Gusto!

"the verve, the umph, the vibrance, the life, the exuberance, the stuff, the gusto!" This saying is written on the tag placed on the bag of items you have purchased at the new store. Austin and his friend Ashley have opened up a new trendy store with a New Yorkish feel. It's name is Gusto! and it's job is fashion! If you're ever in the downtown Winston-Salem area, check them out! Click on this link for an article published in the local paper just this past Saturday! http://www2.journalnow.com/content/2010/feb/20/true-to-their-fashion-best-friends-open-an-upscale/
Austin and I are practically cousins, just not blood related we say. Our grandparents were best friends, our moms grew up together, and not only did we grow up together but we grew up as back door neighbors. We have spent every Christmas morning eating breakfast together, eaten lunch every Sunday after church together, grew up riding our bikes for hours after school, worked together along with other siblings to make the best ramps for sledding, starred in "movies", ridden in the back of pickup trucks with PaPa driving, snuggled up watching Clue with PaPa holding us during the "scary part", celebrated birthdays, gone to the beach with our familes, and have cried during deaths in our families. He truly is like family and I can't describe the excitement when I first stepped into his store Saturday after Lena's shower. I was overwhelmed and couldn't decide if I wanted to scream with joy or cry with happiness! I am so proud of him!

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Lena's Shower

I went home this past weekend to help celebrate the upcoming birth of Ella Rose Ammons. Lena and Rick will welcome baby girl Ella the end of March. The shower was hosted by Jane and Audrey at Audrey's new house. It was a floating shower, but of course we stayed from 11:40ish until it ended at 1:00. Actually, we stayed until almost 2 visiting with family! We walked over to Lena's house and saw the completed nursery. It's so sweet!
The neat thing about all this is Lena is due on Marty and Jane (her aunt and uncle's) wedding anniversary. Audrey, Jane and Marty's daughter, is due one year exactly from the day that Marty died. So even though Marty is now watching over all of us, he is still here in spirit. Life really is a blessing.

Jacob, the team hero

Almost two years ago when I joined Team In Training many of you might remember me talking about our team hero, Jacob. Back in January, there was an alumni night at a local running store. I asked one of the coaches if they knew anything about Jacob and how he was doing. They had not heard anything at that point. A few days ago, I got an e-mail with this link. You can click on the video on this link to watch his mother talk about Jacob. Thankfully, he is still doing well today!
http://support.missionfoundation.org/site/PageServer?pagename=ffl_patient_stories

Whirlwind Weekend

Since I was unable to go hear Yonder Mountain Thursday night, I made up for my sadness last weekend. Friday night, I went out with some friends for dinner and drinks downtown. As I was sitting around early Saturday morning reading, my friend Anna called and asked if I wanted to grab some lunch and ride with her to the outlets. Since nothing was on my agenda for the day, I took her up on the offer! I did some window shopping and enjoyed a great lunch before heading back into town. That night, I went out for my friend Lauren's birthday. We met at Westville Pub for dinner and drinks to celebrate her special day.Sunday afternoon, my best guy friend from high school Jon, his wife Caitlin, and their brand new puppy Brutus came over to "watch" the Carolina basketball game. Pattie was in love with Brutus and he eventually got over being so scared of her! It was great to catch up with an old friend! About an hour after they left, I headed over to Hollie and Ben's house for a Superbowl party! To top it all off, I found out at the party that school was on a 2 hour delay! That still means I'm supposed to be there, but knowing I could sleep in and not see kids quite as early was fabulous considering we haven't worked much lately! And I was worried I was going to have to work a full week!!!

Vote! Vote!

So, one day last week when I was snowed in I decided to enter my cute niece and nephew in the Cutest Baby contest. (still not sure why I got the e-mail!) When I got to the last page, you had to pay $40. So, I just closed the page and went about my day. Today, I got an e-mail from the website saying that Caroline is in the running for the cutest kid of the week! So, click on the following link and vote for her!!!! Thanks!

http://photos.parents.com/category/vote/id/4/w/06/y/2010?page=68

(she is wearing a pink shirt that says birthday girl, sitting on a rocking horse and waving at the camera. I took this picture last year on her 1st birthday!)