Thursday, November 28, 2013

Thankful


I took this picture outside Charles's apartment. It is perfect for my 2013 thankful list.
Here are 30 things I am thankful for this year:

1. God and His love and mercy
2. Salvation through Christ
3. Jason
4. Daisy Duke snuggles
5. Scarlett's sweet personality
6. close relationship with my parents and Jason's parents
7. our house
8. having friends and family with us for Thanksgiving
9. my job
10. having every other week off
11. having Thanksgiving and Christmas off this year!
12. comfy pajamas
13. freedom
14. our small group
15. a healthy baby nephew
16. colorful leaves in the fall
17. gorgeous sunrises on my way home from work
18. beach sunsets
19. date nights with Jason
20. good health
21. Jason's arm healing well
22. my phone/computer
23. appliances that make life easier- washer/dryer, dishwasher, fridge, etc.
24. running water
25. electricity
26. dark chocolate
27. new glasses
28. mountain views
29. warm blankets on chilly nights
30. a new family photo of us with our pups

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Monday, November 18, 2013

Universal Studios

The last day of our Disney trip Jason and I took our niece to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure. 

We rode almost every roller coaster. If they hadn't closed down the Hulk just as we were about to get in line, Jason would have ridden all of them! Kimmie and I skipped out on the Rip Ride Rockit. Jason and Kimmie both liked the Harry Potter ride and had a butter beer in that section of the park. My favorite ride was Transformer's 3D. 

Transformers Ride
We finished up our day with a delicious dinner at Bonefish Grill.
Our trip was packed full of things to do, and we had a great time!

Pharmacy at Universal

Friday, November 15, 2013

Disney: Epcot

Our last Disney park of the trip was Epcot. It was a lot to do in one day. 

Entrance
We started with the rides at the front of the park and then made our way through the countries. To get through all of them we didn't have time to really explore them. We did get to have dinner in Mexico though!

I think Jason's favorite ride was Mission to Mars, which I really didn't like. We both really liked Soarin' and Test Track.

The big ball
The Eiffel Tower

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Disney: Animal Kingdom

After our rest day we were ready for the Animal Kingdom. We got there about the time the park opened and headed straight to the Safari.


Entrance
Th Safari was awesome. We got to see all kinds of animals: giraffes, elephants, lions, flamingos, hippos, and rhinos just to name a few! There were even a couple of animals that are extinct in the wild and can only be found on reserves like the one at Animal Kingdom.


Giraffes
Elephants
Lion sleeping on top of the rock.
While we were there we also had to ride the Expedition Everest roller coaster. We ended up riding it a bunch of times! We also saw the Bug's Life show and the Lion King show. They were both great. 


Tree of Life
Jason's favorite ride at Animal Kingdom was Expedition Everest. I liked the Safari the best! Animal Kingdom was definitely my favorite of all the parks.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Disney: Downtown Disney

Tuesday we decided to take a much needed rest day.
Jason and I went to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. We had to get some good souvenirs!

Buzz and Woody at the LEGO store
We had lunch at the T-Rex Restaurant. Every few minutes the dinosaurs inside would start moving and roaring. It was really cool to watch!

Our favorite dino
Later in the evening we came back with the whole family for dinner at the Rainforest Cafe. 

At dinner
Sunset from the boat at Downtown Disney

Friday, November 8, 2013

Disney: Hollywood Studios

Our next Disney park was Hollywood Studios.



My favorite ride was the Rock n' Roller Coaster. Jason's favorite was Tower of Terror. 
We also liked the Star Tours ride a lot! 


We took the Studio Back Lot tour and got to learn a lot about special effects and what happens behind the scenes of movies. At the end of the day we watched a stunt car show. It was really interesting to see how they do some of the car chase scenes. We even got to see Lightening McQueen as part of the show.


Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Disney: Magic Kingdom

I'm finally getting around to posting about our trip to Disney World in September. Jason and I took this trip with his family. Neither of us had been to Disney since we were kids, and we had never been to a couple of the parks.

Our first day was spent at the Magic Kingdom. 
We spent the day going through the entire park. We rode all the roller coasters and saw two parades! My favorite ride was the Big Thunder Mountain Coaster, and Jason liked Splash Mountain the best. We really enjoyed seeing Cinderella's castle and the electrical parade.

Cinderella's Castle
Mickey and Minnie
Princess float in the character parade
Electrical Parade
By the time the electrical parade finished up we were exhausted. It was a long day, but we had a lot of fun!

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Our New Nephew!

The same Saturday that Jason and I were in Tennessee my nephew was born! 
We weren't able to go see him that day, but my parent's kept us updated with lots of pictures.

My dad with baby C
My mom and baby C
Sweet Baby
As soon as we got back on Sunday, we went to the hospital to visit Charles and MC and meet our brand new nephew!

He was a sleepy boy!
Father and son
Close up!
Our family is so thankful for this little one, and we love him so much already!

Sunday, November 3, 2013

A Wonderful Weekend

My last weekend off Jason and I took a quick trip up to the Great Smoky Mountains.
We left around lunch time on Friday and took the scenic route through North Carolina. We stopped in Cherokee for some ice cream and fudge at a little shop Jason had been to before. It was delicious! We stopped one more time before arriving in Gatlinburg at the Tennessee/North Carolina line. The leaves were changing, and it was absolutely gorgeous!


After arriving in Gatlinburg, we walked around downtown for a little bit before having a delicious dinner at Calhoun's and dessert at Gigi's Cupcakes. We walked through a few more shops after dinner before going to our hotel.

Saturday morning our first stop was the Applewood Farmhouse for breakfast. We also picked up some more apple butter while we were there! After breakfast we went to a new area of Pigeon Forge called the Island. It's still developing, but they have some shops and restaurants and a huge ferris wheel. I had never ridden on a ferris wheel before, but we had a good time!

The view from the top:


We saw a lot of fall decorations! I really liked these turkeys.

Next, we did a little bit of shopping at the outlet mall. We didn't stay long because it was so crowded! After grabbing a quick bite for lunch, we rode the Smoky Mountain Alpine Coaster. I was nervous about it, but you get to control your own speed and it turned out to be a lot of fun! 

Since Jason went to the outlet mall for me, we stopped at one of the tool outlets for him. He didn't find any tools, but we did find a really cool Ford tractor sign with his tractor on it! A great addition to his collection of Ford signs.

Our next stop of the day was Jayell Ranch for some horseback riding. We took a four mile ride through their beautiful property and got to see even more great views of the Smoky Mountains. Our horses were Troy and Handsome. The ride was so peaceful, and we had a great time!

After dinner, we just relaxed in our room. I had Jason take a picture of me with a BIG smile on my face. Here's why:
1. We got the great news that our nephew Baby C was born!
2. Tennessee got the win over South Carolina! Go Vols!
3. I had a wonderful day spending quality time with Jason.

On Sunday morning, we had a pancake breakfast and headed back home to meet our nephew!
It was a great trip. Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg is definitely one of our favorite places to visit.