NASCAR

Not only do we live in the South (well, we're in that weird middle-area between the North and South) but we live in the home of NASCAR.  Charlotte, just two hours away from us, contains the NASCAR Hall of Fame.  So we just HAD to go to one race. We just HAD to!  We knew the time was right when Travis Pastrana came to Charlotte.  Ryan, and our friend Ross were ecstatic to see him race! We were going to go to his NASCAR debut back in April but it didn't work out.  This ended up being even better because we got to see the world premier of Global Rallycross Racing.  More on that later.  But pretty much, it was way better than NASCAR.

To get into the stereotypes that follow this sport, Ryan decided not to cut his hair, although he desperately needed it, and that he would grow his facial hair.  You might think that he would look more like a mountain man than a redneck, but no. After he was finished, he definitely looked the part. Do you see that? A MULLET. And the facial hair. GAG ME. I could not even look at him, it was so disgusting!

Now, I want all of you to feel like you were right there with us on this journey so this post is going to be full of pictures, and BIG pictures, because that's how I like them.  So suck it up, and just keep scrolling.  Mmmkay?

We managed to find free parking (SCORE!) on the outskirts of all of this.  This picture does not even do justice to the amount of RV's that were surrounding the stadium.  A pretty fitting welcome to our day, I'd say.

And do you see that? Yep, a motorized wheelchair. We definitely saw plenty of people cruising on those.

As soon as we got inside, we immediately went to the track to check it out.  The cars were warming up and I know I'm a terrible person for taking a picture of these two men, but I really wanted you all to see what we saw.  They were pretty typical of the NASCAR crowd.  And the noise...the cars were DEAFENING! I had seriously never heard anything like it.  Between the sights, sounds, and smells, we were definitely in sensory overload.

We had a few hours to kill before the race so we began to wander.  Ross and Bryan just couldn't resist Danica.  Who can? I'm sure you've all seen those GoDaddy commercials. Rawr.

Don't worry that Ryan's blurry here, he's not meant to be the focus of this picture.  

That beautiful long flowing mullet caught all our eyes. Oh, and is that a fanny pack? Yes, yes it is.

#99 Travis Pastrana Car. Unfortunately he failed us all and sucked it up during the race.

Every little (and grown) boy wants one of these remote control cars. 

They were doing jumps and flips left and right.

I was really hoping this was an actual sidecar to ride in. 

It'd be perfect for the dog to ride alongside the Harley, don't you think?

Bryan and the llamas were not so sure of each other.  

Top Gear, anyone? That's Tanner Faust! He was competing in the Rallycross race.  

I can only imagine what he thought of Redneck Ryan.

 

No, your eyes are not deceiving you. Those are denim cut-off shorts (which I'm hoping is a joke).  What's not a joke? That he seriously had a hip carrier for his chewing tobacco. That's country for ya.

Blow in the wind, mullet. Blow in the wind!

Bojangles!

And they're off!!

Just playing with shutter speed, they weren't really going THAT fast. Only like 170 mph.

Keep it classy, NASCAR.

The winner doing victory donuts.

Hair lines and tan lines.

After the NASCAR race was the Global Rallycar and I didn't get a picture of the whole set up but basically they turned the front half of the big NASCAR loop into a smaller 3/4 mile track with obstacles.  We were positioned on this turn where they would have to drift to get through it.  It was AWESOME! Way better than NASCAR! There was a jump at the other end, and cars bumping each other out of the way, hitting barriers, and all sorts of exciting goodness.  Our boy Travis Pastrana did not come through for us on this race, either.  But Tanner did, he got 2nd.  He sure was determined to win but the other guy was just plain better than him.

Goodnight and farewell, Charlotte Motor Speedway.  

All in all, if it weren't for the Rallycross it would have been a somewhat disappointing day.  After the initial excitement of the noise wore off, we really were just sitting their with ear plugs in watching cars go round and round and round.  We couldn't talk to each other, we were getting high off of fuel fumes, little pieces of grease or tire or who knows what were landing on us, etc.  It really is a dirty, boring sport that I apparently will never understand.  But Rallycross we would watch again in a heartbeat! 

NASCAR was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience because we definitely will not be going again in this lifetime. :)

Moments

I read this on another person's blog the other day and I loved how she phrased it.  Words right out of my mouth:


"We are bratty sometimes….complainers….unappreciative and overpriveledged….but we have our moments of goodness too.  We have our moments of pure thankfulness.  We have our moments of soak-it-in-because-it-might-never-be-this-good-again-ness.  We have a lot of moments…and we are trying hard to not waste them.  Because there are no guarantees in this life, right?!"


That is Ryan and I in a nutshell.  We have been so blessed and we are trying to do what we can with the moments we have!

Summer and Rebellion

NC summer is here.

Not because it's 95 degrees with 95% humidity, yet.  But the bugs have arrived in full force.  I honestly forgot how big and gross the bugs are here, especially living in the forest.  The spiders have kindly been reminding us year round that this is their turf, and now the slugs, beetles, moths, and soon the cicadas have taken over, too.

If they just stay out of my way, I really don't mind.  They can be on the sidewalks, stairs, flying around, and even on our front door.  But the second they fly or crawl INTO my house, GAME OVER.  They're disgusting and I have no sympathy for them.  Want to know the worst thing about them?  They hit me in the face while running.  It creeps me out TO THE MAX.  I'm not just running through swarms of gnats, it's full-grown bugs crashing into my forehead and cheeks.  You better believe I keep my mouth shut as much as possible, even if it restricts my breathing patterns.  I've swallowed a few and I have no intentions of doing it again.

Onto part 2: Rebellion

Our perfect little Ryno is going through the terrible 2's or something.  It's great for building patience for future children, I can tell you that.  We were training him to run beside us off-leash and he was doing great! Then I don't know what hit.  He's suddenly become extra curious and aware of the world around him and will not listen.  He runs way ahead, or stays behind sniffing and even when we're out of sight, it takes him awhile to join us.  Not like him at all.  He's also taken up whining.  He whines at the front door when I'm turning the key, whines if I haven't pet him enough for his liking, whines if I have my tennis shoes on but haven't taken him outside yet, whines if we're outside but not running yet.  This also needs to stop.  I'm hoping it's just a phase.

On a cuter, but still rebellious note, his instincts have kicked in and he LOVES sticks.  There are plenty to choose from outside our apartment and he just runs back and forth until he finds the perfect one.  Insert rebellious phase - then he won't come inside.  We thought it was so adorable when he found his first stick that we let him bring it inside. BIG MISTAKE.

How was your weekend?

Monday morning.  The first question out of everyone's mouths as you make small talk at work is almost always "How was your weekend?"

My response is typically a default, "It was good!" But then they ask, "What did you do?"

And I pause. And think.  And oftentimes have no idea.  I usually have a pretty good idea of Sunday night because it was only 12ish hours prior. Sunday morning is church so that's a default.  But Saturday or even Friday night? Clueless.

I've been thinking hard about this weekend since I was asked about it about an hour ago.  Friday night Ryan had a guy's night so I was home alone doing womanly things like laundry, dishes and crafting.  Saturday though... I still don't remember. I'm pretty sure it was just MORE laundry, dishes, and a walk for the pup. Yep, I'm pretty sure that's all. No wonder I can't remember most of my weekends.

In more exciting news, 13 more days of work.  And Ryan only has about 1 week of "real" class left. Then it's just electives which have no quizzes or real work to do (I believe).  Smooth sailing, here we come.

an oldie but goodie

In honor of graduation season, I just happened to stumble upon MY graduation announcement. 

I cannot believe I graduated two years go. 

Time is FLYING BY.

 And yes, I have a Masters in Engineering. 

Am I using it? NOPE.

Does it really bother me? It used to, but mostly NOPE.

three more weeks

That's all I have left of work.

Due to University policies, as a temporary employee, after working for one year, I have to take a month off.  We were really hoping they would let us get around it because I'm leaving in July but they laid down the law and told me to get outta here.  So while it's not ideal financially, it is wonderful for my sanity.  Kudos to people who work full time ALL THE TIME because I sure am over it.  It could be the fact that I've lost all motivation since I knew I was leaving soon anyway. Regardless, three more weeks.  Then I get at least four months of nothing but crafting, sewing, making our photo albums, trying new recipes, working out, laying by the pool and maybe I'll even take up reading again.

Here's to May 31!

BORING

That's how I would describe my wardrobe.  Granted, I have some great pieces in there, but as I've gotten older it's just gotten so... functional but without style.  As I was trying to figure out what to wear this morning I decided I need to change that.  No more buying v-neck cotton shirts and solid color (black or brown, of course) conservative heels.  It's time to spice things up! So, I stopped at TJ Maxx on my way home because I've now heard 3 of my very well-dressed friends say they shop there.  I tried new shapes and fabrics and patterns. Some were a success, others... not so much.  But these... THESE were a huge success.

Now I just have to figure out what to wear them with...

Pictures from the weekend, can you believe it?

My weekend really started on Wednesday night.  Oh how I wish every weekend were like that!  After hinting a few times that I wanted to go to Wicked, Ryan finally sat me down and had us just pick a date and seats together because he was clueless.  Love him, though.  And LOVE this picture of us.  And LOVED Wicked!

Schuster came in on Thursday night (and was patient enough to wait at the airport for almost 2 hours because the vet took FOREVER with Ryno, who poor little guy has an ear infection).  We went to a Durham Bulls baseball game which really meant that Schuster and I got to talk in the beautiful weather! :)

Friday we went on a hike around Jordan Lake.

I tell you what, once the weather turns nice in NC, there is SO much to do!

I will definitely miss that aspect of living here.

Fresh-picked strawberries are THE BEST.  We picked about 8 pounds and ate half and froze the other for smoothies. (Ryan and I are trying to be healthy by making the popular "green smoothies" which include spinach).  Gotta do what we can to get our produce in!

 

We balanced out our veggies with plenty of tasty grilled meat.  

Omaha steaks, cilantro lime turkey tips, lemon pepper chicken...  SO GOOD!

The always-enjoyable-Ashworths joined us as well.

Saturday was Ryno's first trip to the beach! He dug with his nose instead of paws... 

Man + dog + beach = Ryan's heaven

He wasn't so sure of the water, but he would at least go in if we did.  

I'd call it a success.

Ah, summer is here. And I couldn't be happier!!

Need a pick-me-up?

Puppy videos always do the trick, right?

How about licking a beater of peanut butter fruit dip. Yummmm.

Or playing with Dad (but like Mom, he only plays if he gets to win)

He LOVES these bones, obviously.

He went absolutely crazy after a bath, but had calmed down slightly once we started filming

We suck at waiting.

Our two year anniversary and Ryan's birthday are coming up (June 12 and July 3) and I've been trying to figure out what to do for him.  When I read our friend Kristina's post about her "banniversary" gift I knew exactly what she was talking about.  I got an idea in my head and I've been so excited I can hardly wait to get it for Ryan.  He, of course, has no idea what it is.  He never knows what I come up with in this clever brain of mine.  The problem is, he has also been using his brain to think of what HE would like as a birthday present.  And it's not what I thought of.  Now that we've both been actually discussing these gifts, we are getting impatient to get them!  I caved yesterday and agreed to let him order what he wants - a GPS watch.  I'm still on the fence with my gift.  I still really want to get it for him.  But I don't want to wait even a month... Seriously, we SUCK at waiting.

Day of Rest

I love it when Sundays are used for what they are intended - as a day of rest.  We definitely needed it today after our wonderful weekend.  One of my bestest friends, Megan Holt (aka Schuster), flew in Thursday afternoon from Boston and we were treated with great weather all weekend.  I think Ryan and I's 2.5 hour nap today was definitely deserved after a weekend full of a baseball game, hiking, strawberry picking, grilling out, and a day at the beach!  Being with Megan was like second nature, I love her and miss having her around already!

Pictures may or may not be posted. :)