Pirates, Flowers and Kickball...Oh my!

This past weekend was the first chance this year I made it out to the beach! I had a friend come to visit from Columbia and the weather was perfect so we headed out to the beach with a cooler of Bud Light to enjoy friends, waves and beautiful 80 degree weather! After he left on Sunday, Sierra and I ventured downtown to the Charleston HarborFest. I've never been to the Harbor Fest before so I figured I would head down there to see the tall ships and make the most of my Sunday! It was really cool and Sierra was very popular although not that fond of staying still for a picture. I caught her in one with the boats. Several of these ships sail here once a year for the Harbor Fest. They are replicas of old ships that sailed long ago and most of them serve some educational purpose. I wasn't able to read up much on the history of the boats as it was pretty crowded and very warm so Sierra was restless and wasn't letting me stay still for long. But I really enjoyed seeing the ships. There were at least 4 ships that were docked at the festival this year but next year I've heard there will be 12! So if you're in the area next year this time, it's definitely something to check out! They have pirate exhibitions and a lot of things for kids too!

This was one of the pirate exhibitions. I'm not quite sure what they were doing but it was entertaining.

I think this is the Spirit of Carolina. It's ported here in Charleston.

This ship was actually sailing out in the harbor. I thought it looked pretty neat with it's sails. It might have been the Pride of Carolina which my friend Christine and I scammed a free ride on years ago with a group of friends!

All in all, it was a great weekend in Charleston with friends and dog! Which is of course, something else I'll miss about Charleston...all the outside festivals this time of year!

The pictures below might seem a bit random but I thought these flowers were really pretty. I read in a book called "Nesting: It's a Chick Thing" (Thank you Aunt Kay and Uncle Jerry!) that fresh flowers were a neccessity in your house. I have not inherited my mom's green thumb yet (hopefully it'll kick in at some point) but I couldn't pass these up when I was at the grocery the other day...they were only $10!!!

This year I was talked into joining a kickball team. Some friends of mine from Kiawah, Tami and Drew, were on the team and asked me to join. It was hard to turn down a chance to play a game I hadn't played since 3rd grade with a bunch of 20 and 30 somethings! Tami getting ready to kick!

Tami, Drew and Lea (Drew's girlfriend)

I haven't even moved yet...

...and I'm already thinking about what I'll miss about Charleston. In particular, my house that I LOVE! So I thought I'd go through all the things I'll miss about my house, and who knows where I'll go from there!

First off...THE KITCHEN.

The kitchen was the only room in the house that I immediately wanted to change when I moved in. Despite all the other crazy colors in the house, including a mauve guest room, eye gauging BRIGHT yellow bathroom and RED, RED, RED 3rd bedroom/office (all within 5 feet of each other), the kitchen was by far the worst. The majority of it was painted a dingy white while the breakfast area was painted a dark rust color that they had mixed with sand!

This is the only "before" picture I can find. Trust me, it was bad.

So, being a new homeowner, I thought this would be a great project for me to do during my summer break. I had always heard that painting a room was the "fastest" way to remodel. Either that's a huge lie or I'm the world's slowest painter because 2 weeks into my little project, I was still painting. (Which is why 2 years later, I hired someone to paint the rest of the house...more on that in another post!)

But I had a vision and as a teacher off for the summer, I needed something to do. So off I went to the paint store to pick up some supplies for what I thought was going to be a great weekend project. I already knew the paint color I wanted...Mom had painted my room at home the same color a couple years before and for whatever reason, I had always wanted a kitchen that color. And I knew that I wanted bead board below the chair rail. So after 2 weeks of painting, a friend installing the bead board and 1 green puppy (see picture below) my kitchen was finished. And I LOVED it! I still can't believe it came together so well. I just kept finding things at random places that I would pick up and hang on the wall and set out. The plates that I hung on the wall were mostly from TJ Maxx and Marshalls with the exception of the really small ones that I found out in Carmel, California while I was visiting my godfather.

I know that eventually in this life I will have another kitchen that I love just as much or maybe even more, but I love looking in that room and knowing that it was the first room I ever decorated/designed myself and that now there is nothing I would change about it!

Big Sam's Funky Nation

Wow! Two posts in one day? Geez, Shropshire! Have you turned into a complete computer nerd??

So, last night I swore to myself that I was going to stay in, watch this week's episodes of Grey's Anatomy and LOST, and spend some quality time with the crazy dog that rules my house.

How can you resist that face?

But then I heard Sam was in town. Big Sam, that is. Former trombonist (is that a word?) from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band straight out of New Orleans, Sam rocked the house last night. It was well worth the lost hours of sleep!

Friends--Nick and Christine. Nick doesn't normally make a normal face in a picture so I thought I'd post this one. Remember kids...Just say no.

Kelly and Aaron getting down with Big Sam.

Graduation Day

I thought I'd share a few pictures from last weekend when Colin graduated from the Citadel! It's hard to believe that all three of us are college graduates! Citadel Class of '08!

Colin's Civil Engineering classmates

Colin and Virginia

High school buddies

Colin with Mom & Dad

Blair, me and Colin

Why Greenville, you ask?

So, when I tell people that I'm moving AWAY from Charleston to Greenville, SC, the most common reaction is "Huh?" Charleston is great, don't get me wrong. I've loved almost every minute of living here. But I am definitely ready for something different. So, how is Greenville so different from Charleston?

For starters, it's a mountain town. And I've always loved the mountains. The only hills we have in Charleston are the bridges so that's definitely a change.

Secondly, it's closer to friends and family believe it or not and that has been my ultimate goal since college. It's amazing how things just seem to work out. I met my best friends my senior year at Auburn. I remember being so happy to have found such awesome people to hang out with and somehow I think we all knew that we'd know each other for a long time. But it was sad because we were all graduating so we'd only have about a year to hang out before some of us started moving away. We used to talk about how we were all going to move up to Asheville, NC one day to be close to the mountains. But I moved to Charleston and others landed in California, Texas and Alabama. So for the past 8 years we've all been traveling to see each other once or twice a year. However, in the past couple years, Christian has moved to Asheville, Em and Jeff could possibly end up in Clemson if he gets the associate professorship there, Matt and Beth are still in Atlanta, and I'll be in Greenville which is a short drive away from all of those places. So while some of us are still far away, others are gravitating to the same region. And of course, I'll still be as close to my parents as I am now in Charleston. But I'll be closer to my cousins which will be great.

The only time I've ever been a diligent "journaler" was for a couple years in college. I started writing in a journal as a way to stay focused while I was praying at night. I was never able to keep one train of thought or I'd drift off to sleep. So I thought if I wrote down my prayers, I'd be more alert. I'm so glad that I did it because it's really cool to look back at what was going on in my life and what prayers were answered. I read a journal entry one time from when I was a sophomore at Auburn. I prayed for friends. A year later, I met the group of friends who I'm closest to today. One of them, Paige, I had even met years earlier at camp. I'm now the Godmother of Paige and David's baby, Sara Beth. And I am blessed.

Givin' the Blog Thing a Try

Well, I thought I'd join the rest of the free world and start a blog!

After 8 years in Charleston, I've decided to move to Greenville, SC! I'm really excited about my move. My goal is to make it up there by the beginning of the school year but it all depends on when my house sells. Know anyone who wants to buy a house in Charleston? I was up in Greenwood with work last week and decided to spend Thursday night in Greenville. I had planned on staying with my cousin, Tres, and his family and hoping to get some good advice on places to live and sites to see...especially since it's been about 15 years since I've spent any time in downtown Greenville. Turns out that Tres and Angie were taking the kids to Pawley's Island but they were nice enough to let me stay in their house anyway. So I had a great little adventure all on my own Thursday night and Friday in my new hometown!

I drove into town around 7:30 Thursday night and was taken back by all the trees on Main Street. The weather was gorgeous...70 degrees and NO HUMIDITY! Downtown Alive was going on which is a festival that takes place every Thursday night in the spring and summer on Main Street. So I walked for a little ways down Main Street and through the crowds at Downtown Alive. There were tons of guys and gals my age all hanging out after work, drinking beer listening to the band. I then made my way to Barleys for a Sierra Nevada, hummus and jerk chicken salad. Yum! I remember going to Barleys in Asheville on my days off when I worked at camp so I was reallly looking forward to checking out the one in Greenville. It did not disappoint! I also managed to pick up the oldest hippie in the place. Classic. He sat down next to me and told me all about his old lady that he's been shacking up with for 6 years even though he doesn't love her. (What?)

The next day I woke up and made it downtown by 10. I stopped by the Chamber of Commerce and got a 'relocation package'...basically a bunch of real estate books and a huge publication all about Greenville. I found a really cool coffee shop right off of Main Street so I sat there for a while drinking a pretty decent cafe mocha and reading up on places to see during my short stay. After about 45 minutes, I hit the pavement and began to explore. I walked up and down Main Street, stopped in a bunch of shops and of course did some damage to the bank account! I then walked down to Falls Park which was beautiful! The waterfall in the middle of the park was awesome.

I feel really lucky to have lived in such a beautiful place as Charleston for the past 8 years and now have the opportunity to move to the mountains! I remember growing up and always loving a mountain town. The first time I went out to Portland, Oregon, I fell in love with the city because of the landscape and the skyline. I've become such a beach bum for the past 8 years and the ocean will always be in my blood. But I feel as if I've come full circle now that I've made the decision to move to the upstate. So, I'll try to blog more about my move and what's happening in my life. And if there's nothing to blog about...I can always describe a day in the life of Sierra, the wonder dog. That's always entertaining!