We interrupt this blog to bring you a special offer from Mary Kay Cosmetics.
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Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover is suitable for sensitive skin (I can attest to that!), and has been clinically tested for skin irritancy and allergy. It is fragrance-free, oil-free, and non-comedogenic. It has been tested by ophthalmologists and is safe for contact lens wearers. A regular sized bottle typically lasts about 4 months. With the trial-sized bottle included for free, you are getting a great deal! So head to my website before November 30 to take advantage of this fantastic deal!
We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Thursday, November 6, 2008
October in Pigeon Forge--Day 3
This will be an exceedingly short post. Frankly, we didn't do much on Monday. We were very lazy, and we just relaxed in our beautiful cabin. :) I'll include a few "hanging around the house" pictures, but there's not that much to write up.
Sarah discovers the joys of a slinky. Digression: my 3rd grade teacher bought all the boys in the class a slinky for Christmas that year. The girls did NOT get slinkies. I was really bummed. Apparently I also have psychological scarring, because I'm kind of envious of Sarah's slinky.
Playing a game with Grandma.
Playing the same game with Aunt Tara.
After our lovely restful day, we did get hungry, and we decided to venture out for supper. I mentioned that we had vowed to stick the list of "rave review" restaurants that I had compiled. Some restaurants showed up once or twice on the list. But far and away, there was one restaurant that EVERYONE seemed to love. I read more glowing accolades for Bennett's Barbecue than any other place in the area. So off we headed to see if it really lived up to all that hype.
It did. I'm a Southern girl, and I LOVE good barbecue. And I can testify to the fact that Bennett's is darn good barbecue. YUM!
Tara had never had real Southern barbecue before, and she sure had a good first experience. She took lots of pictures of the occasion. Rather than try to re-post her photos, I will just tell you to click here and read all about our delicious meal! :)
*Note: These photos are obviously not all from Monday. We were extremely lazy that day, so we weren't really taking a whole lot of pictures. But they give a pretty good idea of the things we would have been doing as we lazed around our cabin.
Sarah shows off a moose she got from Grandpa.
Painting at her easel (another gift from Grandma and Grandpa).
Sarah discovers the joys of a slinky. Digression: my 3rd grade teacher bought all the boys in the class a slinky for Christmas that year. The girls did NOT get slinkies. I was really bummed. Apparently I also have psychological scarring, because I'm kind of envious of Sarah's slinky.
Playing a game with Grandma.
Playing the same game with Aunt Tara.
After our lovely restful day, we did get hungry, and we decided to venture out for supper. I mentioned that we had vowed to stick the list of "rave review" restaurants that I had compiled. Some restaurants showed up once or twice on the list. But far and away, there was one restaurant that EVERYONE seemed to love. I read more glowing accolades for Bennett's Barbecue than any other place in the area. So off we headed to see if it really lived up to all that hype.
It did. I'm a Southern girl, and I LOVE good barbecue. And I can testify to the fact that Bennett's is darn good barbecue. YUM!
Tara had never had real Southern barbecue before, and she sure had a good first experience. She took lots of pictures of the occasion. Rather than try to re-post her photos, I will just tell you to click here and read all about our delicious meal! :)
October in Pigeon Forge--Day 2
We had plans to attend church on Sunday morning while we were on vacation. Sarah was excited about this prospect. She asked if we were taking everyone to our church. "No," I said. "This will be a different church. Grandma and Grandpa picked it out."
"Oh!" Sarah exclaimed. "Are we going to their church?"
"No," I said again. And for lack of a better way to explain it, I said, "We're going to a vacation church!" Sarah really liked this idea. She eagerly dressed and got ready to go to the "vacation church." (People who read the post about the party church may be wondering about our theology at this point).
Unfortunately, anyone who has read Robert Burns knows what happens to the "best laid schemes of mice and men." Sunday was definitely a day of plans going "a-gley."
Problem #1: Traffic as we convoyed to church was still atrocious. Problem #2: We couldn't actually find the church Darrell and Jeannie wanted to attend. We tried valiantly but alas, no such luck. We ended up not making it to church that Sunday morning.
This both confused and distressed Sarah. She loves church and really wanted to attend. Plus, we had told her that we were going to church, so she couldn't figure out why suddenly now we weren't. Third, Pigeon Forge has quite a few churches. Sarah spent the rest of Sunday (and a few days after) pointing out every single one. "There's a church! Why don't we go there? There's a church! Can we got to that one??"
Since church didn't quite work out, we drove into Gatlinburg for Plan B. This turned out to be another misadventure for the day. I mentioned that traffic between Sevierville and Pigeon Forge on Saturday afternoon was horrific. Traffic between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg on Sunday morning was even worse! I have never seen traffic this bad. It took forever to drive the few miles between the two cities. Then there was the matter of parking (we actually lucked out on this one, and we managed to park both vehicles in the same parking lot). Finally, it was now lunch time, and we needed to EAT!
And here misadventure #3 occurred. I had done a lot of research on restaurants in the area, and I compiled a list of ones that got rave reviews. One such restaurant was right across the street from where we were. However, it was CROWDED. We're talking line backed out the door crowded. And we were hungry now. We could also smell something incredibly yummy wafting through the air, but we couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from (sorry, "from whence it came"). So we took a gamble on a restaurant that had not shown up in any review and did not have any enticing aromas emitting from it.
We stuck to the restaurants that made the reviews after that. :-p That's all I'm going to say. However, we did get a good photo op out of it, so all was not lost. :)
We returned to the cabin after lunch and spent the remainder of the day quite lazily, thank you very much. We napped and read and generally had a "day of rest."
My favorite way to relax...with a good book.
Enjoying the back porch swing on a warm fall day...
Grandpa wasn't the only one who napped that afternoon...he was just the only one who got caught on camera! Sarah, Little Miss Nonstop Energy, can't figure out why Grandpa needs a nap anyway!
And that was Day 2! Day 3 to follow! :)
"Oh!" Sarah exclaimed. "Are we going to their church?"
"No," I said again. And for lack of a better way to explain it, I said, "We're going to a vacation church!" Sarah really liked this idea. She eagerly dressed and got ready to go to the "vacation church." (People who read the post about the party church may be wondering about our theology at this point).
Unfortunately, anyone who has read Robert Burns knows what happens to the "best laid schemes of mice and men." Sunday was definitely a day of plans going "a-gley."
Problem #1: Traffic as we convoyed to church was still atrocious. Problem #2: We couldn't actually find the church Darrell and Jeannie wanted to attend. We tried valiantly but alas, no such luck. We ended up not making it to church that Sunday morning.
This both confused and distressed Sarah. She loves church and really wanted to attend. Plus, we had told her that we were going to church, so she couldn't figure out why suddenly now we weren't. Third, Pigeon Forge has quite a few churches. Sarah spent the rest of Sunday (and a few days after) pointing out every single one. "There's a church! Why don't we go there? There's a church! Can we got to that one??"
Since church didn't quite work out, we drove into Gatlinburg for Plan B. This turned out to be another misadventure for the day. I mentioned that traffic between Sevierville and Pigeon Forge on Saturday afternoon was horrific. Traffic between Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg on Sunday morning was even worse! I have never seen traffic this bad. It took forever to drive the few miles between the two cities. Then there was the matter of parking (we actually lucked out on this one, and we managed to park both vehicles in the same parking lot). Finally, it was now lunch time, and we needed to EAT!
And here misadventure #3 occurred. I had done a lot of research on restaurants in the area, and I compiled a list of ones that got rave reviews. One such restaurant was right across the street from where we were. However, it was CROWDED. We're talking line backed out the door crowded. And we were hungry now. We could also smell something incredibly yummy wafting through the air, but we couldn't quite pinpoint where it was coming from (sorry, "from whence it came"). So we took a gamble on a restaurant that had not shown up in any review and did not have any enticing aromas emitting from it.
We stuck to the restaurants that made the reviews after that. :-p That's all I'm going to say. However, we did get a good photo op out of it, so all was not lost. :)
We returned to the cabin after lunch and spent the remainder of the day quite lazily, thank you very much. We napped and read and generally had a "day of rest."
My favorite way to relax...with a good book.
Enjoying the back porch swing on a warm fall day...
Grandpa wasn't the only one who napped that afternoon...he was just the only one who got caught on camera! Sarah, Little Miss Nonstop Energy, can't figure out why Grandpa needs a nap anyway!
And that was Day 2! Day 3 to follow! :)
October in Pigeon Forge--Day 1
I am going to do my best to recreate the week day by day. This may be more ambitious than I really should attempt. We'll see how it goes, I guess.
Sarah looked forward to the trip for weeks ahead of time. So when Friday, October 10, rolled around and she found out we were leaving for Pigeon Forge the next day, she was just ecstatic. We still had a lot of last minute things to do to get ready, but Sarah was at a fever pitch.
Saturday, October 11, finally arrived. Sarah is NOT a morning person. She does not like to get up early, and she does not come bounding out of bed all energetic and happy. If we have to wake her up before she's ready for some reason, it takes a few minutes for her to actually get herself roused.
Except for this particular day. Nelson told her it was time to get up. She immediately sat up and squealed, "So we can go on our trip?!" She practically bounced out of bed, all excited and eager to be on our way.
We completed a couple more last-minute tasks, loaded the car, and headed on our way. Thankfully, we made very good time on our drive. Or at least, we made good time until we got off the interstate at the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg exit!
Anyone who has visited the area knows how horrendous traffic can be. When my family visited Pigeon Forge when I was a child, my dad always insisted we leave early to make the drive. Now I know why! At 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, there is nothing but stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper traffic for miles. I honestly think it took us longer to drive through town than the whole rest of the trip from Kingsport. Needless to say, this made one little miss in the back seat VERY impatient and unhappy.
But we did finally arrive at the cabin. And wow! This house is beautiful. Sarah and I both fell in love immediately upon arrival. It is large and spacious, with four bedrooms, 3.5 baths (including a Jacuzzi), an open kitchen, a back porch complete with swing and hot tub, and an incredible view of the mountains.
Here are some photos of our home-away-from-home for the week.
The cabin itself...
The sign at the driveway. Our cabin was called "Makin' Memories." Appropriate, no? :)
The living room...perfect for kicking back and relaxing...
The game room...complete with pool table and plenty of books.
The kitchen (I suffer from dishwasher envy. Sigh).
The dining area.
Views from the back porch.
After picking our rooms and putting our stuff down, we headed out to said back porch and relaxed in the swing to await the arrival of Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Tara. Sarah had a great time watching the road, looking for "the red shiny truck."
Sarah looked forward to the trip for weeks ahead of time. So when Friday, October 10, rolled around and she found out we were leaving for Pigeon Forge the next day, she was just ecstatic. We still had a lot of last minute things to do to get ready, but Sarah was at a fever pitch.
Saturday, October 11, finally arrived. Sarah is NOT a morning person. She does not like to get up early, and she does not come bounding out of bed all energetic and happy. If we have to wake her up before she's ready for some reason, it takes a few minutes for her to actually get herself roused.
Except for this particular day. Nelson told her it was time to get up. She immediately sat up and squealed, "So we can go on our trip?!" She practically bounced out of bed, all excited and eager to be on our way.
We completed a couple more last-minute tasks, loaded the car, and headed on our way. Thankfully, we made very good time on our drive. Or at least, we made good time until we got off the interstate at the Sevierville/Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg exit!
Anyone who has visited the area knows how horrendous traffic can be. When my family visited Pigeon Forge when I was a child, my dad always insisted we leave early to make the drive. Now I know why! At 2 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon, there is nothing but stop-and-go, bumper-to-bumper traffic for miles. I honestly think it took us longer to drive through town than the whole rest of the trip from Kingsport. Needless to say, this made one little miss in the back seat VERY impatient and unhappy.
But we did finally arrive at the cabin. And wow! This house is beautiful. Sarah and I both fell in love immediately upon arrival. It is large and spacious, with four bedrooms, 3.5 baths (including a Jacuzzi), an open kitchen, a back porch complete with swing and hot tub, and an incredible view of the mountains.
Here are some photos of our home-away-from-home for the week.
The cabin itself...
The sign at the driveway. Our cabin was called "Makin' Memories." Appropriate, no? :)
The living room...perfect for kicking back and relaxing...
The game room...complete with pool table and plenty of books.
The kitchen (I suffer from dishwasher envy. Sigh).
The dining area.
Views from the back porch.
After picking our rooms and putting our stuff down, we headed out to said back porch and relaxed in the swing to await the arrival of Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Nick, and Aunt Tara. Sarah had a great time watching the road, looking for "the red shiny truck."
Later I will post Day 2...which includes our misadventures with church and restaurants.
time change woes
Since last weekend returned us to Eastern Standard, as opposed to Eastern Daylight Time, we've had to work out a few kinks. :-p
1) We overslept for church Sunday morning. No, we didn't forget to change our clocks. Yes, we got an extra hour of sleep automatically. Yes, we managed to oversleep anyway! Apparently extra sleep is addictive, and we got sucked in.
2) Sarah and I drove home from Greeneville in the dark Monday evening. Sigh. This necessitated rerouting our drive home, because it isn't a great idea for me to drive my beloved back road in the dark. And unfortunately, the safer alternate route takes longer.
3) Yesterday Sarah napped for a very long time (over 3.5 hours!). I am of the opinion that if a child sleeps that long, it is because she's tired and really needs it. So I let her sleep. But it was getting dark when she woke up, and that really freaked her out. I had to reassure her that she had not "slept all night in her clothes." This took a few minutes. After all, it was dark; it must be nighttime! :-p
We will adjust of course. Unfortunately, by the time we do it will be just about time to switch our clocks back to Daylight Saving Time! :-p
And on a side note, I haven't forgotten to post vacation photos. They ARE coming! :)
1) We overslept for church Sunday morning. No, we didn't forget to change our clocks. Yes, we got an extra hour of sleep automatically. Yes, we managed to oversleep anyway! Apparently extra sleep is addictive, and we got sucked in.
2) Sarah and I drove home from Greeneville in the dark Monday evening. Sigh. This necessitated rerouting our drive home, because it isn't a great idea for me to drive my beloved back road in the dark. And unfortunately, the safer alternate route takes longer.
3) Yesterday Sarah napped for a very long time (over 3.5 hours!). I am of the opinion that if a child sleeps that long, it is because she's tired and really needs it. So I let her sleep. But it was getting dark when she woke up, and that really freaked her out. I had to reassure her that she had not "slept all night in her clothes." This took a few minutes. After all, it was dark; it must be nighttime! :-p
We will adjust of course. Unfortunately, by the time we do it will be just about time to switch our clocks back to Daylight Saving Time! :-p
And on a side note, I haven't forgotten to post vacation photos. They ARE coming! :)
Sunday, November 2, 2008
more Halloween pictures
Dad emailed me some pictures from his camera, so I thought I would share those as well. :)
Trick or treat! Sarah scored lots of candy.
Always happy to pose for the camera...
See?
She really enjoyed this costume! :)
On another note, I still don't have all of the pictures from the Pigeon Forge trip, but I do have some, so I will try to get those posted either tomorrow or Tuesday. :)
Trick or treat! Sarah scored lots of candy.
Always happy to pose for the camera...
See?
She really enjoyed this costume! :)
On another note, I still don't have all of the pictures from the Pigeon Forge trip, but I do have some, so I will try to get those posted either tomorrow or Tuesday. :)
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Happy Halloween!
Okay, so it's the day after Halloween, and happy wishes are a bit belated. But if I didn't wait until the day after Halloween to post, how could I include a picture of Sarah in her costume? ;)
We visited my parents for the evening, and Sarah got to trick-or-treat in the same neighborhood that I did as a little girl. She got a good bit of candy, and of course she was the cutest trick-or-treater. ;) (Not that I'm biased or anything.) She was a princess for Halloween, but this year she wasn't a Disney princess. Instead she was a pirate princess! Here's the picture:
We visited my parents for the evening, and Sarah got to trick-or-treat in the same neighborhood that I did as a little girl. She got a good bit of candy, and of course she was the cutest trick-or-treater. ;) (Not that I'm biased or anything.) She was a princess for Halloween, but this year she wasn't a Disney princess. Instead she was a pirate princess! Here's the picture:
This isn't the best picture, but Sarah's silly mommy forgot the camera last night. So I took this picture this morning, after the big event. If my dad will email some of the pictures he took, I will share some of those here--I'm sure he got some better shots. Nelson even borrowed Dad's camera to snap some photos of Sarah actually trick-or-treating. So I'm definitely hoping to get those! :)
Now we have more candy than we will ever be able to eat. But then again, Sarah and Nelson both have quite the sweet tooth, so we may be okay after all. ;)
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