Life Lately

Every Monday night, Ray, Raleigh Kate and I play Team Trivia at Beef O'Brady's - a family sports restaurant and pub.  We have come in 3rd and even 2nd place a few times, but we've never won the 1st place $25 gift card...until last week!  We were shocked and everyone was happy for us. :)  To top it off, Raleigh was in a great mood and wide awake the whole time we were there.  She was making everyone smile!  People have enjoyed watching her grow each week.  

RK after our win!

The hubs has been managing two stores lately - his "home" store and one in Greenville, SC.  It's about a 45 minute drive, but I'm so glad he's commuting each day rather than staying in a hotel there.  I'd miss him too much!  Plus, I'm tutoring Monday and Tuesday nights, so he watches RK while I'm doing that.

On Thursday, Ray had a day off so we decided to be productive.  After hitting up the gym together, we went to the bank to see about getting his truck refinanced.  After looking into it with the bank lady, we realized we were pretty well off as far as how much he has already paid on it and how much it's still worth.  It was a good time to...get a truck that is more practical for a family of four!  In his old truck, I was cramped in the front seat because we had to pull it way up to make room for Raleigh to sit in her carseat behind me.  I would have been dead if we were ever in a wreck.  (His old truck was a crew cab.)   We went to the dealership and found the perfect deal on the perfect truck.  I love everything about it!  It's almost like having a suburban, but with a truck bed instead of an extra row of seats.  :)

Ahhh, we are all so comfortable (and much safer!) in riding in it now.

This weekend, my sister Amy and her husband wanted to make a little getaway to Asheville.  They stayed at our house and enjoyed the great food Hendersonville and Asheville have to offer, caught a movie at the Brew & View, and even rented a scenic view hot tub on Sunday afternoon.  We were glad to have them stay with us and visit for awhile!  They met up with us on Saturday to watch the State/Carolina game at our usual place, Pack's Tavern.  We were sad to see our Wolfpack lose.  

An unfocused pic of Amy and RK at Pack's.

Although the Wolfpack loss was pretty sad, Jimmie Johnson pulled through to win the Daytona 500 on Sunday!  I was happy about that! (Hubs not so much.)  Excited for the rest of the NASCAR season!

Cheers to #48!

WOLF...

PACK!

I think I need to go to Pack's Tavern for every State game from here on out.

First, I went out with a friend and ended up there to watch NC State beat Florida State in football (Oct. 6, 2012).

Me & Jordan

Then, Ray, Raleigh Kate and I went there to watch the NC State/Duke game (Jan. 12, 2013) with many other Asheville-area alum. We all know how that turned out. :)

And most recently, on Saturday night, we joined our Wolfpackers at Pack's Tavern to watch State beat Carolina.  Raleigh stayed awake for the whole game and fell asleep as soon as we got in the car to head home. She's a trooper!

Roll Pack!

Tuesday Tastes: Papa John's Deal

This isn't a recipe, sorry!  But, it's a tasty deal.  Anytime NC STATE wins a football game on Saturday, you can make an online order from Papa John's and get 50% off on Sunday.  Promo code: Wolfpack.  Ray and I did this when we beat Florida State last Saturday!!

We got it in the last few seconds!! 

Catching up

Just want to make a quick note of everything we have done since Raleigh's been with us!

July 18 - Raleigh's birthday!
Stayed in the hospital until Friday, July 20th.

July 28 - Charlotte for Courtney and Vinny's Wedding
Went to Charlotte 7/27. I was her MOH.  Raleigh sat in the front pew with Aunt Lynn and Ray and didn't make a peep!  We had our own little room at the Reception at Quail Hollow for which I was extremely thankful.  Courtney was so accommodating and understanding the whole weekend.  She was a gorgeous bride and they are one happy couple!!

July 29 - Daphne and Randy came to our house to celebrate my and Daphne's birthdays.

August 1 - Went to Spartanburg for another joint birthday celebration...this time mine and Ray Ray's! :)

August 18-19 - Knoxville to visit Ray's family

August 25 - Carly and Mark's wedding
Went to Charleston 8/24-8/27.  It was stressful traveling with Raleigh and, as a bridesmaid, having to be at different places at certain times.  It was a lot of fun though and a beautiful wedding!! Ray and I stayed an extra night to have some down time in a place we love.

August 30-September 5 - Atlanta
8/31 NC State/Tenn game at the Georgia Dome!*
9/1 Downtown ATL and World of Coca Cola
9/2 Ray's mom stayed with Raleigh in the hotel so we could go out to dinner by ourselves! We had an amazing night!
9/3 - 9/5 Braves vs. Rockies series - Go Chipper!
*We left the wipes in the truck and of course she had an extremely messy diaper during the game. I had to use paper towels.  The restroom was so crowded and the changing station was in the most awkward place - in everyone's way.  It was so embarrassing, but something I will never forget about!

September 7 - My dad's 60th birthday celebration!
Went to Charlotte for a wonderful party my mom put together for my dad whose birthday is on 9/11.

In between all our travels, some friends and family came over to meet Raleigh.  It really meant a lot to us!

Friends who came over to meet the baby
(Angela, Dalinda, Bill, Bryan, Kristen, Kendra)

Ray started training for his new job on September 10 in Knoxville.  He was gone for two full weeks but came home the weekend in between.  We missed him so much and he missed his baby girl!  A couple of my neighbors helped me out while he was gone by having me over for dinner and bringing me dinner. One neighbor even stayed at my house while Raleigh took a nap so I could make a Target run!

Raleigh Katherine has been one busy baby! It's hit or miss whether or not she does well riding in the car, but other than that she has done great running around with us.

Now that we're up to date, I can post more regularly.  Look for a monthly photo tab coming soon!

Fun with Friends!

I wish we lived closer to our good friends, but at least they are all within a reasonable drive!  It's so nice to catch up.  I just wish "goodbye" didn't mean "see you in a few months, hopefully!"

RBC Center for the NC State/Virginia game on 1/28.  (We lost by a point!)

We decided to go to Raleigh for our anniversary weekend.  We stayed with Adam & Faith and ate at some of our favorite places... the Farmer's Market with Amy & Brent for lunch on Saturday and Amedeo's for dinner before the game.  On our way out Sunday, we ate lunch with David A.  

Adam "Pook" (Ray's best man) and Faith are also expecting... due just two weeks after our girl!
We had such a fun weekend talking all things pregnancy.  Really wish we lived closer so we could experience it all together! 

Group shot... smiling even after the loss! 

This is the only picture I took while we were with Amy and Brent at the FM--with my phone.  

My next catch-up with friends was the following weekend in Charlotte.  I surprised Jane for her birthday celebration at the bowling alley on Friday night.  It was so much fun to hang out with some of my best friends!

Me with the birthday girl!

                                

                                            Courtney got engaged in January. Here's her gorgeous, sparkly rock!

All the party people! 

On Saturday, I had planned to stay in town for the morning to run a few errands.  But, I found out Friday night that this girl was going to be in town!  I got to catch up with Jennifer for a little bit on Saturday afternoon.  

What would I do without my dad?  He makes everything better! I had to get my complimentary car check-up on Saturday morning at 7:45 a.m.  (Yeah, I made that appointment before I put any thought into it!)  He came with me to the dealership, mainly because we dropped my mom's car off to get the tires fixed and he needed a ride.  But, no matter what the reason, he made the time go by much faster.  And later that day, he took me maternity clothes shopping... he is the best!