On a lighter note... last week we had a PTO basketball fundraiser. Of course it's always fun to see your teachers outside of school. We had teachers eating pie, playing basketball, cheerleading, and announcing the game. It was a great time!


We had a pie throwing area for the PE teachers to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Someone bought me a pie to throw at my husband...I got him pretty good!








I think this was after he sprained his ankle. He played on it the whole time... and he's had to pay for the consequences afterwards.

Horry County wildfires

Well as most of our family and friends know by now... we have many wildfires in our area.

It started yesterday afternoon southwest of us and overnight got worse and reached North Myrtle Beach. Kirby and I woke up to a house that smelled like smoke, a "fog like" cloud of smoke outside, and ashes on our driveway and lawn. When we got to school (yes, they sent everyone to school!) it also smelled like smoke. Thankfully we weren't at school long before they evacuated all schools in our area. By 11:00 we only had 9 of our 800 students left to be picked up from school. We have families from school affected from all this- but we are thankful for no deaths or injuries.

Kirby and I went out after we were allowed to leave school (about 12:00) to check things out and take some pictures. Here is what we are seeing near us...



Tanger Outlets @ Hwy 501 and Hwy 17...















These were taken from the empty lot next to our home...







Ashes in the Mexico Lindo parking lot...





Ashes at our doorstep...





Video from the empty lot next to our home...





And another about a mile down the waterway from our home...



It means a lot to hear from so many of our family and friends. A HUGE thanks to all of you who have called to see how we are doing. Please keep the families in our area in your prayers.

Mexico Lindo or bust...

That's where we're heading today to celebrate. It may be a "hole-in-the-wall" kinda place, but it's our favorite Mexican joint. Reason for celebrating?... Anna just finished her 90th day of P90X! She has been spot-on for the past 90 days, not missing a single workout and maintaining a perfect diet. For anyone not familiar with the program, doing what Anna did for 90 days straight, following everything to a "T", is not an easy task. Absolutely no junk food, soda, or any type of "bad" food entered her body the whole time. It was a test of will power, and she prevailed. I am so proud of her for what she has accomplished. And, if I may say so, she looks absolutely amazing!

Easter on the beach...

Anna and I had some visitors over spring break. Dave and Dar, our good friends from Ocean Pines, MD, came down for some relaxing time in the sun. We had 4 great days in a row on the beach. Two of the days Dave and I got a little surfing in while the girls basked in the sunshine. We even got in a few fun games of cornhole at the house and on the beach. Of course, we had a couple of game nights, too. We played everybody's favorite, Mad Gab one evening, and Scategories the next. In sticking with P90X, we stayed in and cooked some healthy dinners that pleased us all. Chicken parm the first night, seafood the next (loaded up on fresh salmon, flounder, and scallops from a local seafood market), taco night followed that (I actually think they were the best soft tacos I have ever eaten), and last evening was turkey, vegetables, baked potato, etc. for our Easter dinner. Yesterday morning we stuck with tradition and decorated some easter eggs. All in all, we had a blast, and even Anna and I felt like we were on vacation. Here are some pics and vids of the fun...

Hannah Montana bowling party!

Mr. King and I were invited to one of our student's birthday party. She was the first little girl in the neighborhood we met when we moved to North Myrtle Beach. She lives right up the street from us and is a 1st grader at NMBP. Kaitlyn, her mom, and her sister would always walk through our house while it was being constructed and she would always say she wanted to live in it. Her family owns the bowling alley down the street, so it would only make sense to have it there.

We had a great time watching our students bowl and listening to all the girls sing all the lyrics to the Hannah Montana songs!


The birthday girl with her teachers.


Julia and I-



I asked Justin to take a picture with Kaitlyn for her birthday. He said "Who me? I'm not getting close to her!" haha- aren't little kids so cute!

date night with my husband

DOESN'T IT LOOK DELICIOUS!!

Here is proof that you CAN make healthy choices. Kirby and I have been having "movie night" on Fridays after a long week at school. We found some healthy popcorn to mix with our chocolaty-caramel protein bars. It's just enough to satisfy the cravings. We really enjoyed this snack! :)

Got bit by a Spyder today...

Anna and I took a little trip to Charleston today and we both got bit by a 1955 Porsche 550 Spyder (replica). Long story short, I've had a fascination with 1955 Porsche 550 Spyders for quite a few years. It was Porsche's first official race car, and it dominated the tracks in the mid-50's. Since then, it has been a major influence on basically every Porsche model since (including a 968 Cabriolet I owned back in the day). Unfortunately, only ninety 550 Spyders were ever produced. Out of those 90, only 78 total cars were ever offered to the public worldwide. At the present time, there are approximately 50 left in existence. The going price (if you could even find one being sold) is currently around $1,000,000. Jerry Seinfield has one, and Ralph Lauren supposedly has one, as well. For those folks who can't find one for sale and/or can't afford to drop a million bucks on a car they would probably never even drive anyway, there's always a replica. Even the replicas are very rare (a 550 Spyder guru estimates there are only about 2,000 replicas worldwide). Jay Leno, who happens to be a major car guy, has a replica... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBQPKGwyakM A couple of the companies who manufacture them build them from the ground up exactly like the original.

Anyway, I kind of started looking for one a couple weeks ago, but there aren't many out there for sale. There was one out in California I liked, but that's been about it. I posted on a Spyder forum about a week ago that I had never seen one before, and a guy in Charleston, SC said he had one (not for sale) and that if Anna and I ever wanted to check it out and drive it we could. I just bought a surfboard from a friend of a friend who happens to live in Charleston, so I thought we'd kill two birds with one stone. Soooooooo, off to Charleston we went today to meet the Spyder owner and the surfboard owner, two people we've never met before, and test-drive a car we've never seen in person before. That's my kind of day. To keep Anna happy, we went shopping in between car and surfboard :-)

The drive... First off, the Spyder owner, Chris, zips into the Belk parking lot where we were waiting. We drool over the car for a few minutes, then Chris takes me for a spin. Before you know it, we were flying up highway 526. He was driving like he just stole the car. Keep in mind this may well be the lowest car ever produced. Also keep in mind, this car is a true open roadster (no convertible top) with a windshield only about a foot high. My whole face is above the windshield. In all my excitement, I forgot to wear my sunglasses. So here we are roaring up the highway (sounds like the retro racecar it is) in heavy traffic with no real windshield or sunglasses protecting my eyes (left eye was bloodshot when we returned). Halfway through our trip, he pulls over and lets me drive and tells me not to be afraid to open it up a bit. And yes, it runs and handles like a race car. When we got back, he said "OK, now take your wife for a ride for a half-hour, or so." About 3 minutes and 27 seconds into our drive, Anna tells me she's nervous about the car and something happening to it, so we turn around and go back. Chris was a pretty cool dude to meet us there and let us drive the car. Here are some videos and pics...























As you can see, the top of the windshield is lower than my waist...


And the new board...