Over the hills & through the fog, to Banner Elk, NC we go!

DAY 1 (Wednesday)
It's finally here! After a rainy week in South Carolina we are headed for peaceful  Blue Ridge mountain relaxation for 4 nights. Ahhhhh, I can hardly wait to dip into the hot tub holding a glass of wine after our monkeys go to bed.

Ezra napping while we cross
into North Carolina by Steph

Kane's brother Klint drove up from Pensacola to join us on our snowboarding vacation in Banner Elk, North Carolina. We left this morning at 7am. It's a 5 hour drive to the rental mountain cabin. Alex got carsick within the first hour, poor girl, she is just like her mommy!! Ezra is currently napping, & we are listening to an audio book....The Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. And I just downloaded the Blogger app!


We are headed straight to Sugar Mountain Ski Resort, trying to beat the rain. Looking outside there is no snow cover, high of 50 degrees today. Kane plans to snowboard and Uncle Klint wants to ski. The next two days have a chance of rain, then snow Sat.

We are winding through the mountains, gazing at the snowless cold ground. There are lots of little cabins tucked away and little shops. Alex wants to go "skiboarding" with her Daddy. We drop off Uncle Klint & Kane at Sugar Mountain and watch them for a bit. Hopefully next winter I will be able to try out snowboarding once again as well as Alex. Maybe she could ski?? I paid $4 for a popsicle for Alex which is crazy I know, & Ezra munched on his yogurt drops. Poor baby eats way to many of those while we are out & about. On our way back to the truck, Alex slipped under the railing & found a flat patch of snow. Despite hearing me say, "please come back here Alex", she continued to the middle of the patch & attempted to make a snowball out of the slushy white stuff. A few onlookers were chuckling since I could not chase after her with Ezra strapped to my back in the baby carrier. So again, Alex wins. As usual.


She finally came stopping back to me, & found out snow is cold without mittens.

Daddy & Uncle Klint before their 
Sugar Mountain adventure by Steph

So now its up to me to drive & find our cabin. Banner Elk is not even a town really, but a collection of real estate offices, cafes, & ski rental shops in a picturesque backdrop with dainty cabins tucked into the mountain rock. I found our cabin online at bannerelkmtncabins.com.  We are at the top of the ridge, at the end of a scary state maintained road. I swear if there were icey snow on the ground our GMC truck would not make it! Thank goodness their is a snow chain shop just in town just incase.

Here are some pictures I took in the evening. Isn't it lovely???

Mountainview Cabin, Banner Elk, North Carolina by Steph 2012

Sunset back deck view by Steph 2012

Beautiful fireplace by Steph 2012

Around 8:30 pm after I unpacked ALL of the totes from the back of the truck (totes = water proof luggage) I head to the grocery store near the slopes. I have never taken my monkeys shopping at this time. Let me repeat, never. Needless to say, they were excited to be out, & Alex even picked out the milk and put it under the cart while I was grabbing eggs. What a helpful sweetheart!


Upon paying for our goodies, I went to Sugar Mountain to pick up the cold & sore men. They both had big smiles on their faces from the fun day in the snow. GOOD. Daddy really needed it. He has been stoked to go snowboarding all winter & wishes to end up one day close to a slope so he can go out on a whim with his kids since he expects his ER schedule to be cushy. Plus, he was excited to try out his board again, the one he received from his mom in Alaska last April.


Back at the cabin I cooked up some white chicken chili, cornbread, & Daddy tossed a salad. Ezra & Alex were quite entertained by the new roaming grounds. Ezra is so quick & mobile now, he cruises all over the place. Once the babies were put down, we hopped in the hot tub outside the master bedroom. The fog had really start to set in with a little chill in the air. Weather forecast was right, the next day or so was going to be nasty. Uncle Klint had picked up a bottle of blueberry wine in Augusta which was AMAZING I will have to purchase some more of the liquid dream drink.


Did I mention the hot tub was the entire purpose for the trip for me? I couldn't snowboard with the monkeys around so relaxation was my anticipated activity. 
Or lack of activity. 
Which ever you prefer.


DAY 2 (Thursday)
Woke up to a little sunrise through the fog. Today is going to be a ski bummer of a day. Alex ended up in bed with us in the loft, apparently the air mattress is not good enough for our lil monkey. Ezra slept horribly as well. We slid his pack n pay in the bathroom so the fan could lull him to sleep. It worked for the most part except he hardly nursed the day before while on the road, so he took the opportunity last night to "catch up" on calories. Mommy bear is soooo sleepy.
Where is the instant coffee I packed? 
And the sugar/creamer packets I swiped from Subway?
Most of the morning was spent playing with the monkeys & figuring out our plans for the rainy day. We ended up visiting the Pink Gorilla Souvenir shop & Alpine Ski Shop. Too icky to snowboard, so Daddy & Uncle Klint tagged along.  I picked out a cute snowflake ornament with Sugar Mountain on it to add to our family collection. I swear its the best idea; no tshirts, no clutter, no tacky gifts, just a sweet ornament to pull out and admire on the tree once a year. The rest of the day was very, very, foggy. 
Then came the rain.
Then came more fog and wind. 
The boys didn't hit the slopes at all. In all seriousness, they were popped from yesterday so it didn't seem to bother them. It did bother me, I wanted nice weather so we could enjoy some local shops. Oh well, time to sit by the cozy fire!


By the way, Alex and Ezra have been following the VACATION schedule. 
Which I now know translates to NO SCHEDULE. Its been rough. I expect both of them to be completely wacky the entire trip.


Daddy cooked up some Italian moose sausage his mom mailed down to us. Here is a picture of the poor creature. I can't believe I had him for dinner, mixed with red sauce & spaghetti.

Grandma Jean's first moose 2011

Outside the weather was crazy. Like in hurricane windy crazy. I guess on top of a mountain that's what is expected. If it were only 15 degrees cooler, the rain would have been beautiful crisp snow. Oh well, at least we have a fire to cozy up around. We found a deck of cards & uncorked some wine for a good time. Kane & I ventured into the hot tub despite the gale like winds. 
Worth it. 
I love water jets. Especially after carrying monkeys all day.


DAY 3 (Friday)
Weather was horrible again. Super foggy & windy. Its too bad the temperature couldn't have dropped so it could snow a bit. Gotta find something to do instead. Alex was dying to hop into the hot tub so Kane brought her to me. (Naturally, I was already in it, the exact moment after Ezra went down for his morning nap) She grinned & grinned & thought the jets were so cool. My little monkey kept saying, "I love vacation!". Uncle Klint managed to make a fire (takes him awhile but he always gets the job done) & so we spent the morning having breakfast & dips into the hot tub.

We all wanted to visit Grandfather Mountain & cross the swinging bridge, but the office stated it was truthfully too foggy. So instead, we headed to a nearby town called Valle Crucis to visit the old timey Mast General Store

Original Mast General Store

Grilling
Hot tub


DAY 4 (Saturday)
Clear Crisp Morning
Banner Elk Winery

DAY 5 (Sunday)

Grandfather Mountain

quotes to live by

"Treat the Earth well. 
It was not given to you by your parents, 
it was loaned to you by your children. 
We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, 
we borrow it from our Children." 
~ Ancient Indian Proverb 


The more you have, the more you are occupied,
the less you give. But the less you have the more free you are. Poverty for us is a freedom. It is not mortification, a penance. It is joyful freedom. 
There is no television here, no this, no that. 
But we are perfectly happy.
~Mother Teresa


God, grant me the Serenity To accept the things I cannot change… Courage to change the things I can, And Wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, Enjoying one moment at a time, Accepting hardship as the pathway to peace. Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, Not as I would have it. Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His will. That I may be reasonably happy in this life, And supremely happy with Him forever in the next. Amen.
- Reinhold Neibuhr


“Just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn't mean I orchestrate the tragedies. Don't ever assume that my using something means I caused it or that I need it to accomplish my purposes. That will only lead you to false notions about me. Grace doesn't depend on suffering to exist, but where there is suffering you will find grace in many facets and colors.” 
~Papa from The Shack


There is only one sin, only one. And that is theft. Every other sin is a variation of theft... When you kill a man, you steal a life. You steal his wife's right to a husband, rob his children of a father. When you tell a lie, you steal someone's right to the truth. When you cheat, you steal the right to fairness.
 -Baba from Kite Runner

first blog

Silhouette Tree.
Shellman's Bluff, GA by Steph

Hello online world. Its little old me, Stephanie Curtis. I am currently typing while standing up, with my 2 & 1/2 year old daughter, Alexandra (Alex) clinging to my legs, asking me for more animal crackers while her baby brother Ezra naps. So, as you can already guess, this blog will most definitely have sporadic posts. 

Here are my blog goals (Is this common? I have only looked at a handful of blogs)

1. Create a little "memory bank" for my children. I have never been good at keeping diaries. Lets face it, I think I still have some unfinished from 3rd grade. You remember the type, the kind with a lock and key to keep your parents from reading about your most recent playground crush. I can barely keep up with my children's baby books. (Sorry kids!) But, one thing is certain, I have a love affair with photography, so I am awesome at documenting their life in pictures in their online scrapbooks. (I heart you Shutterfly!) The children page is where you will find memories about my babies.

2. Contemplate life.  I love this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt:

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people...

Yes, this directly contradicts my number one, but a blog should not be one dimensional. Being the dork I am, I was a part of my universities' honor program. We were required to read, write, discuss, & learn from the great philosophers of the world. When I was 20, I didn't really think any of the works or manifestos were quite brilliant, but now as a reading adult, I pose the same questions they did. What is the meaning to life? Why are we here? What's on the other side?

3. Share recipes.  I am a mommy after all, one that has to cook, clean, discipline, love. So I hope to post a few recipes I would like to try out and some that are a hit! 

4. Adventures. They are few and far between now, but still there. The little adventrues count now :) (The BIG one's could be just disguised as little ones.)

5. BOOKS! & such. Need I say more?

6. Square Foot Garden attempts!! way back in college I picked up a book about a "new" way to grow all the veggies in 20% the space as a traditional row garden. Lets see if it works!