Christmas in SC

I just spent the weekend in South Carolina with my dad's family and it was spectacular!  It's our Christmas tradition to get together the weekend before Xmas, eat chili and hot dogs, and just be a family.  I was able to see not only my dad, brother, sister, and my brother's wonderful girlfriend, but all of my cousins, aunts, uncles, grandmother and both, yes both, of my great-grandmothers!  It is so nice to see the fam (even if only for a weekend)!  Thank you for a wonderful weekend Frazier family!

All the cousins, sans Kimi

The girls and their scarves

The boys...I mean, men..

Dad, Uncle Todd, Mama Helen, and Aunt Paige

Me, Mama Helen (great-grandma #1), Ryan, and Alexis

Ryan, GiGi (great-grandma #2), me, Alexis

Ryan and his beautiful girlfriend, Ariana

Kevin and Tiffany

Tiff and I having fun in our new scarves and hats!

Flleeexxxxinngg...

Me, Alexis, and Ryan :)

My experience with vitamins...

To most everyone who knows me, I despise taking vitamins.  I will try every single alternative including changing my diet (eating less meat, eating more meat, eating more veggies, following every meal with fruit, eating less cheese, eating with everything caked in cayenne pepper, drinking my weight in water), attempting to consume pricey vitamin-enriched substances, salt-licks...etc.

There is absolutely no getting around that people who live on a limited budget need to take a vitamin to "fill-in" the missing voids of healthy food.  The problem is, besides the fact that vitamins are meant for horses, they make me feel extremely yucky.  Luckily I found an artistic depiction (again, not my own since I am not an artist) of me taking a yucky vitamin.

News Update

Dear reader,

I apologize for the long delay in my writing, but things have been busy in these last few weeks...and I have been slightly lazy.  Handsome Taylor and I have moved apartments from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor.  We sacrificed our spacious living room and volted ceilings for an extra office, larger kitchen, and of course no stairs (the best part).

We moved in very quickly, not necessarily because I have a slight form of OCD, but because we had company coming that night...a lot of company.  Handsome Taylors brother Garrett and his wife, Emily, our best friends Taylor and his girlfriend, Leah, and his cousin Phil were all to stay in our cozy 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom apartment.  It was a spectacular weekend though as we celebrated both Meredith (T's sister) and Jenn's (T's cousin and Phil's sister) birthday in downtown Charlotte.  Let me remind the reader that I have not had a night out past 10:00pm in a very, very long time.  I don't even remember what time we all went to bed, but I know it was past 3 because we left Charlotte around 2 and Phil got a Bertolli dinner (he was hungry) at Harris Teeter on the way home...and that takes 45 minutes to cook.  We celebrated the morning after by going to The International House of Pancakes.  I do not recommend IHOP (unless you know it's a good one) after a long night because the greasy food I consumed has had a terrible affect on me in the days following.

We also have a new bird: Butterball (more photos on her later).  Why Butterball, you ask?  1) Handsome Taylor named her and as you know with Tyson, he likes the members of our family to be named after meat products. 2) I couldn't think of a quick enough rebound name. 3) I will admit, she slightly resembles a slab of butter.  So Butterball it is.  It's really okay though, because I just wanted Tyson to have a house mate to talk to, peck at, woo, etc.  We'll see how she adapts to her new environment :)

I have also started a new job!  I am currently a fitness instructor and aquatics instructor at the YMCA in downtown Charlotte.  Let this be known that this is the largest Y besides the one in Chicago.  It is HUGE!  7 stories huge to be exact.  I do love the people I work with and the environment is wonderful!  I even get a free membership!!  Woohoo!  Although, in weeks following, I'm sure I will come up with fantastic excuses not to work out...  I start teaching swim lessons in January so I'm excited about that too.  It will be nice to have an income again!

Well, that is about all of the news I have for right now.  I will take some pictures soonly when our apartment starts to look like an apartment.  Enjoy the snow for me (no snow in Charlotte)!

Sincerely,

Randilicious

So his name is Tyson..

I caved in succumbed to the pressure of Taylor constantly calling our bird Tyson.  Blah.  Well, cooked chicken is really what I think of.  Anyway, he seems to like sitting on my shoulder, pooping, and screaming in my ear to get my attention.  He even likes my cooking!  However, if he continues this screaming in ear business, he will become cooked bird.  I think this fascination with cooking comes from my purchase of a little toy for him: a bell with a little fork, knife, and spoon hanging from it.  Yes, I made a fantastic purchase.  He will be a little culinary chef when I get through!

BEST EMAIL EVER

Excerpts from a DOG's diary:

6:00 am - At last!  I Go Pee!  My favorite thing!

8:00 am - Dog food!  My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride!  My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park!  My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted!  My favorite thing!

12:00 pm - Lunch!  My favorite thing!

1:00 pm - Played in the yard!  My favorite thing!

3:00 pm - Wagged my tail!  My favorite thing!

5:00 pm - Milk bones!  My favorite thing!

6:00 pm - They're home!  My favorite thing!

7:00 pm - Got to play ball!  My favorite thing!

8:00 pm - Wow!  Watched TV with the people!  My favorite thing!

11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed!  My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a CAT's diary:

Day 983 of my captivity.  My captors continue to taunt me with bizarre little dangling objects.  They dine lavishly on fresh meat, while the  other inmates and I are fed hash or some sort of dry nuggets.  Although I  make my contempt for the rations perfectly clear, I nevertheless must eat  something in order to keep up my strength.  The only thing that keeps me  going is my dream of escape.  In an attempt to disgust them, I once again  vomit on the carpet.

Today I decapitated a mouse and dropped its headless body at their feet.  I had hoped this would strike fear into their hearts, since it clearly demonstrates what I am capable of.  However, they merely made condescending comments about what a "good little hunter" I am.  Bastards!

There was some sort of assembly of their accomplices tonight.  I was placed in solitary confinement for the duration of the event.  However, I could hear the noises and smell the food. I overheard that my confinement was due to the power of “allergies”.  I must learn what this means, and how to use it to my advantage.


Today I was almost successful in an attempt to assassinate one of my tormentors by weaving around his feet as he was walking.  I must try this again tomorrow - but at the top of the stairs.  I am convinced that the other prisoners here are flunkies and snitches.  The dog receives special privileges.  He is regularly released - and seems to be more than willing to return.  He is obviously retarded.  The bird has got to be an informant.  I observe him communicate with the guards regularly.  I am certain that he reports my every move.  My captors have arranged protective custody for him in an elevated cell, so he is safe.  For now...

We were supposed to go camping...

So this past weekend I had planned on going camping up in the mountains...maybe Linville Falls or something spectacular like that.  I had called several of our friends (Taylor and Leah, Scott and Jenn) and we were going to have a fabulous time hiking and setting up camp and waking up to the crisp mountain air.

You know, a little bit of this (complete with scenery and lushness)...

...and some of this.

Nope.  Most of the leaves had already dropped by the time I came back home to Asheville (and this time the weathermen were right--it was a quick fall!).  Saturday morning greeted us with freezing winds and the first snow of the year.  

Now this isn't the record snow or anything we had last year, but flurries none-the-less.  And I realize that many, many people camp in the snow...but coming up from Charlotte where the temperatures previous to that weekend had been in the 60's, well, we weren't exactly prepared.  

So aside from me being slightly upset at not being able to go camping, we (all 6 of us) took it upon ourselves to deal with our grief in the best way we could: drink margaritas and eat enchiladas at La Paz, a fabulous Mexican restaurant in Biltmore, followed by board games at Taylor and Leah's new house.  Yes, it was an awesome night and I can't believe I didn't get any pictures!!!  We all ended up staying up really late that night and after Scott and Jenn left around 2, Leah and I played Battle of the Sexes with my Taylor until he subsequently fell asleep between us by 3.  (Leah's Taylor was passed out and was not able to participate).  

I am still planning on a camping weekend because this week in Charlotte is back up in the 60's and possibly the low 70's which means Asheville will be about 10-15 degrees below that (perfect camping weather, yes I know).  And my sleeping bag is beckoning usage because it has been unused for about 2 years now (since the last time Taylor and I went camping at Linville Falls).  And I promise, more pictures to come!!!

How drivers in Charlotte make me feel...

I found this comic on a blog and really had to post it (so I take absolutely no credit for the drawings)...but I had to use them because they depict my feelings when I'm driving.  Now, I understand that each area seems to have it's share of bad drivers...but I've found that the mix between extremely rural and urban people create an interesting array of drivers that bring out the road rage in me.

Our Apartment (finally!)

So I finally got around to taking pictures of our apartment(appropriately called the Biltmore)...I know, I know, we've been here since March and still no pics!   Ta-da!!  Anyway, I apologize for the delay, but you have to understand, I just could not take pictures of a messy, empty place.  And yes, I mopped what bit of floor I had for this camera shoot :)  And speaking of shoot, this is also the first debut of our new parakeet _______.  We haven't figured out a name for him (Taylor insists on calling him Tyson, but I refuse to name our bird after cooked chicken).  So if you have any spectacular name ideas, please, for my sake, send them my way.  Alright..hope you enjoy the pictures!!

Okay I'm going to say ahead-of-time that I realize the walls are horribly dull and plain and if I had my way, I would paint every single one of them!  This goes especially for the bathroom...

View into the bathroom (laundry doors on inside left).  And yes, I know the cabinet leans.

I would've painted the bathroom a sea-green/blue color...

Aargh!  The whiteness!!

Teehee :)

My apron I made a long while ago that I seem to never wear :(  This, besides some little pillows, has been my only sewing project...

The picture of the living room from the front door area.  This room also acts as our guest room :)

That little spot on the couch is where all the blogging magic happens!!  That's also my spot on the couch.

Yay Halloween!!!  All thanks to my wonderful Bama and World Market :)  When Christmas rolls around, I will replace the pumpkin with a small plant to decorate, and the orange candle with a red one...yum.

Our little outside table (thanks Mom and Roger!!)

Taylors jalapeño plants... 

And my lack of tomato plants that Taylor cut down to make room for his jalapeños.  Grr

Our new parakeet!!!!  

He is such a good bird.  He also happens to have a slight form of bird OCD: if he poops somewhere on the cage, he will walk over to it and pick each piece off till he's satisfied with the cleaning job.

Now it just so happens that our lease is up in December and we will be moving...two floors down to a slightly larger apartment (with an office that will also act as our guest room)!!  Yay!  New pictures to come in December...or whenever I get around to it :)

Love is limitless

Limitation (as defined by M-W Online Dictionary) n

1. an act or instance of limiting
2. the quality or state of being limited
3. restraint

"Love is impartial and universal in its adaptation and bestowals." S&H 13

I was forwarded this email which really blows this definition of limitation as we know it out of the water.  Normally I would write back to the original sender and then keep forwarding the email to my entire contact box....but since I have a blog, now I can show these pictures for all to see!

Polar Bear: "I come in peace"

Norbert Rosing's pictures of a wild polar bear coming upon his tethered sled dogs in Canada's Hudson Bay

The photographer was sure he was going to see the end of his dogs when the polar bear wandered in.

It's hard to believe the polar bear only wanted a hug and a friend.

The polar bear returned every night that week to play with the dogs.  Talk about limitless Love!!

At 120 degrees in Australia, it was so hot for one week that koalas were asking people for water.  It has never been seen before.

One went to a house to try to hide from the heat and get a bit of shade and here's what happened when the owner gave him something to drink: