Monday, October 31, 2011

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN !

Tonight was Desperation Church's 2nd Annual Fall Festival.
Can you guess what my job was???

Face painting!



Costume of choice: Mime




We had a great time. I wish I had more pics, but I was busy painting the kiddo's faces. We had around 3500 people show up. To God be the glory! Love my church family!




Saturday, October 29, 2011

hot dogs, smores, and 40 degree weather

I am not sure if I have mentioned it yet, but for this semester of small groups at church I am in the young professionals small group. We are all so busy serving elsewhere on Sundays, we feel like we haven’t connected with new people in the church our own age. So it has been a good way to get to know new people. It’s not exclusive to DC members, so if ya wanna come check it out, shoot me an email.
I cannot remember the official name for it, but we get together twice a month (every other friday).
The first Friday we meet, we get together at Andy’s house and someone speaks, we bring food, and hang out. Then for the second meeting of the month, we do something fun. This month was a bonfire. It was planned back in August. little did we know that it would be 40 something degrees out and the wind would be blowing. Most were good sports though, bundled up, and braved the cold weather.

We had so much fun hanging out and catching up with one another
I burnt my hot dog to a crisp, but my smores was perfectSmile
Thanks to Molly and Marty for having us over!

I have not been outside today, but I’m pretty sure today is every bit as frigid as yesterday. Bama doesn’t play today, so I’m off to get ready to hang with Boshell and Autumn this afternoon.
Hope everyone has a great Saturday!!!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

Home Sweet Home

The Birthday Bash has come to an end, and we are home!
I am sad it is over, but excited at the thought of sleeping in my own bed tonight.

We had such a fun and relaxing time.
I really can’t pick my favorite thing about the trip because, I loved it all. Every minute.
One thing I can say about New England that I have never said about another vacation is that All of the food was
a-ma-zing!!!!
Didn’t have a bad meal, the whole time we were there. However; I feel like a fat kid, because I have eaten so much, so back to normal eating habits tomorrow!

But really…
I loved all of the scenery, the fact that we had no set agenda, and did everything on our own time, I loved walking through the cute little towns, and learning the history of Mt Washington.
It was all just very enjoyable

Complaint???
None…really
other than, one thing New England was lacking was southern hospitality.
Don’t get me wrong, we met a lot of nice people. But, on several occasions people came across as very rude. I honestly don’t think they even meant anything by it. They just weren’t raised like we are.
In times like that, I’m thankful to be from the SouthSmile

Well…time for me to rest up.
Seven days of work starts tomorrow, and I have a feeling it will be a struggle.

Happy Sunday!!!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

All good things must come to an end

Day 7
October 15, 2011
Stowe,Vt  to Portland,Me
So technically tomorrow is the last day of our trip, but today is the last day of site-seeing. tomorrow is nothing but travel.
I’m a bit sad about it. We have had so much fun!

We got up this morning, went to breakfast, and came back to pack this mess up in time for check out
note to self: when you are travelling on the move- pack lighter!!!
we got everything consolidated, and packed in the car. I decided to get my luggage down the stairs with a little bit of flare…and just fell down the last flight of stairs with it, instead of carrying it like the avg person might go about it.

We spent the early part of the afternoon walking the town of Stowe again. They had a little Artisan Market that was going on
Here are a few pics of the cute little town:


We love Stowe!!!

around noon we jumped in the car and got on the road to get back to Portland, Me
Once we got into Maine, we decided to check into our hotel first
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there isn’t much more to be said…other than, I’m glad we made it out alive.
Oh, and in case you’re curious…it DIDN’T pass the ‘clean test’

We dropped our stuff out and left to see one last lighthouse before dark
Springpoint ledge lighthouse

homeboy acts like it’s summer
I assure you it’s in the 40’s + wind chill factor, but ‘to each his own’


It got dark relatively quick, so we found somewhere to eat dinner in downtown Portland.
I wish we had some more time during the day to tour the city. It is a lot bigger than Stowe or Bar Harbor, but we ran out of time.
I enjoyed authentic New England clam chowder one final time, and we watched the Bama game.
In effort to spend the least time possible at the hotel, we hung out at Starbuck’s for a bit until we were tired enough to go straight to bed.

Tomorrow we fly out at 7 something, meaning we have to leave around 5:30 a.m. in order to return the rental car and get bags checked and all.
It has been a FABULOUS trip!!! I have enjoyed every minute of it. Great alternative to the typical beach trip. Hope to return one day for sure!
Well…we have to be up bright and early in the A.M…so off to dream land I go!!!!

Friday, October 14, 2011

let’s go Dutch

Day 6
October 14, 2011
Stowe, Vermont
Turn’s out we did make it for the morning bike ride after all!
I woke up around 0800 and looked out the window…It was raining.
My initial thought, “well doesn’t look like a bike ride is gonna happen”. I laid back down, but knew I was not going to be able to fall back asleep, so I looked at Stacey and said, “should we just go? I mean, we are in Vt” She was game…Grace Anne? Not so much! we left her in the bed…

20 min later, Despite the rain, we were geared up and ready to go!
sleepy eyes, unbrushed hair and allOpen-mouthed smile
The ride was actually really nice. I turned on Pandora on my phone and enjoyed the cool air. The rain wasn’t even very heavy until the end of the ride.

the leaves had fallen in the path overnight


one of my favorite pics. So pretty!


this morning I only made it a little over 9 miles
let’s just say I was feeling the effects of yesterdays ride.

After our ride, Stacey and I had worked up an appetite and were ready to see what all the hype was about with the famous Maple Syrup.
We picked Grace Anne up and headed for
The Dutch Pancake house
Let me just tell you, last nights dinner takes the cake on best dinner, but these pancakes
take the Blue ribbon on the best pancakes I have EVER had
The Dutch people know what they are doing! WAY better than American. I don’t even know how to describe them. They are thinner and just well…
perfect! I got one blueberry and one regular. I was very satisfied.

Once we finished breakfast, we went back to the room and got ready for the day.
On the agenda? we don’t have one! and it’s so nice!We ended up going to this Cider place.
It was cool. It had different places set up to taste the different jams, jellies, and syrups

you could also watch them make the apple cider

in front of the cider press

After we finished up there, we paid a visit to

we had a buy one get one coupon…it pays to stop in at the visitor centerWinking smile
It was ok I guess…but I have had better

We then, went back toward where we were staying an walked thru the town and went in some shops.
On into the afternoon, I admitted that I was pretty exhausted. We declared it nap time, and went back to the room to lay down for a little while.
It took me a minute to fall asleep, but once I did… I slept GOOD! I’m considering stealing the covers. They are sooo comfy!

There was a local place called Matterhorn that some local girls had recommended to us. They had a band playing there tonight, but not until 9, so we decided to do a late dinner.
After we rested we got ready and went to eat dinner. It was a pretty cool atmosphere. We were happy to finally be around people our own ageSmile

we just hung out, shot some pool

and marveled at the mad dance skills ( total sarcasm) these people seemed to possess.
Not even kidding, watching these people dance shuffle and hair-whip was one of the highlights of the night.
But the girl in the tie dye onesie topped it all. Style, make-up, and blow dryers is not something Stowe is known for…guess it’s a good thing they have maple syrup to fall back on.
We had a fun last night in Vermont. Tomorrow we head back to Portland.
Sad the trip is coming to an end, Can’t I just extend it another week???

Thursday, October 13, 2011

It’s Mah Birthday!!!!

Day 5 (cont'd)
October 13, 2011
New Hampshire to Stowe, Vt

In light of the very FOREVER long detour yesterday
We programmed the “quickest distance” in the GPS to set out for Stowe. We were making great time, so we stopped at another ‘mom and pop’ type place that we passed along the way for lunch.
I was a little tired of seafood, so I split some Spaghetti with Stacey…and to no one’s surprise it was scrumptious!!!
However; the homemade peanut butter pie that we chose to follow it with
CHANGED OUR LIFE!!!
no joke…FanFlippin’tastic!
Happy Birthday to me!
worth every.single.calorie
get the point yet???Winking smile

After we were ready for nap time from all the carbs, we fought the urge and hit the road again.
We arrived in Vermont around 3p.m.
and what a pleasant surprise to be staying at the cute little
Butler House!
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P.s. ‘5’ is my fav #, so I was super excited about our room number…hey, it’s the small things!
movin’ on up from the Budget Host!

We promptly lugged our luggage up the stairs, changed clothes, and set out to explore Stowe…
and what better way to see the city, than on a bike?!?
great way to stretch those legs after a long ride in the car, and maybe work off some of that peanut butter pieBe right back
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needless to say, the scenery did not disappoint

11.3 miles and feelin’ good!

after our bike ride, we got ready for my birthday dinner
It was raining, but that wasn’t going to spoil our fun…
Just gave me another reason to be lazy and not straighten my hairWinking smile

All dolled up and ready for dinna’!

restaurant of choice:

and what a great choice it was!
this was every bit as good as it is pretty
grilled chicken topped with caramelized apples, mashed potatoes, and veggies
Literally everything I have eaten thus far has been delicious, but this meal was hands down THE best!

On the way back to our room we stopped for a photo shoot
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Well… what a GREAT way to bring in ‘25’ !
Thanks to Stacey and Grace Anne for such a fun and enjoyable day!
love you girls so much!
we have the bikes until 10 a.m. tomorrow…
plans for an early morning bike ride, it remains to be seen if it actually happensSmile
Goodnight!