Duke Basketball Game

I have to begin this post by saying that Doug & I are - first and foremost - Mizzou fans. But now that we have been in Durham for almost four years, we have slightly warmed to our surroundings. When we had an offer of free tickets to go to a Duke basketball game - we jumped at the chance.

As you can imagine, tickets for the games are almost impossible to get. Cameron Stadium is such an amazing place to see a game - with so much history. Many people name it as one of the top places to see a sporting event. The tiny, old stadium combined with the tradition of Duke Basketball and energy of Cameron Crazy Fans make for an interesting time.

Our tickets were in the student section. Imagine me - 15 Weeks pregnant, standing on bleachers with a bunch of crazy college students. I felt so old - but it was so much fun! Our friends left early and we decided to trade in our standing room for their seats. The #7 Blue Devils beat Gardner Webb 113-68 and we enjoyed our first Duke basketball game.

I'm not zooming in - this is a shot from our seats in the student section. We literally walked out onto the floor to find our seats.

Coach K and crew look serious

View from the rafters and the second half. Cool shot of how intimate the stadium is - 12,000 people tightly squeezed in like sardines. It's similar to your high school gym. Couldn't resist a shot with the National Championship trophies. The photo doesn't show it well, but they have draped the nets from the games over the plaques.

Holiday Party

As we head into the holiday season, once again I am thankful to have a great job and work with such wonderful people. A few weekends ago, my agency had a fun holiday party with great food and lots of laughs. I enjoyed a few non-alcoholic beverages with my co-workers as we toasted to another good year of business.

With a few girls from work

The Big 3-0

I wasn't sure how I felt about turning 30. But this year turned out to be the best birthday I have ever had. What a great start to what should be a great decade!

When your day starts with this box - what's not to like?

Then I went to the doctor with my mom and got to hear the sweetest sound of our baby's heartbeat! When I got to work, I got to share the news (no, I didn't eat too much Turkey). There's a baby in there! Baby B at 13 weeks.Had a great day at work with a fun birthday lunch and cupcakes (my favorite). Then I got these beautiful flowers from my husband.

Then I got to celebrate my birthday dinner with my husband, mom, grandfather and great Aunt at Magnolia Grill - #11 in Gourmet Magazine's Top 50 American Restaurants. Such a great meal, with wonderful company!

Hello, dessert!A few days later, we went out with some friends to a local Mexican restaurant to celebrate and catch up.
I heard from so many people- it just was such a wonderful day. Thanks to everyone who made it special.

Mountaintop Thanksgiving

We have so much to be thankful this year. Doug & I were so lucky to stay in North Carolina this year for the Thanksgiving Holiday - my mom, Grandpa John and Great Aunt Evie traveled to come and see us! What a treat.

We spent a day in Durham before packing up and driving to the mountains for a four night retreat in a log cabin. Such a great way to spend Thanksgiving with our family. Our friend Chad also joined us, so we had a full house.

We spent our days cooking, eating, playing games and sitting cozy by the fire. It was a perfect holiday! Plus, our visitors stayed a few days longer - so our we didn't have to say goodbye. Hope you and yours had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Me with Mom and Willie by the fire.

Grandpa kneading the dough for our homemade rolls - yum!

The dogs wresting on the couch

On the hill, in front of our cabin. This is a really bad angle, but yes I'm starting to look pregnant :)

From the road where we fried our turkey - what a view we had!

The cooks in actionOur first Fried Turkey - it was so good!

Right as we finished eating, it began to snow - it was beautiful!

Doug and I took a walk after dinner in the snow. View of our cabin.

On our walk with Willie
Disclaimer: I am holding Doug's alcoholic beverage in this photo so he could take the picture. I was not drinking. I swear. You can ask my mom.

On the way back to the cabin, we heard a deer in the woods. We were peering into the darkness as Willie stood on point. All of a sudden, Doug said, "I hope it's a deer and not a bear." At that point, I grabbed Willie and took off. A few seconds later, he saw the outline and said it was a bear! When he turned to tell me not to panic, I was halfway up the hill - running all the way home. I think it was my first mother's instinct kicking in.

Cozy Thanksgiving evening

The dogs wrestling in the snow

After our trip to Blowing Rock, we took a quick drive on the historic Blue Ridge Parkway

On our last day - Mom & Gpa on the porch.

Baby B

My last ultrasound - at 8 weeks

We are very excited to announce that we are expecting our first child - Baby B is due June 9! I am 13 weeks and feeling great (besides a little fatigue). We have been to the doctor three times and had two ultrasounds. My most recent appointment was yesterday and I was able to hear the baby's strong heartbeat for the second time. My mom was still in town from Thanksgiving and was able to go to the doctor with me and heard the baby, too!

We are going to find out the gender in about six weeks, so we will let you know those and any other updates. Thanks for all the well wishes - we are very excited about this next chapter in our lives.

Shootout!

My agency is doing work again this year for the Carolina Hurricanes. Great news for us, since we usually get to go to a few games. Last week we got to go to a great game vs. Toronto. Probably one of the most exciting sporting events I have ever been to - the Canes came back to tie the game at 5-5 in the last 2 seconds! Then overtime and a shootout. So exciting! We were lucky and got to bring two friends with us to the game - our friends Chad and Maria. Maria's husband couldn't make it - he missed a great game!

Fun Fall Stuff

Our carved pumpkin on Halloween - it was almost 80 degrees!

The cutest bumblebee! Do you see the stinger?

We have such a great, relaxing Fall, but I have been really bad about taking photos. We had a fun Halloween party with friends on the Friday night before Halloween. We all carved our pumpkins - Doug did a great job on ours. On Halloween, Willie dressed up as a bumblebee and we gave out candy to a few neighborhood kids that stopped by.

We also celebrated Willie McGee's third birthday. He got a new football for his birthday, which he has already destroyed! November marks my last month in my 20's and the beginning of the holiday season. So much fun stuff to look forward to including my family visiting for Thanksgiving and a trip to St. Louis for Christmas. Is anybody else already listening to Christmas music?

Our 3 year old pup. He's growing up so fast :)

Ice Cream Cones & Semper Fi

Another year passes and we are wishing my dad a happy birthday today. As I vowed last year, I have decided to celebrate his life - which is why I'm writing this today. Last year, my good friend Megan told me that her mom eats an ice cream cone every year to remember a loved one. I thought that was such a great idea! So last year, I decided to start that tradition for my dad's birthday.

When I was growing up in Platte City, Missouri there were no fast food restaurants. No restaurants, really. Needless to say, the day that Dairy Queen came to town was pretty exciting for us. That was the first day that my dad bought me a blizzard. After that, DQ was our special place. We would drive through and pick up M&M blizzards - Dad always sweet talked the girls at the window to add more candy. So having an ice cream treat on his birthday feels very fitting.

Another known fact about my dad - he was extremely proud of my brother's service in the Marine Corps. And he loved that his birthday fell on the Marine Corps "Birthday". And today, it just feels right that my brother sent me an email from Iraq to say that he was wishing dad a happy birthday, too.

And so a very happy birthday to my dad and all the Marines who unselfishly serve our country. I am very proud to put those two sentiments in the same breath. I raise my ice cream cone to you all - Semper Fi.

Outer Banks Beach Week

What a great week we had at the beach here in North Carolina! Doug and I had never been to the Outer Banks but had heard great things. Here in NC, a lot of people rent beach houses for summer vacation. After some recommendations, we decided to rent a place in Nags Head in late September - which would give us cheaper rates, still warm temperatures and less crowds. We invited some folks out to spend the time with us and we couldn't have asked for a better location, weather and company.

The guys did a lot of this- Fishing. It was great because we could just walk right down to the beach from the house.

Our friends from Missouri, Carrie & Scott :) So glad they came out to spend some time!

Our nightly walk on the beach - found out Willie chases sand crabs.

The view from our house/deck. We had a fantastic location!

Shot of Doug's dad fishing through the sea grass.

The other view from our deck. There were a lot of these houses around us that had water that came up under them. Over the years the beach has shifted and some of the houses are condemned.

On Monday, we took a drive to Cape Hattaras to see "America's Lighthouse". One of the few lighthouses you can climb up.

With Carrie at the top!

Doug with his parents

We drove further south and took the ferry to Okracoke. We had a great dinner on the water and got to check out the Okracoke lighthouse.

My favorite time of day. Every morning I took Willie out to play in the water. Doug got up with us on Tuesday so I could get some fun shots of them.

The guys went fishing & crabbing. Doug posing with the first blue crab that was caught.

Steve & Connie enjoying the evening view on the deck.

The guys fishing on Wednesday in the sun

Holly, Justin & Parker joined us on Wednesday night after Scott & Carrie left. Here is Parker chilling on the beach Thursday.

Beach wiffle ball

Justin & Parker, Doug & Willie. Two babies.

Holly & Parker at the Wright Brothers Memorial in Kitty Hawk.

The memorial is mainly outside, showing each flight time & distance. We learned that the brothers chose the Outer Banks for it's breezes and soft ground...

The memorial

Justin & Doug hanging with Orville on a replica of the first plane.

On our last day, at the Bodie Island Lighthouse.