Although we were really hoping to see a bear or at least a wild cat, this is the extent of the wildlife we encountered, and actually this first picture is not wildlife :) they are fenced in weird-looking cows--I think they're yaks, but they look like Dr. Seuss characters. The deer was also not very wild, in fact they were very tame--that pictures was not zoomed, they were really close to our car!
A couple weeks ago, my sweet husband decided we were going to take a weekend to go away and be together and not really have a plan. It was so much fun!!! He's been wanting to go and drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway since last fall, and it just hasn't worked out for our schedule until now. We left on Friday after I got off work and drove over to the west side of North Carolina and got on the parkway and started driving. It was so beautiful to see firsthand God's amazing power through His creation!
Although we can only imagine that it is even more magnificent in the fall with the brilliant autumn colors, we loved the peaceful drive and gorgeous sights we saw along the way! We stayed overnight at a hotel in a small town in Virginia and ate dinner at a quaint log house restaurant that was built back in the 1700's and the food was delicious!
We got a pretty good start on Saturday morning to get back on the parkway. We stopped numerous times along the way at the overlooks to take lots of pictures (I have such an amazing husband :), but he can't say anything when I ask about taking pictures because he bought me the camera! We also took the time on Saturday to stop and take one of the trails at one of the peaks. The Peaks of Otter is a hotel that overlooks a lake and a restaurant and giftshop. At the spot is also where you can take a trail to the top of what was once thought to be the highest spot in Viginia (later they discovered there was another peak that was about 200 feet higher). The information about the trail said it should be an hour and a half hike to the top, but we did it in about 40 minutes.....we were so proud of ourselves :) It was a very satisfying feeling, although I was really feeling it for the next 2 days! After the hike we were both very hungry, so we stopped along the way and ate a picnic lunch we had packed.
Chad & I had such a great time just being together and talking and enjoying the amazing views--I'm so thankful that he is so sensitive to making sure that there is still time for romance & spontaneousness in the midst of our busy schedules!God has blessed Chad & me so graciously with the wonderful families in which He sovereignly placed us. We were both given the privilege of growing up in Christian homes and we do not ever want to take that for granted. I'm posting a few pictures of each of our families.
As for my family, I'm the oldest of 6 children, so I'm the first to branch off on my own, but Tim is following closely behind because he & Anna Ray are getting married this summer, 8-9-08. Bethany will be graduating from high school this May and she's planning on going to Northland in the fall. My brother, Byron is a sophomore in highschool, my youngest brother, Stewart is in 8th grade, and Natalie the "baby" of our family is in 6th grade and keeping my parents young! My parents are in full time Christian work at Greenville Christian Academy--my dad was principal all through my elementary & high school years. I'm so thankful for my sweet family & I'm glad that I don't live too far away from them now. God has been so good to us & we're thankful for his continual blessings on our lives!
Because I'm so behind the times, this post is definitely going to be out of order, but I thought it would be nice to post a few pictures of how our apartment looked for our 1st Christmas together as a happily married couple!
The Christmas Ornament Chad gave me when we were engaged in 2006
The Christmas ornament Chad gave me for our 1st married Christmas 2007
It is awful that it has been since October since I've posted anything on our blog. A lot has happened and to be honest, it is kind of overwhelming to think about catching up, but I do want to post a few pictures from on of our most recent endeavors. Some people have heard about this, and have asked for pictures but I have to explain the whole story.
Because Chad has always talked about having a dog once we moved into a house, I knew that eventually this would become a reality, although I didn't know quite how soon. A few weeks ago, his desire for a bloodhound puppy became even stronger, so he decided to do a little shopping online to see what he could find. So, he came to my work one afternoon and t
old me that he wanted to go look at something that evening. I quickly figured out what that something was, so we went and saw 4 adorable 6-week old bloodhound puppies. Well, that following Saturday one of them became ours. We named him "Jed" He was so cute and playful, although the trips up and down the stairs from our 3rd floor apartment for potty-training purposes weren't always enjoyable. We knew that it would be difficult to crate train him with us being away quite a bit, but 
we were willing to do our best. After a few days of having him with us, we realized for both our sake and his, it would be best to find another home for him. With our work schedules and Chad trying to finish his schooling as well as going through the process of finding and buying a house we felt like we couldn't spend the time we needed to train him the right way. It was hard to come to that conclusion because we quickly became attached to him, but we were able to sell him very soon after we posted the ad and we feel like he's in a good home. Eventually, after we have a yard for him to claim as his own, we want to get another Jed just like the first one, because he was so fun, and a great puppy!
I'm posting some pictures of him because some people have asked and also because he was so adorable--when I look at the pictures I miss him and wish we still had him. Isn't he the cutest puppy you've ever seen?!?
