On the Road Again...

I am blessed in so many ways. One imparticular- a child that travels well. A basket of toys and puzzles will suffice for quite some time, then there's always the good ol' DVD player.

 

In October, we made the trek to the northeast corner of the Tennessee mountains to see my mom's family for my grandfather's 85th birthday party. When I say mom's family, I mean her 5 sisters, brother-in-laws, and children. Needless to say, it was a rather large gathering. Cutter had only seen Papa and met one aunt, so it was an experience for him to see EVERYONE at once. Granted, he was quite the showstopper.

 

The trip would take about 10 hours, each way, so we broke it down into sections. Driving to mom's Thursday, to the mountains Friday, back to mom's Saturday, then home Sunday. We were ALL tired by the time our heads hit our own pillows Sunday night.

 

 Riding with Aunt Morgan

 Paul and Wanda let us stay at their house Friday night. Paul is Mom's cousin.

 Great-Aunt Laura lives right across the street, so we always stop and visit.

 Sorry these are sideways,  but I couldn't figure out how to turn them once they were uploaded! Cutter gets to see some of Paul's goats.

 

 "Eat eat, goat!"

 

 He LOVED the piles of leaves! Forget needing toys at this point!

 

 Favorite game ever... throw leaves off of the bridge.

 

 Walking with Grandpa.

 

 

 

 My mom and Papa. Isn't he adorable?!

 Yes, those are all of my mom's sisters.

 ALL the aunts and uncles! 

These are my cousins and some spouses.

 

 4 Generations

 We're silly at this point.

 And... we're about done! No nap this day, or the day before. We had a good time but were tired!

Seventy-Seven Times Seven

My wonderful hubby and I recently (back in July, but am just now posting) celebrated our 7th anniversary! We normally celebrate with a trip to the beach, since it is during the summer and one of the places we want to go. This year, we wanted to try something different. We wanted to go to new places and try new things. Since we planned last-minute and were on a budget, we had to be creative!

On our way north, we stopped here for lunch. I must say- definitely yummy! I'd never been, so was excited to try.

First stay- Asheville, North Carolina. All I can say is "what an eclectic little town". Wow to the sights!

We didn't have many plans ahead of time, other than where we stayed. So, we relied on UrbanSpoon and recommendations of friends for places to eat. Meet Asheville Brewing Company. We didn't stick around for a $1 movie that they featured that night, but enjoyed good eats! Above, parmesean garlic knots that were as big as your fist. Below, I forget what kind of pizza, but it was delish!

 The next morning, we got up and headed to the BEAUTIFUL Biltmore Estate. I'd been there before with my family, but Chris had never been. To learn all about the house and how it was built was amazing.

 Not to mention the gardens. I would spend all day in them!

 After the house tour and lunch in the Stable Cafe, we headed to the winery. It was neat to hear that history as well.

 After a little rest at the hotel, we headed into downtown Asheville for dinner at Tupelo Honey Cafe. Chris enjoyed goat cheese grits.

See the corn below? Fried Parmesean Corn. Y-U-M.



 The next morning, we headed through the mountains and ended here. Yes. We went White Water Rafting! Chris had never been, but I have and loved it! The Ocoee Rafting Company and facilities were the best I've ever seen! The guides were great and the lodge was fantastic.

There is a picture out there of me "riding the bull", where I was on the front of the raft, holding on for dear life as we went through one of the rapids. I never fell in the water. Unfortunately, I later knocked Chris in when we hit a good one. I bounced off of him and back in the boat, while he bounced right in the water. Oops!

 Our hotel in Chattanooga that night was terrific for two reasons: the confy bed after a long day, the these cookies they gave us when we checked in!

Breakfast the next morning at The Bluegrass Grill was to-die-for! A family run restaurant with only about 20 tables was packed. There were no hostesses to seast you. You just waited in line and sat at the next available table. My fresh peach french toast was spot on. Below, Chris' frittata and homestyle fries were tasty too.

We then headed over to Ruby Falls, a neat experience! We had to walk quite a way while under ground.

 

 

Check us out while we're underground! This is a beautiful underground waterfall. How neat!

While walking around Chattanooga, we found this cupcake shop. As much as I hate to admit it, it knocks the socks off of Gigi's. They were AWESOME!

 

We ate dinner that night in downtown Chattanooga, right next to the Aaquarium. Unfortunately, Chris wouldn't let me take a picture of our food. I know I had a bison meatloaf, but I can't remember anything else.

Please don't mind my ponytail in every picture. It was hot, humid, but one of the best trips ever! We had few plans, no expectations, and one of the best anniversary trips so far! I would do it again, seventy-seven times seven times forever!

Fourth, Family, and Furry Friends

My younger brother, Stephen, just moved to Birmingham (yay!), so we decided to meet up for the 4th of July. His girlfriend, Erin, lives in a BEAUTIFUL house near UAB, so we had a cookout after our trip to the zoo. My older brother and his wife were able to come down as well. We had a BLAST!

 

 How awesome is it that we got to feed these birds! At one point, they were all over Uncle Stephen!

 

 Erin showed Cutter, but he wasn't too sure about it.

 

 

 Cutter got to ride a camel! We might have fudged his age just a touch so they would let him ride. No biggie! He picked Daddy to ride with him, so off they went!

 

 

 

 Cutter had a great time, but Chris was hanging on to him pretty tightly.

 

 Yes, I took a turn. Not as smooth as they look, by the way.

 

 We fed the giraffe- several times. As you can see above, Cutter would drop the piece just as the tongue reached out to get it. I couldn't stop laughing!

 

 

 Finally got one in!

 

 

We had a blast! I loved that this zoo had shade all over the place, plenty of activities to interact with, and great company!

Stop

I found this saved in my drafts from TWO YEARS ago! I don't know why I ever posted it, but it still applies today!


Life can get so busy and hectic. You are on the go all the time. The only break you get is when your head finally hits the pillow at night. Unfortunately, your mind starts reeling the moment you awaken. Constantly thinnking of what to do next and mentally arranging and organizing your every waking minute. You wear many hats: wife, mom, chef, housekeeper, teacher, nurse, banker. And you love every minute of it. You love your life, your family, your jobs. You are truely blessed beyond the imaginable. And you are completely exhausted but press on, knowing that one day, things will fall into place without your hand in every bit of it.

Little things, like a surprised and unexpected bubble bath, can be some of the greatest blessings in life. A chance to take time to stop and let the world spin around YOU for a brief moment.

Thank you, Chris, for making me take the time to stop, to slow down, to breathe, to further enjoy this wonderful life that we are living.

Where to start?

Welcome, 2013! As my aunt pointed out, this is the first year since 1987 that there are no repeat numbers in the year. Fun Fact!

As I enter this new year during the midst of a long, relaxing, and much needed break, I've realized that I am STILL long overdue on blog posts. Pretty much dating back to mid-July. So bear with me as I use up the last of these carefree days to update the world with our ongoings and whereabouts.

Enjoy!

Santa Story #1

So, I might have skipped his birthday, the pumpkin patch, a trip to Huntsville and Thanksgiving in Charlotte. Oops! I'll eventually get back to those to share.

Meanwhile, we had our first Santa conversation today. They must talk about him at daycare, since we don't have the first Christmas thing up here! I was picking him up and he kept asking about Santa and a truck. Finally, I figured out that he was telling me that he wanted Santa to bring him a truck. When I asked him what color he wanted, he replied with "Ummm, blue."

He repeated this again to Dad when he got home. Well, Santa... hope you've got a blue truck in that bag of yours!