On the road

No, this isn't about the Jack Kerouac book but it is about our crazy cross country traveling adventure. I swear I have been trying to blog... dreaming about blogging really and I've had absolutely no chance to. So many trips have happened and I really wanted to document them in detail but it looks like I'm going to have to play catch up instead. I will be posting about Jamaica and the second leg of our tour/trip in separate posts but here is what has happened since California:

I know I have pictures but they are on my other phone/camera and I'm currently in South Carolina without them. In order to catch you up on what happened driving through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Louisiana I will mostly write... 

Arizona was easy - nothing of note happened and the only regret we have is not stopping to take a picture with one of the GIGANTIC cactus's. Oh wells. 

New Mexico was great because we got to have lunch one of my friends from college that I have not seen in over 5 years! We did manage to take one picture together in the snow (IT WAS SNOWING IN NM WTF) and we got to meet her husband! They just got married earlier this year -- congrats again you guys and it was SO GOOD getting to catch up Jenny! 

After lunch we made our way through El Paso, TX and all hell broke loose. Apparently, there was an ice storm in West Texas the night before and the temperature was still below freezing by the time we got there - then the Sun set and things just got worse. It wasn't snowing but there was ice all over the roads and people were wrecking all over the place. We were 150 miles from Fort Stockton (where we had booked a hotel for the night) and there is absolutely NO WHERE to pull over or stop on that stretch of I-10. I have never been so stressed out and scared in my life while driving. Traffic slowed to a mere 19 miles an hour and I witnessed two cars speed past us and then spin out of control and wreck. Thankfully my prayers were working and none of them hit us and caused us to wreck. Chad was driving his car behind me and we were talking constantly on our walkie-talkies but they eventually died. It was stressful. It added 4 extra hours onto our driving that day. It was horrible and when we finally got to our hotel we both got out of the car and just hugged and kissed each other and thanked God for getting us to our hotel safely. I'm so glad I booked our hotel a few days prior to this because every single room in town was FULL by the time we got there. We saw several people that had to go to local churches and schools for the night or even sleep in their cars - it was just awful but thankfully everything turned out fine for us. 

The next day we woke up and started the drive to Austin, TX. I'm going to post about Austin in a separate post since we stayed there 2 days but one fun thing that happened was getting to meet a long time blog friend Cely from RunningofftheReeses! I can't tell you how many times her blog has made me LOL and she is just as funny in real life. It was so good meeting you Cely!  

We stayed in a Austin 2 days and then we left to head to Lafayette, LA for one of Chads shows. We were SO CLOSE to Mississippi I was a little pissy we just couldn't go ahead and GET THERE ALREADY but we had to stop due to his show commitments and I spent the night feeling like crap in the worst hotel ever. Never stay at the Red Roof Inn there - It was just gross and to give you an example of WHY it was gross; as soon as, Olive ran in the room she went under the bed and came back out with a CONDOM WRAPPER in her mouth. Thank God it wasn't the condom but EWW! After that I checked all the sheets and pillows for anything else weird and after all was good I laid down to watch TV and then finally I fell asleep. Chad had his show and then got back late and the next day we got back to Mississippi! The final count was 3,600 MILES driven! It was a long 11 days and we were so happy to be back home. We got back into town and immediately drove to our new rent house and signed on the dotted line making it ours! We move in February 1st and our stuff should be delivered around that same time. It still keeps blowing me away how everything is lining up perfectly and I am just SO THANKFUL for that! 

The next few days were spent with family and Chad had a few gigs and then on January 10th we took my nephew Matthew to his first Comic Con in New Orleans! (what's another 300 miles driving...) It was a blast and deserves it's on post but here is what we looked like: 

We pulled out our Bomberman outfits from Halloween and Matthew was some Anime character that I still can't remember the name of... oops. #badaunt We ARE those people that dress up... I mean that's like 90% of the reason I love going! After that we headed to Jackson to spend some time with my family and I got to meet another one of my long time blog friends Cassie from Always a Blogsmaid. 

My beautiful Gran and I at our FAVORITE catfish house... it's a tradition we share and was one of the first things she wanted to do once we got back in town. Things like this are why I'm so happy we moved back... it's these little moments and memories that I've missed and I'm so happy to be able to spend time with all my family and friends whenever I want to again. I do miss you already Seattle but Mississippi is just HOME.

One night I was in town I met up with Cassie and we went to a yoga class together and then to Babalus for dinner! It was SO MUCH FUN. I can't believe I'm that friend now that everyone wants to go to workout classes with. My old self would have just wanted to do dinner and eat all the carbs I could find but now I get so excited to workout with my friends. Cassie and I grew up in neighboring towns and have always known about each other but I don't think we've ever officially met. Then I moved away and discovered she had a blog and then we fell in blog love and blogged happily ever after. #truestory She's fantastic and I can't wait to get to hang out more now that we are in the same area again! 

Once I got home I told my Mom and Gran all about my yoga class and they made me show them the moves while my Mom copied me and decided that she could do yoga too. I love it - my Mother and I have so much in common and I hope she was serious about wanting to go to class with me one day! I used to do yoga a lot before I started kickboxing and I've always missed it. I'm pumped to get back into the yoga grove again. 

#camelpose

Later that week we did some work at a few coffee shops because my Gran has no internet and our cell phone data plans are already tapped out for the month. It's been pretty amazing not having to go to work and instead work along side of my main squeeze. He goes and gets me water and does everything I tell him too #bestassistantever JUST KIDDING. He's been working his ass off booking gigs while we are starting our business and I'm just so proud of him. 

After a few days in Jackson it was time to take a vacation... off to JAMAICA we went! 

More to come on that in the next post...  

Pike Place and Pizza

Last week my father came to town on a business trip and we got to spend a few days together. Of course that means a trip to Pike Place and lots of food. We actually got to spend a good amount of time together just talking and watching movies but one afternoon I got off from work early and we took him downtown to Seattle. We showed him all the typical sights and made our way to the famous Pike Place Market. 

After wondering the shops and trying to figure out what we wanted to eat we finally all agreed to try a new pizza place that I had heard about on Facebook. Okay, I didn't really hear a lot but I saw pictures...and these pictures were of huge pizzas. I knew I had to go and with my husband and father in tow I knew I wouldn't have to eat it all alone. Italian Family Pizza is a newer joint right in the heart of Seattle. In October they will celebrate their 1 year anniversary and I hope many more. They make the dough fresh daily and the pizzas HUGE. We went at an off time on a Wednesday afternoon so the place was empty but I'm assuming they are busier most days. Or at least I hope they are. The one bad thing was no straws. I'm a straw snob...what do you mean you don't have straws? I'm sorry... that's like not having a fork to me. I need a straw. 

Waiting for the pie to arrive. 

I think their faces say it all. 

It was really good! The pizza was the size of the table, wider than my shoulders, and hotter than hell. I think Dad burnt his tongue off and I almost dropped mine in my lap trying to put a slice on my plate. If you're in the area I highly suggest a visit. They only have a few choices pizza wise but they are the classics done well. The sauce was sweet and the cheese was stretchy there were no complaints at our table and we are planning another visit in the future. The pizza was a little pricey $25.00 for a 1 topping pie but it was HUGE so, I'm okay with it. 

I had a really good time with my Dad on his trip and I'm hoping he will have to come back again soon. It always make me a little homesick when we have friends or family come visit and then they leave but the good news is our next visitors are coming in December for my birthday! Chad's sisters Apryle and Hollye will be here for an entire week and I can't wait for them to arrive! We are so blessed with all of our family and friends. I don't think we tell you guys enough how much we love you but we do! 

Home Part 2

Part II

 

 

This is all out of order but here is the rest of what we did when we went home...

 Read about Part I here.

 

 

We got to shoot guns with my daddy! (I just realized we didn't take a picture together! FAIL) I am now obsessed with The Walking Dead and I NEED zombie training. I mean really... I haven't shot a gun in forever and I knew that a trip to Mississippi meant an abundance of family members with guns and other weapons. What... it's the South.

 

If you follow me on Instagram you might have already seen this one...

 

Chad looks so much hotter...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyways, there was also some killer crossbow action with my brother in law Jeremy in honor of Darrell. Don't worry everyone, I made sure to yell out... SOPHIAAA! While shooting.

 

The rest of the trip was spent spending time with family and another gig this time in Laurel. Here is a photo dump:

 

My sweet Momma!

My sisters best friend Vanessa, me, & my sister

My Mom her two daughters and our men.

SIL Hollye & I

My bestie and I in our new Pony hoodies. This will get an entire blog on it's on soon. HA

I have the best family. Period.

Some of the family the Sunday before we flew back to Seattle.

Random shot at the show... lets talk about the show next time in PART III!

Almostttttt finished with our trip home! We like to jam pack our visits as you can tell.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Out of the Country

Where am I Ehhhh!? We are in Canada!

 

All year we have had a trip to planned to go to Victoria, B.C. during Thanksgiving in order to escape the holiday shopping and the holiday in general that we wouldn't be spending with our families. I'm not really into Thanksgiving food so it's actually the perfect time to do a little traveling since we both got two days off this year; however, there are a lot of things going on right now with the most important one being the passing of Chad's Grandfather which happened yesterday morning about one hour after we had stepped onto our boat heading to Victoria. I won't go into much detail but he has been sick for awhile and last weekend was admitted into the hospital because his lungs collapsed and he couldn't breathe. The doctors prepared the family for the worst but we prayed and prayed and were really hoping he could make it until we got to see him again at Christmas. However, we are firm believers that everything happens in God's time and what's supposed to happen did. It absolutely breaks my heart that we ended up out of the country when this happened...needless to say our 3 hour boat ride was filled with tears but also fond memories and relief that he is not in pain anymore. Earlier this year we were preparing for this news but amazingly enough he got better and thankfully we did get to see him just 3 short weeks ago. I am so thankful that Chad got to see him and a huge part of me thinks that just maybe he held out to see Chad one last time. I know that I prayed for that every day and I believe my prayers were answered.

 

I'm going to miss him so much and I know that Chad and everyone else in the family is going to miss him so much more. I just have to keep remembering that this is the course of life and that he is in a much better place looking over us right now. The funeral is right away and it will be held tomorrow afternoon in Mississippi. As you probably realized we won't be able to make it back in time. I wish so badly that we could be there to say goodbye and so I could be there for the family. Right now though I am focusing all of my energy on taking care of my husband who is being incredibly strong with all of this. I'm so thankful to be apart of this family that Granddaddy made and even though Christmas will be a lot different this year I can't wait until we come home and get to see you guys again... only 4 short weeks.

 

I hope everyone had time to enjoy their family this week and that each one of you realize all that you have to be thankful for. I will be posting more updates and I also have a 22 Things I am Thankful for coming up on the blog but as you know...life sometimes has other plans for us.

 

RIP Granddaddy we love you so much and I swear I can hear the train whistle blowing as you pulled into heaven and that sweet laugh as you tell us all how much you love us.



The Holidays in picture form

So, I didn't get to post anything the last 2 weeks of 2011.

Why you ask? We were traveling, eating, busy, and I was just plain lazy about blogging.

But now I am going to speed through about 3 weeks of fun by showing you pictures, Enjoy:

Before we left to fly home to Mississippi we had our Christmas!

eeek Tiffanys Blue Box!

I didn't force him to write that...swear.

Oh I have longed, waited, and yearned for you K!

Best Christmas Ever!

Then my stocking: full of JUNK.

Funny thing though, we both got each other the same stocking stuffer!

Now that's love.

The Next morning it was time to wake up and go to Mississippi - by way of public transport

On the bus... then the light link...then the planes.

However, before the planes CK had a little run in with TSA

I went through security with no problem, but they thought he had a weapon so he had a full body cavity search done. Just kidding they went through his entire book bag filled with tshirts and cds to find his Capo that they thought was a weapon. No ladies, hes famous didn't you know? That's for his guitar not for killing.

I can see how they were confused it looks like this:

Totally a gun.

CK refused to let me eat on the plane rides either so all I survived on were these little babies for 9 hours:

Delta has the best cookies.

But then we were back and I got to spend lots of time with this pretty face!

I also got to spend time with Amanda... and I didn't even get a picture with her BUT we did hang out and help her with her newest art project:

How cool is this!? Curtains with a cool pattern that she decided to have people color in!

Then my Gran tried to get my fashion up to speed with 2011...

Scarfs around the waist is totally popular right now. Thanks Gran for bringing me up to speed!

We stayed in Jackson, MS for the first few days but then it was time to head down to Laurel to see the rest of our friends and CK's side of our family. This time was filled with Lots of the following:

Morgan my sister-in-law took 700 picture on my phone using CAMWOWs Crazy face maker thing...

Morgan in all her glory

Me as a Cone Head... More to come later in the post

CK helped his mom finish decorating their beautiful tree by putting only his homemade childhood ornaments (the ones with pictures of him) on the entire top of the tree. This sparked the conversation about him being the favorite in the family while Morgan cried helplessly in the corner and his Mom giggling that CK is/was the best child ever. Haha that might have been the funniest conversations I have ever heard in my life.

I was sure he was going to pull a ELF and hop onto the tree at any moment.

We did have to stay in Morgans old room... which is entirely pepto bismal PINK. The sheets, the walls, the pillows... I was in Pink Hell.

I got to see Marley and Matt and Baby Lucas while we were there! I didn't take any pictures with them but I did get CK holding a the baby and it is the sweetest thing I have ever seen. Now I want a child even more haha

So handsome! (Both of them!)

We also ate nothing but junk food and SUGAR the entire week... I felt like crap.

Can't a girl get some broccoli!?

We kissed under the Mistletoe

And then Morgan took more crazy pictures at EVERY family event we attended:

Cousin Maribeth who Loves Justin Bieber... (sorry about that last post girl lol)

Cousin Andrew

MIL & Morgan

My turn

Did I mention that there were Nutcrackers everywhere? My MIL loves them and has about 80 different once all over the house and no telling how man on her trees (yes, trees she has her very own nutcracker tree)

Even on the napkins

Morgan made the coolest Gingerbread house I have ever seen too:

She's a genius even if she isn't the favorite (haha)

We also went to Church several times and took pictures of ourselves

I also got to see my father while home

My Step Mom and him drove down to have Christmas with us one day so that was a lot of fun!

CK also had a CD Release party while we were in Laurel and he got some press from a local news station that did a piece on him - which you can see HERE -

Filming the show

Congrats on the Engagement to our amazing friends Harvey and Nicole!!!

Yay for my girlfriends!

After the show we went back to the MIL's house and had a S'more party!

We didn't even burn the house down this time.

Baby S'more!

We cook s'mores with balance and strength!

And now the rest of Christmas photos that I'm to lazy to put in order:

At Grandmothers house for Christmas

My sweet girls

And the rest of Morgans Crazy photos:

She is never allowed to have my phone again, but these pictures where the Hit of Christmas- everyone was dying out laughing at them.

Going home was great, we were exhausted and ready to get back in our own bed but overall I just can't imagine not going home for Christmas. I think moving away makes it an even better holiday!

Then it was time for NYE and My 25th Birthday... yea I'm old as dirt. Blahhh.

My mom and uncle drove up just in time to celebrate with us (my mom just moved here if you missed that in a previous post) and it was great having them around to try and keep me from crying on my 25th. (I usually always cry on my birthday- I just hate that day... I try to get excited about it every year but I just usually end up crying and wishing for the day to pass. Very sad)

They tried to cheer me up with Cheesecake and presents... smart people.

CK decided he wanted the brownies and Ice Cream.... I told him it wasn't his birthday but he didn't care.

I got this monster Cake-Cheesecake-brownie thing. It was stellar.

I got this as my present from the hubs and It is HUGE and just what I wanted!

Good Job hunny bunny.

We finished the night up with a trip to the casino where they GAVE me $70.00 bucks in cash for being a new member and some other perks.. should have just left right then but we gambled and I lost all $70 Oh well, wasn't ever Really my money right?

Then we went shopping and completed my mission of making my bed the most comfortable and prettiest in the world. Olive is modeling the new down comforter below:

She thinks she owns everything. Skank.

Thanks to my Uncle Eddie for driving with my mom across the country and being with me for like the first time ever for my birthday!

It snowed a little that day too!

Mom under her rainbow!

The holidays (like this blog post) are exhausting but well worth it.

I hope everyone had a great one like we did!