Blowing Rock, NC

This past weekend was declared a girls retreat! Trish and I had much work to do on Seek the Triad. Life’s interruptions have really been challenging the Seek to do list. We packed “the show” up and headed for the NC Mountains. MacBooks, iPhones, and chocolate were at top of the list of things we brought to the precious mountain town of Blowing Rock.

the work gazebo

There was a lovely gazebo in front of our little mountain inn, that did indeed have free Wi-Fi. We set up our mobile office in there and got rocking and rolling. {Ok, we might have eaten a fabulous dinner and done a little shopping first!}

The soothing sound of water!

The soothing sound of this little waterfall next the gazebo was so refreshing!

The view from the work gazebo!

The view was great too!

The country look

Our choice of places to stay was limited due to a art festival that weekend, who knew!  We were not going for pricey and romantic. We settled for a comfortable and reasonably priced motel right off the main road of Blowing Rock. It was clean and comfortable {and had free WiFi), but I did almost pee my pants when we opened the door and Trish declared it a state of “pattern overload”. You know we mentally decorated the room several times over during the weekend.  If I could of I would have painted and distressed all the furniture!

the shelf of tchotchkes

Trish was quite fascinated by this little shelf of “tchotchkes”. The word tchotchkes was cracking us up so of course we googled it and found this from the Urban Dictionary.

“A small piece of worthless crap, a decorative knick knack with little or no purpose. Side note: Chotchkie can be pretty, sentimental, or even occasionally useful though it usually breaks easily if useful. If you are having trouble identifying Tchotchke just look around your house or someone else’s and whatever you see that a burgler wouldn’t steal is probably Tchotchke.”

Oh my the stuff we found on Urban Dictionary was pretty stinking hilarious. If you have time to kill take a look yourself!

Coffee and Scones!

We hit the local coffee shop a few times. However, the first morning we were there a town wide power outage occurred for several hours! It was a town wide hunt for coffee for many that morning. If you saw someone with a cup on the street you were instantly bombarded with a “WHERE DID YOU GET THAT???” I knew instantly that there would be no latte or fancy smancy drinks for this chick. boo hoo. It was drip only with water that was heated on a gas stove! But, a girl has to do what a girl has to do for her morning fix, so I resorted to drip.  sigh.

A little shopping!

The glorious weekend ended with written and scheduled articles, answered e-mails, and we even planned our entire Fundraiser Blasting for Boobs scheduled for November 6th!

We then treated ourselves to a few rugs at Capel and declared it a victorious weekend and headed for home!

It is amazing how a weekend away can do wonders for your soul.  Laughing with girlfriends is so important!  I’m so blessed that God has given me the gift of being able to steal away and get time with awesome women friends!

Good Morning Birdie!

It is 8:36 am and I am whipping out a quick little good morning post! I’m at Wrightsville Beach, NC (since Sunday) with my man. We are celebrating our 10 year anniversary that is actually tomorrow! I’ve been a good little techo girl and have not done anything but spend time with him, except a little Facebooking on the iPhone!

I have not even gotten my new camera out! I just shot these few pictures from our room, a walkout to the beach, while the man is still sleeping.

I could stare at this all day!

So, while I was waiting for this picture to download into my post a bird flew into my room! Oh my goodness, so glad he flew back out! I have now shut the door!

good morning tree!

It is now 8:47 am. Keeping my time online short and sweet! I’ve got a few hours before we depart back home. It was the perfect little getaway. I’m ready to return to the kids and dogs for a few more days until the weekend!

Blessings to all and have a wonderful day!

I’m dedicating this last full week of summer to play and HAVE FUN!

Mastering the Front Flip

Have a blessed and fun filled week! I’ll be back maybe on Friday…..no pressure on myself!

Each Friday I’m going to try to do My Week In a Nutshell to try to highlight some beautiful moments from the week. Ordinary things that I will find  beauty and smiles in!

Smokey Mountains

Last Sunday, I began my journey back from the Juice Plus Conference in Memphis, TN at 4:00 AM! I was blessed to be riding with some new wonderful friends. Although I had just met them 3 days ago, I felt like I had been friends with them for quite some time. Elizabeth was giving an engagement party for 50 at 4:00 PM in Charlotte, NC and Margie was going to the Panthers game that afternoon. Well, as you can see we came to a screaming halt in the Smokey Mountains on I-40 due to a rock slide. A 10 hour trip turned into a 14+ hour trip. We chose to be thankful for this beautiful scenery, new friendships and prayed together for everyone of us who were stuck. We gave in to the fact that our planned afternoons would not happen and we just went with it.

Kelly, E, Me, Margie and Courtney

My first haircut!

Asher got his first puppy cut this week! Is he just not the cutest thing ever? I won’t tell you how much that puppy cut cost! Oh my!

Pantry Dump!

I must say that last night’s Pantry Dump was the best meal of the week! The kids and hubby inhaled it! Not sure what to call it. I’ve been trying to cook with some Mediterranean flair lately. I took what I had on hand and mixed it all up.

It is 2 chicken breasts (organic free range of course!) shredded, 1 box of Parmesan Cheese Couscous, 1 can of black beans, 1 can of black olives, feta cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and a tad bit {don’t you just love my technical terms!} of spaghetti sauce, because I did not have any canned tomatoes. Super Yummy, wish there were some leftovers right about now.

It was a crazy beautiful week, full of highs and lows…too many to list…or take photos since my camera ran out of battery life today!

I’m linking up with Melissa at the Inspired Room for her A Beautiful Life Series.

I got my first puppy ever on Sunday! I guess I was having a little empty nest syndrome with the kids in school. It was a very spur of the moment event, and not quite approved by The Man who was out of town for a few days. I set out to “look” at a puppy with my friend Bernadette who was on a quest for a Shih Poo.

Asher and Rudy

Well, there just so happened to be 2 males available…the rest is history, they both came up with us and one of them somehow ended up at my house! They are so funny together! They went to their first vet appointment together and when we work out, they both hang out together in my car. Brothers forever!

I named him Asher after hearing Beth Moore speak at a conference about 2 years ago on the blessings of Asher, Asher being one of the heads of the 12 tribes of Israel. Asher in Hebrew translates to “be blessed” or “to be happy”. I fell in love with that name and decided that I would name something that one day.

Asher and Drake

Yesterday he lived up to his name and was a blessing to Drake! Drake was having a very uncomfortable 48 hours with wires and gauze all over his precious little head. I brought Asher over yesterday and he sat on Drake’s lap and let him love all over him. The joy on his face brought tears to my eyes. It by far was the best part of my week!

“Make our life’s pursuit the Lord, see his goodness and we will grab Asher moments with Him that will alter our lives!” Beth Moore, Boone, NC 2007

Since this was such A Beautiful Life kind of moment, I’m linking up to Melissa at The Inspired Room to share with her readers. I hope they enjoy my blessing too!

Local blueberry season is coming to an end in just a few weeks. I’ve discovered a great source at the Farmer’s Market in Summerfield and I’ve been enjoying them all summer. Yesterday, I picked up 2 gallons (16 pints) that were fresh picked that day. I froze most of them to get me through a few months of smoothies, muffins and pancakes.
This morning I made a few stacks of my healthy pancakes for all to enjoy!
I use a multi grain pancake mix I get from Earth Fare, 2 farm fresh local eggs, Brown Cow Vanilla Yogurt, Flax Seed, organic milk and of course, blueberries. I mix it all up, I always forget to measure when I’m doing a recipe and don’t realize it until I need to blog it. I estimate about 1 1/2 cups of pancake mix, 1/2 c. ground flax seed, 3 T of yogurt, 2 eggs, 3/4 c. of milk or more if it is still too stiff. And of course, the blueberries!

Fry them up in a pan coated with a little coconut oil. That is my secret to a great pancake. I add coconut oil to the pan in between each batch of pancakes.
Although I’m a Maple Syrup girl, I could not pass up this deal on Log Cabin at Costco since they have now taken it upon themselves to take out the HFCS! Lets see if we can get others to join in! Or maybe the entire industry as well!
OK, here is your token “Mom can I take your picture” picture, in which you smile and pretend that you are super thrilled to have a picture of yourself in your Thursday morning best! We are all family here so I’ll let it all hang out for you….this is me frying up the pancakes. Picture by Ethan, age 7.

I don’t have too much for you on this rainy friday in Greensboro, North Carolina.  However I love linking with Melissa at The Inspired Room on friday’s so here I sit listening to the rain and not cleaning my 3 1/2 bathrooms I have to clean….two of which have clogs…thanks boys!

I have had some accomplishments, besides killing myself in boot camp this week.  By the way today was KILLER…made Monday look like a walk in the park!
I’ve been staring at this pile next to my side of the bed for at least 6 months.  Actually, this pile was after I “organized” the area and whittled it down to this much for the last month.  It maddens my husband to no end.  Well, he is gone all week and look what he has to come home to…
I threw everything away I could!  I must admit that all the magazine I could not part with are under my bed!
Here is the end result of my weekly vacuuming!  Isn’t that just gross!  My Dyson is awesome! This is the usual weekly load!  Where does it all come from?????

A little Friday morning reflection of my week brought to you by The Inspired Room
My latest quest you ask?  The decision to fix the old refrigerator (she is only 7!) yet again, keep up the monthly hair dryer ritual on the broken part, or buy a new one.  I’ve already spent about $300 in the last several months to repair it.  It it worth it to spend another $200???  Well, I spied this new model and guess what it is?  BLACK STAINLESS!!  How totally cool!  I’m in love! I have black appliances right now.  She would fit right in.  Plus, they stay this new black stainless doesn’t show fingerprints.  Oh yes, it is also on sale at Sears for $650 off…only a mere $1599!

I must say that this week has been absolutely insane for me. How could I have been so relaxed last week and so frazzled this week??? Melissa at the Inspired Room friday linky is today and she asked about our beauty we found this week. I thought I’d share a little bit of my wonderful Spring Break with you.

This is my in-laws quaint 1923 Cottage in Mid Town Mobile Alabama. It is just as precious inside as it is outside. She has just painted the shutters red….they were black…I’m loving the red!

Here is one shot from her AWESOME backyard! This is the waterfall and pond. Note the bubbles in the pond….that would be from my youngest and very mischievous son who decided to squeeze a bottle of dishwashing soap into the fountain!

My husband surprised me while we were in Mobile and took me away for a night to a bed in breakfast in Magnolia Springs! Loving this front porch and wishing I was sitting on it right now! Since we were there on a Monday we had the house to ourselves. David, the owner gave me an amazing tour and history of every square inch of the house. My husband endured along with me…I loved every second of discovering this 110 year old house!

We stayed in the room that had the original bath of the house! Hello this toilet is over a 100 years old!!!! It is called a elephant trunk…see why! I will admit, I was quite intimidated by it at first. Would I break it? When I pulled the chain would it just come off in my hand?

Clog it? No way…this baby is how they should still be built! This picture does not do the “hole” justice…it is huge! I bet it has never been clogged…seriously! Why have we shrunk the “hole” down so much??? I have 3 “men” in my house…we are clogging constantly in NC. Do you think the toilet plungers companies have anything to do with this. They must be making a killing with these new models.

By the way, my husband thought I was so strange taking pictures of this. But, I knew I was going to have to share this with you all!

Have a blessed weekend!