Dear Friday Letters

 

Dear Calves You were yelling at me all week about wanting to exercise, and now you’re complaining because you are sore. Get over it.

Dear Chem Class You will NOT kick my butt this semester, I am more powerful than you. I have ninja skills.

Dear Husband You are such a dear. Thank you for supporting me when my school days are long, and when all I can do is sleep. Thank you for doing the dishes 2x this week.

Dear Family I’m sorry I haven’t seen you in years (ok, weeks or months), I love you all dearly, but my life consists of school/cleaning/eating/sleeping. One day I will come up for air and invite everyone over for a party.

Dear Lil Sis I’m sorry you are sick, you sound pitiful. Your big sissy loves you, and I promise that we will watch I Love Lucy and eat ice cream to our heart’s content soon…

Dear Bob (the beetle) I’m glad that you’re happy now. I promise to pet you and sing to you. Bob is our 12-year old VW beetle, he occasionally gets mad if we spend to much time with Jazz the Jetta. We have to apologize by giving him a bath, petting him, and otherwise talking to him while we drive down the road. He doesn’t like Jazz- at all.

Dear Body Thank you for making it easy on me, you have lost all that holiday weight by yourself. I’m proud.

Dear Zumba Teachers I miss you. I’ll be back one day. It’s just hard to go to zumba after dark. When it’s cold.

Dear Husband I’m back. Thanks for buying me an enchilada yesterday. #mexlove

Dear Water Filter I’m sorry I haven’t cleaned you in 2 months. Please don’t kill me. No, really. I’d like to live.

Dear Friday OMG. I don’t know when I’ve ever been so happy to see you. Many tired tears preceded your arrival.

Dear House All I can say is that I’m glad you have Andraé to lean on. One day I’ll be Martha Stewart again. Complete with sprigs of lavender.

For more Friday Letters and link-ups, visit Ashley at Adventures of Newlyweds.

More from Appomattox

 

Appomattox Court House, VA

Appomattox Court House, Virginia

We took a trip up to Richmond after Christmas, and on the way home
we dropped by Appomattox Court House.

I have always wanted to visit the Court House, to be in the room
where Generals Grant and Lee met on April 9, 1865.

Except…

…What I found out is that there is no court house. Well, there is, it’s just that Appomattox Court House is the name of the town, not a building.

This shocked the war-history-lover in me, I don’t know how I missed this bit of information.

Anyway, here’s the proof:

 

The court house (rebuilt after a fire) is located in the center of the village, with the Richmond-Lynchburg
Stage road circling around it.

 

The McLean House
The North and South met here, at the McLean house to agree on terms of surrender.

I love everything about this setting:

 

We really love homes and architecture from the 18th through early 19th centuries…
…For some time we have considered the idea of choosing a favorite homestead and replicating the house and grounds buildings. I favor the stone homes of Pennsylvania and New York, log barns from East TN and white clapboard, and Andraé loves brick…so we’ll probably end up building some concoction one day.

That being said, we consider these trips educational from a design/architecture point of view. I can’t tell you the hours we have spent discussing our imaginary home…

In fact, it already has a name. Clinchfield Cottage < Clinchfield House < The Clinchfield Place

We live in the cottage now. At least that’s what we like to call it.
It makes our city lives sound more dignified.

It’s late, and I should be in bed.

But, I have to share my latest state of ecstasy.

I’ve been a shameful fan lately. I’ve been so preoccupied that I haven’t taken the time to fully listen to any of the songs on the Newsboys latest album. Basically, I listened to the first 30 seconds of each song on iTunes because A) I didn’t have any money in my iTunes account and B) I’ve really been into 80’s lately.

Ok, so actually there is a 3rd reason why I haven’t listened to it: I’ve been listening to dcTalk’s Supernatural CD over, and over, and over……

There is something really amazing that happens when the three voices of dcTalk join in harmony. If you have never listened to them, you should. There’s this almost creepy, magical thing that happens, and I get chills on my arms almost every time I hear them.

 

[I don’t know which one I love more.]

[I lied, yes I do. Toby will always be my heartthrob.]

 

When I was about 12, dcTalk broke up. It’s been the single most horrifying and disappointing thing in my life. (I know, I need help.) First of all, they were the best, and their harmony will never be replicated. Secondly, they broke up before I had the chance to see them in concert. This regret is something that I carry with me all the time. Like seriously. Every time I go to a concert, I think “I’m never going to get to do this with dcTalk.”

Imagine my excitement when I found out that Michael Tait (formerly of dcTalk) would be taking the lead singer position for the Newsboys!!

Anyway, I have really missed Kevin Max singing with Tait in all of this. His hauntingly beautiful notes have a way of knocking the breath out of my lungs while sending a searing and suffocating heat through my chest. All the while, my spine turns to ice and the wracking chills take over.

It’s like being summoned or something…

Soo…when Duncan Phillips, the drummer for Newsboys, followed me on Twitter (great PR), I was suddenly like, OMG! I forgot about their NEW CD!!!

And if I only would have listened to it two months ago: 

Listen at 3:01. Pure, unadulterated Kevin Max.

By the time I heard the trill between 3:05 and 3:06, I was ACTUALLY SCREAMING.

It sounded something like this:

“OMG- OMG- OMGGGG!!! IT’S KEVIN!! OMG, AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!

And then the paralysis came.

I’m not the only one who sees the sparks that fly when Kevin’s and Michael’s voice mix:

I just can’t get over it. I need therapy. It is therapy. I need therapy from therapy.

Biltmore Estate, North Carolina

Last week I gave a sneak peak of our little anniversary getaway to Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC.

My first visit to Biltmore was when I was six, when I went with my Nana and one of her friends.
I think it was one of those moments in life that helped carve the path of my future personality.

Now I’m one of those people who goes crazy over a tapestry. Or a carved door post.

Biltmore is the most beautiful place in the world, in my opinion.
Despite how much I love Europe, I’ve never been to any house, castle, chateau or palace that even compares
with the grandeur of Biltmore’s house and grounds.

The way I look at it is that Americans always do everything bigger, and in this case, better.

At 175,000 square feet, it rivals the great palaces of Europe.
Versailles is 721,000 sq ft, but think of the hundreds who lived there with the royal family of France.

Biltmore was built for one man.

George Vanderbilt.

A commoner. But, his family of “commoners” happened to be the 7th richest family in HISTORY.


[Photo by Brittany Robinson]
It is January after all, and it was quite foggy, so my pictures of the front elevation were a bit dull.

We have always wanted to stay at the Biltmore and we thought anniversary # 5 was worth the splurge…

The Inn

We arrived at the Estate on Friday, the day we celebrated our Fifth Wedding Anniversary. . After a sunny, afternoon nap, we went to the Library to enjoy a delicious snack of turkey club sandwiches.

Back in the room, we slipped on fuzzy robes and ate chocolate while we checked the weather on the classy card left by the housekeeper.

Oh, we watched American Pickers. I like Pawn Stars myself.

Such a relaxing evening…

View towards Mt. Pisgah:

I can find a travel magazine anywhere.

 

The House

We toured the house on Saturday morning, taking a shuttle right to the front door ~ Hotel concierge had taken care of our tickets the night before.

The house was amazing, as usual, and we had a wonderful time together~ dreaming about our little house back home…

The foundation fascinates me.
It’s much farther down than it looks…

 

We headed to Antler Village for lunch at The Bistro…Yummy!
I had a delicious mushroom pizza with basil aioli, ravished my tongue.

Biltmore has been hosting an exhibit on Tiffany Studios this fall & winter, and we were so excited to see it ! The pieces were amazing, some nearly priceless in value. One of the shades (or one similar to it) recently sold for
$ 1 . 5 million.

After another afternoon nap, we dressed up and went to dinner at Ruth’s Chris, right outside the Estate gates.

I ordered my favorite dish, the Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken with Asparagus and a Chop Salad . Andraé ordered his old faithful, a steak .

We <3 Ruth’s Chris. They sent us home with the richest, creamiest chocolate
cake in the world… Is chocolate cake supposed to be creamy? It was more like mousse.

[Sorry for the fuzzy & terrible shot.]

Sunday morning we enjoyed the hotel a little more before we had to leave. They set up a coffee & tea bar in the library with a pianist… so relaxing.

We wanted some more shots of Biltmore’s architecture and grounds, so
we went back to the house. It was foggy, so the pictures have an almost ethereal feel to them. A little spooky maybe.

 

The Wisteria patio off the library is gorgeous in the spring and summer.

I enjoyed our time at Biltmore so much ! January 2012 marks so many things in our relationship : the best anniversary celebration so far, the beginning of the next five years, and the end of one of the best years in our lives, 2011.

Although our marriage has always been wonderful, outside circumstances kept us from ever being completely happy or content. We were always anxious for the change that we knew would require saying goodbye to some and hello to others. 2011 was the year we finally crossed that bridge ~ and we couldn’t be any happier.

I am looking forward to the next year, and to the many more years that will come. They will be great…

I’ve been remiss…

 

I regret to say that my blog has been in a terrible state lately,

It seems like my posts have been mostly ill-planned and boring.

My apologies.

I’ll be back to the normal swing of things soon.

Until then, enjoy this film that Chevy chose to feature as an ad for this year’s Super Bowl.

I think it’s pretty hilarious.

Stop SOPA & PIPA

[Source: Scott Stantis]

 

Dear City and State Representatives, Bloggers, Readers, and Friends,

Please take a moment to listen to my plea,

SOPA and PIPA are sure to bring this country to it’s knees;

The music will stop, and the colors will dim,

When the artist runs and flees.


When creativity is gone,

And ingenuity is past;

Those who lived in envy,

Will now dance in glee;

Because America is no longer the land of the free,

It’s the US of R...

…Repressing American dreams.

The Joy of Books

 

This is one of the coolest videos ever!

 

 

Blah-g.

 

I am beginning to get way behind on blog posts.

Frankly, I think I’m sick, but I don’t want to admit it.

I’ve slept every spare moment during the last week.

And I still feel…crappy.

I could go ahead and blog about our UHMAZING trip last weekend,

but I’m worried that the quality of my storytelling would

err on the side of…crappy.

And I hate reading crappy blog posts (like this one),

so I’m going to leave you with this:

Let me tell you.

That Coke was anything but crappy.

Ski.

 

My cousin and I went skiing this week at Ober Gatlinburg, in G-Burg, TN.

I’ve wanted to go FOREVER but no one ever wanted to go with me (kind of like my skydiving and base-jumping dreams) but then Drew asked me to go along!!!

Sooo much fun! And such a work-out. Since we were newbies, we couldn’t use the lift, so we had
to trudge up the hill every time. My legs still feel a little like jelly.

My first attempt at skiing was pretty successful, as long as I compare myself to the fellow first-time skiers.
Drew tried snowboarding, which looked really HARD! I’m so glad that I did skiing instead.

No major bumps or bruises.
Well, except for that last fall, which left my right leg in a comatose state for like 2 days.

This guy was nuts. Granted, it was 50º, but still too chilly for a muscle-tee.

I will definitely be trying this again…

I felt really bad…

I felt really bad about the last post. It’s a bit gross for some people.

Let me redeem myself with a sneak peek from the last two weekends, full posts to come shortly. And by shortly I mean, probably on Friday, because I’m going to skiing tomorrow, first sewing lessons on Wednesday, and school starts Thursday.

 

We spent an afternoon in Appomattox Court House, VA
of Civil War fame.

Lovely place.

And we spent our anniversary weekend at this gorgeous place:

Which so happens to be on the site of another famous place:

But you’ll have to wait for that.

Have a great week!