Arrangement - Need Your Help

In my last post I mentioned hanging up wedding photos.  It's true... it's almost been three years and I'm FINALLY hanging up wedding photos.  We got a collage frame for our last anniversary, so I used that.  I also picked out 3 pictures from our ceremony I loved and framed them.  I framed an 8 x 10 photo of our wedding party.  And finally the thorn in my side, a beautiful picture of Chad and I.  The reason it was a thorn in my side was it was formatted to be a 4x6 so when I expanded it to a 8x10 it cut pieces off.  Normally there would probably be some room for that, but this picture didn't have any room to be cut off.  I wasn't sure what I was going to do, and then I heard about a site -Mpix.  I was able to order a bigger size that didn't cut anything off.  Of course it was hard to find a matte for the frame, but luckily my friend Liz works in the framing department at Michael's and was able to cut me a custom matte.

So now here's where I need your help.  I have no idea how this arrangement to go.  The collage frame is the part that's make it difficult.  So, I played around with a few arrangements... and I need your opinion of which one you like the most.  Or, if you have a suggestion for something better I'm all ears!

For a reference, this is the wall the pictures will be going on.  This is next to the office door, and across from the previous photo arrangement.

And here is what I came up with

Arrangement #1

Arrangement #2

Arrangement #3

Arrangement #4

Arrangement #5

So those are the five choices... which do you like best?  Do you have a suggestion for a different arrangement?  Someone please help a sista out!!

4th Quarter Goals

The other day I was talking to a friend and she told me she had made some goals that she wanted to complete before the end of the year.  While I know we aren't really into the "4th quarter" yet... but hey it sounds good.

This conversation made me think, what kind of things do I want to get completed by the end of the year?  Maybe challenging myself to get some of these things done will mean they will actually get done?  Is that possible?

So, I've come up with a few... maybe I'll come up with a few more... who knows... they all center around the house... but there's a lot I want to get done!!

So here they are:

• Paint the kitchen
• Hang the wedding photos
• New curtains in the living room
• Art for the blank wall in the living room
• Hang the mirror in the bathroom and paint cabinets

Wow, that's some lofty goals... we'll see if I can manage to get them all done!!

Week in Review

Something a little different...

Friday August 19:  Every other Friday my friend-slash-coworker, Carrie and I go to lunch.  We went to bread company, it was fun.  Friday night, we celebrated my good friend Susan's birthday.  We went to the Little Hills Winery Festival in St. Charles.  First we had dinner at Llewellyn's.  It was my first time eating there and it was pretty delicious.  We sat outside, and that was really nice.  I really can't wait until it's fall and the weather is really nice to sit outside in.  I'm pretty done with this warm weather!  Then we walked around the festival.  None of us bought anything, but it was a good time.  We did get fried oreos... pretty delicious!!  At the end of the night our car got stuck in a parking lot.  There were no signs saying we couldn't park where we did, but they pretty much locked us in.  Luckily we were able to get the car out (not that I thought we wouldn't), but it was pretty funny... at least to me.

Saturday, August 20:  Chad made plans for us to visit his friend, Melissa's house in Jerseyville, IL.  We picked up his other friend Elizabeth.  (both of these girls are members of his motorcycle gang (ok, it's a club, but gang sounds so much cooler)  We went to Melissa's house to shoot guns.  I shot my very first gun... ever.  I didn't really care to shoot one, but Chad really wanted me to - so I did.  After the others got their fill of using deadly weapons the plan was to eat at Fast Eddie's Bon Air... however it was SO FREAKING PACKED that we just headed home.  We ended up getting Taco Bell for dinner and renting a couple of movies from Red Box.  We watched Adjustment Bureau and Sucker Punch - both were entertaining.

Sunday, August 21:  Chad and I slept in again and then ate some food together.  Then Chad had to head to work.  I did school work (thrilling I know).  Timing worked out perfectly and I was finished with schoolwork when I needed to leave to meet up with my family to finally celebrate my brother's birthday.  We went to a restaurant on the Hill.  It was super delicious, the toasted ravioli was probably the best I've ever had.  After dinner I headed home and just hung out.

Monday, August 22:  It was my Monday off work.  I love this schedule!  I got to sleep in, it was awesome.  Then Chad did motorcycle stuff while I did laundry (excitement city!)  I also am trying to reuse a canvas so I painted over the last picture... After Chad was finished with the motorcycle stuff we had dinner - take out from a local Thai food place and nutter butter blizzards from DQ.  We also finally watched Paranormal Activity 2 - kinda freaked us both out!

Tuesday, August 23:  Urg, back to work.  But, I stayed busy, so that's something.  I got something annoying that I left on Friday done, so that felt good.  When I got home, we went out to dinner with our friends Ryan and Kayla.  We went to Smugala's up the street b/c they have pitcher specials during Cardinals games.  We got pitchers of beer, pretzel bites, chicken wings, and buffalo chicken pizza - all VERY good!!  It was a fun night, I like Smugala's and happy they put one up the street.  Plus, Chad and Ryan won us some of those fake candy cigarette things... reminds me of my childhood.  Also found out that my step-sister Adriane had her baby.

Wednesday, August 24:  Ugh, work again!  This was probably the least exciting day of the week.  I did accidentally break one of my plants at work.  SAD FACE.  I'm trying to save the piece I broke off, I should be able to.  I came home and made my favorite dinner when I'm alone - chili mac.  A can of turkey chili (Wolf brand with some extra spices), macaroni noodles, and cheese... and oyster crackers!  Oh, so good... but probably oh so bad for me.  I watched Bachelor Pad (I like reading the recap on RealitySteve.com) and the finale of the Challenge - Rivals on MTV - I'm sad it's over.

Thursday, August 25:  Ugh, work yet again (sensing a trend??)  I went to lunch with Susan.  We always go to McAllisters and it was no different on Thursday.  It was a good time.  We also stopped by Babies R Us so she could help me pick out a gift for the new baby (since she has a little guy herself).  On Thursday night, I had dinner with my dad.  We went to Fuddrucker's.  It was pretty delicious - good burgers.  It was nice to catch up with him one-on-one.  We decided to look at Borders since it is going out of business.  I picked up a book I wanted, but realized I could get it for the same price on Amazon as the discounted price at Borders.  After dad and I parted ways, I went home, but first stopped at Michael's to pick up a final frame for the wedding pictures I want to hang up.  Now I can work on the arrangement and finally (almost 3 years later) get them hung up.  My goal is to have them on the wall before our anniversary.

And that was my week - like this segment?  I can do it again let me know!!

Vacation - Day 6 & 7

The reason I'm combining Tuesday and Wednesday is not much happened on Tuesday.  We drove... A LOT.  The two things that we wanted to do - A coal mine and Hilly-billy Hot dogs - the timing just didn't end up working out. ::sad face::

But here's a picture before we left Myrtle Beach:

We made it all the way to Lexington, KY on Tuesday.

On Wednesday we headed back toward home.  We stopped in Louisville, KY to pose by a wax Coronal Sanders

We also saw a giant bat at the Louisville Slugger factory

And then we saw another giant bat

Then we stopped in Santa Claus, IN

We went to the Santa Claus Museum

Then we shopped at the ornament store - I mean who doesn't like shopping for ornaments in August?!?

After that we checked out Lincoln's Boyhood Home

Mom went and looked at the bronzed foundation... it was too hot for the rest of us

After Lincoln boyhood home we got something to eat and made the final stretch to home.

It was a wonderful trip, full of a lot great memories.  Mom, thanks for planning a wonderful vacation!  You're awesome!!

Vacation - Day 5

I've been really slow with this recap... whoopies!!

On Monday we finally had a pretty low key day.  First we took my mom's car into the shop because we thought the AC wasn't working correctly... turns out nothing was wrong... whoops... but let's face it in that heat we NEEDED the AC to be working, so it's better to get it checked out than not have AC.

After we got back to the hotel we ate some lunch and mom headed down to the beach with Lindsey.  I was sun burnt and really didn't want to be out in the sun anymore anyway.  So I stayed in, did some school work and hung out with my grandma... here I am looking lazy with grandma...

And here's a pretty picture of the beach from our balcony.  Grandma and I sat out there for awhile to enjoy the beach view.

That evening we decided to have a delicious dinner at Villa Romana Italian Restaurant.  It was a delicious authentic Italian restaurant.  It was like a course meal or whatever it's called... soup, salad, entree, and dessert.  With this super yummy bread.  Here's Lindsey pretending to look over the menu.

For dessert we had THE BEST spumoni ice cream ever.  Seriously!  It was really really great!

After dinner we decided to go souvenir shopping.  I got a t-shirt, sweatshirt capris and a bracelet.  We wanted to shop at the Gay Dolphin, but no good parking spots at that place.  It would have been cool to get a shirt that said Gay Dolphin :)

After that we went mini golfing.  Apparently, Myrtle Beach in the mini golf capital of the world.  The problem is everyone visiting Myrtle Beach mini golfs!  So it was super crowded, we had to wait a lot and it was super hot.  After about hole 11 we decided to just skip the rest of them... and that was a good choice.  It was fun for a few holes though.  We did a jungle course with animal statues all over the place.  Here's a couple of pics.  

And that ended Day 5!

Vacation - Day 4

This was one of the first days on vacation we could actually sleep in... and boy did it feel good.  Later than morning Lindsey and I decided to go parasailing.  We had made an appointment for the night before for a place recommended by the hotel.  We figured it was just a few blocks down on the beach so Lindsey and I got dressed and made the trek to the place on the beach.  We walked and walked and walked and didn't see anything.  I mean you'd think it would be easy to find a parasailing place.

After we decided we had walked far enough we went up to the street to see and we had walked past the address.  Long story short, I guess the place we made reservations at was in North Myrtle Beach not South Myrtle Beach where we were.  I guess the road has the same addresses... we started to realize this trend more and more over our few days in Myrtle Beach... talk about confusing!!

Either way we decided to go to a different parasailing place that wasn't in North Myrtle Beach where we were not located!  Mom drove us down there, and we paid and got our life vests and waited for our turn.  We had to take a banana boat out to the boat.  The ride out there was fun, but the position I had to sit in really kind of hurt my hip.  Also going over the waves sprayed you with water... it was fun, but kind of annoying too.

Here is my sister and I on the boat

And here we are up in the air... ignore my goofy legs

Parasailing was amazing!  It was so much fun.  When I was watching the parasailing boats going by I was thinking it might be really scary being that high up... but it wasn't at all... it was really peaceful and fun.  When they brought us back in they drunk us, which was fun... and then the dragged us in the water... it was fun all around.

We went back to the and mom and Lindsey headed to the beach.  Here's a secret... I like being by the ocean, but I don't really like swimming in the ocean... and I don't like how sad gets everywhere and you can't get rid of it... I know... I'm crazy.  So I found a chair at the pool swam around in the pool and read by book poolside... it was very nice!

On vacation I read Sisterhood Everlasting.

This is a continuation of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series.  It takes page of the verge of the girls turning 30.  I really like series where you get to follow the course of charecter's lives... and I loved these books and always wonder - what happened.  Well, now I know... it wasn't what I expected, but it was really good!

Now, I thought I was being sly by staying in the shade at the pool, but I guess I wasn't as in the shade as I thought - b/c this happen....

Sorry for the crappy iphone picture - but yes... my knees got seriously burnt... what a weird place to get a sunburn and I'll tell you it hurt!

That evening we went to a dinner show - Dolly Parton's Pirate Voyage. It just opened earlier this year and a lot of the website I read said it was a pretty good show.  They serve dinner and have the show.  The show was great, the plot was kinda silly but the acrobats were awesome... and it was overall entertaining.  There was a big pool of water and animals too.  We were expecting the food to be pretty mediocre but it ended up being really good.  We got soup, half a chicken (whatever rub was on it was fabulous), pork shank, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and an apple tart for dessert.

Overall pretty fun day!

Vacation - Day 3

We woke up early, hit the breakfast buffet and headed out.

Our first destination was the small town of Bishopsville, SC... this random small town has not one but two Roadside America stops.

The first one was one of the favorites of the trip... a visit to The Button King.  This guy had insomnia when he was younger and started to sew buttons onto suit.  Then he started to put button on other things too, like a guitar, coffin and even a hearse!  He's been on a lot of different shows like Letterman, Carson, and Geraldo.

Here's one of the best stories of the trip, we were lost in Bishopsville, so we called the number from Roadside America that got us to the museum, but no answer however The Button King left us his cell number.  So Lindsey called that number and I thought it was really funny b/c she asked for The Button King.  Anyway we told him we were lost and he said well, I'm in town I can come to you and you can follow me to the museum.  How freaking sweet is that?!?  So we met at the Cotton Museum and he took us to his place.

Here's the Museum...

Here we are looking at the suit that started it all

And here's The Button King himself standing new to the hearse

Here's the coffin he'll be buried in

And then he put on a jacket, hat and guitar and we snapped some pictures

Then he actually played us a song on the guitar... he was a really sweet old man

Then we checked out the second roadside attraction - Pearl Fryar's Topiary Garden.  Not nearly as cool as the Button King.

Then we headed toward the beach.  But first we stopped for some food...

Then it was off to the beach!!  We found our hotel pretty easy... here it is taken from the beach

Lindsey and mom immediately set out for the beach, but I stayed back because I needed to get some school work done (oh being responsible!)

We got a quick dinner... and I won't say much about that because frankly it was a pretty awful experience.  But we're happy to be at the beach!

Vacation - Day 2

As you may remember from my last post we were in Charlotte, NC and if you recall from the post before that we went to Carowinds.

Yes, most of Friday was spend at Carowinds or recovering from sweating my @$$ off at Carowinds.

Here we are at the beginning of the day...

Some things to note about the picture... for one I'm white compared to my sister... but see those happy faces, upbeat, excited about the amusement park ahead of them??

Well, here's the after picture my mom withheld the AC from us to take before she allowed us in the car... notice the not so happy faces, the obvious sun and overall drained persona?

Oh and Susan you'll be happy to see the picture of me with the fanny pack... let me be mocked endlessly

We got some lunch and hung out at the hotel... oh and took a shower, I can't forget that!

After that we decided to have a low key night and went and saw Cowboys and Aliens.  It was pretty good and Daniel Craig is a very fine looking gentleman.

Had some dinner and turned in for the night.

Tomorrow... we head to the beach

Vacation - Day 1

We actually left on Wednesday after work and got a few hours under our belt.  We ended up making it to Nashville before calling it a night.  Nothing exciting so I won't talk about that!

So I will start this recap with the first full day of vacation.  We got up and left Nashville pretty early on Thursday - we had a long day ahead of us.  We ate breakfast at the hotel and hit the road, Jack.

Sidenote:  Before the trip started we checked out Roadside America to plot some truly unique vacation experiences.  I highly recommend checking out this site before you take a road trip!

Our first stop was at the Minister's Tree House.  The site says that a minister receives directions from god on how to build this insanely large tree house.  Even though I saw the pictures before we went, this place was incredible.  You find it by driving down this small road that turns to gravel.  Then there's an open gate that says no trespassing, however there's also a sign for parking.

My favorite part was the seemingly random wood walls...

Here we are at the entrance to the steps...

It's a really neat and FREE place to check out if you're ever in the area... they even have a lawn chair attached to really long cords as a swing... we didn't get a chance to swing, but it looked fun.  You can kind of see it in the first photo above.

Out next stop was in Gatlinberg, TN.  I'm not sure if you you've ever been to this place... but I've never seen a bigger tourist trap in my life!  There's a man strip that's just tourist thing and souvenir shop, wash, rinse, repeat.  We stopped in Gatlinberg to check out the Museum of Salt and Pepper Shakers. 

This place was actually featured on Unwrapped on Food Network.  Here's the click from YouTube.



It's pretty amazing... just room after room after room of Salt and Pepper shakers... pretty incredible.

We ate lunch at TGI Fridays (the parking was easy, don't judge)  We then headed through Smoky Mountain National Park.  Here I am with the Smokies in the background... it was so nice and cool up on this mountain!

If you've never been the the Southeast there's some soda called Cheerwine.  I actually learned about it on Unwrapped.

It kind of tastes like Dr. Pepper... but worth trying!

We found our hotel in Charlotte, NC and were super tired so we ordered in from a local restaurant for dinner... it was pretty good.  And that concluded day one!!

Roller Coasters

I want to do a day-by-day recap of my trip - but instead of starting at the beginning I'm going to tell you about Carowinds.  My sister Lindsey and I went to Carowinds of the 2nd full day of our vacation.  Carowinds is near the city of Charlotte, NC however the amusement park straddles the North and South Carolina border. 

I originally heard of this park while watching a new favorite television show - Bert the Conqueror.  So when I realized we'd be right near this place I asked if we could spend a day there.

Of course it was SO FREAKING HOT... I don't think I've ever sweat that much in my entire life.  But luckily it made all the lines pretty short!

One think I will say about Carowinds in general is that they allow for storage of bags, prizes, drinks, etc on all rides.  This makes planning for the park much easier.  We didn't know this going in, so wore a fanny pack (I know...)  we were worried they might do something similar to what Six Flags St. Louis does by forcing you to put any bags, purses, whatever into lockers... talk about annoying.

So here I'm going to review all the ride, most of which roller coasters, that we rode on.

Afterburn:

Description: 
32-passenger, inverted steel coaster with floorless cars suspended below the track. Takes guests on six inversions including a space drop, a vertical loop, an immelman, a batwing, a flat spin and finally into a spiral.

My Thoughts:
This coaster is very similar to the Batman, hower it has some unique twists and turns.  This ride was incredible smooth as most inverted coasters are.  This was probably my second favorite coaster in the park.  Lindsey somehow hit her head while riding so she wasn't the happiest.

Carolina Cobra

Description:
Carowinds introduces a new species to the Carolinas, with the introduction of the Carolina Cobra. This 125-foot tall towering twisting serpent will send riders speeding through three inversions, including a cobra roll and a 360-degree loop - both forward and then again backwards.

My Thoughts:
This is a unique coaster experience.  It first backs you up a hill, then releasing and going around a few twist turns and loops to a second hill where you get pulled up and then released again to do the whole thing backward.  I'd like to say this is something like Mr. Freeze as you go forward and backward... however, it's not nearly as cool as Mr. Freeze... I was pretty eh about this coaster.

Carolina Cyclone

Description:
A steel coaster that spins guests through four consecutive 360 degree loops and a 450 degree uphill helix.


My Thoughts:
This ride is nearly identical to Ninja.  I will say it was somewhat smoother than Ninja.  I also enjoy when coasters travel over sidewalks as this one does.  This is what I would call just an old-school upside down coaster.

Carolina Goldrusher

Description:
This wooden mine train rollercoaster takes you on a harrowing adventure

My Thoughts:
This ride reminded me of the Minetrain, however this one is slightly bigger.  My biggest complaint on this coaster was the seating.  My butt barely fit in the seat and the knee bar and my long legs wasn't very comfortable either.  Despite that, I enjoyed the twists and turns and the finishing tunnel.  More coasters should utilize the tunnel.

Intimidator

Description:
The tallest, fastest, and longest coaster in the Southeast!

My Thoughts:
This is hands-down one of the best roller coasters I have ever ridden ever.  It is based off of a NASCAR - Dale Earnhardt.  For one the seats are alternated - two in the center, two on the outside which gives a better view of what's coming.  The lap bar at first was a bit scary - it didn't feel secure enough, however when the ride got started this wasn't concerning at all.  It takes you up this monsterous hill really fast and the first drop is takes your breath away.  This ride doesn't go upside down but instead the hills make you lift out of your seat... so much fun!!

Nighthawk

Description:
The Carolina's only flying coaster soars riders through eight inversions, most while flying facedown, zooming toward the ground and turning skyward just in time for the next inversion.

My Thoughts:
This was a new roller coaster experience for me.  I was really excited about testing this out... the whole superman pose sounded pretty exhilerating.  The ride is definately different.  I had mixed feelings about it.  I didn't hate it but I didn't love it either.  It kind of hurt my hip quite a bit (I have some hip problems)  The seats were an odd contraption.  Overall it's worth riding a ride like this at least once, b/c it's a unique experience!

Ricochet

Description:
A "Wild Mouse" rollercoaster featuring 17 curves that will drop, twist, bank and curl riders throughout the 1200 ft-long track.

My Thoughts:
This is just a fun coaster... when I say twists and turns - I mean it... the first part of this coaster is S-ing back and forth... such tight turns... it's pretty neat.  The cars only sit 4 people so it can make those super tight turns.

Thunder Road

Description:
Twin-racing rollercoasters that take you through two U.S. states - North and South Carolina

My thoughts:
This coasters seats were pretty painful.  Actually some kids in front of us were making fun of me for the noises I was making.  There were fun parts, but it wasn't very comfortable.  Wooden coasters are like this sometimes - especially older ones... however this one was worse than normal.

Vortex

Description:
This stand-up rollercoaster takes you on a 50-m.p.h. series of fun-filled loops and dramatic drops.

My Thoughts:
The entire time I was riding this coaster I was thinking 'oh god just let it be over already!!'  It's a standup coaster - and I've ridden one of them before.  This one was just painful... seriously painful.  I hadn't been 'lock in' to my seat height yet and bounced around to readjust, but then my seat locked in higher so my feet couldn't touch the ground - so I was on my tip toes the entire time... it was not fun.

Drop Tower

Description:
Strap into an open car and lift 160 feet into the air at a speed of 16 feet per second. Feel the tension build as you’re held for a few seconds, and then dropped all the way down on a 100-foot, 56 mph freefall—all in complete safety. Just 60 feet above the ground, the ride’s magnetic braking system saves you from gravity.

My Thoughts:
These rides are always fun.  I also enjoy the tension at the top... when is it going to drop?!?  After riding Superman at Six Flags this ride doesn't feel as tall or cool... but it's still a fun time... plus the view is awesome.

Boo Blasters on Boo Hill

(No available picture...)

Description:
We need your help! Climb aboard one of our interactive Boo Blaster cars and challenge your friends to see who can capture the most ghosts!


My Thoughts:
This ride was great... but mostly b/c it was air conditioned... ahhhh the cool air.  You're suppose to shoot at stuff, but getting the gun to actually work was challenging... oh well, we didn't ride it to shoot stuff!

Overall, Carowinds is a pretty fun place... especially the Intimidator... I could have rode that a few more times... Lindsey just wanted to leave, drat her!  We should have hit the water park considering it wasn't very crowded.  Word of Advice... don't go when it is 105* out!!