Lost in a Nicholas Sparks Book and The Cake Fairy Strikes Again

This weekend Joey surprised me and took me to Carolina Beach for my birthday. It was the greatest surprise! We sat on the beach and painted pottery and rode our bikes--it was absolutely perfect! The weather was gloomy, windy, and cold, but I seriously felt like I was somewhere in a Nicholas Sparks book and a great love story was about to ensue!

It was a great weekend to get away from the craziness of this new life in the High Country of North Carolina and nice to spend some undisturbed time with my amazing fiance! And it wasn't too bad to come home to the mountains at the end of the weekend.

We started off by trying to watch the sunrise--it was so cloudy that it was more like a cloud rise!

So, Joey decided to build a sand castle--complete with a moat!!

And take some artsy pictures of me enjoying the waves!

And then we started having a LOT of fun!!!

The houses on the beach were so colorful!

On Monday at school during 3rd period I got a note saying that they needed me in the office asap. So, after 3rd period I went into the office to find this surprise:

My mom has always been the "Cake Fairy". No matter where I am for my birthday, she finds a way to get a cake to me! Year after year, she would show up in College Station with a homemade birthday cake. This year was no exception. She did not let the distance between us get in the way of getting me a birthday cake. She called the receptionist at my school and got a recommendation for a local cake baker. She ordered a cake for me and had it delivered to school!

It seriously was a great birthday weekend that finished off with a great surprise!

Thanks Mom and Dad, for making sure that I get a wonderful cake on my birthday :)

Please Pray

Hurricane Gustav is on it's way straight toward Lafayette, LA--my home town. My entire family is in Lafayette, except for my brother, Kevin, who is in Baton Rouge. The eye of Gustav is currently expected to make landfall at Vermillion Bay, just south of Lafayette, and head directly for Lafayette. The eastern side of the system is always the strongest which means that Baton Rouge will get the worst of the storm. My family in New Iberia (right at Vermillion Bay) are under a mandatory evacuation, so once again my parents are welcoming the entire family into their house. Please pray for safety for my family as well as for everyone that will be affected by this powerful storm. My parents have been through countless hurricanes throughout their lives, but my dad told me today that he is really scared of this one--something he would not say loosely. I am trying to see the Lord's hand in all of this. It is a huge storm and the hugeness of God and smallness of man is so evident in weather systems. However, I know that He loves us and will always protect us. Gustav is expected to arrive late Monday night/early Tuesday morning, so your prayers are greatly appreciated.

much love,
cb

Another New Adventure

Aaah....tis the season once again. Not the Christmas season, but the season of change. But this time, it's a change that I have been waiting for. And hopefully a change that will not change for a while (at least 2 years).

I am a Boone, NC resident! Yes, that's right. No more Texas or Louisiana or California. I have ventured to the other side of our great country, and I couldn't be more excited.

But, with excitement also comes a bit of anxiety.

Upon my arrival I cried as per usual. I cried because it was all new. I cried because no one here really knows me. I cried because I just needed to cry. But this time something was different. I have Joey. He has been my rock over this past week. My move and this decision to be his wife has been confirmed over and over again when time after time he has chosen me over his friends. When he has made the decision (he says it's an easy one) to hang out with me when his friends are playing apple sauce in their backyard. (Basically, apple sauce is baseball with apples where you turn the apples into apple sauce!) So, even though this is hard at times, and it's another move without my chicks, it's okay...in fact it's very good!

Since we have been here, lots has happened. Probably the biggest news is that I found out that I am the JV Cheerleading coach at Hibriten High School where I am also teaching Science.

Yes, I said that right.

JV CHEERLEADING!!!!

I was just as surprised as you are.

So, there's that.

But, we have also been having a lot of fun! We went hiking the other day and the cycling yesterday. And, I'll tell you what, I thought I was a cyclist until I started cycling here. People who cycle here are real cyclists. The hills/mountains are killer! So, maybe I'll become a real cyclist after all. Here's some pictures of some of our first adventures in Boone. (Please, excuse the spandex.)






Sooo...who's ready to come visit??

much love,
cb

Bike-walking

Joey and I are moving to North Carolina on Thursday, and someone asked me the other day how our time in Lafayette has been.

"Awesome" I say.

As I think about my cliche answer some more, one thing stands out during our time in Lafayette--our bicycle woes.

The woes began even before we got to Lafayette.

I got a few stories for ya ags!

Bike-walking #1

So, about a month before Joey moved to Lafayette, he was mountain biking with some friends in North Carolina. He went off a jump, but quickly decided that he didn't go high enough. So, of course he had to try it again. The second attempt was not as pleasant as he had hoped as he flew over his handlebars and proceeded to be knocked unconscious. When he came to, he had to be taken to the emergency room (his friends walked his bike home) where they though that he had ruptured his spleen. (He ended up being okay, praise the Lord!) He soon realized that his mountain bike was totally busted and will require hundreds of dollars of parts and hours of labor.

Bike-walking #2

A couple of weeks after Joey and I got to Lafayette, we decided to go on a bike ride on the Northside of town (a little ghetto at times). We started our journey and soon saw that along our route were prisoners (in black and white stripes, no lie) working on the side of the road. I rode by quickly as they were whistling at me in my spandex! About 3.5 miles into our ride, we heard a pop. One of Joey's spokes on his back wheel had broken off his bike. Are you kidding me? Who does that happen to? So, we began the bike-walking. We decided to go down a side street to avoid the prisoners, but soon found out that we were walking down a very dangerous street in Lafayette. I was scared to death and when I asked Joey afterwards if he was scared he just replied, "I was ready." (Whatever that means...)

Bike-walking #3

A couple of weeks after incident #2, we headed over to Austin for Jessica to take our engagement pictures. Joey insisted on going mountain biking. But, since his bike is still busted, I let him use my Gary Fisher (affectionately named Number 9) that survived the 1-35 bike incident. He was about 3 miles out peddling up a hill when suddenly he heard a clunk. The rear derailleur had fallen off the bike. WHAT?? Yes, I said that right, the rear derailleur fell off the bike. There is a little piece of aluminum that holds the derailleur onto the bike and it cracked in half. Joe had walk his bike back to where we were lying on the beach of Lake Travis. He was upset to say the least, but REI came through again and Hector, my friend at the Dallas REI, called Karl, my new friend at the Austin REI and he special ordered the part for us.

Bike-walking...er...pulling #4

Just a couple of days ago, we went riding around River Ranch in Lafayette with my parents. It was just a leisure 7pm ride after dinner when suddenly Joey couldn't pedal anymore and realized that a link on his chain had broken. So, we took his chain off his bike and I pulled him behind my bike (he held onto my seat) for the rest of our ride. We did pretty well except for one time when we had to start again after crossing a major street and I fell down onto Joey's bike with my feet still clipped into my pedals. I have bruises to keep the memory alive!

So, there you have it...our bike-walking woes of Summer 2008. We did manage to go on a couple of good rides around Lafayette and the surrounding little cajun towns and only came out with minor injuries (sunburn, the beginnings of a heat stroke, you know the likes).

It has been a great summer, but we are excited to be back with 4 fully functioning bicycles and in North Carolina where it isn't so hott!

much love, cb

We Love Schmale!!

Last weekend Joey and I ventured off to Austin, TX because one of our favorite people in the whole world--Miss Jessica Lynn Schmale--lives there and donated her mad photo skills for the weekend. We spent the Fourth of July at Muleshoe Ranch where Jess, Jillian, and I laid out by the water and Joey attempted to go mountain biking (due to a bicycle malfunction, he was unable to complete his entire journey). We ended the day by watching fireworks over ATX and then got a good night sleep for our big day to come.

During our "photo shoot", we were completely at Jessica's disposal and had an absolute blast. She did a fabulous job capturing our personalities for our engagments and we are more an impressed with her skills. We ended the day cliff jumping at Pace Bend (Jess even jumped off!).

To see more awesome pictures, visit Jessica's blog.

Jess,

Thanks so much for putting up with us and our "personality" for an entire weekend! We had a blast, the pictures look fabulous, and we love you soooooo much!

Joey and Claire

An Ode

My mother--Renee Claire Borne--is one of the most talented people I know. She and I have not been the closest of mothers and daughters, but we have a mutual understanding that we don't have to be 100% involved in each others lives 100% of the time. She has always been "that mom" who taught French and Science at my school, coached the Science Olympiad Team, sponsored the cheerleaders, made every single one of my formal dresses, made and decorated all of our birthday cakes, cooked every night like a true Cajun woman, cleaned up after 3 disgusting children and one disgusting husband, put together a Mardi Gras Ball, and at the same time still managed to keep up with THREE soap operas a day!!! I mean are you getting the point? This lady is superwoman!!!!!

But, ladies and gentlemen, I do believe that she has outdone herself this time.

About a month ago, Renee Borne opened up her very own quilt shop in Lafayette, LA.

I am not even kidding.

Hundreds of bolts of fabric.

Bar codes.

A scanner gun.

A credit card machine.

I mean...it's legit!

She decided to call it The Borne Quilter--get it...our last name is Borne!! HA! So clever!


I am working at the shop this summer as I plan Joey's and my wedding. Which brings me to another reason why she is superwoman. Not only is she running a brand new quilt shop, she is also organizing yet another Mardi Gras Ball (she's the Dame Commander again), and she is helping me plan our wedding!

Can someone give me a ditto on this woman being SUPERWOMAN!?!?! (Chicks, I want to see those fingers in the air!!)

So, this blog is dedicated to my mom. She's so stressed right now, but still has time to laugh with Joey and me to tears at midnight, cook us chicken yum-yum, teach us how to have at least a little bit of etiquette while planning this wedding, and still manages to keep up with The Young and the Restless, All My Children, and One Life to Live!

P.S. You can see pictures of the shop here. Part of my job has been doing computer stuff and I made this website a couple of days ago. It's nothing fancy, but it'll do the trick for now.

Confessions of a Sonic Junkie, Part II

For all of you in the heat of the south this summer, I would like to recommend my newest favorite Sonic drink (Joey loves it too):

Strawberry Lime Slushie

Seriously--they are delicious.  They even have chunks (sorry Brookie) of strawberry and pieces of limes at the bottom--an added bonus!!  And they are so cold that they make your insides fool your outsides that you are actually cold instead of dripping with sweat.

So, if you are looking for a cool summer drink from the drive in we all love most, try a strawberry lime slushie--it won't let you down.