5 on Friday [03.14}

Happy Friday!

*one*
I am so DONE with Blogger! Nine times out of ten my post messes up and the pictures are deleted (which is what happened with the adorable announcement I had planned!). Argh, so frustrating! Any suggestions fellow bloggers??

*two*
So, our house is at the end of a street and whenever the wind gets crazy (like it has this past week) everything blows into our yard. Trash, newspapers, mail, balls, etc-you name it, it's probably ended up in our yard. The funniest part? Daisy found an old Cookout tray in the backyard and brought it to me at 4:30 this morning. There are few things funnier than an excited pup trying to get her mouth around a big ol' Cookout tray!

*three*
 Speaking of weather, it has been craziness! Last Friday school was cancelled because of a horrible ice storm, by Monday it was in the 70's and the 80's on Tuesday, then back to the 30's yesterday and today. I can't keep up! I'm just ready for Spring and all the wonderful it brings!

*four*
 I know this is old news now, but I still can't believe it. . . we're having a GIRL! I was a 110% convinced it was a boy. In fact, we had only considered boy names at that point and only talked about boy stuff. About 10 minutes into the ultrasound David decided to change his vote to girl and after much wiggling and moving around they discovered he was right. Craziness. Back to the drawing board with girl names!:-)

*five*
Yay NC State! They won their first game last night and move on to their second game tonight. Let's hope they can hold their own against Syracuse!

Friday's Letters [03.22]

Happy Friday, folks!!

Dear Spring Break, You are the light at the end of this crazy train tunnel. Cannot wait for your arrival next Friday!


Dear Mother Nature, You wanna explain why you have been so out of whack?! I mean 70 last Saturday then a steady drop to the 30's yesterday. Come on, you're killing me with this.


Dear NC State, How about a win today? You always surprise us, so maybe if I root against you then you'll win? The logic of an NC State fan. . .Watch this for a some truth about our unwavering endless support!


Dear prayer warriors, THANK YOU for all the prayers for my sweet sister, Mandy. Her biopsy came back normal!!! I'm not sure that has ever happened! It's amazing what God can do through our prayers!

2012 Rewind

Happy New Year's Eve one and all! I've decided that people fall into two distinct categories: they either loved the previous year and are hopeful for the new year, or they are totally over the previous year and are hopeful for better times in the new year. Regardless of which camp people fall into, no one ever wishes to stop time. People are always hopeful for the new year, and I am no different.

Here is a glimpse at some of what we've been up to . . .

I set some goals and created a 30 Before 30 List. 

I completed my first 5k.

My sweet husband guest posted and kick-started his blogging career again.

We ventured to Charleston, SC for a few days.

We witnessed my brother graduating from NCSU and his commissioning ceremony into the USMC.

We celebrated our 2nd Anniversary.

I had surgery on my foot to remove a cyst.

We spent a week at the beach with family.

My kidneys relapse, and we tackled the minimal change disease again.

We announced our little family would be growing in the coming year!

And much, much more. Thank you for joining us on this journey!

Friday's Letters [10.05]

Hip hip HOORAY for Friday!

Dear iPhone 5, Why are you still not here?? Do you know how frustrating it is to log into AT&T and see "pending shipment" day after day?? It was promised that you would arrive within 24-48 hours and not only are you not here after a week, but you haven't even shipped! Hurry up, please?!

Dear pumpkin flavor, Thank you oh so very much for showing up in just about every thing. I love you in my coffee and in my cookies. I adore you in my pop tarts and on my biscuits. Just keep on doin' your thang.

Dear NC State, Want to share what's going on? I mean honestly, fellas. This continuing to play pee wee football against the big boys is just pathetic. How about stepping up your game for FSU this weekend? Your fans would greatly appreciate the effort!

Dear Raleighwood, We're coming!! Please prepare accordingly:-)

A Wolfpack Win!

Happy Monday, folks! I don't know what the weather is like where you are, but it is dreadfully dreary here in North Cackalacki. Instead of dwelling on the details of yucky weather I'm going to reminiscence about our fabulous trip to Raleigh for a Wolfpack win!

We had grand intentions of rising bright and early on Saturday morning and accomplishing things around the house before we left for the game. I should put a large emphasis on "intentions" because our lazy bums slept in until 9:15! That is unheard of in the Mobley household, but was much needed after a long week that had both of us working late into the evening each day. When we finally did get out of bed we greeted the day with our usual Saturday breakfast of eggs and bacon before lounging around for a bit more.

When we finally did get our behinds in gear we set out for Raleighwood! It was a quick drive for me thanks to the nap I took between Winston-Salem and Mebane. I don't think David could say the same about the trip;-). We met his parents at their hotel and then we were off to tailgate! For those of you not familiar with football in the South, tailgating is half the experience. Getting out there hours early to sit, talk, drink, eat, play a few games, and just enjoy each other's company is what it's all about. We had quite the spread of food and were sure to pig out on ALL of it before entering the game for kickoff.

 Go Pack!

The Wolfpack dominated from the 6:00 kick-off until the bitter end! The final score was 31-7, with South Alabama scoring those 7 points at the end of the 4th Quarter when our second-string quarterback came in. It was a bit of a blow out, but fun for us fans! We ended up leaving halfway through the 4th Quarter thanks to a nasty headache coming on, but we were able to beat a lot of the traffic back. My sweet husband then loaded up on coffee and we hit the road again. As soon as he hit cruise control I was out like a light. Seems like I owe him quite a few turns at driving. . .

It was a great day had by all and we are excited to head back to Raleigh to cheer on the Wolfpack again!

Friday's Letters [09.07]

Happy Friday one and all!!

Dear County Fair, I am super excited to visit you this weekend. My only other fair experience has been the North Carolina State Fair, so my expectations of fair food and carnies are pretty high. 

Dear NC State football, Was last weekend a joke? I was so bored by the end of the HOUR LONG first quarter I could barely watch. Let's pick it up this week and show Connecticut who's boss.

Dear weekend, Thank you for arriving in such a timely manner. Want to talk to your fellow weekend friends about extending every weekend into a three-day weekend? I think the entire world would appreciate your sacrifice.

Dear body, You need to step up your game. This being absolutely exhausted all the time stuff has got to go! We're almost two full weeks into the swing of things, pick it up!

Friday's Letters [08.31]

Happy Friday, folks!

Dear first week of school, You have been exhausting, but fulfilling. I am so excited to see what this school year and the students will bring!

Dear NC State, Tonight is the night. The big game all of us fans have been waiting eight months for. Please do not disappoint! The hubby and I are sad to miss seeing the game live, but there is no way we would make it to Atlanta in time for kick-off. We'll be cheering y'all on from the comfort of our couch. GO PACK!

Dear readers, I apologize for my horrible attention to this blog this past week. Things have been absolutely cray-cray in the Mobley house. I promise to do a much better job starting now! Oh, and be on the lookout for a giveaway coming soon:-)

Dear family and friends, Thank you so much for all the birthday love! It's hard to stop smiling when every time I turn around someone else is wishing me a happy birthday. Talked about being blessed! Thank you again for all the love.

Dear fall, Okay, I'm ready for you now. I fought long and hard to keep summer around but with the start of school I realized it was a lost cause. Bring on the cooler temps and pumpkin-flavored everything!

Friday Letters [06.08]

It is a FANTASTIC Friday with Ashley over at Adventures of Newlyweds!

Dear John, We are so excited to celebrate your graduation and many accomplishments this weekend! I remember when I first met you you were a wee little 8th grader and now you're all grown up! We know you are going to succeed in all avenues of your life. NC State better watch out for the next Mobley!

Dear students, So long, farewell, you know the rest. It's certainly been a year of ups and downs, but we made it! I wish you the best of luck in high school and beyond. Don't ever forget to "stay gold".

Dear body, You're killing me here. Between the pulled muscle that I thought I had finally overcome to the pure exhaustion this past month, I'm a little disappointed. What can I do to get you to rally a bit more?? I'm tried of feeling like ick!

Dear readers, Can I ask you a favor? Would you be a dear and vote for my plate?? The always sweet Amanda at Sweet Tea Paperie is hosting a contest for the best plate designs. The winning three will have their plates made! Pretty, pretty please vote for "Lauren M". It's the precious pink and green one. Is anyone surprised by that??
 

Dear David, Thank you. Thank you for your patience with my crazy these past few weeks. Thank you for reminding me to laugh and not stress so much. Thank you for making sure I realize that our time here on this earth is precious and we should make the most of it. Thank you for being you.

Wedding Season

Happy Tuesday, folks! I apologize for my absence. This is a cuh-ray-zeeeee time at school. To be honest my postings will likely be very sporadic until the end of the school year. Before I disappear into total end-of-year oblivion I did want to recap my sweet friend Kelsey's wedding!

Kelsey and I met before school even started our freshman year of college and we became very fast friends. Three years of living together, many frogs, and a few major changes (by both of us!) she finally found her prince charming. David and I couldn't be happier for Kels after seeing her hurt by so many jerks. It's like Kelsey and Casey were meant to find each other, they just had to find each other on God's timing and not their own.

We swung by my brother's apartment and picked him and his precious girlfriend, Megan, up when we reached Raleigh. We headed to an older chapel downtown for the sweet ceremony. Casey's dad officiating the ceremony made it even better with his stories and jokes about the both of them. We then headed to a hotel (also downtown) for the reception. It was here that we got to see some of our old friends from college and make a few new ones!

It may have only been two years since we graduated (is that real life?!) but when you go from spending a ridiculously awesome amount of time with people to almost nothing, two years can seem like a lifetime! A glimpse at our evening:

Mr. and Mrs. Mallett's first dance!

Yes, the groom's cake is representing both NC State and Tennessee

My husband, the dance machine.

What a neat way to ride off into the sunset!

With my husband of nearly two years (eek!)

Boo's Big Weekend Part 2

I'm back with more details from Boo's Big Weekend! Sidenote: In case you were wondering who exacly "Boo" was, he is my (not so little anymore) brother. Boo has been his nickname since he was a kid. He won't admit but he loves it;-)

Saturday morning we were up and at 'em early again to head to the university graduation. Davido and I skipped this one when we graduated mainly because we just didn't see the point. We thought our departmental graduation would be more important. Due to the awesomeness of TJ, and the fact that is now a commissioned officer in the USMC, he was being honored at the ceremony. Of course we were going to go if he was being honored! The newly commissioned officers from all four branches were asked to stand at the beginning of the ceremony and the audience gave them a standing ovation. How neat is that?!? We were all so excited to see them recognized!

The ceremony dragged on after that. Since NCSU is such a large school they don't call the name of every undergraduate or masters student (thank heavens! The processional alone took over an hour), but they do call the names of those who received their doctorate. Rightfully so too. Those guys and gals worked their booties off!

Gotta keep that hat straight!

Hey, Ma! I'm on TV!

One of the more exciting parts of the three and a half hour long event (thank goodness for smartphones and iPads!) was getting to hear Phillip Rivers speak. P. Riv as I like to call my bud (no we have never actually met but I am quite certain we would get along very well if we ever did. . .) gave the commencement speech since he was a 2003 graduate of NCSU. It was a neat speech all about faith, family, and football-three of my most favorite things.

P. Riv!

Immediately following we skedaddled on back to campus for the departmental graduation. The emcee was a gregarious old professor who finished the ceremony with an experiment. I was quickly reminded with all the big words and equations why I did not do so well in Chem 101. . . One of the neatest parts of the ceremony was when they asked all the graduates to take a flower to the person in the audience who supported them the most in their tenure at NCSU. TJ chose the Momma and had her in tears.

 Momma and her Boo-man

I also can't forget to share that just prior to the ceremony Momma had a bit of a snafu. She thought we were going upstairs for the ceremony so when my dad went through a door she followed him without thinking. Well, she followed him right into the men's restroom. I was laughing so hard I almost wet my pants while waiting for the women's restroom.

Looking sheepish just after the event

Day 3 of the festivities continues tomorrow!

 

Boo's Big Weekend

I mentioned yesterday how busy our weekend was and gave y'all a little glimpse of it. Forewarning: that was the glimpse, here is the onslaught. We were fortunate enough to head to Raleighwood (Raleigh, NC for all you non-NC State folk) to celebrate my wittle brudder growing up. TJ (aka Boo) spent the past four years studying Chemistry while also donating his time, energy, and (pretty much) his entire life to the NROTC program. I am excited to report that we were able to witness TJ becoming an officer in the United States Marine Corps AND graduating from college. To say we are proud of this kid would be an understatement.

We kicked off the weekend early Friday morning with his Commissioning Ceremony. We arrived early to get good seat, and because our orders from TJ said so (the kid has been practicing this bossing people around thing his whole life). It was an incredibly moving ceremony in which we were able to see him take his oath, receive his first salute, and sign his papers.

The parentals pinning him

The first salute

Making it official!

With his precious girlfriend, Megan!

Hugging/embarrassing the man of the hour

The boys being silly in the "sorority squat".

Following the Commissioning Ceremony we headed to a local restaurant, Tyler's Taproom, to celebrate. If you're ever in the Raleigh/Durham area I highly suggest a visit. I mean honestly, how can you not love a place that has bacon popcorn?!? That afternoon David and I went to the pool with TJ, Megan, and his roommate for a few hours. It was so nice to sit back and relax amidst all the craziness of May. That evening we headed downtown to visit with some of our nearest and dearest friends from school. We had a great time drinking local microbrew beer and catching up while the sun set on downtown Raleigh.

More details of our adventure coming tomorrow!

Busy Little Bees

So here's a look at what has been going on. . .

First there was this:

Then there was this:

Then we witnessed this:

And this was pretty neat too:

And finally we got to be a part of this:

And a whole bunch of stuff in between that I will fill in the details of tomorrow! Congrats TJ!!

Friday's Letters [05.11]

Happy Friday fabulous readers! It's another great day with Adventures of Newlyweds!

Dear Boo, We are so excited to share this weekend with you! From your Commissioning Ceremony today to your Graduations tomorrow, we cannot wait to celebrate all that you have accomplished. You are going to do amazing things with your life. AH-MAZING things. I just know it. I can't wait to see what they are! Not to mention we get to come to NC State to see you-score!

At TJ's (aka Boo) high school graduation

Dear students, Please, please, please do well on your final assessments next week. We've been working our booties off all year to prepare for this day, so let's show everyone else what you can do! Not to mention the remediation and retesting process is pretty much the most tortuous thing ever.

Dear Summer, Where are you? The anticipation of your impending arrival is going to kill me. Every day we get closer to you is another day closer to adequate amounts of sleep and no stress tension in my shoulders. Hurry up!

Dear readers, I apologize for my sporadic postings. They probably won't get much better until after school gets out. My bad.

Miss Me Yet?

Happy Saturday, folks! Today I am guest posting for Brianna over at Adventures of the Southern Wife. I met this sweet girl a few years ago at our alma mater NC State. When I heard she was looking for a guest poster, I knew I had to take her up on the offer!

I'll be back soon with tales of our own adventures through Charleston!

Weekend Warriors

Happy Monday one and all! I've been a bit MIA this past weekend. My sincerest apologies. I know y'all are on the edge of your seats waiting for the latest updates on the exciting events in the Mobleys lives. Without further adieu, a recap of a ridiculously busy yet ridiculously wonderful weekend. . .

For those of you living in caves you may have missed the excitement surrounding the Hunger Games movie. For everyone else, what did you think?!? I dragged my poor husband to see it on Friday afternoon after fighting the temptation to see the midnight showing. It was well worth the wait! I'm always a book before movie kind of gal so I knew what to expect. David is more of the "why read the book if I can watch the movie" crowd. The good news is both of us liked it, so that tells you it was a pretty good movie. Seeing it made me want to re-read all the books over Spring Break!

Maple Sugar Coffee. . . nom nom nom

"Too many choices! What would Gordon say??"

Friday continued with a super exciting trip to Lowes in search of a few things for the house. I remember doing yard work with my parents growing up, but I do not remember doing this much! It felt like all we did this weekend was work on house stuff on and off. It was super rewarding, but super time consuming! We left Lowes with a trimmer/edger, some smaller garden tools, and a new ceiling fan!

So many choices!

That evening we headed to our friend Scott's house to watch the Wolfpack take on Kansas. It was a mish mash of food and fun while we waited. Some of the best times are had just hanging around a set of cornhole boards. When the game finally started (believe it or not, I actually stayed up for part of it) we were all pumped to see the Wolfpack pull off another win. I wore my lucky dress and everything! I suppose it just wasn't in the cards. I am excited they made it as far as they did! My husband claims it's the non-competitor in me that is OK with losing, but I'm proud that grew as much as they did from last year. GO PACK!

Corn hole!

My "lucky" dress

Those pups wanted a bite of steak if it killed them. . .

More weekend details to come tomorrow!

Friday's Letters [03.23]

It's another Friday with Adventures of Newlyweds!

Dear Peeps, I cannot express how excited I was to see you in stores again! You are your friends, the Cadbury Eggs, make me a very happy girl. I know I can find other colors and shapes year around, but it's just not the same as the pastel chicks at Easter. I have limited myself to only 5 delicious little chickies a day to get you to last longer. I'm already looking forward to scouting the stores the day after Easter to find you all on clearance!

Dear Spring Break, So close, yet so far. The students and I are anxiously awaiting your arrival and counting down the days until we have a break from each other. The fact that David and I have a brief trip to Charleston planned for the tail end of it makes your impending arrival even harder to wait for. Let's see what you can do about arriving a smidgen bit earlier. K, thanks.

Dear pollen, You have officially overstayed your welcome. You are not welcome here. Your attack of the Dr. Seuss tree is unacceptable and you are ruining our evening suppers outside. Not to mention your presence on my green car makes for a rainbow of yuck. Please go away.

Dear NC State, What is up with this winning? Don't get me wrong, I am completely stoked about it, just a bit surprised. Never fear though, fellas, I will be wearing the dress again today. It brought us luck last Friday and then again this past Sunday. Let's cross our fingers it works its magic again!

Dear mosquitoes, Why in heaven's name am I already killing many of your compadres? It is March!! You are making it very difficult for me to sit outside and enjoy the beautimus Spring weather that Mother Nature has graced us with. How about y'all just vamoosh for a few more months and come back in the summer? Or, or, an even better idea-don't come back at all!

Dear Hunger Games movie, Oh how I cannot wait to see you! I have high hopes for you and your fellow films, please do not disappoint! May the odds be ever in your favor. . .

Easy as 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Being an NC State football fan is not an easy task. Upon making the fateful decision to attend NC State, I joined many other lifelong fans in the back and forth dance of celebration and agony depending on if our team decides to show up or not. We've had our good times (the Champs Bowl Game last December) and our bad times (too many to name at this point. . .), but part of being a fan is never giving up on your team. You can't jump ship just because they're having a bad few games, or season. A true fan wears their red and white every Saturday despite the knowing that red and white will probably bring on much ridicule. I once heard someone say, "your team is like an ugly child, you love 'em no matter what". Ain't that the truth!


Here in North Carolina, you either wear red or you wear that nasty blue color. In this house we will proudly wear that red. This past week there was some back and forth between the interim coach at UNC, Everett Withers, and our coach, Tom O'Brien. Withers took a shot at NC State claiming that UNC is the "flagship" school of North Carolina and that UNC's graduation rate of athletes is something to be proud of compared to NC State's own rate. Uh, exqueeze me? Mr. Withers, you do realize that the reason you are the current "coach" is due in part to that whole CHEATING scandal and illegal paying of players and agents? Or did that just slip your mind? O'Brien fired back with his own attack in regards to UNC's current NCAA situation, and the rivalry pot was stirred.

I won't bore you with the gruesome details of the game, but I am proud to say that the Mobleys will be wearing a whole lot of red and white. NC State not only beat UNC for the fifth year in a row, but our boys recorded a shut out! The final score was 13-0. GO PACK!! I'm beginning to agree with Mr. Withers that with all the schools in North Carolina, there should be a flagship, I just think that flagship should be one that can actually back up the talk.

We're the Red and White from State
And we know we are the best.
A hand behind our back,
We can take on all the rest.
Come over the hill, Caroline.
Devils and Deacs stand in line.
The Red and White from NC State.
GO STATE!!