Author: cheriarmour

My running partner.

| cheriarmour

You guys remember when I introduced you to my running partner?

In case you forgot, my partner was Beagle, a foster Beagle who came to me about a week ago.   I tried to call him Nelson for a while, but I kind of fell into a habit of calling him Beagle, Poops, or Pooper Scooper for a while.  And despite the fact that I always knew he was a foster, in the week I had with him, I got a little attached.

Because he was really energetic, I got into the habit of waking up early to take him out to the dog run to hang out with him (and to let him poop).  That was our bonding time.  But I knew it would have to come to an end eventually, and I wasn’t sure how I would take it.

unnamedSo Sunday morning, a friend came over to look at him, and this friend and his parents had had a beagle for 14 years before Sam, the beagle passed.  It ended up being a love connection, and Steve and his parents decided that Beagle-Nelson was going to be going to a new home.

I wanted to be selfish and upset, but truthfully, the fact that Beagle was going to a home with a doting mom and a yard meant so much to me, and if they could give him something that I couldn’t, they needed to be the ones to give him that home.

So I’m blogging tonight, and there’s no beagle breathing on me, stinking up the couch, and creating a drool spot that just grows and grows, but I know that he’s doing that for someone else and making them very happy.

Here’s to my foster beagle getting a new home!

Weekend recap.

| cheriarmour

I hope you had a really really good weekend.  I would say that not only was my weekend good, but it was really really productive, and it’s high time that I’ve been productive on a weekend.  Unfortunately, that means that it kinda feels like I didn’t stop working all weekend, but at least I got shiz done, right?

So Friday night, I’m pretty sure I told you guys that since I went to body pump early, that I went to bed pretty much when I got done with work.  That was that.

Saturday, I headed down to Elon, about an hour away, to teach at Elonthon, a 24-hour Dance Marathon that benefits the Duke Children’s Hospital.  To say it was nuts (in the best way possible) would be the understatement of the century.

DSC_0214Since I get sort of nervous before I teach any class, walking into this group of spirited college students made me a little nervous.  But I hopped on stage, and as soon as I started my first song, I felt he nerves sort of disappear, and launched into 30 minutes of a class, that I hope pumped everyone else for the last 4ish hours of the marathon. As always, Elon kids continue to do amazing things, and I’m impressed by their spirit.

I managed to continue my little personal tradition, and go for a short little run around Elon’s campus, and as I was doing that, I couldn’t help but wonder if I looked old, and if folks could tell that my old ass didn’t belong there.

I’d planned to stop by the wedding venue since it was right down the street but as usual, I overbooked myself, and I didn’t have time to stop anywhere because I stopped by a few art stores to grab more buttons for a project that was to come later on this week.

And, to wrap up Saturday I headed to Raleigh Beerfest to drink, and to hang out with my hubby and his friends.  I drank enough until my old self was ready to go home and go to sleep.  God bless you folks out here in these streets who was able (proper southern grammar) to keep the party going after Beerfest, my hubby included, but that was not me.

10171077_10100299026849773_1888318097_nBeerfest!

And then on Sunday, once I woke up, I scrubbed the apartment (thanks to the foster Beagle, I had to scrub a few really ripe spots in the carpet), and then set out to getting down to wedding stuff.  Do you guys mind if I give you a little sneak peek into Wedding Wednesday?

10151197_10100299276958553_1782262188_nI spent a few hours creating a practice bouquet that will act as a template for my girls.  It took a while, but I’ve given myself enough time to make a unique bouquet for each and every one of my girls, and one to throw, so that they will have something to keep as a token from their time spent with me.  What do you think?

Okay loves, how was your weekend?

 

Sunday Social

| cheriarmour

Once again, because mama loves to talk about herself, welcome to the Sunday Social, pull up a chair, move all the magazines off my coffee table, and look into my eyes.

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So follow Neely and Ashley, and here are this week’s questions!

 This Weeks Questions:

1. When did you join twitter?

I joined in October of 2009. Here’s my first Tweet…

1012080_10100291492179313_263679379_nIt took me back – when I joined Twitter, I was going through a nasty breakup, and began to find myself by performing in bars and things Downtown.  I don’t think my parents have seen me perform in a number of years though, and I wish they had.

2. Who is your favorite non-celeb to follow? 

Hm – I think any of my friends form Elon.  It’s cool to be able to keep up on the day-to-day when we’re all kind of spread out.

3. Who is your favorite celeb to follow? 

The reason why I joined Twitter was to follow @GavinDegraw and @Billy_Norris after I saw them in concert that month, and figure out where they were going when they were on tour.

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That’s me and the sister, when we met Gavin, who was incredible live.  He also told me that we were pretty so you really can’t tell me nothing.

10335_584285021153_5939781_nI chased this gentlemen from across a field, and he didn’t act scared and he signed my beer can.  He goes where Gavin DeGraw goes, and is very talented himself.

4. Have you ever had a celeb respond to a tweet? 

I was reading Andy Cohen’s book, and there was a quote that had me laughing so hard that I was crying, so I tweeted him.  HE TWEETED ME BACK.  Proof.

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5. What is your favorite store/brand to follow? 

Hm, I don’t really have one…I love following people, and love following celebs because it gives you a glimpse into their lives!

6. Give us three tweeps we should be following. 

@Andy (Andy Cohen of Bravo), @Cheri_Angela (me, DUH), and @KidFury (he’s hysterical).

Link up!

Sunday coffee date.

| cheriarmour

Today’s coffee date is happening from the comfort of my living room because I wanted to clean and spend some time with the dogs before the week begins.  And instead of coffee, I’m drinking one of my guilty pleasures, Diet Mountain Dew today.  I know I’m sorry I’m the total health queen, but that is one really unhealthy pleasure that I indulge in once in a while.  OH WELL!

Okay, so let’s pretend that we’re on a coffee date together.  Here’s what I might tell you!

Photo on 4-6-14 at 10.54 AM

 

  • I went to Beerfest last night, and had a great time with some friends.  But since I’m an old lady, I drank only until like 9, and took a cab home so I could walk the dogs.  I was asleep by 10:30.
  • I’m still trying to train the foster beagle on better bathroom habits, so I’m planning yet another date with my carpets and the Hoover Steam Vac.
  • I accidentally bought Resolve Spray-n-Wash for laundry items to pre-treat some of the scary stains on the carpet.  I hope the carpet cleaning machine doesn’t mind.  Living on the edge!
  • Monica from Run Eat Repeat is a redhead who’s obsessed with sriracha, and I think I caught that bug.  I had a sriracha egg and cheese bagel on Monday last week, and I’ve already purchased some to make my own at home!  Why did you all keep this from me?
  • It’s beautiful here in North Carolina, and as it’s half marathon week, I’m already planning a little run before the days end.

What are you up to today?  

Today.

| cheriarmour

Last night was great.  For the first time in weeks, and weeks, and weeks, because I woke up early and went to body pump, I really had nothing to do after I got off of work, especially seeing as how I worked on a good chunk of wedding projects on Thursday night.

So immediately after work, I laid down with the foster baby (beagle) and took a nap.

Then, me and Austin hung out and watched this creepy creepy Netflix documentary on Jeffery Dahmer, which is pretty funny (not ha ha funny, but “omg this is crazy funny), because I read Jeffery Dahmer’s article on Wikipedia the other day.  Don’t ask why, I love Wikipedia articles, they’re really a fun pastime.  Not Jefferey Dahmer’s per se, but sometimes the articles I read are fun.

So today, I get to do something really fun.

Screen Shot 2014-04-04 at 8.39.22 PMEvery year, Elon hosts a dance marathon called Elonthon that benefits the Duke Children’s Hospital, and every year for the past few years, I have gotten a chance to teach a short Zumba class to sleep deprived students at Elon, and every year, it’s been really fun.  I’m honored to be able to do it again this year, and hope to snap a few pics of the sweaty, beautiful faces of my Elon folks.

What are you doing on this beautiful Saturday? 

 

The boy behind the blog.

| cheriarmour

You guys every wonder who my man-friend is?

You can lie and say you don’t, but the truth is that I can see everything that you google to find my blog, and one of ya’lls nosey selves has been googling to find out what my relationship situation is.  And typically, I won’t talk about him a ton, but this is Austin, the man I’m set to marry in a few very very short months.

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A little bit on the boy behind my blog.

  • We met in grad school, when we both were working at NC State’s Department of Campus Recreation.  He was a cycling instructor, and I was a Zumba instructor.  I was dating someone else when we first met.  It didn’t work out, and I like to tell myself that Austin jumped at the chance to ask me on a date.
  • Our first date was at the Rockford in Downtown Raleigh.  On this date, I ordered a burrito without chicken and he ordered one with.  They gave me that burrito with chicken and we didn’t notice til I ate about a quarter of it.
  • Austin is stupid smart.  He’s very math-minded and analytical, and these are really really useful skills for me to learn and to have, since I’m all artsy and loosey-goosey.
  • Austin likes to eat everything in sight.  EXCEPT mayo.  If someone brings him out a sandwich with mayo, he gets really really sad.
  • Austin pretended to like the Real Housewives of Atlanta for a short time when we were first dating.
  • Austin loves the NFL to the point where we scheduled our wedding so it wouldn’t interfere with his fantasy draft.
  • I once hit Austin’s car when I was rushing off to do something and he barely go mad (probably because my car got jacked up, and not his).
  • Austin want for me to feature him on the blog for eating disgusting items off fast-food menus, and then writing about it.  He wants to start with Taco Bell breakfast I think.  He also makes a habit of trying fish sandwiches from fast food joints, and then comparing them in-depth.

And that, ladies in gents, is the boy behind the blog.

Here’s What! What three things are you obsessed with?

| cheriarmour

I literally don’t understand why in the world it’s Friday again.  Here I am, sitting in the living room with the world’s worst-behaved animals at midnight, and I’m writing to you all.  Love!

If you missed the last few weeks’ “Here’s What”, please educate yourself on the things that I’m obsessed with…

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And now, onto the list!!!

1.  Wedding crafting.  If there was a legit opportunity for me to quit my job, and just blog and do wedding stuff all day, I would totally do it..  Tonight, I spent the entire evening working on little invites for the bridesmaids and for the groomsmen. I’m really excited to see what our folks think about them, but here’s a little sneaky peeky.

photoAre you dead?  Mama did this with some card stock, some craft paper, my hot glue gun, and some glue sticks.  Hashtag dead.  Hashtag when is the date again?  Hashtag oh yeah, it’s right there, bottom right.

2.  I found a new place in Raleigh where I can spend all my money.  I was looking for a lot of buttons, and I went to this cool place called Ornamenta in Raleigh.  The coolest store ever.  Jewelry, charms, chains, a work station for you to make jewelry at.  And all I could think was cool stuff I could make for you guys.

DSC_0203 DSC_0204And yes babes, I took that photo.  I am available for hire après my wedding.

3.  Waking up early to get stuff done.  I wouldn’t say necessarily I’m into waking up early, like it doesn’t get me all hot and bothered, however, since the foster Beagle’s been here, I’ve been so down to wake up early and walk him and the Coco, and take them out to walk, poop, and play.  I also get to vacuum the floors before work which is also a plus.

Those are mine.  What three things are you obsessed with on this warm Friday?  

 

 

I’m running late…

| cheriarmour

To everything this morning.  My posts, which normally go up before you wake up, was not to be this morning.  I was late to work.   I had to find a sub for my Zumba class.  And yet, I’m feeling so rested and happy with my life, which feels like it’s been thrown into a completely beautiful state of chaos.  And along with the chaos, I present to you, the most beautifully random mess of things today.

1.  I’m still feeling the 15-miler I did on Monday.  I think this is for a few reasons, and one of them is the beautiful weather we’ve been having.  My body, my muscles, and my state of hydration are not used to the relative heat, and 15 extra hilly miles did its work on me.

2.  That said, running with friends > running Raleigh hills by yourself.  I literally remember running one of those hills a few Sundays back and feeling so defeated.  It was a completely different feeling with two friends to chat with through them, and I swear, the hills felt less jerky with the friends.

3.  This top knot. 

photo 2 (5)A few questions here.  Is it a top knot still if you’re loc’ed up?  Is it still a top knot if you’re in desperate need of a retwist?  Is it still a top knot if you only did it because your hair is dirty and you didn’t know what else to do with it?

3.  We picked our wedding bands yesterday, which I will tell you all about next Wedding Wednesday.  I also think I picked our caterers, but again, I’ll tell you all all about it next Wednesday.  Are you feeling suspenseful?  Suspended?  What would be the appropriate word here anyways?

4.  Thinking about that second pet?  Think about it long and hard.  You know, I’m fostering the best beagle in the whole world, right?

photo 1 (7)But lord, between him, the cat, and the dog, they are giving me a damn run for my money.  Here, Beagle climbed into my lap, thinking he’s the same size as Coco.  But he’s totally not.  My house has descended into a state of circus.  I kinda love it though, I really think I thrive on insanity.

Tell me one random thing about your day!

 

Books I read as a child/young adult person.

| cheriarmour

I read a ton ton ton as an awkward kid.  Lemme break it down for you, the things I read to make me such a great, beautiful, and quality writer today 🙂 .   Also this post reminds me of – THE SCHOLASTIC BOOK FAIR!!!  Okay, here’s what I read.

Goosebumps.

Living-Dummy_jpg_250x1000_q85This was obviously a fan fave.  And R. L. Stine is a legitimate creep.  But the best part about these books would probably have to be the “pick your own ending” books.  Every time I died, I would just go back to the last page, and pick a different ending.  All I do is win.  Nice try though, creepy Stine.

Fear Street.

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Another creepy creation from R.L. Stine’s mind.  My mom bought me dozens of these from a book fair or something, and I read them over and over and over again.  Really sick.  Also there were books abut the history of fear street, and there was a really nasty series called Fear Street Seniors, where everyone in this graduating senior class was dying.  Sort of not cool, looking back on it.

The Babysitters Club

staceytruthDuh.  And in this particular book, the truth about Stacey actually is that she has Type I Diabetes.  Total Buzzkill Ann M. Martin.  But my dad is a diabetic, so it kinda made me feel like I could relate to him on some level.

Animorphs

animorphs_no_8_the_alien_frontcover_large_Rn8SRXSbgOEzoLRThis was probably as manly as I got with the books.  But these were rad.  I always kinda wished I could morph into an animal, not for the purposes of saving the world, but more so I could like, run really fast.   Also, Tobias got stuck as a hawk.  WTF!  That is so not okay.  You’re telling me there was no way he could turn back?  Ugh.

Sweet Valley Middle, High, and University

studies_in_crap_sweet_valley_university115Don’t even talk badly about his one.  These girls took us through Sweet Valley Kids, Middle, High, and University.  Bonus points for the fact that Elizabeth, the good twin, crashed her car in a DUI, but got out of it because the other driver confessed to driving like an idiot at the last second.  Also nailed it how the models on the covers of the Sweet Valley University (SVU) would change all the time.  That shit is really confusing.

This was so much fun to put together!  Now what did you read as a kid?