Giving is Awesome!

Please check out Brittany's awesome act of kindness! All are invited to participate in the nominating.

http://houseofmoncrief.blogspot.com/2008/12/giving-is-awesome.html

Competition! Camaraderie! Completely Fun!

A few weeks ago my friend Omar, who I used to cheer with at United Cheerleading, let me know he was headed to Charlotte to judge a cheerleading competition. They needed a few extra judges and he asked if I was interested. Of course I didn't even have to think about it, I was pumped! I so miss being a part of the cheerleading madness! Saturday morning I headed to my first cheerleading competition in like 8 years! The company is called Mardi Gras Spirit and they were a blast to work for. There were 3 general judges (1 being in charge of watching the dance, 1 the stunts/pyramids, and I was in charge of tumbling - we all judged overall appeal, choreography, spirit, etc), 1 penalty judge, and 1 legality judge (Omar). It was a really neat set-up with all the different judges watching different things and it was so easy to work with. In between every few events/divisions, they had what they called a Bead Blast. They would play Mardi Gras music and the judges and staff would throw beads to the crowd! It was crazy but so much fun! Everyone just danced around and got so excited about getting as many beads as possible. Such a great way to get the crowd involved! They had two separate awards ceremonies, 1 halfway through and 1 at the end. Before each, they'd invite the coaches whose teams had already competed up to the floor and split them up into 2 teams for relay races. This got the teams totally fired up cheering for their coaches, it was awesome! I competed for 4 years and never did any of the companies hosting competitions involve the crowd and teams! It was such a fun day! Not only did I have a blast being involved, also got paid pretty good on the spot and met some really cool people! Cant beat that! :) One of the judges lives in Charlotte and she's part of several young adult groups that she's going to involve me in which really excites me! I cant wait to meet even more new people in Charlotte. We also talked about being on an open cheerleading squad that a few of the gyms around here have, just to go once a week and play around with people our age and up who still want to stunt and tumble some. At this competition, there was one adult team that did a routine with minimal tumbling but lots of dancing and cute choreography and stunting! It was awesome and I so want to join that team! So anyway, Saturday was a long but very fun and exciting day and I even got to end it by hanging out with a few of my SC buddies who were in town for a wedding! Great to see everyone!

Bundled up in Boone

This weekend I got the chance to attend my first home game in Boone! Appalachian State made it to the next round in the playoffs so I went up to Boone with my Aunt Connie, Uncle Tef and cousin Jeffrey to watch our favorite kicker play! App was playing against the Richmond Spiders and the game didn't go well but it was still a fun trip once I was able to adjust to the bitter weather (yeah right I never got used to it!). It even snowed during the game which was very exciting for me! Freezing my toes off was well worth the experience and I cant wait to get up there in the warmer months next season now that I'm close enough!

Jason kicking an extra point!

with cousin Jeff in the snow (even though the guy in front of us argued for a while that it was just lint! haha)

my favorite Mountaineer!

Big 5 Holiday Party

When I moved to Charlotte I joined the Clemson Alumni Charlotte chapter. I haven't been here long enough to attend many events but I did get the opportunity to attend the ACC alumni holiday cocktail party last Thursday. The Charlotte alumni chapters of 5 schools from the ACC got together and planned the second annual party at a nice bar downtown Loft 1523. It was a semi-formal mixer with UNC, Wake Forest, UVA, Duke, and Clemson Alumni. My coworker, Patrice, is a Wake Forrest alum so we decided to get all dolled up and head downtown with her boyfriend, Tim, escorting us. It was a lot of fun and I'm looking forward to going to many more events with Clemson alumni.


Here are a few pictures we took..



Patrice and Tim

3 F's

I am thankful for the 3 F's... Food, Family and Football! Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because my family gets together every year for a wonderful meal (although we really missed Aunt Connie, Uncle Tef and Jason the last two years!). We see each other a few times a year for random occasions but this is one holiday get together we never miss! Another great thing about Thanksgiving is rival weekend for college football which means the Clemson vs South Carolina game will be on. This is usually a pretty good day for the tigers but occasionally the gamecocks come out on top. This year the tigers haven't been so hot and the gamecocks have had their moments so it could have gone either way. I did not go to the game which was in Clemson this year but thoroughly enjoyed yelling and cheering at the tv. The tigers played their best game of the season and pulled a big win! This win was very important for many reasons.. 1) pride - always an important thing in this game against the gamecocks 2) bowl eligibility - without this win we wouldn't have been eligible to go to a bowl game 3) it won our interim coach, Dabo Swinney, a chance at the permanent job - which he accepted! What a great win for us! We will be playing in the Gator Bowl on New Years day now!

I didn't get to see as many of my friends and family as I wanted to see over the holiday weekend but it was wonderful spending time with those that I did get to see and I am definitely looking forward to the Christmas holiday so I can take time off and see those I did and didn't get to see for Thanksgiving. I'll be heading to Chattanooga on Christmas Eve and am planning to stay there through the first weekend in Jan. Lets hang out!

Here are the few pics we took on Thanksgiving..
all of the cousins except for Jason :(


Woody and Boomer talking through the fence.. I think Woody was teasing him with his frisbee!


Boomer


Woody takes his frisbee with him everywhere

where did the weekend go?

This weekend was my first weekend actually getting out and about in Charlotte and that seemed to make it go so much faster! Friday night a few of my coworkers and I went down to the art district for a gallery crawl! It was fun but so cold! I know you are asking yourself "what is a gallery crawl"? Basically, every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month all of the art galleries on this street in downtown Charlotte stay open into the night for the public to browse/buy the art. Most of them had wine for viewers to drink while browsing and it was all free (unless you were making a purchase)! It was so cool and will be even more enjoyable when its warmer outside!

Saturday, I started the day by getting my hair cut (see below although not a great picture of the layers). I decided to chop it off and put some layers in again. To some of you this look will be familiar, to others, let me know what you think! When its long I want it short, when its short I want it long, so I like to switch it up sometimes! Later in the day I met up with my friend Patrice and her boyfriend Tim and we went to the Clemson vs UNC Charlotte basketball game. Tim graduated from Charlotte so they are both big fans and warned me if I wore orange, they wouldn't speak to me! That didn't last! :) It was a very good, close game and I'm happy to say that Clemson won 71-70. Clemson football also won this weekend so it was a great weekend for Tigers fans! We need one more win to be bowl eligible which is insane, but stay tuned next Saturday at noon... we must beat the gamecocks!

Here are a few pics from the bball game..

at the UNC Charlotte 49ers stadium


The halftime entertainment was trampoline jumpers! This guy was on a snow board!


He was on skis! And yes they were still flipping!


Tim and Patrice




That brings us to today. Today was a productive day.. did some chores, ran some errands.. Now I am watching the AMAs and am curious what your thoughts are on the New Kids on the Block? Did you see their performance? Were you as big of a fan as I was back in the day? I slept on their sheets! Jordan was my favorite! :)

Hope you all had a great weekend! Next is Thanksgiving and although I was planning on going to the Clemson vs S. Carolina football game, I've changed my mind due to game time and lack of a ticket so I'm headed to Chattanooga Thursday night! If you are going to be in Chattanooga this weekend, call me! I want to see everyone! Meag - if you are there please call me!

35 things!

Well, this weekend was rather un-eventful thanks to the awful storms and the awful headache so I decided to do a random blog that I found on Meagan's site.

So here are 35 things about me...

1. Do you like blue cheese salad dressing? no

2. Do you own a gun? no

3. What's your favorite drink at Starbucks? Caramel Frappuchino Light but in the winter I like the Pepperment Mocha Twist!

4.What do you prefer to drink in the morning? Caramel Frapp Light or OJ

5. Do you do pushups? that would be a negative

6.What's your favorite piece of jewelry? my Clemson class ring

7.Favorite hobby? scrapbooking when I get the chance

8. Do you have A.D.D? no but I do have trouble 'concentrating' at times :)

9. What's one trait that you hate about yourself? my ability to over-analyze every situation

10. Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment: I cant believe I just spent 5 hours in the mall and didnt even go to all of the stores! I just helped several stores stay in business! I'm excited that I got some new warm clothes!

11. Name 4 drinks you regularly drink. Water, Diet Coke, OJ, Wine

12. Current worry right now? I'm actually not really worried about anything right now!

13. Current hate right now? that I live far away from my best friends again!

14. Favorite place to be? Clemson

15. Do you like to travel? Yes!!

16. What color shirt are you wearing? red

17.Do you like sleeping on satin sheets? sounds nice but I have no idea!

18. Can you whistle? yes

19. Favorite color? red has become my new favorite but I love brown and pink and turquose and orange and green and...

20. If you could, would you be a pirate? haha well I think that would be fun for a short period of time

21. What song do you sing in the shower? whatever is on the radio.. I almost always have music playing when I'm in the shower

22. Favorite girl's name? I have a few..

23. Favorite boy's name? I have a few..

24. What's in your pocket right now? no pockets on these sweatpants..

25. Favorite bedsheets as a child? my New Kids on the Block ones!

26. Worst injury? its between busting my chin open in the same spot over and over again or having my elbow popped out of socket over and over again...

27. Do you love where you live? its been 4 years since I've lived here but I loved it then and have loved it all the times I've visited over the last 4 years so I'm sure I will again!

28. How many TVs do you have in your house? two

29. Who is your loudest friend? hmm not sure about that one.. a lot of my friends are loud! :)

30. How many pets do you have? just my buddy Woody!

31. Does someone have a crush on you? its possible?

32. What is your Favorite Book? haven't done much reading lately

33. What's your favorite candy? snickers

34. Favorite Sports Team? Clemson football even if they are having a rough season!

35. What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? dreading walking Woody in the cold but excited to get this day going so I can shop!!

A new beginning in a new city!

Finally the move is over! After a rushed signing of the offer letter, arranging of the movers, packing and leaving Birmingham, I am finally in Charlotte! I got here a week ago and stayed in a hotel so I could work Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. My sister brought Woody with her on Wednesday to help me get moved in and settled! The movers got here Thursday with all of my belongings and they assembled furniture while we unpacked boxes and arranged everything. 4 days later, after unpacking a million boxes, decorating with a few picture frames, and a trip to Super Target, Walmart, Goodwill and Bi-Lo, I'm all settled in! I went back to work yesterday only to have today off for Veterans day! I'm very excited because all of the boxes are unpacked and disposed of and all of the furniture is in its place. The only thing I have left to do is to hang stuff on the walls. Not too bad for 4 days, 2 girls and a dog! I'm very happy with what we accomplished and would like to thank my mom for coming to Birmingham and helping me get ready to leave that apartment and thank my sister for coming to Charlotte and helping me get ready to live in this apartment! You were both a huge help!! I cant wait to start my new beginning in this new city!

So cute its scary!

Halloween weekend was a lot of fun! It started Friday night when Lauren, Wes and I drove to Nashville for our friend Kristin's Halloween party! Lauren and I were bees and Wes was the bee keeper! It was a lot of fun spending time with Kristin and her fiance Bo and all of their friends in Nashvegas! Thanks for having us K!!

buzzzy bees


our stingers :)


the bee keeper trying to catch the wifey bee


Kristin was a mouse!


the bee keeper was exhausted after a long night of trying to catch 2 busy bees!


the mouse is marrying Elvis!


Elvis came back as a bee later in the night


Saturday we headed back to Chattanooga and I spent the evening at the kiddie Halloween party with the UTC gang at Mel's. It was great spending time with you girls and your families! As always, thanks for letting me be part of the group!!

Becca's cakes! So cute and sooo yummy!


Chef Mel and todays catch.. Emma lobster!




Brittany's baby, the cutest and busiest bee of all, Ada!


Katie and Clemson's newest tiger, Owen!


Kristi's little man, Nolan, and Ada having a moment..


It was a such a great weekend to have before I headed North. I really enjoyed getting to spend time with some of my oldest and newest friends! Thanks all for making it so memorable!

C-L-E-M-S-O-N

This weekend I went to Clemson to reunite with some of my best friends from college and to attend my first Clemson home football game of the season. It was a blast! It started last week when I drove to Charlotte to look for a place to live. I stayed with some friends from high school, Catie (Richards) and Jason Bush! They were nice enough to talk me into staying with them even though I had a hotel reserved through my company. I really enjoyed our time together while I was there and look forward to spending more time with them when I move there!

Friday on my way to Clemson, I stopped in Greenville to have dinner with my cousin Jeffrey and his wife Rory. It was so good to see you two! After dinner at Hooters (Rory's pic haha) I headed south to meet up with some friends in Tiger Town! It was such a great reunion night!

Jimmy and Keith

Saturday was a long day. We had a noon game against GA Tech so we got to campus about 2 hours before to hang out at a few tailgates then it was game time!

Dabo Swinney's (our interim coach) first time running down the hill!

Jess! thanks again for letting me have your extra ticket!

After the game I got to see Whitney and her family at their tailgate then spent the rest of the day with some of my best guy friends from my junior and senior year! They are all so successful now and I'm so proud of them!

Jeremy!

Brian, Chris, Jeremy, Kyle and Steve

It was such a great weekend! Football and reunions, tell me... what could be better?!

November News

I know its not quite November but I have some big news that becomes official November 3rd. My company has offered me a job at our corporate office in Huntersville, NC (right outside of Charlotte). Its a promotion and I'll actually be moving to Charlotte either next week or the week after. I know it seems sudden to those of you who didn't already know about it, but its been in the works for months because my lease is up next Friday. I didn't want to say anything until it was made official. I got my offer letter and accepted the job today! My new title will be supply chain specialist and I will be basically handling all freight contracts/import export docs/building leases and utilities for all locations/training and training docs for the new system. This will be a national position where I handle these items for all 63 branches we have in the US. It should keep me very busy but will be a lot of fun. No more than 30 minutes after I signed the letter I was asked to schedule a visit to our 3rd party freight processing center in Ormond Beach, FL for the second week in November so things are getting crazy already! Anyway, just wanted to share the good news now that it is official! I will spend the next 2 weeks and weekends trying to see everyone before I move so let me know if you'd like to get together if we're close enough! I'll be in Birmingham this weekend then hopefully if everything works out with the movers, I'll be in Nashville next Friday then Chattanooga the rest of the weekend.

"Sometimes in the winds of change we find our true direction."

Family Time in Birmingham

My cousin Jason is the kicker for Appalachian State. This Saturday App State played against Samford here in Birmingham. A bunch of family members came in town for the game and we pretty much used all of the special team's tickets! It was really hot but a lot of fun! Jason made all of his kicks and App won! Here are some pictures from the game...



Samford's entrance..


Yosef the Mountaineer


Jason Vitaris #39


kicking off


one of the many extra points he made


my favorite red head!


the fam!

My Buddy and Me

Food, Fashion, and Fun!

Yesterday I had a fun girls day with my friend Lea. We went to the Southern Women's Show here in Bham to enjoy some food, fashion. and fun! This show had all kinds of vendors with neat things such as gourmet dips, spreads and soups, leather bags, wallets and purses, personalized gifts like cake pans, casserole dishes, cutting boards, bags and purses, and many other cool kitchen gadgets and jewelry, etc. It was a lot of fun! I ended up coming home with a red leather clutch, a wooden cutting board with useful conversions engraved on it, a few soup and dip mixes, and the kitchen plus 2000 (a neat gadget that chops, slices, juices, grates, shreds, juliennes, beats, blends, and whips). I think I did pretty well! :) Check out the website because this show is on tour and probably comes to your city!

After the show we went to the Melting Pot for the late night special which consists of a pot of chocolate (we did the Yin and Yang which is half milk, half white chocolate) with pound cake, cheesecake, brownies, marshmallows, strawberries, bananas and rice krispie treats for dippers, and a bottle of wine. It was a fabulous way to end girls day! If you haven't experienced the Melting Pot before, I highly recommend it! I've had all 4-courses and they are amazing!

Mmm.. dinner!

So my sister shared a recipe with me for stuffed bell peppers. I tried it tonight and thought it was really good and that I would share! I would recommend if you use this recipe that you cook it a little longer because 30 min didn't quite soften the peppers up enough, and you may want to add a few spices of your own to add a little more flavor. Check out my messy masterpiece! :)



This guy was eaten tonight! mmm....

More fair action

This weekend my sister came to visit and in the middle of watching a bunch of upsetting football on Saturday, we decided to go to the fair. I know it was my second time in one week but she hadn't been and wanted to experience the craziness!

I decided to post again about it because I saw something Saturday that I did not get to see on Wednesday, monkey races! That's right, two monkeys racing but guess what they were racing on?? Dogs! It was hilarious (even though I did feel bad for all of the animals involved).. see below!

I had to visit the kangaroo again. He was relaxing this time.

We didn't take that many pics but I wanted to share the few we did. It was another fast but fun weekend aside from all of the disappointing football games!