North Carolina...

I have been waiting to post this blog about our amazing weekend get-away to North Carolina...

David had to do some recruiting work for BCG at Duke so he decided to steal away his girls for a weekend in good 'ol NC. Not to mention both Duke and Elon were playing home football games so what better timing. We headed out on Friday and let me tell you, I will never again ride in a plane at 28 weeks pregnant. It was terrible, but I survived thanks to an awesome 2 year old who caused no fuss and a fabulous hubby who sat across the aisle and kept me busy listening to classic Martin Family Tunes. :)

Saturday was full of football. First the Duke game. Long walk from the car to the stadium- in full Duke regalia- complete with toddler face painting, pre-game snacks and pom-pons. Too bad the game wasn't as exciting as the first 10 minutes. Poor Duke.

Then off to Elon, after a complete wardrobe change, a toddler nap, and a switch of pom-pons. Another treck to the stadium meant Faith got to ride on Daddy's shoulders. though, once we did arrive and she dismounted her throne, her poor little legs had fallen asleep and she had no idea what was going on-imagine the look of a toddler getting off a horse-sort of bow-legged and uncertain-it was sad-and terribly, hilarious. Well, we did manage to squeeze in seats down near the dance team were I re-introduced Faith to her favorite (and my favorite) girls ever. (I really miss you guys!!!!!) The girls danced an awesome MJ Dance (woo-hoo Lauren and team for kicking butt) and Faith and I spent all of our time engulfed between them, pom-pons and about a million Sadie moments - and a few with 'that girl who will remain unnamed' ;) I don't have any pictures of her with them because I was so captivated I never bothered to return to my husband who sat squished between strangers with my purse. Girls, please e-mail them to me :)

After another disappointing lose we snuck out to Mellow Mushroom for yummy pizza and pretzel bread followed by a Great IDea by Daddy: TCBY.

Sunday we we drove by our old house where we had to explain (a later faith explained) we couldn't go in because other people live there. Still looked the same. Then it was off to church and lunch at Mad Hatters with Dean Sue. Ahhhh, and this is where Faith decided she would need to go to the potty literally every 5 minutes. I personally think she liked walking around in her Uggs, especially since some college kid said 'hey, nice boots' to my 2-yr old. Grr. We then checked into the Washington Duke Inn right on Duke's campus and headed out to the mall to meet Auntie Lauren for some dinner. Yay-what a surprise to see her and catch up and then run around the hotel with. Faith had such a great time, and we especially loved it because when Auntie Lauren left, Faith was so sleepy she went right to bed. Which of course resulted in another Great Idea by Daddy: cookout shakes - combined with stolen toppings from a random 'snack' room at the hotel-he-he-he

Monday David spent at Fuqua and Faith and I hung around campus. We went to the Chapel or 'castle' as Faith called it. She had a great time explaining that the top windows had been broken (there are no windows there) and it was sad. She was awesome. Then before we knew it, it was time to pick up Daddy and head to the airport. But Daddy ROCKed again - he got an upgrade for me ,which meant I got to ride first class, while he and munchkin rocked it out in Coach. (((LOVE HIM))) I guess flying pregnant isn't too terrible in first class.

Though we loved our NC trip, it was nice to come home to Texas. Home.

a lot of Duke, some Oprah, Elon Dance Team and Duke's fabulous Emergency Room...UPDATEDh

      

a lot of Duke.... David's graduation from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business...

Saturday was the school's ceremony.... Faith fell into formation at the end of the line & I actually debated letting her walk across the stage, fellow graduates commented I should just let her get an early start

Faith intercepting David before he walked the stage

      

Sunday - University wide Commencement and who other than OPRAH was there to remind all of the graduates what will make them a 'Huge Success' : may I add the weather was fabulous seeing that everyone seemed to predict rain.

 

   OPRAH!!!

  Way to Go Daddy!

Monday - faith got to see the Elon Dance Team girls one last time... how sad... when we met to return uniforms. It was so sad to see her and know that she will no longer be at practice, staring at herself in the mirrors watching these girls in awe. I will miss seeing those girls 3,4,5 times a week. lots of love to you all! Of course, we did have one small injury to Faith's head....

but we quickly resolved it with a bag of ice and an inventive song...

Tuesday - My mom treated me to a manicure and pedicure... woo-hoo, first I had had in a LONG time... yay, all in celebration for Elon's Athletic Banquet that night.

Wednesday - we packed up and headed to the airport, finally we were going back home. Of course we did decide to make a final pit stop at Mad Hatter's for lunch when low-and-behold I slam my finger in the door then proceed to pull it out (since that was more logical in the millisecond I had to process this entire thing). Silly me. Well, I like to believe I have a pretty high pain tolerence seeing I gave birth to Faith without any pain meds and that is supposed to be the most painful thing imaginable, so I write off the intense pain to trama and proceed to go inside for lunch. Well as we wait for our food I start to feel nauseous and woozy and inform my mom I am going to pass out which in turn made her call David as I broke out in a cold sweat, and yes it was intense. No, I didn't pass out but it did freak me out enough to call my Texas doctor who directed me to the ER. FYI-Duke has a fabulous ER and I was in and out and bandaged, no broken bones, but one late flight later, we were home... PHEW!

A bitter sweet ending....

Well, we are back in NC - we being Faith and me. David is in Texas and we will be there soon, Thursday to be precise. Faith and I had the most perfect conclusion of my time at Elon. The Southern Conference Tournament was held in Chattanooga, Tennessee and though it is not the most exciting place, we had a blast. The team was wonderful, and the basketball teams were pretty good too! I was so proud to watch them perform and just completely sell it. They did a great job and every performance was spot on .The crowd loved it, even the not-so-nice fans of UT Chattanooga who typically pull for their own home team were admitting we were a better program. I was so proud of them, their class, their maturity and their loving ability to have fun without making my job difficult.... thank you ladies, for being simply fabulous. I will forever remember this weekend, and how Faith learned all your names, yet simply had her favorties... Sadie - Jel - Ship - Mallory - Law-rin - Ise.... and thank you for helping me out, watching her so I could take a shower, carrying a bag or two, hoisting her up on my back, etc. You are all a group of exceptional young women and it is sad to have to say goodbye... but for right now, let's leave it at.... see ya later!

The next week is as follows...

Please figure us if we don't have too many new posts over the next week or so....
Faith & I leave on Thursday for Chattanooga, Tennessee for the Southern Conference Basketball Tournament. Elon's men's and women's basketball teams will play until they lose and we head back... if we stay the whole time we should be back Tuesday morning at the latest... hopefully for us that isn't the case

David leaves for TEXAS Saturday when my mom arrives in NC to help us out.

Hopefully Faith and I return to NC on Saturday, Sunday at the latest.

The movers pack us up Tuesday & load the trucks Wednesday then we are in TEXAS on Thursday.... YIKES... it is so fast.

I hope to get pictures from the last week up tomorrow... Faith is continuing to amaze and intrigue us. We can't wait until you all get to see her in person... whenever that may be. She is a 'smart girl' and she knows how to sign that, too!

Much love to you all, and we hope to be back on track sometime around the 14th... internet at the house should be on the 24th! Yay

Snow....Snow...Snow...Snow....SNOW!!!

Yes, it snowed here all last night and now everything is covered in a beautiful layer of snow. Though I was not happy that David had to get on the road this morning, I was extremely grateful to hear that he nearly missed getting hit by a car spinning out on the road. Phew! Amen.

Elon University woke up to : Snow & no power.
Problem: I am supposed to be there tonight, for our last home basketball game, & Senior Night. The game is SOLD OUT... which is huge. But the temperatures are to be around 20 when I leave campus to head home... with Faith.

Hopefully one of 2 things happen;
1-the roads warm up & it looks great for me to drive there... and back
2-they cancel/reschedule the game so I don't have to make that tough choice.... I will keep you all posted.

As for now, we are finishing breakfast, bundling up and enjoying the "Snow Mommy Snow!"

PS_I have new blog for my crazy adventures in being a blessed wife/mom