where have I been?

That part about "traveling" in this blog title... I take that seriously when I can!! Getting out of town and exploring new places is my absolute favorite thing to do. So this past week has been good for my soul... running down in Wilmington and then taking off on Thursday for a few days of hiking and restaurant-hopping in beautiful Asheville, NC!

It's not often that we can drop our kids off with the grandparents and have a weekend to ourselves, but Zach and I have an occasion to celebrate- 10 years of marriage. Our actual anniversary isn't until May, but we have that academic schedule to work around, so March was a better time to skip town. And on a budget, we couldn't go out west like we love to do... We DID go west... but just a little west :). The mountains of NC are gorgeous... not as huge and majestic as the Rockies, but the Blue Ridge Mountains are really stunning in their own way. LOTS of amazing hikes in the area, and SO much good food! We hadn't extensively explored Asheville before, so this was the perfect time.

We hiked about 4 miles up near Montreat, even though the forecast was for lots of rain. Who lets a little rain stop them? 

It was raining here... but then it started pouring, and we still had 2.5 miles to go... yay for rain coats! 

Done with the hike and drying off... we went to "Lake Susan" in Montreat, an old favorite of ours! We used to come here with our youth group kids when we worked with middle and high school students at our church in college.

view of the Blue Ridge Mountains from our hotel room at the Biltmore

This is the French Broad River

We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway to get to some "Bald" mountains- this is a rare thing in the Southeast, to have several peaks with no trees. It's incredible to hike for miles with no trees and views for miles! We hiked about 6 miles and it was WINDY... but gorgeous! 

NC Mountains CAN be pretty big! 

shadows

flooded trails

we were a little over 6000 feet... not bad for the east coast

breathtaking views

after lots of hiking and eating and going to breweries, we spent our last morning at the Biltmore Estate... it's tulip season! 

huge "house" 

everyone should see this house in person at some point in your life... incredible! I used to sing here at Christmas in my high school ensemble... beautiful memories. 

After our adventure, we packed up and headed home. There's nothing like getting through hard times and celebrating the gift of a good relationship. I'm so grateful for Zach and our marriage and friendship. I'd never want to lead you to believe that we're perfect- far from it- but we're supportive and honest and humorous and real, and flexible with life's joys and curve balls. We don't take things too seriously and take each day as it comes... I think that's what counts! And lots of coffee and wine help, too ;-).

Okay, enough blogging... gotta run. visit Asheville someday if you can! It's a great little city, and Hunger Games is filmed in these good ol' NC mountains :). Have a great week... happy Spring!