Our Share of the Fair

Fried food, funnel cakes, & futons- oh, my!  Last weekend Meagan and her crew came up for the SC State Fair.  We had nothing short of a BLAST.

Growing up, each October my family would come to Columbia for the fair and stay at Nanny & Papa's.  

My biggest setback at the time were these guys:

My fun filled, carefree day would always come screeching to a halt with these "measurement men," whose main mission in my mind was to shatter my hopes.  On many a year, I wasn't tall enough to ride the roller coaster.  I hated the height checks.  And actually, I think I could have legally ridden in a car seat until I was in 8th grade.

On Friday night the gang rolled in town.  My neighbors surely didn't know what hit them.

Noah was most excited about the candy basket, whose stash we had already devoured.  It did, however, contain napkins and crushed red peppers from mine and Ryan's Papa John's dinner the previous evening.   Maybe I should give those out for Halloween.

Oh, how I LOVE these kids : D

Our concert pianists of the evening.

Sometimes it's nice to sit and listen to other people play music!

Ryan will be relieved to know that I took care of the house in his absence.  There were absolutely no gymnastic routines...

or heel clicking...

or handstands in the living room - HA!!!

Like my new lawn ornaments?

Next up was figuring out the sleeping arrangements.  I have always ADORED sleepovers and a house full of people.  Since we all love each other so much and cannot bear to be apart SEVEN of us slept in my bedroom.

And I wouldn't have had it any other way.  Thank Heavens for air mattresses, big beds, and futons.

Hotel de Moody sleeping arrangements.

Wake up, Noah, we're going to the fair!!!

We certainly weren't going to lose track of Dawson in that shirt.  You could have spotted him via helicopter.

LOVE them!!! SO PUMPED to have them here!!!

Meagan's family

Our first game of the day was initiated by the City of Columbia police and their metal detectors.  Word to the wise: metal studs on boots cause the alarm to go off.  Ahem, Meagan. 

After dickering over ticket prices it was on to the rides!  

Traveling faster than you can say "fried oreos." 

I've always loved the himalaya rides.  I've gotten to a point where I can ride in circles, but I can't spin around.  And yes, there is a major difference!

If forced to ride this, for example, I would have to leave the premises immediately in the back of a flashing ambulance.

The two clones.

I can never, ever miss riding the swings.  They're one of my favorites!

My head is up in the clouds, right where it belongs.

The superman ride is really cool, too!

Oh, the fun houses of joy, where there are obstacles and barriers around every corner; it's like they put my house on wheels.

Behold my favorite drink of all time- the super slushies.  I discovered this place last year and have waited 365 days to go back and create another drink of sugary, iced goodness.  They give you a cup, and you can mix the colors however you want.  SPONTANEOUS SUGAR!!!!  

I was born an "extremist", so when I really like something it usually equals obsession.

2011 slushie flash back:

Thanks for the advice, truck, but we already did with corn dogs, curly fries, funnel cakes, ice cream, and mini donuts, to name a few.

One of my other favorite rides is the chair lift AKA the lazy river of the sky!

These girls LOVE the log ride.  We had a splash on it.

We also went to the petting zoo and met a real life Velveteen rabbit!  Would you look at those ADORABLE ears???

And AHHH!!! Look at this puppy/rabbit combination!  I CAN'T HANDLE THE CUTENESS!!!

Beware of feeding the animals hands that are "to small."  Really?

Hands are to small as petting zoos are to stench.  And not so accurate grammar.

A fun day at the fair equals the need for a good bath.

Don't you love my bath toys?  Bride and groom ducks were put on my car after our wedding, and I still have them : )

Santa's wild days in college.

We topped off our weekend with a trip to Red Robin and the movies to see Hotel Transylvania.

Our movie experience was enhanced with miniature Reese's cups, gummy worms, and Skittles.

And in other news, this work week has been absolutely chaotic and mind numbing.  I find it hard to form a sentence in the evenings.  Here's hoping your week has been extremely less stressful than mine.

"I have set the Lord continually before me; Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken."  Psalm 16:8

Until next time, my beloveds!

Crowns All Around!

This October is an important month for many reasons:  Ryan and I both turned a year older, and it also marks ONE YEAR since I started this blog.  It has been a wild ride, and I foresee only more craziness to come.

You may remember last year when I put signs all over the house for Ryan's Birthday, etc.  He should know by now that I have a habit of making a spectacle out of everything.

Ryan took Thursday and Friday off last week off to go hunting, so we celebrated the night before his Birthday.

The icing on the cake- literally- were some treats from Tiffany's Bakery!  Check out that Gamecock cookie.  My Dad would have enjoyed biting its head off.

I had a devious plan in place for Ryan's Birthday the next morning, so I specifically asked him what time he was leaving for Dillon for his hunting vacation.  He said 7:00 am.   At 5:30 the next morning I started making breakfast and decorating his car.   About five minutes later I saw the light on in our bedroom and heard walking around.  It was not even quarter til 6:00!  "Maybe he'll go back to bed."  I thought hoped.

No such luck.  I was in the middle of shoveling 50 balloons in Ryan's car (outside) when I heard the garage open.  I slammed the car door shut as quickly as I could, nearly missing an extremity, and saw Ryan coming toward me with his hands full of clothes and hunting paraphernalia.

"RYAN! Allow me to get those for you!"  If my flustering up to that point wasn't enough of a hint that I was up to something, now he definitely knew.  As we were exchanging items I dropped arguably the most important part of my prank - the window pen.  I had every intention of scribbling, "HONK FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!!" on the back of his car, much to his unbeknownst dismay, I'm sure.

I didn't pick up the pen fast enough, and he quickly realized what it was.  "Katharine...do not write on my car.  Do you hear me?  Do not."  Consider my bubble burst.

The moral of this story is that when Ryan's family gives a specific time, what they really mean is far earlier than that, which puts me- every single instance- in a panicked frenzy at the last minute.

"At least we'll have a nice homemade breakfast..." I thought to myself.  That's when Ryan realized that his checkbook was nowhere to be found, and Snuggly Bear became Angry Bear.  We were sifting through drawers full of lightbulbs, batteries, envelopes, paper clips, coupons- you know, the junk drawers in everyone's kitchen.  Come on, I know you have those.

Finally, Ryan sat down to eat his Birthday breakfast.

...then we realized that the sausage I made wasn't quite cooked enough.

So although Ryan's Birthday morning didn't exactly turn out as planned, I think inside he felt special driving to Dillon surrounded by cheerful decor.

...even if some of the balloons got demoted to the garage so that he could "see."  Seeing is overrated, officer.

You gotta go.

That night I had an awesomely fun sleepover at Jamie's.  We made homemade Snickerdoodle cookies- one of my absolute FAVORITES (I usually only eat the dough):

played Mario Kart (I was the humble winner by a landslide this time), and watched the Little Mermaid.

One of our conversations triggered an immediate urge to watch this movie, and one of the perks about being friends with Jamie is that any Disney movie is just a request away.

This movie played a major role in my childhood!  It takes me back every time.

We also decorated her house for Halloween.  I particularly got a laugh out of this candy bowl, because when I receive daily/inevitable catastrophic messages from customers, I'm pretty sure the person on the other line has this exact expression while contacting me.

The next day was Friday and also Homecoming at Dillon Christian School!   Below are some of the fabulous participants!

Sweet Ashlyn : )

You may remember last year when Lexie won!!

That night she crowned a new homecoming queen.  And we both dressed alike without knowing.  How crazy is that??

Congratulations to my Dillon neighbor- Kathryn Brown!!!

And as always, I can't get enough of Anna and her little friends. SO adorable!!!

Saturday was our first class reunion committee meeting!  I can HARDLY believe it's been ten years since we were seniors in high school.  We had a great time, and I am totally stoked with excitement about this event!!!

Sunday was Ryan's mother's Birthday!  Only Mrs. Debra would cook for everyone else on her Birthday.  We had fried chicken, the guys had ribs (a little barbaric for me), delicious vegetables, bread, and two kinds of cake.  Not to mention that I always make a dent in their stash of Reese's cups...

Happy Birthday to the woman who always thinks of everyone else before herself!  She is so kind and has a heart of gold.

The next morning it was back to the grind.  As if Monday mornings aren't hectic enough, I was just getting ready to leave (in a hurry, of course) when out of the corner of my eye I spotted one of the most FRIGHTENING creatures on earth lurking about two feet away from me.

::Insert threatening musical intro:::

I didn't know whether to scream, run, or smash the car into it.  Knowing that the last option would be pricey, I did what any normal citizen would do.  Grabbed the windex.

While not exactly bug repellant, I was hoping the window cleaner would get the job done.  It was all I could find.  I quickly learned that Windex is to spiders as Pixi Stix are to me- they make me very hyper.  That spider began JUMPING around.

The spider was no doubt on the way to fill out his application for the men's jump in the 2016 olympics...until I squashed him with a broom. For that I do feel bad, but for Heaven's sake that thing was larger than some species of mice.

Speaking of larger than life, our Ever Loving Truth Bible study has reminded me that I'm here for a purpose- to live for Him- in this temporary life.  God and his immeasurable love supersede the greatest earthly pains, whether physical or emotional.  Every day I find out that someone is hurting, families are experiencing sickness and pain, people are struggling with addictions, and the list continues.  My goal when I wake up each morning is to be Jesus.  To the best of my ability.   I'll no doubt fail as a human, but each day that I can show His love is a day well spent.

Show His love to someone today.

"Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude." Colossians 2:6-7

Consider me grateful!