Clay gets older

It is that time of year again...Clay's birthday week!  I say week because every year we end up celebrating for a week...no kidding :)  The Saturday before, we met Sarah and Andy at Roosters to celebrate both Andy and Clay's birthdays because Andy's was Friday.  Then we headed to NoDa brewery for a beer or two.  Kathy came over on Sunday to spend some time with Clay and give him a gift. 

Clay's actual birthday was on Wednesday and Alexa and I made him his favorite:  chocolate cake with chocolate frosting (Alexa decorated it with sprinkles).  I also made smashed seasoned potatoes (Clay's favie...I think) and Alexa made us salad.  I had steak ready for Clay to grill when he got home from school because I would have ruined his birthday steak had I tried to cook it myself.  Erin came over and we all ate together!  Later I gave Clay his gift which was a porter beer kit and mustache boxers ;)

The Sunday after Clay's birthday, Roger and Belinda brought us out to lunch at Razoos to celebrate once again!  I guess when you get as old as Clay, you have to celebrate as much as you can!!  I love you Hunni!!!

 

WCU Homecoming Weekend

Clay and I made our annual trip to Western for Homecoming, but it was different from the usual in many ways.  We set out on Friday and began with a brewery tour at Oscar Blues.  Good beer, good tour, great company!  Afterwards, we drove through the Pisgah National Forest to get back on track to WCU.  The drive was absolutely beautiful...peak season with leaves falling as we drove.  We also came across this gem of a waterfall!  I finally got to see waterfalls!!!

When we got to Sylva, we continued on our beer tour by sharing a flight at Heinzelmannchen and another flight at a new brewery called Innovation, which was excellent.  Then we kept tradition by meeting up with Beau, Jenn and Jackson for dinner, but we broke tradition by eating at the newly improved Dillsboro Smokehouse (Paula Deen's closed :( boo)  Tradition continued as we checked into the Jarrett house where we stayed all weekend.

Saturday we tailgated and Clay whipped up a gourmet pot of clam chowder, which was amazing.  I must mention that he lit the camp stove completely on fire!  We were certainly attracting attention, especially since Beau set the grass on fire shortly after!

 

 

Finally we went to watch the game.  Long story short, WCU won in overtime!  This was the FIRST game that I had seen them win since 2004 and the FIRST time Clay and I had seen them win together!!!  We definitely jumped out of the stands and stormed the field...it was kind of a big deal!  Clay, Beau and Jackson even got their picture with Dr. Belcher, the chancellor.  What an exciting night!!

We closed our traditional weekend with dinner at Speedy's...a yummy way to end a fun night!

On Sunday, Clay and I went to the Great Smoky Mountain Nat'l Park and FINALLY got to see some waterfalls!!!!  I had been wanting to go hiking to see waterfalls for about a year but we never had time until then. It was a beautiful day for a hike and the trees and leaves were gorgeous!  We didn't get kicked off the trail this time b/c we left Nugget at home with Kathy.  Homecoming weekend was amazing this year...finally a trip that didn't disappoint!!!

 Yay for the delay option on the camera!  We were able to get a few cute pictures of us on the trails :)

Bathroom brightener

I adore my bathroom but I've not been a huge fan of the color since I painted it about 2.5 years ago.  The color blue was a bit powdery or something like that.  However, I have always loved the color of Sarah's bathroom, and she recently gave me the rest of the paint she used.  So of course I had to re-paint the bathroom!  It is more of a beachy turquoise now, very bright and happy, happy, happy.

 

It's a bit difficult to see the color difference from these pics, but just compare the color to the white and you'll be able to see it better.  BEFORE:

AFTER:  Did I mention that Clay didn't even notice the color change?? lol

DC during the shutdown!

Early October, Clay and I visited DC to spend time with family and do some sight seeing.  On our must-see list was Ford Theater and Smithsonian, plus eating at Gatsby's Tavern as we did on our 2008 visit.  Unfortunately, the government shut down and Ford and Smithsonian were closed.  Despite this speedbump, we went to DC anyway and got to do some fun things that we would not have done otherwise. 

 

At the White House of the Confederacy in Richmond, VA.  We took a tour of th house.  It was interesting though b/c the house was basically downtown surrounded by hospital buildings.  I had imagined it on an estate, like Monticello or Mt. Vernon.

 

We visited Mt. Vernon again.  We hadn't planned on doing this, but with the shutdown, we decided to.  That view of the Potomac River never gets old!  I can see why Washington loved it there.

 

Part of "Plan B" included going to Annapolis, shopping around downtown, and visiting the Naval Academy.  We wanted the "authentic" experience so we ordered a soft shell crab sandwich for lunch.  We thought it would be like a crab cake but it ended up being the whole crab on bread!  What a surprise.  It was good once you got past the fact that you're eating a crab whole :)

 

The beautiful chapel at the Naval Academy.  Definitely rivals the ones I've seen in Europe.

 

Here we are, visiting with family.  Next to Clay is Raymond, Joyce, Danielle, Lita, and Max.  It was so good to see everyone and visit.  Tony, Elizabeth and the 3 kids came to see us while we were there as well. 

Our last night in DC, we visited Alexandria.  We strolled around, shopping and seeing the sights.  Then we ate at Gatsby's tavern which has never disappointed us.  The food was AMAzING!  The only bummer was that we sat at a window and got to see someone hit my car while parallel parking.  That was an unwelcome distraction to my amazing food and company!

I can't wait to visit again, see family, and hopefully the government will be "functioning properly," which is an oxymoron in itself.