NC state fair

As our second fall ritual Jake and I headed out to the state fair yesterday. We mostly go for the food and to see the exhibits. We have only ridden one ride at the state fair in the five years we have been going and it is really nice to save money by not riding the rides. State fair food is expensive so you will certainly spend enough money on the food and entry fee alone without having to worry about ride tickets. Since Jake still has a valid military id we went on military day and both got in for free! We then headed straight for the roasted corn and jake enjoyed a steak sandwich. The other fun food we found was our traditional honey cotton candy, hand dipped corn dog and hot apple cider. The new things we tried this year were a fried pecan pie and a muscadine cider slushie. Needless to say the fried pecan pie was AMAZING and will be added to my list of favorite fair foods. The exhibits were also great this year and we strolled around the fruit and veggi exhibits, checked out the huge cattle and pigs and of course the flower exhibit which I love because I always see new plants and flowers that amaze me! Overall it was a great day at the fair and even though we spent about 50$ it really wasn't that bad for everything we got. Here is a list of all the things we bought with that 50$.

- 1 Large bag of kettle corn
- 1 bear squeeze bottle of NC honey
- 1 honey cotton candy
- 4 ears of roasted corn
(yes 4, we each had one when we got there then had another when we were leaving)
- 1 steak sandwich
- 1 foot long corndog
- 1 fried pecan pie
- 2 hot apple ciders
- 1 bottle of water
- 1 small coke
-1 muscadine cider slushie

renaissance fair

The north carolina renaissance fair is a staple in our fall festivities. This was actually only our second year making it up to the fair since it is held near huntersville, but it was as good as the first time we went. This year we went with my brother, his wife, and my cousin allie and her husband. It was great to spend time with family and see jousts and wander through the "village" where merchants were selling many cool things. We saved money this year and didnt buy anything other than our tickets and food for lunch (okay, okay, we did sneak in some chocolate in there) .
With adult tickets being $19.00 a piece you really want to take advantage of everything the fair has to offer so you get your money's worth. There are a butt load of programs going on all over the fair. This year we saw the joust, and a comedy show, walked by the pirate show, jugglers, belly dancers, and black smith but didn't stay for the whole shows. There are also sword swallowers, fire eaters, and falconry shows and don't forget the glass blowing demonstrations! You can really make a full day of it if you sit down and plan out which shows you want to go to before you get there. However, if you are like us you may just want to wander around the fair and take your chances on what is going to be playing on certain stages as you walk by. It really depends if you are the organized outing type of people or not. Personally, I like just walking around and seeing what I see.
Interested in going? The fair runs until the end of november!

http://www.royalfaires.com/carolina/

October

One of the best months of the year is here! I can't explain how much I love the cool, but still sunny weather, the tastes, sights, and smells of the state fair, the decorating for halloween, the pumpkin carving, and of course the renaissance faire in Charlotte! This year we are going to be very busy in October. We have a trip planned to go to charlotte and stay the weekend with my brother and sister in law, carve pumpkins and go to the Ren faire. After that we have the NC state fair in Raleigh!! Next, we have tickets to go see the carolina ballet perform Dracula the night before Halloween. Then of course, we have halloween and are hoping for lots of trick or treaters! Our three front facing windows are decorated with a huge Dracula vinyl window sticker that I found at michaels (made by martha stewart) and orange, purple, and green lights. Hopefully our decorations will attract some trick or treaters because we will have candy ready. I hope that you all have some plans for this wonderful month as well :)

25 weeks pregnant

Tomorrow marks the 25 week mark! Not too much has changed, the belly is getting bigger and I have had to utilize my maternity clothes more and I have some trouble breathing if I slouch so I have to sit up straight and not slouch on the couch which is no fun. Im still wearing my high heels to work and I hope that my feet don' t swell so much that I have to go buy new dress shoes. I also changed insurance carriers this week which kind of stinks because I don't think the doctors office I have been going to is in network anymore. Not that it is a huge deal because I never see the same doctor when I have my appointments anyway but the hospital at UNC seemed really nice and I didn't really want to switch doctors in the middle of my pregnancy. Oh well, you gotta do what you gotta do.

Awesomely easy fruit salad

Okay, so I'm not a huge fan of canned fruit cocktail and making home made fruit salad takes a lot of cutting, peeling, and coring. So, taking some hints from fruit salads my mom has made in the past here is a super easy fruit salad that tastes amazing and.....it all comes out of cans!

1 can mandarin oranges(drained)
1 can pineapple in its own juice (undrained)
1/4-1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 small jar maraschino cherries and a few spoons of the juice

Mix this all together in a bowl and let sit for awhile in the fridge so all the juices and flavors get mingled together and it gets nice and cold and there you have it! Super easy, super fast, and super yummy.

A day out

The weather has cooled down enough to get outside and really enjoy being active without getting so hot that you feel horrible. Yesterday we took advantage of the nice weather and took a walk around Duke Gardens. As always, it was beautiful and we had a great time. We walked for an hour which left me a little too tired but we will make up for it by relaxing on the beach Monday :).

Six months pregnant!

I can't really complain too much about my pregnancy. I know there are a lot of women out there that have tons of complications and sickness so God has really blessed me in that area. But, I am getting tired of all of the aches and pains. My hips hurt every time I lay down or walk too much and my back is just achy and gets sore in the same spot every night when I sleep. My last year of college I moved a ton of stuff into my dorm room and lifted one too many heavy boxes which left me out in my back and on the couch for two days. Ever since then when I lift too many things or bend the wrong way I get crazy bad pain in the lowest part of my left back...and guess what? Thats the spot that hurts every single time I lay down at night or sit on the couch for more than ten minutes. Oh well, only three and a half months to go! Hooray! In the mean time I am trying to make things better, especially since my doctor told me last week that I should only gain ten more pounds and I was gaining weight too fast. So, I switched to oatmeal every morning for breakfast, I walk with the hubby and the dog, do pre-natal pilates, and swim. The exercising part hasn't been that hard, but the eating right part is really hard to do when I am craving things like rocky road ice cream instead of the grapes and apples I make myself eat. But, I really don't want to end up with a huge baby or a huge amount of weight to lose after the baby or gestational diabetes. So, the oatmeal and exercise will continue until December...or until I give in to the ice cream in the freezer.