The Past 2 Weeks

The past 2 weeks feel very full. Filled with travel, family, more travel, and church choir rehearsals. General business that comes with the holiday season. So for a recap... Over Thanksgiving we headed down to Gatlinburg for a long weekend with family in the mountains. I love the mountains, and family. And food, so it worked out. :)

Thanksgiving Day was spent pretty much like this:

Literally. Except for the laundry I did and the food I ate, I worked on my stocking ALL DAY LONG. All while watching the end of Mary Poppins, most of Beauty and the Beast, and all of You've Got Mail. And 10 minutes after the last movie, I was done. No more needlepoint - just all the detail work. Which took another week to complete. But now I have this:

Done as of yesterday. w00t!

Friday in Gatlinburg looked pretty much the same as above, just without the stocking in my lap all day. It was rainy, cloudy, and cold so we didn't really venture out. But Saturday David and I finally made it on our 8 mile hike. It was cold, but kinda nice. Two years ago we did the same thing for Thanksgiving, but only made it halfway up the Ramsey Cascades Trail before we decided to turn around and finish it another trip.

The trail climbs 2375 ft over 4 miles. I found it daunting, but definitely satisfying to finish.

Since coming home we have traveled to Cincinnati for another residency interview and Springfield, KY for an engagement party (David's brother!). I'm looking forward to a week at home and started other projects I'd like completed before Christmas.

And for a December weather update - it's flurried and/or snowed here 5 days. Today is December 6. Hello winter!