Getting ready for work in the light...

Most people have issues getting ready for work in the dark, apparently, I have issues getting dressed in the light. I wake up at 6:10am every morning and get ready for work, usually pulling in to my parking spot by 7:15am. It's now 10:00am and a few minutes ago I was talking with our school Secretary and realized that one of my earrings felt slightly longer than the other...they are also completely different colors. :) Oh well, at least it's fRiDaY.

Yesterday was Carmen's ??th birthday and we went to dinner at the Olive Garden. I was nice to spend the evening with family and the food was really yummy - breadsticks especially. HaPpY bIrThDaY tO cArMeN!

Weeks go by so fast at our house and we anticipate the weekend so much, that by the time it finally gets here, we can't think of anything to do. Cousin Allie is staying at our house this weekend, so Jake-opotumus should have a grand ole' time. Poor Allie. We definitely plan on making our Halloween brownie kit at some point; with all-inclusive ghoulish ghosts and boo-licious bats. :) Halloweenie time is just around the corner.......

KnitKnack

I have a new hobbie and I'm really enjoying it. I don't know what sparked the idea, but Saturday afternoon I went to Michaels and found myself in the yarn aisle. I fell in love; It was so warm and squishy and homey. I had no idea where to start because I didn't know anything about knitting, but after a few minutes of looking around, a beam of light appeared on the bottom shelf on a beautiful box. "Knit with Mickey Mouse" If anyone could help me learn to knit, I knew it would be Mickey! I found some adorable yarn (which was on sale - bonus!) and Mickey and I headed home to start on our new adventure. 48 hours later I completed my first square...well, maybe it was more of a rhombus shape, but I did it! My next project is a flower with a button center. They are so cute and I would love to make hairbands out of them. :)

Beach Baby

.........Vacation :)

Last week, the Potter clan donned swimsuits, banana boat (well I didn't and paid for it) and sunglasses, and spent 7 days at Topsail Beach! It was so great to spend time with my family and the house was amazing - elevator included! We stayed up late, ate ice cream, played games, tickled babies, sat in the "bubbly pool" and had parties in our tummies til we just couldn't take anymore. I don't think my mom and dad had been on a vacation since I was 15 so I was so glad they had such a good time. I can never get enough of my family...I never thought I would say that! :0)

Did I ever tell you how stinkin' cute my nephew and niece are? Well just so you know, the STINKINEST!!! Zeke and Ellie (cute names too!) are the best and Jared and I loved playing with them this past week. Zeke is 3 and is already a video game pro, and Ellie reminds me of a little me. She is little miss sunshine to a tee! Good job Blake and Elizabeth!

Oh, and on a lighter note, the first hour we were at the beach, Zeke wanted to go play in the water, so Dad, Jared, Zeke, Ellie, and I walked down to the beach. A few houses over a young couple was having a lovely wedding ceremony....until Zeke took all his clothes off and started running around naked. Ah, to be FREE!!!

Pictures and videos to come!

......the last 6 months summary

I am so awful. I will try and sum up the last few months and hopefully won't bore you to tears. Please bear with me.

First things, first. JARED AND I GOT MARRIED!!!!! How fabulous, right?! We tied the knot on March 14th at the Raleigh, NC Temple. The ceremony was beautiful and perfect. Afterwards, Jared and I had lunch at Andy's in Apex and shared a chocolate milkshake. Bliss. :) We drove back to Pinehurst, checked in to the hotel...........later that afternoon we had a ring ceremony for our family at CCNC and the reception followed. We danced the night away, cut the cake, and then off we were to Disney! Donning our Mickey and Minnie ears all the way!

Disney was magical. It was packed (must I remind you to NEVER go to Disney in March due to SPRING BREAK!!!!!) but we had a ball. We stayed at Disney's Allstar Movies resort for 8 days!! We rode rides, yes I RODE RIDES, ate at Cinderella's Castle (!!!!!) and had pictures taken with every Disney star we could find. Soarin' was my favorite ride and I loved loved loved the Spectromagic parade, which we saw 3 times. :) We bought shirts and watches and memorobilia out the wazoo and I'm ready to go back RIGHT NOW!!! Viva la Mickey!!

A few weeks after we got home and settled in to our married life, I was itching for a baby....a FURbaby that is!!!!! We had talked about Malti-poo's many times prior so I was on a hunt! Jake (yes, named after the Panther's football quarterback) joined our family in April and 2 became 3. Jake is all boy. He loves to get dirty, bark at everything, and thinks everyone is on this earth to play with him. Don't say "ride" in his presence at any time or you will be forced to drive him around in the car and let him hang 1/2 of his body out of the car window. He loves to be petted and chew on his bone. He loves to eat; see, I told you he was a part of the family! He has FINALLY mastered the art of potty training, or maybe we did, but doesn't listen to anything else you say. He loves to chew on dryer sheets and chase his tail. He is a rascal and I love him....Jared still isn't convinced that he can sleep in the bed, but I'm still working on it. :)

Life in the Kirk household is fairly normal. Can't you tell??????

It's been a while...

I know it's been forever since I last posted, but I figured I would give an update on how things are going. My new job at Academy Heights is absolutely wonderful. I love being aroung people and the kids are as cute as can be. The wedding planning is coming along and we're going dress shopping in a couple weeks. We've booked our Disney Honeymoon and we start making reservations for dinner restaurants on Monday! We're still in love as ever and can't wait to be married. Jared's Grandma passed away this past Monday; We had known it was coming for a while now. Although it was a sad time, it was also wonderful to be able to be near the family constantly through the past few weeks; I know that is how Grandma would have wanted it. She was a wonderful woman and wanted the best for Jared and me as we start our life together, she even told us to. She gave us her blessing at her passing for us to "love each other" and "communicate." It was a very special moment and one I will never forget.

Hope this can tide you over for a while...life is surely getting busy around here!!!

Blogging Hiatus

Phew! What a crazy week? Literally crazy. Things are getting a little less foggy so I'm making an attempt before the weekend to sum up this week. Just so everyone knows, I'm fine...well getting there. I haven't really felt that great this week and just haven't really felt like myself. I went home (Wilmington) to see my family Doctor, and I feel better already. Sometimes, you just have to stop what you're doing and get help - so I did. Jared, thanks for all your love and support - you are the best a girl could ever ask for and I'm so lucky and grateful that you will be by my side forever.

On Monday of this past week, I was offered a job at Academy Heights Elementary School as the Administrative Assistant (thank you Carmen!). I took the job and am very excited. Since my current job is in a "slow season" they told me I could make Friday (today) my last day. I love how things just fall into place when they are meant to be.

Today completes Jared's first whole week of being back at home and I'm so glad he was here, this week of all weeks. I really needed him this week and I'm so thankful he was here to be with me. We reached a new level of trust and love in our relationship and I'm truely grateful for his love and know now, even more, that he is who Heavenly Father put on this earth to be my husband.

Mom and Dad are on their way up this afternoon for a weekend in "The Pines." This is their first trip so I think we're all pretty excited. I'm not really sure what we are going to do with them...there are limited amounts of activity to be had in the area...so Jared will be the Host this weekend.

"The Last Lecture"

On Oprah a while back, I watched a show about Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture." I had never heard of him before the show, but as soon as I started watching, I was intrigued. She interviewed him and he gave a mini version of his famous lecture.



Randy Pausch was a professor at Carnegie Mellon and was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer not long ago; he lost that battle this past week and died on July 25th. Today, I found his entire lecture on YouTube. I learned so much from his short lecture and was in tears the entire time. He was so passionate about teaching and having fun while doing it. I took notes of what really stuck out to me:





1.) "Brick walls are there for a reason; They let us prove how badly we want things."


This was, as all of his comments, an eye opener to me. Things happen in our lives everyday that prevent us from getting what we want. We should not let these stop us. They are there for a reason and only make us stronger.





2.) "Wait long enough, and people will surprise you."


I really liked this because there are so many people out there who rub you the wrong way, or you may think negative of them because of something they have said or done, or even not done...if we wait for them to make a move, it will surprise us and we will learn something about ourselves as well as see them in a new light.





3.) "Don't bail. The best gold is at the bottom of barrels of crap."


I thought a lot about this statement. Giving up is giving in and you never know what great things you'll have if you bail. This goes for anything; a relationship, a job, a dream. Everyone goes through crap and if you keep pursuing, you will find the reward someday.





4.) "Decide if you're a Tigger or an Eeyore."


This was personal to me because I love both Tigger and Eeyore, but which one should you be in life? Today, I choose to be a Tigger.





It's funny how the lives of others, even people you don't know, influence yours for good. Randy Pausch was an amazing man, and I only watched him through a tv screen for about 2 hours. His life touched so many people and his legacy and spirit will continue - as I think he wanted; it was his dream to influence people for good. He had 6 dreams in his lifetime and they all came true because he worked hard for them. He accomplished "Life" and "his Dream."