Day 2 Vacation

We started out on our first day in the accual mountains on the road. We had gotten a late start, probably because of me and our first stop was at a little shop/store that served...



you guessed it, apple cider and fresh homemade pies. Dad got an apple fried pie and it was very tasty.

They had a lot of cute decor and a small shopping center but the cutest thing was this little cart outside the shop.

I could soooo see my spring flowers growing out of one of these but of course it would have to be a bit smaller.



Then we drove to Cades Cove, had a little picnic that consisted of turkey sandwiches, some kind of round stuff called liverworst??? that my brother bought that tasted wonderful on a saltine cracker with hot sause, potato chips, white chocolate chip cookies and I think that wraps up the menu.

Then it was picture time. This is Mark and I right before he threatens to push me into the stream behind us... It was seriously cold but neither of us got pushed in :)







This is my couison Melissa and I.










and this was just too funny!

I really like the way most of these shots turned out. Even though they are a little crazy. I think they are lovely. I love taking pictures of the water. It was so calming. I think I will just post a link to the whole album

Vacation to the Mountains day 1

Our trip began on November 23, 2oo9. I left Memphis around...dark. The sun had yet to rise and I simply love leaving to go anywhere before the sun shows it's beautiful face. I drove to Corinth, Mississippi

to meet my parents and brother and it just so happens that my bff lives in Corinth so it was a double bonus for me.

I got to see the lovely little town that he speaks so highly of and the roof that has been so many times romanticized... perhaps not so much the roof but the view from that roof. I have to admit that I was truly jealous of B's new place. He has a way of always living in the greatest spots!!!

Corinth has some really beautiful homes... Did I mention that I'm a Realtor???
It was a loooonnnnnngggg drive that felt as though it would never end, and to be honest we did not arrive until after dark but they say it's not always the destination that make life special but the journey getting there and that I say is true. I do have to mention a quaint little spot in the middle of nowhere... I was just craving a hamburger and this little place provided. If you are ever driving on hwy 72 in Tennessee, stop in, it's small and locally owned!!! Did I mention the hamburgers were great??? We sort of drove through Waynesboro... Hometown of Mark Collie.. Honestly I did not know exactly who he was but he is a country music artist and actor. "even the man in the moon is crying". I remember that song but I looked him up and this song is pretty good too for a country song ;)

Along the long road we seriously ran into a cattle drive... I think what really happened was that the cows pictured below...

they escaped. While doing so they had like traffic blocked for miles, I was in TN not Texas.

Next beautiful home... Savanna, TN, please excuse the pole. We were trying to make up for the time that the cows wasted.

Next stop...well not really a stop but the next quaint town was Columbia. I so wish we would have stopped in for a while... They have something called Mule day, yes Mule day!!! Antibellum homes gorore and below a quick shot of the courthouse. I love downtown area ecspecially in towns this size, which is about 33,000.

This is me in a opps shot

Here is the first sign that we were getting closer... the mini mountains. I'm not sure where this was taken.

And we smile

My broker told me to make note: List the 10 people that you actually enjoy being around. You know the people that you actually feel their radiance when you stand next to them and also list the 10 people that bring you down. Ummm the people that are negative and usually do not have much good to say and if they do, it’s usually followed by something negative.
After making your list he advised that I spend as much time with the first ten and drop the second ten. Although that is easier said than done but sometimes it is best to steer clear of the ones that bring you down.

This is a hard tough time we are living in and here lately it seems that at
least two out of three people have a glum attitude. Everyone is inclined to get down on their luck every now and again but what do you do when your friends and loved ones start heading down that jam packed road? Of course in a perfect world, we would want to help them get out of their funk and try to point out the “good” things in life. And yes, even in an economy like this there are still good things that are happening.

First, here in Memphis, TN it is just turning cool and the colors are showing out. The trees are turning the most beautiful shades of orange and yellow. It’s getting chili outside at night and people are starting to use their fireplaces which smell unbelievable when walking by. The full moon is tonight, November 19, 2009. Look up at it, see its beauty, it is shining just for us!!! Breathe deep because this world is still wonderful.
If you happen to be one of the ones that down on your luck, there are simple things that can snap you back into happiness.

• Pray; yet so easy but sometimes forgotten about. It’s good to have that heart to heart with the big guy. He does bless us everyday whether we see it directly or not. Romans 14:19 says “Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.” Sometimes just making that effort can be a challenge but it says to focus on peace and mutual edification. We must pursue and share peace if we are going to have peace.


• Exercise; this is tough for me sometimes especially now that it’s colder and I’m a runner and I like to run outside. I also like yoga, which I used to do everyday but have slacked off a lot throughout the years. So now I do about 20 minutes worth of yoga before I hit the road running. This is a huge benefit because I feel better while I’m running and my speed has increases just a tad since I’ve started. Plus, runners are supposed to stretch anyways...


• Watch “As Good as it Gets” with Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt and Greg Kinnear. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXHxg6Ug9GM


• Adopt a fur baby http://www.guardianangelpetrescue.com/
  

The link above is a great pet rescue team and for anyone who does not click the link. They are having “Wine for a Paw, An Emergency Fundraiser” on December 4th from 5-7:30 p.m. at St. Sebastian Hall, St. Anne Catholic Church which is located at 706 S. Highland Street. This event will consist of tasting wines for your Holiday giving and entertaining, also a silent Auction.

Adapt a Fur Baby!!!

~Life is sweet only if you make it that way~

This morning I went out for a run and when I returned I was sitting on my front porch which I often do after running. So here are some of the activities that are going on outside my house.

This is a little blurry but these two squires are the cutest. They chased each other around this tree for at least 10 minutes.

A bloom on the alzalea bush thing. I love alzalea and they grow so good around my house. I have like six of them. This alzaleahas been here for years and I just planted a few baby ones.

These guys started showing up about two weeks ago. I like the little red that pops out. Christmas is coming!!!

Great Places to Live

The University of Memphis area... In a small area of town south of the University there sits a little neighborhood called

Normal Station.

I love this area. The neighborhood is an old one but it has young spirit. Most of the homes in this area did not start going up until after World War II.

The name Normal Station is like most of the other "stations" in Memphis, it has everything to do with trains. Notice all the Stations as you ride down Southern Ave.

There are a lot of small attractions to living in this neighborhood;

First and of course my favorite... Pete & Sams.

I love this restaurant!!! It's old and charming and the food is great... I always get the same thing because no other Italian restaurant comes close. Like I said it's old and has not really been updated and remodeled but the ambiance... I like the way the people make you feel when you walk in the door!!! It's like they know you, that's a great feeling for a small town girl in a big city...

Then there is Audubon Park which is a wonderful place for an afternoon stroll or picnic. It also offers tennis courts, golf course and playground.

There is even a private cemetery that few know about. Guess where it is?????

There are a lot of University of Memphis students that live in this area but it is also a great place to start a family...

Campus School K-6, gets all the props here. This school received a five star rating

St. Anne K-8 comes in second with four stars

Harding Academy 4-6 is also in this area but I did not find the ratings for them

Click here for more neighborhood information

I'm Loving Memphis!!!

First, there's Memphis food!!! I love eating out in Memphis. A few nights ago I went to Cafe 1912 for the first time, it was wonderful. I had the Salmon over rice. It was very tasty!!!!

Another Cooper Young secret is Lou's Pizza Pie!!! I had the Moon Pie, it was probably the best pizza I have ever had...Garlic, Mozzarella, Artichoke Hearts, Tomatoes, Red Onions, Kalamata Olives & Pesto... Which is why I was surprised that the place was so empty, they do deliver so...

I Love the way this Lou thinks....His thoughts on Success

A little Change please

This week has been extremely hard for me but in the hard times that we face one has to come to grips with the change that they are about to endure. I have realized that my change is very much needed and I have known this for quite some time but being able to really accept that and actually putting forth effort and making the change is two different things.

Change One - Smoking. I am on Day two of my journey to a smoke free life. I feel pretty confident that I will get through this. I’m taking that chantix, which makes me extremely tired all the time and my stomach hurts but its working. I’m also taking victims again, which I have not taken in like six months and eating three healthy meals a day and trying to run every other day. And of course I went ahead and bought the biggest bag of M&Ms that Wal Mart had… just to be on the safe side. I have only eaten half of it and I bought it Wednesday afternoon.


Change two – Ending bad relationship. I’m not sure if it actually ended this week or if I finally realized that this person was always going to treat me poorly… I think the latter because I have known for over six months that it was not getting any better and that I would never marry him and I suppose once you establish that then there is no reason to move forward with that person. Gosh that sounds so harsh but that is true. I guess what is even truer than that is once a person starts making you sick to your stomach it’s probably time to move on.

This Year

This is it
This is the day that you are alive. This is the moment that you are in.
All your hopes and dreams are real right now. All your possibilities are ready to be lived.
Everything you've ever done has led you to this point. You are more fully alive, aware, experienced and prepared than you have ever been.
What matters is not how old or how young you may think you are. What matters is making the most of this moment you now have.
What matters is not how much or how little you may think you have, how fairly or unfairly you may think life has treated you. What matters is that you make the most of who you are.
This is it. This is your moment to fill with the best you can imagine.
Live it with love, with purpose and joy.
-- Ralph Marston

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This has solely been the worst year of my life. I guess everyone has bad days or months but now that we are in the 6Th month of the year, I am so beginning to worry. I know some of my bad luck has been choices I have made okay so alllllll of the bad luck comes from bad choices.

Is it just me or does anyone else believe that the people you are around have A lot to do with how we look at our own life?


Although this has been a bad year, I do have to admit that I have had some great experiences. So by no means has it all been bad.


Good things:


I have fallen completely in love with turtles. I do not for the life of me know why but it started on Easter when I found this guy.

I have regretted not taking him home with me every since.


Now I see them everywhere, well at least when I'm riding on a bike trail or out at Shelby Farms.

Snow Days In Memphis!!!

I love snow days here because they are so few like maybe three whole days of snow and we usually get about 4-6 inches.


To me it is just enough time to see the beauty of the snow, catch a couple of snowflakes in your eyelashes, perhaps make a snow angel or man and then that's pretty much it for me.

Q52:Weekly Mini Art Journaling. Well for me it's more like Q2, I am so behind on doing this and it helps so much although as you can see my little art work isn't much but it was a lot of fun and very relaxing.

<---My super power...is 2 Encourage u 2 B the best u. and ----->Movies that inspire me; "Shall we Dance", "Save the Last Dance", "All that Jazz",and "Step Up" I really like dance movies!!!

My little cousin graduated from 6Th grade. This makes me sad because she is growing up an seriously maybe a inch or two close to being as tall as me. Time goes by so fast. I wish she was still little but I love who she is growing up to be. That kid is truly fabulous!!!!

Cache Hunting is a lot of fun. It's like a scavenger hunt for kids of all ages.


This was on Valentines Day at the Grotto here in Memphis. I would have never visited this place if I had not been on a Cache Hunt. I had no idea how beautiful it is out there.


Geo Caching is a great way to learn more about the city and when on a long road trip, why not stop a find something along the way, plus kids love it!!!

Then there was Memphis in May.

I was an ambassador for the Whole Hog division and it was one of the best weekends EVER!!! It was a long weekend but I met some great people, ate the BEST BBQ I have ever had and walked until I had blisters. It is defiantly something I want to do again next year.

Other Great times for 2009

Hanging out with the super parents!!!

I am blessed to have such wonderful parents!!!