So lets go back to October 2012, shall we?
We went camping for a week in the Smokies. It was relaxing, the weather was perfect, we went hiking, we read books, we cooked over a fire, we only showered once (since apparently there are no showers inside the confines of the Smoky Mountain National Park... no one told us.) All in all it was a beautiful week. Our secret to a great vacation: no talking about finances or any of the usual "pressure points" of life. Leave them at home.
I love all the winding roads when driving through the mountains.
This is in Cade's Cove. There is a cemetery on the other side and there is a lot of Myers headstones. I wonder if we are related.
Beautiful views in the valley.
We saw deer crossing the path to get to the river. Note the Italian guy taking a picture with an iPad.
Hiking to Abram Falls
We made it! Abram Falls
We sat and ate trail mix and relaxed for a while at the bottom of the falls
Hence the name Smoky Mountains
Festive little fall table top
Flattering, I know. This is camping life.
Delicious vat of chili cooking on the fire
Clingman's Dome
Hiking to Andrew's Bald. 1.8 miles each way feels a lot farther when walking a trail instead of a treadmill.
Trying to convince Josh to try a new hairstyle. No styling gel needed when you've just hiked 2 miles (if you know what I mean)
Don't you just love autumn in the mountains.
Moving on to Christmas season:
Something possessed me into participating in a "holiday market" at the preschool. I had about 2 weeks to make everything I was going to sell. I had big ideas and chose a couple things to focus on. I made fleece ear warmer, felt scarves, burlap bunting banners, cinnamon applesauce ornaments, lace painted coasters, and last minute I added my best seller: custom wood signs in three varieties.
This is what my apartment looked like for the 2 weeks leading up to the market
All packed up and ready to go.
Here's my little both all set up.
Coasters
Ear warmers
Business cards
Scarves
I was fortunate to have places a ton of custom orders, but that just means I would be busy for the next several weeks trying to complete them.
Because I was so busy, I didn't have a lot of time to focus on our own Christmas. I wish I could have made Christmas cards like I did the year before.
But we did find time to visit Opryland Hotel with some friends
Which brings us to Fancy New Years
And here's a fun little panoramic shot our lovely host Derek took. Fun group of folks right there.
So onto 2013 and the void of photos. For some reason the picture taking just fell off a ledge. Here's what I could find.
My lifelong friend Ruth got married in February, so I attended a lingerie shower/bachelorette weekend.
The bride is on the left
Rehearsal dinner
Being silly with the other bridesmaids
Most of these girls are girls I have know most of my life. We grew up in church together.
The happy couple, Ruth and Jason.
Then, Tonya came to visit us for Josh's birthday! (The sign behind them say something like "Our jerk chicken is slap yo mama good.")
Then my sister, mom and I ran the color run in Atlanta.
My sister Amelia
All 4 of us before the race
Colorful haze at the finish
Amelia after
The sisters after
It was quite fun.
And colorful.
And we round it all off with a pretty view from our window when spring had sprung.
So there you have it.
Now we are on the path to buy a house here in Nashville, and hopefully that will spur me into blogging more.
