Fall means: Family, Fireball, and Fun!

Friday, work could not end soon enough! I was off a little early, picked up a treat for my mom, and went to my new main gym for cardio, squats, and weights. The good thing about being back at Fitness Connection is the lateral cardio machine; I love that thing! I had to break it in with 30 fast minutes.

When I finished at the gym, I rushed home and was greeted by my mom and her new boyfriend Hutch. They drove down to spend the night with me!

I took and shower and got ready, then we pre-gamed a little at my apartment. My moms newest obsession is Fireball whisky (thanks to me, I created a monster) so she was ready to get the night started with a shot. We then went uptown for dinner, drinks, and a lot of laughs. We had such a great time. Hutch seems crazy about my mom and she the same-- her happiness is all that matters to me. 

We were not out too late Friday night because my body is working hard to fight off a cold. I was tired early. 

We were all up bright and early on Saturday morning and decided to go out to a local restaurant known for delicious, home cooked breakfast. I had buttermilk pancakes and bacon. It tasted just as good as the picture looks! I never ever have breakfast food like that so I savored it. 

After breakfast we came back to my apartment. I packed and mom and Hutch left to explore Charlotte. I then took off to Raleigh to spend the night with my sister and brother in law.

I got to my sisters around 1:30 PM. She made me a fresh fruit and kale smoothie for lunch and we chatted, then we went out and did some shopping. After we finished, we decided to go out for a jog around the lake and trail behind her apartment complex. It was absolutely beautiful and a great way to get the evening started.

After we finished our long jog, it was time to get ready for the evening. We then went downtown to one of my favorite places to have dinner called "Busy Bee Cafe". We were seated on the roof (a must for me) and I had my favorite "Queen Bee"cocktail, and their vegetarian spinach "burger". 

Once we had dinner and a cocktail, all three of us were feeling tired, plus I was feeling my cold starting to take over, so we went back to their apartment. We all cuddled up in the living room and rented "Million Dollar Arm". I lasted 5 minutes before I was knocked out.

When I woke up this morning, I felt awful. I forced myself to get the drive back to Charlotte over with though, so I left my sister's as soon as I got up. I made a pit stop for medicine when I got into town then came  home. I felt bad, but I forced myself to deep clean my apartment instead of rest. My place was a mess and I am the type who cannot rest when there is a mess. Plus if I forced myself to clean, I could get rid of any germs. 

I scrubbed my apartment for about 3 hours: washing sheets, 2 other loads of laundry, dusting, vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, and Cloroxing. I took a bath once I finished then planted myself on the couch. Now I feel worse than before, of course, ha, so I am off to take a little more cold medicine and get to bed early. 

I had an absolutely blast this weekend and this cooler weather is more than welcome in my opinion, I just hate the colds than come along with it!

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A Weekend to Remember...

I am so thankful for this weekend. It was without the doubt the most fun I have had in a long, long time. My soul and spirit feel refreshed and renewed. It has also given me that push and desire to dive back into work, my book, training hard, and get back to the dedication I need to exude to get this last bit of weight off. I firmly believe in a work/life and work/social balance; thus it was nice to take 3 1/2 days off from work, blogging, and writing, to laugh, make memories, and have fun.

Friday morning I was up early to get 40 minutes of fasted cardio in. I can't believe I actually got up and did it! After, I got ready and went to work. As my Friday's always seem to be, it was nonstop, but at noon, I was out of the door to start my weekend. 

I went home to shower and get ready. Once I was ready, I went to Kels house so we could take off to the Blake Shelton concert. She, her boyfriend Drew, and I, met our friends Traci and David there. We all tailgated, drank, and played cornhole until time for the concert. It was a lot of fun, but unbelievably hot. We were all soaked in sweat -- so much for my curls and cute makeup. That was dunzo fast.

The concert was an amazing time. Dan and Shay and The Band Perry opened for Blake. We all brought blankets and chairs, and danced, sang every song, and totally let loose. I had two of the most delicious, yet filled with sugar Margarita type drinks. It was so hot though, that I did not care. I had a good buzz too.

I slept in late on Saturday and felt like crap when I woke up. I was not hungover because I only had two drinks at the show, but I had a sore throat and killer headache. I spent the morning laying around and managed to get in a couple of loads of laundry. By late afternoon I took a shower, got ready, went by Ulta since I lost my sunglasses and translucent powder (so random) at the concert, then I picked up my girlfriend Alexis. She and I went to Monroe, NC to "Treehouse Vineyards" for a winery tour and tasting.

The winery was so cute. They have actual tree houses you can rent for special occasions. We were surrounded by beautiful scenery, delicious wine, and it was fun hearing the stories behind all of the wines names. We had a great time, but again, it was miserably hot. Before we left, Alexis and I split a bottle of our favorite wine from the tasting; "Crystal Creek" a light, white wine. 

Sunday I enjoyed another lazy morning, did my grocery shopping, then got ready and went to church. It was week 2 of our "Meant to Be" series and I enjoyed my pastor's focus on embracing singleness. That has been something I have been diligently working on for 10 months now, so it definitely spoke to me. After church, I went uptown to meet my friend Jay. We had the most delicious Italian dinner at a popular restaurant called "Mama Ricotta's". He and I were both craving Italian and my taste buds were absolutely satisfied. We ended up talking for a long time, so as we were finally leaving, we decided to go across the street to my favorite place ever "The Melting Pot" for dessert. It was such a fun time.

Today I was up bright and early to put my big splurge from Sunday night to use!

My agenda was to go to the mountains for a long 10 mile hike. For the first 90 minutes, I was thoroughly enjoying myself. I was bloated but I felt strong and I was pushing very hard - I speed walk basically the entire time now. However, the last 3/4 of a mile to the very top pushed me over the edge. I guess between the distance I had already walked and the extreme heat we have had this week, it was really getting to me. 

Going up those 300+ steps to the top, I did not think I was going to make it. I was almost in tears because it was hurting so much and it was that hard. Slowly but surely I made it. I sat down for just enough time to chug water and inhale a pack of plain almonds and walnuts. I was ready to finish and get the hike over with. If you read my blog, you know that hiking is one of my favorite activities in the world to do, but today it was awful. 

Going down the mountain and hiking back to my car proved to be worse than going up the mountain. I was exhausted and so over it. I thought the trail was NEVER going to end. My heals and glutes were hurting, and my knees... I cannot even tell you guys the pain my knees were feeling. It felt like I was 90 years old. I am very glad I pushed so hard, but I have never been happier to finish a workout.

Once my hike was finally done, I came back to Charlotte and went by Target to pick up a crockpot. I had been talking about getting one on Instagram, and after getting everyone's feedback and comments, I knew I had to scoop one up. When I arrived home, I watched the new Kardashian's episode in hopes that I could come back to life. The rest helped and gave me the strength to prep all of my food for the week and give my apartment a deep cleaning. Now that everything is finished, I am off to take a shower then cuddle up on the couch and find a movie

Happy Belated Birthday Kerry! You are one of my longest and closest blog friends and I hope you had the most fantastic birthday. You deserve it.

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My Top Secret Weekend Recap!

I wish writing about my "top secret weekend" would include stories of how Dewayne "The Rock" Johnson professed his love for me, took me on a tropical vacation, and romantically proposed... but... not so much, ha. My top secret weekend was all about surprising my mom and dad, and I could not write about my plans on here before since they read my blog. I really put my heart into this weekend so I did not want anything to ruin it. It was both Father's Day and my mom's birthday! Both of them I had no idea I was coming. I made little white lies stating why I couldn't come. Little did they know...
Friday after a crazy busy day at work, I went to the gym for a leg workout. I pushed hard and felt great. After I went to get groceries. Once I got home, I got to work preparing my mother's birthday cake. Her favorite dessert is "s'mores" so I wanted to make a cake going with that theme. Naturally I checked on Pintrest earlier in the week, but the ideas on there were too grandiose for me. Thus I made my own! Y'all know I love creating recipes so I thought I would give a shot. I made a chocolate fudge cake with vanilla and marshmallow mix as the icing, then topped it with graham cracker crumbs and a caramel drizzle. It did not look at that pretty, but everyone loved it.

I then put mom's gifts together. She has had a really hard year; between her MS, separation, and other family problems, it has been really, really difficult for her. So for her birthday this year, I really wanted to make it personal and fun. I got her a sterling silver necklace engraved with the word "Gammy" and a personalized photo book filled with pictures of me, my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, and other family members. My nephew Brantley means the world to mom - he is her reason for living. She loves being a "gammy".  After I finished her cake and putting her gifts together, I packed, got a shower, and I think I was asleep before my head hit the pillow on my bed. I was worn out. 

Saturday morning when I woke up, I wanted to go to the gym before making the drive back to my hometown. But I was so sore I could barely walk. When I got out of bed, I felt like a walking zombie. So, I scratched that, threw the rest of my things together, and took off. I arrived to my brother's around 2 PM. I walked in with mama's cake and gifts, and the look was on her face was priceless. Can you guys believe she is 51 years old? She looks so good, and not a drop of plastic surgery. I know I look older than I am, but so did she when she was my age, so I am looking forward to getting older, ha!

The rest of the afternoon my sister-in-law and I did my "Hot Mess Express" workout outside then came back to start getting ready. Mom thought her cake and gifts were her birthday, but no, I had more up my sleeve! My extended family is not very close. I wish we were-- I want the kind of family where you get together for dinners, parties, events, and such every weekend. Unfortunately everyone has their own thing going on, so it isn't like that. However, for my mom's birthday, because she has been having such a hard time, I knew I had to get everyone together to surprise her for dinner. Everyone came through and mom was literally shocked when we got to the restaurant; she could not believe everyone was there. I felt the same way. It filled my heart with so much joy to have my family together like that!

We literally had the best time. My mom had a lot to drink - I totally have her hooked on Fireball whiskey now! Actually, everyone had quite a bit to drink... except me. I am getting old and boring now. I ordered my favorite shot "Royal Flush" and only drank about half of it, I just wasn't feeling it. But I had a blast listening to everyone else.I don't even remember how many shots of tequila and whiskey my family consumed. I have to give a big shout out to my old high school friend and fellow cheerleader, Tara, for taking such amazing care of us!

We even ordered my nephew a virgin Strawberry Daiquiri so he would not feel left out, ha!

This morning I was up bright and early to drive to the next town over to surprise my dad at church. I was actually really worried about surprising him! When I talked to him on the phone yesterday, he sounded really disappointed that "I couldn't come". I felt so bad that I almost told him. Also he was telling about how his new cancer medication is hurting his legs and feet so bad that he probably was not going to go. But God knew my step-mom and I's plan, and I got a text this morning from her saying that he felt well and was going to church. When I got there, tapped my dad on his shoulder, I saw him slightly turn his head to politely say hello back, and finally after about 10 seconds or so, he realized it was me. He was so shocked and it was the best feeling. My dad is such a fighter, and despite of his awful cancer, he tries so hard everyday to live as normal as possible. It was "Youth Sunday" at church and one teenager shared her testimonial about her faith, and it was really moving. I related so much as she spoke about going through such a difficult heartbreak. Once church was over, we had lunch together, then dad and I watched the DVD I got him. My dad LOVES "The Beatles" so I bought him all of the episodes of "The Ed Sullivan Show" that they starred on. We had a blast watching it -- he was singing and dancing around in his recliner.

I left my dad's around 3 PM to take off to Greensboro to spend time with my wonderful grandparents. I am SO close to them - they are like another set of parents for me. I had to spend time with my papa for Father's Day. My grandmother and I had a relaxing time sitting outside in her new outdoor room that she recently had screened in. There is nothing better than sitting out in the country, listening to the birds, feeling the warm sun, and talking with people who means so much to you. Then for dinner, papa made his famous porkchops on the grill. It was a lot of fun.

I'm now in my "bedroom" at their house -- the upstairs loft. I decided to stay the night with them because I simply love staying here; it's home. Plus I am exhausted. I am happy to be off of work tomorrow, but have a lot to do when I get back to Charlotte. Food prep, cleaning, and the gym, of course. I am ready to break my plateau and see some good results! But first, a good night of sleep. Tomorrow I will resume taking on the world...

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My First New York Times Best Selling Book!

I have always stated on my blog how I love to write. If I didn't, I probably would not have a blog. Yanno. However, my love for writing has been embedded in me since I was a child. As I was recently helping my mother move, I stumbled upon my very first masterpiece from when I was 6 years old. I am very excited to share it with you all! If you would like to purchase an autographed copy, please email me. 

... because the only thing that mattered to me were the acrobats because I was obsessed with gymnastics growing up. PS: I am the blonde. 

... Illustrating is my true gift in life.

... LOOK AT THAT LION! Also, I guess that is a carpet floating in the air. I mean I get it, that could happen.

... What? Didn't you know that acrobats sword fought... in a water?!

... The ringmaster has true style.

... I dreamt on my bed that looks like pubic hair and a slice of cheese. 

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