Meeting Sassy!

This weekend I had the chance to meet one of my wonderful Twi-Twitter friends...@Sassette! She is awesomeness! We live in the same state, but had yet to meet up, so when she got tickets to a football game, she was EXTREMELY kind enough to invite me!

Now, surprisingly, I love football! (Jason is happy about this.)We had awesome tickets, thanks to her working for a great company. I felt bad because Jason loves football as well and had never been to an NFL game. So I of course was an awesome wife and got him a lower level ticket. Ashley & I could see him from our suite.


We watched the Carolina Panthers and Baltimore Ravens. Sadly the Panthers lost, but it was awesome getting to meet Ashley in person and getting to talk. Of course we talked about Twilight, Twitter, & football. Now I've got to get her to Raleigh to meet @nicolewilson and for a NC State Football game!

Me & Ashley!

Thanks again Ashley! ::HUGS::

Does Life Ever Slow Down?

Well, work is EXTREMELY busy for me now. Being the lead on an application upgrade project is stressful to say the least. However, being the first company in the industry to complete the upgrade will be very rewarding, that is if we can get all the bugs figured out. I'm positive we can do it, it will just take us a little longer than we had previously expected. Working late, of course has its many disadvantages.

First, it takes away from my time with Jason. We are both very busy and active, so this causes us both stress. We like to see each other and spend time with each other (yes, we still like to go on dates with each other). It has caused me not to cook as often, which is something I'm not the happiest about. It seems that I eat more when I go out to eat, which isn't good for all the hard work that I've put in to keep the weight off. I also just feel crappy in general when I eat things that aren't that good for me. I guess the old saying, 'you are what you eat', is true.

Working more hours also takes a major chunk of my gym time away *pouts*! Yes, I'm pouting about this, because the gym helps me de-stress. When I've had a bad day, or I know that I'm going to have a hectic day, I love going to the gym and being able to run. It relaxes me and especially in the mornings, it gets me ready for the day and gives me energy.

Jason is also playing softball this season with a friend. (They won their first game last night!) I missed it unfortunately, but it was because I was catching up with some friends/ex-co-workers that I haven't seen in a while.

Football season is also starting. I LOVE FOOTBALL! Next Thursday is our first home game. (GO WOLFPACK!!) We have a blast spending time with our friends, tailgating, and of course going to the games. However, it takes up most weekends, and is an all day event. So house work and work work that doesn't get done during the week, gets crammed into getting done on Sunday *sighs*. But that's typical fall for us! Hopefully we will get one or two weekends here or there to relax a little.

I am still however looking forward to November (the 20th to be exact!). Yes, I'm super excited about it! Not only does New Moon come out in theaters, but I also get to meet some lovely ladies in person for the first time! They are staying at the house, and I'm sure we will have a blast! (I think Jason's scared of having a house full of "Twilight people"!) It is one of the girls birthdays too, which means, there must be a cake! I know exactly what I'm going to do! (Not telling yet though, its going to be a surprise!) I also love playing hostess, so that will be fun as well! Several of us have been trying to get everything decided and planned for several months, trying to decide who can meet up, where we can meet, and all that fun stuff. So now that we've decided, I'm getting more and more excited!

Well, I'd better get back to the busyness that is life!

<3

Changes

Last night Jason looked at my blog and asked “What’s with all the chess stuff on your blog? Is it some stupid Twilight thing?” So it made me start to think…(Yes…it is a Twilight thing…do not judge first, please read!)

This past New Year I decided that it was time that I become comfortable with who I am and start doing things on my own. I’ve always depended on someone to make tuff decisions, well any decision really, and to just tell me what to do when I don’t want to deal with something. Independent thinking wasn’t something I was very keen on. I went straight from listening to and doing everything my parents told me to do (yes, all through college) to getting married right after college and never wanting to upset my loving husband. After getting married, well, y’all know my world for the most part crashed around me when my father passed away just 9 days after getting married and I felt like I had to take care of my mother then. The first 6 months of being married sucked, really, as we spent every weekend driving 3 hours each way to our home town to make sure my mother was taken care of. I was afraid even then to upset her or Jason. I know that Jason put up with a LOT from me and my family during this time. It was extremely trying on us and, I feel, it only made us stronger. I started thinking about everything I’ve gone through and decided that it was time that I step up and deal with everything and make myself a better, stronger person because of it. (I know…it took me long enough.) I’ve pretty much always depended on someone else to always be there to take care of me.

During this time while I was thinking (thinking phase), I was introduced to the Twilight Saga. As I read the books, it took me back to when I was younger and I would read constantly. I had long since forgotten how I could lose myself completely in a good story (Jason, I’m truly sorry for being completely oblivious those few weeks.). When reading the first book, Twilight, I saw how Bella & Edward could not seem to be apart, and for the most part in the beginning of my relationship with Jason (right out of high school for me) I was the same way. The longest we were ever apart for the first 4 years we were together was about 2 days. When I read New Moon, the 2nd book, I wanted to cry through most of the book…the sense of loss that Bella felt made me remember my own loss and it really made me start to think. Eclipse, the third book, where Bella had to make very hard decisions that would hurt people she loved, made me think of the decisions that I had to make and then stick by, even though I knew it was what was best and what I needed to do. Breaking Dawn, the last book, hit me the hardest. Bella went from being the weakest member in the family to one of the strongest. This made me think for WEEKS about myself and how I wanted to grow and become a stronger person. I pretty much kept to myself this entire time just thinking. I read an interview with the author of the Twilight Saga, Stephenie Meyer, where she explained the cover art for Breaking Dawn. Meyer said: “It represents Bella and Bella. ... Bella starts out as the weakest player on the board, and she ends up as the one who decides the outcome of the story. She becomes the most powerful player, and I really liked that metaphor. I liked seeing her evolution in one picture.” I then had a light-bulb go off in my head …I understood what I needed…

Confidence and independence… So, I started doing it and doing all of the things I’d always really wanted to do but was too scared to do! First off…I got my ears pierced again…something small, but it was big for me. Planning a trip, without my husband. I hated even driving to Hickory or Morehead City alone, two places I knew very well. I felt I had to have him with me or I couldn’t go. So, Lyndsye called and asked me to go to Forks, I decided I was going! Lyndsye and I had to plan this trip out…Jason (my wonderfully prepared hubby wasn’t going to be there)…it took some time, but we did it!

I’ve also met a lot of new people this year, through Twitter and my love of Twilight. I’ve made some great friends, who some I’ve had the opportunity to meet already this year and others I hope to meet in person soon. I’ve even met awesome lady here in Raleigh…who I get go have non-work related lunches with and maybe hit up a concert with…it’s refreshing to go to lunch with someone and not talk or think about work! Also, meeting other people with similar interests and understanding has been great! I hope I get to meet more of these wonderful ladies in person soon!

Changing my appearance…I’ve worked out for a couple of years, but since the beginning of the year, I’ve been working extremely hard with my trainer and own my own. (I love running!) Dying my hair & cutting it…to match my new feeling inside I wanted to show it on the outside. Surprise…I haven’t been a natural blonde since about 8th grade! I found a color a little closer to my ‘natural’ color and went for it! I like the new do and the new color! What’s next…something I’ve wanted since the day I turned 18…a tattoo! Jason isn’t sure about this, he doesn’t like them and would like me to wait and think about it longer, but it’s something I’ve wanted to do for years. I have the opportunity soon to go do this with a very close friend, so I’ll keep you posted about it!


These changes I’m sure have shocked my wonderful husband a little…I know the shocked look on his face when he walked in and saw my dark brown hair, the physical changes are just part of it. However, he has been wonderful to me throughout this entire process so far. I know that I’ve kept the majority of my thoughts and reasons to myself, it’s just something I needed to do for me. There are a lot more reasons but they are for me and my growth as a person and for me to use to grow my relationships.

This is me… the more independent, confident, wife, daughter, and friend!

Sam Bradley Concert

Me and my Twitter friend Nicole went to Hooligan's in Jacksonville, NC to hear Sam Bradley last Friday night. I first heard of him late last year, he co-wrote a song with Robert Pattinson that was released on the Twilight Soundtrack, Never Think (Too Far Gone).

The opening band Pilot Speed wasn't bad, but the lead singer sat down to where you really couldn't see him.

While we were there, we actually met a few other people who we met on Twitter...you meet Twitter friends EVERYWHERE (@KellyJohnson85 & @Janetrigs)! They of course are Twilight fans as well, so we had a lot to talk about between bands! :)

This couple cracked us up...they were...uh...Interesting (way too much PDA!)


It did get really really smoky in there even before the concert, but it was okay...I could deal.

Sam of course was awesome!


The Twitter friends we met of course bought him a shot of Whiskey that he actually drank after singing his song Whiskey! :) But he said he couldn't take it as a shot since he had to drive to New York to be there the next morning. We had a great time though.

After he finished playing we were able to meet him & his band, have our pictures with them & get their autographs. Nicole & I both got shirts & had them. Here are our pics with Sam! :)

Me!

Nicole!

Me, Nicole, Kelly, & Janet with Sam Bradley & his band!

And I did get some good video of several of his songs, but YouTube & Blogger Video don't seem to want to play nice and load them! (I'll still try to load them.)

Here is a link to all of our pictures!

Another Crazy Week Down

This year seems to be flying by faster than last year, and we're trying to keep up with everything. This week at work was busy and next week promises to be even busier. There is a long 'to do' list sitting on my desk waiting for me on Monday. I plan on making it disappear by the end of next week (permitting that there are no Code Blue items that come in!)

I've started reading the second book for my book group. We are reading "Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West". It's an interesting book so far (I've been so busy this week I haven't had time to get very far.) It is about why the Wicked Witch of the West from the Wizard of Oz the way she is. I did finish re-reading Breaking Dawn this week, and I did miss a few things. I'm glad that I re-read it :). I think that is my favorite book of the Twilight Saga.

Jason and I are also going to try something new on Sundays. Jason is calling it "Disconnected Sundays". We are so connected with everyone else, sometimes we forget to connect with each other. So we are going to try our best to resist being online all day on Sundays and just spend some quality time with each other. (I'll let y'all know how that goes!) We will have to leave our cell phones on as we don't have a house phone, but we aren't going to let ourselves Tweet, text message, or check our emails!

We are still looking for a vacation to take together also. We were looking at the calendar and I think there is only one weekend free between now and my trip to Forks with Lyndsye. I also don't want to travel too far from home at the end of May/early June, because I want to be with my sister and brother-in-law when my little nephew makes his first appearance. Then beginning in late August we start our Wolfpack Tailgate Marathon. There is a home game every weekend in September. October is also busy due to conferences for work. We just never seem to slow down! But we will find a time and a vacation this year!

Wish us luck!

Twilight is on DVD

YEAH!!!

Yes, I know that I have a problem and I'm addicted to Twilight, but that is okay! I'm excited that Twilight has finally come out on DVD. I've been on Twitter a lot lately, and I have found some other 'Twilighters' and made friends who are just as addicted (if not more so) than me. (There are actually a lot of us out there!) We have fun with it. A couple of them live in some of the cities that had cast members show up to the DVD release parties. A couple of them had the chance to meet Catherine Hardwicke (the director) and Ashley Greene (Alice Cullen). Unfortunately, Raleigh isn't a 'big city' so we don't get people coming here for anything.

My Twitter friends however were very nice and posted pictures of all the pandalerium! It's amazing how many 'Twilighters' there actually are out there.

At least I will have my DVD soon...if Target will ever ship it!

It's the End of January!

I can't believe that it is already the end of January! This month has flown by I don't even remember what all I did this month. I know that next month I've got a lot to do. I have to finish planning and get ready for my sister's baby shower for one thing! (Yes, I'm going to have a nephew in about 5 months!) It's going to be for the family, so we are off to Hickory for that weekend. I had forgotten how hard it is to plan something when you can't go there to do it. But luckily, Momma Doris is on the hunt (seeing as how I've never done a baby shower before, I needed some help!) My cousin Caron has been helping too.

Tomorrow we are going to have our 5th Annual Super Bowl Party, so I'm in the process of getting everything ready for that. Jason and I just finished cleaning up, so now tomorrow I just have to make a few things and then we should be ready. I guess now I have to figure out which team I want to root for, I personally like the Chargers (cause of the Wolfpack tie to QB Phillip Rivers), so I guess I'll just have to pick one. I'll post some pictures of our party soon. We normally have a pretty good time.

I also bought my plane ticket for my girls trip, so now we are definitely going. I think it will be a great experience for me to have a girls trip. We have our hotels picked out as well so we will be booking those in the next few days also. It seems to be coming together and I'm looking forward to it. If the next few months go by as fast as this month has, then it will just seem like a few weeks! Jason went with me last night to see Twilight again, unfortunately, he didn't care for it, but he was nice enough to go with me!

Now Jason & I will have to figure out where we would like to go on vacation this year!

Planning A Girls Trip

A little bit about me first, until recently, I had no clue what Twilight was! Thanks to my best friend Lyndsye, I have become addicted to it! She asked me to go to the movie with her over Christmas and since we rarely get to spend time together or see each other I went along. Well, that is what started it! I liked the movie, but was confused about a few things, so I started reading the book. I loved it! The detail that Stephanie Meyer put into it was amazing. I could hardly put it down (much to the dismay of my husband). I automatically started reading New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn. Then I read the partial draft of Midnight Sun that the author posted on her website (I'm excited to see what comes of that, its very interesting.) So about my trip...

Since Lyndsye and a couple of her friends in Tennessee love the books as well, she decided to go check out this place (Forks, WA). She invited me to come. At first, I was like, this is crazy, what am I thinking, then I realized that it could turn out to be an interesting trip. So I did some looking online and the pictures of Forks and the surrounding area are beautiful and surprisingly there is quite a bit to do out there. So I decided to go, and now I can't wait!

We are planning everything out now, and booking our trip! This will be the first trip that I've gone on without my family or my husband ever! It's exciting but makes me nervous at the same time, but I know I can do it. Once we get our plans finalized I'll post an update. (Yes, I know, I'm a nerd, but at least I'm going to have fun!!)