Walking for a Cure and for a Friend!

Every year since 2007 Team Holbrook has walked in the Race for the Cure to support our friend Beth Ann Holbrook who was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in April 2007 at age 32! YIKES indeed. After a double mastectomy and chemo and radiation, she is now cancer free and has been for 2 years!! Happiness indeed!! This year the race fell on her 35th birthday!

Friday began the birthday celebration with a Tour of Homes in DT Charleston, the Queen street route to be more specific (last year we did Tradd St!). The homes are amazing! They are huge and most amazingly decorated! Though some houses were a little cluttered and we did get called "sporty" with a bit of a stink eye we had a BLAST! We toured 7 homes and 3 churches. There were two houses that really stood out. One was that of a well known landscape artist in Charleston and the other was no one that we were told was special, I mean they do own a house in DT Charleston that is open for tours so I call that special, and did I mention they had a pool in their backyard along with 4 Piazzas!! My favorite church was the Unitarian Church. The ceiling was a sight to be seen. i just stared at it while the man described all the renovations of the church, but all of it paled in comparison to that ceiling! If you ever get the chance to take one of the homes tours I certainly recommend it. It's amazing and a great way to learn some history about the city we call home!

This was night one of a 3 part series known as BA's birthday weekend! We then all gathered together to walk the Race for the Cure on Daniel Island. Well, they tout the race as a 5K, but this year they tried out parking us further away from the race site and hey here's an idea, made us WALK a good mile or mile and a half to the race starting line!! It was a bit chilly this morning, but there wasn't rain and for that we are grateful. We did the walk last year in the rain, and it was not ideal! So after the walk, we hit up the freebies and got to see some friends we hadn't seen in awhile (always nice!) and then we treked back the 1.5 miles to the car... Fun... So all in all we are thinking we walked a 5 K on Friday night at the tour and then a 10K today so we got some good excercise in for the weekend! I was so tired and in desperate need of caffeine that I headed home to a warm bed and a hot lunch!!

Tomorrow the Birthday weekend will conclude with an 8pm showing of Kathy Grffin at the Performing Arts Center!! We are really excited about this! Should be a BLAST!!

Let me tell you BA is worth a weekend celebration! If everyone could have a BA in their life I think the world would be a better place!

So here is the card I made for her, that I have been waiting to post until I gave it to her!!

Hidden inside is a coupon for a free cupcake at Cupcake!! If you have never been, you need to make it a priority to go. They are amazing cupcakes and have many interesting and delicious choices!! They even havea $30 cupcake that is HUGE!!

This was a great weekend spent with great friends!

I hoep everyone stays warm and has a GREAT rest of their weekend!!

Happy Day!

Lisa

How I spent my day!!

I had a blast crafting, and shopping and lunching with Mom and Dad (well he lunched!!)!!

I got more done in the craft room than I thought I would granted we didn't get started til 3:30 due to the Pepsi debate 2009!!

Check out the baby shower card I made...

The Happy fall card I made

And the Halloween card I made!

Tomorrow it's off to a card class in the morning and then a baby shower at night! Fun weekend!!

Happy Day!

Lisa

Sophie Bear Russell

It's official. Sophie has been adopted into the Russell household. The adoption happened on Wednesday and I couldn't be happier to make her a permanent addition to our household. She is an amazingly sweet dog. She lives to be loved and to love you, her timing might be off on loving you aka when I'm trying to sleep in on a day off, but I still couldn't be happier!

When doing hte adoption, we realized she was not microchipped and so we went in to the shelter today to get her chipped. She was less than pleased to be returning to where she was surrendered. She was scared and reverted to the dog with the tail between her legs and trembling. I felt like a horrible Mom, but I knew she needed to be chipped. If she got out, then she would run!! She doesn't know our neighborhood well enough to be sure she would come back home, so it's WAY important for her to be chipped. Once that was done, she was ready to go and be on her way home. She is SUCH a good car rider. I hardly even noticed her in the car. She sleeps in the back seat and appears to be at peace in the car. She is the total opposite of Kahlua in this respect. Kahlua flys from one window to the other, doesn't lay down, nor does she posses decent balance for a turn or stop of any kind!

She is currently resting peacefully on a chair and happy to have a forever home! I love that dog and I'm happy for the positive changes she has made in the household. She has made Kahlua act about 5 years younger. They play with each other, with their toys and sleep together. These are things that I have tried for years to provide for Kahlua, but she doesn't respond to my toy interactions, doesn't play tug or fetch, but with Sophie she does it all and she is DARN good at it!! Two Two is still getting used to the fast pace Sophie lives, but she can often be found laying near Sophie on the bed. Give Two Two time to get used the the fast movements, and Sophie time to realize that we aren't going anywhere and I think that will be a sweet partnership!

Joe loves Sophie. More at night than in the morning. She wakes at the first sound and has a hard time going back to sleep, but I look at it as a way to get me moving earlier and be more productive with my day. Today is a prime example. I got WAY more done on a Thursday than I have EVER done since I started at the Shelter. I usually use Thursday as a lay around and take some time for myself cause I worked so hard during the week day!

So all in all I think Sophie is going to be the fresh step this house needs. Now, I'm not saying she's perfect. I hunt for my clothes that she has hidden throughout the house on a daily basis. She has no personal space boundaries. She has a thing for my favorite comforter, but her smile, her eyes, her face, her love makes all those silly things fly right out of my head.

I'm going to be crafting tomorrow. Starting early and hopefully getting a lot done before I have to go home!! I'll post what I work on!!

Happy Day!

Lisa

It's about time..

I got back in the craft room Thursday and Friday this past week! I needed that. I haven't spent that much time crafting in months!! I was going to work on my wedding scrapbook, but instead I chose to return to a passion of mine.. card making!! I made a card for my friend BA's birthday on the 17th!! And I made two fall cards. I was inspired by many things for these cards. Mom had been making a new format of a card, and so I wanted to play with that a little, and then we have an AWESOME paper pack that inspired the rest of the card. Here's the "Happy Harvest" card I made!!

I missed being in the craft room. I can't wait to go back. I have a card making class this weekend and I can't wait! She makes lovely cards and I can only imagine the loveliness that is to come!

One another note, I saw Pretty in Pink for the first time on Saturday night. Apparently, it's unheard of that I have made it to age 27 and not seen this movie. Well this sparked the discussion in person and on Facebook, what other classics have you not seen???

Well here are a few of the reccomended movies that I haven't seen and apparently NEED to see!

-Legends of the Fall

-16 Candles

-Say Anything

-Fast Times at Ridgemont High

-Better off Dead

-Weird Science (I think I have been quoted lines from this one...)

-Can't Buy Me Love

I'm sure there are more. Joe says I live in a bubble on a lot of things and I do believe this would be one of those moments! I have CHEESY taste in movies, but most times they are current and revolve around a current actor or actress being in them, not the plot itself. Case in point, My Best Friend's Girl starring Kate Hudson. HORRIBLY HORRIBLE movie... Erin can back me up on this one!! So I plan to add these to my Netflix queue and rating them as I go. I'll keep you posted!

One another note, Today is my Half Birthday!! 6 more months til my birthday!!! I would like to thank Mrs Vogel for teaching me about this wonderful holiday. Though no one ever remembers, I do, and that's what counts!!

Happy Day!

Lisa

Joe, please don't leave again!

I'm not going to appologize for being behind on writing I'm merely going to explain to you how I spent my week.

Let's see.... Joe went out of town for work on Monday morning not to return until late Thursday night. At first I thought, cool, I can have the bed to myself, watch cheesy TV without fear of mocking, that was not how this plan played out.



Monday night I realized started a new season of TV shows, mainly House, but there were a couple other cheesy shows that I'll get to in a moment. So I got home, thankful for an accident free house from Sophie. Settled down on the living room couch with my Totino's Pizza and House on the TV. Great episode byt the way! No spoilers from me, just a real good episode! Once that ended I decided to go and read a little. I'm currently reading Shoe Addicts Annonymous. GREAT book!! It's really funny and well written! I was going to get in bed all comfy like... Yeah, Sophie peed on the comforter... So instead of relaxing I had to change the sheets and take the comforter off. More of a process than I intended when going to relax and read. Well the fun, doesn't stop there. Come bedtime, Sophie started barking and staring into the hallway like there was someone there. There was not. All doors were locked. So I started off with turning the Living room light off all the way. I had it dimmed a bit since when I'm home alone I like a little comforting light from another room. So I rolled over and went back to sleep. She started at it again. This time I thought, ok I'll shut the bedroom doors so she can't see into any other rooms. Rolled over and went back to sleep. She went at it AGAIN. This time I assumed she must be hearing something, so I turned the radio on. Rolled over and went back to sleep. She continued AGAIN. So this time I thought fine. I'll turn the light on, so you can see clearly, whatever it is you are barking at and realize you are cooler than it, thus should not bark. This seemed to be the ticket cause when I rolled back over to sleep at 1:30, she followed suit.



I got home to yet another accident free night. I ate my dinner while watching the other shows I TiVo'ed from Monday night... Cheese and Cheesier. I watched faithfully One Tree Hill it's entire run, thought Monday night's episode will be my last. It has been horrible and it's just getting worse. I hate when a show is dragged on beyond it's time. Doesn't end well. Anyone an ER fan? 2 seasons too long! So we watched our TV shows, then went to go outside and play only to find that Sophie had not had an accident free day. She decided to pee on the doormat by the back door. This I'm not as upset about because it's A only really for decoration, and B can fit in the washer and dryer, something my comforter cannot. So that night we go to bed and the barking begins again. Thank goodness I learned from Monday night. I started with turning the light on Tuesday night. This worked. I was even able to turn the light off in the middle of the night so that it didn't have to be on all night.



Tuesday night I got the amazing news that Mom and Dad had smoked a whole ham just for me!! So on my way home I stopped to pick up this amazing gift! Wednesday night is my FAVORITE night of the week! So You Think You Can Dance is on and it's followed by one of the best shows of all time GLEE!! Happiness for 2 hours straight. This was a good sleeping night too. We all managed to get good sleep and I also believe Sophie was truly accident... oh wait.. nope she wasn't. That's right...



Thursday was a super day. I woke up feeling hungover, though I hadn't had a drop of alcohol. Then I got to go to the dentist. A place I normally don't mind. My dentist however got a new hygenist and let me tell you, I hope she is gone by the time I go back in 6 months. Lectures, I do not need. Tell me once and at 27, I'll do with it what I want. You certainly don't need to repeat yourself and poke me with your sharp tools just to prove your point. I get it already. AGAIN, I'm 27 and able to take in words and comprehend them, and choose to do with them what I want. I have been going there for 10 years... you have worked there for less than 6 months...



After leaving the dentist, I still felt hungover and then a little aggravated, so after a yummy lunch of leftover smoked ham, I took a nap! So as you can see not much time to blog.



I promise something fun to talk about this weekend though. It will not revolve around Sophie. I promise. She is sweet, but she has taken over my life these last few weeks!!



Happy Day!



Lisa

New Book..

To me books are like the best things EVER! I buy them and read them and love them forever!! I have been touched by many authors, but I'm always looking for a new one.

I needed a little light heartedness so I started reading The Waitress by Melissa Nathan, only to find out 30 minutes later that I had already read the book! I loved it, but it would have to be a realllly reallly really good book for me to read a book twice.

So then I went down to my library, yes I have a makeshift library in a walkin closet downstairs, to find another book, and I started second guessing what I had or had not read. So I chose to go buy a book! I bought Shoe Addicts Anonymous by Beth Harbison. So far it's a really good read and I can relate to it really well!

I had a long day at work, mostly cause I was tired beyond belief after working on the deck all weekend, but it could be that I also have a snoring husband and dog! Yup Sophie snores! I think we all can assume that Joe snores, but seriously... Sophie sounds like a man snoring. Last night was the first time she has pulled this trick out of her sleeve and hopefully it will be the last! I like my sleep! I can do without much, but sleep is certainly not one of them!!

Well off to a lovely dinner made by my lovely husband and then we are going to watch a lovely Iron Chef marathon!! Fun night!!

Happy Day!

Lisa

Am I invisible??

So, I left the house to get some more stain and to get a new miracle brush for the deck, and I felt like I might be invisible!

I left my driveway and was driving down the street only to almost get hit by some teenagers who think a stop sign is just for fun! i'm pretty sure I left skidmarks on the road stopping to avoid that collision.

I then got on 165 and was just driving along when the car next to me signals, showing they have an intent to get in my lane... Apparently they didn't mind that I was in it cause they came right on over. Avoided but annoyed...

I then left Lowe's after picking up my supplies and was using the far right turn lane to then get in the far right lane once my turn was complete, well the couple next to me decided when they turned they didn't want to get in the lane that is meant for them to turn into and they came right on into my lane, and right in front of me!

Seriously, Am I invisible????

Happy Day!

Lisa