A final thought.

Since I have been a slacking blogger I thought I would leave you with a final post for the day. While we were in Charlotte Brad and Lindsay gave us some great tips on how to eat healthier and substitute some of out favorite foods with heathier options. The first is a substiute for olive oil, which we use a lot. They introduced us to the world of coconut oil. It is much healthier and works just as well. The second fun food is a substitute for sour cream. Say hello to greek yogurt.

Tonight for dinner we bought pork chops and fried them up in the coconut oil. We had collard greens and fried green tomatoes (from our garden), also fried in coconut oil. I always have to have a starch with my meal, so I had mashed potatoes topped with.... GREEK YOGURT.

The meal was simply delicious.
































For another delicious meal idea click HERE to see the low calorie meal that Amanda and I prepared and click HERE for the recipe.

The fun continues....in Charlotte.

Speaking of that beautiful couple... the fun STILL hasn't ended. After a long drive home and a quick load of laundry, we packed up and headed out again. Jason and I trekked a daunting 3 hours from small town Virginia all the way to the hustle and bustle of Charlotte, North Carolina to see Lindsay and Brad D'Amico.

We had a blast spending the weekend with them. We went to a concert at the NC Music Factory. This was where I had my first "Dale's Pale Ale" and let me tell you... they are awesome...in a can!
















We did decide that the can looked a little "redneck" and the name "Dale" didn't really help. Brad did a reenactment of his grumpy neighbor and I caught it all on film. "My Namez Daleee" (I love Brad's face and of course Lindsay looks adorable)

















On Saturday we went to the US National Whitewater Center...check it out HERE. USNWC is home to the World's largest man-made whitewater river with many other water and land activities. We decided to go and read that we had to have "shoes with a back strap". Brad made it clear that if we wore THESE he would definitely make fun of us.

SO.... we went out and found these

















.......are they really any better??



Then we had dinner at Nikko Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar in downtown Charlotte. Click HERE to check out Nikko's. If any of you are traveling to Charlotte soon, I would highly recommend eating here.


Brad's new ride (fully equipped with GPS) headed us in the right direction to the restaurant. On the way we saw this beauty... I couldn't help but snap a picture.
































Dinner was fabulous and the company was even better.

The trip was a huge success and we can't wait to go back again.

Smith Mountain Lake 2011

After we left the pageant we headed straight to the most relaxing and peaceful place on Earth: Smith Mountain Lake. I spent Sunday through Thursday with my wonderful parents and some great family friends: Rob, Marti, Madison, and Alyssa.

As soon as we got there I discovered the kayaks. My dad and I raced around the coves in the kayaks and ... I, of course, won!

Tiny Miss Virginia 2011-2012

The past few weeks have been such a whirlwind. We have been extremely busy with various different events. The first of these events was our annual mother-daughter event, also known as, Tiny Miss Virginia. Three times a year my mom and I pack up and head to Charlottesville, Virginia (Go Hoos!) to work our butts off spend time with some great friends. I am the emcee and my mother is the auditor of this great pageant system.

Tiny Miss is a family and each contestant is treated as just that. Each girl wins a Tiny Miss diamond circle necklace (among many other gifts and prizes). The circle represents the circle of family that each girl experiences when she joins this system.

I joined this family when I was eight years old and have yet to miss a year of fun. Everything about Tiny Miss is perfection...starting with the stage.














My pageant sister Sarah attended. It is always so much fun having her around. Check out her shirt, she is clearly my biggest fan.
















Even Winston came. This pup loves pageants!

















This little cutie is Elizabeth. She is the reigning Mini Miss Eastern America. She brought her dolly along to the pageant and decided to name her Blaire. How sweet!


















Congratulations to all of this years beautiful winners.

Click here to check out the "Tiny Miss" website and learn how to become a part of a great pageant system.