Bristol Drag Racing

So this last June Peter and I ventured to Bristol Tennessee with Pete's parents to see the Drag Races. We all had a great time. I know this is a late posting, but I've been waiting for Pete to post because he knows a lot more about it than I do. However, he's not really on the ball so I figured I would go ahead and write it before we start forgetting details. First, here are just a few of the pictures we took.

Getting ready to go in the first day. We have all our O'Reilly gear on and we're ready to go!

  Pete met his favorite driver and got an autograph. Too bad his eyes are closed.

This is when they spin the tires before the actual race.  Sorry I don't know the correct terminology for this.

                                                  So true.

Well, we got there on Saturday and were able to see the pro stock, funny car races, and others that I do not, at this time, know what they're called. We also walked around and visited many different pits (?) Where they work on the cars. It was extremely loud and very exciting. It was all a new experience for Cindy and me so the men were very helpful and explained everything to us. There was a rain delay, but we still had fun hanging out together during that time. We first stood under the bleachers then moved to the tunnel. We retired to our hotel Saturday night after a delicious dinner at Chili's (a tradition that the guys let us ladies participate in) and went to bed anxiously awaiting the Sunday finals. However, we were destined to never return to the track. We woke to a stormy rainy day. Watching the weather channel we saw that the rain was not expected to lift anytime soon so then we decided to explore the rest of the town and surrounding area until we had to make the decision whether to stay or go back home. It was at a Crystal Burger in Virginia that we finally made the decision to head back to Asheville. Approximately an hour after we arrived back home and were happily exploring a local antique market we saw that the rain had cleared and the track was being prepared to race on. We were all totally bummed so we went back to the house and watched the finals that we had tickets for on tv. Overall it was a great weekend and we made lots of fun memories together!

Lucy Eleanor Richardson

Born August 4, 2011 at 6:52am central time. She was 9lbs 8oz and just the cutest baby girl ever! Pete and I are so proud and excited. We have two wonderful nephews, that we love so much and now we have a niece too! We've not seen her in person yet, but we have pictures and we've also skyped with Kate & Will so we got to see her over the internet. It was so good to see her, but it was almost like a tease too. She was saying "Ya, aren't I so cute? Here I am, but you can't hold me!" We can't wait to meet her in person!    
      We're hoping to take a trip in September to Springfield when Kate and Will travel there to show her off to the families. Pete has requested the leave, but it hasn't been denied or approved yet. Hopefully we'll find out before Pete's next off days. We'll probably drive and take Prime instead of fly and board him. We won't have as much time that way, but it's not that much of a difference and it will be cheaper and better for the bank  ;)  It will be Prime's first big car trip. We're thinking of having him ride in the back seat in his cage so hopefully he sleeps a majority of the way, but we'll see. He has a way of changing our plans if they don't seem to in accordance with what he wants. We'll try and stand firm though!

Megan's first retail job . . . and more :)

     Well, I have officially become a proud employee of Old Navy. I completed my 9 hour day of training and they threw me out on the floor to see what I learned. Not to toot my own horn, but I am catching on rather quickly! I am now able to work in the fitting room, on the register and on the floor doing "RAD," which basically means making sure everything is sized and folded all nice on the tables and everything that is hanging is hung correctly. I can also run "go backs" pretty well too, which is taking all the clothes that people have tried on in the fitting room back out onto the floor and putting them in their respective places. It's nothing spectacular, but it is a job and I'm thrilled to be earning money and contributing to our family. It has also been great for Pete too because now he doesn't have as much pressure. It's been a pretty good week. I've settled in and am really looking forward to getting better and better at my new job!
      Prime got fixed in July and recovered swimmingly from his surgery. We were so glad nothing went wrong. We had hoped, however, that after the surgery he might calm down a little. Ya know, not be as crazy ALL the time. That, of course, did not happen. About 3 hours after we got home from the vet he was acting like nothing even happened. Oh well, I guess it will be a while yet until our very young puppy starts acting a little more mature. That's ok though. I'm sure if he had settled down I would be wishing he were more puppy-ish :)
     Pete and I have officially joined our local YMCA!!! We LOVE it and love going to work out. We're still working on our schedules, and figuring out when we can go, but for the most part we're pretty regular. Today we did a fun little workout that is going to leave us both pretty sore in the legs!
We're looking forward to becoming loyal members!

~ Megan

Dog Toys

We have had multiple conversations about what sort of dog toys we should buy for our teething puppy. We've bought rubber Kong bones, ropes, tennis balls and stuffed animals of all different materials. Prime doesn't really chew on the rubber bone, he loves tennis balls when we throw them for him (but only inside), he destroyed one of his rope toys and is working on the other and he has torn up at least 3 stuffed toys. I like to keep buying the animals because they're cute, but they just don't last long. We've also discovered that he loves plastic bottles. They're the cheapest toys we've found and he absolutely loves them!

So every time we go into PetSmart we always end up buying a new toy. Today we walked out with another stuffed toy, but it's like the one he had when he was a little puppy. We called it his "green monster" and it actually lasted a couple of months. We bought a new red one because they were only $2 with our pet perks card and I'm really hoping that he doesn't tear through it as quick as he has the last two. So far he's being really good with it. He is mostly just carrying it around in his mouth and making it squeak. I guess we'll see, but I'll never hear the end of it if the "red monster" doesn't at least last a week.

~ Megan

Making a House a Home

We've officially moved! All of our belongings are either put away where they belong, or shoved in one of the few storage spaces we have. Our place now is about the same size as our old one, but we have a lot less storage. It has been great for us because it's making us go through everything we have and decide if we really want to keep it or give it away (we are purging!). We've already loaded up the back of my car once and taken a load to the Salvation Army and we haven't even gone through everything yet.  I also took a load of books to a used book store and got $55 worth of credit. If you know me then you know how excited I am about 55 free dollars to a book store!! It was so hard going through my books and choosing which ones to get rid of. But it was all worth it when I knew I'd be able to get new ones that I haven't read before. This is not really the attitude I should have. We're not getting rid of stuff to make room for new stuff, but they are books so I have to make an exception!

Work at The Swag has been really slow lately. I only work one day this week. Which is great for getting the house in order, but awful at the same time because moving is very expensive and we need some more money! I've applied at a few other places a bit closer to home so hopefully some changes will be made soon.  Also, Pete's parents are coming in about a week and my goal would be to have the house in a presentable state.  At least I know I'll have plenty of time this week ;)

~ Megan

Joel Osteen

As I posted last time, we have found a place to live and are in the middle of packing and moving. It has been one of the craziest weeks I've had in a while. When I got back from Kate's baby shower Pete and I jumped in the car and headed down to Charleston for a couple days to celebrate His bday. It was a great trip.  When we got back, we saw all the work we had to do and dove head first. We've both worked everyday this week (thur-mon is our week) and have packed what we could in our spare time. Then we've been carrying everything out to the garage so it's easy to load the trailer when we pick it up Tues morning.
Anyway, I got home from work last night and was starting to pack a few boxes when Michelle from dispatch called and said Pete would be home late (the night before he had been out till 3am so that's what I was expecting) So I packed for about 1.5 hours and then called it quits. I thought I might be able to wait up for Pete though, so I sat down and turned on the tv to watch whatever was on HDTV (my new fav channel). Well it was Holmes Inspection which is my least favorite show plus I was exhausted so I started searching for something a bit more entertaining and gripping.
When I got to ABC family I saw Joel Osteen was on and since I'd never watched him or read his books (I've only ever heard things about him) I thought I'd see what he was speaking about. I had only watched about 5 min before I was in tears. I truly cannot believe what this man is doing to the gospel. It broke my heart to see him standing before thousands of people and leading them astray. He was talking about building your inner circle, telling people to only surround themselves with others who will lift them up and make them a better person and help them pursue their dreams. To cast off those who are lazy, negative and bad influences and love them from a distance because that's what Jesus did. If this were truly the case then we would all be condemned to hell because Jesus would never have saved us. He would never have surrounded himself with the disciples. I sat on my couch at 12:45 and wept because I heard the devil preaching the gospel in his own way.
This has been on my mind a lot today so I thought I'd write about it. I've been praying about it too, but I am unsure what to say. Since I don't know a lot about Joel Osteen I'm not sure if he truly believes what he is preaching, and if that's the case I pray that the truth will be revealed to him. Or if he just likes the fame and knows that what he is doing is wrong. If that's the case I can only pray that God's will be done and that I might see him through God's eyes and not just my own.

Megan

We Found a Place!!

Well we found a townhome and we'll be moving in June 1st. We definitely had a huge change in our time frame. A guy came by our house we live in now and decided he wanted to move in by June 1. We, luckily, had just gone and looked at a place in Arden (SE Asheville) that is available for June 1 and we loved it. So it has all worked out and we'll be moving in next Wednesday! We're so excited to be moving to the city :) We'll post pics later...when we have time.

Megan

Moving

     Pete and I have decided to move to Bumcombe county (this means Asheville and the surrounding area for those of you who might not know). Right now we live in Haywood county and let me tell you, there's a load of difference between the two. There are some great people here and we've made some wonderful friends, but overall we don't really feel welcome or a part of this community. We think it probably has something to do with Pete's job, but it's that kind of place that is hard to fit in to because most people have been born and raised here or are married to someone who is. Another factor is that we're intimidated by the long relationships everyone else has with one another. Anyway, we're really looking forward to getting closer to a bigger city. We're young and want to be in a more urban setting so we can be encouraged to be more active. We also want to be closer to friends we make which will make it easier to have people over. Asheville is perfect for all of these things. It's a really artsy town (not that we're artsy, it's just nice to pretend sometimes) with tons to do! And *Bonus* It's in the top ten "pet friendly" cities in the nation. Now, our current lease doesn't expire until the end of June so we still have a couple months. We've been house hunting for quite a while now and are still earnestly searching for something that's as close to perfect as we can get. Our wish list is not so demanding that we won't be able to find something, but we don't just want to live anywhere for any price. 
     We'd love a fenced yard for Prime, but it's not a deal breaker. 3 bedrooms or 2 bedrooms and a bonus room would be great so we could have a guest room and also have another space for my quilting hobby that's really taking off (that's another blog in itself). 2 baths would be a dream, but again it's not a deal breaker. We really only NEED one. Basically, we like the house we live in, but it's just sooo far away from anything! Location is the one thing we won't compromise on. We want to be within a 10 minute drive to the grocery store and in a place where we can take evening walks with Prime that doesn't require us to walk on a gravel road. We want to see our neighbors, but not have them so close you can touch both houses. Just a normal neighborhood would be wonderful! A decent kitchen (not necessarily new appliances) with counter space, storage and a pantry would be great too. Again, not a deal breaker. A lot of the houses we've looked at so far have had almost everything except for maybe one or two things. We've also recently changed our focus from strictly the West Asheville area to really anywhere in Asheville. It has given us a lot more to choose from, which is a blessing and a curse. The biggest problem we've had so far is move in time. We can't move in until July 1 and most properties are either available now or June 1. As we get closer to our deadline I know we'll have more to choose from that will be available in July, no worries about that. I guess that's it. Did I mention that we're really excited?!  :)

The Whistling Man

Before I get started, I should state that I have nothing against whistling. In addition, I am able to whistle, so the frustration from today does not stem out of jealousy. Its where people whistle that creates the problem.

So, today I was out with my beautiful wife in Asheville looking to pick up a few things at Bed, Bath and Beyond. While we were in the "Beyond" section of the store I heard whistling. Now, This was not quite "to yourself" type whistling. This was full on concert style whistling. I tracked down this whistler and found him to be an older gentleman, apparently also in need of something "Beyond". The whistler didn't stop whistling the entire time that he was there. Who constantly whistles so everyone can hear them? Granted he was a very good whistler, but I am in a store not hanging out with the 7 Dwarfs while they whistle while they work. Obviously my frustration continued to grow until the whistler left the store.

So, you would think that this story is finished right?.........no 

So we left B,B and B and decided to get a bite to eat for lunch. We decided to go to Cheddars and get some spinach dip and whatever else sounded good. So, we placed our order and we were enjoying some sweet spinach dip when a couple was seated in the booth next to ours. As anyone would do when their surroundings change I glanced at the couple. I then looked again.... because seated next to us, amazingly enough, was the whistler!! At first he did not whistle, so I felt safe, but then his wife got up from the table...... and the whistling started...again with the concert style....and it did not stop until his wife returned.......and she was gone for....well lets just say too long.

Looking back at it now I should of just went with the table the hostess offered instead of requesting a booth.

-Pete

Domestic Animal Murder

Well I ran over a cat today. I've ran over a squirrel, rabbit and chipmunk in the past (all wild critters) but today I've become a domestic animal murderer. I've never felt so awful! I don't think I'll ever forget the "thump thump" when I hit him/her :( The worst part was that I was on my way to work (and already running late) so I couldn't stop and try to find its home or say sorry. I just had to drive on like some heartless person who didn't care that they had just killed someone's pet. I was miserable my entire shift. I told myself that I'd try to do something on my way back home, but it was gone by that time. I just know some little kid got off the bus and saw their cat dead in the middle of the street and started screaming. They probably had a funeral this evening, a memorial during dinner and cried themselves to sleep. If I NEVER hit a cat again it will be too soon. I'm not even that fond of cats. I can't imagine what would have happened if it had been a dog...I can't even imagine!

- Megan

The Decision

We've never really considered ourselves the blogging kind. I've always enjoyed reading other blogs, but I never imagined we'd be making one of our own. When Pete and I first talked about creating one, we kinda laughed and ended the conversation with, "who would ever want to read a blog about our life?" This is still a pending question, but we decided that even if no one reads our posts, we just want to blog for ourselves. Years from now, if the Internet hasn't been replaced by then, we thought it would be nice to have some sort of documentation of these early years. Before we grow up too much and kids start popping into the picture. We want some tangible evidence that we were young once. So we can have something to go back and read and laugh at and say, "did we really do that? Really? What were we thinking?"  I will still do my occasional journal entry because I love the idea of our grand kids being able to read hand written entries about their grandparents' lives, but this will be something new and fun. I just hope we can stay committed. I hear age does nothing to aid the memory, so we're deciding to entrust yet another thing to technology, the record of our early years. The memories we gather from here on out. Please guard them well!

- Megan