Rewarded with Pillows!

A couple months ago, I told Derrick I wanted new pillows for our bed. We are using five dollar ones from Target....they don't even fill up our pillow cases! His response to me was "sell a house!". Since then, I got under contract with a house that closed on May 16 and that was the day we were going to get new pillows! It seems so trivial, but it was something to look forward to...something we could have easily gone out and bought any day of the week, but instead we turned it into a goal.

May 16th came and went. I did have a successful closing and we joked that we needed to go get the pillows but we just never made the time to do it. Then I had a meeting with one of my mentors. He asked me how I celebrate my successes. I unabashedly told him about the pillows I had been working toward and then admitted we hadn't bought them yet. He told me I had to buy my pillows!

What's the point of working so hard towards a goal and not celebrating in your own way? What are you working for then? Just to pay the bills? That's not motivating!....well, I guess a hot shower can be motivating...but still!  Even if it's as simple as renting a Redbox you've had your eye on or as extravagant as a dinner date at Ruth's Chris....he reminded me how important it was to actually take those times to celebrate and realize you earned it! Especially early in my career, I need to set the habits of celebrating my successes. Hopefully, one day I'm going to have several closings a month and celebrating each one will keep me going.

I texted Derrick and told him we had to get my pillows and this past Sunday we went to JC Penny and got them!

Pillows are expensive! Thank goodness they were on sale. We saw pillows there for almost $100 a piece! We settled on the $35 a piece ones that were on sale for $20 each, used $10 in rewards dollars and then used a giftcard for the rest! Not bad! And sleeping wise....totally worth the cash!

Thank you Derrick for understanding why I needed to get these pillows! For my next closing, lets get Coldstone!

Jack Goes to Nationals

Everybody knows Jack plays ultimate at UNC-W. I have posted it on here, on Facebook, and I tell pretty much everybody I meet. Well, his team qualified for college nationals and went to Madison, WI over the long Memorial Day weekend to compete.

I have been trying to get it into Jack's head how big a deal College Nationals is....really Ultimate in general. If he didn't want to play, that was OK with me, but I really wanted him to understand that those people who do play competitively, take it VERY seriously.  Making it to College Nationals is a huge deal. It's kind of like making it to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA college basketball tournament.

I think Jack finally gets it :) He got to go and play this past weekend. Most college players do not make it to Nationals. Only the top 20 teams in the Nation make it each year. I never went and Derrick went one year. It really is an honor to go and I am so excited that Jack got to experience it.

The cool thing about Nationals this year is that Ultimate is finally getting some attention! Several of the games were live streamed and the Semi Final games and the Finals were actually televised on ESPN. That is so huge for the sport of ultimate! Two of Jack's games got live streamed: his pre-quarters game against Colorado and his quarters game against Carleton.   When you go to Nationals as a freshman you can expect to be a bench warmer and a water-bottle-filler-upper.  Jack got three points in the Carleton game and tore it up!! The commentators called him out for playing great defense, he caught a bail out huck and he had an incredible layout for a huge goal to bring them within 1 of Carleton.  The announcers said "And a huge catch by Jack Williams!"

They ended up losing in the Quarter Finals game to Carleton but they went so much farther then they were expected to. They were also called out for having excellent offense and really being a team that relied on everybody and not just a few stars. I think that's something to be proud of.

I got to talk to him tonight about it and it was so cool to hear how fired up he was. It was such a cool experience for him and I know that he is only going to get better and better. He is one of only two freshman that made the A team this year and I think he will be a vital part of their team in the next three years at Wilmington.  Who knows...maybe we'll get him so hooked he'll even play club one day!

Congrats Jack! I'm so happy for you and I'm glad you finally got the chance to experience the craze Derrick and I have been telling you about :)

Kudzu

Every year on Memorial Day weekend there is a local frisbee tournament called Kudzu. There are a few legit club teams that come but mostly it's filled with pick-up teams. Just groups of friends getting together to play and have fun for the weekend. Derrick and I always try to play in this tournament because the weather is nice, most of our friends play, and it's close by so we don't have to drive forever and we can sleep in our own bed that night!

This year we played for a team called Osos y Amigos. Bryan Brickhouse and his fiance Caroline captained and asked us to play so we jumped at the chance. The cool thing is that The Osos is actually the name of Lenoir Rhyne College's ultimate team. Lenoir Rhyne is in Hickory! Brickhouse went to LR for undergrad I think and this team had a couple other alumni from the Osos.  Oso means Bear in Spanish and the LR mascot is a bear.  They had to add amigos to it as there were more amigos then Osos on the team.

It was a really fun weekend. The weather was the coolest it's been in a few years at around 78 degrees each day, the wind was just breezy enough to be cool but not to affect the game play too much, and we were able to win a couple games. I think we ended up in 6th place but it was fun to play with new people and spend Memorial Day out in the sun!

And the Award Goes to....

Jay Williams!!!

My brother Jay just got notified that he will be awarded the Commuter Award by Chicago Booth School of Business. He will be recognized at an award ceremony and will get to shake the Dean's hand! For those that don't know Jay's story, he works a full time job in Richmond, VA Monday through Friday and then hops on a plane to Chicago every Friday evening. He has become a regular at a Chicago hostel. He attends classes for his MBA on Saturday and Sunday and then flies back Sunday evening in order to get to work Monday morning.  Oh yeah....and he's president of the marketing club...incredible, right? "The commuter award is awarded annually to weekend students who fly a great distance on a weekly basis for class, while also playing an active role in the Booth Community.

I'm so proud of you Jay! I could never do what you are doing. It takes an incredible amount of drive and self-discipline and I am so glad you are getting recognition for this crazy schedule you're calling life for the next three years.

He Scored and I Missed it!

Derrick started playing on a co-ed soccer team with a couple co-workers several weeks ago. They meet on Thursday evenings and play one or two games a night. It's through the same organization that does his basketball league. I didn't go to very  many of them because I was playing pick-up ultimate on Thursdays for a few weeks but it's been the perfect way for Derrick to get in some exercise while his shoulder is still recovering. He could do everything except throw ins.

Tonight started the playoffs for their team! Last year they played in the B league and were winning a lot so they moved up to the A league this year. Unfortunately they didn't take any W's but they did manage to tie two of their games. They lost their first playoff game tonight so they are out and done for the season but Derrick did score one of the two goals off of an awesome pass from Travis!

and I MISSED IT!! typical.....

Here's the team...we had to run right after the game so I didn't get a team picture. Maybe summer league :)

Oh yeah... and I had my second closing this afternoon with those two maroon people in the middle :)

It was was a good day!

Celebration Weekend!

There was a lot to celebrate this weekend! First off, my BFF Nikki has officially graduated from NCSU Vet School and can proudly call herself Doctor. She has worked so hard and deserves it so much!

Photo Credit: Megan McDonald

While Nikki was off becoming a doctor my family came up for the weekend. Derrick and I are playing summer league this year and got Jack to sign up as well. After a little internet begging we all ended up on the same team and we had our first game on Saturday morning. I think it was a little bit of a shock for Jack to go from his very competitive college team to a more laid back, less experienced, summer league team. He'll have fun being one of our stand out players I'm sure :)

For Mother's Day I took mom out for a Wine and Design class for just the two of us. After doing one with friends a couple months ago I knew it would be something mom would really enjoy and I was right :) We had a great time spending some QT together while the guys stayed back, ate pizza, and watched basketball. It was a good night for everyone!

Mom was the fastest painter there so she got to wear the Speedy Gonzales hat. Most people had only one leaf painted when mom set her paintbrush down!

Final results! I think they looked great!

When we got home there were flowers, a card, and a cake. We missed our "what we love about Mom" for her birthday a few weeks ago so Jay called in on speaker phone and we went around for Mother's Day instead. 

Sunday morning we got up and Jack headed down to Wilmington for practice. .His team made it to College Nationals which is a HUGE deal. Only 20 college teams in the nation make it and it's held in Madison, WI over Memorial Day weekend. I'm super excited for him. I never made it to nationals in my college career so it's exciting to see Jack make it his freshman year. Mom and Dad headed home early too and Derrick and I hit the road to visit his Mom. We got to visit with his Mom, Grandma, Aunt, Uncle, and cousins. They had all just returned from a week long trip to Disney so there was lots to catch up on. We also got in a rousing game of 4 square. The rules have changed since Derrick and I last played apparently. Anyone ever heard of popcorning, tree-topping, or shoe shining? Yeah...times have changed. I'd still say the Marcey's held it down though :)

Happy Mother's Day to both of our awesome Moms! We love you and appreciate everything you have done for us! 

Dr. Nikki Schweizer

My best friend is graduating from vet school this weekend and I'm so proud! I've seen her work since highschool to get to this point. I have seen her work her tail off during exams every year, I have celebrated with her at the end of each year as we counted down the years until she was done, I was overjoyed with her when she found out she passed her boards and last weekend I partied with her to celebrate her graduation! I am so proud of her and her amazing accomplishments and I can't wait to hear all of her doctor stories! Crosby is ecstatic to not have to visit the real vet anymore. Nikki is her favorite :)

Somer and I threw Nikki a Kentucky Derby Hat party on Saturday night and I would say it was a success. We invited all of her friends, Somer's fiance grilled hotdogs and hamburgers, we played yard games, watched the derby and danced the night away! It was an awesome night and I hope Nikki knows how much we love her and how proud of her we are. Here are lots of pictures of the night!

Somer, Nikki and I got together to make crafts for the party. Here's the Derby wreath we made. The horse has a graduation cap on.

 Nikki made all the cupcakes. She's an awesome baker!

 Nikki and Justin. They looked great! Justin's outfit was pure Derby!

 There was a pinata in honor of Cinco de Mayo being the next day.

 Bocce

 Derrick didn't know he was in this pic. I just thought the two boys with their dogs was so cute!

 Somer, Nikki, and I

I really like this picture except for Crosby's face! She does not look into it.

Congratulations Nikki! We're so proud of you and know you are going to be a fantastic vet!

One Whole Year!

I cannot believe it's been a whole year since we said I do! It has been a wonderful year and I'm excited to see what this next year brings. We had a pretty laid back anniversary day. We slept in, went out to breakfast, saw an early movie, napped all afternoon, and went out to dinner. It was totally perfect. We said we weren't going to do gifts for this anniversary. Our anniversary is almost exactly one month in between each of our birthdays plus we're going on a week long beach trip in early June so I didn't want to spend money on stuff we didn't need. Derrick did surprise me by hacking into my blog and leaving that sweet post yesterday :) He knows how much I enjoy this blog and I've been telling him he should do a guest post so it was so sweet for him to remember and do such a nice post. I'm a lucky girl :)

I made Derrick a dry erase love board and it was totally free! I already had all of the supplies. Here's a picture so you can get a better idea.

I saw this idea on Pinterest made with a chalkboard and I just adapted it to be a free version for us. I have tons of frames that I'm not using and I also have tons of scrapbook paper left over from the wedding. I also already had the stamps on hand for a bridesmaid project I did. After I cut out my heart (That was the first try! I was impressed) I figured out my placement and started stamping away! My first attempt was almost diagonal down the page. I tried again with a piece of paper guiding my stamps and it came out much straighter. I messed up a little bit on the A but I think it's OK.

I also already had dry erase markers so it was truly a free project and only took me about 20 minutes. Now we can update it whenever we feel like it and have a cute note to remind us how loved we each are.

Derrick humored me by telling me that he loved it and he immediately christened it with it's first post:

So true...

Love you honey! Here's to at least 1 more year!  (That's an inside joke...don't worry parents...we're in this thing for the long haul!)

Happy Anniversary to Me!!!

I should clarify, this is actually Happy Anniversary to Laurie!!! Today, this is a guest post from her not-so better half, Derrick.

One year ago today, I celebrated the best decision of my 26 years on this planet and decided to marry the love of my life, Laurie. Looking back on that day and all of the wonderful memories we have of it only makes me smile and reminds me what an amazing job Laurie did planning the entire thing. I mean, come on. Has there ever been a more perfect wedding?

Every day over the past year has just affirmed that decision more and more, as I continue to learn new things about Laurie and discover new ways that I love her. Here are some of those things:

• Real Estate - Who knew that Laurie would have such a natural talent as she transitioned careers? Well, the answer is pretty much all of us but Laurie. We were all confident that she'd be great as a realtor, but no one could have predicted she would be as successful as she has been after less than 6 months in the business. It's truly a testament to her commitment to helping people, patience, organizational skills, and genuinely happy personality that she has done as well as she has.

• Crafting - If Real Estate doesn't work out, Laurie has a potential career as a full-time crafter! If that isn't a real job, she would find a way to make it one!

• Blogging - You're back here reading this post, so she must have written something in past that you liked, right? Seriously though, Laurie has a knack for documenting things about our lives to keep our family and friends informed and entertained, and I'm sure you all appreciate it as much as I do!
• Cooking - Laurie tries to undersell herself way too much on this blog when it comes to her skills in the kitchen. She has no fear when it comes to tackling a new recipe; 99% percent of the time it turns out perfect and delicious! You only hear about the 1%. Don't let her fool you - she has turned into a great chef!

OK, so maybe she didn't make this! But she could have!!!

• Generosity - OK, so maybe this isn't something new that I've learned (rather it's something about her I've loved along!), but it seriously deserves mentioning. I have never met a person in my life who is as selfless as Laurie is. Not only does she constantly put my feelings and wants before her own, but she does the same for all of her family and friends. It's so easy to take this for granted too, because it just seems to come so easy for her and she shows this side of her character literally every day!

Now that I've wrapped up my central points (leave it to me to use the first bullet points this blog has probably ever seen), I just wanted to take the time to tell my wonderful wife,

Happy 1st Anniversary, Beautiful!