Dreams

What would you do if money and obligations weren't tying you to your current position? I've been wondering and dreaming about this for a while now. I love my home.  And while I never would have imagined a one story ranch as my dream home, it has become my favorite place to be.  But what would I do if I was incredibly wealthy and had no obligations required of me? 

I would read. That is a given. Curling. Up on a couch or chair with s cup of coffee and a good book is truly my idea of heaven.  But I'd also travel. I'd go to all of the places that I've read about in my book travels. And while traveling I'd buy homes.  I love real estate and it would be so cool to have a home in all of my favorite places around the world. All of those homes would have libraries and comfortable places to read and sleep. 

So that is my dream. What is yours? What would you do if you could do anything or go anywhere?

Home Sweet Home

I love traveling. We've had quite a few opportunities this year so far and I've loved every single one of them. And I've wanted to extend most of them. But no matter how amazing the trip is, it is absolutely wonderful to come back to my familiar, wonderful home.

And then there is this that greets me upon my return.

Packages and packages of books.

Atlanta Date

Here are a few more pictures from the Atlanta weekend. We really had a good time and both needed the chance to get away and relax.

One of the places we went was the Atlanta Historical Museum that has several homes on the property and surrounding areas.

 

 

 My favorite was the library, of course. But it was darker in there and harder to get decent pictures.

 I love old architecture. And Atlanta is full of old buildings. So just wandering around taking pictures was fun.

I could fill up pages and pages with everything we saw at all of the places we visited. 

But I'll spare you. =)

My birthday - late!

With the house and car repairs my birthday post has been postponed a bit. But I finally have a few seconds to write.

Despite everything, I had a lovely birthday. Children won't let you forget about such things. So dessert and celebrations are a must.

Jon and I went away the weekend after. My parents had been hinting rather strongly that they needed some grandchild time. We took the hint and dropped them off so we could spend the weekend in Nashville by ourselves. It worked out beautifully for everyone.

I had a whole list of touristy things I wanted to do. I live an hour away and yet never seem to find the time to play the tourist in my own area. But it started raining that first day and turned cold. So we rearranged things a bit and still had a ton of fun. It just wasn't in the places we'd anticipated.

I had been admiring this old run down factory building from the interstate every time I drove through. It was absolutely perfect for urban decay pictures. Turned out I wasn't the only one in love with it. By the time we got there it had been revitalized and turned into apartments upstairs and businesses downstairs. But it was still picture worthy, just no decay.

 

We had heard this was where the American Pickers guys had one of their stores so we thought we'd check it out. Turns out Mike was in the store signing autographs. I'm not into celebrity stuff. I live near Nashville and just can't muster up the enthusiasm when I see/hear about a "star". So we didn't go get his signature. But later I was trying to take pictures and saw him in the back hallway as he was trying to sneak away from the crowd. It was neat to see the person I watch on tv in real life. But I seriously don't get what the fuss is all about. He's a nice guy. But that is all - just a nice guy.

We drove around Nashville looking for things to take pictures of. It was raining so not the kind of picture weather I'd hoped for. But I still got some decent ones.

The next day we went to a foreign car museum. I found some cars I want Jon to get me. =) Somehow I don't think that was Jon's intention when he took me there.

The one in this first picture is a little Honda that I would LOVE to have. But they aren't made here in the States. So it would be a bit difficult to get one. We took the basement tour and that is where we found this little guy. Apparently they can only showcase about 150 cars upstairs in the museum. So they rotate them out periodically and store the rest in the basement.

 I've never been a fan of BMWs, but I wouldn't mind this one at all.

It was a great weekend. We relaxed, had quiet meals, slept in, talked without interruptions, and even did a little shopping. Definitely needed in the middle of our rather chaotic lives.

Charleston

Jon and I headed to Charleston last week for a few days of relaxation away from stress and children. It was an amazing trip and I'm so glad that we planned it. Fifteen years is a really long time to be married these days and I'm so thankful that Jon and I can say that they've been wonderful years.

I think this was my favorite trip we've taken so far. It wasn't because the place was more glamorous. We've been to several countries in Europe, Hawaii, Florida, Smokey Mtns. etc. But this time we really, really appreciated it. We didn't have children until we'd been married 10 years and this time we enjoyed the silence, the uninterrupted meals and conversations, the chance to eat without considering children's menus or venue, the option to watch movies in our hotel room after 8pm, etc.

It was a truly glorious four days. But like typical parents we missed our kids like crazy and were so glad to come back home. We skyped twice a day with them and while there purchased Caitlin's birthday and both of their Christmas presents. It was just nice to do it on our time and with each other.

My camera came the day before we were supposed to leave. Talk about playing it close.

I took so many pictures that I filled the card and had to dump them on Jon's computer. So this first post is without pictures until I can get some sense of order about them and get them uploaded.