Get your workout on...

Well, Chad & I are officially members of a local gym here in Fayetteville called The Sports Center. We went in for a tour last Thursday and decided it was a good place for us to become members, so Saturday, we made it happen.

It's a nice and quaint little place. It's known mostly for its racquetball courts because it has 10 or more full courts. I'm not really a racquetball player myself, but maybe I'll become one (?). There's an olympic-size pool, a cardio section, a boxing section, weight lifting section, spin bike classes, tennis courts, and aerobics rooms. Chad & I are trying to make a habit of going at least 3 or 4 times a week. One week later, we've been successful! Yay for us!

Chad is going to start training to do a marathon and then eventually a triathlon. Kelly thinks he's crazy! haha. I believe with my whole heart that he will be successful though, and I'm going to try my best to help him along the way. Being as healthy as we can is our biggest goal. I'll keep you posted on how our journey to good health is going!

Let's talk about Showbiz...

Wow, I have just realized how many shows I have going on right now. Even though Chad and I have a DVR, last night was a very challenging night of television. 5 1/2 hours of great tv, all in one night! We had a little overlap in timing that slightly overloaded our system. I love Tuesday nights! American Idol, The Biggest Loser:Couples, & Dancing with the Stars = A Good Night!

We'll start off by saying AI could have been better because I feel that the singers could have picked better songs to sing...I mean, COME ON! It's the freakin' Beatles we're talking about here. They have to have at least 60 or 70 songs or so to choose from! David Archuleta was a sweety as usual, David Cook did well (minus the weird noise box), Michael Johns did better than they said, & Ramiele wasn't as bad as they thought either. I am really starting to like Brooke White a whole lot. Last night wasn't so great and she's really awkward in her movement, but she's just a normal, talented chick that can sing & engage the audience. Lets hope next week will be even better.

The Biggest Loser: Couples was good last night. I missed the last two weeks which has driven me nuts and now I'm super-confused on why Aly and Mark have returned. Why were they so special that they get a second chance?! If you know, please fill me in! It was probably about time for Maggie to go, but Brittany sure is getting close every week! I think that in the end, Dan or Mark is going to win. They just look phenomenal! The makeovers were amazing & I love Tim Gunn from Project Runway so that was fun!

Dancing with the Stars has come out with some killer people this season! The one that really blew my socks off, along with the judges last night, was Kristi Yamaguchi! She already looks like a professional! I'm a little scared that her being so good at the start will hurt her with the votes. It happened last year with Sabrina from The Cheetah Girls and was a shocker to all who watched to see her get kicked off so early. She was amazing too, I just hope America pulls Kristi through to the end! I can't wait til next Tuesday! :)

Bubble fun...

Chad & I just so happened to be in Texas during my niece Taylor's 8th birthday party. She had about 7 or 8 little girls come over for her High School Musical-themed party. They were busy playing and singing karaoke to the soundtrack, then finished off the party playing the dvd High School Musical game. Crazy what these kids have to play with these days. I remember having jump ropes and a swing set, haha.

Anyways, right before the party kicked off, my sister remembered they didn't have any candles for the cake and dun-da-da-dun...Uncle Chad to the rescue! He made a quick trip to the Dollar Tree nearby and returned with not only 8 candles, but 96 candles(?) (enough for every birthday in the family for the whole year I guess?...kind of confused on why they would have so many in one box...anyways (?)) He also had a great Uncle moment while he was there and got an economy size bubble jug with a couple of the big bubble wands. You know, the ones that make like 50 bubbles every time you blow or wave them. It just so happened to be a slightly windy day which made the bubble wands even easier. It was bubble-mania outside! The girls loved it. He definitely got some super-uncle plus points for that one!

Okay, I'll be honest, we all had lots of fun with them. Bubbles are something that brings the kid out in everyone. Here's a few pics of the fun. Yay for pockets of air trapped in a thin layer of soap!

Taylor & her friend Ashley being kids... Chad & Kelly being kids too....

They had a way cooler picture than we did, but just as much fun I think!

From LA to FL to NC...

This post has the potential to be a lengthy one. It's obviously been quite a while, so pull up a comfy chair, sip on a drink, and ride along with me through the final days of our vacation across the U.S.

I must start by saying how wonderful it is to be back with Chad on all of life's journeys. We love road trips & traveling is what we do, so it was nice to have things back to normal, and being able to experience it all together again.

Well, last time I left you, we were on our way the next day to New Orleans. We arrived and took a little bit of time trying to find the downtown area that contains the popular Bourbon Street and surrounding attractions. We were in need of a good lunch to refill our sightseeing and traveling bellies, so we stopped at this little French-inspired jazz bar called Crescent City Brewhouse to quench our thirst and tide our tummies over. I had a huge salad and Chad had a Jambalaya pasta...mmm mmm. Here are some pics...

We then left there to go see what Bourbon Street really had to offer. We strolled down the street and I must say, I was very disappointed. It was really dirty, there were strip joints and prostitutes in every other building and it was just the opitome of 'diiiiiirrrrtttyyyyy!'. Some of the neighboring streets had nice restaurants and patios and shops, but Bourbon Street itself was a truly yucky place. I think my first trip will be my last. I'm sure there's more to see and that Mardi Gras is all what it's cracked up to be...if you're one to enjoy extreme crowds and boobs flying everywhere, but as for me, I believe I'll pass. Anyways, we had to take a cheesy Bourbon Street picture to put in our gaudy picture frame we got from one of the souvenir shops. This is it...sorry it's sideways, but I'm just too lazy to rotate it right now. :) Just tilt your head slightly to the right.

After a little bit more of walking around aimlessly, we stumbled upon our car and decided we should continue our 8 hours more to Orlando.

Orlando was fabulous. It's just a great city. Chad's parents have just moved into a beautiful new house with a nice heated pool that's screened in with a huge hammock we bought them for Christmas. There's a waterfall into the pool and a nice lake behind their house. Sorry I'm being so descriptive, but I don't have pictures of all of that. Sorry, I know, bad blogger Kelly. haha. We spent our days hanging out, watching movies, getting a manicure, eating out, and shopping. It was a great way to end our vacation.

And now we're home again in NC. Now, to clean up and get life in order again. Yay for home sweet home. Be back later with more.

Trek Across the Eastern U.S.

Well, Chad & I have officially said goodbye to Texas this time around. It turned out to be a really hard goodbye for my mommy. She was happy to see me with Chad again, but sad that I was leaving her again. It's a double-edge sword for her. I don't blame her, I'm sure I'll be the same way someday with my chillins'.

Anyways, we drove out this morning on our way to the eventual destination of Orlando to see Chad's parents. Don't worry, we weren't silly enough to think we would make it all the way in one day. We drove for 11 hours today, making for a long time of sitting. We trekked through San Antonio, Houston, across the Louisiana border and eventually into Baton Rouge for the night. I am currently in our really nice hotel suite typing this blog. Yay for free (well we all know nothing is ever free :)) included Wi-Fi! :)

Tomorrow our plan is to get up, drive about 2 more hours to New Orleans and have lunch and check out Bourbon Street for my first time. Maybe I'll get to here some authentic Jazz music and eat some cajun somethings, haha. We probably won't spend a whole lot of time there because our ending goal for tomorrow night is to actually make it all the way to Orlando. Another 12 or so hours of driving should put us there. We are officially crazy people. But we love to travel, so...I guess our wish has been granted. I'll be back with more tomorrow, or soon thereafter! Good night from the crazy state of Louisiana!

Awww nuts...

Well, we are still proud of the car. Nothing has changed regarding that, but, we do have more of a reason to love and hate her at the same time. This is what went down these past couple days...

Before purchasing the car, Chad & I ran the car by my father for him to do his 'look and see' check-up that dads with car experience do before their children buy a car. He noticed that the thingy's on the brakes (rotors or something) were worn and it probably was in need of some brake work. So, as we were 'haggling' with our salesman, we mentioned the brake situation and he proceeded to drop off $500 for us. This made us happy, because we knew the brake changing experience was only really going to cost between $210 and $300. Profit never sounds like a bad thing. Well, because of what all they had to do, it ended up costing about $320. Grrrr #1. But the brakes do work well...and we did still profit...but seriously.

After the deal was done and the brakes were new and non-squeaky, we decided it would probably be smart to get the tires checked and rotated, maybe aligned and whatever else those tire guys do. Chad & I, while they were working on our car, decided to walk across the street and enjoy ourselves a nice lunch at Outback. MMMM. Then we got a call....dun dun dun. The tire guy says, "there's a couple problems with your old tires, and it may be necessary for you to replace them completely". So, luckily we were pretty much done with our lunch, and we proceeded to re-cross the street and see what was up. Turns out the tires were pretty much slashed on the inside from wear and tear and they weren't going to last much longer. Not a good thing when you are about to embark on a 2000 mile journey home. So, $625 we got brand new, non-slashed, perfectly healthy tires. Grrrrr #2.

So, the bad news is that the car we thought we got at a great price has really turned out to eat more of our pocket book than we had hoped. But, the good news is, we have a perfectly healthy, ready-to-drive and beautiful car that is probably working better now than it was when it was first created. All we are really worried about is being safe and we believe we have done everything we need to to make that happen. Sometimes, it just hurts, haha.

Just had to share our latest experiences with you. Thanks for listening. :) Don't worry, she's still loved.