Castle in the Sky

Last year for Laura’s birthday we rented a log cabin at Black Mountain, a framily favorite, and competed in our second Company Climbing Team competition.  We enjoyed the Snuggie, first met Maggie, and walked the streets of downtown Asheville.  You may recall…

This year?  We decided to rent a castle in the sky.

Think I’m exaggerating?  Check it out…

THE CASTLE: 10

There is absolutely no way to rate this anything less than a 10.  Here’s why:

• 8 bedrooms (one with 13 twin beds)
• GIANT kitchen (see pictures below) that could practically fit everyone in it at once
• Billiard room
• Movie theatre with 12 recliners and Rock Band
• Zip line
• Room full of children’s toys and books
• Indoor endless swimming pool
• Hot tub
• Olympic sized trampoline
• iMac
• iPads
• Flat screen TVs EVERYWHERE
• On top of a mountain
• House intercom system

What am I missing?  Pretty sure this is every child’s dream come true.  Add in 25 of the most amazing people in the world and it’s the closest I’ve ever come to rating something above a 10.  Out of respect for the system, I’ll stick with the 10

THE VIEW: 10

There are all kinds of possible views from the top of a mountain, but as far as I’m concerned if you’ve got a 360 and it’s beautiful it’s a 10.  The view that was a 10 minute hike from the castle met all criteria, and led to some awesome walks in the morning, afternoon and at sunset.  My heart is smiling

FOOD: 9

If past framily gatherings have shown you anything, you probably could have guessed the spread would have been pretty incredible.

This doesn’t even begin to describe it.  Vegan breakfast, a chili cookoff, every snack known to man, a castle birthday cake, the most addicting oyster crackers of all time, bread bowls, vegan waffles, pineapple bread pudding, birthday coffee and much, MUCH more made this weekend cause for a week full of trips to Crowley’s (my local gym).

-1 for the amount of food that inevitably went to waste…

LAURA’S BIRTHDAY SCAVENGER HUNT:

I’ll let Laura rate this one.  But if I had to guess, Katie’s brainchild was a WILD success.  With a house this big, how can you not arrange a scavenger hunt?  Complete with beautiful poetry, and trips from trampoline to pool bottom, Laura definitely had to work for her gifts this year.  Plus it was fun for all of us to watch

(Can you see the zipline???)

THE MAN TUB: 8

I’m pretty sure at first glance I thought they were about to head over Niagara Falls.  At second glance I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.  The hot tub outside was not your classic hot tub, and I’d be willing to bet was not meant to fit 5 full grown men… but they made it look good

-2 for how many failed attempts at pictures happened before this (finally) blog friendly photo.

CHILI COOKOFF: 9

For dinner Saturday night we had many chefs in the kitchen, all competing for the best chili.  While I can’t award a winner since the only one I ate was the vegan version, they all looked AMAZING.  Throw in some Persian rice from Mazzi, and it made quite the meal.

-1 for the food jealousy that occurred… especially the white chili that looked, and smelled, AMAZING.

PAUL’S BREAD BOWL: 8

What a creative solution to the problem of which chili to choose… a carefully carved bread bowl with two slots- one for each kind   -2 because breadbowls never fit as much soup as you want, they soak up all the liquid, and often leave you so full you can’t have seconds.

But the idea was brilliant.

SUNSET ON TOP OF A MOUNTAIN: 10

Not much more to say about this one.  Life is good

BEING SURROUNDED BY AMAZING, INCREDIBLE, AND INSPIRING FRIENDS AND FRAMILY: 10!!!

I love these people so freaking much.  I am the luckiest person ever to have somehow stumbled upon them 2 years ago, and am thankful to be able to still find time to see everyone despite living 2 hours away now.  I can’t wait for the day when my dream street becomes a reality, and I can somehow convince everyone I love in my life to move onto the same street as me.  Oh how good life would be

RE-ENTRY: 2

I love my students, and I’m actually excited to return to the classroom on Mondays, but it’s so hard to adjust back to the real world after a weekend like this.  It’s also hard to return to a house where you live alone when you’ve spent all weekend surrounded by people.  Saying goodbye all the time is hard.

Until next time, just living for weekends like this

A Day in the Mountains

Sometimes you just need a day in the mountains.  This weekend was definitely a weekend that could use one of those.  So off we went.

HIKE TO LINVILLE FALLS: 6

I’d heard good things about hiking around Linville, but upon furthor reflection I’m pretty sure folks were talking about Linville GORGE and not Linville Falls.  While it was definitely a hike, and it got us outdoors, it was rather commercial, not very long, and pretty easy.  Either way, I finally got to see the second largest waterfall in North Carolina

SECRET HIDEAWAY: 9

After the hike we headed closer to Boone and decided to spend a little time at my favorite Boone hideaway.  Discovered on a visit two years ago while taking a class at App State, it’s a great spot to swim, relax, suntan, read or hike.  We decided to take it easy and whip out the US History books we brought along.

-1 because we didn’t find a spot deep enough to actually swim.  However, it was deep enough for Murph and I got him in the water for the SECOND time in one day.  I’m so impressed

After a day full of hiking and relaxing we headed to King Street, as it wouldn’t be a day in Boone without a little shopping… we only stopped for about an hour, but long enough for me to pick up a new glass ring, a killer Nalgene, and my favorite ‘Life is Good’ sticker.  Along the way we saw a little sadness.

SICK BOXER PUPPY: 0

Along the way there were some hippie musicians playing, which is pretty classic Boone and something I love about it, who had a cute tiny little boxer puppy laying on the ground.  I asked to pet it and they told me it was really sick and held up a sign that said ‘Sick puppy- Anything helps’.

My dog-loving instinct immediately wanted to give them money, but then I just started getting mad.  As someone who’s put a lot of time and money into my two pups, I made sure not to adopt either of them without the resources to support them.  So why did these folks have this puppy in the first place?  Don’t tell me it was his only option, as he was a tiny, adorable purebred boxer.  They can’t even pretend like he wouldn’t be a hot ticket item at a local shelter.  So to me it’s just selfish that they would have taken him home, away from someone who could have cared for him, and then let him sit on the street corner sick.

Still angry about that one.

Next we headed to a great Mexican spot (which I also discovered while here two summers ago)- Coyote Kitchen.

COYOTE KITCHEN: 8

A couple great vegetarian meals, and some brilliant salsa options.  Overall a good find, with incredibly friendly staff and outdoor seating so Murph could beg us for food throughout the meal.

-2 I remembered this after I ordered, but they only serve soda in cans.  Meaning no free refills.  Total bummer when you still have a three hour drive in front of you after a long day.

Overall a pretty stellar day

Framily Vacation to the Mountains

What started as a trip out west (western North Carolina that is) for a climbing comp, quickly became a framily birthday celebration when Laura suggested renting a cabin and bringing the whole framily.  I’d say the vacation really began Thursday night with some Bub’s karaoke…

REDISCOVERING THE RATING CARDS: 10!  When Rate Your World first began, I made my very own, color coded, rating cards that were conveniently clipped on a ring for easy transport.  Almost all my ratings involved them, and the colors prevented any sort of skewing of ratings later.  I whipped out an old purse on Thursday night, and what did I find inside but the original rating cards.  THANK GOD!  I didn’t realize how much I’d missed them until I rediscovered them.

SUMMER NIGHTS: 8.  While Snooky rated Paul and my duet a 10 (both for performance and vocals), I had to average that out to get an 8 (cause let’s be honest, Paul didn’t hit the high note at the end and I didn’t hit a lot of notes).  But I will say, we knew almost all the words by heart so there was little use of the monitor and a whole lot of stage presence.  Well done us.

The next day we all packed up the cars and headed up to Black Mountain, an old favorite of mine from high school days of Youth & Government and the Conference on National Affairs, and one of Laura and Snooky’s favorite places.  We lucked out with a pretty incredible cabin.

OUR LOG CABIN: 9.  Set up with three bedrooms (two with big beds and one with bunk beds), a sweet kitchen with everything you need to cook/eat, a beautiful living room, game room downstairs (with foosball and air hockey), a hot tub and outdoor fire pit.  It is virtually brand new, beautiful and very ‘log cabiny’.  I’d say we lucked out.

-.5 for the hardwood floors.  It’s only .5 because I actually award .5 for the entertainment of chasing Murphy and watching him slide everywhere.  However, when Dakota got worked up by a dog he saw out the window, he started to rush down the stairs, quickly slipped (they were hardwood after all), and slid the entire way down the stairs, then faceplanted right into the wall.  I was super worried, and he looked scared out of his mind, but eventually got up and walked away with little damage (we found half of a toenail later which couldn’t have felt too good).  I tried to keep him on the rug in the living room the rest of the time.

LAURA’S PINK SNUGGIE: 7.  Warm and cozy, and pink, however I just can’t get over the fact that they’re basically just backwards robes.

LAURA’S PINK SNUGGIE ON JAY: 10.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

MY SICKNESS: 2

Doesn’t it always seem that the body allows you to get sick at the time when it knows you can most afford it?  I don’t find myself sick very often, but sure enough I woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat.  This quickly turned into a really sore throat, some serious stabbing headaches, and a fever.  Not ideal considering I’ve been looking forward to this vacation for awhile, but I did have some homemade soup, a hot tub, a snuggie and a comfy bed to help me heal.  Woke up the next day feeling 10 times better.

HOT TUB: 9.

I must say, while hot tubs sound good in theory, they’re INCREDIBLE in actuality.  Everything I imagined was true, and it was brilliant to arrive Friday night only to immediately all jump in the tub.  The next day after the comp, while suffering from some pretty serious headaches, it felt even better.  Right on the large porch of the cabin, it almost fit everyone (minus 1 since it was only a 4 seater technically, but we managed to get 6 in), and you could even see some stars.  If we were there in the winter and could play snow games like when I was a kid (who can jump out and run around the house the most times, or lay in the snow the longest) it might have been even more fun   There’s always next time!

LAURA’S BIRTHDAY CAKE: 7.

You can hardly go wrong with a funfetti cake topped with funfetti icing, however my decorations were somehow wrecked along the way.  The taste was delish (I’m not biased at all), but I wish the appearance were a little more beautiful.  However the ‘Birthday’ on the cake led to a pretty interesting singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ later that day…

REUNION WITH THE BLUE RIDGE CONFERENCE CENTER: 8

When I was in high school I was involved with a pretty awesome program called Youth & Government.  Similiar to Model UN, but simulating state governments instead, we convened once a year at the state capitol for a conference with students from all over Pennsylvania.  At the state conference, you then had an opportunity to apply to attend the National conference, where each state sends a select delegation.  That conference is called the Conference on National Affairs, and is held at an incredible conference center in the mountains of North Carolina.  I attended CONA my junior and senior years, and found it to be a truly incredible, life-changing experience for me as I was figuring out what I wanted to do with my life.  In fact, when I applied to Teach For America, a large reason I chose the Eastern North Carolina region was due to my fond memories of North Carolina at that conference.

So when I realized the conference center was about 10 minutes from where we were staying, I had to check it out.  The framily headed over on Sunday morning before rolling out, and I’m so glad I got a chance to see it again.  While not quite the same as while I was there before, the view was still beautiful, and it was great to share it with important people in my life.

The famous green rocking chairs.

MAGGIE THE MAGNET: 9.

During our stay in Asheville we happened to discover the strongest little magnet of all time, under Jay’s chair at the Woolworth’s diner counter.  Way too much fun was had with a magnet… that is until Jay started cutting her off from the camera (-1).

Where we found Maggie…

Jay using Maggie to hold his keys…

Maggie at Lee Hall…

Getting creative with Maggie…

Maggie slowing it down a little…

From there we hit the road home, stopping at Cracker Barrel for a delicious dinner on the way.

DINNER AT CRACKER BARREL: 9.

While never the healthiest option, there’s something about the incredible rocking chairs, the oversized meals, and the plethora of comfort foods that keep you coming back.  I enjoyed grilled chicken with mac ‘n cheese, mashed potatoes and corn.  Exactly what I was hoping for!

After we arrived back home, we ate some of the delicious leftovers (we came back with a cooler of food remaining) and enjoyed the Amazing Race as we began backwards planning our application video.  Stay tuned for the team of Laura and Janice taking on the race…

Until then, just living for the tens