July 4th Weekend-North Carolina Style

This weekend Jon's parents and I traveled to his apartment to "surprise" him for his birthday.

Amanda wanted to do something special for his birthday (July 13) and since there was a real good chance he would be working...4th of July weekend seemed appropiate. Of course he had a race in Daytona on July4th....at night mind you. So we were all eagerly anticipating his arrival.

(Usually if they drive...they will drive home after the race is over) However....this time they decided to sleep and travel back the next day. The heat index was 110 degrees on Saturday night so they were all exhausted. Jon got home around 1:30 p.m. and we headed out to Lake Norman. It was fun and relaxing. I think Chance liked it the most....that is until they threw him in the lake. Poor puppy!

Bonaire Trip 2009

Greetings from Bonaire!
This is what Randall looks like when he is not
in the water!

Beautiful Sunsets everyday!

Chuck & Randall before jumping in!

Sherman - Our very own JAWS!

Best Divemasters in the World!

Cornelius & Sherman

Skip & Randall

Cornelius, Randall, & Skip

Randall & Skip posing near the slave huts.

Slave Huts on the island

Randall & Skip....waiting on the women!

Group Shot 2009

Last dinner on the island for 2009
We had a great time! Looking forward to next year!

P.S. I didn't fall in this year!

Charlotte All Star Race

Amanda & Jon at the Pit Crew Challenge!

Tony Stewart watching his team compete in the challenge.


Tony Stewart & Ryan Newman

Jeff Burton cheering on the #31 Car! His team

actually won the competition!

#24 Chevrolet Dupont Car

Jeff Gordon...I couldn't believe how short he was! ha!

Amanda doing what she does best....TALKING~!

Carl Edwards

Clint Bowyer watching the #33 Cheerios Car

See the guy looking at the camera....that is Daniel.

He use to work at BHR and now works for Clint Bowyer's team

Amanda cheering on the #1 Bass Pro Car

Bass Pro Team getting ready!

Pigeon Forge with the Ellis Family

Maddi Grace - Jon's niece

Blake Ellis - He is such a cutie !

Jon swimming with his nephew Blake!I love this picture!
Jon & Amanda

Mr. Chance loved camping! Even Randall liked him.

We had the best time camping this past weekend. It was a chance to meet Jon's parents, Gary and GiGi Ellis. Even Jon's brother Chris and his wife Jennifer along with Blake & Madylyn came.

Such a sweet family......!!! We had lots of fun!

Scoring for BHR-Virginia

I have a new part-time job. I have been scoring some of the truck races this summer.

Shortly after the season started Amanda called me asking if I would be interested in scoring some of the truck races for BHR this summer.....since they would pay my travel expenses and pay me for the actual scoring of the race I said YES! This way I could see Amanda and still make some money. Ha! It's only 9 races total but it's been fun. I have to admit it is a little intimidating. They are very strict (nascar). I don't know....for some reason they want this scoring thing to be....shall I say.....correct. So that means no talking, cell phones must be off, and you can't go to the bathroom unless you FLAG someone down that can take over for you. Well I just as soon HOLD IT until it's all over. I am responsible for counting every lap for the #18 Tahoe Dodge (Dennis Setzer) and I have to record his time as he goes across the start/finish line.

Sounds easy....right? Well trust me it can get confusing....especially when he pits and you can't find the driver because you think he is still on the track. Oh well.

Disney World 2008

Amanda and my mom at the Luau
Rachel Ray he was NOT
Carrie & Ryan at Epcot
Sweet Courtney Rose
Mary Poppins, Courtney, & Ryan
Amanda BEFORE Sun Poisoning

Well we made our annual trip to Disney World. Amanda and I met my mom, Carrie, Ryan, Courtney, and Carrie's mom in Disney World. I had only been back from my Bonaire trip two weeks and I was off again. Carrie's family had a family reunion in Florida and so since they were already there we decided to make a trip to see them too! Even my brother joined us the day before Amanda and I had to leave. The kids LOVED everything about the trip and they were so good. I can't help it but they are two of the cutest kids EVER. I'm not sure that Amanda had that much fun. We arrived on Saturday and on Monday Amanda decided to stay back at the resort to catch up on some work while everyone else headed to Epcot. Being in Florida it's hard to "work" in the room so she moved herself down to the pool. Above picture is before this story. All summer long I have been getting lectured on by AJ about using SPF 30...she even has a message about it on her email. Well guess who didn't use enough SPF 30. So for the next 2 days she sat in the room sicker than I have ever seen her. She was so RED that you couldn't tell her from Rudolph. We also attended the Luau at the Polynesian Resort. That was a late mother's day gift for my mom. It was fun too! Food was WONDERFUL! If you get the chance I highly recommend it. I've posted a few more pictures of the trip!

Trip to Bonaire

Recently Randall and I took a scuba diving vacation to Bonaire. I DO NOT scuba dive unless you count my falling off the boat on the Friday before we left. No I'm not kidding. Normally I lay by the pool while the group scuba dives....I figure that is safe enough. Well I let them talk me into going out on the boat to see the dolphins...yada yada yada. So I decide that I do not want to appear to anti-social and agree to go with them. On this particular day they decide to take us to the EAST side of the island. This is a part of the island that they (the group) have never been to before....well there is a reason for that.....it's ROUGH. So on our way to the EAST side of the island some of the ladies (myself included) were sunning on the front of the boat. As we venture out further to the dive site the water goes from calm to waters I like to call....get me outta here!

The dive master stopped the boat and requested that we (the ladies that are sunning) get back in the back of the boat due to the rough waters. So Linda (first suntanned lady) slowly works her way around the side of the boat and proceeds safely into the boat. Then it's my turn. With camera in one hand and coverup in my other hand I take two steps only to slip and go directly thru the bars of the boat into the ocean. Keep in mind please I DO NOT SWIM. I go under with my sunglasses and flip-flops still on.....camera has gone flying......along with the coverup. I come up and thankfully.......I do keep calm........I actually had enough sense to not panic. Anyways three men dived in (Randall was not one of them) and saved me. Other than that our trip was peaceful, uneventful, and relaxing. I can't wait to go back.