Charlotte, NC....home?

Here I am living in Charlotte and loving it. I never imagined living on the East, or in the South and now I'm somewhere between. So far, I've enjoyed every bit of it. All of the "sirs" and "mams" and even "y'all" is taking some adjustment but make me smile everytime I hear them.

The people here are lovely. I'm considered honey or sweetie to nearly everyone I come in contact with. Oh and get this, people actually let you over in the lanes! haha It's a weird concept that people are actually friendly and happy here.

The trees are marvelous. Every street is lined with towering trees of every kind. There's forests on every side of the street with all types of trees. You'll see a magnolia tree right next to a pine tree next to an oak tree all growing together (it seems) Oh and they're green in the middle of summer! Amazing... I'm REALLY excited for the leaves to change. Fall is one of my favorite times of year and it's quickly approaching.

There's lakes everywhere too. A mile from my apartment there is a historic site, a plantation, nested near a lake. The plantation is now a park where they have a equestrian center, canoeing, hiking, mountain biking and a raptor center. The trails have 4 different types and one of them is wetlands! I'm ridiculously excited about that and can't wait to go there. From the pictures, the wetlands at the park look like the water area on The Notebook. I'll let you know how they really look.

I'm going to check out the plantation soon. This weekend they're doing a Revolutionary War enactment and I'm going there because I can't help but think it's like the one in Sweet Home Alabama. Plus, I'm in the South and have to take advantage of the culture and history here. The patriotism is rich in these lands of the country. Oh and college football is huge. I learned that quick, along with Nascar. 

Other cool things: South Carolina is twenty minutes away, the water tastes good, expenses are reasonable, I love my apartment and I'm getting closer to finding a ward I love. 

They also have Spiedies here (a upstate NY tradition of a yummy marinade my dad has  adopted into our family) I was so excited at lunch when I saw them on the menu and ordered them in a light wrap with tomatoes and lettuce with fresh fruit. Exactly what I needed after 4 classes and to remind me of home. I called my dad to share my enthusiasm...it was that big of a deal to me. (Law school seems to make anything else but reading cool. Seriously) 

Before I forget, I just learned there's a national water center here with the world's largest rotating river made for river rafting only 20 mins away! They also have rock climbing, two zip lines, canoeing, kayaking, hiking and mountain biking. Can you believe that?! All in one place! I can't wait to take the little boys there. They'll love it and I'll love being with them here in my new, temporary home.

Lastly, the beach is 2 1/2 hours and the mountains are 1 1/2. I hate to say this to you So Cal people but I hear the NC beaches are the most magnificent beaches in the world. (I'll let you know). The mountains, I hate to say this too, are unbelievable

I'm loving the opportunity of living here and learning what areas of the country I love and the reasons they captivate me. I'm not gonna say I'm sold on this place yet, but that's what I'll be deciding while I'm exploring Charlotte and myself.

p90x

The snow is melting, and the extra fat around my waist is definitely not.

So....it's p90x time. Officially. This is like an emergency call demanding intense physical activity. There's no denying it any further. The white box with those number and letters written in the blackest, deadly black will no longer taunt me from underneath the couch where it was so cleverly placed (or hidden)

I figure if I wrote about it on here that's just one more motivating factor. I hope. A move to California for the summer is definitely a motivation, but just not enough.

Also, I'd love to be one of the p90x winner who gets like $250,000. Wouldn't that be cool?

Seriously people, this fitness program works wonders. Just wait and see, in give or take 90 days.

Although I'm round with a few extra pounds, I'm still back and getting in shape in the meantime.

Laundry

Ever heard of too much of a good thing? Well, I think I've just understood that for the first time in my life. Regarding what you ask? Clothes.

I live in a 425 square foot studio apartment, which naturally has NO room for a washer/dryer. So laundry seems to be even more of a task when I have to drive somewhere to do laundy. I hate it and therefore, I just don't do it.

Certain undergarments are nearly disposable in my mind at this rate. (Nobody seems them so why not?) I'm gonna let you all in on a dirty (pun intended) secret. I haven't done laundry for 2 months!

Imagine my excitement today when I discovered laundry services while I was calling laundromats. They're telling me I can actually drop off my laundry, they'll do it for me, and then I can pick it up for $1 a pound. Hmmmmm.....

Well, as amazing as that sounds I had to skip it this round. There was no way I was paying nearly $70 for my laundry to get done by somebody when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself....as soon as I get over the creepy-factor of laundromats I've conjured in my mind.

Regardless, when my laundry's not like the Leaning Tower of Pisa I may not hesitate to spend $5 for someone to do my laundry in the future. Oh and to avoid this situation from ever happening again, I'm going to try to do laundry once a week. Like a normal person. I'll let you know how that works out.

Oh and back to the too much of a good thing. I said that because I have too many clothes to be able to get by on months without doing laundry. However, this did prompt me to get rid of 5 garbage bags of old clothes because I know there's people out there that'll appreciate them much more than me.

Regardless...I'm still in love with the concept of laundry services. I've got to try it at least once.

Dear Celebrities

In case you were wondering how to increase the frequency of your name, songs, sitcoms or movies splattered all over the place I have a secret for you.

Ready?

Date somebody who assaults you, goes as far as biting you, and then is arrested.

After that, if you're a singer your songs (no matter how outdated) will suddenly be played daily on every radio station. Sometimes, I promise, even every hour. If you're an actress, I'm sure your movies will suddenly appear on TBS, etc.

Oh and if you want to get even more attention, get back together with the abusive man.

Guess there's really no such thing as bad publicity, eh?

Hot cocoa mug

I came home from work tonight and made my usual Ghirardelli double chocolate hot cocoa with milk before crawling in bed with a book (Grisham's lastest).

Well, my usual hot cocoa mug (that I got from my mom and is adorable and I absolutely love) was dirty from my V-8 light juice earlier that morning.

Instead, I used a mug from my plate collection. That mug is a lot bigger than my other mug, it's practically a bowl.

My tummy hurts now.

What a day

Tuesday started off as a quiet, snowy morning. I stayed in bed through the afternoon attempting to combat the bug that was going around the office I knew I was bound to get. (No windows and a bizillion of us stuffed in a small area....it's inevitable) Anyways, I was enjoying my day when my phone rang and it was work.

It's always a bad sign when they call me before I get into the office. My editor asks "Wanna be on your way to work?" I said "Sure." He said "OK. Fatal stabbing, go to it."

First of all, if I had said I didn't want to go into work early, I could've missed out on a fatal stabbing that happened in the middle of the day! That would've been disappointing. I guess he had to make sure I was dedicated to any story. Blah.

The stabbing turned out to be a love triangle gone really bad after the woman's husband, who beat her, left jail to find a job but instead showed up at their apartment where her much younger boyfriend was at the time. The husband got mad and killed the guy. Sounds like a country song, eh?

I went back to the scene to talk to neighbors who got home from work. I was there for 1 1/2 hours and when it got dark I decided to head back to the office. I also wanted to get out of there before they took the body bag outside. I got in my car, started to leave when my tires began spinning out of control landing me right in the rain gutter.

A surge of tears started and lasted for nearly 30 minutes. I was terrified and had NO idea what to do. It was the worst area of town and dark. I watched the police officers start to leave and got even more worried. I didn't know who to call but my fellow police officer/source/friend.

I called Sgt. Ledford on his cellphone, hating to bother him at home, just to simply ask what I should do. I was in a rain gutter, I didn't even know if there was anything but a tow truck that could get me out.

Long story short, he made the 20 minute drive to come and get me out with his truck. I was so embarassed and extremely grateful that he came to help me! It was funny, right as he was pulling up he called to see where he was and said "Instead of your knight on a white horse, I'm a knight in a white truck." Classic.

After nearly getting his truck stuck and taking out a garbage can, he pulled me out of the ditch and I returned to the office, very grumpy.

I wrote my story and 20 minutes before I was going home, the story changed completely and I had to re-write the story with all the copy editors waiting for me so they could go home.

That is the last I want to ever remember of that day.

For reals?!

I thought this was a joke. I hoped this was a joke. It's not. See for yourself....



This commercial made Austin and I laugh forever. Watch around 28 seconds, they look like coneheads/aliens. This is scary for so many reasons. The best part was Austin said "That's the ugliest thing I've seen."

That's my boy, anti-poof and all!