A Look Back

I like to occasionally look back through old photos and reminiscence on good times- I get it honest from my mother, who is constantly looking through photos. In doing so, I realize that I've had a VERY blessed life with many adventures and wonderful people along the way. I've been more places than most and I don't ever take anything for granted. There's nothing special about this blog except to share with you some of my fond memories and favorite photos and to let me relive some past experiences (that is since the age of digital photograpy- I'm not going to bother scanning photos.) 

(There's no particular order to these, though I did try to group them somewhat)

Running

I've entered quite a few runs in the past two years. From not being a runner at all, I've completed multiple 5K's and three half-marathons in the past two years. I'm kinda relieved to say that for now my running career has come to a halt- and I'm ok with that. (I now focus more on  weight training and while I do still do cardio, usually it doesn't involve running.) However, while I was running, I always liked to have fun doing it. The Color Run, Foam Fest, Running with the Bulls, and The Diva Series were some of my favorites.

Cruising 

Lets be honest- I love cruising! For me it's one of the best vacation options for me. It's cheap, the food is great, and you don't even need a passport to leave the country. I've been on seven cruises to date and continue to look at more. 

Mermaiding

I've got a thing for mermaids. Don't know why, just do. I find them absolutely fascinating. When I was first starting to get to know Wade, he told me of a place in Florida where they had a live mermaid show. So of course I had to go. I saw the mermaid show (drug him along with me) and got to meet one of the mermaids too! Then at Halloween I WAS a mermaid (and always will be at heart). I won a costume contest too, complete with a trophy! 

Adventuring 

It's very seldom that I find something that I will not partake it. Very seldom. The more spontaneous and more random it is, the better. 

I was asked if I wanted to be a chaperone to a bunch of high school kids to Disney World. 

The Price Is Right game show came to Greensboro. (I've ALWAYS wanted to be on the Price is Right and this was the closest to the actual thing that I was going to get) 

I took a selfie with a Zebra at the Lazy 5 Ranch. 

Went skydiving. 

Got in a sharks cage. 

Jumped off Compression Falls in Boone. 

Kissed a Sting Ray 

Went on my first snow boarding trip spur of the moment.

Concerting 

I've been to many a concert. Mostly country concerts in the summer that involve sitting on a blanket in the lawn section but we ways have a great time. The Dave Matthews Concert is one that I'll never forget- it POURED on us. Literally a monsoon. And of course we weren't under shelter. We were soaking wet by the time it was over, but it was definitely a memorable experience. 

Water-Sporting 

I'm not that great of a swimmer, but I LOVE the water nonetheless. My father and twin brother are HUGE into kayaking, so of course I had to give it a shot. Rafting is probably more my speed, but I can say that I have crossed white-water kayaking off my bucket list. On one of our cruises, I got to try paddle boarding and that was lots of fun as well. I hope that's something I can continue to enjoy in the future. 

Traveling 

As I was saying earlier, I've been blessed to have been able to go to so many different places in just my 26 years. I've been to Ireland, the Bahamas, Vegas and out West, New York, Florida Keys, Jamaica, Hawaii, Chicago and several more. Each place I've ventured to is always fascinating in some way or another and since I never travel alone, it's always nice to share my experiences with friends/family. 

The Whole Famn Damily

Lets face it, getting everyone in a family together is a challenge! And an extended family is just about impossible.

At first, trying to capture a family portrait is a challenge because kids make it challenging- crying, being sick, not wanting to cooperate, etc. (Am I right, Jessi?) But as we get older we all have our own agendas and eventually kids move out (unless you're me and haven't taken the plunge yet... or ever). There's college, journeys home, and careers that have to be taken into account getting everyone together. 

Not to mention, if you are able to get everyone home at the same time, other than a holiday, you have to make sure everyone looks photo worthy. Am I right?! If you know don't know my family, let me give you an overview: Half the time Michaels shirts have holes in them while Elliott wears a wooly beard half the year and doesn't believe in having nice shoes nor clean pants. Meanwhile my toothpick of a father doesn't own a pair of pants other than blue jeans and most those he wears til they have one too many holes. My mother doesn't have that many nice clothes anymore and me, well I'm just perfect ;) 

Say you DO manage to get everyone home, clothed nicely and have a photo-shoot arranged where it isn't pouring buckets at an outside shoot, chances are it's still going to be a hassle. Someone is going to act like a child, regardless of their age, and fits are going to be thrown and most likely, tears will be shed.  Not you're family? You guys are perfect and smile and laugh all the time? I find that hard to believe, but props to you if your family exists like that out there. 

I did it though. I DID IT! I managed to get everyone home for a family photo. We haven't had one taken in YEARS, not a legit family photo by a real photographer anyways. And since my mothers condition continues to worsen, and I had won a photo-shoot by Images by Ginny at a silent auction, I thought this was the perfect time to do one. We had scheduled for the week of Thanksgiving since both the boys would be free from work and college, however it POURED down rain and snow in the mountains and the shoot got canceled. I was bummed, but had the intentions to reschedule- and I did!

Everyone came home one weekend in May. There was NO rain in the forecast, I had arranged for Hannah Beebe, a close friend, to come do the girls makeup (by the way Bee is a fabulous makeup artist that does freelance work on the side so if you want her number, let me know) and I had personally shopped and bought everyones outfits with the help of Michaels girlfriend, Alleson. The real test was going to be the day of. 

Surprisingly, everything went smoothly! That's right I said SMOOTHLY! No drama, no crying, no outfit mishaps, everything went well. In fact, everyone was laughing before hand and Ginny was such a great photographer that we continued to keep laughing the entire shoot. I'm so glad we had these done- they turned out GREAT! Michael got shots with Alleson and Wade and I also were able to get some made. 

My lovely mother

The Twins 

Megan and Michael 

Elliott 

The Parentals- Tony and Donna

The Barbre Family 

And this is my all time FAVORITE picture...

If you can see it larger, it pretty much sums up my dysfunctional family that I love so much.

I wouldn't have these goofs any other way :) 

And you cant forget the couples...

Michael and Alleson

(I adore her!)

My handsome man and myself

"So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." 

-Romans 12:5

I spoke too soon...

In my last blog I said things couldn't get much worse... well they did. I dropped my iPhone this morning and shattered the screen. YIKES! I haven't had the phone very long and I was sick to my stomach as soon as I saw how it had landed. I didn't want to pick it up and see the damage.

However, in my last blog I also said I was able to deal with whatever was thrown my way, and I did.
After doing some research, I had three options:
1.) Try a fix-it-yourself kit. No thanks.
2.) Take it to the apple store and have them send it off for 3-6 days and cost me $200+. Ehhh
3.) Try and find someone or some place that fixed cracked iPhone screens.
Somehow, and I have no clue how, I stumbled upon iCracked.com and got Frank Harmuth's number as the local service guy in Greensboro. He had lots of great reviews on Yelp and I thought I'd give him a call to see what the deal was. After talking to him, he assured me he would be able to fix my phone in a matter of 15-20 minutes and it would only cost me $85.
I drove to Greensboro shortly after, met him at Barnes & Nobel's cafe (don't worry G-maw, it was a public place and he had another customer with him) and he got to work. It was amazing to watch him work. I don't recommend you try a fix-it-yourself kit unless you're an engineer and have lots of patience. Theres so many tiny parts involved and if everything isn't in it's perfect place, you're not going to have a phone that operates correctly. Frank knew what he was doing and it took him no time. He was very polite and explained every part and what he was doing.

So if anyone has a cracked screen and needs help, I highly recommend you look up iCracked.com to find a service man in your area. If you're close to the Greensboro area, hit up Frank! I was VERY pleased.

When It Rains, It Pours...

And let me tell you, I'm about ready to build an arc!
Let me take a second to fill you guys in since its almost been a year since my last entry.

As most of you knew, I was happily working full time in Pinehurst as a radiation therapist. In February I was laid off due a decrease in our patient load that never seemed to pick back up. I'm not pointing fingers or blaming anyone for this unfortunate event, but I will say that many educated, skilled people seem to be in the same boat as me since ObamaCare came into effect. I'll leave it at that.

In March of this year, I turned 26. Hard to believe! Seems like just yesterday I was turning 16 and getting my license. Birthdays are great! I mean, you get presents, cake and get to go out to the restaurant of your choice. If you have facebook, you'll probably get 100+ notifications and texts from people wishing you a happy birthday who normally wouldn't know it was your birthday. There are only two problems with turning 26. 1)- It means you're that much closer to 30, which means you're that much closer to 50- It means you're getting older! And 2)- At the age of 26, you can no longer be insured under your parents insurance.

Being 26 and technically unemployed means you don't have insurance. No big deal. I'm healthy, I workout, I don't ever go to the doctor. WRONG! Just a few weeks after getting laid off, I was training for my third half marathon, fell and messed up my ankle on one of my long runs. An ace bandage and an $80 doctor visit later, determined that I just sprained it pretty bad. I was still able to run in my race a month later, and had a great time doing it.

Not too much happened after that- I laid low for a while. We went on a cruise the beginning of June. Wade, myself, and our friends Adam and Lily. We had a great time, saw two new islands we'd never explored before. Got to play with stingrays and of course eat lots of great food.

After getting back from our cruise, I had my 6 month cleaning at the dentist. Still unemployed, my first question is "How much is this gonna cost?". Come to find out, it wasn't too terrible. $140 including x-rays. Manageable. What I wasn't counting on was that they would find a cavity. REALLY!? I haven't had a cavity in 10+ years and as soon as I'm uninsured, one would come up. They scheduled to have it filled the next week. Two shots, 30 minutes, and $120 later it was filled.

That very same week I was scheduled for my last shot in the Gardasil series. My GYN recommended I get these series of shots back while I was employed at the hospital. It helps protect against HPV and cervical cancer and since I was still in the recommended age range for the shots, insurance would cover 100% of the three shot series. My last shot however, was scheduled after I had lost coverage, costing me a bruise on my right arm and  $175.

After a depressing week of throwing money down the drain, I was ready for a break! I went to Oak Island Beach for the fourth of July with Wade and his family. Had a relaxing week soaking up rays and playing at the beach. Went deep sea fishing and caught some big fish and even some sharks! Even got to see Jessi and her family for a short while. Other than being there when Hurricane/Tropical Storm Arthur came through, no big unfortunate events happened. Yippee.

Then fast forward to this week, just when I think everything has calmed down and cant get much worse....

I get this:

The determologists had no idea what exactly it is. Sunday morning it had popped up on my forehead and around my eye. By this morning it was way worse- my eye was swollen, it was all over my face, and it was ten times worse on my back. It didn't itch or bother me at all, other than the swelling of my right eye. The best idea they could come up with was my sweet cat, Cali, had rolled in poison ivy and brought it in the house. After a shot, $75 doctor visit, $20 prescription, clean sheets/bed spread, and a cat bath later, hopefully it'll clear up in the next few days.

It could possibly get worse from here on -hopefully not though. But in the event that it does, I'm ready for whatever life throws at me.

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"