mile on a treadmill...lol. I love my mom.

It drove me nuts all week that the puzzle was a giant picture of my all time favorite candy! I have looked every where we have went for these things...they are all hiding. I will find them...and I must eat them...especially the blue one.

Two posts in one day! Summer is slowly releasing me...

Do I Look Relaxed Or Bored?

A special thank you to my furry niece, Morgan, for reenacting my positions this morning. Although I was not on the back of the couch.

Yesterday was a little quiet. We hung out around the house until 4:30ish and then we {minus my mom} went to see The Other Guys. It was very funny and you walk away with a couple lines {and TLC songs} stuck in your head. Then we picked up chinese food and went home to do more lounging.

This lady of leisure thing is slowly getting to me.

At least I am getting to read your blogs. I have missed visiting them.

I want my Escalade. I have no car. Lil Sis and BIL had to work today.

This is what I look like now...

Yes, I have merely switched sides. I have played entirely too much Family Feud on facebook.

If this post makes no sense I apologize...I think my brains are turning mushy.

Happy Monday!

Let's Keep Going Til We Can No Longer Feel Our Feet!

We started our day bright and early at the New Bern Farmer's Market.

We were greeted by the Farmer's Market Bear. In celebration of New Bern's 300th anniversary they had local artists design bears representing pieces of their history. They are so cute and all over town!

We bought a watermelon, cantaloupe, blueberries, and a weird little fruit I have never eaten called a sprite. I love trying new fruits.

I loved visiting and talking with all the different vendors. I talked to a lady who was selling pasta. I dazzled and amazed everyone with my knowledge of the different dies and such. Thanks to Real Housewife of NJ Teresa Giudice's Italian cookbook! It is a great read {even if you are not a RH fan}.

We drove 2 hours to Smithfield, NC and after lunch at Cracker Barrel we shopped til our feet were so sore they were numb at the Carolina Premium Outlets! I bought myself my first Coach purse and wallet. I am in love...

Dr. Hubby and his parents are camping with the little ones. They are having a blast!

Hope you are having a fantastic weekend!

Accidentally Artistic

So we started out our Friday morning at Tuesday morning...hahahahahaha! The girls at SSS message board are always picking up wonderful things at this store. I walked out with an adorable Halloween Annalee piece {2 mice carrying a candy corn}.

Then we headed to Somewhere In Time used book store where I hit the hardback jackpot! I walked out with 5 Nicholas Sparks books {A Bend In The Road (signed copy), The Wedding, The Guardian, The Rescue, and A Walk To Remember}. I only need The Notebook to complete my collection of his books. I also got The Mitford Snowmen, A Common Life, A New Song, and Jeremy The Tale of an Honest Bunny by Jan Karon. I only need At Home In Mitford to complete that collection. The last item I picked up was Swapping Lives by Jane Green. Lil Sis suggested it. Unfortunately I didn't find any Sophie Kinsella or Debbie Macomber.

After lunch at The Baker's Square {An Amish restaurant} we headed over to the Accidental Artist. Mom painted an owl magnet, a tiny frog, and a handle for a cheese spreader.

Lil Sis painted a dog bone canister.

I painted a bowl for Lee DeWyze the Cat and a cheese spreader. We pick them up on Tuesday...I will post a pic of the final pieces. This is so much fun and you should definitely try it if you have a shop available!

We ended the day with a pizza party at home.

Tomorrow....we hit the OUTLET MALL! Cha-ching!

A Lady of Leisure

Today we are going to venture into historic downtown New Bern. We are going to a pottery shop called "The Accidental Artist." I am going to paint Lee DeWyze {my cat not the American Idol} a food dish.

We are also going to my fave used book store in the world..."The Next Chapter." I am hoping she has something by Debbie Macomber, Jan Karon, Nicholas Sparks, and Sophie Kinsella.

What author would you be looking for?

Are you ultra chic and now read books on your kindle or nook?

I Have Landed...

I am here in New Bern NC visiting Lil Sis with my mom...we had 2 easy flights. I feel like I am forgetting something all the time. Probably has something to do with not having my hubby and 3 kids to take care of. What will I do with myself? Probably some blogging, facebooking, movie watching, tv watching, and of course RETAIL THERAPY!

If ya want to catch the Real Housewives FEVER...Real Housewives of DC premieres tonight! WooHoo!

Back To Life...Back To Reality...

That 80s song is always in my head on the way home from vacation. I can't remember who sings it...

Here's a few more adventures from our big blue house. Which by the way is called "A Sun of a Beach." I hated that name. I tried NOT to book it because of the name. It is the only house that fit everything we required at the time. When I went into the office to pick up the keys the guy at the counter said, "What did you just say!?" Then died laughing at himself. I was only mildly amused.

One evening I took family photos on the beach. I got some really good ones for the cousins. I keep calling them all cousins...the husband and wife are actually Dr. Hubby's aunt and uncle. They are only 40 so they seem more like cousins.

We met this crabby little guy one morning. Cutie Patootie turned and went straight back to the house. She won't even eat at Red Lobster because of the lobster tank.

For our 16th anniversary Dr. Hubby and I went out to dinner with the gang and then we saw Eclipse {I loved it}. I gave Dr. Hubby a gorgeous bracelet from the Russell Simmons collection. He gave me my FIRST iPod...a 32G iPod Touch...I have barely put it down since. I am learning how to do everything on it. So far I have downloaded only one song...Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade...oh and I downloaded "The Top 25 moments from Real Housewives." heehee

Dr. Hubby's uncle surprised us by actually going through with getting a REAL tattoo. I am not a fan of tattoos. It inspired this...

Manga Dork's means "dangerous." That made me laugh. I think Cousin Kay's meant "eternal." Hey maybe the dude who keeps leaving spam comments on my blog can translate for me! lol

Cutie got an unicorn.

Wild Child loved her dolphin!

Our trip was great. It took FFOOORRREEEVVVEEERRR to drive home thanks to some insane traffic. I was headed to bed at midnight when I spied my new People magazine...Bethenney from NYC Housewives was on the cover...I actually stayed up to read the article. I may need a 12 step program soon...

It's Going Too Fast!

I can't believe it is already Thursday! It is that point in the vacation where you start thinking about going home...I'm not ready! Here's a another sample of the fun we are having...


We drove south to Myrtle Beach for a day. We ate at PFChangs and the air conditioner in my Escalade went out...and the temp on the rearview mirror said 104 degrees! Then we took the kids to Family Kingdom amusement park and proceeded to sweat more than I have ever sweated before! It was fun watching the kids enjoy themselves though!

Cousin Kayla and I took a walk on the beach one evening and ran into this guy. A fisherman had caught him. He was safely returned to his ocean...he didn't look real amused...lol.

I got the idea for this photo on flickr. Dr.Hubby and I are going to take one later. These are the cousins.

On the 4th of July we attempted a family photo. Manga Dork went to see Eclipse and the little ones were cranky. I don't know what my exscuse was...

I love gummy candy. We found the "World's Largest Gummy Snake." He was 36 inches long.

Today is our 16th wedding anniversary. We are going out to see Eclipse tonite! I can't wait to give Dr. Hubby his gift!

Time to go get more sand on my toes...

I Wanna Move Here!

When we cross the bridge to Oak Island I get a sense of being home.

We have been having a blast in the ocean and sand. We went shopping at one of the cheesey beach shops. Cutie found a sombrero.

Then I found an Italian Ice Shoppe. Yum! Mango and Watermelon!

There's just something about beach umbrellas that make me happy!

I could totally live here...

Just Beachy

10 hours in the car...gorgeous oceanfront beach house...on the beach first thing in the morning...girls are having a blast...little ones freak me out in the waves...I need a valium...tired...sunburned on the front of my legs...dinner at The Lucky Fisherman...Mango and watermelon italian ice...watching fireworks on the porch...life.is.good.

I Sometimes Imagine A Little Yappy Pomeranian

Yesterday evening while running back and forth trying to get pre-vacation stuff done I glanced out the window and saw this sky. I immediately dropped everything and went outside to sit on the porch. Amazing! I felt like God inticed me to take a break...my feet were killing me!

This also reminds me of a conversation I had last weekend with Dr. Hubby. We were on our way to WV.

Scrappy: Are you excited about 4wheeling?
Dr. Hubby: I wouldn't call it excited. I think it will be fun.
Scrappy: Why wouldn't you call it excited?
Dr. Hubby: I don't get excited over stuff like you do. You even get excited about eating a certain food.

Ok this isn't the first time I have been told something like this. It makes me imagine a yappy little pomeranian bouncing around excitedly over a treat. I also don't think it's a bad thing. I just really really really enjoy life and the little things. And he is SO right cause...

I am so EXCITED to eat hushpuppies with honey butter at Lighthouse Restaurant...ON THE PIER! Eeeeeeee!

I am also excited to go on a date with Dr. Hubby at the beach to celebrate our 16th anniversary! Wait til you see the present I got him...it is so HOT! I can't wait to give it to him!

Do you get excited over the little things? Do you take time to smell the roses or enjoy the sunset?

The Last of NC...

On Day #5 we were back in New Bern, NC. We played disc golf. My BIL loves it...me...umm...not so much. But I really enjoyed trying out something he likes...and he was very patient with my limited abilities...LOL!

That evening we ate at Andy's...a great chain restaurant that serves burgers and fries...yummy! Then we headed to Emerald Isle beach.

Lil Sis wanted some cute beach photos of her and BIL...but the lighting was already gone.

We saw a baby sea turtle make his way into the ocean...so neat!

We played a round of mini golf. BIL and I tied...he is probably still googling how to decide the winner in the case of a tie in mini golf...LOL! He likes to win...and he is not fond of sharing.

On our last day I got to do something really cool...well not as cool as petting tigers...but still cool...

I played papparazzi while driving past Nicholas Spark's home. He has done quite a good job with his trees...I basically just got a bunch of gate pics...well played Nick.

Then we were off to the Accidental Artist for some paint your own pottery. I made Annie Louise a very cute doggie bowl.

Goodbye NC...til next year!