Tender Tennessee Christmas

After our cruise, we drove to Gatlinburg Tennessee. We had spent the first part of our honeymoon at my grandparents timeshare there, so it felt as though we were reliving our honeymoon- in reverse.

As a Christmas present to my parents, we had arranged a family getaway at the timeshare. Two of my brothers, two sisters and Paul and I joined my parents. The first morning together there was a pillow fight and plenty of sibling fun. It was so nice to relax and hang out the way we had as kids.

As we left to go to breakfast very early on our first morning together, it began snowing!!! It was so crazy to have a sunburn from laying on the beach one day and then be freezing in the snow the next!

Cutest diner ever! Notice the snow scene painted on the windows? They even had a working jukebox! When I buy my vintage rv this is what I want the dining area to look like!



Pidgeon Forge has a hotel and shopping area called Christmas Place.
The shop filled with Christmas decorations and nativity scenes was amazing. They had a ceiling covered with starlight and a sleigh with santa and the reindeer that was flying through the sky. Around the end of the ceiling there was also a model train chugging along.



Aren't my sisters and husband too cute for words???



My sisters and I love taking silly pictures like this. The fun thing is getting my Dad to get in the picture with us. He's very silly, but he tries to hide it as best he can.

Mom makes the best cookies. I'm sure that she's the real Mrs. Claus!

The view from our balcony at the timeshare was amazing. Mom had mentioned to the woman who checked us in that she was so excited because we haven't had a family vacation like this since before my brother had been deployed and now he and his bride-to-be are going to stay there at the timeshare on their honeymoon! The woman upgraded us as a thank you for my brother protecting our country. Wasn't that sweet?

During my brother's deployment, while Bush was still president, my brother recieved a phone call from the president on Christmas eve thanking him and all the members of the Coast Guard for defending our country. A few weeks later he was invited to have breakfast with President Bush while he was doing a troop tour. Our family is very proud of him!

"Aarrghh, Matey!"

First things first, if you go to the bottom of the page and scroll through the playlist I have a few Pirates of the Caribbean songs that you can click on to "set the mood" : )

Freeport's Gold Rock Beach was where Pirates of the Caribbean II and III was filmed. Gold Rock Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches I've ever seen and I guess Disney thought so too. They built a studio there to film, as well as a special ocean filming tank.

We drove out to check out the studio which is part of a decomissioned U.S. missile base. I was surprised to see that it has been abandoned and stripped out. There are lots of building. A baseball field, tennis courts, dorms and who knows what else. The entrance and sign are all grown over.

These were the dorm rooms/apartments. There's not much left. Even the sinks and toilets have been ripped out.




And all the doors are gone!




I read that the original hope was to build Pirate themed resort hotels, water park, resturants and bars. They were even going to give studio tours! So much for that idea. It would have been great. It's really too bad no one invested in it.

Paul and I drove out to Gold Rock Beach
two days in a row because it was so heavenly!
It was neat to be there and explore the places were they had filmed.




I can't imagine Eden being any more perfect than this!



There isn't really anything pirate-y on the island, but we did discover this boat close to our hotel. We road out to check it out. It was docked next to someone's house and their dogs were not too excited to see us, but we went over anyway and took a few quick pictures from the gang plank. It was really pirate-y feeling. Sooo fun! I want to sail to an island on an old pirate ship and discover a cave filled with pirate treasure!
Aren't the words cave and treasure fun?


I love the old movie Blackbeard's Ghost. My dad used to read old stories about shipwrecks and treasures. The thrill and adventure of those stories always excited me.

Paul would look cute with a bandana on his head- he already has the perfect beard!

Perhaps a parrot would look good on his shoulder too!

Or a captain's uniform! Very Horatio Hornblower.

Lucayan National Park

I, being the dork I am, researched Grand Bahama Island a lot before our trip. I had read about the amazing underwater tunnels that you can access from Lucayan National Park and knew that we had to visit there.

There are over six miles of charted tunnels and caverns. They know that there is much more to the underwater system, but it is still uncharted. You can take scuba diving trips to explore the underwater world. How cool would that be???

No bats were there when we visited. Yet another reason to visit Grand Bahama Island in December!

The rickety walkways surrounded by lush vegitation made me feel as though we were in Swiss Family Robinson. Paul and I dream of having a treehouse like theirs someday. :)

Can you see the sunlight filtering through the blue-green water? There were soooo many fish in the cave! The fresh water floats over the salt water layer. It is amazing.

I wanted to be a marine biologist when I was growing up. That or a mermaid! As a kid, one of my friends heard that the St. Joseph novena ALWAYS works, so she said it and asked that St. Joseph would intercede that she became a mermaid. She and St. Joseph weren't on the best of terms for a little while after that! : D

Maybe, being an Island Princess would be a little more attainable, hhhmmm???

Here fishy, fishy, fishy... Paul tried to feed the fish banana chips!



I once saw a PINK fish this big...!

Advent on an Island

Time out for Advent!

Advent is supposed to be a time of preparation, reflection and quality time with loved ones. The liturgical calendar, like the advent wreath, breaks us out of our normal routine reminding us to be ever ready and anxious with joyful anticipation!


While hubby and I were on our honeymoon cruise to Nassau, we won a cruise and hotel stay in Freeport on Grand Bahama Island. We planned to go for our one year anniversary, but my brother got married the day before our anniversary. We decided to go a few days after Thanksgiving and it was a perfect decision.

The weather was beautiful, but since hurricane season had just ended, there were few other tourist.

I have never, in all my many travels through out the US, Canada, Mexico and Europe, met locals as friendly as those in Freeport. Near the markets there were those who just wanted to sell you stuff, but we rented a moped and drove around the island meeting gas station attendants, waiters and people on the street. Everyone was smiling, happy and ready to say hello! I guess living in such a beautiful place must help people have a sunny outlook :) Their economy has been badly hit and the people are hurting because of it, yet they are still smiling and trying to make the best of things.


This trip was a wondeful way to begin Advent. We enjoyed driving to Florida without the dogs and it was such a treat to be able to stop anywhere we wanted without having to worry about parking an 18-wheeler! Plus, our car has a bench seat! I love riding next to my baby with his arm over my shoulders :) Quality time with my loved one was going to be the first thing checked off my Christmas to-do list!!!

Can you tell that we had a great time???

Seriously, think I'm going to have to get one of these! I loved the Vespas in Rome, but never had a chance to ride one. This little thing got us all over the island. It was truly the best way to see everything and have fun. I even got some nice color on my shoulders and face when my sweater was off! Color is a big plus when it's not RED or WHITE. They tend to be my only color variations.


The beaches in the Caribbean are amazingly beautiful. We were going to go snorkeling the day this picture was taken, but the wind and waves were too big to go out to the reef. Instead we settled for sitting under the palm trees and sipping drinks made with yummy coconut! Talk about polar opposite from living in a tractor trailer.

God is so Good!!!

Detroit Science Center

Nov. 1st, 2009

Detroit Science Center

+

2 Fun Loving Couples
=

4 Really Big Kids!

Hubby and I went on a double date with one of our bridesmaid and her wonderful boyfriend. It was so nice to go out with another couple.

Especially a couple that is as mature and as deep as we are!

We had so much fun playing with the other kids...ehem! I mean, discovering and pondering deep, DEEP thoughts!

If you are ever looking for something romantic to do in Michigan, I would highly recommend this marriage strengthening outing.

And don't miss out on the IMAX. I learned so much about the Great Lakes and it was so, well- BIG!

Plus, you get to sit around like a Couch Potato for an hour!

Kelley's Island

Dedicated to Road Runner, Boy Wonder and Norm

Last weekend we spent a fabulous 15 hours in the sandy duned village of Avon, NC with several members of our "Eternal Song" family. My husband, Paul, or as he is know in some circles, "Gecko", and I live the somewhat bizarre and always interesting life of truckers. Long weeks driving over the road make our time with friends and family a special blessing. This visit was nothing short of a miracle!

We were supposed to have traveled from Indiana to North Carolina on Tuesday of that week. Instead, the trucking company sent us from Indiana to Illinios to Ohio to four different locations in Tennessee. From Tennessee we were sent to deliver a load in Virginia. And finally, on FRIDAY morning we left Virginia and began the three hundred mile trek to Avon. We were so anxious to be with the rest of my husband's brothers and their families at the beautiful beach house in Avon that we could hardly sit still!

The drive to the Outer Banks of North Carolina was a welcome sight for eyes that hadn't seen sandy coastal beaches in far too long. Over the dunes we would catch peeks of kite boarders gliding over the waves. Sand blew across the road in serpentine movements and large beaked pelicans flew by with their smaller sea gull cousins close at hand. It was heavenly!

We made a quick stop in Rodanthe for caffeine. The bottle of homemade rootbeer that Paul bought me was so good! I would love to try making and bottling my on soda someday.

After having seen the movie based of Nicholas Sparks book Nights in Rodanthe, I did hope to see the house from the movie. With little time and so many tall sea side mansions, I couldn't pick out the house, but I did fall in love with almost every house I spotted! Paul has always wanted to live in a tree house and he agreed that the tall porch bedecked houses were the next best thing.

It was nearly 5pm when we pulled up to "Island Time" and backed the cab of our truck into the drive. We made our way up the stairs to the first deck and found Paul's brothers in the hot tub. At last, the brothers were reunited and we all were free to relax! While the boys did the "manly bonding" we women enjoyed catching up and cuddling the babies.

We hadn't all been together since Road Runner's wedding in the fall of 2007. Now he and his wife have the sweetest little boy. Boy Wonder and his wife were there as well with their handsome little leprechaun and a new little bun in the oven. Norm had brought a friend whom I discovered was another kindred spirit. Gecko and I were so happy to be surrounded by dear family and friends and immediately jumped in to catching up on all we'd missed out on.

Earlier in the day, the residents of "Island Time" had tried their hand at crabbing. The result of which was a feast of four dozen fresh crabs. How many had been caught and how many were purchased from "Red Lion" (or was it Risky Business)? I'll never tell. What I will say is that the Crabber of the Day Award went to Boy Wonder. His crabs were by far the best. Yes, the sunburn was well worth it.

Not only does Boy Wonder have a knack for catching the tasty little monsters, but he is also an excellent teacher on how to eat them. He gave use all instruction on Crab Eating 101. Mrs. Road Runner was less than impressed by the amount of food and the "mustard" that it came with. Norm's friend was also on less than good terms with the crustaceans. This was lucky for the rest of us since we were still able to down 46 crabs without much help from the two of them. Only two crabs were left after the several hour feast.

We played a rousing game of a dominoes called PDA (whose turn is it?) while swapping stories of life, love and the pursuit of happiness. Gecko and I shared stories of life on the road that amused everyone so much that they encouraged me to start a blog. It is to them and their wonderful families that I dedicate this entry to.

The evening flew by far too quickly. And morning came even more quickly. Before we knew it everyone had left for the airport and Paul (seperated from his brothers, Gecko had once again returned to being Paul) and I were left to wander the beach on our own. Road Runner's son had left us a special gift in our truck to remember our time together. Many, MANY thanks!

In a novel-like euphoria, Paul and I wandered the beach hand-in-hand searching for shells and tiny sand crabs. We soaked the bottom of our jeans as we chased waves in and out and snapped pictures. Here was yet another chance to discover the awesomeness of God's creation while appreciating the joy of spending your life dedicated to one wonderful person.

We spent the rest of the day wandering around. Paul was as happy as a boy in a toy store (ha!ha!) when we went to Kitty Hawk Kites. He had the look in his eye of a child on Christmas morning! It was one of the most fun stores I've been in in years. I've never seen so many different kite designs. I personally added the Wright Bros. Plane kite to my own Christmas wish list.

There is a winding staircase on the outside of the building that leads up to an observation deck where you can watch people learning to hang glide and kite surf across the street on the dunes of Jockey Ridge park. From the observation deck there was an enormous goofy nylon cow flapping in the wind. The cow was interesting. The view was great.

After wandering around Jockey Ridge's dunes and taking picture by what remains of a mini-golf castle that was taken over by the dunes, we drove to the Wright Brothers National Monument. Paul is not the type of person whose attention can be held by museums exhibits, but he was captivated. Compared to most museums, the Wright Brothers little museum is rather small, but for an airplane enthusiast, it is quite interesting. I would especially recommend the 30 minute video they show about the development of the Wright Brothers original planes. There was also a fun collection of metal figures on the back side of the monument. This was a perfect photo spot. Kids had climbed all over the metal version of the Wright Bros. plane and parents were snapping pictures. Paul and I posed for a few of our own fun pictures.

After only 24 hours on the Outer Banks we were worn out and decided to call it an early night. We picked up pizza and a movie and settled in for some R&R. The perfect way to end a perfect weekend!

God bless the Brothers of the Eternal Song!