OUR TRIP TO DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE!! (and the Mark Schultz concert!!)

Hannah + I went to Asheville on Saturday (8/22/09) with our good friend, Alison. (she knows downtown Asheville where as we don't...she used to live in Asheville.) We'd been planning on doing this for months + decided to JUST DO IT!! this particular day...

Here's Hannah ready to head out. Still at our house right before we left.

In Alison's car heading to the 'BIG CITY.'

Walking in downtown Asheville.

These drawings were on a stockade fence between 2 buildings. They were amazing. The artist community here is terrific.

We ate a really cool Pan Asian restaurant, DOC CHEY'S Noodle House. We sat at the 'bar' (which was really a granite counter with some cool fiber optic lights in it. tried to take a picture of the lights...but it wouldn't show up in the photos.) The picture of Me is a silly one...trying to 'look Asian' I guess!!! LOL!! But in actuality just being silly. :) The 'girl' in the bottom picture was our server. She worked the bar. She was very nice + patient with me. ;) I'm not one for anything out of the ordinary when it comes to my food intake so I had a few questions about their menu. ;) The dining area wasn't very big + the wait would have been very long had we not eaten at the counter. Oh...And the food was good, too!!! :D

SCENERY OF DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE..........

Hannah at the 'bead store' spending the Gift Certificate that Alison gave her last year for her birthday! Better late than never!! She had a wonderful time going through all they had. Very cool store.

Absolutely loved this mural on the side of a building. Had to have Hannah take a picture of me!

That pretty much finishes our day in Asheville. I got so excited about being in a 'CITY' that you would think I was in New York City!! Asheville is a very eclectic city with people from all different walks of life. Very cool. :)

The Mark Schultz concert at the new Smoky Mountain Performing Arts Center. Very nice facility (with extremely fancy bathrooms!!!!). The concert was FANTASTIC!! Very uplifting. Will definately see him in concert again if we get the chance.

Kevin + I after the concert outside the Perforning Arts Center.

Thanks all for letting me go on + on about our adventures this summer. Sorry it's taken me so long to post on my blog. 'Need' to update it at least every other week. (or at least 'try!!') I'll 'try' to be better at it from now on!!

Happenings of the past week or so...

Well....this past week or more has been quite exciting! Last Tuesday (?) Kevin painted our kitchen. The bottom color is the same as in the Living Room but the top part is a lighter yellow from the same paint chip than the LR. I absolutely LOVE how it has turned out!!

Here's a photo of Kevin painting behind the sink.... (yes, he painted right over the wallpaper!! Believe me...it's much easier this way than having a frustrated painter in your home!!)

The finished kitchen corner + back door. This photo doesn't show the 'right' colors of this room. (flash must have been on!)

This is the 'finished' Kitchen. ;) I say that because as you can see....my kitchen still isn't completely put back together. (believe it or not...it still isn't completed!!) I made these valances myself. I tore the fabric after dying them the same color as the Living Room and 'sewed' them with iron-on fuse tape. (It's great when you don't want to pull out your machine!!) They came out terrific. I'm very proud of myself!!

And here's the finished Living Room. The curtains have been dyed. My (our) home is like having the sun shining inside all the time. :) Very comforting + uplifting.

Here's a photo of me on my birthday. I know...not the most flattering!! We (my mom + I) 'tried' making sugar-free cupcakes. They weren't the tastiest...but I wanted my mom to be able to eat some cake, too.

More birthday pictures........

Maggie holding 'baby Luke.' She did so very well. She even got to feed him!! :)

And Hannah holding her nephew baby Luke. :)

Here are 3 generations. My mom, Lynette. My neice, Maggie. And myself. (I'm sorry my sister, Mag's mom Barbara, couldn't make it. she had to work.)

My mom + I when they first got here. :)

Me comforting Maggie after her 'injury.' It was quite amusing (once we knew she was going to be fine). We were playing 'restaurant' out on the deck + Kevin was popping in + out of the sliding-glass-doors being the 'chef' Well, after we ordered + got our food he thought we were done playing so he closed the door. Maggie had no idea he had done this. Well...she ended up walking right into the closed glass door. At first it upset her but once we saw that she wasn't hurt I had to laugh because it was comical. :D :D If I had video taped it we could have won $10,000 from 'America's Funniest Videos.' (LOL!!!)

Here's Kevin (my honey!!) cooking us supper on our last night together. We had barb-b-qued chicken with lots of fresh veggies from a local produce stand. Yummy!!!

One of the best + biggest highlights (at least for me) was watching Maggie playing with Honey, our very large Collie. Two years ago she was petrified of her. She told me her goal this time was to spend time with our dog. And she sure did!! Maggie's favorite prt was being able to walk Honey around our yard on the leash. Maggie seemed to like being more in control of her. It was just great watching her overcome her fears.

This is one of my favorite pictures of our visit. All the 'girls' we had here for my b-day.

Sitting: Aunt Martha + Mother

Back row: Me, Maggie + Hannah

It was so nice seeing family. We had a great time with all the fun we could shove into 2 days!! Went to the Factory. Had chinese food for my b-day lunch. Shopped uptown on Main Stree. And the best....was eating Maple Walnut ice cream at the local chocolate shop. :) Yum!!!

Thanks for 'hearing' me out!!!

Hope you've enjoyed the pictures!!

Hugs..........Nanette :D

Happy 4th!! And a wonderful blessing!!

Hello all!!

Been awhile since I've posted. Was down last weekend with a bladder infection + the antibiotic did tunes on my system. Actually overrode my Paxil so I was a bit anxious. :( Not too fun. But now I am FINE!! Back to my old self.

Got lots to share today. First off.....

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!!

Hope it's a good one for you all. :) Not sure what we're doing yet. Kevin's been a bit stressed this week due to the jobs he's been working on. Yesterday was a 'bad' day...worse he's had in a really long time. :( Love ya, Sweetie!!

My BFF is still on vacation. Been living through her trip!! They were in NYC all day yesterday. Kept sending me phone pictures. Love it! Someday I'll get there......

Also my other WW buddy is on her vacation with her family to see family. I can't wait for them both to get home!! Miss them dearly!!

My mom, Aunt Martha + niece Maggie are coming to visit next week. :D :D I can't tell you how 'giddy' I am about them being here for my birthday next Thursday. (July 9th for those who didn't know!!) It's been way too long since I've spent my birthday with my mom. Looking so forward to their visit. It's also been lightyears since I've seen my Aunt Martha. It will be great to see her again. And I can't wait to Maggie. To see how much she's grown. She'll be 12 next month. Hard to believe she's growing into a young lady!

Now onto my pictures...

I had some excitement this past week. I went to my local yarn shop...Silver Threads + Golden Needles...on Wednesday (7/1/09) to celebrate the 1st birthday of Virginia + her daughter, Kristen, owning the store. The store has been here on Main Street for 4 years or so but they bought it a year ago.

These cakes were Adorable + Delicious!! They were hand-made and so cute!!

This is the shop with the festivities going on. Lots of people there. Got to touch + enjoy the luscious yarns. There were also sales going on. (Of course I just HAD to buy some new yarn!!)

These are some gorgeous hand-knit garments that are in the window of the shop. Projects that I would love to make.....someday!!

And the BEST NEWS of all from that day....

They had a door prize giveaway at 3:00 that afternoon. You had to be present to win. They gave away 3 different prizes. Of course, I HAD to back at 3:00!! And boy am I glad I did!!

I WON THE GRAND PRIZE!!!!

It was a knitting basket full of over $175 worth of products. The basket was one that I 'covetted' in the shop + am thrilled to have won it! There were 3 skeins of yarn...one is YAK!! and another is cashmere!! (would love to knit Kevin a pair of socks from that!!) To fill the basket there was a bunch of other goodies. Was so blessed to have won!!

I guess I've gone on long enough!!

Thanks for 'listening' to me!!
Have a WONDERFUL 4th of July!!

HUGS TO ALL!!
Nanette :D

Not been keeping up!! :(

Hello All!!!

Been too long since I've blogged...although not even a month...so I'm still doing alright. ;)

Hope all is well with everyone!!

Lots of stuff going on here. Kevin painted my Living Room yesterday. (I guess 'nagging + teasing' pays off!!)

The colors are beautiful!! Very 'sunny' + make me 'happy' everytime I see them!

Although the bottom color isn't orange at all!!! We will next be doing the kitchen. Same bottom color (which is a melon-type color) but a lighter shade of the top 'golden' color. Can't wait!! I'm dying our old Living Room curtains right now. Going around in the washer. Lots of steps to take to do that...but for less than $6 plus some hot water (city water) it's a whole lot cheaper than buying or even making new ones. I'll put more pictures on here in the next day or so. :)

I lost 1.2 more pounds last Tuesday at WW. Not sure how I'll do this week. I only need to lose 6/10 of a lb. to hit 35 lbs. but I haven't been tracking my food intake so well this week. :( The scale will tell!

We ended up keeping the kitten we found at the grocery store parking lot. Named him 'Little Dude' so when he gets bigger he'll be just 'Dude.' He is such a cutie + so high-spirited!! Lots of personality.

He is FEARLESS!!! Gets along with Honey alright + somewhat with Shelli (our kitty). But Joe-Slate (our other kitty) does not like him at all!!!

'Oh no!!! IT'S ALL GONE!!!'

He has really fit into our family nicely. So mcuh fun!!

Christopher played soccer this spring. We got to see a lot of his games. This was their last game of the season. He did very well. The games were played 3 on 3 with no goalie. For most of the kids it was their first year playing so they did a lot of running around. Really fun to watch them play.

And last but not least....We have 2 new babies in our family. Kevin is holding Christopher's brother Luke in the picture below. He was born on May 14th. Such a cutie!!

Also Michael + Windy had their baby. (long story!) Calyb Gabryel was born at 10:20 p.m. (mst...in CO) on June 11. He weighed 7 lbs. 14.5 oz. And from what I hear he has quite the head of hair! No pictures of him yet. But hopefully soon. And when I see him I will share.

WOW!!! I've gone on + on! And was even able to put in pictures!!!! (a first for me!!! now that I've got it figured out!! LOL!!!)

If all goes right I should be able to do this more often. :)
Have a great week!!!

Many tight HUGS!!!
Nanette