The President Comes to Visit!

After moving away from my hometown 3 years ago, I've learned that:

A) It's a very small town

B) I grew up on a farm

I truly didn't know either of these until others told me, and I began comparing things.  I assumed that since my town had 10+ stop lights, then it wasn't a small town at all.  I also assumed that since my parents didn't name 'our farm' and we didn't make money off of it, then it wasn't a farm.  Turns out, when you say your parents have goats, donkeys, a pig, a garden, and 3 small barns, people say, "Yes, Susan, that's a farm."

Anywho... in our small town we have a store called Mast General Store.  It's set up like an old General Store, and there are several of them in the mountains of North Carolina.

And well, who should visit the other day than the President of the US... Barack Obama.

No really... he's picking up some candy at the general store.  Not the one in my hometown, but not too far away.

So I'm dying to know the reactions of my friends & family back home.  President Obama has visited this area once or twice before... it's apparently one of his favorite areas.  I know why-- it's a pretty awesome area!  And what better time to visit it than in October when the leaves are falling?

And I have to admit... fan or not, if I saw the President getting some candy, I'd be gawking like all these other people!

You know you're a Catamount when...

The other day I found a hilarious Facebook group titled "You know your a Catamount at WCU..."

It's really unfortunate that the person used the wrong 'your,' but aside from that blaring issue, I really enjoyed reading the posts!  Even though I didn't participate in a lot of the campus activities, there were many things about college that I just couldn't avoid.  Here are some of my favorites:

-"When an umbrella is more harmful than helpful in the pouring rain."  ---- ho. ly. cow.  Not even kidding... it rained, or at least sprinkled, every single class day my freshman year.  Monday - Friday.  Not even missing one.  Even if it was just a few sprinkles, it was guaranteed to rain a bit.  One group made t-shirts that said:

          We

          Carry

          Umbrellas

  Get it?  WCU... we carry umbrellas.  Those shirts sold like hotcakes!  So did umbrellas & rain boots.  And the harmful aspect of it was that any substantial rain meant substantial winds, so not only did the umbrella not help unless it was turned sideways, but it usually blew inside out almost instantly & sent you toppling over into the street with its force.  Quite exciting, I tell ya!

-"When quarters are like gold because there are no change machines in the laundry rooms."  ---- no seriously-- no change machines anywhere on campus, so we had to go to the bank, which, if you were lucky, had a branch in the next town over.

-"When move-in day at Wal-Mart is like Christmas at the mall." --- Wal-Mart was in the next town over & was pretty much the only place to go for move-in stuff.  No matter how prepared you were, you'd always end up at that Wal-Mart on move-in day.  I was lucky & always moved a week early due to color guard or being an RA... but it was still craziness!

Walker- I lived on the 8th floor freshman year

-"When you have practice fire drills your Freshman year and every time there are at least 3 people standing in nothing but a towel."  ---- ummm... one of my best friends was one of those!  But to be fair, in high school they would always tell you it was a fire drill- this is the first time in life the alarms just go off.

-"When you have to stay an extra semester because you didn't go to class your first semester."  -- This wasn't me, but this was roughly 90% of the student population.  People take their sweet time to graduate there.  I do think part of it, though, is that music is a very popular major, and it's nearly impossible to graduate in 4 years because many of the classes are 1 credit hour, but take up 8+ hours a week.

- And finally, to sum up about 15 of the posts-- the CatTran-- it was the bus system around the school.  Not that the campus was big, but you may or may not have to scale a mountain in order to get to class.  However, those buses were never where you needed them.  Instead of hitting a stop every 15 minutes, they'd be back to back & you wouldn't see another one for 45 minutes.  And riding up the mountain on one was a great time for prayer-- that the whole bus wouldn't fly off the mountain as it's careening around steep curves!  I found a hilarious post about the FatTran CatTran & the weather in Cullowhee here.  I have no idea who this blogger is, but that particular post is hilarious!

Altogether now.... na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na- CAT-TRAN! (sung to the Batman tune)

What was a fun quirk of your college campus?

The only thing I miss about college...

The other day an old marching band friend posted a picture of our old college campus.  As I looked at the pretty brick sidewalk & fountain, I realized that the same area was a road when I was a freshman... and was a grassy area by the time I graduated.

Photo Courtesy of Josh Duckett

This whole circular brick walkway was road, and then grass.  The building to the left used to be a parking lot.

Now I'm someone who loves progress, so seeing these changes bring a smile to my face.  They're building new dorms with... get this... air conditioning.  And tearing down old stinky awful dining halls and putting up nice ones.  For a little university so deep in the mountains that I haven't been back since the day I graduated, (it is not on the way to anywhere) I'd say they're doing pretty well.

But the funny thing is, I don't miss college that much and I don't miss what most people do.  What I really miss is walking to class, sitting in those old seats, taking out a pen and starting a fresh page of notes.  Having the occasional professor that would let you get away with murder and still get an 'A,' and sitting in the UC (common area) sipping Java City coffee & doing homework in between classes.

Oh, and freshman year my dorm was across the street from the gym.  I did 2 workouts a day!

So, I'm weird.  And I didn't make many best friends in college.  I was a little preoccupied with getting married & paying bills.

Did you go to college?  Do you miss it?  What was your favorite part?

Buggies.

I have a lot of memories of the grocery store.  In a household with 7 people, we made lots of grocery trips.  Even shopping for a week at a time, my mom would have to get several gallons of milk & more groceries than she had room in the cabinets for.

There were 2 grocery stores we frequented.  There was Ingles, the 'big' store that we did our weekly large shopping trip at, and then there was Smoky Mountain Grocery, the 'little' store that mom did quick stop-ins after school if we needed just a couple of things.  Kind of like running in a smaller store to avoid waiting in line at Wal-Mart.

I loved those grocery trips, mainly because the employees thought I was a cute kid & would always joke around with me.  One guy called me Mary Elizabeth every single time.  I'm not sure why, but it didn't matter.  That's also where I learned the phrase 'Better put that bottom lip back in before you trip over it.'  I'm guessing I didn't get the candybar I wanted?

Then, when I turned 16 I got my first job at that same Ingles & I have to tell ya, I was the best little cashier you'd ever see.  It made sense to me-- people didn't want to stand in line-- they wanted me to ring up their groceries & be on their way.

That's also the same store where I got caught kissing a boy in the cooler.

One of my favorite things as a kid was to ride underneath the buggy.

Buggy?

You know... like a shopping cart.

Now that we all know who is from the North & who is from the South...

I loved to ride under the buggy.  It meant you were responsible enough to be trusted with it, since you had to keep your hands in your lap so you didn't get the caught in the wheels!

But after mentioning that to someone awhile back, they wondered how small you had to be to fit under a buggy.  It took me a minute to realize that buggies are totally different at Ingles!  Not only are they different, but I couldn't find a picture of one of them anywhere on Google!  So for your viewing pleasure, I present to you, a regular buggy:

Regular, normal, whatever.

And here... is an Ingles buggy!

Excuse the awesome picture-- like I said, Google couldn't bring up an image even close, so luckily, I had to use a cart in a recent photo session I did!  We didn't take the cart for this purpose, we just found it in a back alley.

The part where the dress is folds up over the front so it can be easily stored.  I realize it probably looks weird to anyone who hasn't been to Ingles, but to me, it's home.  Groceries go in the top part, dog food on the very bottom, and that little shelf halfway in between holds a couple of gallons of milk, or cleaning chemicals to keep them away from food.

Also, the front opens up like a tailgate so you can slide the groceries out of the basket & onto the counter easily!

But my favorite buggy of all time?  Behold the smaller Kroger buggy!  It can zip around corners like those fancy cars in the commercials.  Bonus?  If I can't fit it all in this buggy, then I'm buying too much!

The downside?  You can't fit a child in there, so I only have about 6.5 more months to use my favorite buggy!

What do you call it?  A buggy?  A cart?  A grocery cart?  Something else?

What's your favorite kind?

Have you seen anything like the Ingles buggy anywhere else?  I'm sure they use them somewhere else, but where??

The babes are growing up!

This past weekend was my brother's wedding reception.  They'd had a small ceremony back in October, but wanted to have a reception to celebrate in June.  It was so great to see my sweet nieces again & see how much they've grown!

Rylie is all about making some faces...

Rylie & her grandmother (my mom)

And check out Sunaura!  She loves purses & putting things in them & then taking things out of them.  Since we're going to miss her 2nd birthday coming up in July, I went ahead & gave her her gift-- this purse with bracelets & sunglasses.  And she's finally getting some hair!  Hard to see it in this pic, but it's there, and it's some sort of mixture between brown, blonde, & red.  Really pretty!

And someone still enjoys posing for the camera...  kind of looks like the Olsen twins when they were little!

And sometimes a wedding reception can get kind of boring for 2 pre-teens, but they seemed to keep themselves entertained!  I think there is a "ball & chain" joke in there somewhere...

My dad teaching a little one how to play banjo-- so sweet! 

Sunaura blowing sweet kisses!

I love my family for so many reasons, and when we get together, we kick back & have a ton of fun!

A day at the 'rents.

Once upon a time I went back to my parents house to visit.  Actually, it was a few weeks ago.  Anywho, we're driving home from church and my dad called my brother.  He was already at my parent's house and had rode his horse there.

Okay, so that sounds slightly odd, but not totally, right?  Well, my parents live close to the top of a mountain.  And this horse wasn't used to having someone ride it.  What would be a 5 minute drive in a car was a 45 minute excursion with this horse.  I won't call it a ride because he didn't actually ride it the whole way.  He was teaching it and getting it used to riding so that his daughter can ride it.

And of course Rylie had to ride on it.

And since Rylie & I matched and I'm halfway terrified of horses, everyone thought it would be a good idea for me to get on it.  If only they had video of me trying to mount the horse.  It could be a YouTube sensation-- I'm not very talented and I'm fairly certain I nearly tipped the horse on her side.

And since Rylie and I are wearing matching shirts, we had to get a shot together.

Fun fact:  I did not actually ride the horse. Just sat on it long enough to take a picture and then I bailed.  Like I said, I'm halfway terrified of them!

Rylie... not so much... she loved the thing.  Here you can hear her sweet voice:

But when she got tired of riding the horse she just moved on to pinching the dog & playing the banjo with her Paw.

And in case you're actually still reading at this point, here's one of her climbing the stairs... too cute!

Regional Dialect: Video Blog

It's popular online to do a video blog to share your regional dialect.  Personally, I'm not sure what type of accent I have these days because, well, I don't pay attention to it.  I spent 21 years of my life in western North Carolina-- in the mountains where they sit on their front porch in rocking chairs and have shindigs at a barn.  Then I moved to Atlanta, GA for a year (culture shock!) and then on to Greenville, SC for a year.  Currently, I live on the coast of Virginia. 

Say these words:

Aunt, Route, Wash, Oil, Theater, Iron, Salmon, Caramel, Fire, Water, Sure, Data, Ruin, Crayon, Toilet, New Orleans, Pecan, Both, Again, Probably, Spitting image, Alabama, Lawyer, Coupon, Mayonnaise, Syrup, Pajamas, Caught

Now answer these questions:

What is it called when you throw toilet paper on a house?

What is the bug that when you touch it, it curls into a ball?

What is the bubbly carbonated drink called?

What do you call gym shoes?

What do you say to address a group of people?

What do you call the kind of spider that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs?

What do you call your grandparents?

What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket?

What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?

What is the thing you change the TV channel with?

So... what's the verdict?  Where is my accent from?  What does it sound like to you?

And I'd love to see your videos!  Share a link in the comments!

A look back at 2010.

Yup... you read the title... I'm doing a look back at 2010.  I went through and chose one (yes, only one!) picture from each month and even linked back to a few of the posts... enjoy!

January.

We rung in the new year with one of our dearest friends, Rebecca.  She's such a strong woman and we had a blast!  To my recollection, I fell asleep before midnight.  :(

February.

February 14th was the launch of Relate Church, which Josh and I were helping out with during their beginning stages. (excuse the crazy editing...)

March.

Rylie joined our family in March!  My brother & his wife have been married 13 years, so it was about time!

April.

In April some of our friends from Atlanta came to visit!  So much fun, and we had lunch at our favorite place in Greenville-- The Lazy Goat.

May.

2010 had many great moments... many.  But being on the Dave Ramsey TV show was definitely one of the biggest highlights! (You can view our portion here) We had been following his principles to get out of debt for 3 years and were finally able to scream We're debt free!! in front of all his viewers.  It felt great to finally be out of debt for good!

June.

You can read this story here, here, and here.  I never intended it to be a series, but it ended up going on for quite awhile. Worst part? Josh was out of town and I didn't have a car to take Max to the vet... so I had to bum rides! I was very thankful for some great friends.

July.

One Friday night Josh & I were looking forward to relaxing as Saturday would start a busy weekend.  Then my dad called and asked if we wanted to come to the Swannanoa Gathering (Part 1 & Part 2). We went, and I'm so thankful. Not only was it a blast, but now that we've moved, we won't be able to do things like that anymore. Carpe diem, eh?

August.

With August came a new job, which was exactly what I needed.  My sister also let me borrow her car for a few months, which was a major blessing!  It did have a few troubles, though... like the door handles fell off!  Thankfully, my dad was able to fix it (Josh was out of town).  But when we pulled the door apart we saw that my brother had clearly done the same thing in the past.

September.

The beginning of September brought a lot of overtime for me, which meant a lot of extra money going to savings.  The last part of September brought a lot of family time... which was fabulous!  This picture was at my parents house when they had to take everything out of their cabinets to run a water line to their new fridge... talk about a mess!  The stuff from the fridge was all in the sink and everything from the cabinets was, well, everywhere else!

October.

What a month of anticipation! Josh resigned from his day job to do music, and was almost immediately contacted by a church in Virginia. I interviewed, and was offered a permanent position at the company where I was a temp. We spent as much time enjoying life as possible, including going to my old high school football rivalry game, and enjoying fabulously free dates in downtown Greenville.

November.

All the anticipation of October came to life in November.  I had to turn down the job offer (which was a dream job) because... Josh was offered the position in Virginia!  I have to admit, it stung a little to turn it down, but we both knew that Virginia was where we needed to be. So we packed up and moved right after Thanksgiving.

December.

At the beginning of the year we were still settling into our apartment in Greenville.  And by December, we were settling in a new apartment 8 hours away.  Funny where life takes you sometimes, but we know that it's where we're supposed to be, and... for the first time... a place where we'll be settled.

Chances are, most of you starting reading this blog within the past year, since that's when I started writing exclusively on here (rather than on a private blog), started working with BlogHerwww.blogher.com, and became syndicated through BlogHer.  I sincerely appreciate your readership and hope you'll stay with me for another year on here!

Don't try this at home.

 Wanna see something absolutely hilarious?

Just check out these pictures.  Please notice the rope above my husband's head and how it is unbelievably twisted in knots.

He's happy now... but by the end of this post, he won't be.

Do you see all the knots in that rope?  Do you see where this is going?

Then my brother jumped on...

I believe I come from a family of contortionists.

Are you dizzy yet?  'Cause I am just from looking at these pictures!

I'll tell you what, it sure looks like a lot of fun, but I would be throwing up sideways after 5 seconds on that thing.  Please don't try this at home.  Not that we did.  'Cause we didn't.  We were at Charlie's house.

Charlie is our old neighbor.  He's a good ol' boy, and this is the type of thing you do at his house.

The end.

PS: If I remember correctly, my sweet husband got stuck in the position he was in in that last picture.  Imagine how fun that was to not be able to put your feet on the ground and stop yourself!  Yippee!!!

*blegh*

Beautiful skies.

Growing up in the mountains there are a lot of pretty sites.  However, seeing a truly gorgeous sunset doesn't happen all the time.  Mostly, the sun just disappears behind the mountains and that's it.  Maybe a glow of orange here or there, but nothing over the top.

But Greenville?  Every day the sky is ridiculously gorgeous in Greenville.  Maybe because there aren't mountains hiding half or it, or maybe it's some deep weather thing that I have no knowledge of.

Whatever it is, it's beautiful.  These pictures were taken through the windshield of our car while driving down the interstate.  And this was a completely average night for the Greenville sky.

So if you're in the area and looking for a gorgeous site, just look up-- it's beautiful!

Nothing like a good rivalry game.

Football has never been a major thing for me.  I'm not a crazy fan and I really don't understand most of the game.  But there is one game that I love to go to every year.  That's the big rivalry game in my hometown.

 

It's the kind of game where you park in the first parking spot you find, no matter how far you have to walk.

And then you find a spot really close and wonder... why was this spot not taken?  And... isn't it the perfect size for my car?

See?  Told you it was a big rivalry.  TV cameras were there and everything.

 I love watching the guys come out after halftime.  I don't know a single one of them, but I'm proud of them.  They work hard and practice a lot in order to be where they are.

 

Speaking of working hard... check out the band!  I was in this band as a member of the colorguard for 5 years.  Oh how I miss those days!

Then you have "The Fellas & The Ladies" -- or at least that's what they were called when I was in school.  It was all the guys and gals that attended every football game and dressed up in whatever they decided was cool for that week.

Then you have the field.  The field that we can no longer tear up because we're mad we lost the game.  After all, it's not grass anymore.  Not that I was ever a part of tearing up the field.  Remember the Fellas & the Ladies?  I think they *might* have had a part in that back when I was in school.

Our band director got us out of there quick that particular night... no way was he going to have a band uniform anywhere near that fiasco!

 

Ooohh... check out the sideline hottie!

Ahhh!!!  Back to the game, quick!

There they are... our very own 'Boys of Fall.'  And yes, most of them had mohawks for the big game.  Don't you miss high school?

Me neither.  But doing silly stuff like that... it's a rite of passage.  I'll never forget the time one of my friends dyed another friend's long black curly hair completely neon pink.  I have to say, it was a nice dye job-- her head looked like she was wearing a bright pink wig!

Rite of passage, alright.

"Excuse me, sir... I'm trying to take a picture... can you move?"

We were the visitors, so you can see how the game went for us.  But that's okay-- they hadn't won for the last four years, so we let them win, right?