Mason's the Leader

The past 24 hours have been a bit rough around here. Last night, I ran some errands after Phillip left for work. My car broke down. Dad came to the rescue. Phillip took my car apart this morning around 5 AM. Now my starter is being rebuilt. (Trying to make it last one more year.) Meanwhile, Mom and Dad are letting me use one of the florist vans to drive back and forth. This is far from ideal since most of the parking at school is in very low clearance parking decks and built primarily for compact cars. However, it's free. Praise the Lord!

The internet has been sporadic at best over the past few weeks, so this evening during one of it's fits I decided to take Mason out one last time. Little did I know that it was Mason's intention to take me out. I opened the back door to our porch with him on his retractable leash, and like a bullet he was out of here. So was my arm. With my free hand, I quickly grabbed the closest door frame to brace. Bad idea.


So if you see me, no I haven't taken up cutting. I took out a dog. A beast of a dog. Thank you Mason!

Heads Carolina!

Sandra and Steven came back to NC for a visit. This happened to be the first visit since our wedding at the end of 2007. When your best friend lives 3000 miles away, that's a LONG time. Phillip and I completely enjoyed our weekend with them (although it admittedly felt way too short). Sandra and Steven moved out to California (where she's from) after their wedding in June of 2006 so she could attend graduate school in-state. We made up for lost time though.

Friday night they got to catch up with my parents. Sandra spent quite a few holidays and weekends with my family during college since flying back and forth was pricey. My parents are a lot like her East Coast parents. When Steven came along my mom fell in love with his willingness to help in the kitchen. :-)

Saturday, Phillip had to work until 5 AM (therefore he came home and slept) and I believe the Caulders were quite fine with this because I don't know that they ever got off of West Coast time. Sandra and I ran some errands and went shopping, thereby leaving the boys to their own devices. They both have a strong love for Ford vehicles, so they spent the rest of the afternoon drooling in the Dale Jarrett dealership. We cooked out and baked together that night.

Sunday we all went to church together, and then had a quick bite to eat afterward. I think we tried to find every reason in the world to extend their allotted time here. I even offered to let Steven take Mason back (he'd fit in Sandra's seat nicely and they got along very well all weekend). Sadly, I found myself waving goodbye with a tear in my eye that afternoon. :-(

Phillip and I are hoping to make a trip out West during his company's Christmas shut down next year. They close for two weeks, he has mandatory leave and I will probably be in school. Why not take two weeks to play and reunite again!?

Thanks for coming you guys! We miss you lots! (Also, I hope you were able to thicken your accents before you returned home. Love!)

Pulley/Powers Festivities

My (Kristin) college suitemate is getting married September 12th. To a wonderful man that treats her like a princess. Brandy and Will are so wonderful together. This weekend I traveled to Franklin, Virginia for Brandy's bridal luncheon and their shower that afternoon. Brandy's parents hosted me. It felt like I was a freshman in college all over again! Sadly, Phillip couldn't come with me because he had to work. We cannot wait until their wedding! I had a great time this weekend guys!

This is Brandy with her mom (left) and Will's mom (right).

Of course, we have a typical "us" picture.
Brandy with her yummy food. Love that face.

Unfortunately, the monsoon that pounced on Franklin right before the shower caused me to forget my camera. No worries though, there will be plenty of pictures from the wedding!

Chateau Elan

WARNING: This is a lengthy post!

Several months ago, we made reservations at a resort and winery in Braselton, Georgia. Lately, our lives have been so hectic that we hardly get a chance to speak to each other much less spend some quality time together. It was great to get away and take a break from the chaotic lives we have awaiting us here.
Chateau Elan provides golf, nature trails, tennis, spa treatments, and of course the winery. We headed down Saturday for a round of golf before we checked in. It started out well (by this we mean Kristin beating Phillip), but it soon became apparent that the sweltering heat was not going to be nearly as bad as the humidity. Wow! Despite this, we had a good time. Phillip definitely laughed a lot! This is us BEFORE we fell victim to the horrid humidity.
After golf we decided to head to the pool for a while and relax. Phillip introduced me to a new phrase. While we were sitting by the pool it began to rain a little, but the sun was shining just as bright and beautiful as could be. Phillip looked at me and said, "The devil must be beating his wife again." WHAT!?!? 1) What in the world does that mean? 2) What does that have to do with sporadic rain shower. I laughed. Only my very Southern husband would announce the devil's domestic abuse problems at a fancy pool. Bless him.

After a long day on the course and at the pool (I know, life is tough), we decided to try out the authentic pub at the resort. Apparently the couple that established the resort spent 20 years working in Ireland. They commissioned an architect in Ireland to design and create an authentic Irish pub. He did so and they had it shipped to Georgia in 1997. CRAZY, but great food and the entertainment was awesome. I don't do beer, so I enjoyed sweet tea! :-) Phillip of course had a beer.
For my Raleigh friends, this was one of the signs hanging in the pub. :-) Oh the good ole days!
This gentleman provided the entertainment for the evening. He was great. Lots of Irish songs. I thought I would get very annoyed with live music, but he was amazing.
We started playing with the settings on the camera. Phillip enjoyed learning how to take pictures of things up close. Typically, I am the photographer for us.
I loved the bar area in the pub. It reminded me of something you'd find in a Western film. Please excuse the glare from the flash (I am far from a professional). After staying at Paddy's for a while we decided to head to L'Auberge, a resort lounge area with pool tables and live music. Besides a very random, very drunk woman, we enjoyed being able to sit back and chat for a little while. Not being a big drinker, I decided to try the resorts Chardonnay (I do love white wines). Wow! So very good. I even had Phillip try some. His response was that it wasn't terrible (aka: good).
We wrapped the night up a little later. The rooms at the resort are not adequately described when using the word "amazing." They are elaborately decorated; there is marble everywhere in the restrooms, with a gargantuous corner tub, walk in showers, and the world's best king bed with down comforters and pillows in abundance. Sleep was well-deserved and appreciated!
The chair and ottoman in the room are my new favorite. It was corduroy and incredibly comfy!
We decided to visit the winery the next day. It was so peaceful (a state of being neither of us are accustomed to lately). Here are a few pictures from the vineyards.

Phillip said the netting protects the grapes from critters. I am not sure if that's true or not since he seems to enjoy seeing just how gullible I am, but it sounded good. They are having the Festival of Wine in two weeks, so there was a lot of preparation for that.
This is a statue that sits right between the winery and the vineyard/equestrian arena.
Last but not least, we always get a Christmas ornament from our travels. Here's the ornament from Chateau Elan.

Spoiled by Mama Harris

Phillip and I are being really good about paying off debt and spending well below our monthly income. This has been a challenge at times since I am in school full time. So far, we've been very successful using Dave Ramsey's book for this particular task.

Almost a year ago I found a comforter set that I LOVED for our bedroom. Knowing that we were starting this project soon, I sadly did not buy the set. Phillip's mom knew about it from a previous conversation. I got home in July to a big box sitting in the middle of the living room. What was in said box you might ask? Well, it was Mama Harris' version of an early anniversary present.

Apparently protesting does no good, so finally I gave in and set the new comforter on our bed. WE LOVE IT! Enjoy!!!


I think the embroidery designed is gorgeous! Thank you Mama Harris! (We're spoiled.)