Ready Set Go 38/365

Friday was a busy day for me as I had over 70 people taking part in an event that I had been working on since the spring. The event was called "NAPA's Full Throttle Weekend." Today guests were excited because they would get to drive up to 130 mph in 10 seconds. Other guests would get to ride with Ron Capps and go up to 160 mph in 8 seconds. For those of you that have never seen a drag race in person, the whole sport revolves around split second reactions and the ability to step on the gas as soon as the light goes green.

After everyone was done at the drag strip, we went to Michael Waltrip's Race World to see how his team gets ready for NASCAR races. We spent about an hour and half getting the VIP tour through out the shop. When we got done with the tour, everyone got back on the bus and we headed to the hotel to drop people off who didn't want to come to the Nationwide race.

About half the group opted to enjoy the nightlife of Uptown (downtown) Charlotte while the other half geared up for the cold weather and enjoyed 43 cars going 200 mph making left turns. Around 10:45 the race ended and we headed home. Finally around 12:30 am, I got home and was able to call it a night.

John Hancock 37/365

Thursday was the kickoff for Tyler's busy weekend! He had about 70 people in town for a promotion event and the Welcome Reception was Thursday night at the Marriott downtown. Most of the promotions Tyler does for work are out of town, so it was a treat to have one in Charlotte. I was able to spend time with him at the reception while taking some pictures and got to see him between and during events for the rest of the weekend.

Friday's activities would include ride along and driving experiences at the new drag strip in Concord with NHRA driver Ron Capps. Ron joined us at the Welcome Reception Thursday night to sign autographs and take pictures while getting to know the guests. He talked about his sport and was a pleasure to meet. He signed hats and shirts and photos and spent over an hour meeting everyone and taking picture after picture. We told him about our project and asked him if he would mind being in our picture of the day. He smiled as we set up the camera on top of an upside down bar glass placed strategically on top of a can of pineapple juice. We explained that we had to actually push the shutter ourselves and use the camera timer in order for the picture to count. After all that I decided to use a picture of him autographing a hat for our daily shot, but I included the picture of the three of us below because he was such a nice guy and a great sport!!

Our Monkin 36/365

After buying our pumpkin last weekend, we decided to carve it on Wednesday night. We knew Tyler had a busy weekend coming up so while I made dinner, Tyler cleaned up the pumpkin. Then I traced the design we chose and Tyler used his crazy carving skills we discovered last year to complete our creation. We will not be here on Halloween weekend, but we figure we can enjoy our pumkin for most of October! Later that night we decided to call it a monkin (monster-pumpkin) and knew it had to be our picture of the day.

Boot Scootin' 35/365

What a great afternoon! After work, Tyler and I headed out to play in the beautiful weather on the train tracks in Cornelius. Not to worry moms...we were close enough to track construction that there were no moving trains in sight :) Our favorite picture is one Tyler snapped of my boots.

We had tons of fun playing on a construction site!

And on the tracks...

There's nothing like a great kung fu kick :)

Burning Love 34/365

It was tough getting back into the swing of our week on Monday, especially after such a nice and relaxing weekend. We had a yummy pasta dinner after work and after watching some of our favorite shows...I was headed to bed. I remember sleepily muttering to Tyler that we didn't have a picture for the day yet and while I was sleeping, he was lighting candles and taking beautiful pictures. I love the blur of the lights in this one...he did such a great job!

While my rockstar husband was snapping photos...I was zonked out! Now that's love :)

Perfect Pumpkin 33/365

It's official...we have found the PERFECT pumpkin! Sunday was definitely a lazy day but we did manage to be productive in picking out a pumpkin. We spent the day catching up on TV, watching football and getting ready for our week. I tried a new chicken recipe for dinner and we settled in to enjoy the end of a wonderful weekend. Stay tuned for pictures of our carved pumpkin...we can't wait!

Route 66 32/365

We woke up on Saturday morning with french toast on the mind! After a tasty breakfast, I headed to an art show that a friend was displaying at, while Tyler settled in for College Football Gameday. The art show was held in the parking lot of the Butter Bean and it was so nice catching up with Lisa! I got to see her paintings and meet the man in her life too :) It was a nice cool fall morning and I more than enjoyed exploring the area. The Butter Bean is a great little store that sells antiques and locally made crafts, food and local produce. The woman behind the register was as sweet as sugar and I met a local editor inside who talked to me about writing classes she teaches and the editing work that she does. It was such a refreshing atmosphere...a truly southern experience. I took pictures outside and in and ultimately decided on the one below for the daily picture.

After spending a couple of hours at the art show, I headed home so Tyler and I could go to the movies. We saw Couples Retreat and both really enjoyed it. It was funny and cute and it had a happy ending, which is always a bonus for me :) We came back to the house after the movie, had a quick bite, and got ready to head down into Charlotte to watch the FSU game. We received a great FSU care package from Tyler's mom and dad earlier in the morning, so we were more than excited to wear our new gameday gear!!

We picked up Allison and Tyler and went over to Brazwell's with the other Seminole fans to watch the emotional roller coaster ride that was the game on Saturday night. During the first half there were no field goals and no punts...only touchdowns. We scored back and forth and headed into halftime in the lead. Unfortunately for us, the end of the game did not look as great. After a lightning delay extended our game late into the night, we finally headed home after a sad loss. We did, however, happily look forward to a lazy Sunday filled with football! Despite the loss, we were ultimately grateful that we each have 10 whole toes :)