What Makes A Day Beautiful?

This morning I had a tough time dragging myself out of bed. It was rainy, gloomy and a little chilly. I was hoping to wake up to warm and sunny but it didn't happen. I was prepping myself for a bit of a lazy, unfulfilled morning. I went through the morning routine of making a green smoothie (much needed after our pizza binge at Mellow Mushroom last night) and checking email. This morning Russell had to be at a conference and that's the only thing that got me out the door. I decided that since I would be near downtown that I should stop in at the farmers' market and that's when my day took a turn for the better.

As always, I should've taken more pictures to illustrate the perfection represented in the farmers' market. Upon entering, there is a man playing the violin, and toddlers doing the baby bounce as they listen. Families interacting and meeting new families, lots of smiling faces, and the sound of "good morning" throughout the crowd. I could sit and watch this community of people all day. I took a walk through the market to enjoy the smells and beautiful colors of the vegetables, fruits, fresh meat and cheese, and beautiful flowers. All farmers smiling and ready to tell you anything you need to know about their organic goods.

I could've shopped all day and come home with a load of food for the week but

I practiced a bit of self control and walked away with fresh strawberries and asparagus. The strawberries were picked this morning at 6:45. Embarrassingly, I was 75 cents short but without even a blink, the boy at the strawberry stand said "Don't worry about it! Enjoy your strawberries!".

I love the market. Everybody wins there. The shoppers get fresh food and they know exactly where it came from. The farmers raise awareness of their farms and make profit for their hard work. Durham builds a stronger family.

I took one more perusal through the market-listening, looking, and breathing deeply taking in the experience. When backing out of the small space where I chose to park, a couple stopped to help me and let me know how much space I had left and did it with a smile.

It's not the weather that makes this day beautiful. It's the community. People serving people.

...and that's all!

Mom Came To Town!

My Mom arrived on Saturday evening and Russell and I immediately took her to Guglhupf, our favorite Durham restaurant. We ate out on the patio. Our food was devine and conversation lovely.

Sunday we went to the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Unfortunately, it was a little chilly and cloudy but the gardens were beautiful. Genna enjoyed running around and stalking birds and squirrels. We followed our walk through the gardens with lunch at Tobacco Road. It's a sports bar with more t.v.s than you can imagine and yummy homemade junk food. Mom was excited to watch basketball and we stuff ourselves with junk food. As most people love to do, we followed up our junk food binge with a quick shopping trip. It's always fun to try on clothes after eating a plate full of nachos!

Monday morning Mom, Genna and I loaded up and took a tour of the NC coast. our first stop was in Nags Head. The beach was beautiful and their shells were pretty but we weren't impressed with the architecture, restaurants, and retail. Genna got to run free on the beach and it was so cold that Mom and I had to wear extra layers! After a quick tour of Nags Head we visited the Wright brothers' monument and museum at Kill Devil Hill. We trekked to the top of the 90ft incline to see the monument and then we walked out to stand where the first flight occured. It was really cool to think about the history from that place. The Wright Brothers took such a huge risk on their idea that has really changed the world of transportation. We then took a million hour drive through the countryside hoping to experience some different scenery than what we are accustomed to. Come to find out, all of rural America looks pretty similar- farm land, tiny towns, trailer parks and rundown houses mixed in with a few cows, old gas stations, and pretty little churches. The only difference was that rural East NC has more swamp land.

We ended our journey in beautiful historic Wilmington. The meandering highway-less drive was worth it. What a beautiful little city that sits on a river. The historic homes have been well-kept and date back to the 1800s. On the major streets, the sidewalks are lined with signs that give the town's history and all of the important people who contributed to it or called Wilmington home. We stayed in the historic district at a Bed and Breakfast called Camellia Cottage. It's an adorable Victorian style home with surrounding flower gardens and a giant front porch. It's a great dog friendly B&B and we highly recommend it! Our room was comfy and clean and Genna had a special package with treats and Bark magazine. It was Mom's first time to stay in a B&B and I think she might be hooked! We loved the owners who also lived on the property.

We walked to historic downtown for dinner. We were famished after our long day in the car (I'm not sure why because of course I packed lots of snacks...enough to last us at least a week!). Our first stop was a little oyster bar. Unfortunately it smelled like the fish had been dead there a very long time so we opted out and went in search for something less smelly! There was another oyster bar on the corner with no patrons. We asked if Genna could sit with us on the patio but they said they didn't allow dogs. I don't know about you, but if I had a restaurant and no one was there, I'd let a dog sit on my patio so I could make a few dollars! Oh well, we ended up down the street at a little place called the Eat Spot. Yum! It was great! Mom had shrimp and grits with ham gravy and I had sesame crusted tuna on soy glazed carrots with a side of wasabi tater tots! My tater tots were actually mashed potatoes that were mixed with wasabi, coated with panko bread crumbs and then flash fried. I definitely made a happy plate!

The next day I took Genna on a run around town so I could get a better look at the scenery. My goal was to pinpoint my favorite house and a great route to walk with my mom later in the day. I failed, I couldn't pick a favorite house, I couldn't even pick a least favorite house. I LOVED them all! I've never seen a neighborhood with so many consistently beautiful historic homes! I decided that mom and I could walk and any direction and we would find pretty things to see. After my run we made friends with the other guests and their dog, Campbell, on the front porch. We followed that by breakfast- Ricotta pancakes with peach syrup, fresh fruit and raspberry sorbet (ice cream for breakfast?! It worked with our meal). Mom spent a long time talking to Paula (owner) and then we took a stroll around town.

We left historic Wilmington to find a dog park where Genna could run free. She made friends with a bull terrier (Spud Makenzie dog) who later saved her from a run in with an angry golden doodle who was guarding the water bowls. There was some blood but luckily everyone seemed to be ok. We took a quick trip to Wrightsville Beach which is just 15 minutes from Wilmington. It was decided that this would be a future vacation spot. The houses were cute, the restaurants looked yummy, and the community was filled with walkers and runners.

On our last day, Mom and I visited the Greensboro Children's Museum to look at the Edible Schoolyard. What a fun concept! The garden is filled with vegetables, fruits, and plants and tons of educational opportunities for children of all ages. It's such a great way to get a community involved in a common goal as well as teach sustainability. We asked tons of questions and Mom took great notes to share with the Boys and Girls Club Board. Cross your fingers for an Edible Schoolyard in Benton! We followed our tour at Natty Greene's for lunch with our cousin Joel Tull. We had a great time eating and chatting. It was really fun getting to know Joel better. He has a really fun life!

We concluded Mom's trip with one more visit to Guglhupf (our second trip in one day) to get a breadtzle. I'd never even heard of this concoction before. It's like a loaf of pretzel and they fill it with cheese and meat. Yum!! Then we were off to the airport, which unfortunately for Mom turned out to be a very long trip home.

It was so fun to be with my Mom. It's not often that we get to spend so many hours together doing whatever we want. I'm so lucky to have a mom that I crave time with! I look forward to many more mini-vacations with her!

I guess you're wondering why there are no pictures of our adventures. Unfortunately, every time we left the house I left the camera...typical!

...and that's all!

Goodbye February, Hello March!

Well, I've officially failed my New Year's resolution to blog weekly. Surprising? No.

Here's a quick update of what's going on in my life (to be read like the introduction to Glee).

...I spent most of February winding things up at work which meant a backlog of filing (probably the most time consuming thing I've ever had to do) assisting (and doing a terrible job) with planning for KKG Xi Province Meeting in Tuscaloosa Alabama which was a success thanks to all who worked so hard (I totally slacked although gave it all I had at the time) where upon arrival it was snowing and sleeting which caused a bit a chaos but we finished out the weekend strong and I was re-elected for another term as PDC, that's two more years (I'll be 28 when my term is up, ah!)...big breath...Russell and I spent 20 uninterrupted hours together on a staycation that was a blast, after much deliberation and decision tree making, Russell accepted his summer internship at WalMart, along with my team I planned the silent auction for Fuqua's MBA Games benefiting the Special Olympics of North Carolina which meant lots of emails, phone calls, item pick ups, begging, pleading, delegating, dealing with a few mean people...big breath...and countless hours of organization that lead to a successful event raising over $38,000 (silent auction alone $18,000), and finally a quick trip to Memphis to see a portion of the Bloodworth family spent honing my multitasking skills, diaper changing, breakfast, dishes, building dinosaurs, reading books, dressing, rocking, playing, seeing friends, closing on my house (I'll miss you Bluff Rd), and hanging out with my mom and in-laws.

And that's what's been happening with me.

Whew!

Now we're in March and I feel like a new, more relaxed woman. I am working on living in happiness and enjoying what each day brings. I'm back into yoga again, I'm not waking up until 7am, and if my list still has items to be checked off at the end of the day, I'm trying to focus on what was accomplished and not what is left to do.

Russell and I will be spending the weekend in Atlanta celebrating the marriage of Russell's childhood friend, Michael and following that, we'll be headed to Grand Cayman to soak up some sun and stuff our faces with yummy food!

I'm continuing to explore career opportunities which takes up a lot of my thinking time these days. I'm currently considering going back to school to get my MMS (Masters of Management Studies) at Duke, which is sort of like getting a mini MBA. I'm still considering a different direction in speech pathology as well as event planning and a host of other options. I'll be excited when I pick something!

Here are some pics of the last month...

Our adorable room at King's Daughters Inn for our staycation

Here are a couple of auction prep photos... We had approximately 260 items in our silent auction!

Here's Baby Christopher having a snack and playing trains.

Here's William builing obstacle courses for his trains.

New baby Parker, sleeping. He's adorable and has red hair. I'm a bit partial to the red heads of the family :)

William and I made burger cookies out of candy. They were really cute but they didn't taste so great!

and that's all!