Football, Fifteen, Varsity Field Hockey, & Fitness!

Well, we are in the thick of fall and I’m happy to say (and feel like a broken record) but our kitchen is so close to being 100% finished! After having ordered our range in January, it was just delivered in early October. I think of it like having a baby. It took nine months, which is absolutely crazy. The first thing we made in the oven was, naturally, chocolate chip cookies. And boy, were they incredible. The first thing we made on the griddle were turkey reubens and they were absolutely scrumptious. Although, we have had a challenge with the meat thermometer probe and receptacle, so we are working with service to get that all sorted. I have nicknamed the range Finley, since she is a Wolf, and we are Wolfpack fans. Finley was just a natural fit.

We headed up to Raleigh for the NC State versus Louisiana Tech football game, and while it wasn’t technically our game to cook, we swapped places with Greg and Lindsey to help them out. It was a no brainer to get Ole Time Barbecue, just like the good ole days. As always, we were first to arrive at the tailgating spot and had a blast hanging out with our friends. Even though we get there five hours before kickoff, the time goes by so incredibly fast that many times, we don’t want to go into the game, but we always make it in time for kickoff. Brayden took six hours, spread across three days, of behind-the-wheel drivers ed classes and passed, of course. I feel like someone should pinch me because it doesn’t feel like she’s old enough to be driving. That means we’ve aged 15 years and that can’t be happening.  

I enjoyed a fabulous evening getting a facial and then having dinner with mom at 131 Main. It was delicious, as always, and the company was even better. Thank you, mom, for giving me the gift of pampering! Brayden rounded out her field hockey season with games against Charlotte Latin, Marvin Ridge, Providence, and South Meck. This sport has become such a passion of hers and we enjoy watching her progress in her skills, teamwork, and communication on the field. Hanleigh continues to take her handsprings class as well and loves it, too! We celebrated dinner at Bistro d’Antonio for Fran and Terry’s wedding anniversary, and the girls had slumber parties at their friends Alexis and Cameron’s house. I also finally redeemed my birthday present with a massage, after which Trent met me at the Gallery bar and we had lunch and cocktails. It was the perfect way to round up an awesome day! Brayden attended Caroline’s birthday party and the next day, we went to the Carolina Panthers game against the Philadelphia Eagles. We rode the light rail uptown and enjoyed lunch at the stadium before the game. Even though the Panthers lost, we had an incredible time. Thank you so much, Dad and Christel, for the awesome tickets. We really appreciate it! We celebrated Fran’s birthday dinner at Red Rocks, which was also very tasty.

That weekend was the end-of-season field hockey tournament at the Matthews Sportsplex. Brayden’s team ended up making it to the semifinals and she even scored a goal during her second game. It was very exciting! After that, we quickly drove to the Whitewater Center for the annual Build Your Own Boat competition. We weren’t there that long, but it was awesome to see everyone gathering there to check out the hilarious and ill-crafted boats, many of which we watched fall apart as they went over the Bridge Drop rapids. After hanging out there for a couple hours, we headed back home to prepare for Brayden’s 15th birthday slumber party with her besties. Her group of friends are so awesome and if there’s drama, I haven’t seen any of it. We ordered pizza, I made a delicious chocolate cake, and I think they were actually in bed before 1:00am, which is pretty early in terms of slumber parties these days. We made them a big, tasty breakfast on Finley and then Brayden, Hanleigh, and I set out for much-needed pedicures. That evening, we went to dinner Taco Molino, her absolute favorite place in the world, especially for their street corn.

A huge highlight for this month is the fact that after the junior varsity field hockey season concluded, Brayden was one of two girls from the JV team to be asked to play the remainder of the season on the varsity team…and she is the only freshman. This is a huge honor!!! They even let her play a few minutes during a couple of the games, which was awesome! We had the two huge trees in our front yard taken down because, since we have lived in our house, they have done nothing but grow even closer together and it was about the same price to have them cut down as it would have been to just trim them. So, we replaced one of them with a redbud tree, which I am super excited to see grow and bloom hot pink flowers in the spring! Kendall came over for dinner, Hanleigh ran her last Boosterthon (which, was more of a light “yog”, as they say in Anchorman), and we went to the Whitewater Center on a Friday night to check out a documentary about hiking the Grand Canyon, called “Into the Canyon”. We have never been to that part of the United States and it is definitely on our list of sights to see. We learned that Hanleigh has been leading bootcamp-style workouts during her recess time. She models it after Trent’s workouts, asking her friends to do burpees, jumping jacks, run around the track, etc. I love her leadership, desire to keep active, and her ability to encourage others to do the same.

We celebrated our neighbor, Greg’s, birthday at his house and had an awesome time playing pool, dancing, and celebrating with friends. It was such an awesome evening. Brayden rounded out the varsity field hockey season with a playoff tournament game in Carrboro. One of her friend’s moms drove them up there, as it was on a Tuesday evening (school night, too!). That was very kind of her to do. We rallied again for the NC State versus Louisville game, which brought us yet another win. NC State is having an amazing season and the games are so fun to watch! We wrapped up that weekend with a visit to IKEA, where we purchased a desk for Hanleigh’s room. The month concluded with an awesome Halloween party at the Whitcomb’s house. Brayden and her friends dressed up as construction workers. Hanleigh and her friend, Noor, dressed up as M&M’s, Trent was a ghost, and I was a bee…we went as a couple (get it: Boo + Bee= Boobie!). Yes, I know we are very mature! 😊

• Hanleigh and I were talking about how Halloween and she said, “What are you and Mommy going to be?” She said, “You could be the grass and Mommy could be the lawn mower.” to which Trent replied and said, “Why is Mommy on the bottom?”. She said, “Because she is younger. Or Mommy could be the lawn mower and Daddy could ride her.”
• Hanleigh asked if she was going to get arrested if she had her Swedish Fish confiscated in the football stands. She also had the idea to stuff candy in her bra, to which a girl at our tailgate area said, “One day, you’ll put more than that in your bra before a game.”

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