Update: If my life wasn't so dang AWESOME I wouldn't be constantly updating my blog! (I just realized this is my 200th post.)

But it is, so here I am again! (Not in chronological order...this is going to be another long one people!)

1. Don't let the date and time fool you. I started this post at 10:30 something Saturday night and then remembered I had only gotten 3 hours of sleep the night before and should be in bed...So, I am back to finish it today. And the reason for my staying up so late was the John Mayer concert! It was soooooo great. I can officially say my list of favorite musicians (living at least. Elvis is on my list to listen to in heaven. Also the Beetles when they are all together again.) is checked off and completed. It was a short list. Dave Matthews Band(can't even count how many times I have seen them...13 or 14 at least), Matchbox Twenty (seen them 2 times), Vertical Horizon (seen them a bunch...5 or 6. Aaron thinks more), Harry Connick Jr. (saw him in college. Nobody wanted to go so I talked my parents into going with me), New Kids on the Block (5 times-3 the first time around and 2 for the reunion), and the last of my favorites list was John Mayer. He is a very close 2nd to my favorite music of all time. DMB is number one. So, it is surprising that I have just now seen him in concert. But it was worth the wait and I would totally go again. The guy is an amazing musician. Aaron (who plays the guitar) said he was "ridiculous". In a good way. The best guitarist we have EVER seen in person and probably ever will. My only negative is that it could have been longer. He only played for maybe an hour and a half with the encore. It rocked. He only said one potty word (you may remember my letter to John in a post several months ago asking why he has to cuss in some of his songs), and in one of the songs that has a potty word he actually replaced it with another non-potty word. Maybe someone slipped him my letter and told him that I would eventually like to be able to have Jake go see him some day. Jake's favorite song is "No Such Thing". Jake would have LOVED this concert. But it will be years before that happens... (you will see why in a later picture..). Train (2nd time seeing them) opened up for him and they were awesome too. Before the concert started we were talking about who we have seen in concert. I kicked everyone's butt in that category. I am really going to have to make a list because it is pretty amusing the length of the list and who is on it....I will save that for another day. Here are a couple of pictures. We didn't have the greatest seats ever but we all were just happy to be there and the jumbo screen always helps.

Aaron, Me, Ranee (Happy Birthday! Going to the concert was both of our b-day gifts. But her b-day was just the day before it), and Jeremy.

John is really a big dork. He had on pants rolled up to show off his Carolina blue Chuck Taylor's and a bandanna head band on.
Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you choose a different path? This my friends is what the world looks like to those who make poor choices...
This poor women was so drunk she couldn't even hold her head up. To see an adult like this was pretty pitiful. She was not a dumb kid making dumb decisions. She was probably close to our age!..Glad I am where I am in my life! I hope she figures it all out some day poor women.

2. And on a totally different subject. We have been doing some yard work. Mom and Dad we did some major trimming to the front yard bushes...
We did this at our house in Spartanburg and had wonderful results. Aaron tested it before he chopped them all. It opens it up SO much. There is beautiful stonework I didn't even realize was there!

Aaron cut a few back and gave it a couple of weeks before cutting the rest. See it is already growing back!
Jake moving some bricks. Hope you don't mind Mom.... Aaron has big plans. Don't worry we won't do anything major until we talk to you. This little project seemed like a no-brainer so we just went for it! Those flower beds on either side of the front path only had one flower on each side that came back. We figured we are on a budget and so are you guys and flowers can get expensive. Especially to replant every year! So, it was either have one lone flower come up and the rest emptiness...or let those small spaces go back to being grass and make it easier to mow. We choose going back to grass...Sound good to you guys, right?...
Jake carrying the bushes to the curb. The funny part is about 20 minutes after we got done we heard the guys from the city out picking them up! Perfect timing!
The sweaty, dirty face of a boy who worked hard.



3. Just a random picture I love. Nothing says summer like Jake with an ice cream cone.


4. Aaron refers to bacon as "meat candy". Yep. That's my man! A bacon loving fool! I figure I document Jake's comments, so why not Aaron's? Especially when he comes up with a genius thing as "meat candy"! And that in a nut shell sums up a lot about Aaron. That makes him sound like he should be a 300 pound guy...Not what I meant because he isn't even close. I'm just pointing out that is the simple things that make his life good...He also made the comment he would love a bacon scented candle, after I said I wish they made Arm and Hammer plus Oxi-clean laundry detergent scented candles.

5. Getting ready for our trip! Aaron is starting his training which means I won't be able to work at Bi-Lo for about a month. (He will be at school or training from about 8 in the morning until around 10 at night. So, Jake and I get to take a trip North. We are going to spend not quite a week between Aaron's brother, Mike's home in Buena (sp?) Vista, VA and DC with my sister and family. Then we will be in Vermont at Camp for almost 2 weeks. Money is tight so we talked about it and Jake agreed it was worth it to go to Vermont to cash in our "Disney World Fund". We have been collecting change for years in hopes of making a trip there. This is what it looks like in the jar:

I have rolled $209 so far and have a BUNCH left still to count. So, it looks like the trip is going to be paid for with change! We don't have to pay for places to stay-just gas and food. The gross part is this:
This is what your hands look like after rolling coins...Yuck!

6. It is funny that one of my favorite things to do in the summer, leads to one of my least favorite times. I love school supply shopping! I don't however like summer coming to an end and actually sending Jake back to school...It will work out at some point to home school him. But now isn't the time...So, we had fun shopping for all the stuff he needs! And he needs A LOT!

Jake was thrilled that he needed a "Case It" (basically a kid brief case) For his AIG math. (he didn't get high enough on the reading...bummer. He wasn't challenged in that area last year at all...Crossing my fingers for a better teacher this year in that department! But it was a 5th grade test and the fact that he got close is pretty amazing!) This is a Case It:

And something that I didn't have to have EVER in school: A USB drive (is that what you call it? I have used one...I just can't remember the name.)
This is all the stuff he needed and this only includes one thing from the optional list-tissues for the classroom.
8. And last but not least. Jake and I spent a couple of hours building with Legos the other morning. I started out making a robot and ended up making a flat and funny version of our family:

Aaron is the little guy...We ran out of bigger flat pieces. I also had a purse but it broke.

Jake made an awesome tank. He let me pick out one of the people. That would be me on top and him driving. We are awesome builders Don't you think?

Meet My New Hair Stylist:

None other than Elizabeth Gariety the Jack of all trades! (Never really understood that saying but it works.)

I was back into my old "wear it in a pony tail every stinkin' day" phase so it was time for a chop. I have a hard time paying for haircuts. All my favorite haircuts have been free. Seriously. In high school I let my friend Chandler cut my hair after school one day. He was a good artist so I figured it would translate into my hair. It worked. At UNCG a friend of mine who was also a great artist cut it and did a fine job. In Utah my roommate was going to cosmetology school and needed a guinea pig. I obliged and loved it. My wonderful sister-in-law had her hair dresser cut my hair as my Christmas gift. She was a professional so it was awesome! And again no money out of my pocket. I however have a hard time going back after six weeks and doing it again. I am a cut-short-grow-it-as-long-as-I-can-stand-it-aholic. Look it up people. It exists. In my world at least. I will add it to the list of all my other odd habits and call it good. My latest stylist is none other than Elizabeth Gariety. You have seen her here before. We got our fake nails together. We have a strange love/hate relationship with the Twilight movies. We love them! And we love to pick a part all the crossing eyes scenes, cheesy lines that include the word "Spidermonkey", and the are you constipated or do you love him faces? We were Bella (the actress playing her) haters. She looks the part but, her acting abilities are questionable. But she didn't go crossed eyed once in Eclipse so she is growing on us. Would you agree Elizabeth?...Wait a minute....And I am bringing it back to what I was actually talking about right- now...Any way! I have been thinking about chopping my hair again and Elizabeth offered-so I am back to a short bob, and my neck is breathing a sigh of relief. I am convinced, though Aaron says it's not true, that I am losing my hair. Seriously! It feels so much thinner than it used to and that scares me. But that all so makes shorter do's work better for me. I still haven't taken the time to actually have Aaron take a pic of my new do so the, me holding the camera out, shots will have to do for now. Thanks go out to my new stylist extraordinaire Elizabeth!

The before...Really? Friends don't let friends go too long between cuts and have strange layers going on everywhere....

In the process...

And the Results....(drum roll please.....)


So, I thought you would be able to see the back from this angle...
And the front from an oddly high angle...
Special thanks to our camera man Norb who took time out of getting ready for Scout camp to document this occasion. He took several others but I had to narrow it down. So, another words these are as good as it gets. (No offense Norb. I am not knocking your mad skills. Just the subject matter...me in some very unattractive angles. The ones I posted are already bad enough. And of course to our make-up artist Morgan who loved my make up compact and was awesome enough to see that one make up sponge is not as good as three. The littler piece you made me work great around my eyes! Thanks again for the make up tips! How cute is she???

My Biggest Loser Week 2 Results

I lost 3 pounds!!!!
I wish it was 5 but I will take 3!

Feeling the need to empty my cluttered brain...Random thoughts

1. I love Arm and Hammer laundry detergent plus oxi-clean. It smells so good and when I open my closet, drawers, or linen closet it makes me happy.

2. Talking a walk on Tuesday mornings is not easy. It is garbage day and 90+ degree weather just makes the trash even stinkier. Jake holds his breath. Aaron said it is really bad running.

3. At the library today they gave us new cards because they have new designs. The kids ones are so much cooler looking than the adults. I was tempted to ask for the kiddo one but the librarian didn't seem like the type who would have gone for it.

4. Jake hugged me today and said wait a minute Mommy...he than hugged me again and said he could touch his hands together behind my back when he was hugging me so I must be losing more weight. I hope he is right because I am sitting with hair I can ring out again after walking 3 miles and I cheated and weighed myself yesterday and had gone down only 1 1/2 pounds...

5. Aaron starts his training tomorrow! Going to school full time and working 3rd shift full time is going to be tough...

6. I really miss my dogs.

7. I have been rolling our big jar of change to get ready for our trip to Virginia and Vermont (!!!) and it really is gross how dirty your fingers get touching all that change for long periods of time. Seriously gross.

8. I have not been swimming yet this year...That has got to be a major record for me because I LOVE to swim. Not like swim team swim...just for fun, splashing, playing, jumping in, and swimming across the lake fun. I can't wait to do it in a couple of weeks, every day all day!

9. Tina when we are visiting you guys in DC we have to go to the Lincoln Memorial. Apparently this is a life long unfulfilled dream of Jake's that he never told me about....Sounds good to me!

10. I am going to take a nice cold shower and get into some of my good smelling PJ's...Just hugged Jake good night and he smells delicious in his freshly cleaned PJ's. I am so glad that even though Jake is almost 9, he stills want us to put him to bed every night. Wonder when that will change...

11. We are going to the John Mayer concert on Friday and the girl from church who said she would watch Jake hasn't called my back....I hope she calls back...

Jake's Summer Vacation Interview Part 2: Day 32..Seriously? Where is the Summer going???

Me: How is your summer going?
Jake: Fantastic!

Me: Can you explain the following pictures please?
Jake: Me in a tent in the Sunroom.
Me: Why is the tent in the Sunroom?
Jake: Because we were having a slumber party.

Playing with Bionicles.
That's my answer for the next picture too. (I am playing too see my hand?)
Mommy's squished face.
My squished face. (Looks like Scabbers-or Peter Petigrew for any of you Harry Potter fans like us.)
That's us smiling.
Me: Smiling?
Jake: Yeah remember crazy smiling.
Sad faces.
Super Hero pose
Mommy's super hero pose.
Me running in.
Me in the tent in my room.
Showing my set up.
Me and Daddy.

Me: So, would you say I am the coolest Mom ever for letting you have a tent in your room?
Jake:Yep!

Me: Okay, just a couple more pictures to explain.
Jake: Rock Band (we are borrowing Matt and Erin's Rock Band stuff while they are gone for the summer and we rented Beatles Rock Band)
Warning stinky trash! MUST PLUG NOSE! P.U.! I throw away!
Me: What are you looking forward to for the rest of the summer?
Jake: CAMP! (We are going to Vermont in a couple of weeks and can't wait!!!! More on that later)

Biggest Loser Week One Results

I feel bloated and my feet are swollen so I am happy to have lost 1 pound...I wish it were more but it is better than nothing. I battle with water retention every day-last night my fingers looked so unswollen (I know that is not a word) because I drank so much water yesterday. My feet in the summer are a whole other issue. I wear flip flops to church because I have to-there are no other options. I have a picture (somewhere...I will have to find it) of me when I was a totally skinny teenager at Camp (Vermont family lake cabin) in the summer and you can see my Barney Rubble swollen feet. When I wake up in the morning they are less swollen. When I was 12 and running summer track my leg swelled all the way up to my knee and they thought I had a stress fracture. Nope turned out to just be water retention. One of my doctors called it "Primary Lymphodema (sp)". I even took prescribed diuretics for years (it only helped temporarily) until I heard how it really isn't good for you. I knew I was pregnant with Jake literally 3 days in, because my fingers started swelling and I had a hard time wearing my wedding ring. Seriously-I was 3 days pregnant and I started swelling. Lucky me. :) Cute strappy sandals are a no go for my swollen feet. Okay...am I making excuses? Maybe....Moving on!!! I worked hard but not hard enough I guess. I am looking for a big number next week because I am going to bump up my cardio. I am going to walk and do little jogs to get my heart rate up and I am going to stop being a wimp. Aaron said Jillian (from the Biggest Loser) would have me crying within 20 seconds. To that I say-that is why I would choose Bob to be my trainer!

The Hutcheon's Visit

Dean, Laura, and Riley Hutcheon came back to NC for a wedding and they flew into Charlotte! They are our great friends and next door neighbors from Fletcher. They moved back to Utah a few months before we moved back to the Charlotte area and we were so excited to get to see them again! Riley has grown so much! She is one of the sweet girls I babysat in Fletcher. Jake always called her Miss Smiley because she is always happy and smiling. We had fun hanging out with them just like the old times. We are so glad we got to see you guys!

Their luggage didn't make it to Charlotte when they did...But at about 8:30 that evening (Aaron and Dean were at the church playing basketball and us girls were getting ready to watch "When in Rome" after Jake headed to bed) it was delivered to our house, so they had no clothes to change into. They flew during the night so Riley was in her PJ's. How cute is she? We walked down to Family Video because Jake was dying to rent a racing game.


Jake and Laura playing Sonic Racing
The guys hanging out
And a couple of quick pictures as they were heading out the next day!

Jake's Summer Fun Box

When I was babysitting we created a "Jake's summer fun box". We got a rubber maid and used Sharpies to decorate summer pictures on it. I filled it up with things like a new box of crayons, sidewalk chalk, small toys I found on sale through out the year or a new book. Basically lots of little cheap things that are treats you don't get every day! One day a week he could pick out something from the box. It was my way of making up for the guilt I felt for not being able to do all the fun stuff we wanted to do because we had to work around multiple naps (it is okay to let your own child miss a nap, but I felt guilty having the girls I watched miss a nap and then sending them home tired and cranky to their parents who had missed them all day...). This summer I didn't really prepare anything because if I am not home, Aaron is. Then one day Aaron mentioned he was feeling guilty (that doesn't happen as much to Dad's as it does to Mom's) that when I was at work Jake spent most of the time watching TV or playing the Wii (he does have to read for one hour while I am gone) because Aaron had to do his homework. The summer semesters are short so they cram a lot into 5 weeks, which means lots of homework. So, the box was reborn...sort of. It is still in his closet holding his winter clothes but we are making it work with another basket...Any way long story short I write some things on pieces of paper like: read for one hour, watch one show, see what you can build with legos in 20 minutes, Daddy's choice, draw a picture to send to Nee and Papa (still haven't mailed it yet but it will be on its way soon!), do one of your daily chores, read my favorite scripture story and draw me a picture to carry in my scriptures of it...etc. Jake draws one of the papers out of a bowl and has to do what ever is on the paper. Daddy is the keeper of the basket of things that Jake will need to accomplish the task. He was so excited to start it the first day when I was getting ready to leave for work (not last week but the week before that...why am I always playing catch up?). He was even more excited that the first one he drew was watch a show for 30 minutes while you eat popcorn and M&M's. I was lucky enough to catch a picture of the moment he read what it said....
When I called them during my break to see how they were doing Jake was so excited to tell me all he had done already. He had already drawn the picture for Nee and Papa, made several cool lego vehicles, done 2 chores, and Daddy's choice (which was to let him play the Wii for 30 minutes-what a nice Daddy). Now neither of us have to feel guilty and Jake is having a ball!

The 4th of July!

I love the 4th of July! I had to work a few hours yesterday and today so Aaron and Jake made a quick trip to Spartanburg to visit Nana and Papa. I got off work at 4:30 and they got home not too long after that. We had an awesome time watching the fireworks and playing with sparklers. Aaron the party pooper (why is spell check telling me I didn't spell that right...how do you spell it?) and didn't have his Old Navy shirt on. Actually they are a little cheaper quality this year compared to others and his shrunk in the dryer...He doesn't know how to stretch them back out like I do. You know: put it on and then sit down on the floor, with your legs bent up and pull the shirt up and over your knees. It works like a charm!

My Biggest Loser Returns (and Eclipse...)

I literally just wrung sweat out of my pony tail...and it feels so good! I just walked not quite 2 miles and did my Wii Biggest Loser for 40 minutes. I restarted last week and only did it for that day. So, I really started it today. For real this time. It started on a good note because I lost 2 pounds since last week without doing anything! I could say I am restarting but doing something off and on for a couple weeks (more like days...) really isn't doing it. No more "wishing" and "hoping". This time I will be "doing". I have no excuses for being a slacker, I just am. No more looking back, just forward. I realized I when I am skinny I am going to want to tell people how much I weigh and how much I lost. Simple math will then let them add it all together to figure out how much I weighed. On the Biggest Loser show the world knows how much they weigh and I am sure that is part of the motivation. And lets face it you all know I am fat! So, you might as well know how fat and then it is all out there. I will have some major motivation to make the number go down because all 3 or 4 of you that actually read my blog will know...And I will know you know...You know what I mean? So, I am cringing while typing this but here is the starting number as of today: 268....Ok...It is out there and I can't take it back. I am fat-and I have already lost 18 pounds....So, really I am not as fat as I used to be! I am skinnier! That sounds so much better than saying I am fat...Thursday is my weigh in day for any body who actually reads this. :)

...Now on to Eclipse. To quote Elizabeth "it was AMAZING!"! I agree 100%!!!!!!! It was SO much better than Twilight and New Moon. Bella must of gotten some acting lessons because she didn't go crossed-eyed at all. Have you ever noticed that before? In the very important close up to eachothers faces scenes she always went crossed eyed! She had the Bella look but not the acting to back it up in the first two movies. She did so much better! And Edward...Ahhh Edward...He got a hair cut and his lipstick and white makeup weren't so obvious this time. And they acutally acted happy around eachother and smiled like you do when you love some one! I am now excitedly anticipating the next one instead of wondering how cheesy it will be! ****Let me be clear: even though I thought the others were cheesy I still love them, own them, and have watched them multiple times.**** When I made (yes MADE) Aaron watch the first two I would always cringe knowing that a scene that he would pick on was coming up. The "cheese" is gone folks! I think he will actually tolerate this one. It is a MUST SEE AGAIN ASAP kind of movie. And Elizabeth I am challenging you to actually READ the books so you can be a true Twihard. :)

Random thoughts..

1. It was awesome to see the Hutcheon's and I have some pictures to prove it! (more later...)

2. This is a big movie week in our house:
a. "Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief" came out on DVD. We rented it and it was only okay. Not enough like the book for me and Jake. Thumbs half way up and half way down is what Jake said.
b. We also rented "Karate Dog"...I feel asleep, but Jake said it was good. (We have an awesome video store that we walk to that must be trying to compete with Redbox so it rents new movies for $1.50 and you get another family video for free. You also get a free rental with every A on report cards. Jake got straight A's so that is 5 free we haven't used yet. And Aaron got a 94 in he Calculus class (nerd) so that is another free one. AWESOME!)
c. "ECLIPSE" IS OUT!!!!! Elizabeth and I are going to see it tonight!!! We will give you all a review later...We watched "Twilight" and "New Moon" (again) on Saturday to get ready for it.
d. Thanks to Sara (our niece who just graduated) we are "Airbender" (the real Avatar, as I like to call it) JUNKIES and are SOOOO excited to see the movie that came out today! We are going to see it in 3D...at some point. I am considering raiding the change jar for it. I have never seen a movie in 3D...I can't wait!
e. Laura and I (actually Jake-he owed me a couple of bucks and wanted to rent Sonic racing-which HE has to pay for. So, he rented the movie for us and we called it even...he got the better deal, but it was fun to think he was paying for it. He even let the cashier keep the 4 cents change she owed him as a tip...What a little flirt...sorry...rambling) rented "When in Rome". We give it a thumbs up for a funny and cute chick flick.
f. I want to rent "Letters to Juliet" next...Any one seen it?
g. We never go see movies and here we are faced with 2 awesome choices coming out in one week...But there really was no choice. It's Eclipse people! No choice at all.

3. We can know breath when we open the door. I think the Hutcheon's brought the Utah weather with them. We have had temperatures up to 104 already!!! To that I say booooo. To cooler weather I say ahhh...

4. Aaron was just looking at the tickets I printed off Fandango for "Eclipse" tonight and he said: "this is for tomorrow-it says July 2nd."...Picture me reaching for the paper as I cry out "WHAT!?!?!?". Then he laughs...Hahaha...