60th birthday

The first weekend of August was really fun because it was my DADDY'S 60th BIRTHDAY!!  Chase and I went to my mom's house Saturday for the night and it was wonderful to spend some time with my family and celebrate something so special.

On the way home Chase and I stopped at Dennis Vineyards in Albermarle, NC to use a groupon my mom had purchased.  The groupon included a tour, tasting of 8 wines, and bottle to take home.  I had called and was told the tour was either at 11am or 3pm neither which fit into our schedule so I told the lady we would just skip that part.  We got to the vineyard a little before noon and were told since we didn't get to go on the tour we would be able to taste 12 wines instead of 8--score!!  All the wines were great and I am looking forward to enjoying the bottle we brought home.

My whole family went out to dinner to celebrate my dad's birthday Saturday night and it was great to spend some time together.  We all enjoyed each other's company!  Once we got home we closed out the evening with family game night playing Apples to Apples and it was a BLAST!  My favorite pairing was the word "filthy" which Chase chose to play "my past"....of course, he won that round!  My mom won the first game overall and Chase came in second, which he hasn't let me forget :)

We rounded out our weekend with a trip to Peaches 'N Cream for some homemade ice-cream Sunday afternoon!

We also managed to squeeze in a Friday afternoon day date before heading home to see The Wolverine in 3D and it was really good and I would definitely recommend it.  Make sure to stick around through the end of the credits though!!

Glenville,NC--Lake Weekend

Chase and I spent a long weekend with his family at their lake house in Glenville, NC, which is located in western North Carolina about 30 minutes from Western Carolina University.  I was really looking forward to getting away and basically "unplugging" for a few days!  It was WONDERFUL and we all had a great time.

This past weekend was my weekend to work, but I was able to get off Sunday and Monday so we were able to enjoy the lake Saturday night until Tuesday afternoon.  The weather was nice, although since it was in the mountains it was a little cool and rained some Sunday/Monday afternoons.

Chase's parents rented a boat so we all enjoyed some time out on the lake Sunday afternoon in between rain showers and cold wind, but it was still fun :)

Chase and his brother, Chad, on the tube

Of course once I got all bundled up to ride and see the waterfalls the sun came out.  The top picture is me redoing my "I'm cold" face for the camera!  This is the first time I've been bundled up and Chase isn't haha :)

Chase and I also tried to do a little fishing, but we weren't really successful.  It was nice to spend some time together so I still enjoyed it!

(I didn't really catch a fish....my line was stuck in a tree)

I also cooked dinner Monday night and made one of Chase's favorite meals...Emily Bites French Dip Cupcakes.  I think everyone really enjoyed them and they are super easy to make for a big group of people. 

I look forward to going back up the lake house.  I think we may be up that way Labor Day weekend while we are going to the Clemson vs. Georgia game!!

PS: Chase is posting some new video game reviews on his friend's blog so everyone go check out his first post here!

July Recap

Hello everyone and welcome to August!!  I can't believe we are already more than halfway through 2013 it seems to be flying by!

Work has been going well, but it's been super busy!  That's a good thing, but also means it is only going to get busier as we get closer to flu season!

July was a fun month and wasn't too crazy so that's always nice.

I had to work on the 4th so nothing too exciting went on around here.  I did see some fireworks from the Dash baseball game out my window that evening.

Chase and I spent some time at the pool and also used a groupon at a restaurant called Big Mussels Oyster Bar here in Winston.  It was ok, but literally the only thing on the menu besides shellfish was a ribeye steak, which was just so-so.  Chase said his oysters were really good (and HUGE), but I don't think we'll be heading back anytime soon.

We also headed down to Charleston for a weekend to see one of my girlfriends Samantha and one of Chase's friends from Clemson, Nate.  It ended up being a GREAT weekend and sunny enough for us to enjoy the beach at Sullivan's Island and get super sun burnt.

 We went out downtown for a little while Saturday night and ate at Coast Bar and Grill.  It was so good and I definitely recommend it.

 We also hit up a place called Sesame Sunday before leaving thanks to Samantha's recommendation.  Home of Charleston's best burgers and onion rings.  They also have amazing milkshakes (even adult versions, but I was about to drive 4.5 hours home so I opted out of those).

(Please notice my sweet tan lines)

I pretty much spent the rest of July working so I could enjoy August!!

Chase and I did take a short Sunday afternoon trip down to Morgan Ridge Vineyards, which is the best Vineyard we have visited in NC by far! My mom had bought us a groupon to use which included a tour, tasting, cheese plate, and souvenir glasses.  Our tour was great and we learned a lot about wine making in general and how they do it at Morgan Ridge.  The winemaker and owner was actually the one who gave it to us so that made it even better!! Their wine was fabulous and it was a great afternoon!  I even got a bottle of their Beach Babe to take to Chase's mom next weekend when we got to their lake house.  

Catch ya'll later!!