Performing Arts

Since our youngest is now the only one home, we're finding more time to enjoy the arts.  Lucky for her to enjoy these productions!

The first one that came to Greenville was an astronaut.  He brought a slide show of his pictures and video footage, narrating what it was like to blast off into space, live at the space station, take a few space walks, and his re-entry back to Earth.

I didn't buy our tickets until the day of the performance, so I was excited to see that all seats were only $20 and the best seats in the house were still available!  I got us box seats, the opposite side in the front where you see the green arrow.  I picked her up early from the after-school program and surprised her with the event.

Here was the view from our seats...  So cool!  I've always wanted to sit in one of these.

The space talk was excellent!  I highly recommend it.  The little one didn't seem as enthusiastic about it, though.  She said she would have preferred to stay home.  Oh well, I enjoyed having someone watch it with me.

A few days later, Eric bought tickets for all three of us to see this musical performance at the Greenville Little Theater.  The actors were from local colleges or professional dancers/singers.  

Since this one was high energy, catchy songs, great story line (Bible-based), and involved actors, the little one was more engaged.  The set was incredible, and we loved every bit of this play!  Highly recommend this one, too!

Nailed It!

There's a baking show on Netflix called 'Nailed It' and it's hilarious!  They take ordinary people and make them compete in baking very complicated cakes.  Rarely do they turn out well, and that's what makes it so funny.

The little one and I enjoyed watching the show so much that we decided to find our own cake decorating class.  They have one in Greenville called Cakes by U, and we found an open studio time slot to drop in.

With no soccer games today, it was a perfect Saturday for a mom & daughter date.

We each selected a 5" double-layered cake, and we both chose vanilla cake and vanilla frosting.  They had so many flavors and colors for the frosting, but we kept with plain butter cream like the professionals on the show.

The studio also had instructions on how to decorate the perfect cake, although you didn't have to follow them.  

After the butter cream layer, we could add fondant on top for a smooth finish or just pieces of fondant as decorations.  We chose the latter since neither of us actually liked the taste of it, but knew from the show that fondant could help you make cool designs.

The little one finally got hers iced!  

I was done first and started taking pictures and cleaning up.  Here's a selfie of my masterpiece!

You can see the neat atmosphere in the studio.  It's like a Dr. Seuss theme.

We both decided on seasons.  My favorite is fall and hers is winter.  Now to get them home for the taste test...

Nailed it!

Record Time

Eric entered an open swim race for the 2nd year in a row.  This is held on the beautiful Lake Jocassee each September. Ashlyn decided to enter this year as well, although she doesn't have as much swimming experience.  

There were 200 participants, and the timed swim was either 1.2 miles or 2.4 miles, depending on your registration and whether you swam one or two laps.  Kayakers kept guard for safety.  Ashlyn swam first in an earlier heat and snapped this picture of Eric coming in with his final strokes.

As Eric was coming out of the water, the crowd went wild!  The announcer said they were witnessing their first place finisher for the 2.4 mile swim.  

Apparently, my husband came in first place overall in the 2.4 swim with a time of 48.25!!  What an incredible time and finish!  

Although he only swam 1.2 miles, the registration must have showed he was swimming the 2.4.  He was honest and mentioned it to the officials, but they haven't cleared it up yet on the score board.  So until then, let's allow Eric to enjoy this moment.  Great swim, sweetie!

1st Visit

I have a meeting in Columbia once a month, so I used this opportunity to stop by USC and see Luke.  Since I wasn't able to help him move in, this was my first time to see his dorm in person.

Although the space was furnished, he wanted me to bring a few items to make it look more comfortable.  So, I picked up a rug and throw pillows to add a splash of color.

I was pleased to see the sheets off his bed (on the right), meaning he's at least thinking about washing them. 

We then ate at one of the cafeteria's on campus.  This one was really nice and offered made-to-order grilled burgers, a fresh salad bar, a hot buffet, and sandwiches.  

We were a little rushed in our visit because he had class in 45 min, but I appreciated him taking the time to meet me.  I returned the favor by giving him a ride across campus to the business school instead of his usual 20 min. walk.

And now just a week later, it's de ja vu on another hurricane like when his older sister was in the USC dorms and campus had shut down.  I asked if he had enough food to prepare for lockdown, and this was the selfie I got back...

I guess I'm not worried anymore.  He'll be fine.

Felix

We finally decided to sell our house on Felix.  This one was purchased in 2013 and rented for several years.  

Our last tenant really did a number on the place and it took us all summer to get it ready to list again.  They left so much trash and junk everywhere!

Garage.....

Living room...

The kitchen had so many roaches.  Left sink was stopped up with grease from the drain to about 2" up the sides.  There were even maggots in the drain eating up the grease.  Ewww!  The stove top had so much food stuck to it and down the sides.  The white cabinets were so dirty.  Notice the little one holding her nose...more about that in a minute.

The three bedrooms had so many carpet stains.  I don't think they even owned a vacuum.  

Lots of cigarette butts (weren't supposed to smoke) and evidence of pet urine and feces (weren't supposed to have pets, either).

The carpet in the bottom right corner was shredded by a dog trying to get out to use the restroom.  The smell was so repugnant that it burned our eyes.

Hallway picture...shoes, unhinged doors, nails, roaches, etc.  Walls were dirty, too.

One of the bathrooms along with prescriptions they left behind.  The tub was really black at the bottom. I don't think they ever cleaned it.

So, we plugged our noses, grabbed some gloves, and wore our lawn shoes.  Over two months, we hauled off all the trash and leftover junk, ripped up the carpet and padding, replaced the hardwood floor, repainted every wall and door, re-carpeted, then surface cleaned, deep cleaned, and finally cleaned again.  

Now, the place looks great!  It even smells like bleach & pine-sol.  :)

 

We listed it this morning, had 5 showings already, and one offer by this evening!  There is really a need for 3br/2ba homes under $150k.  I'm so proud of Eric and the kids for working hard in turning this one around quickly.  

M&J Weekend

I had the little one all to myself this weekend!!  Eric decided to fly back to Texas and see his childhood home one last time, and Ashlyn went to Columbia to visit her friends and her brother.  So, what did us girls do?  Well....

We decided to go for a walk on the Swamp Rabbit Trail, then stopped to do a few obstacles along the way.

We kept walking and walking, got a little direction turned with some of the construction,  walked along busy streets to get back on track, saw a dead copper head (thankfully it was dead), and kept walking until we found our car again.

We decided to reward ourselves with ice cream for not dying along the walk.

She taught me how to Snap Chat...apparently there are filters and stories.

Then we came home, showered, and onto church.  The next morning we had breakfast at Kolache Factory (where else?)...

Caught a movie matinee then did some grocery shopping.  Good thing we stopped for groceries because Luke surprised us with a visit.  He was on his way home from cliff diving in NC with 7 of his friends, and they were all hungry.  The Little One helped me whip up a huge pot of spaghetti complete with salad, bread, and dessert.  

So great to see my son! :)  I didn't want to ruin the moment with a picture, but it sure was tempting.  It was hard to watch him leave all over again.  They only stayed an hour.

Then a snuggle with the Little One before bedtime.  These special days go by so quickly.  I'll take each moment I have, and each weekend like this is precious.