Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Byebye Boone :(

Well today I finished my internship at the Appalachian State Counseling Center. I can't believe the year is over!! It was probably the hardest year of my life. The amount of work was ridiculous and I was away from friends and family (including Kent). I'm SO relieved that it's over, but I'm definitely going to miss Boone. Here are some of the things I'll miss the most:
  • the beautiful mountains, of course
  • the fact that I don't have or need A/C in the summer
  • the fall colors
  • Christmas tree farms
  • Rhodedendrums
  • Dan'l Boone Inn
  • Blowing Rock
  • The Best Cellar (where Kent and I got engaged)
  • going to the Biltmore Estate
  • hiking to waterfalls
  • Farmer's Market
  • Living half a mile from the Blue Ridge Parkway
  • no humidity
  • Mast General Store
  • fireflies

My fellow intern, Rebekah and I made calendars for all of our co-workers as a going away present. We used all of our favorite pictures around Boone that we have taken this year. I am sharing them as part of my final ode to Boone. It's 13 pics, so bear with me!

Cover:

January:

February:

March:


April:

May:

June:

July:

August:

September:
October:

November:


December:

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Check and check

Well, I am able to check off 2 of my goals that I set for my year in Boone. So, the first one is kind of nerdy. I always wanted to have a picture that was the "Photo of the Day" on booneweather.com. The man who runs booneweather, Ray, is somewhat of a local celebrity and everyone in Boone knows about booneweather. Well...after a year of sending in photos, mine was finally chosen and today my photo was the photo of the day!! It's a picture I took of Grandfather Mountain (notice the profile of a bearded old man) while I was at a park in Banner Elk last Friday. Here's the pic:


My second goal was to see a bear. After work I drove to Mountain City, TN to eat at a really great restaurant for a co-worker's retirement dinner. On the way there and on the way back I saw a bear in the very same spot. Why was he in the same spot?? Because the poor thing was dead on the side of the road. But it was a bear nonetheless, so I'm still counting it.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

Unveiling of the Pottery!


Friday night I went to the pottery studio to pick up my very first completed pieces. This means I built them out of clay, let them completely dry (which takes a while), fired them once in the kiln, glazed them, and fired them again. Pottery doesn't happen overnight, folks! Think about that the next time you complain about paying $30 for a lovely piece of pottery. Anyway, the blue piece is the ONLY thing I was able to make on the wheel. I don't know how I managed to make it and I have no idea what it is. The white vase I made by hand, which is obvious by the asymmetry. The rest of the weekend I have been packing my butt off. I am now officially stuck eating frozen meals, sandwiches or takeout, as all of my plates, pots, and pans are packed away...ugh!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Packing, Picking, and Potting

That about sums up my weekend.



  • Packing- I have been packing up my place to move to Florida. I HATE PACKING! My dad is coming up here to help me load the truck on the 31st and we're heading to Pensacola Aug. 1st. I can't believe I've already lived in Boone for a year. I'm VERY excited about moving, but I'm starting to get sad about leaving the mountains...it's so beautiful here.

  • Picking- As silly as it sounds, I usually drive to get my mail because my driveway is SO steep. This weekend I decided to walk up to get my mail and noticed tons of blackberries growing around the mailbox. I picked enough blackberries to make a cobbler and there are still lots left to pick.

  • Potting- So it's not really potting, but I had to add the "ing" just so it would sound cute. I've been taking a pottery class this summer and it's a lot more difficult than I thought it would be. I just can't seem to master centering the clay on the wheel, so I've decided to stick to hand-building pieces for now. This weekend I went up to the studio to make a bundt pan. I'm excited to see how it comes out!

Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Blueberry Muffins in a Bowl?!


I just had to quickly share my new favorite cereal. I'm a big cereal eater, or even connoisseur if you will. I eat cereal every morning and I usually switch around to different kinds so I don't get bored. Lately I have been eating the Cinnamon Streusel Frosted Mini-Wheats. They're very tasty, but I was starting to need a change in my morning meal. I was at the store yesterday and there it was, sitting on the end of an aisle- Blueberry Muffin Frosted Mini-Wheats. What the perfect combination! Blueberry muffins are one of my favorite breakfast treats, but let's face it...who has time to bake up some muffins in the morning?? Now there's no need to...you can eat your muffins right out of a cereal bowl!

Sunday, July 6, 2008

Happy 4th of July Weekend!

It was SO nice having a 3-day weekend...I wish I had one every week! My plan for Friday (the 4th) was to go to Lansing, NC with a fellow intern, Rebekah, to pick blueberries at this farm. Then, we were going to watch the fireworks in Jefferson because we heard they were supposed to be pretty good. So we made the 45-minute drive to Lansing and as soon as we got there it started storming. I was so disappointed. We decided on Plan B, which was driving back to Boone, eating dinner, and then going to watch the fireworks at Tweetsie since by the time we got back to Boone the sun was out (of course). So, after we ate we drove to Tweetsie and there were cars parked along the road for miles. Apparently people make a day out of parking and waiting for fireworks. I guess there's nothing better to do in Boone. I like fireworks, but not enough to park 2 miles away and and wait for an hour. So, the goals for the day were to pick blueberries and watch fireworks, and I didn't end up doing either one. Oh well. Here's a picture of my niece, Ella in honor of the 4th!