D.C. - Day 1!

My family and I spent a couple of days in Washington D.C. this past week. This was my first trip to the capitol and I definitely hope it's not the last because I fell in love with D.C.!

We drove up on Sunday afternoon thinking there wouldn't be much traffic. Boy were we surprised with all the people taking Sunday afternoon "joy-rides" down 95 that turned our 4.5-5 hour car ride into a 7 hour one. I am usually very impatient with car rides lasting over three hours long so I was thankful to have my dad's ipad, some good snacks, and my hilarious sister to keep me entertained. Once we arrived in D.C. around 5:30, we ate dinner, cupcakes, and did some sight seeing.

 First cupcake shop we tried! Red Velvet is my favorite flavored cupcake in the whole wide world and I always get this flavor any time I have the chance to eat a cupcake so I was very excited. I also got a sticker here to add to my collection of cupcake shop stickers!

Looking out the top of the Washington Monument towards the capitol.

    WWII Memorial

 After the fall. She recovered so gracefully! :)

As beautiful as the monuments are during the day, they were even more beautiful in the moonlight! I remember how much fun this night was because there was a perfect breeze, couples were out dancing, there were lightning bugs everywhere, peole were out jogging, and I was with my family! The first picture was taken looking out the west side of the Washington Monument. We were so fortunate because usually you have to go stand in line for tickets at 10 in the morning but the park ranger saw us standing around the monument and asked us if we wanted to go up and said not to worry about tickets! This was so neat because we got to see all of Washington lit up in the night! The WWII Memorial was also very beautiful. I will never forget the three young boys who were standing with their hands up against the wall to pay respects to those who died for our freedom. It was priceless! The only thing that would have made the night better would have been if the reflecting pool (from my FAVORITE scene in Forest Gump when Jenny and Forest are running towards each other) had of even existed! The whole thing was dug up for renovation so instead of a beautiful pool of water, all I saw was muddy dirt! (Just an excuse to go back, right?) Oh and I have to mention, my beautiful sister fell up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. I am not telling this to embarrass her but to remind myself how funny it was once we realized she was okay...bless her heart..it was almost as funny as this picture of my dad.

Oh and this one...

Forgive him...it had been a long day. 

Did I mention I love him? :)

Easter!

I have done such a poor job of keeping up with this over the past few days. As soon as I got back to school on Sunday night, end of the semester stressed kicked in full force! I had such a wonderful Easter Break, especially Easter Sunday, that I was not ready to come back to Chapel-Hill and face exams!

Sunday was such beautiful day to spend time with family and celebrate the Risen Lord! The sunrise service at the cross was the perfect way to start the day. My Uncle gave his testimony and it was such a wonderful and sweet reminder that God has every season planned in our life for a specific reason! After the service we came home to see what the Easter Bunny had brought and Daddy cooked the same Sunday breakfast we have had every Sunday morning since I was a little girl: cinnamon rolls...yum! After a beautiful Easter cantata at church , we went to Meme's for one of the best Sunday lunches I have ever had! The homemade twice baked potatoes were definitely the highlight of my meal. :) Even though all of the grandchildren that were there are "too old" for Easter egg hunts, we still had one and I was oh so excited! As much fun as it was, some things never change and Ben (of course!) got wayyyy more eggs than me....

Unfortunately we weren't able to get our traditional family Easter picture in the front yard but we were able to get a couple of family pictures!

 Can't believe how grown my "little" sister is!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with their families and that we would hold the beauty of the risen Savior close to our hearts all year long!

PS- Wanted to share a verse with you that I read this morning! It has reminded me today that I should never have doubt about anything because God's power and willingness is far greater than I could ever comprehend!

"But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind"

James 1:6

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Good Eatin'!

I don't have much time to blog but I wanted to share a couple of quick things about my day...

1) Mama and I went to Dunn today to take supplies to Tornado victims. (After getting a little lost and ending up on Jackson St instead of Jackson rode..haha) There is a community center set up on a road right behind the Brass Lantern steak house taking donations.  The American Red Cross has also set up a shelter in this same location.  The man who helped us unpack the car stressed the need for paper products, non-perishable food items, sheets, pillows, blankets, etc.  Fortunately they have had a surplus of donated clothing and do not need anymore for the time being.  After we left the community center, Mama and I crossed the bridge over 95 to be stunned by the damage.  We saw a mobile home park that looked like it had been bull dozed, uprooted tress everywhere, and trash carts that had been strewn in a ditch probably a mile or two from the houses they belonged to.  We were both speechless. Please continue to pray for these families!


2) For lunch, Mama took me to a neat little place called Broad Street Deli. I had never been there before and it was such a treat! It has a really quaint atmosphere and I hope to go back very soon. My lunch was amazing...summer salad with cranberries, apples, feta, chicken, pecans, and poppy-seed dressing...YUM! It was also so much fun to go on a lunch date with my beautiful Mama!

Broad Street Deli...Try it, you'll love it!

3)  I got to spend a couple of fun hours with Olivia this afternoon! We went to the new Cupcake Bite in Fuquay! You have to check this places out if you have never been... This is only the second or third time I have been there but I do believe the place gets yummier and cuter every time I go. Olivia's cupcake was sort of like a chocolate chip muffin with brown sugar butter cream and mine was a strawberry cake with butter cream and graham cracker crust on top...amazing! Having tired the cupcakes at Sugarland in Chapel Hill, The Cupcake Shoppe in Raleigh and here, I  think Cupcake Bite gets my vote! (Mallory, I know you're shocked!) I am not a fan of very rich desserts and their cupcakes are light and delicious. It was so much fun to catch up with Olivia! 

 How cute is this place?!

 Our cupcakes!

4) I must say, I really did some good eating today! Granny-Bird cooked supper for all of the family tonight and although I love the mystery meat in Lenoir, it was pretty amazing. ;) We had salad, roast, chicken pastry, black eyed peas, baked cinnamon apples, biscuits and strawberry pie for dessert...all my favorites! It was honestly one of the best meals I have had in a very long time.  While the food was amazing, It was so exciting to get to be with all of my mom's side of the family for the first time in over a month...I am so thankful for all of them!

Here's my favorite verse from a devotion I did today! I feel like verse 7 is so popular that verse 6 is often forgotten. I hope to apply both to my life!

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." -- 1 Peter 5:6-7

home again, home again, jiggity, jig!

So so excited to be home with my family for a couple days over Easter break! While my parents have come up to visit me at Carolina, this is the first time I have been home since spring break. Even though I love being on the hill there really is no place like home! These are just ten reasons why I love being home: (Of course seeing my family is number one!)

1) Going for a run on the farm and getting to see this...

 

2) Taking a REAL shower with no flip-flops...

3) Having a fully stocked refrigerator (this is quite dangerous!)...

4) Papa coming over to see me...

5) Eating supper with the Naylors...

6) Receiving a Hello Kitty Easter Egg from Mrs. Wendy...

7) Getting to see my puppy Roxy...

8) Smelling my house...you know when you've been gone for a long time and have become unimmune to what your house smells like and when you come home and walk in the house in it smells like a fresh dryer sheet?! (Please tell me I am not crazy and y'all know what I am talking about!)...

9) Realizing how fast my "little sister" is growing and what a beautiful lady (inside and out) she is...

10) Sleeping in my own bed!

I am so thankful for these couple of days I have to spend time with family before I get ready to go back and finish the semester! I hope that I will be able to be productive in the schoolwork I need to do while I am here so I can enjoy as much time as possible with mi familia!