Jonesborough, Tennessee

The first week of September my momma came out to visit me and to do some family history research around North Carolina/TN. So I joined her! We went to Raleigh, Greensboro, Jonesborough/Johnson City, TN, Charleston, SC and back home. It was pretty fun. Except that I got really sick along the way, but I survived! I had to blog about about Jonesborough because it was such a cute and quaint town! It was right at the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, so it had that going for it. Tons of cute, little, old homes. And it is actually the oldest town in Tennessee. So it had some cool history there too.

Here are some pictures of it's adorable quaintness.

Coolest Court House!

So this is the Presbyterian Church there, and before this was built the Presbyterians in the area met at my great-great-something great-grandpa's house.

Andrew Jackson lived in that cabin while he studied law in Jonesborough.

My mom looking stuff up in a Quaker college we stopped at. They have Quaker colleges! Who knew?! Lots of Quakers in the Greensboro, NC area.

We walked through Gilford County Battlegrounds from the Revolutionary War. It was on my grandpapa's land and they're house was used a hospital here. (I believe this is the spot.)

Anyways, a cute little town that I really enjoyed and so did my mom. We also facetimed with these cute people below on our trip. Miss my sisters!

White River Rafting in WV

While in West Virginia we also did some river rafting. It was way fun! We got in a raft with some crazy, fun people which made it even better. Earlier we had gotten a super amazing deal on a Sony action cam, so we tried it out on our rafting trip! We have a few pictures from it and lots of video. Someday when life isn't so crazy I'll post a video of it. Who knew West Virginia was so cool?

Woo!

Mountain Biking in West Virginia

My life is INSANE right now! We arrived home from West Virginia on Labor Day and my mom came into town on Tuesday. Wednesday morning I left with her on a trip through North Carolina, Eastern Tennessee and Charleston, SC. It was awesome, but I got sick and am still recovering. I got home last night, my mom left this afternoon, and tonight I leave for NYC until the 16th. And in between all of that I'm running around trying to get appointments and paperwork done and trying to get Winston taken care of for our flight to Japan. Then we leave Sept 20 to road trip to LA, where we will fly to Japan Oct 10. It's absolute chaos and I am a hot mess right now. I showed up to my dentist appointment at 2:45 today (I thought it was at 3, nope 2:30)-none of my paperwork was filled out, no makeup on, I managed a body shower but my hair is greasy and sandy from the beach this morning. It's a miracle I'm still functioning. I am here to tell you, there is such thing as too much vacation. I need a vacation from my vacations! 

Anyways, here are some pictures from our Mountain Biking Day in WV. This was a super hard/annoying trail. It was just created in July and I felt like we were paving the way in many parts with the weeds and grass up to our knees on our bike. Plus LOTS of mud. It was a beautiful ride though, and I felt pretty hardcore for enduring until Duke was done. Yay!

West Viriginia--Wild & Wonderful

Isn't West Virginia's motto a good one? Wild & Wonderful. I like it. We spent our Labor Day weekend exploring the New River Gorge area in West Virginia. What a beautiful place!!! Duke kept saying it reminded him of Costa Rica. We camped at a place called Adventures on the Gorge. We didn't realize until we got there, but it is a huge outdoor adventure resort area that is realllly cool. We rented mountain bikes from them and went white water rafting with them. They also have a million other activities you can do through them too. If you are in the area I would highly recommend!

Duke has really brought out the adventurer in me and I really love that about him. At heart, I am a girly girl, but I can be a adventurer too! And love it! A lot of times I feel hesitant to do some of the things wants to do, but I also have SO much fun. I was super hesitant about spending 3 nights in a tent in the humid summer nights out here, but it was fun and I'm glad we did it.

I feel so blessed to be able to really explore this awesome country we live in. Like seriously, America is so awesome and so versatile in it's landscapes. I still have a huge bucket list of places to go just in this here country. I'm gonna really miss it when we're in Japan-but that will be a whole other adventure. But gosh, get out there and take advantage people! Explore!

Is this place unreal or what?!

So this bridge is 2nd highest arch bridge in the world. 876 feet. Once a year they have Bridge Day, where people can base jump and rappel off of it. How crazy cool is that?! It's about 1,000 ft down from the roadway. Its October 19, and if we were still out here then, I would at least go spectate! 

 There is something pretty cute about watching my husband make fire.

Life Lately

Life is a little crazy at the moment! We've been trying to plan the next couple months of our life and literally something huge changes every single day! Since we've received our orders the date that we have to fly to Japan has changed 3 times. So basically if I told you I was coming to visit you...don't count on it until I'm actually on the road.

The other huge stress factor is getting Winston over there. I am only reading horror stories about English Bulldogs dying in the cargo section of the plane. So I feel like I'm deciding his fate here. I'm currently looking into every single option possible. I even looked at charting him a private flight out there, until I found out that was about $150,000. Ha! I'm not that crazy. I still have a few ideas up my sleeve, so we'll see what I can manage! If I have to leave him in the states I am going to ball my little eyes out so hard. Who wants to be Winston's backup parents? (like for real)

Speaking of Winston-I'm sooooo grateful to my parents and little brother for watching him this summer! He's had a few illnesses which are never fun and they have treated him just how I would. So THANK YOUUUUU!!!!!

We're hoping to leave here on Sept 20, so it is officially crazytown over here getting things ready! There is apparently a lot to do when you move overseas with the military. BUT I'm taking it at day at a time. It's all gonna be fine. I just wish things would stop changing everyday! It also appears that Duke and I aren't going to be able to fly on the same flight due to Winston. That little booger better realize how much we freaking love him!

All of that aside, life is still goood. We are going to West Virginia this weekend to do some climbing/white water rafting/camping. So that should be fun. Yay for long weekends! Then my mom is coming to visit for a week and we'll be traveling around. And THEN, I get to go to NYC with a couple of friends. So I have some great things to look forward to! It will be exciting and crazy next couple months ahead!

New River Gorge- WV (my pictures won't be this pretty)

Myrtle Beach for our Anniversary!

We went ahead and celebrated our anniversary over the weekend. We went down to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina, which was double exciting because I got to check South Carolina off my states list! I love having an anniversary, because really it's just another reason to have fun and celebrate, and who hates that?!

Also, I would like to brag about my bargain hunting skills for getting hotels. I'm kind of the best at it. I may not be good at singing, or sports, or those other normal talents, but gosh darn it- I can find a deal! Just ask my family. 

Got fancied up for a fancy dinner. (You have to document those times you actually are not wearing pants! and a necklace!-thats a rarity around here)

 And more beaching!

 handsome

This couple was sitting in front of us, and I couldn't help but think-I hope that's us in 40 years!