OBX 2008

We had such a fun time at the beach with my family. It was a major bummer coming home and having to get back to reality. I wish we could go on a permanent vacation.

Some highlights (in no particular order):

1) Probably my favorite conversation of the week was on the first night when I was sitting in the living room with Denton and Leo. Leo was telling me that she liked math and Denton told her she should show me her math skills. Leo said ok and then turned to me and said "Twenty" in this hilarious-dramatic- almost seductive voice. I laughed about it all week long.

2) Burying the kids in the sand... and Regan too! (Sorry, Regan jumped up just before his picture was taken b/c one of the kids accidentally kicked sand into his mouth :)3) Braving the freezing water at the beach. It wasn't so bad by the end of the week, or maybe we just got used to it. Next time we want to bring boogy boards. I know you are dying to see pics of Regan and I at the beach but I couldn't find any of us from and when we went with the kids and although we went several other times, we never brought our camera. We also didn't take our camera when we went to the light house and met some really nice Mennonites. (Also a highlight.) Maybe next time?

4) Making "the best chicken tacos my dad has ever had". I don't have a picture of the tacos but here is Clayton making the salsa.5) Taking the beach cruisers for a spin with Regan (it has been YEARS since I rode a bike and yet I could still do it!) and now I totally want to buy a bike- with a bell and a basket. I do have a picture of me on the bike but I have not uploaded it... I'll have to add that one later. Or maybe you can just imagine it.

6) Playing Big Booty, the strip game, and mafia... ok, not really mafia, I guess... but I felt like I should just put it down to document that we did it. But mostly, just getting to hang out with my crazy family.7) Taking this hilarious picture of Evie during the road rally:
8) Getting to play with all of my nieces and nephews and getting to meet my newest niece, Tess. By the end of the week I was even getting used to waking up that early : )9) Watching Felix try to play anyone and every one at Chess. (Here he is teaching 2 year old Maddox how to play.)10) Girl time.
11) Thanks to Clayton, I realized that I forgot to add "Johns" to the list. Not necessarily the best milkshake I've ever had (although definitely one the of pricier) but getting to hang out with Clayton is always a good time. We went here on Saturday afternoon and by that time most of my family had already started for home. We spent the last afternoon/night hanging out and talking with Denton, Marissa, Clayton and his friends which of course was a nice way to end the very eventful week.
I can't wait for next year's reunion!!

He made it...

Regan officially finished his first year of law school on Wednesday. We are now working on trying to forget the misery that is FINALS. He was relentless when it came to studying and I know that all of his hard work is going to pay off. All I can say is WHEW!! I'm glad it is all over.

This year had flown by, I seriously can't believe how fast it went. But I am grateful to be on to the summer, the beach, and hopefully a lot more free time.

And now the countdown:
Romans Reunion 2008 in 2 days!

If only my car ran on diet cherry seven up...

A few weeks ago I was checking out at Teeter (that's my really clever slang for Harris Teeter, my favorite local grocery store) and after scanning and bagging my loot at the self-checkout I grabbed my receipt and the coupon that prints out at the end when you do self-checkout. The coupons that print out aren't normally that great... but every once in a while there is one worth using. On this particular trip it was for $1 off a Diet 7UP product. I thought that was decent but didn't think of it again until a week later a noticed that the Diet 7UP 2 liters were on sale for a buck... "Awesome, I'm totally going to get a free 2 litler." So I grab it and head to the self-checkout where at the end of my purchase another '$1 off a Diet 7UP product' coupon prints out. "That's kinda funny" I think as I head back to grab another soda, because I figure I might as well.

But is doesn't end there. It keeps printing out every time I "buy" a Diet 7UP! I went back the next day because I had to return the redbox I rented the previous day and I realized that the sale was ending and figured that would be the end of it. And it was... until I looked at the ad yesterday and now diet 7UP is on sale for $0.88. So really, I save about 12 cents on my groceries by choosing to buy soda.

I feel compelled to keep getting them every time I go to Teeter. And I keep thinking that if this keeps up I will never have to spend money on diet 7UP again! The funny thing is, I don't even love the stuff... which is why I discovered that the coupon also works on diet cherry 7Up- which I LOVE.