Weekend Apart

Vince & I have not done much apart in this first year of our marriage. He did have to go to training at Myrtle Beach in the fall for a few days, but since I went to work everyday, it wasn't as bad as it could be to be away from him. This weekend, I am flying to my sister's house in VA to help her paint her house. Vince is really wanting to finish up his car repairs so he will be staying home. It will be so weird to go for a whole weekend without him. It will be nice to see my parents, sister & her family. But I will miss my most wonderful husband! If any of you would like to come help him paint car parts, please stop by the house. If any of you would like to help me paint my sister's new house, please join me in VA.

May Flowers at the Biltmore

Yeah! I got to go to the Biltmore today. Vince & his parents & I all went to the Biltmore today to check out the beautiful flowers. It was such a great day to celebrate Mother's Day with Vince's mom. The weather was slightly cool, but sunny so it was perfect to walk around all the gardens at the Biltmore. I really wanted to just look at all the flowers today so we all by-passed the house. This ended up being a great idea since it was really crowded because of Mother's Day. And I was able to capture some pictures of some really beautiful flowers.

No, I didn't really eat this flower....nor could I talk Vince into laying all the way on the yellow carpet of flowers.

Orchids in the hot house.

I don't know what this purple plant is but I like it.

This wine bottle was a water fountain with corks floating in the water. There were three bottles on their side behind this one in another water feature.

After the garden tour, we drove toward the new portion at Biltmore that is now open called Antler Hill. It is right beside the Winery. They had a creamy, bar/restaurant, high end store that sold house wares ($70 for a drinking glass), and a couple of other buildings. We then headed to the Winery and ended our day shopping in the store at the Winery. I bought some Wassil (apple cider spice mix). As we left the Biltmore, we decided to stop at the McDonald's across the street. We saw a special on TV about it sometime ago. They supposedly wait on your table & have a grand piano in it. Well, they don't wait on tables anymore. But they do have a nice fireplace, ceiling, and self-playing grand piano.

Ready to go somewhere

We've been back from our cruise for 3 weeks now. We spent the last two weekends at home so Vince could work on his car. However, I'm really starting to get stir crazy. We went out last Friday night to the bike races downtown & on Sunday night, we ate cheap (yet great) Mexican. The weekend before that, we went out Saturday night with his parents to eat cheap (yet excellent) Wade's. Other than those couple of outings, for 3 weeks straight, I've been cooking at home and staying in every night.

This weekend I really really really want to go to the Biltmore to see the flowers. We didn't get up there this past weekend because it kept calling for rain & Vince was working on his car. Vince is still rebuilding the front end of his car with new shocks, rotors, etc. So I am ready for Vince to take me to the Biltmore & out to eat somewhere really nice. I know it's only been 3 weeks, but it seems like I've been couped up in the house forever. I will be sooo glad when that car is finished! Vince has saved a ton of money by doing all the work himself, so it's been great that he has such great talent with cars.

I have always visited my relatives often all my life. However, this year, we have not seen much of them. It has been a year since I've seen Rachel & the kids. Until I got married, I saw them at least every 3 months & I never missed birthdays - in fact I did all the cakes. Now I'm lucky if I see them on Skype once every three months. I also haven't even stayed at my sister's house in 2 years. And we had to meet my brother in Florida to visit with him this year. Christmas is the last time we visited with my parents & then we had so many people, it was hard to visit with just them. So, this year I'm resolved to visit my family more often.

Order of Insanity

I took the plunge and finally bought the next Beachbody workout series. It's called Insanity. I know several people who have done this workout routine and really swear by it. Last week & this week I have done the Biggest Loser cardio video to gear up for it. I'm going to start it on Monday, since the calendar they sent me has Monday listed as day 1. It's a 60 day workout routine. Wish me luck!!!

Governor's School

My sister called me today to let me know that Nathan got into Governor's School in Virginia. He will go for math, science and technology for 10th - 12th grade (starting next year). He will attend his regular high school for 1/2 days and shuttle over to Governor's School for the other 1/2 of the day. All of his classes will be college level courses so he will be a sophomore (almost junior) in college when he graduates high school in 3 years (at age 16).

I called him to congratulate him tonight. He sounded excited. I asked what it might be like & he said there would be lots of homework. I told him he got his math skills from Kim, his science skills from Billy, and his clutsy-ness from Grandmama. I asked him what has he learned from me. He said he & I were just awesome. At least he knows me well. LOL. It's that quick thinking that probably got him to pass the interview portion of the application to get in. He also had to pass some testing & they look at his SAT/ACT scores (which he was awarded a John Hopkins award for this past year for scoring so high in his grade). So for 13 years old, he's well on his way to something. Maybe he'll grow up & be the master Lego builder he's always dreamed of being.

Crazy Flooding in Tennessee

All my Nashville friends have been posting pictures on Facebook of their yards and streets. They have so much flooding going on right now. I don't remember a time in my life where my hometown flooded like that. I do remember some severe tornados that did some major damage, but I don't remember flooding. My brother lives right near I-24 in Nashville. Here's a youtube video of a school building floating down the interstate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5gYhLKwSp4

They are expecting 12 more hours of rain so please keep them in your prayers. Also, Vince may be called up there for CAT (catostrophic) duty so he may get to see my brother Billy soon. We'll have to wait & see how many claims come in before he knows anything.

Bike Racing & Spring Fling

Last night Vince & I went with Vince's parents downtown to the professional bike racing. We got there as the women bicyclists were 1/2 way through their 50 laps. My work sponsored a tent with free food & drinks so we set up our chairs and grabbed some food before it got gone. They had a Mexican buffet set up and a large cooler of Cokes & water. We had a nice dinner and then moved our chairs down the street so we could see the bikers well.



After the women's race, we watched most of the men's professional race. They were so fast. We didn't see any wrecks, but they said they had a few scuffles on the back loop. We had a great time admiring all the bikers through about 40 laps. We called it a night and headed home.

This morning I went to the church's yard sale. I didn't see much, but decided to drive around all the nice neighborhoods in that area. I found one house for sale that is in the process of being built. It was so perfect! I have no idea how much it is, but I really liked it. If only we were looking to buy a new house in the next few months, but we're not. I hope when we're ready to look that I find a similar house for sale.

After the yard sale & house looking, I ventured downtown again to see the local vendors & their crafts. I started in one of the toy stores downtown that I had not been to yet. It's called Imagination Station. I would have loved this store as a kid. I then looked at a few craft & jewelry booths. I noticed Carolina Cash had a lot of clothes set up as a sidewalk sale. I have lived here for 14 years and never went in this store. It was such a great store. I don't know why it took me so long to walk through it. I bought a few things (really nice for almost nothing). The customer service reminded me so much of the old school department stores where people actually helped you and were so nice.

I did finally stroll through the rest of the vendors booths outside and found a glass pendant for a necklace that I really liked. It's been overcast most of the day so I hope they don't get rained out this afternoon. I think it's been a successful Spring Fling, although I didn't eat any of the food this year.