Saturday: Biking Around

A/B Honor Roll! WTG!

West Henderson High School announced the A and A/B honor roll for the third quarter.

10th grade: Andrew Adams, Sarah Armstrong, Kristian Basallo, Casey Blankenship, Jacqueline Bowers, Catherine Boyd, Anna Brinkley, Joseph Brittain III, Katlin Carithers, Alyssa Carland, Amie Cloer, Niall Courtney, Shane Courtney, Wesley Curry, Kimberley Freeman, Ethan Fulle, Alexandria Goodrich, Jacob Harris, Kimberley Hensley, Carly Holland, Corey Horton, Bethany Humberg, Carly Jackson, Brandon Jedd, Lori King, Summer Kremer, Cerissa Lail, Eric Laughter, Joshua Littauer, Patrick Maurer, Torrie McCall, Shelly Miller, Dereck Moore, Harley Nantz, Nora Ortiz, Haley Paris, Casey Patterson, Ian Phillips, Kaylan Proctor, Braden Rimbault, Matthew Roberts, Jessica Sentelle, Toby Slycord, William Smith, Alexandria Stewart, Jessica Swayngim, Katie Teague, Colby Thelen, Christina Trahan, Jacob Turpin, Melissa Vincent, Jared Warren, Madeline Welch, Emily Wilkinson.

A/B Honor Roll

West Henderson High School

West Henderson High School announced the A and A/B honor roll for the third quarter.
A honor roll
Ninth grade: Nicole Ciaramitaro, Meredith Cole, Caitlin Cremer, Kiersten Ellsworth, Haley Glatzer, Kara Hamilton, Samantha Hartz, Mariah Hayes, Zachary Heath, Sarah Hinshaw, Jennifer Jordan, Catherine King, Kelly Larouche, Leela Livis, James Loder, Brandi Martin, Kayla Martin, Lydia McCall, Gabrielle McDaniel, Ronald Mundy Jr., Andrea Ojeda, Shaundi Sides, Adam Steurer, James Takaciii, Kevin Thomas, Krista Vangiesen, Curtis Wiley.
10th grade: Ashley Ball, Corey Cloud, Ryan Duckett, Shannon Fennimore, Kelli Havener, Elizabeth Huntley, Katherine Huntley, Morgan Lancaster, Matthew McMullen, Leah Moss, Kyle Obermiller, Joy Owens, Timothy Poucher, Ashley Roy, Erica Shives, Olivia Springer, Jessica Tobin.
11th grade: Melissa Baker, Scott Bennett, David Brown, Sophie Christiano, Tiffany Crook, Kathleen Diegan, Pamela Eckley, Garnet Fisher, Spencer Gilbert, Andrew Gordon, Sarah Green, Lauren Holder, Minh Huynh, Daniel Hyatt, Timothy Isgett, Tyler Isgett, Anthony Jordan, Jessica Justice, Gwendolyn Kelly, Corey Obermiller, Jade Onken, Michael Owen, Rachel Slattery, Brendan Turner, Hannah Vandoren, Kaylin Waldrop, Rachel Winkler.
12th grade: Allison Adams, Casey Allison, Cameron Bates, Derek Beckett, Veronica Brown, Kimberly Bryson, Joseph Burnett, Nicholas Castellucci, Patricia Combs, Alexander Cremer, Ethan Cromer, Daniel Decarlo, Jalissa Deeley, Leshea Devore, Michelle Dinardo, Dallas Ducote, Melise Edwards, Michael Engheta, Brittany Fennell, Timothy Finotti Jr., Kaitlyn Fisher, James Foley-Iii, Kyle Fulle, Todd Garren, Jasmine George, Trey Goode, Heather Guilkey, Daniel Gutierrez, Jessica Harris, Breanna Holliday, Kathleen Hoppe, Laura Huskey, Michael James-Ii, Courtney Johnson, Tyler Johnson, Sarah Keith, Laura Kohler, Hyunwoo Lee, Elizabeth Littauer, Kaleigh Lund, Alyssa Luppino, Natanie Mapes, Sheila Mason, Alexander McRae, Kyle Molnar, John-Charles Payne, Sara Pecukonis, Dustin Penland, Catherine Pierson, Liana Pinner, Rachel Reinelt, Spencer Runyan, Ashley Scruggs, Brooke Sentelle, Allison Shelton, Andrew Sikorski, Chelsey Sprinkle, Emma Sproul, Christopher Staggs, Emma Swift, Katie Thielke, Caroline Thompson, Jordan Warren, Evan Worth.

A/B honor roll
Ninth grade: Joshua Armstrong, Deanna Belair, Jordan Bell, Nicole Bender, Chelsea Blanton, April Cameron, Jacob Carver, Kari Cochran, Krystal Crook, Jessica Davidson, Dayne Davis, Theodore Earle, Samantha Endicott, Melanie Evans, Christopher Freeman, Sammy Gibbs, Katie Gilbert, Emily Harris, Clifford Heafner, Rachel Howell, Whitney Howell, Audrey Huff, Sergio Islas, Leocadio Jimenez, Daniel Johnson, Chelsea King, Cody Kling, Nicole Kugler, Michael Ledford, Hoon Lee, Andrea Luppino, Regan Macomson, Phillip Martin, Taylor Mathis, Brandon McArthur, Zane McGhee, Taylor McGraw, Tara Meyer, Patrick Miller, Caleb Newton, Kayla O'Dea, Kathryn O'Shea, Carly Owenby, Graham Pate, Brittany Patterson, Lyle Payne, Heather Pfeffer, Paige Prather, Erica Pressley, Luis Quero, Duane Rauland, Kaitlyn Reddy, Kevin Robinson, Camen Royse, Daniel Russell, Kayla Sciupider, Sokadom Suy, Kristina Vassallo, Stephanie Watkins, Joshua Wentzel, Tanner Wieman, Emily Williams, Hannah Wilson, Samantha Woody, Staton Youngblood.

10th grade: Andrew Adams, Sarah Armstrong, Kristian Basallo, Casey Blankenship, Jacqueline Bowers, Catherine Boyd, Anna Brinkley, Joseph Brittain III, Katlin Carithers, Alyssa Carland, Amie Cloer, Niall Courtney, Shane Courtney, Wesley Curry, Kimberley Freeman, Ethan Fulle, Alexandria Goodrich, Jacob Harris, Kimberley Hensley, Carly Holland, Corey Horton, Bethany Humberg, Carly Jackson, Brandon Jedd, Lori King, Summer Kremer, Cerissa Lail, Eric Laughter, Joshua Littauer, Patrick Maurer, Torrie McCall, Shelly Miller, Dereck Moore, Harley Nantz, Nora Ortiz, Haley Paris, Casey Patterson, Ian Phillips, Kaylan Proctor, Braden Rimbault, Matthew Roberts, Jessica Sentelle, Toby Slycord, William Smith, Alexandria Stewart, Jessica Swayngim, Katie Teague, Colby Thelen, Christina Trahan, Jacob Turpin, Melissa Vincent, Jared Warren, Madeline Welch, Emily Wilkinson.
11th grade: Jacklin Akrivos, Alexandra Barrett-Ashley, Zachary Beasley, Daniel Bradley, Trent Brumfield, Kelsey Byrd, Brittany Case, Leslie Castillo, Devon Creamer, Mark Davis, Morgan Dehart, Danielle Dinardo, Jaron Dobbins, Victoria Duval, Michelle Elliott, Carl Embler III, Breanna Fuentes, Jacob Fulle, Derrick Garren, Marcus Garren, Chelsea Givens, Lianne Gonzalez, Derek Hamilton, Cameron Hatfield, Anna Hauss, Joshua Heath, John Jones, Adam Jorgensen, Mitchell Justus, Forrest Koontz, Ashley Kurschner, Lara Lemons, Taylor Letchworth, Andrew Lindsey, Paige Martin, Matthew McCraw, Zachary McGhee, Laura McLeod, David McMullen, Alicia McNabb, Erin Miller, Jacob Miller, Kendall Moore, Samantha Nelsen, Thomas Payne, Lindsey Poppleton, Brandon Price, Cassidy Price, Nikki Raval, Ashley Reddy, Brooke Reed, Amber Rice, David Roloff, Anne Rothermel, Jacob Roush, Christopher Ryan, Kamillia Sanders, Leah Schuler, Dalton Smith, Jessica Springer, Russell Tredinnick, Jose Trejo, Chelsea Turlington, Michelle Vassallo, Taylor Wilkins, Brittney Williams, Cody Williams.
12th grade: Justin Allen, Price Ashe, Christopher Barbour, Katharine Barry, Renee Bindewald, Kevin Black, Joy Brown, Sarah Calvert, Matthew Capps, Ian Cochrane, Zachary Corliss, Ethan Creasman, Zachary Curry, Austin Davis, Jordan Davis, Brandie English, Aaron Ernst, Taylor Falzone, Kenneth Farmer, Natasha Feria, Matthew Foss, Miranda Freeman, Zachary Garrison, Ryan Gilbert, Keith Glosson, Nathanial Goss, Britany Hall, Kristen Howard, Emily Hubbard, Kesha Hudson, Alonzo Hutchison, Stacy Keefe, Benjamin Lance, Seth Linn, Andrew Livingston, David Maclellan, Matthew McCoy, Zachary McRae, Alese Melton, Bridget Metcalf, Andrew Minish, Tyler Moore, Brittany Nowak, Travis Owen, Frances Owens, Taron Parent, Meredith Purcell, Amy Quinn, Logan Reynolds, Justin Robinson, Brandon Sawyer, David Smith, Ryan Stutzman, Harrison Swan, Amanda Takac, Kaitlyn Taylor, Andre Vandenberg, Deanna Watts, Justin Whitaker.

3 Day Weekend

It was time to get away! Frank and I both were just so ready to get away from work and all its headaches, we decided on Wednesday of last week to see what Priceline.com had to offer - we got so lucky! We got to go to Wilmington-Wrightsville Beach! I love priceline.com ... it's cheap and easy and sometimes a gamble but this time it was like winning the Pick 3 lottery!



This was our prize! The Holiday Inn Sunspree on the beach!



And this was our view of the Inter Coastal Water way - hey, for as little as we paid you don't always get the ocean view room. No worries, though, it was so cool to see the way the sun rose from behind the hotel and slowly light the neighborhood below our room. This was taken about 7 am and all the houses seem to be the same color, but once the sun was perched high in the sky they took on their real colors.



This was the view from the terrace and 3rd floor lobby - oceanside. We were on the top (7th) Floor. Their were two pools, in-and-outdoors, two whirlpools (that felt really good after riding bikes all over the island for about six hours), and a kiddie pool. Frank like the whirlpool because it was about the temperature of bath water (not hot enough for me, but finally one he could stand) although it was filled with 5 little girls from Raleigh almost the whole time we were soaking. They were cute and noisy and basically all girl! Chatty, chatty, chatty!



We got to the beach about 3:30 on Friday, checked into the room and freshened up and headed out to find some seafood. We ended up at Heck of a Peck.



It was really good food - oysters on the half shell, shrimp, and scallops - all fresh and well prepared. It was definitely a family restaurant - even our waiter had his folks in for a visit to celebrate his daughter's first birthday - Amanda's birthday, too! This is Jeff (our waiter, shucker, new friend) with his daughter and doing what he does so well - shucking oysters.



After dinner, we drove downtown and this temple caught my eye. I had to try out the high ISO setting on my camera and it worked great the church would have looked so ugly if I had used a flash. This was the first house of worship built in North Carolina for the Jews. It was built in 1875-76 - its congregation was established in 1867. When I got up close I could hear singing coming from the basement area. I think they were there practicing for a wedding because I only saw three people come out after the lights went out.

Day Two: Biking around the Island see next blog entry for details - it's time for me to go to bed now. More on Monday ... I promise.

Happy Birthday, Amanda

Tryin' real hard to get that "smilin" thing down pat! Happy Birthday, my first baby, my grown up little girl (since you were 2). You're finally as old as you've always acted! I love you and I am so proud of you and I thank you for all that you are and all that you have done for me! Have a great day and celebrate the wonderfulness of you!

1 pound; Congrats Nicky!

Forgot to report last week, so in case you're keeping up I gained .5 last week and lost 1.5 this week for a total so far of 6 pounds! Slow going that's for sure.

In Sports today:

Nicky played in a scrimmage game in the Fletcher Baseball League and hit an inside the park home run. Tamara said she didn't know he could run that fast. Guess he was pumped up! Congrats Nicky!

Matter's West team beat Brevard on Monday to take back over the lead in the conference and they take on East tomorrow night at home.

Of course, tomorrow is also Amanda's birthday. I can't believe she will be 20!

He Scoops - He Throws!

Just stopped by West and guess who was playing a make-up game? They won 21-0 over Christ School and the game was called, much to the delight of the freezing cold fans, after 4. Matthew got a hit and scooped a grounder for the third out in the top of the third.

A New Heart & Spirit

(photo of butterfly removed for publication)

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you ... Ezekiel 36:26

Another favorite from the Arboretum visit.

April Blooms

(photo of big orange flower removed for publication)

One of my favorite photos from the day Amy and I went to the Arboretum. Used for scrapbook color challenge.

12 of 12 for April

Here's My 12 of 12 for April. The picture of Tigger was taken in honor of Amy's birthday since I didn't get to see her today. The little girl in pink is Sophia and the boy on the swing is Duncan, Heather Staton's little boy. He turns 3 tomorrow and Heather asked me to take pictures at his party today. I took a picture of the TV while I was watching the Masters and Frank was snoring! The flowers are little weeds in my yard but they are good practice for me while learning to use my 100 macro lens. I was going to take a pic of my painted toenails but the bottle was much prettier!

Happy Birthday, Amy

Even though we celebrated with a Lifehouse concert on Thursday, today is your real birthday and I hope it is as special as you are! I love you!

Happy Birthday, Hannah

Happy Birthday, Hannah! Isn't cool that the girl with the palindrome name is celebrating her 11th birthday on the 11th! Hope this birthday filled with ones is a grand celebration for a really special niece! Hugs!

1 POUND - That makes 5!

Lost a pound. It's definitely coming off a lot slower this time but at least it's coming off instead of piling on!

Like Twins, Only 5 Years Apart

While going through my pictures this morning (couldn't sleep) I found these two images and couldn't believe how much they favored each other and how close they were in age when the photos were taken. It took a little calendar math but I was able to figure out there are only 2 days difference in their ages when these photos were taken in 2003 & 2008. Wouldn't it be cool if I could keep track of them over the next few years? I know I have pictures of Harmony at every birthday so maybe I will use those photos for her and then add Xyla's each year to compare. Don't let me forget!

Is it possible ...

. . . That Cary Grant AND Clark Gable could BOTH be George Clooney's father? I know, I know, it's not possible, but he sure looks a lot like them and he acts a lot like them. I'm sure that he has watched a lot of their movies to pick up some of their traits and he is perfect for 1920's - 1950's based movies like his most recent, Leatherheads.

Leatherheads is the type of movie that makes me wish I had been born during Hollywood's true heyday. Back when the movies were clean and full of quick wit and the sex was only innuendo and seemed more romantic that way. This movie wasn't shot in black and white but has a subtle sepia overtone that makes it seem as old as the time period in which it is set, the early days of Professional Football. In 1925, the "professional football league" was considered more of a joke than a real profession and the college teams were the ones drawing all the crowds. This movie is a funny take on how one guy, Clooney's character, Dodge, goes about saving the professional boys from extinction by getting one of the top college players to "turn pro." It's a pretty good movie that was filmed in and around Greenville, SC, which probably explains why they played Clemson's "Tiger Rag" song during the opening and closing football scenes.

Clooney is a great looking man and Renee Zellweger plays well as a 1920's reporter for the Chicago Tribune in this screwball comedy that reminds me a lot of His Girl Friday, one of my favorite Grant movies with Rosalind Russell. Grant and Russell are great in this movie ~ hurling insults, as well purses, at each other without even a hint of hesitation. If you like these types of movies, you, too, should enjoy Leatherheads.

P.S. When Amy, Matthew and I got home today, Amanda was just starting to watch Kiss Them for Me ~ another great Cary Grant movie. Must be my lucky day!

Amy's Travelogue

These are Amy's photos from our little trip to the Arboretum for her class project. I helped her put them into a slideshow to send to her teacher. Enjoy.

This might be the last one ... at least for today

Are You Bored with These?

Okay, I admit it ... I LOVE MY NEW CAMERA!

Beautiful

Did you know Frank describes me as a "butterfly caught in a hurricane"? Wonder why?

.4 = 4!

Today was weigh-in day - lost .4 which is quite a bit considering that I didn't eat that muffin over a series of three days - I ate it all in one day. Then I went to find the nutritional information. Talk about a surprise. They were good muffins but not good enough to be 17 Points! Can you believe it? One Muffin equivalent to 2 meals plus a snack. UNBELIEVABLE! I was stunned. Needless to say my trip to Mimi's could have destroyed my diet. Will have to be more careful next time.

Like my monarch butterflies? It was so fun to have such beautiful creatures to take pictures of. My kind of project.

Shooting Butterflies ... not as bad as it sounds!

Amy and I went to the NC Arboretum today and though there weren't too many flowers blooming in the outside gardens, the greenhouse was all a "flutter" - with butterflies of course. We were able to get some really good photos. Here is one I am going to use in Foxfire Gallery's ad this Friday. Will post more tomorrow. (photos removed for publication)