Happy 42 years!

He cooks our dinner most every night.

He always puts the toilet lid down without being asked.

He makes the bed in the mornings and takes off his shoes when he comes in the house.

And, he turns his tee shirts right side out before he puts them in the laundry basket.

It's the little things. 

I think I'll keep him 

FORTY TWO 

more years!

Happy Anniversary Poppy!

It's Been 39 Years??????

One of the things I am most proud of in life is my marriage. Hubs and I committed to each other for life when we said *I do*….and today we celebrate 39 years together. We have raised three children….and now we have six! We have been blessed to be a part of the lives of nine grandchildren, who bring us more joy than we ever imagined. Life is not perfect for us, but God has been so good and so faithful. 

Today as hubs sets out to ride from the mountains to the coast of North Carolina I will spend my week being thankful that his life includes mine.

Happy 39 years to the one my heart loves.

photo by jenny

Dancers and Bikers

This weekend was an active one. :)

I dropped hubs off at 5:00 a.m Saturday morning for him to begin his bike ride. He participated in the Double Down to the Beach again this year. That is a 200 mile bike ride in one day. 11-12 hours of seat time pedaling a bike. Can you even begin to imagine that? Last year he made it the 200 miles (204 to be exact!) This year he was a few miles short (150 miles) because of some light-headedness and over heating.
 STILL, he is my hero !!!!!

He rides with a GREAT group of guys! Proud to know them!

Anyway, after I dropped him off to begin his ride, I drove two hours to see #2 grand in her dance recital. 
She did great and was so happy doing it!

 Amazing to see a little  four year old up on a big stage. Such a brave girl! Can you tell I am the Nonny?!

After the recital, I scooted to the beach to meet hubs and his friends after their ride. We spent the weekend in Wilmington, NC and took a little day trip yesterday to Southport. We love the quaintness of Southport and enjoyed lunch at Provision Company before heading home.

Not a bad weekend. Not bad at all!

There is a Firetruck in my Bathroom

Life is busy.

I am trying to live INTENTIONALLY.

If you remember, that was my word for 2013.

I blogged about it HERE.

I received this in the mail yesterday from a dear friend:

Such a sweet reminder hanging in my kitchen!

Thank you Teresa for your sweet gift!

Recently I kept the two oldest granddaughters.

Sometimes that involves lots of driving and changing of plans.

My sweet son-in-law met me to pick them up

And brought me this great Starbuck's mug:

(along with a gift card)

Thank you Big Al for noticing and appreciating.

Our oldest granddaughter lost her first tooth yesterday.

She is five.

This is a big week for her.

She starts kindergarten this week too!

Hubs is back to cycling now after six weeks of recovery from his bike accident.

He is like a kid in a candy store.

Back in the saddle again!

The oldest of the second set of nieces starts her freshman year...

TODAY....

at college.

Such an exciting time for her!

We only live about twenty minutes away from her school

And we can't wait to take her to dinner...

Or maybe wash some clothes!!

We sure do love you KiKi!

Yesterday was a doozy....

Is that a word?

Anyway, I kept five of the seven grands yesterday...

I was deliriously tired and happy when I got done....

Hence......

There is a FIRETRUCK in my bathroom!!!

Scary Night

This is where we were one week ago today.

Most of you know hubs is a cyclist.

He cycles most days/evenings.

It's what he loves.

It's what his heart beats for.

(Along with Jesus, me, the kids and grands of course.)

I got a phone call from a fellow rider letting me know hubs had had an accident.

He rides with an incredible group of people who stood by him when he needed them. They are to be commended. He is blessed to have them.

He was unconscious for about 10 minutes and had a severe concussion.....

........along with some other scrapes and bruising that will all heal.

Hubs was fortunate.

He has to stay off his bike for six weeks to avoid hitting his head again.

It's going to be a long six weeks.........

On a side note,

NEVER underestimate the power of a helmet.

This helmet may have saved him from serious brain injury.

Be careful Poppy.

You are loved.

June Catch Up

WOW!

And I thought May was busy!

The first weekend in June was Wells' (nephew) 1st birthday!

His mom had worked for months on his party!

THE VERY HUNGRY CATERPILLAR!

The next weekend my niece, KiKi, graduated from high school!

She graduated salutatorian, so she had to make a speech.

Kiki was a Fabulous speaker!!!

We had a party the night before to celebrate her!

So proud of this girl!

That same weekend hubs did his 200 mile bike ride.....

....and the girls had their dance recital!

The next weekend was Father's Day.

We spent the day at my brother's house.

He lives on the lake and it was a gorgeous day!

In between all those weekends I tried to work a few days...

.......and I kept all the kiddos at different times!

Next week is Cousin Camp!!!

Then, Nonny might need a VACA!



Stay tuned...............

*Double Down to the Beach*...CRAZY Stuff!

If you have read my blog for very long you know hubs is a cyclist.

He started riding several years ago.

He quickly became hooked.

He did his first Century ride (100 miles) three years ago.

I did a post about it HERE.

He loves the outdoors and does not have a fear of riding on the road.

Plus...

He's a beast.

No lie.

THIS is what he did Saturday:

The ride was called *Double Down to the Beach.*

He rode with approx 125 other guys....

His first Double Century....

200 miles in one day.

He pedaled a bicycle 204 miles.

It took him 12.5 hours.

Yeah, I have a hard time driving a CAR for 12.5 hours.

Can you even IMAGINE pedaling a bike that long???

Plus....

He is 59.

As in years old.

Here he is at the finish with three of his buddies, that also rode over 200 miles.

Hubs is in the bright yellow shirt.

Give a shout out to these guys!

Proud of you hubs!

Was This A Bike Trip Or A Food Trip???????

To say that the seven days crossing North Carolina was great is an understatement.

Hubs left Brevard, NC last Sunday and cycled 500 miles to Carolina Beach, NC with over 1,000 bicyclists. I don't have a lot of great pictures but I have some fabulous memories. While he pedaled I set out to explore every small town along the way. My goal was to find small mom and pop restaurants and bakeries and to see if there were children's shops along the way.

WE celebrated our 37th wedding anniversary on the day we left. We spent the night in Brevard, NC at at Bed and Breakfast called The Red House Inn.  If you are ever up that way, stop in. It is a precious place (we stayed two nights in the cabin out back), and is operated by the nicest couple!

 We saw some beautiful waterfalls while out exploring and spent some time in Waynesville!

 His first ride was from Brevard to Lake Lure...talk about BEAUTIFUL!!!! We spent the night at my *home away from home*....Camp Lurecrest.

From Lake Lure he pedaled to Shelby, NC. Sweet town with a wonderful diner!!! If you are ever there, eat at The Shelby Cafe'!  They have been in business since the 1920's and man can they cook! If you go, ask for Billie. She is the owner and a sweet, sweet lady!!

Oh, and this is how you dry shoes and clothes in a hotel if you pedal in rain so hard you can't see your hand in front of you:

Shelby to Matthews, NC was our next day. I have some family and friends that live close by that came to cheer hubs on!!! How encouraging is that????!!!!! Our family cooked our meal in Matthews....fish tacos that were oh so yummy!!!

Bright and early the next morning we headed to Rockingham, NC.  Hmmmm.......my mom always said *If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.*  I feel bad for Rockingham. Since the major Nascar Races are no longer held there, the town has lost a lot of its revenue. I sure hope they are able to revive what is left of Rockingham and that one day soon it will flourish again. If you know of a great cafe' or restaurant there I hope you'll visit them. All we could find was a chain barbecue restaurant that we eat in at home. So, barbecue it was....and it was good!

From Rockingham he rode to Lumberton. Lumberton was sooo friendly. Who knew????  The bikers had their warmest welcome in Lumberton and hubs and I fell in love with a crazy good restaurant there named *Candy Sues.*  Best meatloaf and ribs we may have ever eaten and some to-die-for fried cheesecake with blueberry compote. *Slap Yo Momma* good! We met the owner, Candy Sue herself , and quickly realized why it's a popular place not just because they have good food! Lumberton was a pleasant surprise.

Our next stop was White Lake which was a beautiful lake with a white sandy bottom!!! It's a great place to take a family with children....especially if you like to camp. We spent our *down* time in a town five minutes away. Elizabethtown was one of the best little towns we visited. There are some quaint cafe's and a hamburger joint, Melvins, that was written up in Our State Magazine. There is also a bakery, *Burney's Sweets and More,*  that has fabulous cream cheese croissants and doughnuts and just about any other homemade dessert you can think of. I can still smell those warm pastries fresh from the oven!!!

The last day of the trip was from White Lake to Carolina Beach, NC. It was the most beautiful day of the entire week. The day was sunny with highs near 80 degrees. Their 500 mile ride was complete!! We celebrated with a meal at Michael's Seafood!  All the seafood at Michaels is steamed, broiled or grilled. I highly recommend this restaurant....especially if you've just pedaled 500 miles across NC on a bicycle!!

 I am so proud of Hubs for his commitment to cycling across North Carolina. He has dieted and exercised and committed himself to a healthier lifestyle. However, I would be remiss if I shared all this and did not share what REALLY made a difference to us during this trip.

The people.

Hubs rode with a man he met on the trip named Buck....I call him Santa Claus.

 Buck is from the mountains of West Virginia. He is all that is good in this world. The salt of the earth. He cares about those less fortunate and lives his life to make a difference. It's good to know a man like Buck. He restores your faith in mankind.

Then, there was a young man who rode the entire 500 miles......he is paralyzed from the waist down. He pedals and brakes with his hands. His strength, both physically and mentally, is nothing short of amazing, And how about the man in his 70's who is autistic? Yeah, how about him? His bicycle was pieced together with pieces of 2x4's. He had a tachometer off a car rigged up to keep up with his miles. He inspired everyone to be thankful....and pedal on. And what about the retired gentleman who has ridden in 50 rides this year alone.....thousands and thousands of miles!!! There were groups that were riding for cancer and a group of men from Lexington, NC riding for a children's home. There was a woman from High Point, NC who had JUST started riding and through tears made her way each day to the finish line. She never dreamed she would make it. 

The People. 

Better than the food or the bike ride.

Hubs can't wait to do it again next year.

Me either. Oink Oink.

Cycle North Carolina

Hubs is pedaling over 500 miles across NC this week....From the mountains to the coast! I am pushing the pedal in the car and meeting him in each town!! :)  We had some family and a friend meet up with us in Matthews, NC!! Thanks for coming!!!

I have lots more to tell about this trip....but we are OFF to the next town this morning!!!!