craggy gardens

yesterday jay and i had a day off together so we decided to do some outdoor things. good thing we got a semi-early start. we had some nice thunderstorms yesterday afternoon. we went north on the blue ridge parkway () and up to craggy gardens.



there is a forest fire in the linville gorge (which is about 75 miles from craggy.) so the air was slightly smoky and the view wasn't as nice as it could have been... but we still enjoyed our time out. it had lightly rained just before we got to craggy so the air smelled like rain instead of smoke. so come along on our short hike (about 0.7 miles up). it was steep at times, but not bad for a short hike.



we started up the path to craggy pinnacle. because of the elevation, the temperature was only about 56 degrees up there. the rhododendron is blooming so as we walked amidst its branches, we heard the faint and constant hum of the bumblebees enjoying sweet nectar.



one thing that is noticeable is that trees do not grow very tall up in the higher elevations. we passed some old birch trees that had been there for years, growing out of rocks. one had been blown down in the wind, but still continued to grow. only it grew sideways with its branches still reaching upwards for the sun.



we continued up and up the path, enjoying the glimpses of views along the way. there are lots of beautiful flowers to see on the way up to the pinnacle.





we made it to a fork in the road. we could choose the summit overlook or the lower overlook. jay had been told to check them both out, so we decided to continue our trek upwards to the summit overlook. at this point we could actually see the sky beyond the branches. it didn't take long to get to the summit... and despite the clounds and smoky fog, the views weren't bad at all.









ONLY YOU CAN PREVENT FOREST FIRES! (unless God starts them, like the one in linville gorge.)



after a few minutes and a breather at the top of the summit, we headed back down to the lower overlook. not as much to see down below, but i did find a flower growing in the middle of a rock. nature is just amazing!









we made our way back down and decided to drive up to mt. mitchell. it began to rain as we made our way up there so we didn't have a lot of photo opportunities. one we did have was at their little restaurant. they had a sign...



and here is the view. not much with the clouds and showers. but we aren't complaining b/c we really need the rain. it helped dissipate the smoky smell, too.



it really is quite beautiful here. we are enjoying our changing scenic views and a bit of a different lifestyle. things are just a little more laid back around here. it's a nice change. we are finally adjusted to the time change, i think. it is still weird that the news and everything comes on so late but you still have to get up just as early. i should be on nights in another week or so. work is going well. i am really enjoying learning new things. jay isn't loving his new work so much, but he has a few other options out there so we are staying optimistic. we close on the condo june 29th. yeah! i guess that is about it on our end. email and catch us up on you!

correction

apparently dogs can go in state parks but not national ones. or something to the effect of being opposite of what i said the other night. :)

our saturday (6/9)

so jay and i hadn't had a day off together in awhile so saturday was it. (although i am already done with my work week... gotta love 3 twelves) ok. so we decided to go find some new things and take the dogs, too. well, dogs can go to national forests but not state parks. so we went to the pisgah national forest. we entered down in brevard (about 20 miles away). and we had heard about and seen pictures of "sliding rock," which is a huge, natural sloped rock that people slide down into a small pool.





so there it is. we didn't try it out this time. but we did wade down in the river/creek (body of water!) and let the dogs swim. they were quite well behaved. they did have to stay on their leashes, but they had a great time. barley loves the water just as much as cotton. only cotton calms down in water and barley gets wild. total personality changes for these two!





so after we left sliding rock, we headed for the blue ridge parkway for a scenic drive back to asheville. the mountain laurel is in bloom, so the drive was sprinkled with lots of pink and purple hues. (the rhododendron aren't quite in bloom yet, but i will be sure to post pictures of that, too.) we stopped here to catch the view.





the sky was sparkling blue with no clouds in the sky...



the laurel was softly pink...





we drove around the parkway and made it back to asheville. we came home, fed the dogs their dinner and jay and i went to get our own. we went over to the east side of town... where there are also some great views. and on our way back home we explored some neighborhoods... where houses are way out of our price range. and here is why... this would be the view off the back porch.



yeah, not cheap. but it is fun to dream. and after writing this (being tired after working 36 hours already this week) i realized our 9 month anniversary was saturday. so we had a lovely day. i can't believe we've been married 9 months already. time flies. everything, while not smoothly, is moving forward with the selling of the condo. we owe most of that to mom. she has been our savior. but we should close on the 29th of this month so that is good. work for me is good. jay's isn't turning out to be what he was told it would be so we are looking into other options there, but sticking with the current job for now until something better comes along, which should be sooner than later. guess that's it for now. sleep is now in my future!

(g)old friends

"make new friends, but keep the old. one is silver and the other's gold."

these are the best friends a girl could have. through thick and thin, near or far, we have remained as close as friends can. we had one more good (mexican!) dinner together before jay and i left to come over here to asheville.

on the far left is mandy. i met mandy in 6th grade at a church camp and we have been friends ever since. she was the first of us to get married (to rich). and the first to have babies. she has two. richie, who stayed home, and little harrison, whom i am holding. i was privileged to be at harrison's delivery as his very first nurse. mandy has been a constant friend and always eager to help answer questions or give advice. she is trustworthy and honest. i will miss our lunches, mandy!

next to me on the right is becca. she is the little sister of rachel (far right). we became friends because of rachel.... we will get to her story next. becca is the most out-going of the four of us. (is that a good way to say it?) she is always full of energy and great ideas. she is an excellent baker. one day i hope she will open her own bakery. :) becca just got married in may to brad. it was a beautiful wedding! i could ask becca anything- from a normal every day question to something completely off the wall with no return judgement and i usually got an honest answer. i am so glad, beck, that you and rachel are sisters!

and rachel. as mentioned above, on the far right. rachel and i go way on back to kindergarten. we were best friends then and still are. we can always pick up where we left off and it seems as though no time has past. she has always been a constant and inspiring friend. she is brilliant and strives for excellence in all she does, which shows in her work and the rest of her life, too. rachel has been married a little over a year to mark, who is a great match for her. it is amazing to think that rach and i have been friends for almost 23 years. i am blessed for that.

so these girls are my constant, golden friends. it doesn't matter that we have miles between us. it won't matter when we see each other again. it will always seem as if no time has passed at all. we can begin where we left off and carry on with life.

"make new friends, but keep the old. one is silver and the other's gold."

sweet baby courtney!

samantha just sent some new pictures. here is my sweet little niece, courtney. she is 4 1/2 months old now. a whopping 12#. :) lots of personality. i am sure she misses her favorite aunt. i miss her, too. the last picture includes her new friend, darly the hippo. she got her at vandy when she had some tests done recently (which are all fine) and now darly must be near her at all times.

happy june!

okay. so it has been over a week since i wrote. i can't believe that. it has flown. i have been working this week on my floor at the hospital. mother-baby. it is family-centered care for mom and baby together. since where i worked before was family-centered, it was also mommy sleep friendly, too. but here they very much encourage babies staying with moms as much as possible. doing tests and procedures in the room. i didn't think i would like it, but i actually do. i am learning about feeling and checking a fundus. fun. so long as everyone is "well" then it's ok. haha in a perfect world... but i was able to do some things today and get "checked off" on them so i can function more on my own and am becoming more comfortable with the mom/adult side of things. so that is how this week has been. i am soooo not a day shift person. the personalities here aren't so bad on days but it is really hard for me to get up at 530am. so it'll be good to get to nights- which will be 2-3 more weeks. the dogs have been going to doggy day care. sounds crazy, but they can go and run around and play all day and not be cooped up in a crate. it is less than $30/day for both dogs to go. so we are lovin' that. and when they come home they are exhausted! which is great, too. they get to socialize and get exercise. important for biggo doggies. we still have some boxes laying around. hope to get to those this weekend and put them in storage so we can walk without walking into cardboard. i guess that's about it. not much else going on around here. we have a contract on the condo and a back up if something happens with the first one. so hopefully that will continue to work out. selling a house is a pain. i had no idea. so we are really hoping it will be over soon. if all goes well, we will close the end of the month. ok. think that is all. i feel bad i haven't put any pics up lately. so here is one. that doesn't have anything to do with anything!

orientation...

it is always boring. i am not made to sit behind a desk 5 days a week. especially when someone is talking about something i already know. or, at the very least, know about. but that is standard for most hospitals and orientation. so that is how my week has been so far. boring. yes, i have learned a few things. and i have learned that even though we are now on est, only one hour ahead of nashville, it is strangely a hard adjustment. but, being a night shift girl, getting up early, consistently, in the morning is hard. oh well. i am whining. i will have pics up of the apartment soon. we got a storage unit today and plan to move most of the boxes to it tonight. there are a few that we haven't had time to go through, but most of everything is unpacked. i think that's good since we got our things on friday and it is wednesday now. and we have been working! so i will probably get those up this weekend. hope everyone is well!

"it's in a box"

well... the movers made it to nc. we have all of our stuff, and so far, nothing is broken! (and dave has lots of places to hide.) the cable man finally came so we have our own internet and digital cable. we get our phone another day, apparently. we have unpacked about 15 boxes already. that doesn't even make a dent, but we will eventually get this apartment turned into something nice and functional. we can cook now, so that will be helpful. anyway, we are starving right now... i have been promised mexican food! i have taken pictures of our apartment when it was empty, so once things find their new homes, i will send before and after pictures. happy long weekend!

p.s. we had good news from our realtor today... someone is VERY intersted in our condo, so pray she is and it sells!!

don't forget...

if you click on the picture, it will open up larger in a new screen!

views from the open road

ok. i have had some time this afternoon, sitting in my one chair, with the airbed leaning up against the tv... i grabbed my camera so i can share some pics from the drive up. the dogs are currently at my feet, gnawing on bones. dave is hiding somewhere, probably wondering where the furniture is so he can have more hiding places. haha which, the furniture, by the way, is coming tomorrow mid-morning. well, the furniture and about 80 boxes and everything else we own. yippee! the other end of moving... the unpacking. so it still doesn't seem like we have moved yet. but it doesn't seem like vacation either. it's like limbo. anyway, let's dig in the picture file and see what is there.



my car was filled up, as was jay's, with what we needed before the movers made it. jay had the dogs in the very back of his land cruiser and i had dave, in his crate, in my front seat. (who is now in my lap.)



here is jay with the girls. we stopped in knoxville at sam's to get gas. up there and in asheville it is less than $3.00/gallon. sadly, it was exciting!



i knew we were getting closer when the sign for the next closest big city changed from knoxville to asheville. it meant the end was in sight! it was, however, about 2.5 hours before we made it (which it never takes that long) but we definitely took our time to get here yesterday.



this post wouldn't be complete without a picture of dave on it. here's the scoop with dave. as you can see, maybe, he is sleeping with his face against the side of the crate. b/c he did not tolerate the medication well, dave would have "fits of rage" where he would paw and climb up his crate walls, meowing intently, hoping our pity would set him free. tough luck. then he would fall asleep and be so still and stiff that he looked like he was dead. it was bizarre. and, if you did not know, cats have a third eyelid. (look it up on wikipedia) his were closed so he could only see out of about 1/4 of his eye. he looked like a little kitty demon. but he is normal again. (praise the lord)

once we get our stuff in the apartment and get some things hung on the walls, so that it looks more like home, i will send pictures of that as well. until then...

finally...

we made it. we got in yesterday around 4:30pm est. yes, we are in a new time zone! crazy. 11 o'clock news. everything is on an hour later. of course, until our cable is hooked up, we can watch abc and a very static-y CW. haha fabulous. and we have an airbed. and one outside chair. but we made it. and the pets made it. dave barely made it. he had a bad reaction to his sedatives (all the animals received sedatives before we left) but dave didn't have much fun with his. so he was a bit of a mess. but he has recovered well and we are surviving. i have shopping 2 miles away... everything i would need (i.e. target) and i know how to get to work. so for now, that is good. well, we are still in need of our stuff. it is on a moving truck somewhere, hopefully on its way, soon. we'll see. but i will put pictures up later. we took some on the way. love you all!

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all good things happen on the 22nd

that is our move date. may 22nd. it is 4 days away! so much to do in so little time. lots to pack. already packed boxes need to be recollected and stockpiled here. friends to see. one more drive through town to see things we will miss. (which does not include traffic and mcmansions) tuesday. that's the day.

step back, elmo... grover is cutest in this house

*grover is the best muppet ever. seriously. not elmo. not big bird. not kermit. but grover. and, thanks to jay, we have our very own 3 foot grover. he's not of the puppet variety, but he is stuffed and furry and cute. so here is a little bit of information on grover. the best. muppet. ever.

Grover is a lovable, furry, wide-eyed, blue monster who sees the world from a four-year-old's point of view. Excitable and compulsive, he is always willing to help, but he rushes into things without thinking of the consequences. He has limited experience and few analytical skills, so he usually ends up doing things the long way around. Children identify with his difficulties when he tries to be helpful and with his long suffering bewilderment with adult logic. They also identify with his fantasy as "Super Grover," as a way of feeling more confident and competent. His speech pattern is meticulous, and he never uses contractions.


With a grin on his face and a bounce in his step, Grover-the self-proclaimed "world's cutest monster"-is always bursting with energy and curiosity. This sometimes gets him into trouble in the real world, but his mommy helps him out as she tells her furry little son to keep trying.

Birthday: October 14

Favorite Song: "Monster in the Mirror"

Best Friend: Kermit (no one else has the patience)

Quote: "Hello every-bod-eeeee!"

Likes: Anything and everything; doing whatever Ernie and Bert can do

Dislikes: Phone booths without doors (supermonsters need their privacy, too!)

busy day of posting

well, i usually don't have much time to sit around and blog all day, so today is a day for two posts! i took the dogs for a walk... together. on one of those leash things so that you can walk two dogs but only hold one leash. yeah, one of those. so they are worn out! yeah! and i can do whatever i want and not have to yell too loudly. it is lovely. but i wanted to post some new pictures and they are all a little bit random, so this will be the random-catch-all post. and, oh, we have had lots of nibbles on the condo so hopefully soon someone will bite! we just attended a party for patrick's graduation. (congrats, patrick, on your masters!) and shannon assisted in taking a dennis family picture with our newest member, courtney. check that out and a close up of my sweet little niece.







and, of course, i always have new puppy pictures. we have since discontinued use of the puppy bed b/c barley is growing faster than we can keep up with. but they both thought they needed to be in it. together.



silly dogs. they also like to play dress up. well, they don't like it as much as we do, but they tolerate it for our amusement.








well, i think those are all the pictures i wanted to share. now that i have figured out how to do it, i am becoming quite proficient. and i think you are now up to date on things with the conkin's. :)

200 a-3 north royal oaks boulevard

well, i finally downloaded my pictures on here from the last few weeks so i thought i would post some on here. because hopefully one day very soon it will no longer be mine. but except for the home(s) i grew up in, i have lived in this place the longest. and just when i thought my address was going to be shorter than the above, the new one is just as long. i will pass it along soon with all of our other information that you may need. never fear. but here is one last look (and probably the cleanest) of a-3.
















so that is my place. for not much longer. i wish much joy to the new owner. whoever that may be. hopefully we won't leave too much fur behind... :)

barley von labrador

well, jay and i are truly crazy. about a month ago, we decided that cotton may need a new playmate. we met a girl at one of the bark parks, named stacy, who has a yellow lab about cotton's age and a new yellow puppy. zeke and boaz, respectively. they quickly became cotton's new best friends and we convinced ourselves cotton needed a friend. jay has always wanted a chocolate lab so we found a litter and picked one out. and she has turned out to be fabulous. her name is barley. we wanted to name her something that had to do with chocolate, but that no one would really get. barley malt is used to make chocolate malt. and so that is where her name comes from. she is cute and spunky and loves to be up high looking down on things. she already thinks she can catch birds. never misses a meal. plays great with cotton. and is the most submissive dog i have ever seen. (which is good and bad.) but we love her and so does cotton. (dave even likes her now.)