Jenny Snyder

Our beach pictures finally came in today - I made a new album with them.  I've told almost everyone that has seen them that getting Kevin to participate at first was like pulling teeth through his nose.  We were offered the shoot for free on the first day we were there as part of a promotional package, but I made the mistake of booking it 5 days out.  That was FIVE days of my sweet husband holding it over my head (i.e. bargaining:  "I'll do the shoot if we can spend 1 hour every day in Martin's Golf Superstore."); arguing over clothes despite instructions to wear something neutral ("We're at the beach, so why can't I wear my whale shorts for the shoot?");.. and then finally surprising me by looking as handsome as ever when it was time to go.  Not that I was surprised he looked handsome... I was just floored not to see whale shorts!

Once we were there, we (yes, both of us) had a great time.  Kevin saw a bird on his life-list that he had never seen before (a Piping Plover); we got a few great candid shots playing in the water (which unexpectedly RUSHED up on us and got our pants soaked); and some great "posed" shots in a place that is special to both us.  It will be a fun memory for years to come of our 2nd anniversary.

Here are some of my favorites:

    

 

I joined Kevin a few weeks ago on a business trip he had down in one of my most favorite cities in the US... Charleston, SC.  We're fortunate that Charleston is an easy and quick trip from Charlotte, so I rode down with my friend Kacie (who works with Kevin - and her beau is living down there for work right now). 

It was a relatively low-key trip... we ate, we walked around downtown, we shopped.  Its just one of those places that I never get tired of! 

We stayed at the Mills House Hotel right on Meeting Street.  Apparently General Lee was here during one of the city's "Great Fires" (they've had 5, I believe) and - not wanting his hotel burnt down - suggested hanging wool blankets out of the windows on the wood casings to prevent the fire from encompassing the building. Lee's men followed his orders, the building was saved, and the city called Lee a hero!

  

 

 

One of the guys from Kevin's company who lives in Charleston, our friend Bob, had rented a deep sea fishing boat on Saturday morning.  Being that I get nauseous just putting a toothbrush in my mouth in the mornings, I figured deep sea fishing was NOT for me!  So I went out to explore the city by myself and ended up on one of those horse and carriage rides with 11 strangers... where I learned a lot of random factoids about the city.

  

Above is the Miles Brewton House - and the iron spikes on the fence are called "chevaux de frise".  Rumored to be invented by Napoleon (which I couldn't find proof of), he used it to keep horses from jumping over fences.  In Antebellum Charleston, it was used to protect homes from revolting slaves.

 

The black bolts on the brick building above are earthquake bolts.  Since Charleston lies on an active fault line, bolts were installed on many homes after the Charleston Earthquake of 1886.  The bolts connect to the supporting frame of the house and can be tightened or loosened for stability.  The more interesting thing is that "faux bolts" can be purchased for the outside of newer structures to create a more genuinely historical appearance.

 

King Street (above).  Truly historic homes with beautiful gardens and welcoming front porches.  I imagine neighbors share a pitcher of mint juleps here on the weekends and gossip about the bridge club that meets on Wednesday night.  I would move to Charleston just to be in this area - it was absolutely beautiful.

After my carriage tour was over, I walked up and down Market Street for a bit and did some shopping.  I found a few goodies in the open air market, stopped at a local deli for lunch, found a black and white golf print for Kevin's new "man room", and then - Oh Happiness! - stumbled upon this store:

 

YES - a store full of nothing but pirate stuff!  AND - even better - they offer a tour that centers around pirate lore as it relates to Charleston.  Mental note for next time we're there.  I wanted a picture WITH the pirate, but couldn't bring myself to ask a stranger... anymore than I could bring myself to stand on a busy street and take a self-portrait next to a wooden statue. Next time.

My last stop on my excursion was back up King Street right behind our hotel.  It's mostly lined with expensive boutiques, but I came across a Ralph Lauren store that was having a HUGE sale for tax-free weekend and wanted to pick out something for Kevin.  Thanks to the wonderful customer service of one of their sales people, I came back with this:  (minus the green sweater - only the pants)

He loved it.  And imagine how excited I was to say to the sales guy "I know this is a crazy request, but is there any chance you have a belt with lobsters on it?" and have him reply "Actually, yes, we do... and it's on sale!"  Amazing.

And Kevin had good luck that afternoon, too, on his excursion.  Check out the loot behind him.

If you've never been to the Highland Games in Grandfather Mountain, its something that everyone should experience once in their lives... its such a unique experience.  When our friends Donna and Francie moved to Boone last fall, that's one of the first things I mentioned to them that I wanted to come up and do with them. 

Poor Donna was homebound all weekend due to a nasty fall, so she was homebound all weekend... but I swear I don't think I've had a more active weekend in a long, long time.  Kevin, Francie, and I were on the go the entire time starting from our arrival on Friday!  I ended up creating an album of all of the pictures - there were so many (Kevin took a TON of the scenery as we were on top of Grandfather at different points) - but here were some highlights:

The Highland Games, of course... there's a video below of a throwing a pole that's pretty impressive!; Riding a ski lift up Sugar Mountain; Walking across the Mile High Swinging Bridge (and freaking out); Feeding bears at the Grandfather Mtn zoo.  (And on top of all that... on our way out, we hit the J Crew outlet, where we found a 40% off of clearance sale!  HELLO!  I got an argyle sweater and a cashmere sweater... Kevin got a sailboat hoody, sailboat flip-flops, and lobster socks... and our grand total was $53.  LOVE IT!)

Kevin becomes Nature Boy when he is up there... and I just feel so darn tranquil and relaxed.  Its a hard place to leave.  And we always have so much fun with Donna and Francie - they're such great people with amazing, uplifting spirits and senses of humor!  Thank you for a wonderful weekend!

 

 

 

For Memorial Day, we headed way North to the exotic tropical island of New Jersey.  Rowdy and Kieran were boarded for this trip, so Fletch was the lucky winner - and he did GREAT on his first long distance car ride with us (probably thanks to the Bendryl we gave him before we left).  We got up at 3:30am on Saturday expecting a 10hr trip, but actually made in there in about 8.5hrs.  Still long, but not as bad as we thought.  Here's Fletchie passed out in his bed in the backseat:

Since I have 4 full days to cover, here's a quick summary of each day:

Saturday (Day 1):  Arrived around lunchtime.  Sat on the porch and talked for a while and enjoyed the beautiful weather.  Opened my birthday present from Kevin's parents - beautiful outdoor serving dishes perfect for a cookout and a gift certificate to Target.  And received a new wedding band from Kevin made by the same jeweler in NJ who custom-made my engagement ring!  Went a comedy club that night for Kevin's Dad's birthday.  Had dinner first at the hotel where the comedy club was.  It was prom night, so we watched the prom parade go through.  We were all in shock at most of the dresses that these girls were wearing ("did their mothers REALLY buy that for them?  Their boobs are hanging out!").  My favorite was a beautiful - and tasteful - Lilly Pulitzer black and white dress with a pink sash around it.  Once we were inside the comedy club, we picked a table close to the front - Kevin sat almost ON the stage right at the head of the table and he seemed to fair game for both acts.  The opening lady referred him as a "sonogram in a sports shirt" since he is so young looking.  The headliner, Ben Hague, who was INCREDIBLY funny, picked on him all night... nicknaming him "Chad" and constantly teasing him about being well-dressed in his green Lacoste pants and matching green/white striped golf shirt.  We talked to him for a few minutes after the show and as it turns out, his favorite golfers for fashion are Kevin's favorite as well - Ian Poulter, Luke Donald, etc.

Sunday (Day 2):  Kevin played an early morning tennis match with his Dad while Fletch and I slept in VERY late.  Once I got up and going, everyone was preparing for a small cookout in honor of Kevin's Dad's bday... so I helped a little with that.  Lots of yummy food both made by his family and catered by Whole Foods.  And there were DOGS GALORE!  Ashleigh (Kev's middle-older sister) brought her two Boston Terriers, Violet and Lilly.  Emily (Kev's younger sister) and her husband Marcin brought their Jack Russell, Duncan, and their Boston Terrier, Angus.  And his parents have a Jack Russell, Cubbie, and a Boston Terrier, Minnie.  And a big backyard.  Fletch felt like he was on vacation at the dog park all weekend.  He loved it!  Below is a picture of Ashleigh's babies, Violet and Lilly.

Monday (Day 3):  Outlet shopping!  One thing I love about this area is the amount of AMAZING outlets that it has to offer.  We went to Flemington, NJ to the Liberty Village Outlets because I wanted to visit the Michael Kors outlet there (and they also have a J Crew outlet at that location).  My happy self came away with a new MK  Montauk bag (see picture) that I have been stalking at random department store for 6+ months... at an unspeakable price!  Kevin's Mom and sister ended up getting bags at the MK outlet, too -- the prices were that amazing.  I also found a few cute things at the J Crew outlet as did Kevin (he actually stocked up on a ton of things... pants, critter shorts, several golf shorts - he did great!), and found a couple of pairs of comfy summer wedge heels at the Bass outlet.  Jennifer (Kevin's oldest sister) and her daughter Diana came back over that evening for dinner.  Kevin and Diana played softball in the front yard - and boy can that girl hit a ball!  She's unbelieveably athetic and is playing golf and tennis in addition to T-ball/softball.

Tuesday (Day 4):Kevin's Mom and I ran a couple of errands in the morning after we were up and going.  They gave me a Lord & Taylor gift certificate for Christmas after Kevin told them there was an L&T in Charlotte - the closest one is actually in VA, so I had been excited to go to the one up in NJ while were were visiting.  I found the most adorable French Connection shirtdress in a color called Limoncello that I was in LOVE with, but unfortunately... thanks to the trendy empire waist cut which doesn't flatter girls with big boobs and little waists... it didn't work on me.  HUGE disappointment as I still don't think I'm over that dress.  If it pops up on Ebay at some point down the road, I still might get it!  It was just that cute!  I did, however, find a great pair of brown mock croc heels that are uber-comfy (rare find for my picky feet) and an lime green tie with golf tees on it for Kevin.  Mission accomplished and I left L&T a happy camper!  We then went to a pet boutique up there called "Dogs & Cats Rule" where I found a cute sailboat leash and collar that I had intended for Rowdy, but when Kevin saw it - he asked if it could go to Fletch.  I forgot that poor Fletch is the only one without a decorative set.  So its now his.  Good thing, too... I looked at the manufacturer's website and found a LOBSTER one that I can get for Rowdy!  Yesssss!  Below is the pattern... as well as Kevin showing Fletch his new collar.

 

Wednesday (Day 5):  Up at 5:30am, on the road at 6am.  We hit rain somewhere around VA, so the drive took at little longer.  Fletch slept the whole way again - he's an amazing travel companion.  He was certainly excited when I brought his siblings home from the kennel, though - everyone sure did miss each other!  Traveling is great and we certainly had a wonderful time with everyone in NJ.... but it was nice to have our little family back home and snuggle up with all three kids.  Home sweet home.

Okay... I have some massive catch-up blogging to do.  How do I always get here?!?  I'm about 3 weeks out from our trip to Orlando - our Valentine's Day present/4-year "dating" anniversary present to each other.  So rather than trying to recount every single moment in several different blogs, I created an album with a bunch of pictures and a few highlights below.

DAY 1 (Wed 2/13):  Dropped off the dogs at the vet for boarding.  Saw for the first time that Fletch is very attached to his siblings - he cried when Rowdy and Kieran where taken back to their shared run and he was left in the lobby by himself.  Broke my heart.  Drove/rode for 8.5 hours to get there.  I kicked butt on Kevin's 80's name-that-tune challenge.  Checked in, took a short nap, went to get dinner at Crabby Bill's.

DAY 2 (Thu 2/14):  First thing, sat through our mandatory time-share presentation.  Once our required 1.5 hours was up and we told our sales rep "NO" and that we inherited a fully-paid timeshare a few months ago... she got rude.  Kevin warned me this would happen, but it was funny.  Played my first 18-hole round of golf in about a year.  I half-sucked, half-surprised myself.  Went to Arabian Nights for dinner (knock-off of Medieval Times - we had free tickets).  Thank goodness for the unlimited wine/beer... otherwise, I couldn't have made it through.  For example - during a portion of show celebrating Native Americans, they played Enigma's "Return to Innocence" and lit up a disco ball.  Because nothing says Native American like New Age Music and disco balls.

DAY 3 (Fri 2/15):  MOST FUN!  Spent the whole day at Animal Kingdom - my favorite Disney Park.  Rode the new roller coaster, Everest, 5 times.  I won't give away any "spoilers" in case anyone is planning on visiting there soon... but it's AMAZING!  Did the Kilimanjaro Safari 2 times (Kev has nicknamed this the Calamari Safari) so that we could get tons of animal pictures - they are all in the album.  Spent most of our time getting FastPasses for rides and stalking animals - totally fun!  They added a new Meerkat area... I could watch those guys all day.  Rowdy reminds me of a Meerkat, sort of.

   

That evening, Dave and Brooke came up from Tampa to hang out and stay the night in our condo.  Had a crappy dinner at Big River Brewery on the Disney Boardwalk (seriously, don't waste your time or money with the place - bad service, bad food).  Went dancing at Atlantic Dance Hall.  Danced to Debbie Gibson, Tiffany, New Kids, Vanilla Ice, Poison, Run DMC, etc.  Ended up hanging out with Turbo B from Snap (remember the song "I've Got the Power" from the late 80's?  Turbo B was the male rapper.) and his wife - it was their anniversary.  Adult beverages were consumed.  Plentifully.  And we'll leave it at that.  :)

 

DAY 4 (Sat 2/16):  Didn't feel so hot after aforementioned adult beverages on Day 3.  Had lunch with Dave and Brooke at the resort, then they hit the road to their next destination.  Kev and I went to Universal Studios Islands of Adventure.  I rode my first big girl roller coasters:  Hulk and Dueling Dragons.  And didn't yarf!  We rode a few other things as well - a cute Dr. Seuss kiddie train, an amazing Spiderman 3D ride (probably my favorite of the day), and a Jurassic Park water ride (I told Kev we shouldn't ride it because it was cold and we'd be soaked... somehow, he got soaked and I stayed totally dry - ha!).  As much fun as the trip had been, we knew it was time to go home the next day because we were both physically ailing.  We left the park when it closed at 8pm and went to a "mom and pop" Italian place for a hearty dinner.  Then collapsed back at the condo.

DAY 5 (Sun 2/17):  Drove/rode for 8.5 hours.  Lots of sleeping on my part and not as much of a concern of what music was coming through who's IPod.  I was wiped out.  We had to take a detour on some backroads because of Daytona race traffic.  Thank goodness Kevin can read maps!

We both said that was probably the most fun vacation we've ever had.  It was well deserved and fun to visit with friends.  We just don't see Dave and Brooke enough - even now that Brooke an East Coast girl! 

And how can you possibly have a bad time in the land of Mickey?!?!

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Boone, NC for the night to visit our dear friends, Donna and Francie who just moved up from FL.  We're thrilled to have them so close by! 

They used to race, breed, and raise greyhounds (they were Tempo's and Kieran's original moms), but have since retired... and they now have TEN greyhounds living with them!  They kept Kieran for us last month when we went up to NJ, so Kevin had already seen their house... but I hadn't and was dying to go.  So we loaded up the kids in the car and went on a roadtrip.

Kieran is so funny around the other greyhounds... you just sort of lose her in the crowd.  She blends in so quickly and makes herself right at home with the others (except at bedtime - she made a fuss to come sleep upstairs with Kevin and I... not with the rest of the greyhound crew).

Rowdy is another story.  He's an instigator.  There was one particular grey they were worried might be a little aggressive towards Rowdy named Jigsaw... but he proved to be fine.  In fact, they all did!  Rowdy learned quickly who he could and couldn't play rough with.  He learned who he could step on while they were sleeping and whose beds he needed to steer clear of.  I think the only thing that disappointed him was the fact that greys just want to lay around and sleep all day -- and Rowdy's day-long agenda is PLAY PLAY PLAY! 

(Rowdy gets the sniff-down by Sanka and Kiwi)

(... and then sneaks off with Bow, Jr's favorite toy)

On Sunday, after an awesome breakfast at a shiny diner... we drove into Blowing Rock to visit the outlets (or "MECCA", as I like to refer to those places).  They had a JCrew outlet which made me VERY VERY happy -- I did pretty well and the prices were pretty decent for outlet shopping vs. the regular store. 

When we stopped in the Gap Outlet... Donna, Francie, and Kevin must've gotten terribly bored waiting on me.  This is what I came back to after doing my return at the register:

(Kevin found a way to be stylish AND warm in the mountains)

(Time for a post-power-shopping nap with Rowdy)

We always have so much with Donna and Francie... they are truly two of our most favorite people in the world.  And with them being so close now, I predict many more mountain weekends in the future!

Kevin and I went up to New Jersey last weekend for his youngest sister, Emilie's, wedding... it was absolutely beautiful!  We had a great time visiting with his family and his parents friends, catching up with people we hadn't seen for a long time, and dancing our behinds off.  And Emilie made a most beautiful bride... she looked so lovely!

Kevin and I at Table 6

Kevin with his sister, Jennifer, and his neice, Diana

Like brother, like sister!

Kevin with his parents

Kevin and I met my mom and my cousin Michelle down in Myrtle Beach last weekend (11.11.07) for the Carolina Beach Music Awards.  We would normally go as a family since this event was my Dad's "baby", but this year, we went because they were honoring him and a couple of others who passed away this year.

Just after the start of the second half, they showed a short video of those who had passed away this year... then Craig Woolard called me onstage (which I was NOT expecting!) to present me with a Pepsi "bling" bottle to honor Dad.  The bottle was jokingly made to represent a morph of two of the awards sponsors - Hayes Jewelers and Pepsi.  My Dad would have laughed for days at that bottle!

The Alabama Theater was already "dressed" for Christmas, so Kevin and I took the opportunity - while we were dressed up - to snap a quick Christmas picture.

Again - catching up on blogging.

We joined my parents at our family mountain house in Burnsville, NC a few weekends ago... the place has a sign at the entrance that reads "Four Acres" as it sits on four acres in the middle of the woods on top of a mountain.  The closest neighbor is about a mile away - there's a bell that sits by the front door that has to be rung in case of any sort of "trouble" to notify the neighbor.  Truly rustic.

We didn't go up there much when we were in Raleigh because it was such a long drive, but now that we're in Charlotte, it's hardly 2 hours to get there.  My parents are in the middle of several re-modeling and fix-up projects, so Kevin and I offered to go help them on this particular weekend with one of the bathrooms.

However, the highlight of my trip was actually letting go of some of my "dog-mom anxiety".  I'm insanely overprotective of my dogs.  Insanely.  Kevin has been trying to convince me that Rowdy has the potential to be an off-leash dog in the right places if trained correctly.  Well, our "mile down the road" neighbor came over with her dog, Chairy, who is an off-leash dog.  Chairy was taunting Rowdy (who was on his leash at the time) and really wanted to play and rough-house with him... and I could tell that Rowdy really wanted to play.  So I don't know what got into me, but I took a deep breath, took of his leash... and watched Rowdy have the time of his life being chased by a dog twice his size all around the house, through the bushes, and up and down the stairs by this dog with no restraints.  He was dirty, muddy, and panting like crazy when he came back to me... but was one happy puppy!  And I was one happy mommy for letting him enjoy a good romp on the mountain.

Once again, I'm behind on my blogging... so I'm going to try to catch up on the last few weeks in the next few days.

Starting back on August 9th... I took a fun overnight work trip to Cincinnati (my first trip there) with one of the speakers that I work for, Brian Parsley.  I booked him for a seminar there that grew to a 1,500 person event, so we decided that this was a great opportunity for us to sell product there as well... hence my going along on the trip.  We left on a Thursday afternoon and arrived in a whirlwind between getting Brian's AV check done, doing a quick meeting with the client, getting my 20 boxes of product to the right place, trying to grab a quick bite to eat at the food court (and giving it time to digest), etc... madness!  No time to relax.

But the funny part was the next day.  Our company has purchased a block of time for Brian to fly on SATSair, so he opted to take one of their planes home.  I knew it was a small, private plane... but I figured something slightly roomy with a private bathroom, reclining seats, and I could feel free to move about the cabin once the fasten seat belt sign was no longer illuminated.  Boy was I wrong.  This is what we flew home in:

Yea.  Exactly what I was thinking.  "So that's the toy model that I can fit in my pocket.  Where's the full-sized one that the real people ride in?"

So... after I shoved a few Xanax followed by a few Dramamine down by throat (okay, not really... but I was wishing!)... I boarded.  And how do you board such a plane?  YOU CLIMB ON THE WING.  Right.  So I climbed on the wing into the backseat.  Inside it was about the size of a car.  Okay, a very small car.  A very small 2-door sporty car.  Brian sat in the front with the pilot so I was able to stretch out a little.

Once we got going, the ride was actually far smoother than a large plane... I was pleasantly surprised, especially considering my tendency towards motion sickness.  And then the pilot, Mr. Burns (A+ for the fact that he shared his name with a Simpsons character), handed me 2 packs of freshly baked Otis Spunkmeyer cookies for later.  Okay... SATSair has officially won me over.

We had to wear headseats to communicate inside the plane because it was so loud.  And once we were up above the clouds, I took a few pictures because it was actually breathtaking up there.  I'm scared of heights... but there was actually something quite peaceful and serene about being all the way above everything else.

Following my return back to Charlotte that Friday, Kevin and I spent the rest ofweekend in Raleigh visiting with family and celebrating family birthdays a couple of weeks early.