asheville vacation babymoon

how could anyone resist that???

or this??
on the way up, we stopped in saluda, sc. i love this restaurant there called The Purple Onion. we ate there on our honeymoon also. they had the most amazing salad, i had to take a picture.

lee and i had a wonderful 2 day getaway to asheville, nc this past weekend. it was the first time i have ever left will overnight or really been away from him for more than half a day. the report from my parents was that he never even mentioned our names.

we stayed at the sweet biscuit inn. it is a beautiful and laidback B&B. i would love to stay there again. next time, i think we would pay a little more and get a room with a shower and not the handheld shower. breakfast was wonderful each day and the innkeepers were very helpful with maps and places to go.

some of our favorite places - blue ridge parkway, chevron bead store, tupelo honey cafe. okay, maybe they are my favorite places, but lee does love driving on the parkway. they had a cool drum circle going at one of the city parks across from tupelo honey on friday night. and really lots of musicians playing on the streets. i didn't get a picture, but there was also a flying nun. when we got out of our cars for the first time going downtown there was a guy riding a very tall bicycle wearing a nun costume.

it was so nice to get away. will has started to talk a lot so the quietness was wonderful. at the same time, i missed will A LOT. he's my buddy, and i missed seeing his sweet little face.

quotes to remember - "asheville - full of hippies, hillbillies, and hikers" and me when i almost backed out on buying a vintage looking hat "i think i've been in middle class suburbia way too long".

psalm 4:8

"I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety."
Psalm 4:8

thank you, God, for reminding me of this verse through a friend recently.
you are my refuge and my peace.

daddy's boy

for awhile i wasn't sure, but now i am. will is a daddy's boy. he loves to be a part of anything daddy is doing. you can't see very well in this picture, but will has a little wheelbarrow and he is helping daddy move wood from the yard to the wood pile. he loves to "work" and "help."

walking in daddy's shoes - he put these on himself.

friends, food, and art

i got to travel to see my very close friend, carla and her new baby boy. he's almost 4 months old. we had a great time, but the visit was too short.
she is one of my music buddies. that's how the Lord linked us together. i have about 3 music buddies and they're all very special.
she helped me learn how to play guitar. and now she has started painting and wants my help.

whoops! eyes are closed.

our first crop from our garden! a cherry tomato. we put it on a pizza sunday night. yum!

i made graham crackers on sunday. been wanting to do this for a few months now. will loves them and i have to say they are very good and not too hard to make.

beginning to illustrate

in other news, lee just found out last night that he passed the professional engineering exam. i'm so proud of him - and this was his first attempt. praise the Lord!

go gwinnett braves!

Here's Will at his first baseball game.

he sat in the stands for about 2 innings and ran around the stadium for 2 more. i think he liked it, but glad we got free tickets because we could only stay for half the game. it was a nice family outing.

isn't his outfit cute?

spring in full bloom

these azalea bushes always amaze me and take my breath away!

lee plowed the garden on saturday - he had a hard time moving on sunday.

will likes anything with wheels.

training him young!

plowing

lee begged me to get these pics. the big tractor belongs to lee's dad. the little one was lee's when he was a boy. lee and i had fun with picasa - sepia toned and film grain effects.

this is our garden! or will be. i can't believe how big it is. lee's decision - not mine. i didn't want it to be too big, for fear we would get too overwhelmed by the work. i'm very hopeful for lots of veggies!

will got a tractor ride with papa.

love this pic!

Yellow River Game Ranch

i think this was will's favorite part of the game ranch - the playground - with a really fast slide. he couldn't get enough of it.

yes, we had him on a leash some of the time. he's a wanderer - a very independent little booger.

watching the bears. they weren't domesticated unfortunately. :0(

we had so much fun yesterday at the yellow river game ranch in lilburn, ga. the coolest was the domesticated deer. they would come up right to you wanting a snack. you could pet them and everything. of course my favorite part were the lambs - one day i would really like to have 3 or 4 sheep and some lambs. they are so sweet and soft.

here is will feeding some sheep. he also fed a huge pig and a donkey. as you can see, he is eating a snack as well.

happy birthday to me!

i turned 28 last week. i know it's still young, but seems like time is getting away from me.

we went to zapatas in downtown norcross for dinner on my birthday. this place is sooo good. the service is great too. it is authentic mexican. no chimichangas there as paul found out. my brother paul was able to join us and i share a birthday with my mother-in-law so lee's parents were there as well.

will reads my birthday card.

lee tries to take a pic of us blowing out our candles, but gets a picture of paul and jerry instead. this is me and his mom laughing afterwards.

me and pauly

lee got me my first sewing machine for my birthday. haven't done anything yet, but hoping to make a pillow or something soon. maybe with having my own i won't be so intimidated by it. i do love fabric!

Valentines!

look at what my man made me! i had the design in mind and he built it! yes, a designer's dream - to marry an engineer/carpenter type. (definitely feel loved every time i look at it. he also built a cubby unit for will's room and made me some potato boxes for the pantry.) i'm looking for some boxes to put on top of the coat rack to store hats and gloves. we do not have a coat closet in our house, so this is it!

my kitchen must know that valentines day is coming.

sweet potato pancakes!

salmon croquettes!

turkey pepperoni, broccoli, and spinach pizza on a TJs whole wheat pizza crust!

i guess this is my version of a valentine these days. can't beat a valentine you can eat!

Cake and Bread

Happy Birthday, Lee! the big 3 0. Will looks like he's about to grab a handful.

okay, so it wasn't perfectly decorated.

i'm so proud of myself!!! i made whole wheat loaf bread for the first time and it was actually good.

the recipe is from allrecipes.com. it uses half whole wheat flour and half bread flour but i am still very pleased!

christmas in SC

will loves wearing his reindeer hat. he wore it for 3 hours last night. the raggedy ann and andy plate was one that my brothers and i used when we were little. will was often the center of attention at nana's house. there were twelve of us there. he loved having so many people around. definitely an extrovert.

i got to see lots of people i don't get to see very often at all. on new years day my cousins, brittany and riley came to visit. i had not seen them in several years. thanks to facebook we had a little reunion. they are some of my first cousins on my dad's side. we had fun playing perpetual commotion - a very fast card game.

this is will with both sets of grandparents.

i also got to see my friend carla (from the college years) one day. we met in gaffney for lunch because she lives a couple hours away. just us girls - that was a big treat! she is the one who helped me learn to play guitar and the reason i got to go to brazil on a mission trip a few years ago. we've had a few other fun road trips. she is having a baby boy in february - just a few weeks away! i wish we lived closer to one another.

and this is jennifer my college roommate for 3 years. i'm so glad we still keep in touch. she knows me better than most people and still loves me - hahaha. she is a great cook and a new aunt.