I don't suck at posting on purpose...

...it just seems to work out that way.  Life has been pretty busy lately.  Some fun stuff, some not so fun stuff.  Recaps:

- Kendall is fabulous - she tries my patience and gets her fair share of discipline (like last night when she thought it would be a good idea to throw a water bottle at my head after I asked her to put it down), but she's smart, funny, loving, curious and extremely cool to be around on most days.  She's doing 1/2 days of preschool twice a week at Grove Park and we love it.  I do find it odd that Mrs. Denise says she's one of the quiet students...she must save it all up for when she comes home or something because quiet she ain't. 

- James is enjoying the beginning of a slower winter season.  His business is always extremely busy during the summer and it slows way down in the winter and he's able to enjoy some time off.  As evidenced by his boy's getaway this weekend with his BFF (wait - do men say BFF?) in Charlotte, checking out the Bobcats and the Panthers.  I miss him when he's gone, but he is always so gracious about allowing me my girl's time that it's only fair that I return the favor.

- Work has calmed down now that the coworker that was on maternity leave has returned.  I almost kissed homegirl's feet when she came back because work has not been fun for Jennifer while she's been gone.  But I gained valuable knowledge and experience so it really was a good situation.  Plus, she and I are now solid work friends and I definitely needed another one...they are scarce for me at Quintiles for some reason.  Perhaps my charm just isn't welcome there??

- I'm enjoying couponing this holiday season.  I've caught some great retail deals and have done a large portion of my Christmas shopping online (with free shipping of course) using coupon codes that I've found.  It's been way less stressful to shop from my couch, that's for sure.

- I'm really looking foward to Thanksgiving this coming week.  I love Christmas for obvious reasons, but Thanksgiving is a fun, relaxing holiday.  We'll celebrate at mom's like usual...Kendall and I go over early on Thursday and look at the sale papers and drink coffee (well, Kendall doesn't do either of these, but you get the idea) and cook and just enjoy being together.  James has to work during the day, so we won't eat until dinner time.  Then Friday I'll say that I'm going to go shopping, but I won't.  Then Saturday - Monday, we're going to the beach with James' parents which will be very fun, too.

I hope everyone has a very happy Thanksgiving!

Hilton Head Vacay

I have to thank my fabulous husband for introducing me to my favorite place on earth.  He first took me to Hilton Head back when we were dating and I fell in love with it then and we've been blessed to be able to go back every year since.  This year, my parents were able to join us, which was a super big deal because I can't remember the last time we've had a full week family vacation.  We headed down on a Saturday (6 hour drive...worst part of HH).  We rented bikes, which is like the thing to do down there.  The first bike ride almost killed me because we were riding to a restaurant and we really didn't know where it was and ended up going like 6 miles and I'm WAY out of shape.  While we were there we enjoyed the beach, the pool, more biking, Harbour Town, golf (for the men folk), shopping, lots of yummy food, and rest.  Meg ended up surprising us by coming down for a few days and it was so great to be laughing and relaxing with everyone.  I can't wait until next time!

Kendall had the absolute time of her life - she loved the petting zoo, the beach, the dance off she had with another little girl at the outlet mall (Kendall dominated of course), and uninteruppted time with her family.  Every single day since we got back, she's asked "What was your favorite part of Hilton Head".  She always says her favorite part was the beach, animals and pool.

We came from vacation and jumped right back into our busy, busy lives, but we love it and wouldn't have it any other way.

Best Soup Ever

I randomly stumbled upon a cool new blog that just so happened to have the BEST soup recipe.  Made it tonight and it a) tasted fabulous, b) had comfort food appeal and c) made a ton so I won't have to cook tomorrow night.  

The blog is here http://www.momadvice.com/blog/

 And here's the recipe:

Pesto Chicken Tortellini Soup



2 tablespoons olive oil


2 garlic cloves, minced


2 cans petite diced tomatoes (14.5 ounces)


8 cups chicken broth


1 pound chicken herb tortellini or tortellini of your choice (I used the refrigerated kind, but you can also use the dried pasta)


9 ounces spinach, chopped roughly


1/4 cup basil pesto






In a large pot, saute the garlic in the olive oil. After a minute or so, add the diced tomatoes and chicken broth to the pot. Bring the broth to a rolling boil and then add in your tortellini. Cook tortellini as directed on package. In the last minute of cooking time, mix in your roughly chopped spinach and stir in the 1/4 cup of basil pesto. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on top. Side Note: When reheating, feel free to add some additional chicken broth to thin the soup, as the tortellini will absorb the liquid!

The Great Outdoors

Before this weekend, I definitely considered myself a beach only type of gal.  The mountains are cool every once in a while and I could be coerced into going to the lake if necessary.  However, I just got back from a 3 night-4 day camping trip at Kerr Lake and it was wonderful.  Peaceful and beautiful and just plain wonderful.  We went with the majority of our crew (one of our families couldn't come because of a sick little one) and we boated and played in the dirt and chased frogs and killed ants and admired the stars and made "shnores" and soaked up the sun.  It was a great weekend full of lots of memories.

We've got a short work week and then we head off to Hilton Head for a week.  I am extremely excited.  My favorite place on earth!

I'm an Auntie!!!

I'm pretty sure I've blogged about all of my parents and sisters and brothers on here before, so I'm going to skip right to the good news without the family tree lesson - I'M AN AUNTIE!!!  My oldest sister, Lexie, gave birth at 7:38pm to a 7 pound 13 ounce baby girl Reese-Anne Elizabeth Johnson!!  I'm so, so, so happy for Lexie and her husband, Brett.  I'll be heading down to Florida to meet the newest addition next Friday!  Yay for babies!!!

It's official

I have the coupon bug.  I was pretty excited after  my deals from last week's trips to CVS and Harris Teeter, but today I got my first freebies.  CVS has their Right Guard on sale buy one, get one free and I had a buy one, get one free coupon which meant that I got 2 Right Guard deodorants for James for FREE!!!  I was so excited I nearly skipped out the door.  I can't believe that I threw away coupons before now.  All it took was a little organization and a few faithful coupon friends (Melissa, Southern Savers) OO HOO!

In other (more serious) news, my sister Lexie (my Donnie dad and step-mom's oldest) is being induced tonight with her first baby.  Please pray for Lexie, her husband Brett and the baby, Reece-Ann, if you get a chance.  She's nervous (and rightly so) and excited and terrified and ready and not ready - all those things that you feel before you get ready to have a baby.  Thanks!!

First coupon trip

A few of my favorite blog friends have gotten my curiosity up about this whole couponing thing.  So I decided to give it a try.  I've got my binder all organized and I buy two papers every Sunday and have others giving me the coupons they don't want.  Yesterday I went for my first Harris Teeter Super Doubles and also hit up CVS for some deals that I couldn't pass up.  I spent about $20 for about $70 worth of stuff, so I think I did pretty well for my first time.  Considering the fact that I didn't even have a Harris Teeter VIC card until yesterday, I was fairly proud of myself.  And boy did that Warm Delights taste so much better since it was only 40 cent!

Gearing up for a full weekend.  My first camping trip since I was like 5 with the Cross Culture youth tomorrow night.  I'm excited and not excited at the same time.  I'm probably the least adventurous person on the face of the earth, so critters, extreme heat and campfires don't really do it for me.  But the company will be top notch and for that I'm excited!  Then Saturday night is my brother's birthday dinner at Fujisan - any chance to eat Japanese is fab to me.  Then Sunday is church and the Sheryl Crow concert with my sister.  I can safely say that 2010 has been the year of concerts for me.  Love it.