We Are Back

We are home from Jamaica safe and sound. We had a wonderful time, it was absolutely beautiful, the weather was great, and we had so much fun. Congratulation to Anna and Travis, I think the destination wedding was a success. The new camera worked great and I think we have 300 pictures. I will try to help Rebecca go through all the pictures so we can devote an entire post to the trip. We got home late and needed a day to rest before going back to work. We got buddy from the Vet and he was so happy to be free he peed on the floor in their front office. Rebecca is not feeling good I think she may be getting sick hopefully not the flu because we both really don't have any days off left after all our travels. I think we have a Halloween party Saturday but we will see how Rebecca feels in a day or so. We could go to the party with surgical masks on and be doctors so we don't get everyone sick. We have our big Thursday night football game next week against Virginia Tech. Hopefully they will continue to play bad and we will continue to play good and we will get a great upset. Wishful thinking I know especially since we beat them last year I bet they have revenge on their minds. It is supposed to be a "pirate out" but there is all this talk on the banter board about a "black out" so I think I am going to cover both and be a black pirate. Come back soon for the Jamaica update -Barrett

Heading to Jamaica, Mon!

Tick tock...Jamaica bound in less than 14 hours! Can't wait! We're in desperate need of a little vacation from work. Not to mention some sunshine...it's been so cold and gross! Will follow up next week with fun details and some pictures! Last weekend was so great! Barrett went to Greenville for the Homecoming game. We won! 49-13, Go Pirates! I stayed in Charlotte and Sondra was in town visiting! We had a fun time. Did some shopping, had lunch at a fun little tea house called Ooh La La's, walked around (in 40 degree weather) at Wing Haven Garden and Bird Sanctuary, and watched some old movies. It was a fun weekend and I'm so glad she was able to come visit. A girls' weekend was long overdue! Poor Buddy will be at the vet from tonight till Monday morning. Send good thoughts his way! Have a Happy Birthday Rachel and Lora! I'll miss you guys! Don't have too much fun without me! See ya when we're back in the states! XOXO Rebecca & Barrett

Sorry!

I know it's been over a month since we've posted...sorry! I've thought about posting quite a few times, but it seems there's just never enough time to do so! So...let's try to catch up.

The first football game was so fun! ECU beat App State in a close game. We dominated pretty much the whole game...until the 4th quarter. We're not quite sure where they came from all of a sudden. Apparently, our players were getting cramps from the heat. Really? You live and play in Greenville...did you not practice in that awful heat all summer?? Oh well...we pulled out a win, so I guess that's all that really matters! :-)

The next weekend we stayed in Charlotte. Saturday night we went to a couple's shower for Travis and Anna (who are getting married in Jamaica on the 23rd). It was a lot of fun, Jamacian themed, and full of good food and lots of wine! After the party, I thought it would be fun to go Uptown. Really, Rebecca? I probably haven't been out Uptown in more than a year. It wasn't the best idea I've ever had. Poor Barrett was the designated driver for the night, and I am certain he would have much rather headed home after the party. I definitely paid for it on Sunday morning. :-)

The next weekend, Matt and Lora came to Charlotte! We just love hanging out with them. Richmond is just too far away! They brought they're dog Cody, and he and Buddy had fun hanging out together. Well, Buddy had fun hanging out with him. Poor Cody probably couldn't wait to get away from our energy ball! They also brought our awesome new island with them! They found it in a showroom in Richmond that was going out of business. It's so perfect in our kitchen. I thought I was going to lose my mind if I didn't get some more counter space! So, we were more than excited that they brought it down to us! We mostly did a lot of lounging around, watched the ECU/UNC game (not a good showing), and then headed to an Irish pub for dinner. The weekend definitely went too fast and we hope we're able to see them again very soon! We got a few good things done around the house on Sunday. Cleaned out the pantry, made the island the new home for things from our over flowing cabinets, and found some Buddy Biscuit mix! So, we made treats for Buddy! He loves them! He was very patient during the hour and a half long process, but I believe he would tell you it was worth the wait!

We had a slight change in plans the next weekend. We were planning to head to Greenville for the ECU/UCF game, but circumsatnces changed a bit and we didn't end up staying. We did get to stop and spend the night in Raleigh though to spend a (very) little time with Rachel. Again, Raleigh is just too far away and we wish we got to see Rachel and Bubba more. Looks like we may just need to move north a little bit!

This past weekend, I went to Anna's bachelorette party in Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach. We had a great time and I got to see some people I hadn't seen in a long time. Barrett hung back in Charlotte with Buddy and took it easy.

This weekend we'll be in Charlotte again. Yay! I have a nice long weekend Fri-Sun. Barrett has to work Saturday :-( but hopefully I'll get some much needed things around the house taken care of.

Exactly two more weeks till we leave for Jamaica! We can't wait. We are in desperate need of a little vacation!

24 Hours to Go!

Just about 24 hours till Pirate football kicks off for the season! We can't wait! We're heading down tonight...all of our purple and gold gear is packed! We've got freshly painted corn-hole boards (how awesome do they look!) and Buddy ready to go!

Other than that...not too much else is going on. We'll be consumed with Pirate football for the next 4 months!

Last weekend we were in Carolina Beach with Matt and Lora. It was really fun...very relaxing. Friday night we went to dinner at this little place called the Shuckin' Shack. We had awesome steamed oysters and shrimp. We then went to this little bar called the Last Resort...it wasn't really hoppin' so Lora and I broke a rule or two there (see incriminating photo) and then headed back to the condo. :-) Saturday turned out to be a really beautiful day. We were out at the pool for a good 7 or 8 hours. Bill and Ging (Lora's parents) were there, and Bill caught a lot of fish that day so we had another yummy dinner. Lora and I called it a night early, but Barrett and Matt snuck out to the bars late night. We hear they had a good time! Thanks so much Matt and Lora for a great weekend!

Jamaica in 40 days!

Go Pirates!

Coming up...

So...last weekend was really nice. We got to be a little lazy. Hung around the house, went to the pool, got some laundry done... It was nice to be home and I know Buddy was happy we were there too! :-) Tuesday was my friend Elyse's birthday. We went bowling at the new Strike City uptown and had a really great time. It was so fun and a really neat place. I won the award for the lowest score of the night (a whopping 52) and Barrett was trying for most creative bowl, but was beat at the last minute. I love to hang out with the girls from work. They are so fun to be around and quite honestly are one of the major reasons I still work at the hospital. They have pretty fun husbands/boyfriends/significant others too...so it's fun for Barrett as well! All in all, a pretty succesful trip uptown! Another fun tid-bit - Lora called me this week and told me she thinks she found a FREE island for our kitchen! Yay! This show room that works with Matt went bankrupt and closed their doors and basically told Matt to come take whatever he wanted. Lora saw this freestanding, solid wood island with a black marble (I think she said marble) top. She said it's super heavy but thinks it will fit well in our kitchen. We will be able to stain the wood to match our cabinets, and our appliances are black, so I think it will work. We're also planning to put a black backsplash in the kitchen too, so I think it will all look good together. It will take up a good bit of floor space...but I am so excited to have more counter space AND a drawer for my silveware! It won't have to live in the pantry anymore! Thanks, Lora, for keeping your eyes open! Just when I thought I was feeling better...I got a pretty bad cough. It's worse at night, but makes me kid of tired and my chest hurt a little in the day. At least this time I don't think I'm having a heart attack! Hopefully a little Day-Quil and Robitussin will knock it out. This weekend we're doing a little more of the same. Relaxing. No real plans except maybe a little sushi outing for dinner one night. And - Barrett is going to start painting Matt's new fun cornhole boards. We brought them here to Charlotte and Steve, one of Barrett's friends from work, drew Pee Dee the Pirate on them. So - now it's time to paint them so they can be done for the first game in two weeks! Go Pirates! :-) Hope everyone is doing well! XOXO

Sunny Florida

We had such a great time in Florida! We really had great (hot) weather all week and got to spend a lot of time out in the sun. It was so great to get to spend some time with Susan, Mike, Matt, Jenna, and Landon. We miss you all already! We spent Wednesday out on the beach. When we got there, we thought maybe we were going to be rained out....but, it turned out to be a beautiful day. We spent time in the water, took a walk down to the jetty with Matt & Jenna, and soaked in the sun. Barrett even let Matt bury him in the sand a bit. :-) We went back to the beach that night to watch the sunset and listed to a group of drummers. Landon had a really fun time! :-)

Thursday we headed 6 hours south to Key West for a quick, but fun, overnight trip. The drive wasn't so bad (maybe because I took a dramamine and slept most of the way!) and we stopped at a fun little place for lunch called Chappy's in Marathon just before the 7 mile bridge. Barrett & I had never been to Key West before, so we were excited to see what it was all about. We had some yummy cocktails, went to Mallory Square for sunset, had breakfast (a delicious breakfast) with the chickens at Blue Heaven, took pictures with the buoy at the Southern Most Point, saw Hemingway's house and the Little White House, and walked nearly the full length of Duval Street. Our hotel was really great and in such an awesome spot. If you're heading to Key West, we highly recommend the La Concha Crown Plaza. On the way back, we drove through the Everglades. It was fun scenery for the long stretch home. Matt, Jenna, and Landon left Saturday :-( to get back to Greenville. The plan was to spend sometime at the beach that day....but I wasn't feeling so great (more to come on that later) so I actually napped most of the day while Barrett made a Mii on the Wii for everyone. That afternoon I perked up a bit and we did get in some beach time. Barrett and Mike went diving for sand dollars and Susan and I got in some good reading time. We had a really yummy dinner at the Lock & Key in Englewood. They had a husband and wife duo (Beau & Becca) playing guitar and singing. They were really great and we stayed to listen to them a bit after dinner. Sunday, Barrett & I got in a little pool time in the morning. The pool in the community where Susan works is really nice, and we even had it all to our selves for about an hour or so. Then...off to the airport, and back to Charlotte. We left about an hour later than anticipated from Sarasota and nearly missed our connection in Atlanta. We RAN at full speed through the ATL airport. When we got to our gate, the door was closed, and we were sure we'd missed it. But then - the door opened and the gate agent came out! Turns out, they were changing a tire on the plane, so we were able to get on. We ended up sitting there for about 20 minutes, so luckily our luggage made it on the place with is too! All in all - it was a really great trip. Too short - but so needed. Thank you again so much Susan and Mike for such an awesome week. We hope to be back very soon. As for me...I'm feeling a little better. I'd been feeling a little funny for a while - headaches, dizziness, nausea, tired all the time... But then, I also started having pretty bad chest pain about 2 weeks ago. At first, I thought it was heartburn but no meds helped. Then, I thought maybe it was anxiety because we'd been so busy. But, it never really went away and nothing seemed to help it. When we got back home from Florida, I was feeling pretty bad. The pain in my chest had moved around to my back. I wasn't really sleeping well and knew I needed to get to the doctor before I self-diagnosed and freaked myself out. :-) So, Monday I went to work, but ended up leaving about an hour and a half later because I felt so bad. I went to the doctor and they took some chest x-rays and did a bunch of lab work (complete blood count, metabolic panel, thyroid, iron, coronary panel, and the kitchen sink). Wednesday, I went back in for my follow up - and apparently, I'm fine. Everything was negative. Nothing showed up in my blood or x-rays. So, I guess I should be happy that everything looks good, but it's just really frustrating. I mean, I don't feel GOOD. It kind of makes me feel stupid - like maybe people think I'm making it up or just complaining. But, you don't just feel bad for no reason. So, I guess I'm right back where I started. They want me to do a sleep study - he thinks maybe I have apnea or am just not going into REM. Who knows. I guess I'll just try to take it easy for a while and see how it goes. Other than that....not too much going on. We were supposed to go to Beaufort for a wedding this weekend, but we're going to be staying home. I just want to take it easy, get some rest. Plus, we don't really want to board Buddy again this weekend. And, Barrett didn't ge tomorrow off, so 6 hours is kind of a long drive for one night. So...we're laying low this weekend. Getting some cleaning done around the house, laying by the pool, and hanging out with Buddy. Hope you all have relaxing weekends as well. XOXO

Lora and Matt's Wedding Weekend...

We had a BLAST at Matt & Lora's wedding in Burlington this weekend! She was stunning and Matt looked really handsome. The Craig Woolard Band played awesome beach music all night...yummy seafood...good friends...

The weekend started for me on Thursday. I headed to Burlington to help Lora out with a few last minute things. Lora, Ging, and I went to the nail salon for mani pedis too.

Friday was the bridesmaids luncheon at this cute little place in Mebane call Dick & Jane's. It was hosted by Katie (Allen) Krist and her mom, Jan. It was lots of fun, and we had these fun little martinis called summer lemons. Yum...but dangerous! :-) The rehearsal was that night and went smoothly for the most part. Katherine and I were wearing the same dress (in different colors) so, great minds think alikt I guess! Barrett had to work Friday, so he came in after work and made it to the rehearsal dinner at The Cutting Board. The food was good and they had the most awesome Pee Dee the Pirate cake made by Lora's Aunt Erin.

Saturday was busy busy! We started early at Positive Image for hair and makeup. The limo picked us up at Lora's at 2:30, and we headed to the church for pictures. Lora looked beautiful and the colors (purple and yellow) looked so great together. We may be a bit biased though... :-)

We had a really great time at the reception. The food was awesome (lots of seafood...oysters 4 ways, shrimp, etc.) and the band (Craig Woolard) was so fun! The dance floor was full ALL night! I don't think I've ever seen that at a wedding before! The night went too fast...it was such a good time.

Sunday was kind of a slow start...but we got to hang out with the newlyweds for a few hours before we headed home and before they took off to Hawaii for 10 days.

Good times. I think we're done with weddings till Jamaica on October. It sure has been a nuptial-filled few months!

July Is Over Already

Well I think that went by very fast, it seems like just yesterday we were on the dock in Emerald Isle watching fireworks. That is okay though because that just means we are closer to football season (Go Pirates) and Jamaica. This weekend we are going back to where we grew up Bigger Better Burlington. Our friends Lora and Matt are getting married and Rebecca is in the wedding so we will be busy all weekend. Thursday Rebecca will be heading up to try and help out as best as she can and try not to get in the way. Then they have the normal bridesmaid's luncheon Friday followed by the rehearsal. I will be making my way up there after work on Friday for the rehearsal dinner and hopefully some Burlington fun i.e. going to Biscuitvile, eating at Zach's, cruising Edgewood, hanging out at Raygo, and maybe go to Hams. I know we will have a good time and it will be nice to see some friends. Next weekend we are going to visit my mom and mike down in Florida. We are very excited and can't wait because we will get to see Matt, Jenna, and Landon as well. It has been too long since we have seen them; I think Matt said Landon is already shaving. We have plans to go to Key West which will be very neat since neither of us have been there before. Nice long weekend trip hopefully lots of fun and good times with the family. Well I need to stop wasting time writing on the blog and get back to painting the corn hole boards so my brother will stop bothering me and I will try to get Rebecca to add more picture. Send us some love via comments if you want and we will continue to keep you posted. -Barrett

End of July...

I can't believe we're almost to August! Where did the summer go??? We've had such a busy summer that we've barely noticed it passing us by. Let's see....what have we been up to?

Two weeks ago we went to a wedding in Spartanburg, SC. It was for our friends Jason & Elizabeth (aka, Jeter). It was a beautiful ceremony in an old church in downtown Spartanburg. The reception was just as nice and so much fun! We really had a blast! It was also nice because it was a quick trip....about an hour there and back. That made Buddy happy because he got to stay at home! Jeff & Cindy were awesome and took care of him for the night! Thank you, thank you, thank you again! :-)

Last weekend was so nice! We had NOTHING to do! We ran errands, did a littl house cleaning, and spent some time by the pool. It's so nice to have a day to breathe! We almost forgot what that feels like!

This weekend is pretty mellow too. I'm working today for a few hours (yuck!) and Barrett is hanging out with Jason & Elizabeth...fresh off their honeymoon in the DomRep (popular desination these days!). This afternoon we're heading to Addyson's 1st birthday party. Addyson is Barrett's stepbrothers beautiful baby girl. Then...I think we're heading to a cookout with Jason & Jeter. Tomorrow...we're heading poolside. Gotta get rid of some bathing suit strap tan lines before Lora's wedding next weekend! Then...we're off on a busy few weeks again.

Off to enjoy what's left of our "do nothing" weekend! :-)

End of June into July...

It has been a long time since we have blogged and Rebecca has been too busy so I(Barrett) am taking it into my own hands and updating The Brooks Board. A few weeks ago we had a Fiesta for Matt and Lora. I am sure everyone had a good time even though it was a 100 degrees out. We had plenty of food and fun plus there was a pinata filled with mini bottles, koozies, and candy. The next weekend we went down to Charleston for our friends Austin and Melissa's wedding. We left really early Saturday so that we could get down there and walk around. Lucky for us we had a great hotel (thanks again dad) and we got to check in at 11:00. After that we walked through the market and down to the battery to see the tall ship after that we had a little lunch. The wedding was wonderful right on the water at and old Charleston home and the reception was in The Exchange one of the places the Constitution was signed. Also toward the end of the reception we also got to explore the provost dungeon where pirates were held in old Charles Town. Enough of the history lesson, later that evening we went with a bunch of friends to Wet Willies and had one frozen drink and had to retire for the evening. Last weekend we had a few days off and got to spend them in Emerald Isle with my Grandma, Aunt, Uncle and Cousins. We got down Thursday mid day and went straight to the dock and stayed out in the sun almost the entire time. I did get to go out with my cousins fishing pretty early Friday, but a combination of the night before and the really rough seas I got sick more times than we had bites. We tried everything but ended up calling it and heading back after getting completely skunked, like they say though a bad day at the beach is better than the best day at work. On the 4th of July we packed up the boat and headed to coast guard beach and hung out there most of the day playing boccie ball. That evening we had the 4th of July porch party got to see fireworks from Swansboro, Cherry Point and Emerald Isle all from the dock, it was great. This weekend we are off again this time to Spartanburg for another wedding of our friends Jason and Elizabeth. This might be the biggest wedding I have ever been to I think around 400 people and a few of those will be Charlotte friends so should be another good time. Unfortunately we are leaving buddy again but he will be in good hands. Wish us luck and hopefully for anyone reading these this is my last post. -Barrett

Taking it Easy...

Last weekend was full and fun-filled...and completely exhausting! Barrett was in Emerald Isle with the boys. I know they had lots of fun...pictures are worth a thousand words! I was in Myrtle Beach for Lora's Bachelorette Weekend. We were able to go out and see the Craig Woolard Band, who will be playing at her wedding. They were so fun and will be so awesome to see again in August! Other than the weather not cooperating so well, it was a nice weekend for us both. This weekend...we're taking it easy! We decided to back out of the wedding we were supposed to go to in Benson, NC. Our budget and brains are reaching exhaustion for this month, so we decided it would probably be best to lay low...Well, except for the fact that Barrett decided to go to a Bachelor Party in Myrtle Beach, so I guess Buddy and I will be laying low! We need to rest, regroup, and get ready for next weekend. We're throwing a Fiesta for Matt & Lora at our house! Should be lots of fun! Margaritas and pinatas always make for a good time! :-)

Adventures in Grocery Shopping

So, I've been trying to figure out this whole coupon using thing for a while now. It blows my mind how some people can go to the grocery store, buy $400 worth of items, and walk out having only spent $3.14. I just couldn't figure it out! I had clipped coupons from the Sunday paper, brought them with me to the store, and saved $20 or so, but still paid $150! I couldn't wrap my head around it! But then...at work a few days ago, one of the nurses gave a mini-lesson on the tricks of the trade. It really is like a game! There are secret codes and special days of the week...it's very involved! So, last night Barrett and I went to Harris Teeter to see if we could use my new skills to our advantage...I didn't have very high expectations, but my goal was to save at least as much as I spent. So, how did we do?? We met the goal! We spent $81 and saved $84! So, half price! I was pretty happy for our first time out! We probably could have done better...we bought some things that we didn't have coupons for (like buy 1 get 1 free london broil, which also isn't half bad) so that was extra money we spent. We'll do better next time...Practice makes perfect! :-)

One weekend down...15 or so to go!

We made it through our first big adventure of the summer! A quick little trip to the Greenville area, and we had a great time!

I spent the weekend out on the Pamlico River (not the Tar like I thought before) and had a wonderful time with the girls from work. We spent the whole day Saturday out on the boat. It was finally sunny...I've been waiting for a sunshine filled day for weeks now! So we soaked up a little sun and good company, and enjoyed some much needed relaxation.

Barrett got to spend some time with Matt, Jenna, and Landon. They went to the ECU baseball regionals and watched us lose miserably on Saturday to South Carolina. But, ECU rallied and ended up winning two games yesterday which puts us into an elimination game today against SC again...keep your fingers crossed! Go Pirates! :-)

Buddy had a blast, too. He got to spend some time with his cousin Beau. He also swam in a pool that wasn't his...see insert. :-) Barrett took Buddy and Beau to Jenna's mom's house to spend some time in the back yard while they headed to the baseball game. Barrett said as soon as he opened the fence, Buddy headed straight for the pool. It looks like Beau's saying, "Gosh, Buddy. I really want to get in there, but I'm not so sure we're supposed to!" Eventually, Beau joined the party. Hey...it was hot...they're labs...it's what they do! He then proceeded to sleep the entire day away on Sunday.

Next weekend we're heading in opposite directions. Barrett's headed for a boys' weekend at Emerald Isle with his brother and cousins. Sounds like nothing but trouble to me! :-) I'll be at my best friend Lora's bachelorette party in Myrtle Beach. I can't wait to get my toes in the sand for the first time this summer! We're all keeping our fingers crossed for more sunshine!

And We're Off!

Here goes nothing... Starting this weekend we are going, non-stop, full force until sometime in September. It's going to be one of those summers that flies by way too fast. It will be full of fun and friends, and we're excited about all that is going on, but we're going to be so exhausted! :-) This weekend we're heading into Eastern North Carolina. We'll be staying in Greenville with Matt, Jenna, and Landon Friday night. Barrett will stay there for the weekend, but I'm heading down the road a bit to stay with friends for a birthday celebration on the Tar River. It'll be nice to have a girls weekend, and Barrett will have a great time visiting with the family. Buddy gets to come with us (THANK YOU MATT & JENNA)...so we're really happy we don't have to board him...he gets sad. :-( So, we'll head four hours down the road and four hours back to start the summer season off right. Keep your fingers crossed for sunshine!

Venturing into Blog-land...

OK...we're taking the plunge. Time to jump on the Blog Bandwagon I suppose! We'll use this site to keep you posted...updated on the ever-so-interesting things happening in our lives! We promise to work really hard to keep this updated. Check back soon! XOXO Rebecca & Barrett