Day 181 Happy Birthday Mom!! 55 and a diner

Today's first for me was turning 55. I cannot believe I am 55. It just seems like yesterday that I graduated from college. Most days I still feel 21. The great part about being this age though is the freedom. I no longer have babies to take care of so I can be selfish and play. I can do what I want, when I want. So I'll trade grey hairs, painful joints and low metabolism for the ability to indulge in travel, quilting, learning new things and doing what I want.

I (Taylor) have this week off from work so I came in town this morning to spend some time with Mom and Aunt Mary. After visiting my grandfather in Maryville, we stopped for dinner at this 50s inspired diner. 

Here is a shot of the decor.  

I had virginia ham, carrots and mac and cheese. It wasn't bad but it wasn't my favorite meal. I definitely wouldn't get the carrots again. They say they're candied and they definitely weren't. The mac and cheese was pretty good (not nearly as good as yesterday's grill mac and cheese). All in all it was a fun day getting to spend the day with momma for her birthday. 

And by the way - my (Taylor) body is killing me today! Not sure if it's from getting thrown out of the boat or what. But my legs and butt feel like I did 1000 squats yesterday! 

Day 180 Whitewater Rafting

I need to get on here first and talk about today's first because Taylor's blog won't be as positive as mine. We had a joint first today - whitewater rafting. I bought the groupon on Day 8. It was my first time buying a groupon. I had been whitewater rafting back when Taylor was a teenager. It was before 1998 but I don't remember exactly when. We went up on the Pigeon River near the North Carolina border. Taylor did not really enjoy it. She fell out of the boat and had to be recused by our guide. He was so calm when she bounced out. Marian and I were panicking but he just leaned over and plucked her back into the boat.  I had a great time then so I wanted to make sure and try it again. This time we went on the Ocoee. This is where they held the Olympic competitions when they were  in Atlanta. It is in Benton, Tennessee. Taylor was not thrilled with going but she sucked it up and came with me, Marian and Josh. Our guide's name was Matt and the company was Sunburst. (It was a great company.) Matt was in his first year as a guide. He was great though. Very entertaining. Josh was sitting up front. He wanted to make sure he got wet. Marian and I were right in front of the guide and Taylor, or Queen Bee as Matt called her, sat right next to our guide. Taylor explained she had fallen out last time, so she was nervous. Matt assured her he would take care of her. I guess you know what happened. Not even a quarter mile into the trip, on an easy part, Taylor, Marian and our guide all bounced out at the same time. The five of us left in the boat were lost for a minute but Matt started yelling instructions to us. He caught up with us and got back in. Josh grabbed Taylor and got her back in but we passed by Marian. Guide Apolo grabbed her and hauled her into his boat. She stayed with him for a while before rejoining us. I truly enjoyed the morning. Then we had lunch at this quaint little grill Matt recommended. It was such a great day. 

I knew mom would make sure she blogged first about the day. Because she was right, my experience would not have been written about in the positive way mom did. As mom recapped the history of our rafting experience, we have been before and I didn't enjoy that trip so I wasn't overly excited about this go around. I even made the statement that I was more nervous about rafting than I was skydiving. I truly believe had Aunt Mary, our guide and I not been tossed out so early on I would have had more fun. But since it happened so close to the start, I was terrified the entire rest of the trip. The only thing I could think of while floating (not so gracefully and terrified out of my mind) thru the rapid was that I had to keep my feet up and stay on my back. I kept hitting rocks with my feet so all I could think about was how my feet were going to get stuck in the rocks and I would either die or lose a limb (morbid, I know). Every rapid after I flew out I leaned in as close to Matt as possible and tended to grab a hold of Matt or of Aunt Mary once she got back in our boat. The last 2 rapids before we were done were category 4s. I wasn't about to go thru those sitting next to Matt. I promptly asked if I could sit in the boat and he happily agreed. So I plopped my butt down on the bottom of the raft between josh and another girl. I was stuck in place but I sure did inhale A LOT of water doing that. But at least I wasn't out of the raft doing so. Words can't even begin to desribe how happy I was when we finished. This is definitely not a first I enjoyed and more than likely won't be something I ever do again. 

Here is a picture of mom and I when we got done. 

Day 179 Bojangles and Black Jacket Symphony

So I (Taylor) had a bit of a morning. I woke up 10 minutes before I had to be at work. Thankfully I was just meeting with our other marketing director so he didn't mind. But I did stop by and get some coffee and breakfast. So at Starbucks, I ordered the hot version of the coffee I wanted. Which normally wouldn't be a horrible thing. But our air has been out for a week now so all I wanted was iced coffee. Then I headed to Bojangles. I have had their "grilled" chicken before and it was disgusting. That should have been my first sign not to go. My second should have been the 2 strikes against me already this morning. Well I chose to get a bacon egg and cheese biscuit. First the person taking my order was a complete witch. Then I almost drove off with out my food but when I did get it and started eating it, it tasted as if it had been made about 3 hours earlier. It was ice cold and absolutely disgusting. Never EVER will I go back to Bojangles. Lesson learned. Don't go to another chicken shack and expect anything close to Chick-fil-A! 

My first today came about because I took Lu Ann's advise and did not say no when an opportunity presented itself. This first started earlier in the week when a coworker of Marian's offered her free tickets to see a show of a group doing a concert where they did the entire Pink Floyd album "Dark Side of the Moon". I had never heard of this but thought what the hell. The group, Black Jacket Symphony is made up of musicians that are specifically picked according to what album they are doing. They were wonderful. I cannot wait to see them again. Other albums they do are Fleetwood Mac's Rumors and Michael Jackson's Thriller. The theatre was sold out so they are popular. If you get a chance, go see these wonderful musicians.

Day 178 Kirkenburts and Under the Dome

Tonight we (Taylor) celebrated josh getting his job back with the railroad. He had heard that a local place called kirkenburts was pretty good and we had never had it before. So, we gave it a shot for dinner. I had the smoked pulled pork sandwich with green beans. Josh had rib and wings. Neither one of us were really in love with what we had so I don't foresee us going back. But you've got to have some unsuccessful trips to new restaurants right? They can't all be delicious! 

My sister Marian suggested we watch Under the Dome while we did some more work on her room. I had heard of it but didn't know anything else about it. It was a joint effort by Stephen King and Stephen Spielberg. It is about a town and one day a dome just appears over the town. I LOVE this show. I watched all of the first season by Saturday afternoon.  The next season starts June 30th. 

Day 177 Knockout roses and Nashvile Dancin'

First let me say...I (Lynn) am NOT a gardener. I love flowers and plants but I do not enjoy yard work. Not my thing. That being said sometimes you have to do it to make the yard look good. This past winter was so harsh, three of our bushes in the front died. I needed something to put there. Some friends suggested knockout rose bushes. Apparently they are easy to grow. I bought yellow to match the front door. So hopefully soon I will have something that looks like this:

So my first today was planting a new bush in my yard. Wish me luck.

My (Taylor) first involved a couple of things. My first first involved showering at the gym. Never done that with the purpose of actually showering to go some where. Not just showering to get chlorine off of me from the pool. My next first involved going to Nashville Dancin' which is a free concert on the riverfront in downtown Nashville. There was a huge selection of food trucks that had I known they would be there I would have eaten from one of those instead of Subway for the 2nd time. It was a lot of fun to hang out with Brian, Ashlee, Bryson and the hubby. 

Day 176 Meeting and new restaurant (plus a couple of others)

Today I (Lynn) was asked to run over to the office of my boss to pick up some checks. It turned into a get to know you session. He just kept asking me questions. It's nice that he wanted to get to know me better.

Today was a day for a productive work meeting me for (Taylor). Going on 4 days being closed and we've already been pretty productive. During our meeting we took a lunch break and headed over to a Chinese restaurant I had never been before. I had sesame chicken and I was pretty tasty. My 2nd first of the day came at the gym. I did a bit of cardio to warm my legs up and then I did leg day. After that I decided I need some relaxation time and I hit up the tanning bed (yes, I know it's bad for me). This time it was a stand up tanning bed which was a first. I actually liked it a lot more than the lay down ones because I don't sweat as much! 

And last but not least, I witnessed Vandy win their first College World Series baseball championship!! Josh said I shouldn't cheer for Vandy because they aren't one of "my teams". But it's like chearing for the locals! You've got to. Way to go Vandy! 

Day 175 Exempt Staff Council and frozen grapes

I was nominated and then elected to serve on the Exempt Staff Council at work (Lynn). Today was our first meeting. In the past I have served on other employee advisary boards. I enjoyed them and it was nice meeting people from around campus. It will probably be interesting and new people to meet. Today's meeting did have an interesting guest. A guy from the theatre department. We are so lucky at UT to have such a wonderful theatre department. We learned that last year and this year the department is participating in a program that offers closed captioning for one performance during each play they do. It opens up theatre to the deaf and hard of hearing community. 

I (Taylor) have heard many people talk about their love of frozen grapes. I bought some grapes and didn't want them to go bad so I bagged some up and put them in the freezer to try. Well, I wasn't the biggest fan. I'm a bit of a texture freak when it comes to food. I could handle the frozen inside but the peel was disgusting to me! I may give it another go and see if I can eat them without that part. 

Day 174 Navigation system and Pizza Hut buffet

Today I used the navigation system in my new car. I have always used Mapquest when I did not know where I was going. I needed to go visit a friend at her boyfriend's house so I decided to test out my new navigation system. It worked nicely. 

I (Taylor) had the day off today thanks to a hard days work of demo and packing up the store on Saturday. So I headed to the gym early and then met josh for lunch. Yes, I went to eat at a pizza buffet after a workout. Dumb, but it was yummy. Josh has been asking me for a long time to go with him so it was nice to actually get to enjoy lunch with him. 

Day 173 Jersey Boys movie and small town church

Today some friends and I went to see Jersey Boys, the movie. I wondered how it would compare to the Broadway play. Before the movie started, a commercial came on for bladder control medicine. Apparently there is an app that tells you when it is a good time to go to the bathroom during the movie. The entire theatre broke out in laughter. The movie was great. It followed the play pretty closely. The music was great. I had read before I went that like Hitchcock director Clint Eastwood has a cameo in the movie. I was watching so carefully so I would not miss it. Turns out it was easy to spot. Very clever the way he made his cameo. I don't want to spoil it. See the movie.

So the entire 2 weeks Josh was at AT in Mississippi, we were expecting him to be home today. Well being the sneaky man he is, he actually surprised me and came home yesterday. I won't go into the details of the surprise, but we'll just say he was lucky I didn't have a gun around me at the time. Anyway. He still had to report for drill in Waynesboro today, so I ended up going down with him and while he was at drill I went to church with his Mom, Dad, and Aunt. I even went to Sunday school! It was definitely a new adventure. The only small town church I had been to was with Jessica and that was a few years ago, and we didn't go to Sunday school. We had a fun day and I'm more than glad to have my love back home!

Day 172 New Car and demo day at CFA

The last time I bought a new car was in 2000. Today I bought a brand new Juke. I love my new car.

So not only did mom have a fun day buying a new car, I had a fun filled day of packing up and clearing out our store of everything before the contractors come in and demolish all of it! Some of our crew even got to take a sledge hammer to the condiment bar to help in the demo process! It was a fun but tiring experience. 

Our condiment island after the sledge hammer got ahold of it. 

This is our demo crew with a door from our condiment bar that we all signed. 

Day 171 Cleaning and preparing to close a store

Tonight my sister, Marian allowed me to help her start opening boxes and finally clean out her sewing room. We did some major renovations to our house a year and a half ago. Marian was so overwhelmed by the amount of stuff she had, she had never completely unpacked her boxes. She has that "hoarder" need to hang on to everything, so her allowing me (who throws away everything) help her was big.

You know, it's not easy to have a business open on it's last day before a major remodel happens. That's what took place today. We constantly ran out of products which sent a lot of us to othe Chick-fil-A stores to borrow items and to grocery stores around town for last minute things. I started at 8 helpin get things we needed and after a dinner break I spent another hour and a half doing the same. It was definitely a whirlwind kind of day before we close for a month! 

Day 170 Clancy's Tavern and a new game

Once a month a group of us goes out to dinner. Tonight we tried a new Irish bar that opened downtown. One of our members is related to one of the co-owners so we were excited to visit Clancy's Tavern. One of the appetizers was hummus and boxty. No one knew what a boxty was, so we ask. Turns out it is potato bread. It was delicious by the way. We also tried two other appetizers - blue cheese chips and deviled eggs. Both were delicious. I had the fish and chips for dinner. Also delicious. We had a great time. Lots of laughing and drinks shared by all. I will be going back.

Tonight I joined Jessica at our best friends Mandy and Andy's house. Andy cooked us all some homemade pasta for dinner. Whenever we get together we have to play a game. Andy has been trying to find new games for us to play. Tonight we played a game that has a tiny bit of strategy to it but it's also like a puzzle. It was pretty fun. After that we played farkle and I'm happy to announce I killed everyone twice in a row at farkle! 

This is part of the new game.

Day 169 Art Gallery and sushi & addaday

Today I got to see my art work hanging in an Art Gallery. I belong to a small group of art quilters who meet at the Fiber Arts Blount Art gallery. This month they asked us to display some of our work. We have been working as a group on a "word" project. Every other month a member will pick a word and each member will make a 12 inch quilt inspired by that word. Above is a picture of part of the display. I have never had my work displayed in an Art Gallery. It is quite an honor.

Tonight I went to sushi with some friends from work. I got 2 rolls I normally get and one that I had never tried. Couldn't tell you the name but it was delicious! It's the middle one seen in the picture below. 

I also went and got fitted (for the 3rd time) for running shoes. While there I discovered this brilliant contraption called Addaday. It helps roll out sore parts and knots in your body. My specific purpose for purchasing it was for my calves but it says it works on thighs and you back too. So I can't wait to try it! This is what it looks like. 

Day 168 3-d movie and Cliff Bar

Today's first for me (Lynn) was taking a friend to see her first 3-D movie. My friend, Carol, really wanted to see Maleficent. She has had a very trying year. Her husband has been struggling with health issues. I wanted to make sure she saw this movie and the first showing after I got off work was 3-d. When I told her she got excited. The only time she had seen anything in 3-d was at Disney World - The Muppet Movie. We all loved the movie. A must see.

Giving another shoutout to Funeral For My Fat - She mentions on many occasions how she eats Cliff Bars. I've heard of them, and Josh even eats them sometimes. So while shopping Sunday I noticed they were on sale. So I decided to pick some up. I figured if I didn't like them, Josh would eat them. Well, I ate my first bar today. It was the chocolate chip one. It definitely wasn't my favorite. BUT it wasn't awful. So I'll keep trying out the different ones I bought in hopes I'll find one that I love.

Day 167 New Diet and Gnats

Today I started a new diet. (Lynn) it was recommended by a friend. I sure hope it works.

On our last shopping trip, we bought a pineapple. (See yesterday's first) Well, we never cut it up and it sat on our counter. That then (I believe) developed gnats. I hate gnats. They're more annoying (in my opinion) than flies. So I goggled some home remedies to rid my house of these pesky little bugs. I discovered that you can put vinegar into a jar, put plastic wrap over the opening, rubber band the plastic wrap down, and poke little holes into the plastic wrap. Apparently the smell attracts the gnats. We'll see if it works.

Day 166 Orange is the New Black marathon and Ezekiel Bread

I (Lynn) had a lazy day and watched Orange is the New Black all day. And I mean all day. I believe I have a serious addiction.

I (Taylor) had to make a trip to the grocery store. I hadn't gone since before Josh left for Mississippi and that was about 2 weeks ago when we went. I was pretty proud of my shopping trip. I spent a bit too much, but I got some awesome new things. Back to the clean eating "diet," I bought some organic milk, more tofu shiritaki noodles, and my first for the day - Sprouted Grain Ezekiel Bread. This bread is found in the frozen organic section of my Kroger. I read about it on the blog Funeral For My Fat and she swears by it so I really wanted to try it. So I bought regular sandwich bread and cinnamon raisin english muffins. I can't wait to try them!

Here is a link to what the bread is all about.

Day 165 Pfunky Griddle and Yarn Crawl final day

So I (Taylor) recently saw on Facebook where someone I knew went to the pfunky griddle in Nashville. I had never been there but I knew I would enjoy someplace like that for breakfast so I invited my group to breakfast. Unfortunately Chris, Mandy, and Andy couldn't go so it was Jess and I. She and I had a good time though. The concept behind the restaurant is like the melting pot. You cook your own food on a griddle that's inset into your table. (See photo below) after breakfast we decided to visit her parents. Just hours before they had a calf that was born so we got to go see the baby. I had never seen such a young calf. We also played some cards and walked the property. After a late lunh Jess and I headed back to the boro and went to Mandy and Andy's to play a game. We played pandemic (I believe was the name of it). This was a new game for us so I tacked on 3 new firsts for the day. Check out the collage of the day. 

Today was my final day of our yarn crawl. We headed up to Blountville first. I had never been there. Beautiful city. Then we went to Johnson City and Rogersville. That store was great. We ended the day in Gatlinburg and dinner at Bennett's BBQ. It was a fun day.

Day 164 Strawberry Moon and CMT Crossroads

Today is Friday the 13th. This is the first time since Oct. 13, 2000, that a full moon has occurred on a Friday the 13th of any month, and the last time it will happen until Oct. 13, 2049. They call the moon the Strawberry moon because it happens during strawberry picking time. So my first (Lynn) is being able to experience a full moon on a Friday the 13th.

I guess I could take moms first but I didn't realize that was the case. So tonight I watched Crossroads. I don't recall ever seeing it before but tonight's episode was with Katy Perry and Kasey Musgraves. It was pretty good. Loved hearing ther own songs and covers they did. 

Day 163 Market Research and Just Love Coffee

I (Lynn) was contacted a few days ago by a professor in the Economics Department at the University. They were doing a market research project and they needed subjects. Would I like to volunteer? Well of course. Especially when I found out I could make money. Tonight for an hour or so I did the project and I made $35. You can't beat that.  

I've been on a Starbucks kick this week because I've been so tired. This morning one of my coworkers pick up coffee for us on her way in from a brand new coffee shop I've never tried before. It's called Just Love Coffee. I've officially fallen in love with it and I can't wait to try it again! 

Day 162 Feed America First and Estate sale

Tonight a group of people from my (Taylor) work got together to volunteer at a local place called Feed America First. I can't remember the last time volunteered but tonight while there I also leaned how to operate a pallet jack! It was definitely a fun, hard working, and rewarding night! 

Here is a shot as we were ending the evening. 

My first (Lynn) was attending an estate sale. I never actually attended one. There was some beautiful stuff but I thought the prices were too high.

Day 161 Barbara and one eyed horse

My first today was one I knew had to happen but I did not want it to. (Lynn) My friend, Barbara passed away. She is in a better place and is no longer suffering. I will miss her. She was a grand lady. We shared a love of books. My heart is sad.

Tonight at work we (Taylor) had a country western kids night where we had a petting zoo along with other fun events. There was a horse in the petting zoo that only had one eye! Come to find out, the horses mom had stepped on her when she was 2 days old and popped her eye :-( but this was one of the friendliest and sweetest horses I have met! 

Day 160 Knitting and a new book

Years ago I tried learning to knit. (Lynn) Since starting the yarn, it has stirred up the desire to learn. Tonight I used a book to teach myself. I figured out the casting on and how to do the knit stitch. I could not figure out the purl stitch. What I learned was I need to take lessons. I learn better when I take lessons. I am going to call one of the yarn stores tomorrow.

When I (taylor) was getting my dinner I figured adding new toppings to my chipotle burrito bowl would be my first. Then I decided reading one of the 3 new books I bought after my workout would be my first. The book I couldn't put down tonight is called "things I wish I knew before we got married" by Gary Chapman. There are definitely A LOT of helpful tips that I'm really looking forward to implementing soon! 

Day 159 Binding and Alfonso's

Today I (Lynn) did a binding on a quilt for a friend. I have done it for family but never a friend. I hope she likes it.

Today after church we headed to a New Mexican restaurant called Alfonso's. I'll say this about it - DELICIOUS!! Definitely going to go back. Fairly reasonably priced and like I said before... Delicious! 

Day 158 Yarn Crawl and Tofu Shirataki Noodles

Today was another day of Yarn Crawling. We went to two shops. We had been to the Cookeville store and it is a great store. We stopped by and picked Mom up first so she could spend the day with us. We were disappointed in the Cookeville store. But we had a great lunch and then found out there was a Hancock Fabric store in Cookeville so we did some fabric shopping. It was a fun day. Very disappointed there is no Triple Crown winner.

The plan today was to go to Jessica's parent's house for decoration after I got off work. (If you don't know what decoration is, from what I understand, it's basically where the family gets together and goes to the gravesite of relatives and decorates them with flowers) A little miscommunication turned into me not going up there after all, which I'm sad about. I was too exhausted to drive by myself to her parent's house so that left me with no first for the day. After a 5 hour "nap" I realized I was starving. I debated on going out to get something, but then I remembered that I had some shirataki noodles in the fridge that I bought a long time ago. So I cooked up some shrimp and crab, some alfredo and made the noodles. It was actually pretty good. The noodles didn't really have a taste other than the alfredo sauce. I was pretty pleased with the dinner choice.

Oh! And I signed up for the Mboro Middle Half again! But this time I signed up by myself. I have a big problem with crowds so I'm definitely going to be nervous come race day. And to have to get rid of the mental block of doing 13.1 miles by myself is going to be hard too. Last time I did a 1/2 marathon, Mom was there coaching me on the entire way. We'll see how it goes it October!

Day 157 dance fitness with Jessica and West Side Story

So I was trying to figure out what my first should be tonight. I had worked about 8 hours and I had to go back again tonight to do some decorating. I decided to get a little fitness in since I skipped the gym. I had been watching some videos on YouTube by a girl name Jessica in Knoxville. Her videos have become a huge hit and I've wanted to try them. So that's what I did tonight. They kicked my butt! 

I have not heard about the videos Taylor tried. Sounds like something I need to look into. My first tonight was seeing the play "West Side Story". My friend, Carol, has been involved for many years in the Tennessee Valley Players. TVP is a small group of people who do plays each year all with local talent. This year's play is "West Side Story". I have never seen the play, or the movie. The actors were amazing singers and the acting was pretty good. The dancing, however, was a struggle especially for the guys. It was fun though. 

Day 156 Orange is the New Black and not crying

I (Lynn) could not think of anything new to try today. It has been an exhausting week with 3 of 7 people in my office on vacation. We have been working so hard to keep up. I have been hearing about a new show on Netflix called "Orange is the New Black". So I gave it a try. I watched the first episode. It was okay. I will probably watch another episode because it is hard to tell much about a show with one episode. 

So it may not seem like much but tonight was a victory for me. Josh and I have been together going on 5 years. Since the very beginning he's gone away for trainings, deployments and drills. Excluding drills (not all drills but most I them) I've always cried when he left. The shortest his training has been (excluding drills) has been 2 weeks. The longest was a 6 month deployment. With every extended training he's left for, I've cried. And cried for a couple of days to be honest. But today I didn't. Now don't get me wrong, I'm very sad he's leaving but I'm proud of myself for keeping it together! 

Day 155 BurgerFi and Dirty Minds game

There is a new restaurant in town. BurgerFi opened two weeks ago. I (Lynn) was really excited about trying it since burgers are my favorite. Tonight I met a friend and her son for dinner. You can get all types of burgers, hot dogs and ice cream. The fries can be made a bunch of different ways. The best part about the fries - you can get them well done or limp. The food was great. They also serve beer and wine. This is going to be one of my favorite places.

Tonight we headed to one of my best friends houses for dinner. We almost always play games when we're together and tonight of course was no different. We broke out a game I've had for a while but we've never actually played. It's called dirty minds. You read 3 clues to the opisite player (or team) and with each clue they can guess what you're describing. The clues however have very dirty connotations so it makes your mind wonder. It was definitely an interesting game for sure. 

Day 154 New Book and the love dare

Today while ready a blog by a quilter, a book was mentioned. It's purpose is to teach 8-12 year old kids about the color wheel. It was highly recommended. So I (Lynn) bought it....for myself. Lol

I am looking forward to getting it. 

My (Taylor) first has to do with a book as well. I started a new book called the love dare. It was featured in a movie called fireproof that josh and I had watched a couple of years ago. I've heard it helps strengthen a lot of relationships so I figured I would try. Why not right? 

Day 153 Yarn Crawl day 3 and clean eating/cinnamon apples

Today we visited 2 local yarn stores. I am really surprised by how nice the store owners are being to a crocheter. The shops were lovely and the yarn, well I had a hard time not buying it all. I will be visiting these local stores again. It has opened my eyes to new yarns. I also joined ravelry.com. It is a website for knitters and crocheters.

Today my goal was to "eat clean." I found a blog called Funeral for My Fat about clean eating and how to transition to it in 5 weeks. Week 1 was adding fruits or veggies to every meal. I managed to achieve that today. She has a dessert on her blog about some "baked" cinnamon apples. These are DELICIOUS! Here is the link to the recipe. Seriously like eating apple pie filling. And I LOVE my apple pie!

Day 152 Yarn Crawl day 2 and baby shower

Today we visited two shops - 1 in Lenoir City and 1 in Clinton. I really liked the Clinton Store. Saw some areas of town I had never seen. This yarn crawl is taking me to places and areas I have never seen. It is so fun.

Today was baby Mallory Ann's shower (mom Mandy and dad Andy are two of my very best friends). It was so fun watching Mandy open all of her gifts for baby Mallory. I can't wait to have another baby to spoil! 

Here is a shot of my favorite gift from the shower. 

And here is a picture of a baby frozen in a piece of ice. The first to get their baby out of the ice and yell my water broke got the prize. (That was me by the way!!) 

Day 151 Yarn Crawl and Leaf Greens

Today for the first time I started on a "Yarn Crawl". There are twelve yarn shops that have banded together and for the next three weeks you have to visit all twelve. You get to register for prizes at all the shops plus a grand prize will be drawn from all the passports who have stamps from all the shops. I stay away from yarn shops because they cater to knitters and most ignore crocheters, which I am. I dislike knitting. I find it boring. But I decided to do the yarn crawl because it could be a first. Today we went to Mountain Hollow Farms in Tazewell. I had never been to Tazewell. The shops was so cute. On our way to the shop we spied a discount fabric shop, so we stopped on our way home. It was a great day.

Today after breakfast with Jess and josh at IHOP, Jess and I went to oprymills to do a little shopping. While there we decided to eat lunch at the food court. We stumbled upon this build your own salad place. We opted to eat there instead of the usual Japanese. It was actually pretty tasty. I had spinach with craisins, mandarin oranges, chicken and Parmesan cheese.