Spontaneity

I really do like spontaneity.  Too bad I am not the most spontaneous person.  It is because I also like to have a plan and like to stick to that plan.

But sometimes I get to practice spontaneity.

Like this weekend -- Laura and I are going to Charleston, SC to get ourselves out of Raleigh and take a few days off.  We don't have any concrete plans.  We only booked the hotel this past Saturday.  We are just going.  I am pretty excited.  Have any places that I just need to see? or eat at?

I was also able to practice spontaneity a couple of weeks ago.  Angela, a great friend from college who is now studying to be a PA at Wake Forest, called me one Friday and said "Can we hang out tomorrow?"  "YES!!!" was my very eager reply.

We ate at Panera, hung out at a free church festival, went browsing through Target and just caught up.  Sometimes the best days are ones where nothing gets done.  And you get to see fun friends.  Here is a great picture of the beautiful Angela and I:

What have you done to be spontaneous recently?

Oh my! She's having a baby!

Have I mentioned that my best friend Jenn is having a baby?  And that the little boy is due on May 21st?  Well, in case I haven't -- she's having a baby. And the due day is quickly approaching.

This past weekend I was up in Michigan to help Jenn celebrate by throwing her a baby shower.  This was the first time I had thrown a baby shower, and only the second I have been to.  That being said, I think it went pretty well -- mainly due to my co-hosts, Sarah, DeeDee and Tina.

We went with a Scrapbook theme.  And I now you are probably wonder -- what??? Well, the idea came from my mom and I think it was a hit.

The host's buy her a scrapbook and give ideas to the guests such as "1st Christmas," "1st Tooth," "Coming Home," etc.  They also purchase all sorts of materials -- paper, stickers, etc.  At the shower the guest make a page for the themes and then once baby comes all mom has to do is take the pictures and slap them on the page.  Jenn said she really liked it -- and everyone was very complimentary.  Their biggest compliment?  It was a great activity to do while we were all talking!

Of course, we also played a couple of games.  And let her open a bajillion gifts.  And provided food.

Overall, I think it went really well! :-)  Here are a couple of photos from that day:

Sorry for all of the table settings -- I just really loved how they turned out!  Practical/fun stuff with a mixture of the scrapbook stuff.  And the Scrapbook pages as place settings?  Love it!  All ideas not original.  Thank you Sir Google.

me with Sarah.  Love this girl!

The Michigan girls -- it was so fun to see them!

I had a great time at the shower -- I just hope Jenn did, too!  Tell me, have you had to plan a baby shower?  What themes did you use?  What about the games?  What would you change for next time?

December 8: Moment of Peace

I don't take time for myself very often.  There are lots of reasons for this -- my job is ridiculous, I like to hang out with friends and don't often say no to hanging out, I have a hard time sitting still...

But when I started searching through my Good Things posts I started to think about when did I take a moment to relax and just take time to breath.

My favorite moment(s) of peace was my trip to Maine with Laura.  Can Maine be both my trip of 2009 and my moment of peace for 2009?  Gwen Bell gets final ruling... but I say yes, yes it can!

Laura and I took it easy in Maine.  And there is something about a small town that immediately puts you at ease.  We were in no rush to get anywhere.  We had very little cell phone service, no internet or TV.  I read in those four days more than I had all year.  We would get up in the morning, go on a small adventure and then come back to relax for the afternoon before heading out for dinner and another small adventure in the evening -- there was the wedding to watch,

there was napping in our sunfilled room,

there was the kayaking,

there was the hiking in Acadia National Park.

Yep, already more at peace just strolling down that memory lane. 

Dec 1: Best Trip of 09

This is a hard one for me.  I took lots of trips in 2009.  Atlanta. Disney World. Michigan. Maine. Tennessee. Retreats. And probably more I am forgetting.  What can I say?  I like to travel.  I narrowed it down to Disney World or Maine... and then I had to think long and hard.  Which was the best trip of 2009?

Disney World is Disney World.  I think it is truly one of the happiest places on Earth, but I will admit that may be because I buy into it.  I went with my two best friends, Laura and Rachel.  I paid for it all in cash.  I love most amusement parks.  I love shows and there are a bunch of very awesome shows at Disney.  There were fun adventures (trying to get from Downtown Disney to Epcot for their evening show turned into a night of Rachey and the Beast... and that is all you need to know!). 

Maine was somewhere I had never been.  It was "spur of the moment" and I loved that!  It was also paid for by cash.  It was Laura and I retreating from the world.  We got to see a wedding from our balcony.  We went kayaking.  We went at the trip cheap and often took the adventerous route (ex: one night for dinner we typed in closest resturant, put it in the GPS, and at pizza from a gas station.  It wasn't too bad either).  There was no TV in the room and was glorious.  We rented a car, which was also a first. 

I don't know.  Up until typing this blog, I was going to say Disney.  But now I am going to have to say the best trip of 2009, at least for me, was Maine.  Too many firsts and great moments.  Don't read me wrong, Disney will always be awesome, but Maine was the best of 2009.

Hope you had many adventures in 2009 and many more in 2010!

Michigan

I know I am crazy. I'll leave Friday afternoon from work, drive through the night to get to Michigan on Saturday and watch a football game... only to drive home on Sunday. But it is important to remember a couple of things:



1. I have been doing this since I was a kid. I don't think it is weird and I am very used to it.



2. I recognize this is crazy.



3. I love seeing people I care about and will do crazy things to make it happen.



So, in conclusion, I love going to Michigan to see my friends. I hope that this travel is something I can keep up for a long time to come. Do you think whoever I marry (if I marry) will be willing to drive to Michigan for football games?



Anyway, here is a recap from the weekend.



I went with my brother:

He is crazy enough to drive all that way with me. We had a good time in the car -- music, discussions about Real World/Road Rules Challenges, Cherry Coke, and lots of food keeps us quite happy.


We got to Jenn and Josh's around 3am, slept for a couple hours, got up and hung out with friends. For lunch these fun ladies:

plus Keli (who left before the photo) came and hung out. I love catching up with them, laughing with them and just being around them. The best thing about true friendships? That even if you only talk when you see them you still feel comfortable around them and that you just enjoy being in their presence. It is true with the ladies pictured above.


Afterwards, Jenn, Josh, Ross and I all headed to the game. As per my normal (remember last year's game?), it was cold and rainy. I didn't blog about it, but this also happened the year before... I don't get it. ANYWAY, cold and rainy, and we lost. Oh Michigan Football, why do you have to hurt my heart so much sometimes? I still enjoyed being in the Big House. I mean how could you not love this:

I look forward to going up for the Ohio State game in November. Blog world, do you think we'll win or lose? I am not holding my breath, but rivalry games bring out the best... from both teams!


Go BLUE!

5k

Remember how I mentioned my mom wants us to walk a 5k with her? Remember how I said I wanted to try and run it?

Well, I didn't run it. Maybe now that I am working out regularly I can feasibly consider training for a 5k... but that will have to be another day.

BUT, I did walk it with the family. Two weekends ago my brother came down and I went up to see the rents. We had a fun time walking the race together; it was rainy and cold, but we know how to entertain ourselves... make fun of the man in the all red suit (see pictures below)... talk about the cottage and how it is coming along... talk about school and the GRE...

See, we have a good time.

We also celebrated my parents 37th Anniversary! They have been married for 37 years and Ross and I took them out for a nice dinner. I however failed and did not get a picture of all of us when we were clean and a little bit more well rested.

Oh well! Here are the photos from the weekend:

My mom's co-workers who also ran/walked the 5k.

The family. We were bundled up, trying to stay warm.

Man in the red suit I mentioned earlier... yes it is just plain wrong.

The mom and I entertaining ourselves on the walk...

One Wet Beach Day

At the end of September I went to Wilmington with Rachel and Jenn... it was supposed to be a beach day. The weather simply had other plans.

It rained on our way to the beach.

We got there. It was misty -- so we went for a walk on the beach and to the pier. We went to walk to the end of the pier and the skies opened up... almost literally.

We were soaked... and still had to walk BACK to the car.

It's ok -- I got a really cute outfit from Old Navy out of the deal (because we were so wet that new clothes were about the only option).

Then we went to a nice lunch at this lovely little restaurant. And headed home...

Here are a couple of fun shots from the day:

This was before the skies opened up... see no rain jackets and our hair? Still dry.

As the skies opened up we decided to take pictures -- we were going to get wet no matter what.

After the pier... before the walk back to the car.

In the car... as wet as we could have been. We went to Old Navy to get dry clothes. Too bad I didn't take any pictures of the new outfits. OH well!

Fall Retreat: Williams Class

This past weekend I went on Fall Retreat with my old Sunday School Class. It was an adventure, at times refreshing and overall a very encouraging and convicting time. I am really glad that I decided to go.

This year we went to Vineyard Camp right outside of Pilot Mountain. I would classify this camp as rustic. At what age do you become to old to climb up into a three story bunk bed? I would venture to say I have passed this age.

I would also venture to say that I do not enjoy showering with 15 inch daddy long legs. Ok, maybe they weren't quite 15 inches... but they we huge, ginormous in fact. Just saying.

However, it was a beautiful camp with lots to do on the property. The had a play ground with swings! They had tetherball! They had horses! And they had lots of dogs to play with, too!

The theme for the weekend was Missions. We mainly looked having a proper heart for missions. I enjoyed listening to the talks, but was most convicted by one of my classmates testimonies. She was talking about when she went to Mawali and what scared her the most. But her point was "God will provide. He will provide for whatever He has called you to and what He has planned for you."

Wow.

Did I need to hear that. If I am supposed to go back to school, He will provide!

Of course, we had fun... there was the Autumn Leaves Festival in Mount Airy (real life town that Andy Griffith's Mayberry was modeled after), the bonfire, and good times frolicking! Here are some photos of the weekend:

The Autum Leaves festival. The guy in the picture on the right? He was serving the food -- not even kidding. Hungry now?

Some of the fun people I got to hang out with all weekend!

Maine

A week ago I was just getting done with my kayak trip around the Frenchman's Bay and Porcupine Island's in Bar Harbor, Maine. What a fun trip it was!

The middle picture are the islands we kayaked around.

I am so glad that Laura said we should go -- the scenery was just breathtaking. I think my favorite thing about Maine was that you didn't have to choose what was your favorite... you got the best of the mountains and the beach. And the colors! Oh my gosh -- the contrast between the browns of the rocks, the greens of the trees and blues of the ocean and sky -- WOW!


The leaves weren't quite turning yet, but there were a couple of trees ahead of the game... and those only made me wonder... I am sure what I see in my mind isn't even close to what they really look like!


If you get a chance to go, I highly suggest you do! Maine was amazing! Here are some pictures:

Our amazing little inn -- nice and romantic. Oh well! I loved that the room looks exactly how I pictured the East Gable at Green Gables (and Anne lovers out there?).

The inn was quite the destination for weddings. On Sunday afternoon we watched on from our porch, and yes I of course took pictures. Sometimes I'm shameless!

There were, of course, lobsters (real and fake, the traps) EVERYWHERE! Our first night there was also the night we ate lobster. It was good -- I still prefer shrimp or crab.

Maine

We did it! Laura and I booked a trip to Maine over Labor Day Weekend.

Laura has always wanted to go and I am up for travelling almost anywhere. So, on Friday we booked our trip through Expedia. We're pretty pumped. :-)

We are going to Bar Harbor, Maine. We'll be staying for 4 days, 3 nights. We arrive on Saturday and come home on Tuesday. We don't have many "actual" plans -- more we want to go to Acadia National Park, go kayaking, maybe rent some bikes to ride around on, go the lighthouse. Really this is a weekend of relaxation.

Oh, and check out the cute place we are staying. :-) Be jealous.

It's Been A While...

And I apologize for that. Like I said here, life got really crazy for a while there. And it will continue to be so. ACK! But I like having things to do; better than being bored.

This past weekend I went to Sevierville, TN (basically Pigeon Forge). It was a nice break from reality. Just what the doctor ordered -- or at least I think so.

I met these wonderful girls:

there. I worked with them when I was at Duke and it was a joy to be around them again. From left to right you have Katy, Teal, Jenn, and Laurie. Laurie was my first roommate and the other girls have been great friends! We all came from our corners of the world: Jenn is now in Atlanta with her hubby, Teal is finishing up seminary in Boston, Katy is working and going to grad school in Durham, Laurie just finished two years with AmeriCorps and is now back in Durham... and well you know I am working in Raleigh! We all have these great adventures!

The conversations were good, the laughter a plenty. Too bad I have to return to reality.

To help me escape, here are a couple more pictures from the weekend. Do you wish you could have joined us?

We ate entirely too much food -- Friday we went to Texas Roadhouse (a throw back to one of our favorite lunch spots when we worked at Duke; top left); Saturday we ate at Olive Garden (us waiting at top right); and on Sunday we brunched at iHop before hitting the road home (bottom two). Yep, definitely gained weight on this trip.

We also got to see some BEAUTIFUL sunsets -- despite the building, you can really see the colors in this photo.