Keeping busy... having fun!

First of all...

"HAPPY 35th BIRTHDAY AMY!"

That's right, my big sister turned 35 today!  She's half way to 70 now! :)

I woke up bright and early to meet Ali, Dave and Pegg at Morning Glory for breakfast.

This may have quite possibly been the most delicious breakfast I’ve eaten in years! MY GOSH!

After breakfast, Pegg, Aaron and I drove up to Asheville for a little shopping! Pegg and I both got lucky and found some good stuff at the 50% off sale in Urban Outfitters! Love that store!

Then we took a walk down the street to the Soda Fountain!

...and ordered their famous vanilla cokes! YUM!

A little window shopping in Asheville and Black Mountain never hurt anyone!

We headed over to my favorite store in Black Mountain;

The Town Hardware and General Store on Cherry St.

It’s like stepping back in time when you enter through it’s doors!  You can find the coolest things...

... like fun old school sodas and drinks! 

... sports team coaster for your car!

... College sports monopoly games!

... collector metal signs...

... a whole wall full of John Deer stuff! 

My mom probably would have loved this!  She's a die hard Auburn fan AND loves Jesus! :)

How cute are the Black Mountain newspaper stands?!

The three of us drove back over to stop by Grans to see Aaron’s aunt Terry, uncles Joe and cousin Jodi before the 3 of them drove back home for the holiday.

Then, it was off to the cabin on the lake to visit Kaye and Aaron’s dad.

They recently purchased large plot of land in a new development, to build their dream retirement home with a gorgeous lake view on the same lake where their cabin currently resides! It’ll be so fun to look back on this picture when the house is built on this mound of dirt!

We took a long walk around the borders of their property and as we were walking on the main street (which is currently just dirt), Ali spotted some deer tracks going right through their lot! While they haven’t seen any bears in the area, they have spotted their fair share of wild turkeys, and who doesn’t love deer?! Lol!

Their land is beautiful! The end of their lot backs up to a fishing pond which we hiked down to see!

Can’t wait to visit their new place and take walks on this path that winds through their property… heck, maybe even try a little off roading with the golf cart...

that is, when we’re not lounging by the fireplace, sipping tea on the front porch or fishing on the lake!

The sun began to go down so we all headed back up to the current cabin and opened Christmas presents! We got Aaron’s dad this Appalachian State Univ golf pull over, which he modeled on Kaye!

They are so sweet and gave me lots of shopping money and even bought me a pay by the minute phone so I can call Aaron when I’m in AZ and CA before he meets me in Orange County on the 2nd. Sooo sweet!

Poor Kaye! Aaron ordered her gift online, but it didn’t arrive in time!

She was a good sport though and is excited about having Christmas in January!

The two of them got to work on a delicious dinner!

Steaks, potatoes, salad, bread, bean dip, BBQ'd pineapple, cheese dip! YUM!

We were all very happy and full by the time we finished!

Ali came up with the idea to pour some yummy drinks and play a little card game called A$$hole, which brought everyone back to their college days! Can’t play a card? Take a sip! Those are basically the rules! There was lots of sarcasm going around, high fives, cheers, and of course lots and lots of laughter!

We all finished the game, watched a little football and then I headed up to the loft bed for an amazing night sleep with the rain hitting the tin roof outside!  Loved it!