Carry On

Vancouver 2010

2010-01-31T14:00:00.002-05:00

New hunting partner?

2009-09-18T20:51:00.004-04:00

I may have found my new duck hunting partner! No offense Justin and Jim, but she's a lot better looking than you two are.

Come see my room Baby Taylor...

2009-08-24T20:51:00.005-04:00

The last few seconds Maddie says, "There's so much stuff on my bed. cause this a big girl bed!"

Taylor McKeel Heritage

2009-08-23T13:50:00.007-04:00

6 lbs 12 oz. 21 inches. 9:17am

Annie, Grandpa, and Tiger Woods

2009-08-21T21:23:00.004-04:00

My mom and dad bought Maddie a "Little People" schoolbus today. When I came home from work, I asked her who was in the schoolbus and she said, "Annie, PaPa (Grandpa), and Tiga Woods."

Two words for you...

2009-08-11T18:46:00.002-04:00

AWE SOME!!!

Summer!

2009-07-15T23:05:00.014-04:00

We have had a very busy summer so far and here are a few highlights:

We went to Hilton Head the first week of June with Jimmy, Barbara, Wally, Emily, James, and Mary Elizabeth (my parents were on a cruise around the world and couldn't join us this year--they were literally riding camels and looking at pyramids!)

This is not a postcard, but if you ever go to Hilton Head and need a postcard we can give you copies of this picture.

Kelly and Maddie on the "Dolphin Cruise"Pet the cow, MaddieMaddie and I on our way to the Harbour Town poolWe stopped in Charleston, SC on our way back to visit David and Meghan Myrick and their daughter Olivia. Who would have thought that David and I would ever have daughters!After Hilton Head, Jimmy and Barbara got married in Greenville!!Then I took high school kids from Greensboro to Jasper, GA to a Younglife camp for a week. If you don't know where Jasper is, its near Dawsonville which is home to Bill Elliot-you know, awesome Bill from Dawsonville. On Monday we gave Maddie her "big girl" bed! She loved it until we left the room and then she started crying, but has slept in it great for the last three days. Maddie is going to be one great big sister.

More SNOW!!

2009-03-02T13:03:00.008-05:00

Maddie was excited to see all the snow! Maddie in her "sled"...

Maddie came inside to enjoy some hot chocolate

And then Kelly gave her some ECU pigtails!

3...2...1...

2009-02-21T17:38:00.004-05:00

Box+Hallway+Maddie=FUN!!

Snow! or "no" as Maddie calls it...

2009-02-04T10:56:00.004-05:00

Maddie loves the snow and her boots!

Here she is looking out the window at the "no"

Maddie inside enjoying some of Kelly's chocolate cake and milk.

My buddy

2009-01-06T21:11:00.005-05:00

My dog, Dakota, died last week while Kelly and I were in Memphis for the ECU bowl game. He was a special dog. I'll never forget when I brought him home to my folks' house for the first time...My dad bought me and my brother a house about a week later. I miss him a lot.

Yes I am a Pirate

2008-10-21T19:52:00.013-04:00

Aaaargh! It has been a roller coaster season so far. That's part of the reason I haven't posted anything because I didn't want to jinx the team--apparently that didn't work. After going 3-0 and being ranked #14 in the country with wins over #17 Virginia Tech and #8 West Virginia, ECU lost the next three games including one versus the Wolfpuppies. My friend (and old Young Life kid) Jack Schultz is playing his first season as a Pirate and he is now up to date on how crazy football at ECU can be--up and down!They beat Memphis this past weekend and are now carrying a 4-3 record into a bye week. They will not play again until Sunday, that's right Sunday, November 2nd against Central Florida down in Orlando. Last weekend at the Memphis game, Kelly, my mom, Emily, and Barbara sat in the club level seats(warm and out of the rain) and my dad, Wally, and I sat in my seats(cold and in the rain) Here are a few pictures:OOne of my best friends, David Myrick, and his wife Megan were in town to visit this weekend. I got to meet their daughter Olivia for the first time. David, Megan, and Olivia are moving to Charleston! Kelly and I are so excited that they have moved back from the left coast. and... this just in...

It was just announced this afternoon, that East Carolina and Appalachain State will renew their rivalry that ended in 1979. App State will come to Greenville on September 5, 2009 to open the season for both teams. I have to admit I didn't want this game to happen, but then I remembered that NC State and UNC said the same thing about playing poor little East Carolina. So now I've changed my thinking and I can't wait for the game. I hope that all of you Appalachain fans will make the trek down the mountain to Greenville for some good times next year. This will be the first time that Kelly will be able to wear her ASU gear in the stadium in Greenville. And, we will not be having a baby in September next year in fear of missing this game. August and October are possibilities, however that might change depending on the rest of the '09 schedule.

Who let the dogs out???

2008-08-20T19:57:00.006-04:00

These are my dogs-Dakota and Lily...and this is why they have been lying around being lazy since 3:00 this afternoon.

I fed the dogs this morning around 6:15 and headed off to work around 7:00. Kelly called me at 8:00 and told me that the dogs were missing. She drove around the neighborhood for a while and could not find them. I called the animal shelter to see if anyone had dropped them off--they didn't open until 12:00. I then called Animal Control and told them I had two dogs that were missing in the Lake Jeanette area. I called my neighbors so that they could be on the lookout. At about 1:00pm my neighbor called me at work and told me that a lady who lived on the actual lake (Lake Jeanette) had seen my dogs, so I immediately called her. She said, "yep, I saw your dogs this morning around 7:30 swimming out in the lake. They would swim for about 20 minutes, chase some ducks(that's what I'm talking about-my words-not hers), and then they would sit under the tree and take a nap. I guess they've been swimming for a few hours now. But they're not here anymore, I saw them up the street in another neighbors yard when I went to the grocery store, but come on by the house and I'll help you look for them." I left work and drove to the lady's house(which was awesome by the way--right on the lake!!) and we walked down to the lake calling for the dogs. No luck. Her neighbor came out, probably to see who was yelling in his back yard and he said, "oh you have two dogs, a black one and brown one? i saw them swimming in the lake chasing ducks and having the best of time. they would swim for 20 minutes and then lay down in pine straw to take nap. My wife and I took them to a house a few neighborhoods away and put them in the back yard." I asked him, "oh so when did you drop them off? 30 minutes ago? An hour ago?" He said, "oh no, about a month and a half ago."

So this isn't the first time the dogs have been on this little adventure. Who knows, maybe this is their weekly hang out spot. I think they are climbing the fence to get out because both gates were shut this morning.

My neighbor called me and told me that around 2:30pm Animal Control dropped my dogs off in the backyard!

As Millie Smith said, maybe my dogs were trying to tell me that the new "pond" in our back yard just isn't big enough!

12 days 15 hours 20 minutes until ECU Football 2008

2008-08-17T20:16:00.007-04:00

The ECU ticket office mailed out the 2008 season ticket packages last Monday. I waited all day everyday this week by the mailbox to get them. I wanted to tip the mailman for bringing them to me but that would be like tipping the girl at Subway for making your sandwich. Anyway, I couldn't sleep Thursday night because I knew my tickets would be here on Friday-kind of like not being able to sleep on Christmas eve. Maddie thought it was a little weird that I was hanging out by the mailbox all week, but I explained it to her. Look at her excitement when the tickets finally showed up! Kelly's dad and I went to the Wyndham Championship on Saturday. Quote of the day from the tournament: guy in the crowd to John Daly--"Hero, spelled D-A-L-Y"

Kelly, Maddie, and I went today. Maddie loved the tournament and everytime the gallery clapped, Maddie clapped--but she didn't know when to stop, which was funny. On the 15th hole, Maddie picked up some grass, probably to check the wind direction, like any good golfer would do.

On a totally different note: a few weeks ago I started digging a hole in the backyard. Kelly came outside and asked me what I was doing and I told her, "I think there is some oil back here and if there is, we'll be rich and move to Beverly Hills." I was actually digging out a hole for a new "landscape" pond. I'm not done yet, but here is a sneak peak:

Da Beach!

2008-07-21T10:50:00.006-04:00

I went down to one of my favorite places in the world this past weekend. Kelly and I went to Wrightsville Beach with her parents and sister-one last trip with Jenny before she moves to Bolivia for two years! Thank you Bob and Anne Rodman for blessing us by letting us stay in their condo. On Friday night, we listed our favorite places we have been to. My top 10 places, in no particular order, are: Hilton Head, Northern Ireland, Scotland, the tree stand at TJ's farm in Duplin county, Frontier Ranch in Colorado, Crooked Creek in Colorado, Greenville North Carolina, Jamaica, Lake Tahoe region, and the balcony at Bob and Anne's condo. Here are a few pictures of the scenery:

Members Only,my beautiful wife, and the O's

2008-07-07T21:28:00.009-04:00

I haven't updated this thing in so long, its stupid.

Anyway right now there are only 53 days 14 hours 30 mins and 51 secs until ECU football!

Remember Members Only jackets!! Yeah, I had one and thought it would be cool to get patches from different places I have been and have my mom sew them on. "Cool Charlie, cool." -says Kelly. Anyway here are some pictures of my Members Only jacket that I tried on a couple of weeks ago when I found it in my parents closet. Note on the front that I have an ECU patch that I bought in 1987 on a trip to the outer banks when we randomly traveled through Greenville. Kelly and I went to the outer banks a few weeks ago to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary! See her website www.toknowlove.blogspot.com for our ratings of the weekend. Here we are aboard the Down East Rover out of Manteo. We took an awesome sunset cruise in the Albermarle Sound. One of the things I love about being married to my beautiful wife is that she loves to travel different places like I do. We have had many adventures together and I can't wait till the next one.I also like kicking her butt in putt-putt. Final Score: Charlie 42, Kelly 44. (Par was 42) Actually this is the best Kelly has ever played putt-putt and until she blew up on #16 with a 6, she was in the lead and I was worried she was going to beat me. She says that she was the better player that day. I have two words for her: Scoreboard! Ok maybe that's one word.

The last time the Orioles made the playoffs I was a freshmen in college. They lost to the Indians in six games of the AL Division series. Gas was probably still around $1.25. Going to the movies was probably $5.25 and my Members Only jacket was about 7 years from its coolness. Anyway, we may have started a new tradition last year of going to Baltimore with Maddie to watch the O's play. We went up on Friday with my parents and met Jimmy and Barbara in Baltimore. We watched the fireworks on July 4th in the inner harbor and the next day we went to the Orioles vs. Texas game. The O's lost.Maddie got a caricature done at the stadium.Maddie hardly ever sits still anymore so I had to take advantage of this moment. On a side note: I'm getting fat.

New York, New York

2008-05-11T17:19:00.009-04:00

So after an eventful day of train travelin' and running out of restaurants, we woke up on Monday morning at our Hotel on the Hudson. This is the view from our hotel! Pretty neat huh? Anyway, I saw these guys fishing on the boardwalk so I went out there to talk to them and see if they had caught anything. While I was talking, one of the guys hooked onto this 30lb. striped bass!! (This picture was taken on the subway! how many times have you seen a guy with fishing rods and a 30pound rockfish on a subway!!)Awesome...who would have thought that I should have brought my rod and reel to NY. During the day on Monday we went to Times Square. Here are a few pictures:Monday night we went to see Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. When we got into the theatre(?) Helga the Barmaid yelled at us to show her our tickets. We thought it was just us but she yelled at everybody. "I need to see your ticket. I work here, show me your ticket!"The next day Wally arrived around 11:30 from Greenville. We went back across the river to New York. While my mom, Wally, Jimmy, and Barbara went to FAO Shwartz, my dad and I went up the Empire State Building. Here are some pictures from up there.After this we went to Yankee Stadium, which was our main purpose for this trip. Here are some pictures from the game.

After the game I told Steinbrenner he now had my permission to tear down the stadium.

Without Kelly there to take my picture I had to do a lot of self portraits!!

Train Travelin'

2008-05-05T08:18:00.006-04:00

Kelly and Maddie dropped me off at the train depot in Greensboro. It was Maddie's 1st Birthday! Isn't she cute? The train was a few minutes late but we ended up leaving around 9:45pm. I took along my little black book and wrote notes throughout the day. Here they are, straight from the book:

9:45am--Amtrak train to NYC, sitting next to orange lady. Left G'boro at 9:45am.

9:46am--Orange lady's name is Nyga.

10:30am--In Durham. I'm listening to the Counting Crows new album. I will be sitting next to Nyga for the next 10 hours! Nothing interesting has happened yet.

12:00--I found the dining car! I bought a $4 cheese pizza and a pepsi. There is a lot of room here in the dining car so I think I'll spend some time here. There are two amtrak security guards who are straight off of Reno 911. They are sitting two tables away from me and are talking non-stop about a guy they kicked off the train for smoking--on the train! Seriously one of the guys looks like Donnie from New Kids on the Block. I guess there's not much action on these trains so when something does happen, its exciting to them.

1:24pm--We are in Virginia. 8 hours to go. A guy just sat down at my table. He's going to DC to visit his dad. He said, "Yeah my dad lives down there." I don't why it bothers me but if you're going north, don't say DOWN there.

1:06pm--Ok I was wrong, now we're in Virginia

1:24pm--!!! Reno 911 boy just asked the other guy if allow has two "L"s or one.

1:35pm--Just passed Emporia Country Club--goat ranch!

1:58pm--this old lady in a green coat just sat down at the table next to me and is playing solitaire to pass the time. She has the tiny, tiny Charlie Brown playing cards!

4:52pm--Just learned by looking at her computer screen, that Nyga goes by "Brownsuga". I've been on this train for 7 1/2 hours.

5:06pm--15 min delay, something the Reno boys were working on.

5:22pm--just left the Quantico station and whatever body of water is near here, I'll have to look that up, there are duck blinds everywhere!! I must have counted at least 20 from the train.

Time (confidential)--we are now at Central Station in Washington DC. I saw Marine One (the presidential helicopter) flying over head.

7:57pm--We are now in Delaware. It is freezing on the train and my throat hurts. They don't have any ibuprofren, but I did buy some orange juice.

7:59pm--just took a picture of myself on the train. "Brownsuga" is in the background.

8:03pm--i finally have my own seat in coach class. So there is this girl in bleached blonde hair sitting two rows behind me who has been talking for the past 2 hours on her cell phone. I now know all about this guy named Doug who is dating her roommate. Bleach girl works with Doug and her co-workers want to know if its weird when Doug stays over night. Don't worry, it's not weird, their bedrooms are on opposite sides of the house so she doesn't see him much. I wonder if Doug and Bleach girl carpool?

8:15pm--did I mention my throat hurts? it hurts mostly when I swallow so I started using my empty OJ bottle as a spittoon

9:40pm--I made it to New York!! Time to go see my folks, Jimmy and Barbara.

I found my parents and the first thing I did was get some ibuprofren from my mom! Thanks mom! Then we went to get something to eat. It was about 10:00pm when we got to this restaurant across the street from Madison Square Garden called Lindy's. We waited for a table, sat down looked at the menu, and ran. No, literally we ran! All five of us out the door as quick as possible. They had a revolving door and Jimmy almost knocked Barbara over trying to get out the door. We looked at the menu and the cheapest thing on there was a $19 hamburger!! We then went to this other place that was much more reasonable and good too. While we were eating, my mom realized she left her rain coat in the other restaurant. She said, "oh well, I needed a new one anyway!"

so i skipped the whole month of april but stay tuned...

2008-05-02T21:39:00.003-04:00

stay tuned for my trip to new york to watch the yankees at Yankee Stadium(no I don't like the yankees, but I do want to see Yankee Stadium before they tear it down) I'm riding amtrak up there for the first time ever so I'll be sure to have some good stories/pictures to show when I get back. Maddie's first birthday is this sunday so look for pictures from her party coming soon...can you believe how small she was just one year ago! look at those little feet!!

A little road trip...

2008-03-29T18:57:00.007-04:00

On Thursday, we just decided kind of last minute to go somewhere. I googled, "places within 2 hours of Greensboro, NC" and Roanoke came up. We left the 'Boro around 2:30 on Friday and headed north on 220. I came across a website for Natural Bridge Va. I had heard about this place before but thought it was probably some cheesy tourist trap, which it kind of is (note the putt-putt course below), but we decided to go anyway. We figured we would go to the bridge on Saturday. We checked into our hotel around 5:00 and decided that since it was so nice (70 degrees and sunny) we would go to the bridge that night instead of Saturday because it was going to be cold on Saturday. We went to the bridge and it is actually pretty dang neat. When we got there, the lady at the desk said, "make sure you stay for our show tonight at 9pm." We had Maddie with us, but decided we would see how she did and decided to stay there until the 9 o'clock show. We sat on these green benches and someone read the Book of Genesis while a light show against the rock bridge was going on. They didn't read the whole book of Genesis, just the story of how God created the earth. While I was sitting there with Kelly and Maddie listening, I was reminded that the God that created the universe loves each one of us. That's a crazy thought, but one that I've been trying to pass along to high school kids for the past 9 years. Next weekend, I'm taking a group of freshmen camping along the Appalachain Trail. It's kind of a transition weekend for these guys as they have been led all year by seniors at Grimsley High School and this will be my first trip with these guys as their leader. This will be my third group of freshmen at Grimsley since moving to Greensboro in 2002. Last week I met with some of my favorite guys in the world--Todd, Chris, and Eric who were in town for Easter. I was their YL leader when they were in school and now they are each getting ready to be seniors in college(wow time flies!). Each of them is involved in Young Life, either as leaders or working at the camps during the summer. Each of them is spreading this same message of how the God that created the universe is crazy about them. Ok back to our trip, we left the natural bridge at 10:00pm. Maddie did great. Kelly and I stopped and grabbed dinner on the way back to our hotel. On Saturday morning we headed to downtown Roanoke. They have a small outdoor market that we checked out and then ate lunch. We then headed to the Roanoke Star! Its the biggest star in the world built by man. Here are a few pictures.

One thing I noticed about Virginia. There is a Zoo on just about every corner. The Natural Bridge Zoo, the Roanoke Star Zoo, the I-81 Zoo, the Dodge Store on US220 Zoo(they do have great corn-dogs), the Zoo that is Martinsville-especially on race weekend. Here's a picture of Maddie with a real bear just outside the Natural Bridge Zoo.

A totally unrelated picture from Easter.

February!

2008-02-15T21:33:00.006-05:00

We went to the Boone area earlier this month with our small group. There were 5 couples and 5 kids (4 of them under 9 months). This was the first time Maddie has been to the mountains.

Here she is with one of her best friend's, Anna. Maddie doing her best impersonation of Annie Oakley.
We stopped at App. State to take a few pictures of Maddie at mommy's school. Isn't she the cutest thing...
Push! Maddie Push! Maddie tried to show me that she's really a Pirate, but I told her it was ok for her to like Appalachian 2nd, since her mommy went there, and that she didn't have to knock their sign down. I then told her that we might go to Raleigh or Chapel Hill and she could knock down all the signs she wanted.We had more snow in the 'Boro this past week. Maddie can't figure out why she has no feeling in her fingers right now.
No, its not Ansel Adams, its a Charlie Heritage original out my back door!

Snow, cows, dodge ball, dancing

2008-01-30T20:43:00.002-05:00

We had our first snowfall of the year a couple of weeks ago and Kelly decided to let Maddie go outside and play. Since we didn't have snow pants for Maddie, Kelly went to Gymboree and bought a snow suit. It did a great job of keeping her legs dry. I was cleaning up the living room last Sunday afternoon, picking up all of Maddie's toys. As I was picking up her toys, I accidentally picked her up and placed her in the toy basket. I kept looking for her and finally I found her in the basket. She loves sitting in her basket now. Kelly and Madison went to Chick-fil-A and saw Mr. Moo Cow in his pajamas-what if real cows wore real pajamas..Maddie and I played dodge ball for the first time a few weeks ago.

A great friend of ours got married last weekend in G-ville. Here are a couple of pictures from the wedding. And check out the video of Kelly, Maddie, and Grannie Annie doing the electric slide.

Aloha, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!

2008-01-03T18:44:00.000-05:00

ECU suprised everyone in the country except for ECU fans when they beat Boise St. in the Hawaii Bowl. The Pirates finished 8-5 and Chris Johnson went crazy in setting the all time bowl record for all purpose yards-408-(receiving, rushing, returns) The word is that he moved from being a 3rd round pick next year to a 1st round pick!! So watch out Greater Greensboro Fantasy Football League...that's right next year I might have Garrard and Johnson on the same team and if I'm lucky T Copper. Speaking of football here's a picture of myself and a few of my friends playing Madden 08 on the nintendo wii...i had no clue what I was doing, but it was awesome. The key to getting a nintendo wii in your own house is telling your wife, "honey, its excercise and we do it together as a team." or so I'm told. We had a great first Christmas with Maddie Grace! I gave Maddie a dvd of Elmo and friends singing great country songs. I'll put up some pictures of us watching it when we watch it...I told Maddie that it is ok for her to be a country girl but not a redneck (yes, there is a big difference). Country girls like stuff like cows and horses and trucks. Redneck girls like Jack Daniels. Here is a picture of Maddie, riding her rocking dinosaur. People would ask us what Santa is giving Madison and we would tell them, "a rocking dinosaur." Most of the time people would move on to another topic of conversation because they probably thought we were crazy or they would say, "you mean a horse right?" What lil' girl would want a rocking dinosaur. Well here is a picture of Maddie's rocking dinosaur and I say, "what lil' girl wouldn't want a big lime green rocking dinosaur!" Is this not the cutest Maddie Grace in the world!! And no, that is not Kelly's garter from our wedding.
My beautiful wife and baby on Christmas Eve. It is a Heritage tradition to eat hamburgers, hot dogs, baked beans, and other stuff on Christmas Eve at my parents' house. I guess we've doing it for a long time because I can't remember not doing it.

My dad bought my nephew a rocket from a store in Greenville and while he was there he decided to buy everybody in the family a "flying toy" So here we are in the backyard, with my flying toy. Mom, I have no idea what those red things in the trees are and watch out dad!!!

My parents gave Maddie a swing for Christmas. She usually laughs really hard when she swings but it was about 25 degrees when this video was taken and I think maybe her mouth is frozen.

December already?

2007-12-03T21:03:00.001-05:00

Kelly and I and the cutest almost 7 month old baby in the world picked out our Christmas tree on Sunday. Enjoy the pictures. Maddie wants to tell Grannie Annie and Grandpa, "thank you for the coat"
Maddie has started crawling a little bit. Pretty soon, she'll be raking all the leaves in the back yard.
I went deer hunting for the first time ever this past weekend. We stayed at Mama C's house-that's my friend TJ's grandma. They have a bunch of land down in Duplin County. We left Friday night, hunted Saturday morning and Saturday evening and then headed back to the 'Boro. I don't know what it is about getting up at quarter til five and sitting in a stand watching the sun come up, but it was awesome. Just as cool, is sitting in the stand watching the sun go down in the same day. For those of you that want to know, I had my chances at an 8 pointer but missed. Oh well, it was a successful hunt because it everyone had a fun time and everyone came out of the woods safe. I'd like to thank my guide, TJ Beroth, for inviting me on this trip.

Here is a picture of Matt, Greg, myself, TJ and Mama C

shhh...don't tell mommy!

2007-11-18T19:58:00.000-05:00

So I was supposed to look after Maddie today and instead I got our dog, Dakota, to do it. Maddie and the dogs have met before, but never this close. I figured it had to happen sometime. They got along great all afternoon. Maddie especially liked it when Dakota licked the back of her head. I think Maddie wanted to lick him back but I told her she couldn't until she was older.Maddie can pretty much take care of herself now. I walked into the kitchen and found her drinking her milk all by herself!!I had my ten year high school reunion last weekend. I had to go because Kelly was the class president(i said it was because she was a nerd, she says it was because she was popular) Anyway, we had a great time catching up with the people we graduated with. One girl came all the way from Alaska! Here I am with my hot high school girlfriend!Kelly and I took Madison to her first ECU basketball game. They won the game, but haven't won again since.

Sporting Clays, Virginia Tech, Ocean Isle, Tailgating, beating Lamb U.

2007-09-10T22:27:00.000-04:00

The 3rd Annual Daniel Cupit Memorial Young Life Sporting Clays tournament was a huge success. Close to 50 shooters participated in this event. My good friend Chris Rich joined my team and ended up winning a year membership to Shane's Sporting Clays. Since Chris is in Denmark for the next few months, he gave the membership to me! Thanks Chris, I need the practice.Here is Jonathan Smith, myself, and Justin Smith after a long hard day of shootin' On September 1st, my parents, Jimmy, and I went to Blacksburg and saw the Pirates play VaTech. It was a very emotional time at the game as this was the first football game at VaTech since the shooting last April. The ceremony before the game to honor the victims was something I will never forget, capped off by a fly over by two F-15's. This is one of the coolest places I've ever seen a football game...nice background! ESPN's College Gameday was at the game. ECU's defense held VaTech to 33 yards rushing. East Carolina's backup QB threw an interception on the 6 yard line that Tech walked in for 6 and that was pretty much the difference as ECU lost 17-7. Even though they lost, I am very excited about this year's team. Here's a picture of Jimmy and I at our tailgate after the game.

Last week, we went to Ocean Isle with three other couples. We had a great time and the weather was awesome.

Me and Maddie at the beach in front of my new tailgate tent! Thanks mom and dad!!

Maddie and Mommy in the pool...
UNC visited Greenville for only the second time ever on Saturday and wow what a game! We hit the tailgate lots around 1:00pm for the 6:00pm game. My dad, mom, brother, sister-in-law, in-laws all went to Carolina...so we had a "divided" tailgate. (Kelly was the only one at the tailgate who didn't go to either school, but she is also the only one that went to a school whose football team just beat Michigan in "The Big House" and has back-to-back national titles) UNC was up 17-7 at one point only to have ECU come back and tie the game at 17-17. East Carolina went up 31-23 and things were looking great. Then UNC returned a punt for a touchdown and made the two point conversion. ECU's kicker missed three(!) field goals before finally nailing the game winner! Below is a picture of the teams setting up for the final field goal. The crowd was the fourth largest in ECU's history and it was loud. I can't believe I'm about to say this but UNC has a great football team. I was expecting us to beat them by double digits. Their RS Freshman QB burnt our DB's a few times for quick TD's.

Here I am with Kelly--she's glad ECU won because I would have probably been a bad mood!

Any of you Carolina fans reading this: You can use this picture as your desktop background!
Jay Ross--ARRRGGGHHH!!With this game behind them, the real test comes this weekend when we host Southern Miss. USM has won the last 7 contests in Greenville. If ECU wants to turn the corner in college football, this game is a must win. ECU beat Southern Miss down in Hattiesburg last year--so we're looking for two in a row.

ECU 34 UNC 31---Pictures and more to come later!!!

2007-09-10T14:47:00.000-04:00

Work, Teeth, Pool, Young Life, 11 days!!

2007-08-20T22:04:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since my last post--I know. Its been really busy at work lately(hence the dark circles around my eyes. We are trying to complete a project(see pic) and we should(have to be) done by next Friday! Why next Friday? Well, for one, ECU plays Virginia Tech on Sept. 1st, and then Kelly and I and some friends are going to Ocean Isle for the week!!

Madison has teeth! Two of them on the bottom row. I didn't know babies got teeth that early. She's actually been pretty good (kelly might tell you differently) She is rolling over, laughing, trying to talk, feeds the dogs, does her own laundry, etc. Next week, we may teach her how to ride a bike. We took her to Green Valley pool tonight(thanks Jeff and Becca!) She loved playing in the water with her mommy. We had our annual Young Life leader's retreat this past weekend down at Lake Tillery. We had a great time hanging out and fellowshipping with the other leaders. One of the highlights of the weekend was hitting golf balls into the lake off of the dock--especially when we lit them on fire at night!! I finally broke my 0-for streak on fishing when I caught 6 little bream on my favorite lure--the diving cricket--if you don't have one of these lures and you want to catch some fish, you need to get one. We took Madison to the lake with us and she had fun sleeping in her sun tent. Speaking of Young Life--I am now starting my 9th year as a Young Life leader. I have been blessed by many relationships with high school kids--some who have already graduated college, which makes me feel old. The guys that I am leading this year are all seniors at Grimsley High School here in Greensboro. One of the ways that Young Life is able to function in Greensboro is through fundraisers such as our annual Golf Tournament and our annual Sporting Clays tournament. I am on a team this year with 7 of my good friends. If you would like to sponsor our team, you can follow this link http://sites.younglife.org/sites/greensboro/Open%20Content%20Pages/Sporting%20Clays%202006.aspx All donations are tax deductible and if you don't donate--that's ok, just pray for my ministry with these high school guys!
I received my season tickets to the ECU games last Wednesday and on Friday I got my tickets to the Virginia Tech game. My dad, mom, Jimmy, and I are heading up to Blacksburg on September 1st on what should be an awesome game. ESPN Gameday is going to be there (its the first game for VT since the awful shooting that occurred last year) so it should be a pretty hyped up game. VT is ranked 7th in the country in some polls so ECU has its work cut out for them, but that's why you play the game.

That's it for now! I'll post again soon--this weekend probably!

Washington, DC and Baltimore

2007-07-16T14:33:00.000-04:00

Kelly gave me tickets to an Orioles game for our anniversary so this past weekend the three of us drove up to Baltimore. We stopped in DC so Maddie could see the Capitol and where all the crazy politicians live.We saw the Orioles play the Chicago White Sox. Madison was given this certificate in honor of her first Orioles game. I first came here in 1992(the year that Oriole Park at Camden Yards opened) with my parents and brothers. My favorite baseball player growing up was Cal Ripken, Jr. He is being inducted into the Hall of Fame this year. The Orioles came back to tie the game in the 9th inning and ended up winning in the 10th (of course we stayed!!)
Madison and Kelly near our seats on the third base side! We moved out to Right field in about the 5th inning. The weather was perfect. The only time Madison cried was when the Orioles' Kevin Millar hit a homerun in the 6th inning-because the crowd went crazy. Two batters later, another Orioles player hit a homerun and this time she smiled!
Madison is waiting for mommy to get ready so we can go eat lunch.Here is Maddie and Kelly eating lunch at the Inner Harbor. If you haven't been--you should!!

52 Days until East Carolina Football!!

2007-07-10T20:56:00.000-04:00

I was at Southpoint in Durham, NC today and saw David Garrard! For those of you that don't follow ECU football, he was the quarterback at ECU when I was in school there. He's now a quarterback for the Jacksonville Jaguars. David and I are both construction management majors (he was in most of my classes) His starting salary was a lot higher than mine. Many of you know that Garrard came to my house in college and played College Football on the playstation--he was on the game!!

Baseball, Bog Garden, The Best Hot Dogs in the Galaxy!, and Happy 4th

2007-07-05T12:27:00.001-04:00

We went to a Durham Bulls game last week for my sister-in-law's birthday. If you've never been to a Bulls game-you need to. It is by far the best minor league stadium I've ever been to (sorry Greensboro) Here I am with my two brothers (Jimmy and Wally) wondering if we're ever gonna catch a foul ball--Jimmy actually did catch one in the 7th inning and gave it to James, our little nephew--all the girls in the stadium said, "awwww Uncle Jimmy that was so nice!" Kelly's parents (Mama Lu and Grandaddy) came to visit us last weekend. We went to the Bog Garden to feed the ducks and look at the waterfall--another great place to take visitors in the 'Boro. Just look out for the weirdo doing some kind of crazy thing with no shirt on near the waterfall-seriously I think I was the only one that saw him but it was weird--he may have been doing some type of power yoga or something. I've got three and a half words for you! Bright Leaf Drive-In. If you haven't been to the Bright Leaf Drive-In movie theatre in Mt. Airy, NC then I feel sorry for you. If you have a couple of minutes call this number to at least listen to their answering machine (336.786.5494)Folks, this is as red as it gets! Until I went there the other night, I could only imagine what a drive-in movie was like. My mom told me they used to get in their pajamas and my Pap and Grandma and would take them to the drive-in. A guy at work told me they had the best hot dogs in the galaxy--he was right!
Kelly and I went with our friends, Jeff and Becca, to the Bright Leaf drive-in on Tuesday night. We got there around 9:00pm and stayed until 4:00 in the morning--we watched all three movies. Madison was with us too, but she slept the whole time. Here is Kelly and Becca in the back of my truck watching the movie. We had room for 4 more so next time ya'll will have to come with us. We watched "Evan Almighty", "Fantastic Four", and "Knocked Up" all for $5/person total! Wow, she is cute. Madison can't wait to see the fireworks and celebrate the 4th of July!!
Madison and her cute mom hanging out at the 4th of July cookout at Justin and Sammie's.

Madison loved the fireworks at Grimsley High School!

Hope you enjoyed the update!

It's about time!

2007-06-23T22:00:00.000-04:00

Sorry it has been so long since my last post! No excuses, we'll just move on!! A lot has happened since May 29th! Here is a quick update:
We went to Hilton Head, SC the first week in June. My parents, my brother Wally and his wife and son, and Kelly, Madison, and I had a great time hanging out at one of my favorite places in the whole world. Jimmy was actually working at the Wide World of Sports in Orlando for the MLB draft.

We ate at the Salty Dog at the South Beach Marina on Wednesday. This was Madison's first trip to the bar where she ordered "Mommy's Milk" in a bottle.
We took Maddie to the beach Thursday morning. She wanted to lay out and work on her tan, but we didn't want to cause any of the little boys to stumble.
Kelly came to Hilton Head with my family in 1998, after we had been dating for one year, and it has become our favorite vacation spot. Oh and last week June 15, was our 5th wedding anniversary!!! Its hard to believe its already been 5 years.

Maddie went on her first boat ride aboard the "Vagabond". We actually saw the space shuttle take off from Florida while we were on the boat. That was pretty cool considering it was two states away!

That's my dad after he got the bill for the boat cruise! Thanks dad!!!
Maddie Grace and Kelly on Maddie's first boat ride. Aren't they cute?

My mom (Grannie Annie) and dad (Grandpa) on the "Vagabond" with Harbor Town in the background. (Pay attention to my mom's eyebrows!)
We went into a store and Maddie thought that this was a stuffed animal of Grannie Annie (see picture above this one) but I had to tell her it was actually Bert.

I had my first Father's Day and Madison gave me this card and an ECU chair for tailgating. Kelly asked me what I wanted to do for Father's Day and I told her all I wanted to do is lay on the couch and watch the US Open golf tournament with my daughter. Kelly wanted to know how that was different than any other Sunday until I told her it was THE US Open! Kelly and I also got DirectTV with DVR this week. Kelly didn't think we needed the DVR but when we missed "So You Think You Can Dance" one night she was disappointed but then I told her that with the DVR she didn't really miss it--she realized it was worth it. Our small group (minus Jeff who is at YL camp this week) went to Celebration Station for .99 Putt-Putt night. Actually, 99 cent putt-putt is really 1.99 now. I started off the first hole with a hole-in-one and thought I would cruise to an easy victory-not so as I actually came in tied for 4th after I allowed Millie to come back and tie me on the second to last hole--Great putt Millie!!
I promise you my dad is not the guy that lives down near I-40. We had our annual Summer Soiree with my dad's side of the family. We meet every year in June with my cousins, aunts, and uncles at my Aunt's house on Market St. We always have a lot of fun just catching up with each other and eating good food. My mom and dad are usually in charge of the games so we played this relay game where you have to run down to a chair, open a suitcase, put on the clothes in the suitcase, run and tag the next person, and then they have to repeat the process.

Tha'ts my mom (Grannie Annie) showing off her skills.

Well, again sorry it has been so long since the last post. I hope you enjoyed this update and I'll be sure to post more stuff more often. Oh yeah, there are only 69 more days until ECU's 2007 football season kicks off!!

Madison's first trip to Greenville!!

2007-05-29T19:40:00.000-04:00

I went to the East Carolina vs. Rice game on Sunday with my dad and brothers...more on that later! Not bad seats, huh?!! Thanks Dad!!

OK before I tell ya'll about Greenville first off, that's a snake. And yes, it's a copperhead! And yes, it was in our back yard in Greensboro. And yes, it was on our side of the fence. Kelly called me up on the phone and said Samuel L. Jackson had nothing on her and that there was a huge snake in the backyard. I first thought, oh it's just a little green snake and so I said, "Well take a picture." She then said I think it might be a rattlesnake. I then said, "nah we don't have those. Just go take a picture." When I got the picture, I said "OK now go shoot it-its a copperhead." Kelly is so brave. She went all the way out by the snake and grabbed our dog, Dakota, who wouldn't come inside when Kelly was calling her. She then was brave enough to take this picture. I told her to call animal control and here's how our tax dollars talk: "Mam, we don't do that, call critter control." Thanks, no seriously thanks. By the time Kelly got the number for critter control, the snake was gone...for now.

If you didn't already know, my favorite place in the world is Greenville, NC. This is one of the old barns on the way to Kelly's parents' house from my parents' house, and it reminds me of the days when I used to work in the tobacco and corn fields. These barns are getting more and more rare so Kelly and I decided to take a few pictures before they get torn down by new developments.

We took Maddie Grace to Greenville for the first of many trips! I am already counting down the days till her first football game against the baby blue from Chapel Hill (102) .We had a great time hanging out with our families and friends. ECU was hosting the conference championship this past weekend and so we took Madison to the game on Saturday.

She lasted all nine innings-a true Pirate. ECU won the game she attended against Tulane 9-4 to advance to the championship game against Rice, who is ranked 2nd in the nation! I went to the championship game on Sunday and the Pirates eventually lost to Rice in the game, but are headed to the NCAA tournament starting this Friday in Chapel Hill.

Madison Grace and me in "The Jungle" at Clark Leclair Stadium.

Two beautiful girls hanging out in the shade in "The Jungle".

Oh yeah, PeeDee the Pirate came out to see Madison but she was in the car eating!

That's my brother Jimmy working with the ECU grounds crew--look at that form! Oh yeah, he graduates next fall with a Masters in Sports Management and could use a JOB if anybody knows anything, or if you just want him to come and rake your dirt he would do that for some money also...

No fun birthday, Huddle House, and Wild Turkeys!

2007-05-20T20:30:00.000-04:00

Note to my mom: The water level on the dan is seriously like 10-12 inches-we had life jackets in the boat.

Saturday was Kelly's birthday and she woke up sick with the thing that has been going around Greensboro. So, instead of celebrating with cake, hamburgers, hot dogs, and friends it was chicken noodle soup, opening presents while half awake, and lots of rest. She is 100% better today! The good thing for Kelly is that she is born in the "blessed" month as Ann Smith would say and so Kelly gets to not only celebrate May 19th-but the whole month of May. Madison gives her presents everyday--actually about every 2-3 hours!

Ok so you don't think I'm the worst husband in the world--Kelly let me do it!! Do what? Well my friends Jeff, Kevin, Matt, and I traveled up to Madison, NC today and paddled down the Dan River. Its about a three hour round trip from house to water back to house. If you have a canoe or kayak, you should definitely think about doing this section of the Dan river. We left Greensboro around 11:30 and ate at the new Huddle House restaurant on HWY 220 where we all got "Big Boy Platter"s--note: don't get the "Big Boy Platter" before paddling down a river. 3 eggs, 5 pieces of bacon, a ton of hash browns, grits, and a biscuit--add the Mountain Dew laxative and your in for a wild ride! Ok where was I. Oh so we got onto the river and paddled from the Lindsey Bridge access to the HWY 704 bridge. This stretch is about 2.5 miles and there are some pretty cool historical sites along the way. I couldn't help but think about the movie "Deliverance" da da ding ding ding ding ding ding ding-you know the tune. Luckily for us we didn't see any crazy people dangling banjos from bridges. Ok so you're probably wondering why the title says, Wild Turkeys. Well, when we got to the HWY 704 bridge, Matt realized that he didn't have his truck keys--they were in my truck 2.5 miles upstream or 5 miles on the highway. Kevin and I decided to hitchhike our way back to my truck. This is where the wild turkey comes into play. We started walking down the road and saw some wild turkeys so we decided to jump on the back of them and ride them to my truck. No we didn't. After several attempts to get a ride with someone that has a truck--we just wanted to ride in the back so if the people were weird we could jump out--a nice couple (i think) stopped and picked us up. They had a cover on their truck bed so we had to get inside. You have to know how to talk to people when you hitchhike so they will feel comfortable with you that you're not going to do anything stupid like steal their car or something. So when the guy asked me if I had seen any wild turkeys on our trip downstream, I put on my thick Greenville downeast accent and started talking to them about wild turkeys! I don't know if Kevin would agree, but I think that conversation kept us alive, or at least in the truck!

Big Weekend!

2007-05-13T22:30:00.000-04:00

It was a big weekend in Greenville as ECU's baseball team won all three games against Central Florida. They are now in 2nd place and have a record of 35-17. Also, there are only 111 days until ECU's 2007 football season kicks off in Blacksburg against Va. Tech.

It was also a big weekend in the 'Boro as my mom and dad came up to visit. My brother Jimmy brought my mom up here on Thursday and I was able to play golf with him. My dad came up Friday night and we all went to Best Buy. This ordinarily is no big deal but this is the farthest Madison has been from our house.

Madison and her Uncle Jimmy!

On Saturday we went to Country Park for a Picnic. We ended up having to leave our spot because all the dumb geese were trying to eat us. Actually I think they thought Madison was calling them, because they didn't start coming towards us until she started crying. Maybe I should bring her to the duck blind this winter.

My mom, Madison and I on Mother's Day!

(cool hair Charlie)

Madison gave her mommy a picture frame with her picture in it and some hanging baskets for the front porch.

(Seriously, are you wearing a toupee')

This is the picture that was put into Kelly's frame.

Madison didn't want me to feel bad that I didn't get anything to open and I told her it was ok because it was Mother's Day, but she decided to give me something anyway. No its cool, I'm sure it will come out with some Shout or something.

That's all for now!

We're Home!

2007-05-08T20:50:00.000-04:00

Well we are home now. Sorry it has been so long since my last post. We have had a lot of visitors. Here are some more pics...

More Pictures!

2007-05-05T13:51:00.000-04:00

Madison Grace Heritage

2007-05-04T21:34:00.000-04:00

She's Here!!

2007-05-04T21:12:00.001-04:00

8:55pm

Can I get one of those!

2007-05-04T16:13:00.000-04:00

Well, its 4:15 and Kelly just had some feel good put into her back! The nurse is going to come back and check on the progress around 6:00pm...oh wait, kelly just reminded me that she brought a whole boat load of candy and snacks--gotta go...thank you for all your comments and prayers!

Who said having a baby was hard?

2007-05-04T12:49:00.000-04:00

I asked the nurse if dinner was going to be as good as lunch. Kelly is doing great! She had jell-o for lunch.

We are at the Hospital!

2007-05-04T11:28:00.000-04:00

Well, after nine months at the doctor's office this morning--they finally told us we could go to the hospital. So here we are, waitin on a baby. Gotta go watch some cable tv--be back soon!

is this the day?

2007-05-04T06:58:00.000-04:00

we are packing the car right now and waiting on a phone call from the hospital. I told Kelly, "Girl you could have that baby tonight!" Well it looks like it could be today. Actually as I write this Kelly is downstairs cleaning the kitchen floor, doing laundry, feeding the chickens, washing the hogs, etc. Our friends Kevin and Amy had their baby girl last night around 7:45am! We all were joking the other day about how it would be fun to be in the hospital at the same time. Kelly's due date was April 23rd and Amy's was May 15! Well, we will keep you updated throughout the day. Please pray that Kelly would have an EASY labor and that everyone would be healthy!

No baby yet, but something almost as exciting happened today!

2007-04-27T19:37:00.000-04:00

My 2007 Pirate Club stickers came in the mail!!!! I even put one on Kel's car--don't know if she'll like it or not.

Also I renewed my season tickets--see you in Dowdy Ficklen!

No baby yet

2007-04-26T09:37:00.000-04:00

Top Ten Sights and Sounds at the NC ZOO

2007-04-22T21:37:00.000-04:00

So Kelly and I went to the zoo today for what might be the last "date" that just the two of us go on before Madison is born. The weather was great and the animals were out in full force--all of them...here is our top ten list of sights and sounds at the NC Zoo.

10. This picture speaks for itself--Kelly, nine months pregnant, with a hippo--no relation.
9. "Telescope, why would you need a telescope? Don't you mean binoculars?"--Mean dad to his young son.
8. "Them things are big ain't they?"--Grandma to her granddaughter referring to the Bison.
7. "That's the closest you've been to a duck this year." --Loving wife to her husband shamelessly reminding him of his 0-for season
6. Sorry we don't have a visual aid for this one, but apparently rolled up shorts and shirtsleeves are in style for big guys with muscles at the zoo.
5. "Holy freaking crap."--Guy shocked by size of turtle
4. "Oh gosh, I think I just smelled that guy's feet!"--Kelly
3. "Annoying kids come from annoying parents"--Charlie to Kelly after she was worried that our kids would be as annoying as the girl near the gorilla pit(who had an annoying dad)
2. "This is the only exhibit in the park that...well, nevermind."-- Volunteer tour guide
1. "You're sick, cause you bite your fingernails. That's like eating someone else's pee." Dad to his teenage son who is feeling sick.

4D Pictures of Madison

2007-04-13T18:24:00.000-04:00

This picture was taken this afternoon! Only 10 more days till the due date!

John Wayne and Jesus

2007-04-11T19:18:00.000-04:00

"I met John Wayne and Jesus, when I was just a kid. They both had on their cowboy hats just like I pictured them." Not much compares to being outside at night underneath the stars having a good ole' time singing songs and talking about Jesus. We had Grimsley Younglife the other night down on the farm! That's a picture of me (sorry for the quality) leading songs. Yeah, that's a real Dale Earnhardt t-shirt--"#3 on the track, #1 in our hearts!" We had 6 high school kids come up and spit crickets out of their mouths to see who could spit them the farthest--kind of like a seed spittin contest--only with live crickets!! We also had kids shuck corn with their bare feet. I think if Jesus were walking around today, he would spend a lot of time at this farm just hanging with high school kids. Oh, and he'd probably catch the biggest bass in the pond!

14 in a row!

2007-03-28T23:25:00.000-04:00

19th ranked ECU just won their 14th baseball game in a row beating UNC by the Sea 11-10 in 10 innings. The Pirates were down 8-0 after two innings but climbed back for what is now the NATION'S LONGEST WINNING STREAK!!! They travel to Tulane this weekend for a tough 3-game series...

Cutting Grass and Painting Stripes

2007-03-26T14:51:00.000-04:00

So I finished painting the nursery last week--I hate painting but knew it had to get done--what little girl can come into this world without purple and green stripes on her wall. I wanted to do purple and gold and paint a big pirate ship on the wall--yeah there are girl pirates!--but decided not to because like i said i hate painting and would probably have been told to paint it over. Have you ever heard of daddy-boot camp? Me neither, until I was signed up to go this past saturday. Luckily for me two of my friends had signed up also. We showed up around 9:00am thinking that for the next three, yes three, hours we would be learning all there is to know about babies and what to do with them. I've changed one diaper in my life and thought we would "practice" this skill at boot camp. There were four "veteran" dads that brought their kids in to the training room. There was also a "General" who led the group. What this boot camp turned out to be was a talking session by one of the veteran dads--and talk he did--for probably 2 hours and 53 minutes of the 3 hours. But, I did learn that you could buy a baby bjorn--one of those papoose looking things--and cut your grass and maybe even your neighbor's grass while your baby is sleeping in this thing--only professionals--or should i say "Generals" should try this. (don't worry mom, I do think that cutting grass with a little baby in one of these sling things is a pretty stupid idea--very unsafe--especially if the baby isn't wearing eye protection!)

Pirate BBall and Senator Dole

2007-03-12T14:09:00.000-04:00

BBall in Greenville, NC doesn't refer to march madness-its baseball and

after an awesome three game sweep against national powerhouse Cal-State Fullerton, ECU moved into the top 25. I was at the games on Saturday and Sunday-- Jimmy , my brother, got a standing ovation from us and about 20 other people when he removed second base and raked the dirt around it in the middle of the 5th inning. I was sitting with my dad about 3 rows up behind home plate and Senator Elizabeth Dole came and sat right in front of us! We said hello, took a picture with my camera phone, and then my dad talked to her about how he knew a guy who knew her husband Bob from the 20's or 30's or whatever...anyway, then I asked her to call my mom--who had just left that Saturday morning for a missions trip to Gulfport Mississippi. Libby said, "Sure I'll call Anne!" So she called my mom and left her a nice message about how she was at the ECU baseball game with her handsome son and how she was really proud that my mom is doing the Lord's work and she would love to talk to her about it some time...this wasn't her first phone call to a voter for sure.

ECU beat CSF Friday 6-1, Saturday 2-0, and Sunday 12-5!

Ahoy!!

2007-03-08T15:51:00.000-05:00

Well, this is my first post ever! I don't really know much about doing this kinda thing but we'll see. My friends are all doing it, so I guess I have fallen into peer pressure once again. Anyway, as you can tell from my http:// thing--I live in Greensboro, NC and I am a Pirate. I know you're probably thinking, A real Pirate? Yes, a real Pirate. I graduated from East Carolina University. That's my wife--Kelly, she wanted to do one of these sites with me...but I think she's too creative for that--you'll see what i mean once she gets her's up and going. It will probably be more interesting than this one. Oh yeah, we're having a baby in april...a little girl...i don't know anything about little girls, but i guess i'll learn. Her name is madison grace and as of last monday 3/5--Kelly and I have about 7 weeks left for just the two of us and then there will be three. Well, that'll about do it for now