The Death of my Youth

I have a great group of girls from college (The Wahoo's) that have remained close over the years. However, as time passes, we find our lives changing which isn't necessarily a bad thing but its definitely different than  when we first met.

Jackie is one of the wahoo's and we have a lot in common (especially our love and commitment to meal time). Several of us are married and a few have even started their own families. These are all blessings but  make us realize we don't have the "same kind of fun" as we used to. In the last year or two, Jackie (in good fun) has told us about how she feels we are approaching the "death of our youth!"

Jackie is right.......it's official! While getting my hair cut recently, A GREY HAIR WAS FOUND!!! Now I know that several of my friends already have gone through this but this is my FIRST and there was more than one!!! Melissa (at Salon Collage in Pineville) had the top part of my wet hair clipped to the top of my head and was combing/cutting the underneath. As she is working just behind my left ear she says, "I'm just going to pull this out your you girl!" I was not prepared for what followed..........................she hands me a grey hair that is at least 4 inches long except it didn't look that long because it was the most spirally kinky hair you've ever seen!!!! It was so weird! It was a completely different texture than my hair and it stuck out like a sore thumb against my wet hair that was combed so straight! Then just to dig it in a little more, she found a matching one behind my right ear!

I should have known all this was coming since my mom has always told me she got her first greys shortly after college has been 100% grey (under her dyed hair) for at least 5 years (she's only 53) and that my grandmother starting getting greys in high school! I guess I just thought I was going to be lucky and never notice since my hair is blonde anyway! I am still hopeful that this is just a freak occurrence caused by over committing myself to various things over the last two years. I have already begun to try to shed some of these commitments and simplify my life so hopefully that will continue and keep the GREY hairs away!!!

So it's true....before even turning 30.....the death of my youth has found me!!!

Your very over-dramatic blonde,
-harveydanger

Hello my name is Jennifer and I have ROAD RAGE

For anyone who has ever been in a car with me, you already know this but to some this may come as a surprise! I am fairly mild mannered and level headed in most areas of my life however when I get behind the wheel, my inner monster comes out!!! Don't get me wrong, I am all for following the rules....I'm good about not speeding, I always use my blinkers, I know what the meaning of a passing lane is, and do well not to text while driving! It would be unfair to vent about others without admitting my biggest fault:  following to closely also known as tailgating!! I get this honestly from my dad and don't even realize I'm doing it sometimes. I've been working on this over the last couple of months and have improved but I will still occasionally use this "technique" when necessary to demonstrate to my fellow drivers if they are going to slow!!

I get especially mad when other drivers don't use a perfectly good turning lane!! The lane is there so you can safely wait to make your turn while not getting in the way of others who want to continue going straight....Get out of the way!!!! I also yell at people a lot for not using their blinkers, using the fast lane when they are not passing, and not knowing general traffic rules! My favorite thing to shout at people (from inside my car with the windows safely rolled up) is JERK-FACE!!!! I'm pretty sure we all took the same SC driving test so why do people still not understand who gets to go first at a 4-way stop or how to treat a traffic light if the power has been knocked out?!?

Recently, I saw two different cars at two different locations go right on through a RED light!!! The worst part is they stopped first so they knew it was red!! One wasn't that bad b/c it was on a secondary road near my house and there isn't much traffic around. And to her defense, it did just used to be to a stop sign but there has been a light there for a long time now and she just took it upon herself to turn LEFT at a red light (treating it like a stop sign).  I was making a right onto the road she was turning left off of so technically once she saw my right blinker on she was free to make the turn without any other traffic other than the fact her light was still RED!!! The second was much more dangerous:
For those who live in my town- I was coming down India Hook (from the Ebinport side) and stopped at the big intersection at Celanese where CVS was on my left and Harris Teeter was up ahead on my left (across the intersection). I was in the far right lane (turn only) and was going to turn right to head toward Mt. Gallant/I-77 but there were two cars in front of me at the light was RED (with no green arrows at that time). Keep in mind Celanese is a 7-lane (3 lanes on each side and a turning lane) highly traveled road and if our light was red, that means cars on the 7-lane road had green lights to pass freely through the intersection at 45 miles per hour. This lady just starts to proceed straight forward through the intersection from the far right turn-only lane and just moseys on across 7 lanes of traffic at a RED light!! Luckily for her nothing was coming (which is rare at that intersection) but I just stared in disbelief. Two times within two weeks did I see two different people do the same thing!!!

I just can't help but wonder sometimes how people passed their driving test! I'm really not trying to be mean but the roads are dangerous and people who don't know what they are doing jeopardize the people around them including me!!! So if you are breaking the law or just not the following the etiquette rules of the road, don't be surprised if you hear little ol' me putting my HORN to use!!!!

And although my blog name is haveydanger....I only want people to pay attention, know the rules and for the roads to be a safer place!!!!!

Bad Blogger

Like most things in my life, I have high hopes but am not so good at the follow through!!! Hence the last blog from November 2010 (over 7 months ago). So here's a quick run down of some things that have gone down since the last post:

December 2010 was a great month of celebration: Lot's of Christmas parties with friends, co-workers, Brent's co-workers, an ugly sweater party, and the best part...My dad came to visit from Kansas City! This was a surprise trip for him from my step mom for our birthdays (my dad and I share the same birthday)!! I took him to the JWL Christmas party and we celebrated around Rock Hill and in Columbia with my sister!

Brent and I treated ourselves to a long overdue smart phone upgrade for our birthdays! For the holidays we stayed local and rang in the New Year quietly together!

Jan-Mar 2011: I stayed very busy with Community Service commitments to the Junior Welfare League's annual Auction and the Come-See-Me Festival's signature Glencairn Garden Concert Series. Little did I know that when I signed up for these positions in 2009 that the two events would at the same time...ahh!  Sprinkle in a few nights of Bunco, Happy hours,  lunch dates and Heather's 30th Birthday Bash and it made the time fly by!! P.S. I got a new (to me) car in March too!!! Oh and did I mention I through my little sister's bachelorette party in March too (along with helping plan a lot of her destination wedding)!!!

April 2011: Hello Community Involvement!! It was all worth it with another great JeWeL of the Carolinas Fundraiser and a great turn-out to the CSM concerts in April. I also hosted a shower for my sis in Columbia (and didn't take a single picture of the food which were all desserts- yum!)!!

May 2011: My little sister got MARRIED!!!!! I think in my mind she will always be 16 since that is how old she was when I left home but she is all grown up now and she is MARRIED!!! The wedding was on the beautiful Daufuskie Island, SC. It was a very romantic idea, the island is only accessible by ferry, and the house we stayed in was a gorgeous one right on the beach! My sister looked so pretty and it was a great laid back beach wedding atmosphere! The logistics were not so easy going with all the STUFF that had to get transported to the island, all the cooking, all the decorating, etc but it was still such a good time! I'd love to go back there on a regular vacation sometime and get to enjoy the island even more!!

May also hosted some other fun outings including bunco, some charity auctions, the JWL spring dinner, and Memorial Day weekend on the Lake. Did I mention we finally agreed on a name for our pontoon.....BRUISER!!!! Bruiser (the Riviera Cruiser) seemed appropriate for our older pontoon that we put a giant scratch in the first day we got it!!

June 2011: Lots more celebrating with Tara's 30th Birthday party, another Longhorn wedding, Girl's nights and we started going to Trivia on Monday Nights!! However the highlight to June was definitely my trip to Atlanta with my Wahoo's (6 out of 8 of us went) to see NKOTBSB!!! For those of you are aren't lucky enough to know about this acronym....it's the joint tour of New Kids on the Block and the BackStreet Boys!!! We had such an awesome time in the ATL, at the concert, and touring a few sites the next day. We ended the trip back at Maria's house in Greenville with one of our infamous take-out orders from a Chinese Restaurant!!

My mom and step-dad came up the last weekend in June too so I could finally take them out on the lake! I also treated them to one of my new favorite's for dinner in Rock Hill- Ouzo's!!!!

Ok....that's a quick recap of the last 7 months.....hopefully I'll be a better blogger going forward!!!

Cheers to Sara on her 30th Birthday

Just wanted to give a shout-out to my friend Sara Redmond for her 30th birthday!

Not only is Sara a wonderful wife & mother but she's a creative decorator, snazzy dresser, talented seamstress, and most of all a very thoughtful and fun friend! Here's to Sara on her 30th birthday! It's been a great year and I wish you a great start to the one ahead!!! Happy Birthday!!!

For my WAHOO's

I am blessed with a very special gift: I am part of a group of 8 friends that I can truly call my sisters. Even though distance separates us and even though we don't talk every day, we have a very special bond and are there for each other always. Our friendship started at Winthrop University after we all joined the Sigma Sigma Sigma (we really are sisters) and picks right back up every time we are together. Many of our memories revolve around the house most of us lived in at some point in our college lives. The address was 1021 Park Ave so I often get a good feeling anytime I see 10:21 on a clock or in today's case on the calendar! So in honor of October 21 (10/21).....here's to my Wahoo's!

The Wahoo's technically started in 2003 on a road trip to Florida on our way to the Bahamas. We thought since there were so many of us it would be easier to have a "group name." I remembered  hearing from a girl in high school that a Wahoo was a fish who could drink twice it's own weight. Being in college and thinking we were such rebels...we thought the name fit! So now instead of Maria, Jax, Hartley, Hales, Jessica, Heather, Ryan, and Harvey....we are the Wahoo's!

We mostly live in either the greater Greenville, Rock Hill, and Columbia areas of SC, one in Raleigh NC (finally got her closer than San Diego CA), and one near Hartford CT. We plan weekends at least 1-2 times a year and the great part is all of our guys get along too so we can leave them and have our own good time! One of my favorite Wahoo traditions is our "hanky." Ryan had this made when the first Wahoo got engaged and surprised us with it at our pre-wedding Girls Weekend. It has all of our initials on it and she had Hartley's wedding date embroidered. It's been added to and passed on through 5 weddings so far and has all been everyone's "something blue"

The hanky is still going strong, but as some start new additions to their families, we've begun new Wahoo traditions too....

We've seen life come and we've seen it go! We've been too far apart at times and then there have been others when you didn't even know we were there. It's been an incredible 7 years of friendship and it's still only the beginning! I wrote this poem a few years ago to share with my Wahoo girls and now I'll share it with my fellow bloggers:

"Few will ever understand....especially because it is so difficult to put into words what we have. An understood level of friendship, created from a sisterhood, has developed more than we could have ever imagined. We each add another layer to our inner circle...never quite realizing the true extent of our own contributions. To each other, we are a lifeline. Through all of our ups and downs, we have been and always will be together. So many parts of our lives will come and go , and although not always physically, the eight of us are always here. One by one and with each other, we are strengthening the bond of WAHOO! As young adults we begin into our journey of life and togetherness. I can't wait to grow in life with you."


I can only hope that all friends and family have something so special, now or someday!
Happy 10/21 day to my girls, in our bonds, harvey





Jamaica Mon!!!

Brent and I spent our 3rd anniversary in relaxing Jamaica!! After our wedding we didn't really have the money for a tropical honeymoon so we spent that time in the mountains. In some ways this was like our belated honeymoon; we've never been anywhere like this together and it certainly did not disappoint! We had a hard time narrowing down all the wonderful Caribbean destinations we had heard about so we had a travel agent help us out. She sent us to the Iberostar Grand in Montego Bay and we already can't wait to go back!!She really hooked us up with an ocean front room although you could see the ocean from all the suites. This was the view from our balcony!

Montego Bay was a great choice because it was a direct flight only 2.5 hours from Charlotte and then only a 20-30 minute bus ride to the resort. We got checked in and the butler showed where everything was in the room and then we went to explore and eat. This was the view from our first meal in Jamaica!!

Then we changed into our suits and hit the beach. The weather was beautiful most of the entire trip. Highs were 85 every day with a breeze...it was amazing! It was a little risky being hurricane season but it worked out very well for us. It was so UN-crowded that it was almost like having the whole resort to ourselves....and a few pool friends we met along the way!! This was our first day on the beach...they had tons of chairs and beach beds just feet from the brilliantly blue water!

Did you see the local in the bottom left corner of the first picture? We learned quickly that before and after the lifeguards and security guards are working (9am-5pm) that the locals come into the water either swimming or in a boat to sell you their "goods." Flames was the first (and only) one we personally encountered and lets just say his "goods" could be described as a " specialized water pharmacy." We obviously did not partake from the charming Mr. Flames! We mostly just chose just to soak up the sun and didn't leave the resort for any excursions. We were perfectly content the entire week with what the resort had to offer!! We also continued our tradition of taking a picture each year on our anniversary.

Happy 3rd anniversary to my love! 9/22/10

We spent a lot of time in the pool and at the pool bar. This is a view of the pool bar....its hard to tell where it stops and the ocean begins! The bartenders were fabulously friendly and very good at what the did!

 The bartenders were fabulously friendly and very good at what the did! We learned to LOVE Red Stripe and experienced some signature concoctions such as the "No problem," "Morris Day," "Greased Lightning" and more. They even invited me to sing into the exclusive A-1 microphone they used to entertain everyone!! Of course I had to decline for fear of getting us banned with my terrible voice!!

 The food, atmosphere, and people were all so great!! Although we don't have anything else to compare it to, Long Live Jamaica!!!

Our last night =(

It's hard to believe we've been married for 3 years already, and it's only getting better!!!! I count my blessings all the time to have found the one who was made just for me! 

Piano Lessons

I know this is going to sound silly, but when I was a teenager, I was writing a check at the gas station (this might have been before debit cards were in use that much) and the clerk asked if I played the piano. I was a little surprised since I did not and asked why he asked and he told me I looked like I had piano fingers. I don't know what piano fingers look like but mine are fairly short and bony and I've always been a nail biter. However, almost 15 years later, I've started doing something I've always had in the back of my mind since then.....I started PIANO LESSONS!!! I actually asked Brent for a keyboard for my birthday back in December and he delivered. It took me over 6 months to finally get around to it but now I these bony little fingers are actually taking lessons!

It's something I am just doing for myself, and why not! We never know when we are going to leave this life and might as well enjoy it. Surprisingly enough, I really do enjoy it. I've never played before although my sister and I did used to bang around on a keyboard we had when we were in elementary school. And there is the brief stint I had on the clarinet in the 6th grade band. I thought if I learned to read music then, that maybe I could catch on again! I got the contact info from Terri in my bunco group of a neighbor of hers that teaches and the rest is history! My teacher is probably less than 5 years older than me so it's easy to relate to her and there isn't any weird 60 year old lady pressure. I don't feel like I am going to "get in trouble" if I have a busy week and don't get to practice.....I'm an adult with a busy life but this is something I wanted to do. I take an early lunch from work on Wednesdays and it doesn't interrupt my evening life so it's really working out great! It's more challenging than I expected but I feel good about myself for learning something new and I have a whole new respect for most elementary songs!!! Don't expect any concerts any time soon but I'm so glad I finally took the plunge!!

We only have this one life....so I say do want you want!!