Not Even Sure Where To Start

I know I said I would be better about more frequent blogs, but I just can't do it...LOL. Well, it's been since November since my last post and there has been a lot happen. So much, that I'm not even sure that I should attempt to re-cap. I think that most of y'all are a friend of mine on Facebook, so you probably know all that has happened and seen the pics. LOL

I'm sitting here at my house right now, playing on my brand new computer...Thanks Daddy! It is so awesome and lightning fast, compared to my old one at least. Here's my new computer:

It's finally sunny outside. It has rained here almost non-stop for the last four days. I felt like I was back in Seattle, like I was a year ago this weekend. But the sun has finally come out and I'm going to get out of the house.

I'm going to head up to Motown now to visit with Dirt and Kash-man. In two weeks, my niece turns one! I can't believe how fast time is flying and how big all my little kiddos are getting. Come October, I'm adding two more babies to the brood. Congratulations to Jacquelyn and Ashley on their upcoming additions!

Can't promise you another post soon, but I'll try.

Best Birthday Ever

Viva Las Vegas!

This is going to be the best birthday ever! My birthday is next Saturday, Nov. 22. I wanted to do a cruise initially, but a lot of friends couldn't take off a whole week of work to go. So, another couple of girls, suggested doing a girls trip to Las Vegas for a weekend. The weekend, just happened to be my birthday weekend. So, needless to say, I'M ALL IN!!! (Pun intended)

So, next Thursday, Nov. 20, 11 girls (Me, Jacquelyn, Ashley, Jody, Jessica, Gabi, Jayme, Autumn, Holly, Denise and Stacie) will board a plane from CLT, an additional 2 (Jackie and Jodie) from Detroit and 13 girls will meet up for what will be the best girls trip EVER! 13 girls in "Sin City" already spells TROUBLE, for sure!

This will be my eighth trip to Las Vegas, but my first time going with friends and not for work or a race. We're staying at a new hotel for me, New York, New York. I do love the casino and the piano bar they have there. Hopefully, we can get all of our rooms together so we can have our own party. I'm so excited though. I couldn't ask for a better group of friends to go with, well maybe if my two best friends had been able to go, but it's going to be full of wild and crazy times!

It's going to be a weekend full of drinking, gambling, shopping, eating, relaxing, sight-seeing, and more drinking! Ha ha...

I can't wait!!! I can guarantee lots of pics and stories from this trip! I just don't know how many will be shared. Because as we know....

"What Happens in Vegas, Stays in Vegas!"

Here's a group shot of some of the girls going from a dinner a few weeks ago.

(L to R: Holly, Denise, Me, Jac, Lauren (not going), Jayme, Autumn, Ashley, Jody) (not pictured: Gabi, Jessica, Stacie, Jodie & Jackie)

Catch Ya Up to Date

So, this blogging thing hasn't taken off for me...LOL. I said the last time I was going to try and do better, but obviously I haven't kept my word...ha ha! Oh well. You get what you get.

Done quite a bit since the last update...but nothing overly exciting. That's coming up next weekend! More details in a bit...

Working at Kohl's is keeping me busy and with the holidays almost upon us, that will just get more busy!

I'm so lucky to have a great group of friends and I have been able to go out quite often and have lots of fun. A lot of dinner dates with my girls at Red Rocks, my favorite restaurant here in Huntersvillle, Joel's grill in Mooresville for sushi, as well as Carrie and I's fave place, OTB.

I've also been to a few Panthers games, woo hoo...we're 7-2 right now, pretty darn awesome even if our quarterback sucks. That's why it's called a team...way to go defense to overcome our offense!

I've been to a few races. I went to Martinsville with Sheri George in October for the truck race. I hadn't been to one since Charlotte in May and boy, did it make me realize how much I missed being there at the track each week.

On Nov. 2, I went to Rockingham for the season finale for the Hooters Pro Cup race. Gabi had tagged along with me and we had a good time. My driver, Drew Herring, had the lead with six laps remaining until a stupid lapped car got in his way and the 2nd place guy went cruising by. It was such the heartbreaker for Drew who really wanted to win a race this season, but had to settle for second. On the flip side, he clinched the 2008 Rookie of the Year title so he had nothing to complain about (other than the stupid lapped car ;))

Following Drew's race, Gabi and I headed home. Gabi took off and I headed to the LMS Dirt Track to meet up with the Showalters and Jody to see my gangsta buddy Kraig race. I also was excited to see Kraig & Dirt's son, Kash, who I hadn't seen in a while. Kraig did a great job and finished 2nd.


That Tuesday night before, Ashley and her boyfriend Josh, had a Halloween party at their place. It was themed, "Pirates of the Bahia Bay," which is their subdivision. Everyone was dressed as a pirate. I am usually not one for dressing up but it sure helped to know what I already had to dress up as so the decision was an easy one. We had a great time playing flip cup and chatting. On Halloween night, Jody had invited me to go to a friend of hers for a Halloween party. So, I dressed up once again in my pirate garb. It was fairly low-key, but Jody and I might have left too early too. I had to be up early to head to Rockingham so we got out of there around midnight.

This past weekend, I headed down to Georgia to see my friend Brelan. She had invited me to her baby shower held on Sunday. I probably wouldn't have driven down there all that way, but it was held at a winery and vineyard and that was too tempting to resist. My friend, Jason Hogan, is how I met Brelan when he and JR raced against each other in the NASCAR Southeast Series. Jason raced Saturday night so Brelan and I met at the track to watch. He didn't fare well, but still finished 8th since there were only 12 cars in the race...ha ha! Afterwards, we went to the Waffle House for a post-race meal. Sunday was Brelan's baby shower and it was a good time. The scenery where she lives is simply breathtaking, especially this time of year with the fall colors. She had probably 20-25 people there and everyone enjoyed the wine, food, and festivities. I got talked into staying afterwards to join some of the girls in the hot tub, then I drove home.







Today is Grace Hamlin's first birthday! I can't believe she is one year old already! Time has flown by. That girl is so cute. Her birthday party is this Sunday so I'll be sure to post some pics of the birthday girl.

More news to follow...

Before I Get Written Off...

So, I figured I would add another entry before everyone writes me off of this blogging thing.

My schedule fluctuates from week to week. I wish I could have a consistent schedule to keep myself on a routine, but since that's not currently possible, I just continue to stay on a crazy track.

I work at Kohl's (Where You Can Expect Great Things, BTW) whenever they schedule me, which for the last two weeks was closing every freaking night. It's like they didn't want me to have a life. Thankfully, that changed for this week and I have a pretty decent schedule.

Through an arrangement with Speed51, I also write the press releases for two drivers, Drew Herring, who races in the USAR Hooters Pro Cup Series, and Craig Goess, Jr., who races in the NASCAR Camping World East Series. They are both in their rookie seasons in their respective series and have adjusted well. Drew is running for the overall rookie title in the Hooters Series and heading into this weekend's race at Iowa Speedway, only trails the leader of the RoY by three points and sits in 10th position in the overall points race too! Craig has had his share of ups and downs this year, with only a couple top-10 finishes, but is adjusting well to the heavier stock cars after coming from the Legends cars. Their seasons are coming to close with Drew having three remaining and Craig only two. Drew has Iowa this weekend then Southern National on Oct. 18, his home track, and Rockingham on Nov. 1. Craig races at Dover this Friday then Stafford, CT next weekend to end his season.

As I say racing seasons are winding down, I can't believe where the time has gone and now summer is almost over! I love summer! It is definitely my favorite season. Hot weather means trips to the beach and boating adventures on LKN. I have been lucky enough to venture to the beach five times this Summer. That's unbelievable, but my tan definitely proves it! ;) OIB is definitely my home away from home. I've continuously made mention that if my home wasn't here, it'd definitely be there! I just hope it made it safely through Hurricane Hanna.

Carrie and I took a week-long vacation at the end of July for her birthday. We went to Savannah, Ga. for four days then the beach the rest of the week. We had never taken a week-long vacation together and we had a blast! It was definitely worth doing again every year and we've already had discussions where our next one will be! While in Savannah, we did the normal touristy stuff by taking the trolley tour and seeing the historical sights. When you think Savannah, you also think Paula Deen, so of course we had lunch at The Lady & Sons. OMG, it was soooooooooo good! Highly recommended!!!

Although I'm sad to see Summer go, the fall time excites me because that means it's time for PANTHERS FOOTBALL!!! Currently, we're 2-0 and that's been without our star player, Steve Smith. We've got some good momentum going and bring back Steve this week, and we're going to be red hot! I was lucky enough to go to the first home game this past Sunday at BofA Stadium vs. the Chicago Bears. I swear there were more Bears fans there than Panthers fans, but we definitely shut them up by coming back in the fourth quarter! I was pretty excited and I hope I'm able to go to a few more this season!

Well, there's a few updates...I'm off to meet Jody at Vinnie's now so I'll catch up later!

I'm a RESOL.

My sister and I, back in the day, came up with some of our own words just by spelling them backwards. Ok, so maybe there's only two of them, but they are still put into action all the time when we chat. RESOL and KROD. Try to figure them out.

So, I must say I'm a RESOL. This blogging stuff is hard work...LOL. I do lots of things that are worthy of reading, I suppose?! But to sit down and put into words is much harder. Especially when I know that only like 5 people read this...LOL.

I made all this hype about Cinco de Mayo and in 2008, it turned out to be quite a dud. Not as much fun as in year's past, but still a good time. Had a couple newbies join the crowd at OTB, then of course, we proceeded to Midtown Sundries to hear Sunny Ledfurd perform, as has been the tradition the last three years. Wish Amy or Carrie had been here, but being in Texas and work duties overruled their attendance.

Amy was able to come visit that weekend though. We had such a good time doing NOTHING, for the most part. She flew in on Friday morning and we went to Cracker Barrell for breakfast. And, what do you know, she's a genius too, just like Jay. Then we went shopping and got our normal pedis. Friday night, we met up with Carrie, Tonia & Ed at OTB (of course) for dinner and drinks. Then Amy and I headed uptown to Buckhead and Whisky River. We had fun dancing, but the best part of the evening was heading to The Westin to sleep in their Heavenly beds. Ahhhh....We slept until 10 a.m., at least I did, I think Amy slept til 11 or so cause we walked out of the room around noon, which was check out. We then headed to Southpark Mall and ate at the Cheesecake Factory and walked around the mall. I was on a mission to find some black sandals and finally found them at the last store, Aldo. Pretty expensive, but of all the stores in the mall, I had found none that even resembled closely to what I was looking for until then so no matter the cost, I had to get them. For the rest of the weekend, we did nothing. Rented some movies at Blockbuster and laid on the couch for two days, other than getting meals...LOL. It was actually quite nice. Monday night, we met up with some friends at Fox & Hound. Amy from Ga. was in town, Brandis and Cesar were there. Nice visit with everyone.

Tuesday morning, Amy left for Dallas. I wish she lived here or I had the means to go visit her more often. She's moving back to Oklahoma in August to go to school. I think she's decided to become a FT student. But she enjoys it and is pursuing what she wants.

Not sure what else is/has gone on. My mom and I went to the beach for Memorial Day weekend. It was soooooooooo nice. We were there for five days and I could've stayed there for another five. Take that back, I could just live there and am seriously thinking about it...LOL. We're going back again tomorrow for a few more days. I have to take every opportunity I can. I just never know when I can and it's so beautiful there that I want to seize every chance.

I interviewed for a PR Position at Ganassi a few weeks ago. I haven't heard back from them, other than they were still interviewing candidates. Soooo..I thought it went well, but you never know what they're looking for or what that one "ahhh" thing is that says, "this is our girl!" So, I just continue to wait and see...but it would be a great opportunity, should it come my way.

Rowdy has won a few more races since the last post, but the Rowdy Busch Fan Club has been slacking on my treats. Wonder what's up with that?! ha ha...Rowdy is going for the triple this weekend...Trucks in Texas tonight, Nationwide in Nashville tomorrow night and Sprint Cup in Pocono on Sunday. This boy loves to Race...He raced at Eldora on Wed. night too. He's a threat to win all three of course and it would definitely be amazing if he could! Oh, I went to his birthday party a couple weeks ago. That was fun. A lot of people, open bar, dancing, good tunes and Kyle...how could it not have been!?

Baby updates: Mandi's birthday was May 16 so they had a cookout at their house the following day. I got to see Grace for about 10 minutes before Mandi put her to bed. She was sick and getting fussy, but she has gotten so big and is sooo cute. Mandi gave me some pictures and I immediately stopped at Kohl's to buy a frame and it's proudly displayed on my mantle.

I visited with Dirt and Kash this past Friday. Kash has gotten so big at only four months. He's a doll baby too and I just loved being able to carry him around for a few hours. I'm hoping Dirt and I can plan to take him on a beach trip soon.

My niece is almost 2 months old already. She was dedicated at church this past Sunday and was so good. She just laid in Jessica's arms and was awake and alert and looked around while the minister said what he had to say. She loves her Aunt Jenn and slept on my shoulder for 30 minutes before her mean Aunt Lindsay took her and she started crying...LOL.

Alright, is that enough for an update? Ha ha...see ya again in another month, probably. LOL.

Rowdy Busch Wins Again

I just love when Rowdy Busch wins a race. I get presents in the mail from the Rowdy Busch HQ, which just happen to be in Monroe, Washington. That's such a coincidence since that's where my friend Becky lives.

Rowdy won Talladega on Sunday and today I receive a package of M & M's and a cute little M & M card.

Those peeps at the Rowdy Busch Headquarters are the sweetest (pun intended!).

Cinco de Mayo

It's one week until one of my favorite holidays!

For some reason, I love Cinco de Mayo. I think it's just because it gives me a good reason to gather with friends and eat Mexican food and drink margaritas! Good enough excuse, right!?

Last year was a blast, especially since it was on a Saturday. I'm sure this year's turnout will be a little less, but hopefully, everyone will come to OTB for a little bit.

If you're around and care to share a cerveza with us, c'mon on down to OTB (On the Border for those that don't know my lingo) at Concord Mills around 6ish until ???