Happy Halloween!!!

We went to the Halloween party at the club where my husband works. Everyone enjoyed good food, friends, tons of games and a hayride. Here's some pictures of our cute, cute friends!!

Thursday Thirteen

13 Things I Am Looking Forward To Doing With My Sister During Her Visit (in no particular order)
1) Getting facials
2) Getting massages
3) Showing her my new home
4) Eating
5) Taking her to my church (http://www.seacoast.org/)
6) Going to Charleston with her and my husband
7) Visiting Dena and Annie on our way to Charleston
8) Taking her to Spring Valley Country Club (where my husband works) for the children's Halloween celebration on Friday night
9) Shopping in the boutiques on Devine Street, Five Points, Forest Acres and The Vista
10) Taking her to shop on the other side of town: High Cotton, The Willows, It's Personal, Invitation Station, Carolina Pottery and The Nifty Gifty
11) Shopping at Sandhills (Ulta here we come)
12) Shopping in the Northeast: Nan's Notes, Ashley Rose, Woodleys
*Do you see a theme here with #9-12?*
13) Showing her around town- where I went to college, where I have lived, Columbia landmarks, etc.

We are going to have so much fun!! I can't wait for her to get here, and I probably won't want to let her leave!!

I'm FINALLY Back!!!!!

The drywallers taking a little siesta!!
Did you know that this is how they nail the drywall to the ceiling? It is amazing to watch them get around on these stilts. They are so fast!!
You just sit inside a wall when you're ready for your stilts to come off. Too funny!
The sheetrock is done in the kitchen.
The sheetrock is also done in the breakfast nook.

They took out the pine trees in front of the house, and they are bringing fill dirt in to even out the yard.
They have left one tree in the front yard, but I am not sure about it. It looks kind of scrubby to me. What do ya'll think?
They have constucted the back porch. They still have to build the back stairs and put brick columns around the wood supports. They will also pour a concrete patio under the back porch.
A better view of the back porch. We are going to live out there on that back porch!!!
Here's a view from the back porch. We even have cable tv out there!!!

I will try to catch everyone up on what has been going on the past two weeks. It has been jam packed full of friends and fun!! Look for some long posts coming from me in the future!!

It has been 2 weeks since I have been able to blog. My computer crashed, and I realized how addicted I was to blogging, e-mailing and surfing the net. I have been going nutso!!! After being on the phone with Time Warner tech support 2 different times for over an hour each time, they told me that I must have a bad modem. They told me that I had to exchange it at the Time Warner office, but when I went there they told me that I had to have a service call at my home. During the service call, they determined that my modem was fine but I must have a firewall problem. I went to The Geek Squad at Best Buy where they told me that I needed to reinstall my Windows operating system or buy a new computer because my computer wouldn't be worth the cost to try to fix the problem. I then purchased a thumbdrive to save my stuff because I anticipated the worst. New computer time:( Thank goodness for my friend Margaret's husband Lou who works on computers for a living. He saved me!!! Norton Antivirus was corrupt. Uninstall and reinstall antivirus software and presto! Back in business!!! Thank you Lou!!! His answer was Time Warner and The Geek Squad do not know what they are talking about. My answer- Praise the Lord for friends who are computer savvy!!

House Progress Report

Back view of the house from a distance.

The trees will come down in the front.
The driveway will curve in off of the cul-de-sac.
The front porch before the steps, railing and front door are installed.

The view from the back porch.
Another view from the back porch- it looks like a treehouse, huh?
The beginning stage of the back porch.
Part of the basement.
More of the basement.

Here's the Sycamore Tan. There's more painting to do and the trim will be white.
Back view of the house.
The top level will be the back porch and the bottom will be a concrete patio. The door at the bottom leads into the basement.
The great room. There will be built-in bookcases on either side of the fireplace. There will be a mantle over the fireplace and a flat screen televison mounted over the mantle. The door on the right side of the picture leads out to the back porch.

I am still not sure that we can be done with the house by Thanksgiving, but there has been some serious progress in the last few days. They have started painting the outside of the house, the front and back porches are being built, the fireplace has been installed, the insulation is in the walls, the plumbing and electrical rough-ins are done and the drywall is being delivered tomorrow. I will keep you posted with the progress.

Yummy Yummy!!!

Since Mike had to work late on Sunday night, we decided to go out to celebrate my birthday last night. He took me to my favorite restaurant- The Melting Pot!!! Let me just tell you, that plate of dessert dipped in The Flaming Turtle was (as my sister-in-law Jana would say) DIVINE!!!

I stand corrected. My sister-in-law let me know that her saying is actually "Simply Divine". (See comments) Thanks Jana because I wouldn't want to quote you wrong:) Love ya too!

Happy Birthday to Me!!

Mike's BFF Damon came over with his son Matthew to deliver a china cabinet that I had bought with my birthday money. Mike and Matthew sat down at the piano to sing Happy Birthday to me. It was great!! Matthew was so good that I told Damon that he might have an Elton John on his hands. Hehe! He preferred that I compare him to Billy Joel instead of Elton John. I wonder why?

P.S. Check out my bloggie awards on the right side of my blogspot. Thanks Mari for my Fabulous award and thanks Terri for my Nice Matters award!!! Terri, Mari and Cheri are all sisters from Michigan and new bloggie friends that I have made!!! They thought Dena (The Bailey Girls), Leslie (The Wright Girls) and I were sisters. Check out Dena's post on October 5th that debunks the sister myth. I am flattered because Dena and Leslie would both make great sisters, and I guess it is confusing when Dena's daughter Annie calls me "Aunt Yeye". That's Lele for everyone but Annie:)

Friendship Friday

This week I dedicate my Friendship Friday to my "Little Sister" from my sorority. I knew from the moment that I met Liz that we were going to be BFF, and she just had to be my "Little Sister". I had some of the best times of my life when we were in college together. We have traveled together- Spring Break in Key West, Spring Break cruise to the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, visits to see her in Virginia, she came home with me to Illinois for my college graduation party and we almost went on a extended trip through Europe after she graduated from college. How could she have possibly chosen furniture over a Europe trip? Always the practical one, she is. It might have been for the best, though, because we did not have the best of luck when we traveled together. After a broken down rental car, her car being broken into and all of our clothes stolen the night before our cruise, lost luggage, unexpected expensive travel bills, hurricane, etc. , we decided that maybe we just shouldn't travel together anymore. We developed a bond that has withstood many moves and many states. Life gets busy, and sometimes time has gotten away from us without being in touch. What I love about Liz, though, is that we can always pick back up like no time has passed. I love to have in depth conversations with her because she always gives me her complete attention and listens to every word that I have to say. She will tell me how she really feels about something too. That's a good thing. We have been in each other's weddings. I was the one she chose to stand up with her in the middle of a hurricane in Florida!!! I want her to know that I was honored beyond belief that she would choose me!!! She even paid for my bridesmaid dress. (When you have been in 20 weddings, that is huge because it does get very expensive) She is always so thoughtful, and sends a card for everything. If I have been going through a rough time, I can always depend on receiving a card in the mail from her. She even sends cards to my parents. That's a good friend. She has the best laugh- big belly laugh that takes over her whole body. I love that about her. Liz is a kind, sincere, thoughtful, beautiful person inside and out. I am so blessed to have her in my life. Love you Liz!!!

Thursday Thirteen!

13 Good Things About October (took the idea from Sugar)

1) My birthday (the 7th- a dinner at The Melting Pot- my fav)
2) Gamecock football games
3) Cooler temps
4) A chance to wear some different clothes (I'm sick of my summer clothes)
5) My house being that much closer to being done
6) My Dad's birthday (the 24th)
7) My parent's anniversary (55 years on the 25th) Wow!!!
8) My sister is coming to visit me (the first time she has ever been here to visit me besides my wedding Hooray!!)
9) Maroon 5 concert with Dena and my husband on th 18th
10) My husband is in Newport, Rhode Island right now for an all-expense paid trip from Titleist (He is on staff with them and one of the largest accounts in South Carolina. He needed to get away for a few days. He works too hard:)
11) Massages and facials (I have scheduled them for both of us when my sister comes down to visit)
12) Doctor appointments (Who in the world looks forward to them you say? Me- because I have felt sooo rotten for a long time now.)
13) Hopefully taking my last training classes for Delta so I can go back to work!!!

I've Been Tagged!

I've been tagged for a MeMe by Cheri. Here you go:

What was I doing 10 years ago:
I had started working for Delta Air Lines as a flight attendant in the Spring of 2007. I had an apartment with 7 other flight attendants in New York, and I had a house in Salem, Illinois. I was single, and spent my time off in Salem waiting tables at Little Tulsa Cafe and McMackin House to make extra money.

What was I doing 5 years ago:
I had taken a 5 year leave of absence from Delta Air Lines in November of 2001. They were trying to get people off payroll after 9/11, so I felt it was the right thing for me to do. I had injured my back 3 times in a year and a half and I needed the extra time to recover. I had also just moved back to South Carolina in the Fall of 2001. So 5 years ago in 2002, I went to work for a friend of mine from college who owns a mortgage company. I built a home, rescued my dog Ashleigh and started the house tragedy that lasted until October of 2005 (too long of a story, another blog sometime).

What was I doing 1 year ago:
I was working as a sales rep for stationery and gift products. My territory was the whole state of South Carolina, so I traveled a lot. We purchased our lot where we are building our new home. I was recalled by Delta Air Lines to come back to work as a flight attendant. I was struggling through personal and family tragedies towards the end of last year. I celebrated my 1st anniversary!!

What I did yesterday:
I wasn't feeling well, so I relaxed and took a nap. I picked up Mike's dry cleaning, and we ordered dinner from Wild Wing Cafe when Mike got off work.

5 snacks that I love:
Cashews, any kind of cheese, ice cream (favs are Peanut Butter and Chocolate from Baskin Robbins and Cake Batter from Cold Stone Creamery), pickles with cream cheese and ham, edamame

If I won 100 million what are 5 things I'd do:
Pay off all our bills, Take a trip around the world, Give money gifts to family and friends, Give money to my church missions in the US, Adopt some children

5 locations I'd love to visit:
Hawaii (revisit our Honeymoon spots), Canary Islands, Bora Bora, Australia/New Zealand and Dubai

5 bad habits that I have:
Unhealthy eating, picking on my face, picking on my nails, procrastinating and making myself feel guilty

5 things that I like to do:
Spend time with family and friends, cooking, blogging, decorating and reading magazines

5 tv shows I like to watch:
Brothers and Sisters, Entourage, Big Love, Survivor, Amazing Race (This was a hard one to narrow down. I have so many that I like. I will have to do a Thursday Thirteen on tv shows I like.)

5 things I hate to do:
Wash the dishes, take out the trash, pick up doggie poop, pay bills and go to the post office

5 biggest joys at the moment:
Building a new home, my husband, my new blog, my friends, my family

I tag Leslie and Sugar!

Girly Weekend

Kelly & Michelle at The Coop before the game.
Shelly, Michelle, Kelly, Heather and me at Travinias for dinner on Saturday night.
Michelle opening my present to her.
We all got her a cute frame that we signed with love and wishes for Baby Krause.
Who doesn't love a cute bear that lights up and plays Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star?
We can't wait to see Baby Krause's little hand and foot prints.
What a unique gift! It's called a Lilypod. My flight attendant girlfriend Lily started this company, so check it out at www.thelilypod.com.
The whole group at the shower. Back row: Karen, Me, Heather, Kelly. Front row: Mandy, Michelle, Shelly

What a fun weekend! Two of my girlfriends came in town to stay with us. Kelly came from Charlotte on Friday night, and Michelle came from Knoxville on Saturday morning. We went to tailgate at The Coop, Michelle and Kelly went into the game, we went out for dinner with other friends who live in town on Saturday night and we gave Michelle a baby shower on Sunday. It was a weekend packed full of fun and lots of laughs!!