Spring Has Almost Sprung!

This is the time of year that I get almost giddy! I don't know if it's Spring Fever or if it's because my birthday is upon me or if I just like this time of year, but March is my very favorite month! I have tons of wonderful memories of March, not just of my birthday, but of Spring Breaks and Easters and so much fun during this wonderfully green and happy time of year.

Obviously I love my birthday, March 25. It's easy to remember, exactly three months after Christmas. Scott & I now have a ritual that we do every year. Depending on when my birthday falls, we take either the Friday before or after it off of work. Every few years we get lucky and that particular Friday coincides with Good Friday which I have off anyway. In recent years I have started scheduling my yearly mammogram on this Friday. We drive over to Northside, get that taken care of and then head to SC. The first thing we do is go to Clemson, to Nick's. Nick's is a tavern that has been around Clemson since about 1973. We frequented it during and immediately after college, spending many, many evenings drinking and having fun. During this time period we also had lunch there quite frequently. Scott & I always, always have the same thing: corndogs, fried mushrooms and beer! I don't typically drink beer any other time of the year, but when I walk into Nick's, I immediately crave a beer. They always have something good on tap, and the same professor still owns it who bought it when I was in college.

We linger over our mushrooms and corn dogs and beer, enjoying the spring and the memories as we go. We typically then wander around Clemson for awhile, into a few shops, Mr. Knickerbocker's, bookstores (where I usually end up buying a new tiger paw car magnet to replace the one that got stolen last year!) and then head to our hotel. The rest of the weekend can vary a little, but on Sunday the end of the ritual plays out at my Mom's house with her cooking me my birthday lunch! YUM! It's always the same: cube steak with gravy in the crock pot, rice, fresh sliced tomatoes (which I eat over the rice!), macaroni & cheese, broccoli salad (Scott's favorite), and biscuits. There might be canteloupe or green beans or various and sundry other things added from time-to-time, but the dishes above are all that are really needed.

In college Spring Break was always right around St. Patrick's and/or my birthday. Sometimes we would all take off to Savannah for the big party, staying in a friend's aunt & uncle's house outside of town. How convenient was that!? Other years we were known to go to Atlanta, attend the St. Patrick's parade there and go to the Sundial atop The Westin for drinks afterwards. At some point we also made it out out to Stone Mountain for a picnic and the laser show (which I swear hasn't really changed til this day!). We would climb up the mountain, look around, take pictures, etc., and climb back down. One year we got caught in a thunder storm. We saw the lightening striking from the storm in Atlanta, but being carefree college kids, what did we do? Get off the largest exposed piece of granite as fast as we could? Well...no. We took our time and got caught in the thunder and lightening and pouring rain. To this day I still get kidded about singing "Here Comes the Rain Again" by The Eurythmics and saying a few choice words as lightening literally struck all around us. Still another year, we just stayed on campus and enjoyed it all to ourselves since the other 15,000 or so students went elsewhere. During one such Spring Break we went around campus eating picnics in different spots, looking for the ever elusive four-leaf clovers.

We found a literal "patch" of them over by the architecture building one year. I'm sure that that spot is long gone, covered by a new building on campus, but I still think of those four-leaf clovers every spring. I got married in the spring and one of my best friends from college (the one I looked for those clovers for all those years ago with) found a four-leaf clover for my bouquet. If you look, you can see the little spot of green in my pale pink bouquet of roses! When my brother had his accident in the spring of 2002, on the way out the door to travel to Tennessee I desperately looked for one in our yard as a good luck charm for him. I didn't find one that day, but fortunately, he didn't need it!

This year the itinerary is already set. We'll leave on Friday and head to Nick's for those corndogs, mushrooms and beer. We'll probably relax that night at the hotel. Saturday is brunch with some good friends in Greenville, and then a hiking trip to Yellow Branch Falls in Westminister. A light dinner will follow, but the best part, my birthday lunch, will be at Mom's on Sunday. Another year and more memories for all to enjoy...when my birthday rolls around, spring has sprung!

Woman's Intuition?

Today I just walked 1.6 miles at Bethesda Park. It was really cold and I have a cold. I was so determined to walk at least two loops, 3 miles. I haven't walked since Tuesday, and I really wanted a good walk in today. But after I got out on the cold trail, I was pretty much the only one there. Something just told me to do one loop and let that be it. So I did. I have pepper spray and I'm sure I would have been fine, but...well, I try to follow my intuition. After I got back to the car I drove up to the softball fields because I wanted to see where we are having our fundraiser in two weeks. I pulled through one of the empty parking lots, but it wasn't empty. There was an old beat up, but souped up car with a rusty tailfin sitting in the middle of the lot. As I pulled through, it raced off with two guys in it. Maybe nothing, maybe, well, just women's intution?

What We Did for Valentine's 2009

I have to admit, I cheated! I couldn't stand it and on Friday before Valentine's Day, I made my husband tell me where we were going. My rationale was that since I was doing a 10K at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday morning, I needed to know how to pack, etc. It sounded good to me! :)

Before I tell you, just note that after the 10K I was moving like a little old woman; it was rather comical. It took me awhile to get ready and all I did was take a shower and throw stuff in a bag...no make-up or anything! We decided to go eat Mexican on the way out of town; a girl has to have some reward for walking 6.3 miles in 1 hour and 48 minutes, right? :)

So where was our final destination? Just up the road to SC to Anderson to the Hilton Garden Inn. Nothing too fancy, but we did enjoy a nice evening with dinner & a bottle of wine at Sona, their beautiful restaurant with live jazz music. On the menu? For appetizers, I had an Iceberg Wedge with Roma Tomatoes & Spiced Pecans with Boursin-Buttermilk Dressing and Scott enjoyed Roasted Corn & Crab Chowder with Tobacco Fried Onions. Main courses? For me a 12-oz New York Strip served with Yukon Gold Mashed Potatoes & Sautéed Asparagus; for Scott, an 11-oz. Maple Leaf Farms Duck Breast with Yellow Rice & Steamed Asparagus. And for dessert, we shared a Rich Choclate Layer Cake with Vanilla Crème Anglaise. How decadent?! It was so rich that for a few bites I thought it was cheesecake!

The next morning, after a wonderful night's sleep, we ate at Huddle House (hash browns, wheat toast, scrambled eggs and sausage) and headed home. It just goes to show you, it doesn't have to be spectacular if you are with the one you love. Scott came up with the idea and that's what was special to me! I love my husband with all my heart...Happy Valentine's Day honey!

I Will Be Here

This song was sung at our wedding and it always makes me cry!

I Will Be Here (Steven Curtis Chapman)

Tomorrow morning if you wake up and the sun does not appear
I will be here
If in the dark, we lose sight of love
Hold my hand, and have no fear
'Cause I will be here

I will be here
When you feel like being quiet
When you need to speak your mind
I will listen
And I will be here
When the laughter turns to cryin
'Through the winning, losing and trying
We'll be together
I will be here


Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the future is unclear
I will be here
Just as sure as seasons were made for change
Our lifetimes were made for these years
So I will be here


I will be here
And you can cry on my shoulder
When the mirror tells us we're older
I will hold you
And I will be here
To watch you grow in beauty
And tell you all the things you are to me
I will be here


I will be true to the promise I have made
To you and to the One who gave you to me

Tomorrow morning, if you wake up
And the sun does not appear
I will be here
Oh, I will be here.

A Valentine's Day Surprise

On Saturday, February 14, I am walking my first 10K...amazing, huh? Even more amazing is that my wonderful husband has planned a night out of town for us. I'm dying to know where it is. He says we'll only be gone one night and it's somewhere we've been before, but not the Westin. Hmmmm. I'll have to think about this one.

We've been to tons and tons of cabins in the N. GA mountains throughout the years, but at this late date it's probably not one of them, not for just one night. So that leaves a hotel or a B&B. I am puzzled. We haven't stayed in any hotels other than the Westin in town. And a B&B....hmmmm.....maybe we're staying where we got married? The Village Inn B&B in Stone Mountain?

I can't imagine that but I've been wrong before. It could be perfect: it's not far away and we could get up, have breakfast and then go to Stone Mountain and do our exercise before coming home? Could that be it? I guess I'll have to wait and see, huh? :)

Oooh, it could possibly also be in SC at the Martin Inn at Clemson? That could be nice, but we are going to SC next month for my birthday. Dont think it's there.

I could go on and on about where I think it is...but it will be a surprise...and I'm sure it will be a wonderful Valentine's Day!

Happy Anniversary to my sister!

Yesterday was my little sister's 22nd anniversary! I can't believe she's been married to Dirty Mike for 22 years! Wow...you go girl! I remember their wedding like it was yesterday. I was halfway thin back then, but had big 80s hair and wore a red taffeta bridesmaids dress. I think I was in about 4 weddings in 3 years or so and had quite a collection of those dresses.

Most of those 22 years has been spent far away from family in the cold of Fairbanks, Alaska. While they were happy there, we are oh so glad to have them back within a day's drive of us in Panama City, Florida.

And of course, my beautiful niece Lauren was born in 1992 while they were in Alaska. Although she grew up far away for most of her now 16 years, my sister made sure she was close to her relatives and didn't feel distanced from them.

Scott & I started later in life on our marriage journey so if we make it to 22 years, I will be 56 and he will be 63. Wow, that's only 10 more years; now I feel really old! :)

Brand New Blog!

So, not sure why I am taking on yet another blog, but this one is targeted just for me & Scott and things about us. Hmmm...trips, thoughts on marriage, etc. I'll have to think about it for awhile, but I like the thought of this. Could be cool, huh?