Dinner with Patty Cakes

One of my very best friends, Patrick, majored in film studies and headed out to LA to do some big things as a screen writer and actor. He is extremely talented and I pray every day that something good will happen for him.

Over Christmas break, he was able to fly back to the east coast for a few weeks. The night before he left, we were able to get a few college friends together for a dinner at Southpoint. Katie drove to Winston and hopped in the car and from here we went to Greensboro to pick up Brian +Michelle. We also got a phone call on the way that our friend Josh, who was supposed to be on a plane to Denver at the time, would be able to come because his flight got canceled until the next morning! God was looking out for us! So we all had a great dinner and told some good stories and were able to hang out like old times.

I do miss my Patty Cakes, but I know he's doing the damn thing!!

Patrick + his parents.

Josh + Patrick

Patrick + The Lees!

Patrick, Katie, + Me

Our UNCDub Crew, minus a few!

Annual Smith Christmas Par-Tay!

Last year, Jason and I threw our first annual Smith Christmas party. We had a great time last year in Jacksonville, but I was EXTRA excited about throwing it now that we are back in Winston and in our great house. So over a month ago...oops...12.12.09 to be exact, we had our 2nd Annual Christmas Party. We had an incredibly great night and such a good time. It's so good to be able to kick back and hang out with people you life and work with because often everything is very rush rush and you don't get to really spend time with them. We had family, people from work, friends from high school and college, and just about everyone we love to have around us. The night consisted of...

Hanging out and eating some great food.

One bad ass dance party that included John Martin and I standing on a cooler and rocking out like we were on stage. It also involved my sister and I grinding on each other. Yes we are white, but damn if we can't dance! Les killed it that night.

A great time with some awesome friends.

Some amazing food...including a peanut butter cheese cake by Dinah Reese. To. Die. For.


Kicking the boys ass in ping pong over and over again. Note the five I have on my hand. That is five in a row, baby! (I really have no idea what that is about, but just roll with me here.)

Some really hot guys. All of them have been spoken for, but they are nice to look at! We are some lucky, lucky women!

Fierce flip cup competitions. Things got serious.

And what would a party be like without Leroy, our metal deer that was our center piece that throughout the night got fed shots, made out with (see picture below of my husband making out with him), and given as a prize to the winning flip cup team. Of, for the love of Leroy!

We had an AWESOME night and such a great time hanging out with lots of great people. Can't wait to do it again next year!

Let it snow!

Let me begin by saying a big congrats to all of my Fury teammates. We won our game in the first round of playoffs for my flag football team. We've got semifinals next Wednesday and then the finals Sunday and we might get to play on the Wake Forest field!

This weekend is one of our in-town weekends for the month. It is jam packed, though!

Tonight, Ja's JV boys come to Reagan to play us! If tonight is anything like Tuesday night, it'll be a great game to watch. One of my really good friends coaches the JV girls, so I'll have an evening of basketball to enjoy! Bring on the 'friendly' family rivalry! At least one of us will have a good night tonight!

Tomorrow morning we will be doing some more Christmas shopping, I'm sure. We've made a few trips and got what we think we need, but I'm sure we'll find more as the weekend goes on! Ja has a game at 2:30 and then tomorrow night we are going to the Rockette's Christmas Spectacular at the Joel Coliseum here in Winston. And it's supposed to SNOW!!!! Hey, if it can snow in Dallas, TX, we can get some here, too! Date night, here we come!

Sunday will be our true decorating day. The house will be Christmas-fied by Sunday night. Ja is so cute to watch because he loves Christmas and gets excited about it all like he was a youngin' again! I'm starting to get in the spirit because I'm starting to see houses around us get decorated and it just stirs something up in me and the Christmas spirit shows it's pretty face! I'm ready for Manheim and Mariah and N'Sync serenading us and seeing twinkling lights everywhere! This Christmas is going to be especially grand because it's our true 'First Christmas' and our first one in our new house. I'll post pictures of what the outcome is.

So bring on the snow, the Rockette's, and Christmas! We're all ready for you!

Bachelor/Bachelorette Weekend!!

The third weekend in November (20-22) was reserved for Greg and Michelle's bachelor/bachelorette weekend. The boys spent the day fishing off a boat, eating lunch at Dockside (pulling up on the dock and everything!), and dinner at B-Dubs. Sounds like they had a great time!

Our afternoon started off with a monogram shower at my sister's in-laws' condo. The setting could not have been any more perfect for the night. Most of the bridesmaids, Mom, and a few of Mom's best friends all gathered around as Michelle opened her gifts. We thought we had surprised her with the monogram part, but she figured it out when everyone asked her her favorite color and what her initials were going to be! She got so much awesome stuff!

After the shower, we all loaded up and had a WONDERFUL dinner at Bluewater, right on the Intracoastal Waterway. It was absolutely delicious and we had a great time.

Then we all headed back to the condo and immediately got our pajamas on for a good ol' fashioned slumber party! We watched the Ugly Truth, played the 'Ask Greg' game (where he got a few things wrong!), told our favorite Greg stories, and played 'Never Have I Ever'. After all of that fun it was time to hit the hay!

The next morning I woke up to the sun rising right over the ocean and it was absolutely breath taking. I would have loved to stay awake and actually enjoy the whole thing, but I was exhausted! We all began to mobilize and shower and we were soon out the door for an AMAZING breakfast at Michelle's best friend, Cameron's, grandmother's house. From there everyone said their goodbyes until next time!

We had a great time and hopefully it was everything Michelle wanted it to be!

Let the wedding season begin!

So November 14, 2009 officially began Greg + Michelle's Wedding Season. Some of Mom's good friends threw them a dessert shower on that Saturday night. Jason had football and basketball going on, so I made the solo trip to Wilmington for the big event. I had just discovered Lady Antebellum, so I did not mind driving by myself and belting every word!

Leslie, Will, and Banana Pants came down and of course Anna was the belle of the ball! She was so cute and would get SO excited when Greg and Michelle would open something new. She also helped them pick out which present to open next, along with Kamryn, the little girl I've kept every summer since she could walk.

Ooooohhh!

Ahhhhh!!

It was so good to see everyone that was there. There were also some DELICIOUS desserts to enjoy while chatting it up with everyone!

4th Annual Collins Girls' Weekend

The first weekend of November, Leslie, Anna, Mom, and I loaded up the van and headed to Boone for our 4th Annual Collins Girls' Weekend. Mom's good friend is gracious enough to let us use their family condo for the weekend and what an amazing place it is. The view is simply breathtaking.

The trip started Friday night when Mom made it up to Winston. We quickly loaded all of our stuff and took off. You put a movie in and Anna gets those headphones on, and everyone is good to go. Between watching Anna and gabbing away, we were up there in no time!

We got to Boone and made our Harry Peter run. We stopped by the RedBox to get a movie, and against some Yankees suggestion, we went with Nights in Rodanthe. There is no way Richard Gere + Diane Lane + Nicholas Sparks can be a bad combo. Damn if they didn't find a way to make the badness happen! We couldn't complain...we each had a Blue Moon and a carton of ice cream to ease our troubles!

The next morning we got up and headed to the porch to soak up the mountain view and to sip on some coffee. Anna wasn't quite awake when we got out there, but it wasn't long before she was sampling (quality control testing) everyone's coffee. It was quickly decided that Anna needed her own cup to feel like one of the girls.

Wakey, wakey!

Anna and her own coffee cup!

Happy as a clam! And the gang's all here! Bobo, Elmo, and Llama llama. We're ready to go!

After a few hours on the porch we suited up and headed to The Mountain House for an unbelievable breakfast. It truly was a smorgasbord and the ridiculous 2 year old we had with us said that right with us. She was even able to repeat it for her Datty!

The rest of the day was consumed with shopping at the Tanger Outlets and then stopping to get some Mellow Mushroom pizza to take back with us. We are so adventurous that we were almost ready for bed at about 7 when Anna went down for bed since she missed her nap. We did manage to watch Must Love Dogs and stay up for a bit, but it wasn't too long after that we were all cuddled up in bed.

We had such a great weekend! It's always so good to get away from the grind and just be able to sit back and relax. Next year we'll have another Collins girl to add and I'm sure in the future there will be plenty more!

All Alone...

So for the first time in my married life and in a really long time for that matter, I will spending the next few nights completely by myself. I have always had my family around, Jason, or even Riley Dunkin. Riley has slept with me almost every night for the past 5 years and for the last 2 years I've had Harley around, also. The dogs are currently at their respective grandparents and when Ja leaves tonight to ride a charter bus for 12 hours to go to Disney World with the high school seniors (sorry ass), I will be completely by myself. On one hand, I'm excited about it. It's not often, especially being a teacher, that I am completely by myself. Alone with my thoughts, my silence, and the ability to do whatever I want to do. On the other hand, it does make me a little sad. I'll miss my boys, all three of them. We'll see how it goes! I'm sure I'll be glad when they all get home soon.

I do have some plans for the weekend. One of my very best friends, Michelle Clark, is having a wedding shower in Tobaccoville, NC. So Friday night, after going to Relay For Life for a while, I'll jump in the car and head to Greensboro to spend some time with Michelle and Brian. Hopefully some of our other college friends will be able to come, also. After the shower I'm planning on hanging out in Greensboro for Saturday night and then heading back Sunday morning so I can see my husband after he gets back!

It's A Great Day In The Neighborhood!

Original Post: February 20, 2009

Today is a GREAT day for many reasons.

Reason #1: It is 11:10 right now and I am on my planning period, which means that I only have one more class and it's Alg II which is my favorite.

Reason #2: It's FRIDAY!!!

Reason #3: I have 8 days until I get married...YAY!!!!!!

Reason #4: As soon as school gets out I'm having all of my JV softball girls in my room to watch a video and then Ja is going to come and get me and we're heading to WINSTON!!!

Reason #5: Tonight we get to see Leslie, Will, and Banana Pants! She is amazingly ridiculous and one of my favorite little things in this world. I can't wait to just sit and watch her be so smart and so cute...but we have to be sure not to tell her that!

Reason #6: Tomorrow I get my hair did by Alex! He is amazingly talented with his scissors and his thumbs on the back of my head when he's washing my hair! All he's doing is a little trim and color, but he is a genius.

Reason #7: Tomorrow night I get to have to have dinner with Sherry!!! Once Sherry stopped working when she had William, we would have monthly marathon dinners. They usually start around 6 or 7 and then when the meal is over we head to the parking lot where we say our goodbyes that usually take about 2 hours. We just have so much in common and have shared so much with each other, so cramming a month into a meal is hard to do!!! Well tomorrow night will be the first Sherry and me dinner since I moved back to Wimington last summer. We have been up and have seen them, but the boys have been around, so that cuts down a bit on the 4 hour talks!! I am so excited to see her and to get to sit down and catch up!

Reason #8: Ja and I going to get pedicures on Saturday. I enjoy getting pedicures, but don't go often at all because I feel bad paying someone else to make my feet pretty. I know that's how they make a living, but I kind of feel like that is putting that person below me and it makes me feel awkward. Every once in a while I let my weirdness go and sit down and relax for a bit. Ja needs a pedicure so badly and has never had one, so we are going to spend an hour or so together just relaxing before next weeks craziness.

Reason #9: When we come back to school on Monday, I only have a three day work week!! We're taking Thursday and Friday off and we're heading to Wilmington Wednesday night. I can't wait to spend time with people and be able to tie up some loose ends in preparation for next weekend!!!!

Reason #10: This is my last weekend as a single girl...and I couldn't be happier. It feels pretty good to know that you have absolutely no desire to look anymore because you've found exactly what you want and need!!!

TGI Friday!

Original Post: February 6, 2009

We've made it. Another week down, just a few more to go! We have some goodness planned for this weekend. A little high school basketball tonight. A little wedding work this weekend. Some house cleaning. A trip to Wilmington. All of the above make me happy right now. I'm glad to finish out this tough week with a smile on my face and renewed energy for the weekend with my future husband! All I need is a good glass of wine or one of Ja's famous glasses of fruity goodness and I am set.