:)

:)

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Pigeon Forge Rod Run 2014

Every year since I met Frankie we make the trek up to Pigeon Forge, Tennessee to the car show Rod Run. I met Frankie in May (well, we went on our first date in May) of 2012 and the Spring Rod Run is in April every year. Last year, we met my parents up there and actually stayed in Gatlinburg, but this year it was just us and we stayed on the strip in Pigeon Forge.

Frankie loves all things cars, I mean Summit Racing is like his playground. It is ridiculous how excited he gets over things that I have no idea what they are but it is his thing so I try to be a good little cheerleader. Even if that means that I cheer him on while sitting in the truck while he oohhs and aahhs over weird stuff.

At first this year I was really nervous about going because last year my mom was there so we could keep walking if Frankie and my dad got fixated on particular cars. My parents weren't able to go this year so I wasn't real sure how it was going to work out. Then everything started getting stressful and I needed to get out of town and I thought you know what, it is a chance to get out of town and hang out with my hubby so heck yes we will have a blast. And guess what? We did!!

We left late Friday, April 11th but decided to stop at the Chick-fil-A Dwarf House and relax and sit down and eat. We didn't want to rush too much because we were on vacation and we wanted to enjoy it. We ate and headed out with no problems until close to the Tennessee line. They were doing road work so we got stuck in some traffic and then we got sleepy. :( hmmm... maybe stopping for a sit down meal wasn't the best idea after all. We ended up having to stop at a Tennessee truck stop/rest area and got some snacks. I felt bad sleeping while Frankie was driving so I tried my best to stay awake and talk to him... this also helped my peace of mind because I didn't want him to fall asleep.

We ended up getting into Pigeon Forge around 12:30 that night and went straight to sleep. Finally! The next day we slept in and then headed out to face the craziness of cars, cars, cars and more cars. The amount of people there was ridiculous and it took us a while to find a place to park but we did and we went ahead and went straight to the convention center. They actually built a new convention center and it was really nice! Frankie got really excited about looking at parts. Parts?! Really?! I just didn't get it. I had to leave him and find pretty cars to take pictures of. ;)

Here we are getting ready to head out to walk our butts off :)
 
We really did have a good time walking around and checking out all the cars, probably for very different reasons too. Ha! I like the way the cars and trucks were painted and what the interior looked like, Frankie liked what was under the hood... and the tires. lol He likes the paint job too. :)

When we finished walking the strip we walked back to the truck and went to the hotel for a nap. A nap at 5:00 in the evening. lol We were tired! We got up around 7, took showers, and headed out to this new attraction they built called "The Island". The only thing that I can compare it to is Pier Park in Panama City. The Island wasn't that big yet but it apparently just opened so some of the stores weren't ready for business just yet. They did have some restaurants open as well as an arcade and a humongous farris wheel called "The Wheel".

I tried to get a picture of the sunset in the background - you can kind of see it.
We were definitely learning how to perfect the "selfie" on this trip. :)
 

We decided to try Dirty Dicks - and lets just say it was an experience! We ended up with a really good waitress who took it easy on us since we had never been before. The whole concept is that they are going to mess with you, be sarcastic to you, almost, pretty much be rude to you all in fun and they expect you to do it back. We decided to roll with it and ended up having fun but I do think we both let out a sigh of relief when we left, at least I know I did. I do know that while we had fun we won't be going back to any more Dirty Dicks. It just wasn't for us and the food just wasn't worth all of the interruptions and craziness from the staff.

After we ate we actually got to ride The Wheel! Yay!! I had secretly wanted to since we first saw it earlier in the day but I know Frankie does not like heights and I wouldn't appreciate him asking me to do something with spiders so I didn't mention it. However, he does know me pretty well and he must love me a good bit because he said I know you want to ride that thing so we will try it out. Make my heart smile why don't ya! I was super excited. The Wheel was a blast and Frankie enjoyed it. We were inside a little gondola thing and as Frankie stated "it rides really smooth" so he was a happy camper.

 
The fountain changed colors and went along with different songs.
 
 

 

The view from the top! :)
 
We finished the night cruising the strip with the teenagers. lol It did seem like that but that is a good time to see some nice cars so we had a good time. While we "cruised" we calculated how many miles we walked in all earlier in the day and it came to a round total of 5 miles. Crazy! Once again we got to bed late but we slept in and slept  hard!!

Sunday we made no quick moves to get back home. We went to Cracker Barrel for breakfast, which is becoming a quick tradition for us. We went last year during the Rod Run and our first Christmas when Frankie took me to Gaitlinburg we ate there, so this was the third time and it is always so yummy! After breakfast we stopped at the huge Tanger Outlet that is located there and we both found a nice sale and ended up with some new shoes! Frankie got a new pair of tennis shoes and I found a pair of running shoes. :) We were happy people.

We headed out of town and into Knoxville to visit Frankie's Granny. She cracks me up and it is always nice to see her. Once we left her house we headed back to Barnesville with a wonderful surprise stop for supper at The Varsity! The perfect way to end a great weekend. We had a blast.

 
Here are some pictures of some ridiculous cars that get a big Unnecessary from me!


 
 
Umm...No Sir, this looks horrible, and you look ridiculous for wasting your money.
 
 Here are some random vechiles...
 What was once used as a wrecker to haul cars...

I'm not even sure what this old thing is. All I know is that it is really really really old and has way too much money in the engine. Ridic.
 
It turns out one of my favorite classics is old classic trucks!
Here are some of my favorites.
 
 
 
 
 


Clearly nothing is ever put in the back of this truck.
 
 
Here are some of my favorite classy cars.
 
 
 
 
 
 
This car was by far my favorite car of the show.
I loe love love the colors and I loved the interior too.
 
 
Frankie has a 1971 SS Camaro. Last year we didn't see too many '71 cars but this year we saw a lot. Here are some of Fankie's car...



 
 
 
 

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Aeveryday14 ~ Weeks 8 & 9

 
 
 
Week 8!
 
 
 
Day 50: We had some termite protection done and the termite man found some baby turtles. One was still in his shell! We were the proud parents of baby turtles for a few days. :) This was also the day that Dr. T called to tell me my nodule was cancer. I like the turtles better :)
 
 
 
Day 51: My sweet Nanny made me supper.



 
Day 52: There is not much better than Disney. Even when you are grown.
Disney is still magic and I want to go to Disney World so bad!

 
Day 53: Frankie's Toy Store :)

 
Day 54: This was a pretty emotional day for us with lots of attention and
prayers at church. So thankful that I have him by my side through it all!


 
Day 55: My first day back at work. I missed my classroom, the colors,
the rug, the centers, and most of all my kids!!

 
Day 56: Music...check, Driver...check, Pillow...check!
Ready to road trip #2 for surgery #2.


 
Week 9!

 
Day 57: Second surgery down and this time I got pretty scarves!

 
Day 58: A sweet co-worker came by the house and dropped off goodies for my throat!

 
Day 59: My work family sent me beautiful flowers.
Definitely blessed to have such a thoughtful work family.

 
Day 60: This sweet baby makes everything better.

 
Day 61: Frankie labored all night on my car and he said this just
had to be my picture for the day... so here it is. lol

 
Day 62: Apparently your thyroid regulates all of your calcium so...
I was taking 6 calcium pills a day and let me tell you it was not fun!

 
Day 63: Finally! A normal day!! Loved my card from my class!
I have sweet sweet babies!

Sunday, March 30, 2014

All Things Spring...or more like All Things Tulips

I have been waiting on spring... and not very patiently. Let's be clear, spring is not my favorite season, not by far, but, when you have a winter like we did you crave spring like crazy.

Some of my favorite things that I do love about spring are birds chirping, warmer days, longer days and most importantly flowers blooming! I love flowers. It's kind of weird that I love flowers so much because I am not willing to plant them or get in the yard and do anything with them. But I still love them. I am hoping that one day I will get in the dirt and plant and stay outside with flowers and maybe even vegetables, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

I have a huge, completely unreasonable phobia of spiders. Typing the word makes my heart beat faster. I scream if I accidentally see them on TV. I completely lose it and break down and bawl ... pretty much hyperventilate if one is around me. My family frequently saves my life from them and they know if I am screaming for someone to help me that I need them to come kill a spider. I know it is ridiculous. I know I could just squash them easily. I know that I am bigger than them and they are probably scared of me too. All these things that I know? Well, when a creature that has 8 legs and numerous eyes gets near me, these things I know go out the window. I have gotten better as I get older and I hope I continue to get better. I don't plant flowers because the last time I did (which was 10 years ago when I was in high school lol) a spider crawled on me and I almost died. So, since then, no more yard work.

Enter my wonderful and amazing husband. He loves the yard. He spends every second of sunlight in the yard. Sometimes just standing and admiring it. Well, he knows how much I love tulips and how much I wanted some tulips this year. So way back in November he planted me some tulips. Yes, he's wonderful. You can't have him. We weren't sure any would even come up but when I saw those tiny specks of green coming up from the pine straw I completely flipped out I was so excited. Our tulips have been so beautiful this year that I have become border-line obsessed with them. So, in honor of spring and the beautiful weather and new decorations I have tons of pictures for you.
Love my tulips... they are beautiful. :)

 
When they first started coming up we couldn't remember what colors we had picked out, we just knew it was a mixture. These white ones first bloomed yellow and then turned white with purple touches in them. So pretty!

 
They loved the sun and when I got home from work on this day they were all facing the sun. :)

 
Another picture of them following the sun.

 
They were so open!

 
I love this picture because they knew the sun had gone down and it was time to close up and go to bed.  ...see, I told you I was obsessed....

 
When it rained and the sun wasn't out they didn't open. How gorgeous do they look though with the raindrops on them?

 
My favorite picture that I took of them has to be this one.
I just love it.

 
My mom bought me this adorable bunny wreath that I love love love! I wanted to put it on my front door but it was smaller than what we thought and it goes perfectly on my pantry door in my kitchen.
Love!

 
My new door decoration is my pretty spring time bow! This picture just screams spring to me because of the bright pink bow and the tulips in the reflection. :)
 
Happy Spring!!