Hiking

I think I want to be more outdoorsy than I actually am.

You know? I like nature, I like the sunshine, I like wildlife. I'm just never going to be the kind of person who ends up spending 2 weeks living out of a backpack and sleeping in the rocks. I like hotels too.

BUT, we were in Asheville and it's in the mountains so that required a little hike.

A trip to the Blue Ridge Parkway visitors' center to find the best trails was our first stop. It was a gorgeous day; the sun was shining, a light breeze was blowing and at 9:00am it was already gearing up to be warm.  I really wanted to go to some of the waterfalls I'd seen in the area, but they were apparently a 40-60 minute drive away before reading the point where you'd hike from. Alas, we settled for a 20 minute drive to Craggy Pinnacle.

Worthy of a short stop and a hike through a rhododendron "tunnel" for the breathtaking view, Craggy Pinnacle is accessed at the Craggy Dome Overlook at Blue Ridge Parkway Milepost 364. The moderate 1.4 mile hike takes you to one of the most spectacular, 360 degree views on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Most beautiful in rhododendron season, usually mid-June. Free.


Sounds pretty good, right? Except we missed the whole "mid-June" thing. 


The drive was lovely. 

Then we came around a bend....

...and drove into a cloud.

Which we stayed in for the next hour. Yes, that picture is in color.

Not daunted by this never-ending, cold, dreary cloud we hiked.

Until we reached the top. Let me remind you that this is the place of the "most spectacular, 360 degree views on the Blue Ridge Parkway." Get ready for these views.

Pretty awesome. 

(I'm sorry for the sarcasm.)

At this point I feel that I should tell you that Megan started out in a tank-top and her swimsuit (luckily her jacked was in the car) and I was severely underdressed in my t-shirt and pants. We were covered in goosebumps. And my hair? A cloud is basically 100% humidity and my curls loved it. 

By the time we got back to the starting place of the hike it had cleared slightly and we were rewarded with this view from the parking lot. 

I'm thinking that I liked the drive better than the actual hike. 

Weather, 1 

Megan & Amy, 0

Food

Megan and I got back yesterday from a couple of days in Asheville. It's a popular tourist destination in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and I'd never been, so I wanted to see it.

Here's what it's about:
1. Hippies-Have I ever told you of my love for hippies? I love hippies. Well, at least as much as I love any other person.
2. Hiking-It's in the mountains.
3. BUY LOCAL-These signs were everywhere.
4. Food.

Here's what I have to show for it:
1. Pictures.
2. Food baby.
3. A blister on my left foot where my sandal rubbed from the many miles we walked.

We only went to restaurants recommended to us--of course there were more recommendations than meals we had, so we tried to choose wisely. Everything was delicious!

Stop number 1: Tupelo Honey Cafe

OK, those biscuits? If I could make biscuits like that I'd totally have a man by now. Or I'd be huge because I would want at least 2 biscuits a day. The biscuits and jam are their chips-n-salsa, you just get it when you walk in the door and order your dinner/lunch/meal. Brilliant. 

Speaking of chips...we started with the Homemade Pimento Cheese and Tortilla Chips. It was served warm, the flavor was good, but I think that warming the pimento cheese loses makes it lose it's texture which is half the deliciousness of pimento cheese. The other half was still present. 

Megan had the Misse’s Asheville Veggie Melt it was pretty dang good. 

I had a Sunshot Vegetable Plate, which was basically my choice of three sides. From the top: 1. Fried Green Tomatoes with Basil, 2. Honeyed Pickled Beet Salad, 3. GOAT CHEESE GRITS. #1 was my least favorite (such a dinky portion!) and #3 was AMAZING. Also, pickled beets are pretty much to die for in any form, but these were crunchier than I expected and I loved them.

Stop number 2: Early Girl Eatery

 

It's for the sugar!

Early Girl Benny--Grit cakes topped with tomato, spinach, poached eggs, tomato gravy and avocado, served with toast a biscuit

Tempeh Ruben--Baked local tempeh, sauerkraut, russian dressing and swiss cheese (What's tempeh??)

Jam. Mushrooms and ants? So cute!

Yummy...Yummy...Yummy!

Stop number 4: Asheville Pizza & Brewing Company

I didn't take any pictures because this is basically a big movie theater where you can eat and I was busy watching The King's Speech (again).

Stop number 5: Sunny Point Cafe

See these? I am re-creating this. Why? 

Chocolate buttery-mousse. YESSSSSS!

Huevos Rancheros with tofu chorizo

 

Hey Megan, wanna go halvsises? A sweet and a savory?

And those were the meals that we ate. But there's more to come from our adventures in Asheville. 

Affirmations

Self-affirmations to be exact.

-------------------------------
Meagan

~ In the past year I've committed to working-out with a trainer 2x/week and am taking Pilates classes 2x/week.  I NEVER thought it would be something I'd do and I'm starting to embrace my own physical strength!
~ I work really hard at my job as a Special Education Teacher at a residential school.  It is incredibly challenging work, but work that I truly enjoy!

~ Over the past year (maybe 18 months) I've been engaged in therapy 1x/week.  It has been the hardest and most rewarding process I've EVER been a part of and I am SO proud of me for doing it.

~ In the past year, I've had a few short-term romantic relationships.  This has been new territory for me and I've learned a lot.  Specifically, I've learned that it's ok to like someone else and being liked in return feels INCREDIBLE!  Though I'm now single, I do look forward to finding someone to share my life with, something I desired until now.
~ All in all, I'm learning to love me, for who I am, right now.  It's an absolutely amazing process. 


-------------------------------
Maggie

I love this picture because I love babies and I feel most empowered when I am working with them.  I feel confident when I'm working with a child of any age, it's something I've always been good at.  I feel awesome when I see a previous student or child I've baby-sat and they are doing well, their life is going great, and I can't help but feel proud knowing I was a part of that in some way.  When people ask me what my dream is, I always say "to get married and have babies of my own".  And that's true, that's all I want.  I'll be doing what I do best, raising babies, getting them ready for the future, and helping them to become good people.

-------------------------------------
Lee

Powerful and Persistent and Passionate.  Fearless and Feisty and Fabulous.  Beautiful and Brilliant and Big-Hearted.

I'm not all of those things all the time.  But I can be all of those things and I think this picture does a good job of showing them, or at least suggesting them.  I recently stood up on stage in front of hundreds of people and sang my guts out.  I was great.  I wore a silly wig but I was regal.  I commanded the stage.  And a few weeks later I am just as happy baking a good loaf of whole wheat bread and planting some herbs in my yard, taking my dog for a walk, reading a silly novel and watching TV with my hubby.  So I'm complicated and very simple at the same time.  Hardworking and lazy.  Fearless and fearful.  I am the embodiment of human weakness (especially around chocolate!).  But sometimes I am the embodiment of human strength too.  More generous and optimistic and enthusiastic and supportive and strong and talented and thoughtful than even I expect.

-------------------------------
Michelle

One of the things I take pride in about myself is in how other people seem to like being around me.

Often I hear about how I'm funny, but I want people to realize that I'm intelligent, thoughtful, and a little insecure.

I'm totally capable of doing minor plumbing repairs, changing a flat tire, making a pair of earrings, refinishing a cabinet, using a saw, baking a kick-ass cake, and so many more things... they're all pretty handy skills/talents/abilities.

I love that I am the type of person who can't stop teaching or learning or crying when things are sad or loving life.

Many times when people are looking for fun, I'm the person to help out because I think life should be fun.
I work really hard at being the best I can be at everything I do.

On a side note in affirmation, I chose this picture because I love my niece, and I love how confident she is and how my sister is raising her. She is a child and I think that children possess a purity we can only grasp at. I want nothing more than to teach and reach every child I encounter. My sister wrote this poem for miri [check it out on Nykki's blog! -a], and it captures what I think empowerment should be-- Nykki and I worked for so long on our relationship, and we've each come to love who we are and where we are, and it is absolutely amazing to see her bringing my niece up to be independent, powerful, and empowered, even at the rich age of 4.

------------------------------

What about you? 

What do you have to say about yourself? 

Totally rad stuff I hope. ( :

Submissions: shoot me an email with your picture attached.

[my email is: aehoff(at)gmail(dot)com]

The deadline is April 24.
Meh. Deadlines are overrated.

Books

Last Wednesday, I headed over to Borders in Chapel Hill.

It's one of the many, many, many Borders that's closing. It happened to be the last day they were open, so everything was $0.99 or less.

THAT IS LESS THAN $1 PER BOOK.

I went a little nuts. I wandered by every shelf with books left on it and grabbed whatever looked even slightly interesting. 

Don't judge my book selections. 

I spent $14.57. Less than $1 per book, according to my receipt I saved $189.28 (ALMOST $200!!). Normally, I'd be pretty excited about that, but right now I just feel the teensy-isty-bitsy-bit guilty. It had to have been more than $1 per book to publish them. It makes me sad that people aren't purchasing enough books to keep bookstores open. 

Enough of the sadness/guilt/many-complexes I've created for myself. 

This is the book I was suckered into buying. 

It was the "autograph copy" sticker. I am so easily manipulated.

This is the book I'm most excited to read.

Has anyone read it? 

Or any of these 15 books? 

YOU ARE SUPERB!

Source: How About Orange.

I love that blog.

Does the banner remind you of anything?

How about how fabulous, fantastic and superb you are? Details about talking about that here, here, here and HERE.
In case you forgot.

Submissions: shoot me an email with your picture attached.

[my email is: aehoff(at)gmail(dot)com]

The deadline is April 24.

I'm up to THREE entries! Keep 'em coming...9+ to go!

xo