Lisa's Blog

Vera Bradley Discussion

2011-11-17T12:26:00.003-05:00

Last Month I was contacted by a Marketing group asking if I wanted to be part of a Vera Bradley discussion group. At first they asked me some questions and said I didn't qualify. Then they called a few weeks later and asked a few more questions and then finally accepted me. They ask question about Vera Bradley products and you give your opinion on new products and buying techniques. They compensate you with free Vera Bradley products. So far I have had two assignments. They haven't been too bad. About 20 questions that you have to give your opinion on. This week I received my first Vera Bradley product. I received the All Wrapped UP which is a travel jewelry case in Suzani - View the item. I can't wait to see what else they send me :).

Update 1/20/12- over Christmas I received a Holiday Tote in Suzani and a calendar. This month I received a compact mirror in Camellia. Can't wait to see what I get next!

Busy Couple Months

2011-10-28T10:01:00.011-04:00

It has been a busy couple months. I have had someone visit me every weekend in September and October so far. As of right now I don't know of anyone coming this weekend :).

My mom came up for my birthday in mid-September and we spent the day in Helen, GA. We walked around the town, played putt-putt, and hiked to Anna Ruby Falls. It was a fun day. Here we are at The Troll Tavern and Restaurant.

The following Weekend was the Clemson/Auburn game which was our first real game of the season. Clemson was able to win 38-24. My sister came up for the game. Here we are with our Orange Tigerdream cones.

The last weekend in September was the Clemson/Florida State game. Clemson won 35-30. It was also the weekend of Becca's, my cousin's, 20th birthday. We got to celebrate with her with dinner at Outback friday night and then during the tailgate on Saturday. My sister came up again and my Cousin, Jed, stayed with me too.

The next weekend was the first away game for Clemson. They played at Virginia Tech and won 23-3. That weekend I had a lock-in with the 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade kids at church. At that age they sleep so I didn't have to stay up all night :). Then a friend I work with came up for the day and we went to the Pendleton Fall Festival and hung out in Clemson. It is nice to go to the stores downtown when no one is around.

Oct 8th was homecoming at Clemson and that weekend my parents and sister came and stayed with me. My mom's family owns a house in Highlands that they have been renovating for the last few years so we went up to check on the progress of that on Friday. There is still a LOT of work to be done before it is ready. The leaves had started to change so it was a nice view on the way up there. PSA had a lunch on Saturday and it was good to see some of the alumni that stopped by. Dad was feeling bad all weekend so he missed out on the game but Clemson won again against Boston College 36-14.

On Oct 13th my friends, The Rollers, came for a visit. They have a 6 month old, Olivia, who is a lot more alert and active then when I saw her last at 6 weeks. Another friend that lives in Greenwood, Jonathan, came up for the day on Friday and Saturday. We hung out in Clemson Friday and then enjoyed the Fall Festival in Greenville on Saturday. My cousin's band, The Soulfeathers, played at the festival and they did a great job. It had been a while since I had heard them play and they had definately improved since then. We came back to my house and watched Clemson beat Maryland 56-45.

This past weekend was the Clemson/North Carolina game and my friend, Michael, came up for that. He got here on Thursday and then we went to Simpsonville for a free screening of The Three Musketeers movie in 3D. I don't mind 3D movies but I don't like wearing the glasses the entire time. I thought the movie was great. A lot funnier than I thought it would be. I probably would not have seen it in the theater but for free it was a great deal :). Then on Saturday Clemson won against North Carolina 59-38. That makes Clemson 8-0 and we are number 5 in the BCS Rankings.

I'm nervous about the Clemson/Georgia Tech game this weekend. We don't normally seem to do well against Georgia Tech. We did win last year when we played them. I'll be cheering them on from home at 8 Saturday night. Go TIGERS!!

RIP Washer

2011-09-12T14:50:00.005-04:00

Last Monday I was washing some clothes when my washer stopped in the middle of a cycle and wouldn't continue. I tried moving it to the spin cycle but it would just make a noise and would not spin. I called a repairman and he said it was the motor so it was time to look for a new washer. I have been in my house almost 9 years and the Washer/Dryer came with the house so I really don't know how old they are. They were a Kenmore but I went down to Lowes and purchased a Maytag. Lowes came and installed it on Thursday and then I was all set to wash clothes again. Good thing, because I had 3 guest the weekend before and I hadn't washed any of the sheets/towels yet. I like the new washer but it will take some getting used to. The lid locks when the load starts and it also takes a lot longer than my old washer to run a cycle.

This past weekend my Cousin and Sister came and stayed with me for the Wofford game. Friday night Clair and I went to see Our Idiot Brother. It was a funny movie. The game was fun. I wish Clemson would start playing a little better. I'm really worried how they will do against Auburn this weekend. It's a noon game which will mean an early start on Saturday. My mom is coming up tomorrow to spend a couple nights with me. I'm still trying to decide what we should do Wednesday but haven't come up with anything yet. I thought about maybe going to the Mall of Georgia but we may just stay around Clemson - any good day trip ideas? :).

Design with Wine

2011-08-26T14:32:00.009-04:00

A few weeks ago I went to one of those places where you paint a picture while drinking wine. I went with a friend from work and we did the Blue Ridge Mountains painting. You look at their calendar online and pic a date based on the picture you want to paint. I figured that would be an easy picture to start with. An instructer stands up in front of the class and tells you what to paint when and tells you how to mix up the colors. You paint on a canvas that they provide. I probably would have done a few things differently but I think it turned out ok. It was a fun couple hours and I would do it again.

Last weekend I went and saw The Help. It was a very good movie. They left a few things out from the book but it is already a 2hr and 17min movie so you can't really make it much longer. I went with my greenville book club and then we went to Mimi's Cafe afterwards for dinner. It was a fun night.

A little over a week until the first Clemson home game. I can't wait! My cousin is bringing me a parking pass this weekend since my extended family is not coming up next weekend. My sister is coming up on Friday to go. I've got to decide what kind of tailgating we will do since there will not be many of us. I may use my new Fire and Ice Grill that I got at an auction a few weeks ago. Have a great weekend and GO TIGERS!

Book Club

2011-07-14T16:32:00.008-04:00

I have been a member/organizer for about 3 years of a book club in Greenville but this January I also joined one in Clemson that consists of mostly stay at home moms.

The book club in Clemson meets at different houses each month and the person having the meeting chooses the book. They also provide food/drinks for the people attending. I hosted this months meeting this past Thursday and choose The Wednesday Sisters by Meg Waite Clayton. It was a quick, fun read and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I provided some wine, chips/dip, watermelon, and peach cobbler. It was a very small group since it is summer and some are out of town.

The book club in Greenville I organize through meetup.com. It's called A Novel Bunch. I have been organizing it for a little over a year. Every 4 months members nominate books to read and then the group votes on the next 4 books. We limit the group to 24 people so that everyone can talk and have close to that at every meetup. We always meet at Books-A-Million and go out to dinner after the discussion. The person that organizes the group with me is moving to China in August with her husband and baby to teach at a British school there. Since Jude is leaving I hosted a cookout Sunday for her and some of the members. I provided the burgers and fixings and others brought sides and desserts. We had a smaller group than expected but had a good time. This Tuesday we are meeting to discuss The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. It was a long book and it took a little while to get into but I really enjoyed it.

Tubing

2011-07-11T14:28:00.003-04:00

This past Saturday I went tubing for the first time. My friends Jonathan and Susan joined me and we went to Saluda, NC to tube the Green River. It was a fun and relaxing day. It was good to just lie in a tube and get some sun. We did have quite a few rapids to get through and got stuck on a few rocks, but overall it was just leisurely floating down the river in a tube. We also kept drifting to the side and getting caught up in the trees on the side. I have a long scrape on my upper back from one of them. We did the 4 hour tube ride and ate our lunch along the way. We even stopped at one point and Jonathan did the rope swing. The weather was perfect and it was a great day to be in the cold water. I definitely want to go again. After tubing we went into Greenville and had dinner at Wild Wings and then came back to Clemson for dessert at 3 spoons. It was a fun Saturday.

Tubing info:

http://nctubing.com

Cruise to Bermuda

2011-06-28T10:21:00.006-04:00

This year my family decided to do a cruise together. Since Dad only likes to leave out of Charleston, there were few options so they decided on a cruise to Bermuda. We left on a Thursday afternoon and came back the next Wednesday morning. This was my first cruise so I was a little worried about getting sick but I was fine the entire time. The boat rocked a lot and sometimes I had trouble walking on the ship but never got sick. I enjoyed the cruise. We saw some good shows, had some drinks, ate LOTS of good food, and sat out by the pool. I'd like to go on another one but maybe one with at least a couple stops. It takes about 2 days to get out to Bermuda from Charleston so we only got to spend 24 hours in Bermuda. It was not enough time to see all I wanted to see. If anyone wants to go back, let me know because I'd love to :). We did a famous homes and hideaway tour and got to see some famous houses and hear a lot about Bermuda. We also had a drink at the Frog and Onion and did a little shopping. We saw Hamilton and Front Street from the boat tour. I would have liked to have made it out to the caves and done some snorkeling but there was just not enough time.

I will be back in Moncks Corner this weekend for the 4th and a family friend's wedding. Have a great 4th everyone.

Farmer's Market

2011-06-08T12:39:00.006-04:00

This past weekend I ventured to Greenville to attend the Farmer's Market. A guy I work with kept talking about it so I had to experience it. I also found out that my cousin sells peaches, nectarines, etc for my Mom's family farm (WATSONIA) there. I met two people that I work with about 9 and explored the 2 or 3 blocks of tents. They have everything including Meat, Seafood, Vegetables, Fruit, and Soaps. It was getting crowded by the time we left but it was a beautiful morning to be out. I would definitely recommend a trip if you are in the area and have never been. I plan on going back sometime soon.

I then came home and made another skirt. It seems to get easier each time I make something.

Then later on that night I attended a baby shower/cookout for some friends at church. I made some Key Lime Cupcakes that got rave reviews. They are a great summer dessert. Here is the recipe for anyone interested - http://www.bettycrocker.com/recipes/key-lime-cupcakes/0eb5a1d9-ed94-4c11-bfa4-04bf6fd07a0c

Less than a week before I leave for the cruise to Bermuda :).

Vera Bradley Event

2011-06-03T14:39:00.006-04:00

A little over a month ago my mom and I attended A Colorful Day. It was a Vera Bradley event in Charlotte. They provided breakfast and lunch and gave talks and lots of free stuff through out the day. We had a great time! There was this one lady that has made a quilt with every Vera Bradley pattern ever made. It was huge and I'm sure took a lot of work. She said that one of the patterns cost her $2,000 to get. I guess it was an old retired pattern. Below is a picture of the quilt. The lady that made it is in the back.

We heard the founders talk and also heard from their Foundation for Breast Cancer ambassador. After hearing her talk they gave everyone something from the Twirly Bird Pink collection. It was like being on Oprah with all the free stuff they gave us. Here is a link to a blog about the event: A Colorful Day

Here is all the stuff I got that they gave away that day:

The next one is in Chicago on Oct 13. Anyone up for going to that one? :)

Update

2011-05-23T11:34:00.008-04:00

It's been a long time since I updated this thing. I may try to do more updates in the future.

This weekend Michael I went and visited The Rollers that live in Kentucky and have just had a new baby. She is so cute. She is 6 weeks old. Here is me with Olivia.

On the way up we stopped at the Sanders Cafe to have a look around.

It was a fun weekend with a trip to see the new Pirates movie and some putt putt.

I started taking a sewing class this past March at Tri-County Tech. I have learned a lot in the last three months. So far I have made a couple pillows, some elastic pajama pants and a skirt with a wasteband and zipper. I am also currently working on a pair of shorts with I will hopefully finish tonight in class. If I get to continue in Sewing IV then we will make a shirt with sleeves and a collar.

In June, I will be going on a cruise to Bermuda with my family. I have never been on a cruise before so hopefully it will be a lot of fun. We leave on the 16th so it is less than a month away. Can't Wait! Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

2009-01-06T21:23:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!! I went home for the week of Christmas and spent some time with family. I didn't do much for New Years. I worked that week and only had New Years day off. I spent it watching Clemson loose in the Gator Bowl on TV. New Years Eve was spent babysitting and watching the ball drop on TV. Below are some pictures from Christmas.

Christmas Pics

Homecoming

2008-11-20T12:21:00.007-05:00

I had a good time at homecoming. Dad cooked the pig. We didn't have a big crowd at homecoming, but it was still fun. I had Friday off from work to talk to a guy about building a garage on my house but he never showed. We were able to get someone to come out Saturday morning to talk to us and he sounds promising. He is supposed to be working on dimensions and an actual plan and estimate for me to see. Hopefully he will be done with that soon. Here are a few pictures from homecoming. The rest can be found here - Homecoming

Vegas

2008-10-18T18:50:00.002-04:00

I had a great time in Vegas. Still a little tired but that's to be expected after being on a plane all night. Tuesday I did my presentation and it went well. Then I had to work the support booth a little. It wasn't hard. We just had to explain our support website to customers. Tuesday night we just played some games in the casino at the Palazzo and the Venetian. I won about $75 at Roulette. Wednesday was another day of conference and another support analyst in my department gave her presentation. That night Glenn Fry and Joe Walsh from the Eagles performed. They were awesome. After they were done, we went down to old Vegas to Fremont Street and look at all the lights. We played a few slots but didn't really win anything. Thursday was the last day of the conference and it was very laid back. After it was over we went down to the Luxor and looked around and then met one of my friends and his son for dinner. It was good seeing him after so long. Below are some pictures from the trip.

Vegas

Las Vegas - 10/13

2008-10-14T02:20:00.005-04:00

I got to Vegas today. Time I landed in Vegas and turned on my phone I had text messages and voice messages about Tommy Bowden being fired. I have been getting calls all day making sure I knew about it. I think it's going to be a good thing. I'm anxious to see how the game this Saturday goes. We had a few meetings today but noting too bad. The Inforum conference actually starts tomorrow and my presentation is in the afternoon. Wish me luck. Tonight I did very well at the slots. Check out the pictures at the link below to see how well :). I played just $5 on this machine to win this and have only played $17 total.

Vegas Pics - Day 1

Clemson vs. Maryland

2008-09-28T12:57:00.010-04:00

Yesterday Clemson played Maryland. Michael came up this weekend and we tailgated with my family. My cousin, Jeph, got a new 42" TV for the tailgate. It was very nice. Clemson lost (20-17). Friday night we heard Reid's band play at Wingin' it. They were good when they played but seemed to take a lot of breaks. This afternoon I have to babysit for a couple hours. Maybe I can also get a nap in :). Here are some pictres from Saturday.

Clemson vs. SC State

2008-09-20T22:40:00.007-04:00

Today clemson played SC State. Clemson won the game (54-0). It was good football weather. The high was 77. It was still hot in the sun at the game but we had a nice breeze and it wasn't too bad. Jonathan, Susan, Clair, and Julie came up. We tailgated before and after the game and had a nice relaxing day. One more home football game next week and then a little break from home games.

Can anyone guess what the formation below is?

29th Birthday

2008-09-14T16:20:00.008-04:00

I've had a good birthday so far. Mom and Dad came up and we went to lunch at Copper River. It was really good. They also brought me an ice cream cake. Those are always my favorite. I had a good day with them.

Clemson vs. NC State

2008-09-13T21:25:00.008-04:00

The Clemson vs. NC State game was today. It was even hotten than last week because the game was at noon. Clemson won again this week (27-9). My family is not coming up for the game next week so I got 4 extra tickets and a parking spot for next weeks game against South Carolina State. I've already started plans for some people to come and tailgate. Tomorrow I turn 29. I'm really getting old :). Here are some pictures from the game today.

Clemson vs. Citadel

2008-09-06T21:08:00.007-04:00

Today was the Clemson vs. Citadel game and the first home game of the season. It was VERY hot, but I had a good time. Clemson won the game (45-17). Maybe it will be a little cooler for next weeks game. I can dream :). Here are some pictures from the day.

R.I.P. Astro III

2008-08-07T21:48:00.006-04:00

Well Tonight was the last night of the Astro being open. Maria, Amy, and I went to see Kung Fu Panda. It seems a little sad that it is over. Maybe they will open again one day :).

Wedding and Beach

2008-07-29T14:12:00.006-04:00

A couple weekends ago I went to a wedding in Greenville for a girl I work with. It was a pretty service and the reception was a lot of fun. The bride even sang Ice, Ice Baby during her reception. They had the tiger at the reception and left in an orange corvette - definitely Clemson grads. Here are a few pictures from the reception.

This past week I was in Litchfield Beach with my some family. We had a great time. It was good just to relax on the beach and by the pool. It was a very stress-free week. I wish I was still there :).

Washington, DC

2008-06-26T20:35:00.007-04:00

I was in DC this past weekend. We left on Thursday the 19th and got back on Tuesday the 24th. We had a good time. Mom and I stayed with her friend in Virginia and My sister and her friend stayed with their friend from college. Friday we went shopping at a big mall and outlet. Then Saturday we went into DC. We went to the Holocaust museum, saw the Washington Monument, the Jefferson Memorial, The Vietnam memorial, the Korean memorial, and did paddle boats around the Potomac. On Sunday, we hung out at the house and had a cookout for some friends of the people we were staying with. Monday morning Mom and I went to Arlington Cemetery. It was neat to see the changing of the guards. That night I went to dinner with Jeremy and Mary and saw their house. It was good to hang out with them and see where they live. On Tuesday we came back to South Carolina and then it was back to work on Wednesday. Here are a few pictures below. The rest can be found here - DC Pics

Carly and me

Washington Monument

Paddle Boats

Carly, Louanne, Julie, Mom, me, Jessica, Clair

Me at Arlington Cemetery

Jed's Graduation

2008-06-09T21:42:00.007-04:00

My first cousin, Jed, graduated from Batesburg-Leesville High School this past Friday night. We went to graduation and then to a party with a few of the graduates after it was over. We had a good time. Dad's been having some shoulder problems so he didn't get to go to graduation. Then on Saturday we held a yard sale at my mom's families store. We made a good bit of money on the junk that we sold :).

Vacation Bible School started on Sunday night so it will be a busy few days. We only go until Wednesday so at least it's not all week.

Next Thursday, the 19th, Mom, Clair, Julie, and I are traveling to DC. We are going to be there until the 24th. We hope to go visit the White House while we are there. We still haven't gotten final confirmation that we can go but it looks good.

In March, I submitted an abstract for Inforum, my companies user conference, to do a presentation on one of our program's add-ons. Today I finally got the email that my presentation was accepted. I'm excited. I've never done anything like this before. I don't know how many will sign up but they say you usually do the presentation to about 100-150 users. The conference is October 14-16. Anyone want to come to Vegas with me? My company pays for the room. You would just have to pay for your flight. Just a thought.

Here are a few pictures from the graduation this weekend:

Clair and me

Lauren holding Caleigh, Jeph, Me, Becca, Clair, Jed, and Catherine

Me, Mom, Jed, and Clair

Jed, Cathy, Jerry, and Becca

Reid's Wedding

2008-05-25T18:52:00.007-04:00

This weekend my first cousin Reid Watson married Reagan Shirley. It was a fun weekend, but I'm glad it's over. The rehearsal dinner Friday night was in an old barn that has been transported from Pennsylvania. the entire interior was from the barn and the exterior was all new. It was a very pretty place. Reid and Reagan will live in Central near me so maybe I will see them every once and a while. I have memorial day off tomorrow so I get to rest from the weekend. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Dad, Mom, Clair, and Me at the rehearsal dinner

Reagan and Reid

Clair, Jed, and Me before the wedding

Mom, Clair, Dad, and Me at the reception

Rebecca, Jed, Reagan, Reid, me, Lauren holding Caleigh, Jeph, and Clair

Caleigh Elizabeth

2008-05-11T21:12:00.003-04:00

My first cousin, Jeph, and his wife Lauren had a little girl on Friday May 2nd. She is so cute. I saw her this past weekend. She likes to sleep all day so I didn't see her awake very much. I was in Monetta this weekend for the Poultry Festival and for Mother's day. It was a very busy weekend and I'm glad to be back home. Here is a picture of little Caleigh:

Solid Orange Live

2008-04-22T14:30:00.009-04:00

We had a good time at the concert a couple weeks ago. Clair, Jonathan, and Susan came up on Friday night and we watched the Wailers, a little bit of Eddie Money, and Wyclef. Wyclef was really good. He came into the audience and walked right by us. Eddie Money only played two songs before a thunderstorm delay and then he never came back on stage.

On Saturday, we just hung out and did some shopping around Clemson. Then we went and saw Jason Reeves, PictureMeFree, Colbie Caillat, and Rodney Atkins. They were all very good performers. Jonathan and Susan left that night and Clair left on Sunday afternoon. I wish they had more things like this in Clemson throughout the year. Maybe they will at least continue having this once a year.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend:

This past weekend I babysat on Friday night, went to a cookout Saturday night, and went to a tour of homes and cut grass on Sunday. Busy weekend but fun. The tour of homes was very interesting. A friend and I went and looked at 5 different houses in Clemson and Pendleton. I always enjoy looking at other houses and seeing how they are decorated. See how people with money decorate :). Nothing much planned this weekend - maybe I can catch up on some things.

Bridge Run/Walk

2008-04-10T12:20:00.006-04:00

I was able to complete the walk on Saturday. We actually even ran a little. My time was 1:43:46 which is not record breaking or anything but I was just glad to get through it. I may attempt to run it next year (no promises though :)). I think about 30,000 people ran/walked. The rain even held off for us so that was nice.

That night, my family went to a wedding for one of Clair's friends from high school. It was nice and the reception was good. We didn't stay long because Clair has been diagnosed with Bronchitis that afternoon. The next day Mom and I went to the Flowertown festival in Summerville for a little while to look around.

This weekend Clair, Jonathan, and Susan are coming to Clemson for the Solid Orange concert. It's a big two day outdoor festival and concert. The acts include The Whigs, The Movement, Wailers, Eddie Money, Wyclef Jean, Jason Reeves, Colbie Caillat, Casey Joe, and Rodney Atkins. The annual Orange and White football game is this weekend too. Hopefully the weather will be nice for the entire weekend.

Bookcase

2008-03-31T10:06:00.003-04:00

For the last few months, I have been working on staining my bookcase I had made. I had never stained anything before so it was a learning experience. This past weekend I finally finished staining it. I think it looks good. There are three separate pieces that I still have to screw together but basically everything is done. Here is a picture below of the finished product.

This coming weekend I will be walking in the Cooper River Bridge Run in Charleston. It's a 10K race. I hope I can make it to the finish line :).

R.I.P. Marmee

2008-03-25T12:44:00.003-04:00

I was in Moncks Corner this weekend for Easter. I hung out with my family on Friday and Saturday morning. About 12 Saturday we got a call that my grandmother had passed away. She got up and ate a big breakfast and then had trouble breathing. They put oxygen on her and called the ambulance but she was unresponsive. She lived a long life and went very peacefully. We drove to Monetta Saturday and stayed until late that night. My mom spent the night there and Clair, Dad, and I came back to Moncks Corner to pack up. Sunday we left to go back to Monetta and the visitation was that night. The funeral was Monday afternoon. It was a very busy weekend. I think everyone is doing ok. Below is her obituary.

Mary Elizabeth Shealy "Tiz" Watson
MONETTA - Funeral Services for Mary Elizabeth “Tiz” Shealy Watson, 85, will be held Monday, March 24, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. at Batesburg-Leesville Presbyterian Church with Rev. David Torrey officiating. Committal will follow at the Ridge Spring Cemetery. Serving as Honorary Pallbearers are Adelaide Bodie, Sara Bruner, Mary Cobb, Nancy Gall, Bessie Garber, Frances Hunt, Elizabeth Hutto, JoAnn Kennedy, Mary McDaniel, Rite Seigler, June Smith, and France Slover.

Mrs. Watson died Saturday, March 22, 2008, at her home. Born on July 17, 1922, she was the daughter of Berly Voight and Lula Lowman Shealy and the wife of the late Jerrold Arthur Watson, Sr. for 59 years. She graduated from Winthop College in 1943 with a Bachelor of Science in Music Education. Mrs. Watson’s professional life was devoted to providing music education as a Music Director for WIS-Radio. Until recent years she served her community by serving as Choral Director for the Batesburg-Leesville Presbyterian Church and singing at numerous weddings and funerals of friends and families. She was a member of Batesburg-Leesville Presbyterian Church, the Study Club of Batesburg-Leesville, and several bridge clubs. She was predeceased by her husband, parents, and siblings Martha Shealy Watson, Walter Killian Shealy, and Joseph Lowman Shealy.

Surviving are her children, Cynthia (Bill) Britt of Moncks Corner, Pamela Watson, Jerrold A. (Cathy) Watson, Jr., and Joseph H. (Tonya) Watson, all of Monetta; grandchildren, Lisa and Clair Britt, Jeph (Lauren), Reid (fiance Reagan Shirley), Jed, and Becca Watson.

In lieu of flowers, expressions of condolences may be made to Batesburg-Leesville Presbyterian Church, P.O. Box 2089, Batesburg-Leesville, SC 29070.

Hey

2008-02-23T21:18:00.004-05:00

I hope everyone has had a good February. I've had a very uneventful month. Been hanging around the house a lot. I started staining my huge bookcase. I started by just working on the shelves since I've never stained before I thought I would practice on those first. They are starting to look good. I hope to actually start on the big sections in a couple weeks. I need a sander first so I don't have to sand 8ft of bookcase by hand.

A couple week ago I went to the movies and saw The Bucket List. It was such a good movie. I was crying because I was laughing so hard. I never actually go to the theater to see a movie. It was good to see one before it was out on DVD :).

I've started working from home two days a week. It's nice not having to spend the time and money driving to Greenville those two days. Sometimes it gets a little quiet being at home all day but I'm getting used to it.

Mom and Dad are coming up next weekend. I'm going to take Friday off of work and we are going to do some work in the yard and around the house. I can't believe last year around this time we were working on building my porch every weekend.

Have a great rest of the weekend.

SNOW!!

2008-01-17T17:39:00.000-05:00

Clemson got a little snow last night and into this morning. We got a little over an inch. My yard is still covered. It's always nice to have a little snow every year. I love watching it fall and how it makes everything look so pretty. My mom was visiting for the night so I'm glad she got to enjoy the snow also. Below are some pictures of the snow.

SNOW

Happy New Year

2008-01-02T12:47:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a happy new year.

The Saturday before Christmas my family threw my mom a surprise drop-in for her 60th birthday. She got home from lunch with a friend and we started singing Happy Birthday to her and gave her an invitation. She didn't know what to think and said who is dropping in. Then we showed her the table with all the food and her cake and her sister crept up behind her and yelled SUPRISE. She turned around and started screaming. She was very suprised and we had a lot of fun. We had about 50 people throughout the night.

Christmas was good. I got to spend time with family in Moncks Corner and Monetta. I came back home the Thursday after Christmas and undecorated my house that Friday. Then Saturday I had to go to my cousin's engagement party. It was ok. A lot of people there I didn't know.

I came back Sunday and saw Jonathan and Susan's house on my way through Greenwood. They have already done a lot of painting and it really looks good. It is a very nice house and a big back yard.

New Years Eve was spent watching the Chick-fil-A Bowl at Wild Wings in Greenville. Jonathan and Susan joined me to watch the dissapointing game and we celebrated the new year with a toast at midnight while watching the ball drop on TV. Then we walked around Greenville for a little while before heading home.

Pictures from New Years

Merry Christmas

2007-12-21T10:53:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!! I am off to my parents house after work today. I am hoping they will let us leave work early today. It has been really slow this morning. Maria and I exchanged gifts last night and I got the new Harry Potter Movie. I never got a chance to see it in the theaters so I am anxious to see it for the first time. Happy Holidays!!!

Pictures of my house at Christmas:
Christmas 2007

Thanksgiving

2007-11-27T16:01:00.000-05:00

The weekend before Thanksgiving was the Boston College game. Lisa Bixby came up and we had a good time hanging out and tailgating. I wish the game had turned out differently. It was a very disappointing game. Clemson lost 20-17.

Here are the pictures from the game:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Clemson%20Football%202007/Boston%20College/

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, I went to my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving. We celebrated Thanksgiving at her house and then I went to my parents house that night. Mom, Clair, and I went shopping on Friday. My alarm went off at 4. We got some good deals and were done by about 3. Then later that night we went to James Island County Park to see the light display. I hadn't been there in years and it was good to see all the new things that had been added. Saturday Clair and I met Michael and went to the aquarium. We got to go behind the scenes and see all the holding tanks and labs. It was very interesting. Saturday night we watched Clemson win against Carolina in the last 3 seconds of the game. It was very nerve racking. Sunday we had lunch with my uncle for thanksgiving and hung out. Clair had to go back, but I spent another night at home for a dental appt on Monday. I got home Monday and started decorating my house for Christmas. I hope by the end of the week I will have the inside all decorated. Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Pictures from Thanksgiving:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Thanksgiving%202007/

James Island County Park:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/James%20Island%20County%20Park/

Aquarium Pictures:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/South%20Carolina%20Aquarium/

Clemson World

2007-11-18T16:23:00.000-05:00

Laura and I are in this month's Clemson World magazine. We took a picture with my tiger rags while hiking in Park City, UT. If you get the magazine, it's on page 45 so check it out. If you don't get the magazine we are also on the alumni website at http://www.clemson.edu/alumni/. We are picture 3/6 in the slide show on the main page

Clemson vs. Wake Forest

2007-11-15T21:18:00.000-05:00

Clemson was able to pull out a big win (44-10) against Wake Forest. It was a fun filled weekend of friends, tailgating, hanging out, frogmore stew, and cornhole. Check out the pictures from the weekend.

http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Clemson%20Football%202007/Wake%20Forest/

I hope we can pull out another win this weekend against Boston College.

Clemson vs. Central Michigan

2007-10-21T16:23:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I went to Maggie Valley and spent the night with my parents. We had a lot of fun. Here are some pictures from the trip:

http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Maggie%20Valley/

This weekend was homecoming at Clemson. Mom and Dad came up on Friday and fixed my closet. I was finally able to get my room organized. Staci and Anna came up for the afternoon and we went downtown shopping. I enjoyed hanging out with them. I then met up with some old friends, Nicole and Carrie, and hung out for a little while. Then we went back to the camper to relax with my family and Michael. We waited around for Jonathan and Susan and spent some time with them. We had dinner, went downtown, and talked for a while on my porch. It was a very late but good night. I'm too old to only get 4 hours of sleep :). We had a low turnout at the pig roast. Only a few alumni showed up. Then we went to the game and watched Clemson kill Central Michigan. I hope this doesn't end up being their last win of the season. We will see how well they do at Maryland next week. We then spent some more time with friends and family and got to bed at a decent hour. Today I went to church and then have just been taking it easy and sleeping today. I've got a meeting tonight and then I hope to turn in early so I'm not out of it at work tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Clemson%20Football%202007/Central%20Michigan/

Clemson vs. Virginia Tech

2007-10-08T17:17:00.000-04:00

I had a good weekend except for the 4 hours Saturday night that Clemson played. They just couldn't get into the game and their special teams couldn't stop Virginia Tech from scoring. Virginia Tech scored 21 points just on punt returns. The final was 41-23.

Michael came up Friday night for the game. Maria, Michael, and I went to dinner and just hung out Friday night. Then Saturday we hung out and went to the game around 1 or so. The parking was already crowded because there were no spaces left the Redfern parking lot. We parked behind the P&A building and then went to see the McLeods and ate some barbecue. It was really good. Then we walked downtown and shopped. We then went back to the car go get everything and go see my family that was tailgating. It was nice to be in the shade of the tent and sitting down because it was so hot Saturday. We just hung out with my family until about 5:30 and then went into the game. Since they were playing the national anthem and praying they wouldn't let us walk down the steps so we were stuck in the tunnel until right at game time. We made it to our seats just in time to see the team running down the hill. After the game we hung out back at my families tailgate spot and then my aunt drove us to my car. We got home around 12.

On Sunday I didn't do much. Watched some movies, bought groceries, etc. I went to bed about 11 that night. Then at 12 I heard this loud crash at my house. I woke up quickly with my heart beating fast. I went to my closet and the entire wire rack in my closet on the left side was on the floor, clothes and all. It was a mess. All of the brackets just ripped out of the wall. I moved the bar a little so it wouldn't fall more during the night and went to bed. I had a hard time going back to bed because I was scared something else was going to fall. Then this morning I got up early and moved all of the clothes to my bed and took out the rack. Now I've got to spackle the holes and find a way to fix the rack to get all the clothes off of my bed. I'm going to try to organize everything a little tonight. I hope it wont be too big of a job.

I may go to Maggie Valley Friday night since my parents are camping there. I've never been to ghost down so it should be interesting. Hope everyone has a good week.

Birthday Weekend

2007-09-16T12:27:00.000-04:00

This past Friday I turned 28. I had a good birthday. When I woke up on Friday, Maria gave me a collapsible Clemson cooler so that started my day off good. At work they gave me a card and a cake. We also had Maggie Moos ice cream come in that day so that was good. After work, Mom, Dad, Maria, and I went to dinner at Copper River in Seneca. It was really good but we had to wait an hour for our table. It was sooo crowded. While at dinner, I got some text messages from Jonathan and Susan and found out they were in Anderson at Olive Garden. They came to Clemson and we had ice cream cake at the camper and then we went downtown to Nicks for a little while. It was good to see them and a nice surprise on my birthday. I got to bed around 2 that night.

I got up early on Saturday to pickup the tailgate food. Then Mom, Dad, and I hung out before the Clemson/Furman game. Maria met me at the game because she had to be on the field before to introduce a parent. This was her first game and she really enjoyed it. We went back to the camper after the game and hung out and ate more food. It was a nice day. I was so tired I went to bed at 10.

Today I just plan to relax. I have tomorrow off work because I have a doctors appt. It's always good to have a long weekend even if I have to go to the doctor. I get a couple weeks break from a home game. The next home one is Oct 6 (Virginia Tech). Next week we play at NC State. It's a noon game on Lincoln Financial if you get that network. Here are the links to the pictures from the weekend.

Birthday pictures:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Birthday%202007/

Furman Pictures:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Clemson%20Football%202007/Furman/

Clemson vs. Louisiana-Monroe

2007-09-08T22:06:00.000-04:00

Today was very HOT!!!! The game was at 1pm so I picked up my friend Amy about 9:30 and we parked at Redfern. Then we walked to the church where Amy's sister was tailgating. We hung out there until around 11 and then walked through downtown and met my cousin Reid at his tailgate spot to get two more tickets for next weeks game (my parents are coming into town). Then we went back to my car and filled up our drinks and then headed over to tailgate with Staci, Michael, and Anna. They didn't have tickets to the game but were just hanging out tailgating at the Brooks Center. We had burgers with them and then went to the game. It was a good game but the crowd was small. It was a lot different than last week when even the upper deck was packed until the last second. After the big win (49-26), we saw some of Amy's friends and then went back to the car. I dropped Amy off around 5:30 and went home. I got a shower since I had been sweating all day and then Maria and I watched The Ex. It was a weird movie, but good. I always like Zach Braff. Tomorrow I am just planning to relax and maybe take a nap because I am still tired from last weekend. Mom and Dad are coming up Thursday night for my birthday Friday. I'll be the big 28. I'm getting old :)

Here are the pictures I took at the game today:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Clemson%20Football%202007/Louisiana%20-%20Monroe/

Clemson vs. FSU

2007-09-04T17:02:00.000-04:00

This weekend kicked off the first game of the Clemson football season. It was a very busy weekend. Sunday evening Michael came up for the game. We hung out for a while and then went to find an open restaurant in Clemson (most are closed on Sunday). We ended up eating at Peppinos which was very very crowded but good. Then Monday morning I made breakfast and my aunt and cousins came over to check out the porch. They were very impressed with how big it was and how nice it looked. Then we left to head to tailgating. We parked at Redfearn and saw my old roommate Amanda and her family. Then we went to see my uncle and cousins at their new tailgate spot and get some food. It was already so hot that I was sweating profusely. We ate lunch and then met John Lattimore at his tailgate spot and walked downtown to do some shopping. Then we tried to find another friend in Lot 1 but couldn't locate him so it was back to my family's tailgate spot. We stayed there until the game started. The game was a lot of fun. Clemson did pretty well the first half but then the second half they did very badly. Time running out really helped them a lot. We won the game 24-18. I hope we play better next week. I would hate for Louisiana-Monroe to beat us (We play them Saturday at 1). The game was over around 12 and we finally got home a little after 2. I'm glad I took today off of work to take it easy and recuperate.

Here are the pictures I took during the weekend:
http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/Clemson%20Football%202007/FSU/

Vera Bradley

2007-09-01T22:58:00.001-04:00

Friday night I left work and went to Rock Hill to stay with my sister. My mom was already there and when I got there we went to dinner and saw Nanny Diaries. We had all read the book so it was good to see the movie. Of course, they changed a lot of things around from the book but overall it was good.

Saturday morning we got up and I got my hair cut at 9. Then we left and went to Charlotte for the Vera Bradley Sale. It was crazy. We got there about 10 and actually got let into the sale at 11:45. After going into the sale and pushing and searching for the things we wanted for ourselves and others who requested we pick up things for them, we got into the dreaded check out line. They had some great prices. Things that are normally $70 were $7 and things that are $80 were $17. We waited in the check out line over two hours before we finally got out of there around 3. Below is a picture of Clair and me standing in line and also pictures of all the things the three of us together purchased. It was a very long day. Then we ate lunch/dinner and did some other shopping at places a little less crowded. Then I left to come back to Clemson. It has been a very long weekend and it isn't even half over. Clemson plays on Monday so be sure to cheer them on. GO TIGERS!!!

New Picture Site

2007-08-29T09:57:00.001-04:00

Yahoo Photos is going away so I have transferred all my pictures to PhotoBucket. They are all available using the link below. None of the picture links in the rest of the Blog will work so please just go to the link below to view the pictures mentioned in the blog. Sorry for the inconvenience.

http://s227.photobucket.com/albums/dd204/ebritt91479/

Update: Porch

2007-08-15T14:05:00.001-04:00

The porch is finally finished. We started in January and I finally got my steps installed this past weekend. They look great and I am so glad to be finished with it. Now on to my next project :) . . .

Busy Month

2007-07-31T22:13:00.000-04:00

It started the middle of July. My Friend, Laura, got married on July 14. The rehearsal dinner was in downtown Greenville on the Friday before and was a lot of fun. I got to see all of Nelson's, her husband now, family that I meet and hung out with when I went to Utah in May. It was good to see everyone again.

Laura and I at the rehearsal dinner

On Saturday, I drove up to Pretty Place for their wedding. It was very beautiful. The reception was at Ceasars Head Lodge and my job was to cut the cake. I think I did an ok job. I think I had about a pound of icing on my hands when I was done. I also caught the bouquet. I didn't want to but the girls in front of me parted and it hit me in the stomach and fell on the ground and I felt like I had no choice but to pick it up.

Nelson and Laura

Laura and I with the bouquet

Then that Sunday I drove to Moncks Corner and Mom, Dad, and I went out on the boat. We cooked out on the boat and just hung out. It was good to relax. Then on Monday I had all 4 wisdom teeth out. It was a lot more painful than I thought it would be. I had it done early that morning and then road to Litchfield beach that afternoon. I stayed in the house at the beach and didn't leave until Thursday night when my dad towed my car there. I was in a lot of pain and I am still not eating a lot of solid foods and taking ibuprofen regularly.

On Friday, I finally got out to the pool and out to the beach on Saturday. I felt like I didn't even get a vacation. On Sunday, I left to come back home and got in an accident. The car in front of me stopped, I stopped, but the car behind me did not. It ran into me and pushed me into the car in front of me. The car in front had a Harley Davidson trailer hitch that caused a lot of damage to my car. The logo was actually imprinted in the bumper. I had to get the back bumper, front bumper, and bar behind the front bumper replaced. It's finally done and I got my car back this past Saturday. At least it wasn't my fault so the other insurance company is responsible.

I've been reading Harry Potter in all my spare time in the last week. I finally finished it yesterday. I really liked it. I'm sad that it's over.

On Sunday, I had to travel to my grandmother's house for her 85th birthday party. It was a drop-in with a lot of old women, but they had some good cake. They had 9 different cakes. I tried a couple and they were really good.

This weekend I have another wedding to go to a lot of stuff to catch up on around the house. My roommate, Kara, is also moving out next week. She got a job at Radford in Virginia and starts in a couple weeks. I will miss her but it is good that she found a job that she likes.

A little over a month until the first Clemson football game - I CAN'T WAIT.

July update

2007-07-03T17:48:00.000-04:00

I haven't really been up to much lately. Last weekend my new roommate, Maria, had some friends over for a cookout for her birthday. The cookout was a lot of fun. She had 7 girls stay over on Saturday night. We all sat on the porch Saturday night and played Catch Phrase. They had been drinking for a while so it was funny the things people came up with. Some people got better as they drank more. I had to babysit that afternoon so I didn't get home until late and didn't drink much. Everyone always enjoys that game and it is a good game to play with a big crowd. If you don't have it, I highly recommend it.

This week I have the house to myself for a few days. One roommate went to DC today until Sunday and the other is going home to Georgia tomorrow until Sunday. I can't remember the last time I was alone in the house. I'm working tomorrow on the 4th. You get two comp days for working a holiday and I didn't have anything planned so I volunteered. I have next Friday the 13th off and the entire week of the 16th off. I am ready for a break. I have to have my wisdom teeth out on the morning of the 16th before I go to the beach for the week. I am dreading having the 4 wisdom teeth out. You either hear from people that it went well or they have horror stories about it. I've never been put to sleep either so that should be interesting.

Hope everyone has a great 4th.

Update

2007-06-05T21:51:00.001-04:00

I have had a busy couple weeks. On Friday, May 25 I flew out of Charlotte headed for Salt Lake City, UT. I went to visit my friend and old roommate Laura who moved out there last August. While I was there I toured Temple Square, saw the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, went to IKEA, ate at the Hard Rock Cafe, went to a luncheon in honor of Laura's engagement, and hiked in Park City to name a few. In between all of this Laura and Nelson also moved into a new townhouse. I flew back to Charlotte late on Tuesday, May 26. I had a great time but it was very busy. Here are a few pictures from my time there.

Me and the Jesus statue in Temple Square

Fountain on top of the conference center

Nelson and Laura at the Hard Rock Cafe

Laura and me with Marie Osmond's Boots at the Hard Rock

Laura and me hiking in Park City, UT

I stayed with Clair in Rock Hill and left early on Wednesday morning to get back to my house so I could work at home on Wednesday. My parents also came up and brought me a new bookcase they had made for me that day and I closed on a refinancing on my house. Another busy day.

On Saturday, I hosted a baby shower for a couple in my church. It was co-ed and also a cookout. It was the first time I had hosted anything on the new porch. Everyone was very impressed. We had about 14 people there and it was a lot of fun.

Now I'm resting and getting some things done this week so I can gear up for teaching vacation bible school next week. It never ends :).

Update: Porch

2007-05-13T18:06:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures of my almost finished porch. The steps off the deck are still not done. We were supposed to do that last Saturday but it rained all day. If you are in town, come by and see the finished product.

Flowers

2007-05-03T10:33:00.000-04:00

Check out a couple pictures of my Irises that are growing in my front yard. I always have a ton of them and I always enjoy them.

Easter

2007-04-10T21:54:00.000-04:00

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter!! Here are a few pictures of my family on Easter.

Here are the rest of the Easter pictures: http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762397346520

Update: Porch

2007-04-06T10:29:00.000-04:00

I finished painting the walls this week. I'm really pleased with the color. Now I just have to paint the trim and the ceiling. I've got a little ways to go. If anyone enjoys painting, feel free to come help :).

Update: Porch

2007-04-01T18:13:00.000-04:00

Mom and Dad came up this weekend and we cleaned up the yard, took 2 loads of trash to the landfill, and mowed the grass in the backyard. I also starting painting the walls of the porch. I got the tented primer on yesterday and since it was raining today all I did was the caulking. I hope to be able to work on the paint this week after work and finish the walls this week.

Update: Porch

2007-03-25T15:52:00.000-04:00

All of the trim work and all of the screen was done this weekend. Many, Many, Many thanks to Dad and Michael for all of their hard work. I couldn't have done this porch without them. Thanks also to Brent for finishing up the electrical.

Here are the rest of the pictures from the weekend:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762395073843

Update: Porch

2007-03-20T11:11:00.000-04:00

Here are some pictures from working on the porch this weekend. We put all the bead board on the ceiling. Many, Many thanks to Dad and Michael for all of their hard work. Thanks also to Brent for working some more on the electrical.

Update: Porch

2007-03-03T16:36:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from working on the porch this weekend. Many, Many thanks to Rich, Michael, Hunt, and Whitney for all of their hard work. Thanks also to Ron for running the Soffit.

Here are the rest of the pictures from this weekend:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762392059441

Update: Porch

2007-02-24T18:44:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures from working on the porch this weekend. Many, Many thanks again to Dad and Michael for all of their hard work. Thanks also to Brent for running all of the wires for the outlets and fan.

Here is a link to all the pictures from this weekend:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762391062144

Update: Porch

2007-02-18T17:35:00.000-05:00

I worked by myself for a few hours this afternoon and got siding done on another wall on the porch. Hopefully the electrical will be done by next weekend.

Tried to get my car fixed

2007-02-16T10:57:00.000-05:00

I called on the 2/5 to order a new mirror for my car because of the accident (see blog from 2/6). On 2/9 I hadn't heard from them (even though they said they would call) so I called back and they said the mirror was in they just had to send it to the body shop. I called back on 2/14 and after talking to 4 people and being put on hold for over 20 minutes I found out that it would be done that afternoon from the body shop. I made an appointment for today at 8am to have it put on. I told my manager I would be late for work because they said it would take an hour and a half. I get there around 7:50 this morning and give them my keys to work on it. Finally at 9:15 after they have taken the broken mirror off the guy comes out and says they have ordered the wrong part. They ordered a manual mirror and not an electric mirror. Since they had already taken the broken one off they just put some tape over the holes and are ordering another mirror. At 9:30 I was driving out of the dealership with nothing fixed after over an hour and a half. We will see if they call when the other one comes in. Maybe I should hound them every day until I get it. A very frustrating Friday morning, but at least it's Friday!!

New Notebook

2007-02-14T12:51:00.000-05:00

My 7 year old Dell Windows 98 computer finally died on me a couple weeks ago so I had to purchase a new computer. I've always had a desktop but this time I decided to purchase a notebook. I'm going to be using it to work from home one day a week so I figure it was easier to have a notebook in case I need to take it into work for any reason. It has Windows Vista which is taking some getting used to but I like it. I got a docking station yesterday with a wireless keyboard and mouse. It's nice to take the laptop home and just hook up one cord instead of all the cords for my printers and scanner. I also have been trying to clean up some of the wires behind my computer desk and Dad and Michael helped me modify the old computer desk this past weekend to make it more laptop friendly :). I'll try to put a picture up at some point. Below is a link to the new computer and docking station if you are interested.

Notebook:
dv6245us

Docking Station:
http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/ES234AA%23ABA

Update: Porch

2007-02-11T16:42:00.000-05:00

Here are the results from Sunday's work on the porch. We got up one wall of siding and put up the boards so that we can create a wall all the way up to the roof. Many thanks to Michael and Dad for their work on Sunday!!

Here are a few other pictures from today:

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762389245682

Update: Porch

2007-02-10T22:16:00.000-05:00

Here is a pictures of the porch after a lot of hard work from Rich, Michael, and Dad today. The roof is finished!!! Many, many, many thanks to everyone!!!

Here are some other pictures from the day

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762389168993

Sign

2007-02-06T09:15:00.000-05:00

I'm driving down I-85 yesterday morning on the way to work, and there is a big metal street sign in the middle of one of the lanes. The car in front of me hit it a little and it went flying towards me. Luckily it didn't hit my windshield because I could have been badly hurt. It did hit my driver's side mirror and did a lot of damage. I was so scared after it happened. My heart was beating so fast. I've already called and ordered a new mirror, but I don't know when it will come in. Here are a couple pictures of the mirror.

Update: Porch

2007-02-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of my porch after the work this weekend. Many, Many thanks to Rich, Michael and Dad for all of their work.

Here are the rest of the pictures from this weekend:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762388438856

SNOW

2007-02-01T14:24:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of the snow that fell early this morning at my house. I missed the first 4 hours of work but was able to make it in for the last half of the day.

It is almost 3 inches.

Here are a few more pictures of the snow day:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762387865273

Update: Porch

2007-01-22T09:28:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures of my porch after the work this weekend. Many, Many thanks to Rich, Michael and Dad for all of their work.

Here are some other pictures from working on the porch:
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762386420941

Porch

2007-01-15T09:44:00.000-05:00

I started working on my new porch on Saturday. Here are the results after a long day of work. Thanks to Rich, Rodney, Michael, Dad, Whitney, Staci, Michael and Kara for all their help.

Here are some other pictures of working on the porch
http://new.photos.yahoo.com/ebritt91479/album/576460762385018205

The New Year

2007-01-01T21:18:00.000-05:00

Well I've been a bad blogger. I haven't updated this thing since June. I'll give you a quick run down of what I've been up to.

In July, I went to Litchfield beach for the week. I had a lot of fun just hanging out and catching up on some reading.

In August, my roommate Laura moved out to go to Utah and I got a new roommate Kara. She is very nice and we get along well. She is getting her Masters at Clemson and will graduate in May.

In September, Football season started and brought a lot of guests to my house. It was also the month of my 27th birthday. It wasn't very exciting this year. I didn't have much of a celebration and it was the first time in 27 years I didn't have a birthday cake. I guess that's part of growing older. I did take a long weekend off work and traveled to the Georgia Aquarium on that Saturday. I also had new tile floors put down in both of my bathrooms to replace the horrible linoleum that was there. I really like the results. September was also a sad month because my Aunt Barbara Passed away. She was only 57 years old and had a long struggle with Cancer. She just finally couldn't fight it anymore. It was very hard time for all of us. She was my dad's baby sister.

In October there were more footballs games and Homecoming. I had a lot of guest for homecoming. There were 9 in my house total including Kara and me. I had two in the guest room and 6 in the den on blow up mattresses and couches. It was good seeing everyone. We had a good time hanging out and catching up.

November brought 3 more football games and Thanksgiving. Since the Clemson/Carolina game was Thanksgiving weekend my mom, sister, and cousin came back with me after Thanksgiving. We went shopping, hung out and went to the game. My mom helped me decorate the outside and inside of my house for Christmas while she was here. It was a big help.

In December, I totaled my car by running in the back of a truck and had to purchase a car. This is the first car I've purchased on my own. It's a Hyundai Elantra in Seattle Blue. I really like it. I haven't let anyone else drive it so far. I'm very protective. I finally put the first stickers and front license plate on it today. I still need to get another sticker but haven't found one I like. I had dinner with my old roommate, Laura, when she was in town for Christmas and found out that she is now engaged. It happened the day she left to come to Greenville for Christmas. She wants to get married this summer, which seems soon since she hasn't planned anything yet. Last night I celebrated the New Year at Staci's house. She just had a few people over but it was fun.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

I'll try to update this more, but I'm not promising anything.

Quiet

2006-06-28T22:19:00.000-04:00

It's been very quiet around my house this week. My roommate's brother is in town at her parent's house this week so she has been spending a lot of time there. She left Friday when she went to work and didn't come back until last night after I was asleep. I saw her for a little while this morning and then she will not be back again until Sunday. I've kind of enjoyed the quietness but sometimes it is tooo quiet.

I've gotten some things done around the house while she's been gone. I made a trip to Lowe's this past weekend and got a grill cover, a fan chain (that still has to be installed) and some wire covers. I have my house wired for DSL. I did it shortly after I moved in over three years ago. Since then I have just had the wires sticking out of the wall with that bright blue color. This weekend I purchased Wire covers and installed and painted them in my room and the guest room. It makes the room look so much better. I still need another section to finish the one in my room. I'm waiting to install one in Laura's room until after she moves her stuff out and I paint in there. I already bought the paint just waiting for her to move out.

Then this week I have been de-cluttering (if that's a word) my room. I've thrown out a lot of papers and extra boxes I was keeping for no apparent reason. I don't know if anyone else can tell the difference but it makes me feel a lot better. I'm going to try to do some more cleaning out tomorrow night - maybe tackle the closet.

I've also had a rain related issue with my driveway. All the water on Heather drive is supposed to drain into my yard. The plan is for it go into the ditch in front of my house and then go under the driveway through the front of the yard and then into the huge ditch beside my house. Well Tuesday it didn't quite work that way and my driveway was washed away. I have a lot of dirt and gravel on my grass and a 6" ditch in the middle of the driveway. I have called the City to come out and look at it but I don't know when that will happen. I'm probably going to have to end up shoveling up the gravel and trying to replace it this weekend. I'm looking into the cost of paving it so I don't have to do this again. But I don't know how much that stuff costs. It seems to happen at least once a summer. This is the worst it has been though.

I'm having a cookout on the 4th of July at my house so I've been picking up a few things for this weekend. I got a new umbrella for the outside table, a game, decorations, and a drink tub. I wish I had my screened in porch already for the event. It may not be a very big crowd but I think we will have a lot of fun. I'm going to try to get a few fireworks but nothing too big.

Well let me get back to the quietness (It is nice after talking on the phone all day!!)

Untitled

2006-05-22T22:03:00.000-04:00

Coming up with a title for this thing is one of the most difficult things to do. They always end up sounding the same so that's why you get this title today.

A week ago my roommate, Amanda, broke up with her boyfriend of three and half years, graduated, and moved out of my house all in the same weekend. What a month for her. I helped her pack and get everything moved out. Her brothers, sister, and mom came up on the 12th and I helped load everything on the truck. She had a lot of stuff from two years. I will miss her. I also went to see my mom for one night that weekend at my Grandmother's house so I could celebrate Mother's day with her.

This past weekend I got some much needed rest and things done around the house and yard I had been meaning to do. I now have a guest room for the summer complete with a blow up bed, phone, and two lamps. It actually looks halfway decent. I am working on getting some pictures to make it look nicer. I definitely want to paint in there. It's got a few places on the wall and it's been over 3 years and a few roommates so it needs painting again. I'm just going to paint it the same color. I am going to try to do it soon so it can be ready before my next roommate moves in at the end of July.

I've got a little bit of time scheduled off this summer. I have a week in July when I'll be going to the beach. I'd also really like to go to the aquarium in Atlanta at some point. I've wanted to go since it opened. A girl I work with is getting Married the first of July at the Madren center so that should be nice. Other than that my summer is pretty open.

This weekend I'm going home for the Memorial Day weekend. I'll be in Moncks Corner from Friday night until Monday afternoon/evening. I haven't been home since Christmas, since I didn't get to go home during Easter because of the whole thing with Clair in the hospital. I'm looking forward to it. Everyone have a great Memorial Day. Let me know if you want to visit this summer!!

I can't believe it's already May

2006-05-02T13:03:00.000-04:00

April really flew by . . . My roommate Amanda is moving out this month. She graduates on May 12th and then is going to move out sometime before the end of the month. I started looking for a new roommate for her room and met Kara. She is very nice and is in grad school at Clemson. She is going to be moving in at the end of July so I will only have that room vacant for about 2 months. That means I do have a guest room if anyone wants to come visit this summer - just let me know.

I had planned to take the 14th of April off of work to go down to Litchfield beach. My aunt has a condo there and I was going down Thursday after work and staying until Saturday and then going to Moncks Corner to spend Easter there. That all changed when my sister (Clair) got sick.

She woke up on the 8th with extreme pain in her upper stomach and ended up going to an all night clinic to get checked out. They said it may be a sprained muscle or acid reflux. They gave her some pain pills and Mom and Dad went and picked her up on Sunday (the pain pills made her dizzy) since the following week was her spring break and she was going home anyway. Mom and Clair went to the doctor that Monday and found out Clair had Gall stones that required her to get her gallbladder taken out. They went to Roper that Monday and had her gallbladder taken out and she stayed that night in the hospital. They said she would be fine to go to the beach as planned so they left Tuesday for Litchfield. When she got there she was still in extreme pain. Her back was killing her and she slept sitting up in a chair because it was the only way that felt comfortable.

Wednesday Mom called the surgeon and he said to take her to the emergency room. There she learned she had a clot in her lungs. She had to stay in the hospital with a blood thinner drip in her arm to get rid of the clot. I still went to the beach late Thursday night and saw my aunt, cousin, and grandmother. I got up Friday and helped them pack since they were leaving and then went to the Waccamaw hospital to see Clair. Mom and I hung out that afternoon and then I went back to the condo and stayed there by myself that night. Mom stayed with Clair in the hospital the whole time.

On Saturday, I went on the beach and then Dad came that afternoon and brought our Easter stuff. He was still on call for Work (he's a helicopter pilot for Charleston County Police Department) but he came and we saw Clair and took mom to Dinner. On Sunday morning at 5:30am he got called out and had to go to Charleston. When he got there they said they didn't need him anymore. They had found the 75 year old man that was stupid enough to take his brand new boat out at 10:30 at night. He got back to the condo in time to go to church with me at Murrel's Inlet Presbyterian and to spend the afternoon with my aunt, uncle, and mom. I went back to Clemson that Day from the beach - never having gone to Moncks Corner. Clair finally got out of the hospital on Monday the 17th and seems to be doing well. She still only has 70% lung capacity and is on blood thinners but she is back at work and doing well.

The next weekend was my cousin's Jeph's wedding and we had a great time. I had Friday the 21st off from work and got some things done at my house before heading to Monetta. We had a rehearsal dinner/party that night that was fun. Then the next Morning we were giving a brunch and then the wedding was at 7 that night. It was a very exhausting weekend. We didn't get home until after 1 each night and not until 2:30am the night of the wedding. I was dragging the entire next week after the wedding. I think I've finally gotten caught up on my sleep.

Last week my other roommate, Laura, decided she was going to move to Utah sooner than she thought so I need another roommate in the fall. If anyone knows of someone looking for a room let me know.

Hope everyone is well.

Busy . . .

2006-03-19T20:10:00.000-05:00

Sorry I don't update this thing very much but with 10-1/2 hours a day devoted to either driving to work, work, lunch, or driving home from work, not including getting ready for work, I don't have a lot of time. Last week I went to Theology on Tap on Monday. We had a lot of people there and it was good to catch up with some people I hadn't seen in a while. Thursday night I had a session meeting that didn't last sooo late so that was good.

PSA left to go on their mission trip on Saturday morning so Thursday night and Friday night I made 120 cookies for them to take on the trip. I made chocolate chip cookies and peanut butter cookies with reeses pieces. They are going to Mississippi to work with the Hurricane Katrina victims. They are going to do some clearing and some building.

Friday at work, they provide a catered lunch by Soby's out in the front of our building. They had chicken, hamburgers, hotdogs, etc. They also had a keg of green beer. I'm not a big beer fan but I got a little just so I could say I had some on St. Patrick’s Day. I couldn't believe they did this during our lunch hour.

Saturday, I just did some stuff around the house in the morning and then baby-sat for a friend with a 14 month old that afternoon/evening. Meri-Kate's little boy Henry was really cute and I had a good time playing with him. Today after church, another family that I baby-sit for their 4 year old sometimes invited me over for lunch and to see their new house. They have moved in the last few months. It was nice to hang out with them and have lunch on their nice big new patio.

I hope one day I will have a screen porch to enjoy on my house - I just wish one person would act interested and call me back. I can't believe how many people act interested and then just never return your calls or come look at the house. It's not like I'm asking them to do it for free. Oh well enough with that rant.

This afternoon I watched a movie and took a test for work. We have to complete two test every quarter so I'm starting on my 2nd quarter tests now. Desperate Housewives is a rerun tonight but at least Grey's Anatomy is new. I think I like Grey's Anatomy better anyway. Hopefully it won’t be too busy at work this week. My department is having a potluck on Friday so at least I have some good food to look forward to.

Hope everyone has a good week.

Update . . .

2006-02-24T17:36:00.000-05:00

I've been really busy lately. Last week Amanda and I made desserts for the PSA Semi-Formal. Every night when I got home from Work I had to make desserts for Friday. It went really well and everyone was impressed at all the stuff that we made.

On Friday morning, I got a call from my Aunt that my grandfather had passed away in his sleep. He had just turned 84 last month. He died in the house he was born in and lived there his entire life. Not many people can say that. He had been sick for a while and had been having mini strokes so he didn't have a very good memory and couldn't communicate very well. He lived in Monetta which is in the middle of South Carolina between Columbia and Georgia. On Saturday morning I packed up and went to Monetta. The visitation was Saturday night and the Funeral was Sunday afternoon. I took Monday off of work so I didn't have to rush home that night. Everyone has been very supportive at work and church. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.

This week I have been very busy at work - lots of issues and corrupt databases - lots of fun.

I have a busy weekend ahead. Tonight I am going to take it easy and then tomorrow I need to get some cleaning done around the house. Tomorrow night I have to go to Columbia to the Forest Lake Country Club for a party for my cousin's upcoming wedding. I'm just going down for the night. Then Sunday I have some meetings after church and then the Loyalty dinner that night. I may get a little time to rest. I haven't worked out all week because I have been exhausted from all the stuff last weekend. Maybe I can get back into my routine this week.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Finally an Update

2006-01-24T10:18:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's taken me so long to update this thing.

I've been busy with work and some other things. It feels like all I do is go to work, come home, eat dinner, workout, go to bed and start it all over again. Not much time for anything else. On the weekends, I try to take it easy and rest from the week.

My family came up to visit me on the 7th of January. I got ordained to be an Elder in my church that weekend so my mom, dad, sister, 2 aunts, 2 uncles, and a cousin all came up that weekend. I had to really clean my house because some of them had never seen it before. After dinner on Saturday night I had them over for dessert. We had a lot of fun that weekend.

This past weekend I went to Columbia for Jonathan's birthday. We had a lot of fun even though I got my car stuck in a ditch. Friday night when I was parking downtown I managed to get my front tires wedged into a drop off on the side of the road. I had to call a tow truck to winch me out of the ditch. The rest of the weekend was good. We saw Hoodwinked which was pretty funny. It's the new red riding hood movie. Susan has a new Ms. Pac Man arcade game and that occupied a lot of our time over the weekend. I watched a lot of playing because I am not very good. I can rarely get past the third board. I got back home about 7:15 Sunday night. I'm still a little tired from going to bed about 3:30 every night - even though we slept late my body is not used to doing that two nights in a row. I was almost late to work today because I rolled over and looked at the clock and it was 7:15. I have to be at work at 8:30 in Greenville. I was definitely rushing around trying to get ready.

Last night my roommates and I went to dinner in Greenville to celebrate Laura's 31st Birthday. We had a good time. She's probably the youngest 31 year old I know.

The current company that I work for was bought out by another company. The new company is called Infor and it's been around for about three and a half years. The sale isn't complete until April so we will see what happens then. Right now we are just the same as we were before.

As my first post of 2006 I have some things I want to do this year. I'm not going to call them resolutions that way if I don't accomplish them then it's not that bad of a thing.

1. Get in better shape. I've already been working out more and eating better so we will see how it goes.

2. Become an expert in MP2 and 7i - I can always dream :). These are the two main programs that my company uses. I just started taking calls on them at the end of December and so far I have learned a lot but there is still A LOT that I need to know.

3. Get a new car. I'm not sure what kind yet. I definitely want something with good gas mileage since I drive an hour and twenty minute round trip every day. I'm probably going to do this sometime in the middle of the year to make sure everything is ok with the buy out first.

4. Get my computer working better. I'm already half way there by installing a new hard drive a couple weekends ago. Now I just have to cleanup and install a few things. I just need to find the time to work on it.

and at least one more that I'm not going to post.

Hopefully I can accomplish some of these this year. If not, there is always next year.

Hope everyone is having a great month. Hopefully it won't be another month until I post again.

Christmas

2005-12-28T14:50:00.000-05:00

I went to Moncks Corner on Friday after work. They let us leave 2 hours early from work since we were slow so that was nice. I got home about 7 or so and then we went out to dinner for my Mom's birthday which is the 23rd. We went to the Noisy Oyster in Charleston and it definitely lived up to it's name. It was very noisy.

On Saturday, Dad, Clair, and I went shopping for Mom. Dad always waits until the last minute to shop. That night we went over to my aunts for dinner before going to church for Christmas Eve service. After that we went home and opened a few presents that were under the tree.

Saturday morning we woke up about 6 and got our "Santa" presents. I got some Christmas ornaments, Christmas bowls, a sewing machine table, and a digital camera among other things. The digital camera is not quite what I wanted so I am trying to send it back but the place it was bought from is not cooperating. Maybe I'll just have to keep it. We went to the early service at church at 9 and then had breakfast at our house with my aunt and uncle. Later that afternoon we loaded up the cars and left to go to my grandparent's house in Monetta. We exchanged gifts with them and had dinner with my all the family. I got a AAA membership from my grandparents and a Dillards gift card from my uncle that drew my name. We spent the night in Monetta.

On Monday, Mom, Clair, and I went shopping in Columbia for a little while. I spent a little bit of one of my gift cards. I left about 5:30 from my grandparents house to come back home. I unloaded my car and tried to unpack some stuff.

I had to work on Tuesday. It was slow because some customers are still on vacation. I went home and watched the last half of the Clemson bowl game - GO TIGERS!! - and put together my sewing table. It was difficult and took a long time but it's now together. Today has also been slow at work - I hope it stays like this all week. With me being new it still takes me a while to solve issues. It would help if I knew more about databases.

Tonight after work I'm going to go shopping and use up some more gift cards. I don't have any plans yet for New Years. I get Monday off of work so I have a long weekend. Anyone doing anything exciting?? Hope everyone had a good Christmas.

First calls

2005-12-21T12:44:00.000-05:00

I took my first three calls at work yesterday. Another analyst was on the phone with me so she could help me if I needed it. It's not like I've never talked on the phone in a work situation before - most every job I have had I've had to. I don't know why I was so nervous but on the first call my body temperature rose like I had never done it before. The first call was easy just a quick question that I actually knew the answer to. After that, I could feel myself getting cooler and I wasn't that nervous after that. I guess it was just getting that first call out of the way. I actually had an open issue by the end of the day. Today I'm in barcode training and then tomorrow I'm on the phone from 8-5 by myself.

Last week was the Upstate Ice storm. Lots of trees and down powerlines everywhere. Some people still don't have power. I never lost it which was lucky. I just had to dodge trees on the way to work Thursday morning. There was one all across Issaqueena trail that I had to move into the mud on the side of the road to avoid. My next vehicle needs 4 wheel drive :). The session meeting was cancelled on Thursday because of the storm and rescheduled for Monday - I passed the test and I am now almost official. I still have to go through Ordination. On Friday, I had the young adults over to my house for a progressive dinner. We had the dinner and dessert part at my house since the dessert house didn't have power. We had a good time and laughed all night. On Saturday, I went to a cookie exchange in my neighborhood. I got to meet a lot of nice people from the neighborhood and got a lot of good cookies to eat. Sunday night was my company Christmas party so I went back to Greenville for that. Not many people came but I sat and talked to the guy in the cube next to me and his wife all night. It was a lot of fun. Tonight Staci, Michael, and Anna are coming over for dinner and to exchange presents. That should be fun. I leave Friday after work to go to Moncks Corner for Christmas. I have Monday off of work so I get a long weekend break.

If I don't talk to you before Sunday - MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Weekend

2005-12-12T15:12:00.000-05:00

I finished my first class at work this past week. I am learning Datastream 7i which is one of the programs we develop and support. Last week I learned how the program works from a user standpoint. This week I am learning the security and admin side of the program.

This past weekend I finally finished hanging my lights on my house. I had a few places that were burned out eventhough I checked them all before. I had to do a little replacing to get it to look ok. It finally looks really good. If you are in the area, you should stop by to see my house :). I had a wedding to go to on Saturday. The wedding itself lasted about 20 minutes and then the reception was at the church so it was short. On Saturday night, I went to Greenville to celebrate Whitney's 30th Birthday. We went and ate at Trivinias on Woodruff rd. It's an Italian restaurant and the food was really good. Then we went to Connollys in downtown Greenville . Laura came and hung out after she left work. When the birthday crowd left, Laura and I hung out talking to these two guys all night. When the bar closed we walked around downtown for a little while. We saw the new bridge and waterfall. It looks really good at night. We had to go back to Connollys because Laura had left her debit card there. She was able to get it, we left town, and got home a little after 3.

On Sunday, I had to get up early to teach Sunday School so I got about 5 hours of sleep. After church, I cleaned up around the house and finished the lights. Sunday night Laura, Amanda, and I ate dinner at Sine Qua Non and exchanged Christmas presents. I got plans of the porch I want build on the back of my house from Laura. She is going to create them in 3D. Amanda gave me two puzzles. One is an ocean scene and one is one of those pictures made up of a bunch of little pictures. It is Mickey Mouse made up of all the Disney cartoons. I've got a busy week ahead. I've got something planned every night this week. I hope I can get it all done. I have my examination for Session on Thursday night. I'm a little nervous about it so be thinking about me Thursday night. I hope everyone has a great week!!

Update . . .

2005-12-04T20:37:00.000-05:00

Sorry it's been so long since I've updated this thing. I've been busy at work and I've been doing these computer training things where I have to watch a video and take tests all day on the computer, so when I get home I don't want to be on the computer that much.

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. I spent Thanksgiving Day at my grandparent's house and then went to Moncks Corner for the rest of the weekend. Mom, Clair, and I got up at 5:30am (a little late) and went shopping on the day after Thanksgiving. We were all done and exhausted by about 3. On Saturday, we had Thanksgiving dinner with my dad's side of the family. Mom, Clair, and I also went to Mepkin Abbey, a monastery in Moncks Corner, and saw all the manger scenes they had on display this year. They were really good. Then Sunday I came back home. It was good to see all my family.

This past week I've been busy with work and decorating my house for Christmas. I still have to finish putting the lights outside but that should be done by next weekend if it stops raining. Friday night I babysat for Southern Wesleyan University. They had their employee dinner and a student there and I kept about 8 kids. We just played with them and watched a movie. It was only about 3 hours.

Saturday I tried to get some errands done and attempted to put the lights on my house. I got a lot done but the rain kept me from finishing. I don't like to be on a wet ladder when I'm home alone. Don't want to fall and no one know it for a while. Saturday night I was a guide in Return to Bethlehem. It's a thing that 7 area churches put on and you walk through the streets of Bethlehem and hear the story of Jesus' birth. We had a really good turn out and it was a lot of fun. I was exhausted when it was over.

Today was gift day at church so I went and helped the 6th grade group make some crafts for their family for Christmas. I was in charge of the cookie mix in jars and the reindeer pins made out of puzzle pieces. All the crafts were good and the kids had a great time. I start official class training at work this week. I'm learning one of the programs that we support. I'll have training every day this week and next from 9-4. I'm glad to finally get into training and really learn something. Hope everyone had a good week.

First week

2005-11-21T15:59:00.000-05:00

My first week at work was pretty slow. I started on Wednesday and didn't get my computer until Thursday late morning. So far I've been trying to learn their software and sitting in on calls with other representatives. It's been fun and I've already learned a lot. Everyone here is really nice and helpful. Right now until about the end of the year I will be working 8:30 - 5:30 which isn't bad. It takes me a little over 30 minutes to get to work so not too bad of a drive.

This weekend was uneventful. I had dinner with Staci, Michael, and some of their friends in Anderson on Friday night. On Saturday, I just hung out, ran errands, worked out - nothing exciting. I did watch the Clemson/Carolina game on Saturday night which was awesome - GO TIGERS!!!!!!!!! I can't believe we pulled that one out. On Sunday, I didn't do much either. I raked some leaves in my yard and watched a couple of movies.

I'm leaving on Wednesday to go to my grandparents house to spend the night and then spend Thanksgiving day there. I'll be going to Moncks Corner Thursday evening and then staying there until Sunday. We have both Thursday and Friday off of work which is nice. I'm sure my Mom, sister, and I will wake up extremely early on Friday to get those after Thanksgiving sales - we always do. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving.

I GOT A JOB!!!!!!

2005-11-15T00:12:00.000-05:00

Well after 6 weeks of looking for a job I finally got one. I am working for Datastream (datastream.net). I am now the Customer Applications Telephone Support Specialist I in the Technical Support Group. Basically I will be doing tech support for the asset management software that Datastream creates and supports. I got the news around 12 on Friday and this weekend I filled out the paperwork and I start on Wednesday. I was so excited all day Friday that I couldn't stop smiling. I had to call and talk to everyone in my family.

On Tuesday, I had an interview with eRad/Image Medical. They do imaging software for radiologist in hospitals. It sounded like a good opportunity with a growing company. Then on Tuesday, I also got a call from Datastream saying that the job I had interviewed for a month ago had reopened. I was the first person they thought of when it reopened. I had an interview on Thursday with the guy that was out of town last time and on Friday around 12 they called me to make an offer. This is a great opportunity and it's more money then I've ever made in a job. I think this is finally a career I can stay with.

I also had an interview scheduled for tomorrow with Wachovia but had to call and cancel it. It's great to be able to call and tell people you already have a job.

This weekend was fun too. Meg came up on Friday and we hung out and went downtown for some celebrating of my new job. Then we tailgated with my family and watched Clemson beat Florida State. It was an awesome game. One of the best all season. GO TIGERS!!! Then we watched the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Pretty good movie but not as good as the old one :).

On Sunday, I did a little shopping for my new job. I can't really wear jeans and flip-flops like my last job. I watched Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy last night. They keep getting better.

Today I ran some errands, took my drug test, and took my signed papers back to Datastream. I did a little more shopping in Greenville trying to get ready for the big day. I have one more day of freedom and relaxation before the job starts. I plan to relax, take it easy, and get some things done around the house while I still have the chance.

Homecoming

2005-11-06T22:22:00.000-05:00

This past weekend was Homecoming at Clemson. The weekend was very busy and tiring, but I had a really good time. Thursday night Jonathan and Michael got into town around 7:15 and we went to dinner and hung out then came back to the house and Ben was here. It was good to see him because it had been a couple years. We just hung out watching TV all night.

On Friday, we meet Jeremy and Mary at the PSA center, went to lunch, and walked all around downtown Clemson and campus. I was exhausted from all the walking. I did get to see my name carved in brick for the Senior sidewalk in front of the president's house. I knew they were going to do that but I didn't know that they were actually finished. It was exciting to see my name there. I hung out with my parents for a little while before going to dinner. We all went to dinner at Los Bravos and tried to explain to our non-English speaking waiter what we wanted to drink and eat. It was the most confusing dinner ever. Then we went to Tigerama and watched PSA win the Skit Competition. They did a really good job. Next it was downtown for some drinks and then we finally got to bed around 2 that night.

On Saturday, we had to be at the center early to help my dad flip the 140lb pig that had been cooking all night. I did none of the helping - just took a few pictures of them tearing up the pig :). There were a lot of students and alumni at the pig roast. It was good to see some people I hadn't seen in a while. Laura went to the game with me and we had a good time. Clemson won against Duke 49-20. It was a good game. After the game we ate at Keith street and then got a movie. We watched Office Space at my house and just hung out. Then we went downtown for an exciting night of seeing old friends and getting drunk. I probably spent way too much on alcohol, but was feeling very good at the end of the night. We left downtown about 2 and went to the Huddle House for some food and sober up time. We got to bed around 3.

I had to get up and usher at church on Sunday so I got about 4 hours sleep before I just kept watching the clock and not being able to sleep. When I got back from church Ben left to go home since he had a long drive. Jonathan, Michael and I got some lunch and they did some more shopping. Then we watched a very boring Movie (don't see Winter Solstice). Michael did a little off-roading in the jeep and then they left this afternoon to go home. It was a very good weekend. I enjoyed hanging out with and seeing everyone that was in town. I probably need to sleep for an entire day to recuperate from this weekend :). Back to the job search tomorrow. I hope I can at least get some kind of interview by the end of the week - who knows.

Happy Halloween

2005-11-02T00:43:00.000-05:00

I know it's a day late but I hope everyone had a great Halloween Yesterday. I went to a Halloween parade downtown after applying to jobs all day long. Then last night I had 61 trick-or-treaters. The best costume was this little boy with a scream mask that squirted blood all over his face. It was awesome. I also watched Psycho and Poltergeist last night to get in the Halloween spirit.

This past weekend I went to Atlanta with Meg to go to IKEA. We spent about 4 hours in the store. It is always fun to go there. Meg said it definitely lived up to her expectations. I didn't get much since I don't have a job but I got a few things. I also picked up a bookcase for my roommate. We put it together on Sunday. Clemson lost to Georgia Tech 10-9. They've got to start winning some games. On Sunday, I went to the Corn Maze in Anderson. I went with the kids from church. It was a lot of fun. We got lost a lot and didn't find the numbers in the maze in order but it was still fun. Then I was disappointed when Desperate Housewives was a repeat but at least Grey's Anatomy was new.

Today I had an allergy appointment in Anderson and got my tires rotated and balanced at the mall. At least I got some things done that I had been meaning to do for a while. I'll be cleaning the house tomorrow to get ready for my guests this weekend. Including me and my two roommates there will be 9 people staying in my little house this weekend. If they aren't close when they get here they will be when they leave. My parents and Sister are also coming but they are staying in the camper. Clemson's homecoming is this weekend and my dad is cooking a pig for the big event. It should be a lot of fun. If you're going to be in town and need a place to stay let me know - I could always find room for more people. HAHA!! The game is at 1pm on Saturday against Duke - GO TIGERS!!! Give me a call if you are in town for the big event.

No news yet

2005-10-24T13:54:00.000-04:00

Well I still don't have a job. I keep hoping that will change. Last week I applied for some jobs online and on Thursday I went to a Teller assessment for Wachovia. We had to watch a video, fill out an application, and take a test. I should find out soon if I passed the test so I can apply for a job. I'll probably spend a lot of time today looking at websites. Usually once a week I spend hours online looking at all the jobs posted in the last week.

On Friday, Meg came up to go the game. We watched a couple movies - A Lot Like Love and The Longest Yard - both were good movies. We ate dinner at Moes and just hung out. On Saturday, Meg said she had gotten sick during the night and left around 8:30 before the game. My roommate Laura ended up going to the game with me and we tailgated with Amanda's parents and also my aunt and cousins. A Friend, John Lattimore, was in town for the game and he came over and saw us during the 4th quarter. He is living in Atlanta and going to Seminary. He said he would be back for homecoming also. Clemson won against Temple 37-7. GO TIGERS!!!!

On Sunday, I went to church and then just read and watched TV most of the afternoon. I went back to church to help make Chrismons for the Christmas tree. I don't know how well mine turned out but it was fun making them. We made them with the middle school group. Then we ate dinner together and since none of the Senior High advisors were able to come last night I joined their group. It was a lot of fun because normally I only work with the elementary age kids so it was good to get to know another age group.

I don't have any interviews scheduled this week yet but hopefully that will change. On Wednesday, at church we are having a Halloween carnival and everyone will be dressing up. It should be a lot of fun. I love seeing all the kids dressed up. I think I'm going to be a Lady Bug since I already have the costume. Last year I was a scarecrow. Meg and I are supposed to be going to Atlanta this coming weekend to go to IKEA. She wants to get some things she saw online and I told her I would ride with her. It takes a while to go through the entire thing so it will probably take all day. I hope we can get everything she wants. Hope everyone has a great week.

Still No Job

2005-10-16T23:37:00.000-04:00

Well It's not looking good right now for a job. I did talk to a few more companies last week but they basically said they would be on the lookout because they didn't have anything available right now. I'm getting more depressed as the days go by and I have no job or interviews scheduled this week. Hopefully something will come up. The walls of my house are starting to close in on me.

On Friday night, I went to a wedding shower and we just hung out and talked until about 11:30. It was a lot of fun and good to just get out for a while. On Saturday morning, I had to be at church at 9 for a Elder Elect meeting. All the new elders meet and go over the things we need to know before we get ordained. That lasted until about 11 and then I came home and just read some and watched some TV. Saturday night I babysat for a wedding. I had one kid at the church during the wedding. Then the bride wanted me to go to the Madren Center and be available if people wanted me to keep the kids during the reception. I got paid if I had kids or not. She said at 10 if I still didn't have kids I could leave. I didn't have any kids in the hotel room. It was a nice room with a good view of the water and golf course. It had a den area and a bedroom. I just watched TV, read, and wrote my thank you notes for my birthday gifts. I want more jobs like that. You get paid for all night to keep a kid for one hour during the wedding. I came home and watched TV and then talked to Laura and her friend when they got in. They had been in Atlanta and picked me up a mirror at IKEA. I really like it and it goes with my bed frame. I love IKEA.

Today I put up the mirror and moved some things around in my room which involved spackling holes and painting to cover up where things had been. That took most of the afternoon. Laura and her friend left to go spend the night with her parents and will be back on Tuesday. Amanda is in Charleston with her boyfriend until Tuesday since it is Clemson's Fall break. I'm going to have two boring days in the house by myself. I really need a job :).

Update

2005-10-12T02:29:00.000-04:00

I had a good time in Waynesville this weekend. They closed down the downtown area and had lots of crafts and exhibits on Saturday. I started getting sick on Friday but I took some NyQuil and DayQuil and that made me feel a little better. I got home Saturday around 4:30 and then went to my friends 30th birthday party. It was fun. They had a huge tent in the backyard and it was catered by a local restaurant. I didn't really know that many people there, but it was fun anyway. It was lot of people he worked with and his family that I didn't know. On Sunday, I helped set up and clean up for the Church lunch. When I got home, I was exhausted from just doing that little bit because I was sick. I put back on my pajamas and watched movies and slept all day. I really didn't feel good at all.

On Monday, I had another interview. It was with DataStream in Greenville for a Tech Support job. They make asset management software and I thought the interview went well. I meet with two of the Tech Support managers. After the interview, I met Staci and Anna in Anderson and we ate lunch and did some shopping. I got home and took a nap since I was still feeling sick and then went to Theology on Tap last night.

This morning, I was woken by the phone at around 8:30. It was the lady from DataStream. She said she had some good news and some bad news. She said I had a great interview and they really liked my answers and thought I was a great candidate, but they had a meeting yesterday and decided that at this time they were not going to fill the position. They are allocating the resources elsewhere. She said they hope to open it back up soon and asked if they could keep me in mind when they did. She said hopefully in a month or so they would fill the position. She said she understood if I took another job before that. Oh well. I guess it's back to the drawing board. It's disappointing to get excited about a job and then for them to not even fill it. The rest of the day I just surfed for jobs online and applied for a few more. I hope something comes along soon. I hate not having a job.

Job Search

2005-10-06T20:20:00.000-04:00

I've been looking for jobs a lot this week. On Monday, I applied for some things online and made an appointment with an employment agency. On Tuesday, I got an interview with Carolina First. On Wednesday, I took the Teller assessment for Carolina First. I then did a short interview with a lady about a teller and money manager job at Carolina First in a new Seneca Branch they are opening in December. I meet Laura for lunch in Greenville before going to AppleOne. I went to AppleOne (an employment agency) and gave them my information, meet with the employment lady and took some tests (customer service, word, excel, typing, data entry, etc). I should hear back soon from both these people. I got a call this morning from DataStream and I have an interview with them on Monday at 11 for a Tech Support job. So things are looking up. I've only been unemployed for a week and I have already had two interviews and have another one scheduled. Tonight I am supposed to go see The Dukes of Hazzard at the Astro with my roommates. If nothing else, it should be a reason to just laugh at a stupid movie. I'm going to Waynesville tomorrow to spend the day and night with my parents. They are camping up there this weekend. I've got to come back Saturday afternoon because I have a 30th Birthday party to go to Saturday night for a friend. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

Fired!!

2005-10-03T03:16:00.000-04:00

A lot has happened since my last post. I was fired from my job and I went home to see my parents for the weekend. So about getting fired . . .

Wednesday I was dealing with a customer that had called me about 5 times. The 2nd to last time he called he asked to speak with a supervisor when I first answered the phone. I told him that was me and he still asked to speak with a supervisor. James (my boss) wouldn't talk to him of course so I told him if I couldn't help him no one could. He reluctantly talked to me about his credit card not going through. He hung up and called a little later and continued to scream and me and yell that I was causing his credit card to not go through and that I would write down his authorization number. I was nice and patient on the phone with him eventhough he was an ASS. When Kris (the other customer service agent) got back from lunch I told her what I had been dealing with and was saying loudly how much this customer was rude to me. I was immitating how he had been on the phone to me. James screamed at me from his office that I needed to shut up and go home. He said that I needed to go home and not come back that day. I made sure my time sheet was filled out so I would get paid the next day and I went home and applied for jobs all day. I sent him the email explaining how I didn't appreciate him yelling at me across the office.

I asked Kris if I should come in on Thursday since I hadn't heard from him and she said yes. I went in and did my job and never talked to him. At the end he sent me an email saying he wanted to meet with me. Scott told me he was going to fire me so I knew. I went in there and he said all this nice stuff about me but basically your gone. I hate when people do that. He said I wasn't cut out for customer service. Then why did he make me Director of Customer Satisfaction just a couple months ago?! I don't know how Kris is going to do it all. I do at least 20 more things than she does each day. She never even checks on old orders to see why they haven't shipped. Oh well, It's not my problem anymore.

Everyone I have talked to about it has been very supportive and feels that this is better for me. It will be a reason for me to get an even better job. So now I am searching for a job. I have applied to a lot of places in Greenville. I have an appointment on Wednesday with an employment agency and I just filed out an assesment online for a banking job in Seneca. Hopefully something will come up soon.

I had a good time at home. My mom and I went shopping and got a couple interview outfits. I didn't really have any suits. We celebrated my birthday when I was home since I hadn't seen my parents since then and basically just hung out and had a good time. It was good not to think about being unemployed for a little while. I'm sure I'll be doing that a lot this week.

Hump Day

2005-09-28T14:56:00.000-04:00

I'm glad this week is almost over. I'm leaving work at 3 on Friday to go see my parents. I haven't been home in a while. It will be good to see them and just hang out.

Last weekend I went to the Clemson - Boston College game. We went into overtime and lost. We should have done a lot better against Boston. I can't believe we even had to go into overtime. My roommate Laura went to the game with me and we had a good time. We tailgated after the game with my family and enjoyed the relaxing day. It was so hot all day. I tried to keep drinking fluids so that I wouldn't get too hot. I couldn't wait to get home and get a shower that night.

On Sunday, I went to church and we had elections for Session. I got elected. Now I have to start the process to become an elder. We have our first meeting this coming Sunday at 6. In the afternoon, I meet Staci and Anna in Anderson. We had lunch at a Mexican restaurant and then went to Michaels shopping and then to Wal-mart to get some groceries. It was good to hang out for a little while. On Sunday night I watched the season premiere of Desperate Housewives. It is going to be a good season.

I had to get up early on Monday for an all day seminar in Greenville. It was called Handling Difficult and Demanding Customers: A Communication Course. It was a pretty interesting course. The guy running the seminar said that there were actually no difficult customers just different customers. After spending all day in Greenville we came back to work for about an hour to catch up on some emails and then went home. Laura and I went to the Young Adult Book Study at 7 that night and discussed another chapter in the book. I was glad to get home after a long day at work.

Yesterday I didn't really do much. It felt like Monday at work since I didn't have to answer phones on Monday. I worked out and watched Nip/Tuck. That show really explores a lot of controversial topics. I can't wait until the next episode.

Tonight I have to help with the kids program at church. Hopefully they wont be as wild as last week. I may start packing tonight for this weekend. Have a great week!

Nothing much to report . . .

2005-09-23T15:28:00.000-04:00

I haven't been up to much this week. Work has been really slow and after work I have just been watching some TV and working out. I watched the season premiere of Nip/Tuck on Tuesday. It was interesting as always. Most of the show dealt with this obese woman who had been sitting on her couch for three years. She had a sciatic nerve problem and when she sat up it would hurt so she just decided to stay there. She couldn't sit up or move. She just sat on her couch watching her TiVo. Her husband who no longer lived with her would come by once a week and cash her disability check and buy her groceries. The house stunk so bad the firefighters had to wear masks and break open windows just to be in the house. It was sad to see someone living like that. I know there are people that actually live like this. I want to know at what point you just say I'd rather just sit here and use the bathroom on myself then get up off the couch. I just don't understand this reasoning. It's on again tonight on FX at 10 if you want to watch it also. I've also been watching the 4th season of Six Feet Under this week. I've watched about 7 episodes so far. I really like that show. I wish it wasn't over.

I helped with the kids group on Wednesday night at church and they were wild. They wouldn't calm down for anything. I think next week we just need to run the entire time just to wear them out.

I'm going to the Clemson game this weekend. They are playing Boston College at noon. My roommate, Laura, is going to go with me. We should have fun because my aunts, uncles, and cousins are coming up again. It's my cousin Rebecca's 14th Birthday on Saturday. I can't believe she is already 14. Have a great weekend!!

Miami vs. Clemson

2005-09-19T14:19:00.000-04:00

Michael came up to go to the game this weekend. He got here on Friday and we went to dinner with Laura and then just hung out at the house for a little while. Amanda's mom was using our house to cook for their tailgate so it was crazy around my house. Laura was going downtown with some friends so we went with her about 11:30. Downtown was packed and there were lines everywhere. We finally ended up at Tiger Town Uptown. It was a lot less crowded then other places. Then we went to Nicks for a little while. It wasn't bad either. We could actually sit down at a table there. We had a good time, meet some interesting people, and probably had too much alcohol but it was fun. I think I finally went to bed around 3:30 that night.

Saturday was game day. We left for the game around 12. My aunts, uncles, and cousins were tailgating so we went there to hang out with them. We parked at Redfern and walked over to meet them at Cemetery Hill. We just hung out, ate some good food, and enjoyed the shade before having to go to the hot sunny game at 3:30. The game was great. Even though Clemson lost against Miami, it was awesome. The crowd was really getting into the game. Just looking over at the hill you could see everyone just yelling and jumping up and down. I don't think I have ever heard the stadium that loud. Clemson tried to stay in the game with 3 overtimes, but ultimately Whitehurst threw the ball to a Miami player and then it was over. Maybe we will do better with Boston College next week. After the game, we meet up with one of Michael's friends for dinner. We ate at the Chilis too on Campus. It was good to sit down and eat after the long game. After dinner, we helped her with her astronomy project and then finally left campus around 11. It was a long day.

Sunday Michael left early because he had to get to the aquarium. It was good to see him and spend time with him this weekend. I went to Church and then just took it easy the rest of the day. I watched some movie and did some laundry. I went to bed around 10 last night and with Nine and a half hours of sleep I'm still exhausted. I just can't stay out late like I used to - must be getting too old :) - I hope not.

It's my bosses birthday today so at least we don't have to sit through a Monday meeting. It got postponed until tomorrow so at least I don't have to stay late at work today. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

Birthday

2005-09-15T12:58:00.000-04:00

I had a great 26th Birthday. I started my celebration on Tuesday night. My roommates and I went to dinner at The Pendleton House. It was really good. First they sat us down in the parlor for drinks. The owner gave me a birthday salute by blowing into a noisemaker. It was hilarious. They give you a menu and then the lady sits down and explains everything that's on the menu and what it contains using humor. She was hilarious. Then they sat you down in the dining room for dinner. It was good. Amanda had lamb, Laura had pork, and I had Lobster Ravioli. We also had bread pudding for dessert. I had never had it before and it was really good. They put a candle on the dessert for me. I was so full when we finally left there. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone. After dinner, we went downtown for some fun. We went to Backstreets, TDs and then back to Backstreets. There was a lot of alcohol involved and I was tired when we got back home around 2.

On Wednesday, eventhough it was my birthday I still had to go to work. I worked all day and then went to the Wednesday night program with the kids at church. They got me out of the room and when I came back and cut on the lights they all jumped up and yelled surprise. They had cupcakes and mine had a candle in it. They all sang happy birthday. It was about 15 kids. It was so cute. After program, I had a CE meeting at church. They had cupcakes and a cookie cake for me and sang to me too. After the meeting, I came home and my roommate had a cookie cake and icecream for me. It was just one big sugar fest. I didn't even eat dinner I was so full with all the cookies and cupcakes. I guess once a year it's ok. I got home around 9:15 and finally got to rest from the very long day.

I'm excited about the Miami game this weekend. It should be a good came. The last two Clemson games have been close so I don't know if I can take another close one but as long as we win it will be good. The game is at 3:30 on ABC if it's playing in your area. It's going to be a hot day. The sun will be out the entire game. My friend, Michael, is coming up so we should have fun. GO TIGERS!!!

Weekend

2005-09-13T14:41:00.000-04:00

I took Friday off from work so that I could go to the doctor and get my drivers license renewed. I went to the doctor first. Definitely not my favorite thing to do. While I was there they took some blood to do a cholesterol test and the lady really bruised my arm. It looked worse the next day but the bruising is starting to go down. I hope it will be gone by next weekend. I then met Laura for Lunch in Greenville. I walked around downtown for a little while and then met up with her when she got off for lunch. We had a good lunch and looked in some neat shops. Then she went back to work and I went to the DMV. They have this system where you take a number and sit down and wait to be called. It was good so that you don't have to stand in line forever. I was out of there in a little over an hour. I just enjoyed the rest of the day not having to go to work.

This weekend I went to my best friend's little girl's First birthday party. I got there early to help her get ready for the party. We had to decorate, set up tables, and blow up balloons. I basically kept Anna entertained so that Staci and Michael could work on getting everything set up. Staci went all out and even rented one of those huge blow up slides. The kids at the party loved it. We had hot dogs for lunch. Staci made the Cake. It was so cute. It was a two layer cake and she made a tiny two layer cake for Anna to eat. She went to town on the cake and was even putting her entire face in the cake. She was covered in cake and icing by the time she had finished. There was a lot of people there and it was crazy but I guess you only turn 1 once. Clemson pulled out another win again Maryland. GO TIGERS!!! After the party, I went by the mall and did some shopping before coming home and just relaxing and watching some movies.

On Sunday I went to church, cut grass and went to see a movie. The grass outside looked really bad so I was glad to finally have time to get it cut. That night, Laura and I went and saw Wedding Crashers. A very funny movie. If you haven't seen it, then I definitely recommend it.

Yesterday I had to answer the phones by myself at work. The other customer satisfaction representative had taken the day off. Monday is always our busiest day. I took 50 calls. It was crazy. Then we had our weekly Monday meeting which wasn't too long. I was glad to leave work yesterday. I went to Rockhoppers for Theology on Tap and then worked out for a little while. I was glad when yesterday was over.

Tonight my roommates and I are going to go to dinner and downtown to celebrate my birthday tomorrow. One of my roommates has to go out of town tomorrow so we are going to celebrate tonight. I hope it will be a fun night. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

First Game

2005-09-06T01:54:00.000-04:00

The first Clemson game of the year was this weekend. I was a fun weekend. My friend Meg came up on Friday and we went to Moe's for dinner. Then we came back to the house and drank for a little bit before going downtown. My roommate, Amanda, went with us downtown. After finally finding a place to park downtown, we went to Backstreets. It was really crowded, but I had fun. I ran into a guy I worked with for a couple months at OI before he decided to go back to school. He is now living in California. We got home and watched some TV and I went to bed around 2:30.

On Saturday, we left for the game around 2. We went and tailgated with my roommate and her brother for a little while and then went to find Meg's sister. She is an RA in Lever. We talked to her for a little while and then went towards downtown. We walked by Bowman where they were having some helicopters and army trucks on the field. We went into Mr. Knickerbockers but it was so crowded we just left. We then went and found my friend Sok who was tailgating with some friends. We stayed there for a while and got to hang out with another Friend Gerry before heading to find my aunt and cousins. We had been carrying around all our tailgating stuff all day and walking all over the place. I was a little drunk and tired. We found my aunt and dropped our stuff off at her car since we were riding back to my house with her. The game was AWESOME!!! In the last 6 seconds of the game we were two points behind and came back and got a field goal to win the game by 1. It was an exciting game. The stadium was packed right up until the end. I like games like that. Next week we play Maryland at Maryland. I hope it's an interesting game also. I'll be watching it on TV. After the game we hung out with my family for a little while before getting into traffic around 1:30. It took us about 30 minutes or so to get to the wal-mart to drop off some of their friends who had left their car there. We came back to my house and my aunt and cousins set up their air mattresses and we finally got to sleep around 3.

On Sunday, I got up and made pancakes for my family and they left after breakfast. I went to church and came home and didn't do much of anything for the rest of the day. Meg left to go back home when I got back from church. For the rest of the day I slept, watched movies, and washed some clothes. I just enjoyed a relaxing day at home.

Today I had the day off from work for Labor Day. I got up late and just watched TV for most of the morning and early afternoon. Around 3 my roommate, Laura, and I went for a hike. There are a lot of trails over in the Garrison Arena area in Clemson. The one we went on went a little bit around the lake. It was a pretty view. We hiked for about 2 hours. I can't believe I've lived here 8 years and didn't even know they existed. If we go again we want to bring our swimsuits and take advantage of being close to the lake. Then I just went to the grocery store and watched another movie. All in all a very peaceful day. I guess it's back to work tomorrow. Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend also.

Game Day

2005-08-30T13:13:00.000-04:00

It's 4 days until the official start of Clemson Football. They are playing Texas A&M this Saturday night at 8pm. If you can't be at the game ABC is televising it. I hope it's going to be a good game. My friend Meg is coming up to go to the game with me so that should be a lot of fun. We are still looking for some tailgating places so let me know if you will be in town and where you will be. I can't wait.

This past weekend was busy. I babysat on Friday night for a 3 year old. The bad thing about a 3 year old is they don't have a big attention span. They do something for about 5 maybe 10 minutes and then they want to move onto something else. I was definitely tired when she left. I also watched Team America World Police that night. It's done entirely with puppets. It was made by the creators of South Park. If you want to watch just a stupid, funny movie then I highly recommend this one.

On Saturday I had to go to a workshop with the Christian education group at church. We went to two workshops that day. The first one I went to was Directing a Children's choir creatively. It was interesting. I have no singing talents what so ever but it was good to learn what works for the kids since I help out with the group on Wednesday night. The second one I went to was Children's Worship Education. It was about when and what to teach children about worship. It also went into whether they should stay in worship with adults or have their own service. Since I don't have kids I hadn't really thought about it that much but it was interesting.

On Sunday we had a welcome back lunch at church for the college students. I brought a fruit salad and left with an empty bowl so I guess they liked it. I saw a guy there from Moncks Corner that is a sophomore this year at Clemson. I feel so old because I used to babysit him and his two brothers when I was in high school. Am I really that old? Oh well.

I have this coming Monday off of work for Labor Day so I am looking forward to that. We just started a new employee manual that actually gives us paid time off so this our first paid vacation. In the past we just didn't get paid for time off. I'm really looking forward to this. I don't know what I'm doing that day, but it's always good when I don't have to go to work.

Countdown

2005-08-23T12:40:00.000-04:00

The countdown to my 26th birthday has begun. It's on the 14 of September so I have about 21 days until then. I have mixed feelings about turning 26. On the one hand it's good to be able to have another birthday, and on the other hand it just seems so much closer to 30 then 25 did. I know it's only one year but it's on the 30 side now instead of the 20 side. At least 25 was right in the middle. I don't know where I thought I would be at 26. I don't think I thought I would be the Director of Customer Satisfaction and answering the phone for an outdoor retailer. I didn't even see myself doing that 2 years ago. I feel like my life is in a rut right now. During the work week I go to work, come home, make dinner, watch TV or clean or read, work out, then go to bed and start it all over again. This may just be part of being an adult but I am ready for some kind of change. I don't know what yet. I've just become sick of the routine of my life. Anyone reading this have any suggestions about how to make the 26th year the best ever? I'm open to suggestions.

Alone

2005-08-16T14:06:00.000-04:00

I was alone in my house last weekend - from Thursday until Late Sunday night. I didn't really do much - it was a very boring weekend. I caught up on reading some magazines, watched some movies, worked in my yard, finished sewing my T-shirts together for my quilt, and worked on putting some pictures in my photo album. Sounds like a lot but I basically didn't do very much. I only left the house once on Saturday and once on Sunday. Sometimes I enjoy weekends like this to catch up on some things but other times I just feel so alone. It was very relaxing, but I was glad to have noise and chaos back in my house on Monday :). Clemson is in between classes right now so the town is very empty right now. Next weekend everyone will be moving in and the traffic and people will return to Clemson. I can't wait for Clemson football season. The first game is September 3rd at 8pm against Texas A&M. Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Pictures of my new Haircut

2005-08-12T21:31:00.000-04:00

Another picture of the new haircut

2005-08-12T21:30:00.000-04:00

My new haircut

New Haircut

2005-08-09T13:01:00.000-04:00

I haven't really been up to much recently. Last week it was basically just work and working out. I did get my hair cut last Wednesday. It's a lot shorter than I normally get it cut. It has taken some getting used to. When I go to the gym now I just have to pull it back with a headband, because I can't really put it up anymore. I think I like it a lot better. It definitely doesn't take as long to dry. Maybe I'll post a picture soon so you can see it.

On Friday night, I babysat for a couple of kids in my church. We went and got ice cream and rented a movie. They are fun kids and I always have a good time with them. The parents were home by 11 so it was an early night. I went home and helped my roommate a little with some book cases she was putting together. She has so many books (she's an English Major) that she had two full size and two smaller bookcases in her bedroom. Her room is wall to wall books.

On Saturday I helped set up for Rally Day at Church. We set up some games and food for the kids and their parents. I did some grocery shopping and made one of those watermelon baskets out of a watermelon for Rally Day. You cut zig zags in the watermelon with a handle and then core it out and I filled it with cantaloupe, honey dew, and watermelon balls. It wasn't that hard, it just took a lot of time.

Rally Day at church was Sunday at 9:15. The kids had a blast. They were running around playing games and having a blast. After Church, I watched House of Sand and Fog. It was a good movie but very sad. It's about this lady that loses her house due to a tax mistake, and the family that buys the house while she is trying to get it straight, won't sell it back to the county. It's also a book which some of you may have read. I also worked on my T-shirt quilt a little too. I'm attempting to make a quilt out of my old T-shirts. I've got a little while until I sew all the shirts together, and then I've got to figure out how to do the quilt part. I've never made a quilt before.

Tonight I have to baby-sit for a new family in the church. They just have one child - a cute 3 year old named Catherine. The mother works at a library nearby. She wants me come to the library and keep her there. I've never done anything like that before. Usually it's at their house. We will see how it goes. I don't know if I will like this very much.

This weekend my roommate, Amanda, is going to the beach with her family for vacation from Wednesday through Sunday. My other roommate, Laura, is going to see her boyfriend in Iowa from Thursday through Monday. That means I get the house to myself from Thursday - Sunday. I can't remember the last time both of my roommates were gone for any length of time. At least the house will be clean for a few days :).

Another Wedding

2005-08-02T13:25:00.000-04:00

I had a time with my yard last week. I was almost finished cutting the grass on Tuesday night when I stopped mowing to take a phone call. When I came back and tried to start the mower the string broke. There was nothing I could do. I took it to the shop the next day for them to put in a new string but they said they were 7 days behind. Since I was having a baby shower at my house on Friday, I wanted to finish cutting the back yard so I cut it with my weed eater. The only thing with the weed eater is that it's battery powered and doesn't last that long on a charge. I would have to cut as much as I could and then charge it up. It took a while but it all got cut by Friday.

The shower went well. We didn't have a lot of people but we had a lot of fun. I cooked hot dogs and hamburgers and made mac and cheese, cookies, had chips, etc. I think it went well. I had a lot of food left over that I have been eating on ever since.

On Saturday, I had another wedding in Greenville to go to. My cousin got married at 1 on Saturday. I meet my mom at the wedding. She came up from Moncks Corner that morning. It was a small informal wedding, but it was nice. At the reception they had something that I had never seen before. They had different dips on platters on the tables and then they had the crackers, chips, etc. just out on the table with no plates. They were just sitting on top of the table cloths. I thought this was very odd and had never seen anything like it. My mom came back to my house after the wedding to spend the night. We watched Maria Full of Grace. It is a good movie about people that live in Columbia and bring drugs over to the US by swallowing them. It was very graphic and you really saw what these poor girls have to go through. It was a very depressing movie.

Mom left Sunday after church and I just took a nap and read the rest of the afternoon. On Sunday night, I watched Six Feet Under. There are only 3 more episodes left. I can't believe they killed off one of the main characters. It was so sad. I liked him the best on the show.

Wedding

2005-07-25T14:54:00.000-04:00

I didn't really do much during the week last week. I worked out and watched some Old Episodes of Six Feet Under. I have really gotten into that show. So far I have watched the first three seasons on DVD and the 4th season comes out in August I think. On Friday, I went with some people from work to shop for another co-workers wedding present. I just got them a couple of things on their wedding registry. Then I went to Clemson's newest restaurant Moe's with my roommates and a friend from France. I had never eaten at a Moe's before and it was really good.

The wedding was in Taylors at 2 on Saturday. I picked up La'Toya and we left Clemson around 12:30. The wedding was I think the shortest wedding I had ever been to. The wedding started exactly at 2 and then we were out of the church at 2:20. They had one song that had a guitar and violin playing and no singing. The reception was really nice. It was in the Marriott in Greenville. You had to pick up your place card for your table and then they had drinks, cheese, fruit, crackers, etc for us to snack on before we went into the reception hall. When the bridal party got there we went in and found our tables and they introduced the wedding party and Scott and Anna danced their first dance. Then they called people up by tables to get their food. It was really good. We were one of the last tables to be called and I was starving by then. They had a champagne toast when they cut the cake. It was a really nice reception. We got home around 6:30 and I didn't do anything Saturday night because I was so tired.

On Sunday, I went to church and then came home and continued to read Harry Potter. I finally finished it late last night. I read it off and on all day. It was really interesting. I can't wait for the next book. My roommate made some homemade peach ice cream yesterday. It was sooooo good. I hadn't had it in forever. She used my mom's recipe.

On Friday (the 29th), I am having a baby shower/cookout for some friends of mine from church. This week I am going to be working on getting my house and yard ready for the party. I made a list of all the things I need to buy for the shower. Hopefully it wont cost too much. So far about 10 people have said they are coming. I'm going to try and go grocery shopping tonight and buy what I can. Then on Saturday my cousin, Virginia, is getting married in Greenville. This weeding is even earlier than the one this past weekend. I feel like my entire day is nothing but wedding when it is so early. Virginia meet her fiance on eharmony.com. She seems to be happy which is what matters. My mom is going to meet me in Greenville at the wedding and is then going to stay with me on Saturday night. I just want to get through Friday night and then it will a lot less stressful.