Oktoberfest

On Sunday, before the mad rush to get Andy ready for his trip, we drove up to the ski slope to attend their annual Oktober fest.

This is something I've always wanted to do, but Andy has always said he didn't want to go. So imagine my surprise when Saturday afternoon he asked if I'd like to go check it out the next day.

I think he is going to miss me or he wouldn't be so agreeable to something he's been avoiding for several years now.

So we went and dined on German food; knock wurst, sauerkraut, German potato salad and apple turnovers. I'm not sure that the turnovers were authentic, but they were yummy so who cares?

Of course they had beer on tap, but this festival is small and each year they only have one beer sponsor. Since Andy wasn't crazy about this year's brand we passed on the beer.

We took a little hike up the ski slope, toured the craft booths and then as we were heading over to the hay ride we ran into our friends Jessie and Thomas. So they joined us on the hayride before we all made our way home.

When all was said and done we had a nice time. I'd go again, but next time I'll wear different shoes.

Every year they make these two hay people
and put them on the main road

Photo opp on the way up the slope
Check out that foliage

The festival at the bottom of the slope

The Oom Pah band

Jessi and Thomas on the hayride

An autumn hike on a couldy afternoon

Like pulling teeth

This past Saturday Andy and I joined my family for a picnic and "half-way to Christmas" get together.

As always, it was a lot of fun to see everyone and catch up. It seems like as we all grow up and start lives of our own getting the whole group together is difficult. Even on Saturday there were some people missing; my brother and his brood and two other cousins.

When I was a teenager I missed a lot of these family time things because I was working or "had more important" things to do. Then I grew up a little bit and lost a couple of family members and realized how much they all meant to me and that we wouldn't all be here forever. This has become even more clear to me since my accident in April. My friend Whitney said it best when she said, "We're all young and in our twenties and think we're invincible, but any day it could all be taken away from us."

I don't mean to sound so gloomy, but it's the truth and sometimes it takes a traumatic event to make you realize what's important.

So whenever an opportunity comes up for me to see my family or friends I like to do what I can to make sure I'm there. I also come with camera in tow because I think it's important to document these activities. If we don't get to do it again for a couple of years then we'll be totally different, there might be a few new family members, or maybe even one or two less. So I've made it my mission to capture everyone on film at every opportunity.

No matter where we are I take our tripod with me and I make everyone line up for a group shot. There is much moaning and groaning and someone usually points out that we did this the last time we were together. But I don't care.

One day, maybe years from now, they'll be glad I made them do it. And these pictures will probably be most meaningful to the biggest complainers.


Left to right, starting in the front:

Aunt Lea, Aunt Pam (with Sophie), Uncle Todd, Me, Andy, Mamaw
Wes (Luke's friend), Caleb, Luke, Bekah, Elizabeth, Hannah
Uncle Tony, Aunt Donna, My parents - Julia and Terry

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On a completely different note!

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A weekend spent out of doors

We've had a really awesome weekend. It's so nice to be out and about doing things again.

Yesterday I traveled to Greensboro for a joint birthday party for my oldest nephew and niece. I was worried for a couple of reasons. First, I was pretty sure I was going to have to drive all the way there and I haven't driven on the interstate since before the accident. I did indeed drive, but it wasn't as bad as it could have been. The traffic was really not so bad and there weren't too many crazy drivers out there. Second, I'm not used to the heat in the lower part of the state. My mountain has hardly seen 90 degrees yet this summer and I was not at all looking forward to being outside with all the extra heat and humidity. But, once again, my worries were for naught because it really wasn't all that awful. We picnicked in the shade and while I did sweat more than usual I wasn't miserable. So that was good.

The party was at Bur-Mil park and after the picnic the kids were going swimming at the pool there. I went prepared to swim with them, but my ankle was swollen pretty bad at that point and I was already exhausted. So some of us decided to call it a day and head home. The journey home wasn't too bad either, but by the time I got back up the mountain to our apartment I crashed. I took a lovely little nap while Andy went for a bike ride and then we went out for a late dinner.

I made these cupcakes for the party.
Butterflies for Veronica and trains for Jerem.
I got the idea from Hello Cupcake! which my
mother-in-law gave me.
The butterflies are in the book and the
trains were my own creation.
The cupcake recipe came out of it too.
Banana Chocolate and they were yummy!

The baby was passed out when she got there

Alex, chowing down on some chicken.
We had KFC and you can't go wrong with
KFC at a picnic.
Jerem had a blast!
I asked Veronica to pose and this is what she gave me.
She's going to regret this one day.

Today was much more low-key. After sleeping in a bit Andy got up and went for another bike ride and I watched a movie I had rented. Then we headed out to a local lake to have a picnic. The lake is small, but it has picnic shelters, a play area for kids and there is a beach area with a doc and lifeguard so people can swim. Today has been so nice out and we were definitely not the only ones enjoying the day. We didn't swim because we had some other things to get done today, but we spent a while laying on a blanked and people watching. People watching is one of my favorite things to do. I wouldn't mind if we made this a Sunday ritual.

Our view of the lake

Feet on the picnic blanket.
Andy says his feet look bad.
I guess that's why he's curling his toes under.
Watching the clouds
The "beach" and dock are on the other side of these trees

On a break...

Ok, so really it's more like I bought a new book that I've been reading in my spare time and in my spare-spare time I'm reading another one. I have some things milling in my head to tell you about and I promise to finish the flaming oven saga before the week is over.

For now, you'll have to be satisfied with a preview of what my mountain is going to look like soon.

Lush, green, beautiful
Spring can't come soon enough

Berry Pickin'

A couple of weekends ago Andy and I took a trip up to Beech Mountain to pick blackberries and have a picnic. Andy has been in the mood to make jam lately so we took a large tupperware container to store our blackberries. It was a fun trip, but I could have done without the rough terrain. The place we went is a 4x4 trail that he and his friends like to go to and test the limits of their vehicles. It's not really my idea of a good time, but once we were out of the car it was nice.

These berries are jam now

Andy, picking berriesWe'll come back for these later

Picking berries from the car

I like ferns

Where we had our picnicSelf portraitThe rough terrain
You can't see it very well,
but those rocks were hugeThe road home

The everything post

Week 1 of C25K is complete! We finished day 3 yesterday after I got off work. Usually we go later in the evening when the track is in the shade. But Andy wanted to have a "guys" night with one of his friends so we went as soon as I got home. It was MUCH hotter than what we're used to. By 10-15 degrees. I say "used to" as if we've been doing this for a long time, but when you're first starting out, that added heat can be rough. Luckily about half way through the clouds came in and brought a breeze with them. We finished the workout, but we didn't get to cool down properly because it had started to rain. So we packed it in for the day, but not before taking some pictures of the end of our first week.

A nice picture
Though, it doesn't do justice to
how red my face was

This is how I really felt
I don't know why Andy made such weird
faces. The sun wasn't out

Andy picked a daisy for me
and I put it in my hair

In other news, Brunswik is is officially an adult. Bunnies are in adult hood at 6 months. His six month birthday was this week. I can't believe we've had him long enough to be a big boy bunny. He isn't as big as I thought he would be. He seems to have grown into his back feet a little more so I don't know that he really has anymore growing to do. He still acts like a baby though. Bunnies don't grow out of young behaviors until after about the first year. So he has a little way to go. As a matter of fact as I'm typing this he's running around my feet trying to catch my pajama bottoms. I love my little bunbun.

The first night we had him

All grown up.
Grown up bunny tail

And finally, some more mountain majesty for you. Here are some pictures from the sunset yesterday at our apartment. Ignore the power lines. Maybe one day we can get all those underground so there isn't so much interfering with the view.