A Big, Quick Catch Up Post

It has been a busy couple of months. I had been busy at work over the summer and the early fall. My stepfather passed away, along with other life events. And now that things are finally settling down, I want to catch up on a few events I never had time to blog about. I'm going to keep the descriptions short and sweet for simplicity sake.

I've been waffling lately, wondering if I even wanted to keep on blogging. I haven't felt so passionate about it lately, as I've been in years past. I'm documenting my life in other ways (I.E-scrapbooking, social media).

I've always enjoyed having this as an outlet and a source to keep my memories. It's been hard for me to believe I would ever not feel like blogging, as I've been blogging since I was 15. But I'm not quite ready to pull the plug yet, so I'll see what happens over the next few months.

My all time favorite TV show is hands down, The Gilmore Girls. That show was so much a part of my late teens and early twenties. I can't even tell you how much I'm excited about the revival. It has been at the fore front of my thoughts for the last few months, and I've watched the previews like crazy.

An off-shoot of my love of Gilmore Girls, has been my love of the podcast Gilmore Guys. That podcast is too funny, and I am seriously in love with Demi & Kevin. Soo funny. So when I saw they were doing a live taping in nearby Nashville, I had to go. Adam tagged along with me, and they put on such a good show! They tossed pop tarts to the audience, made us take a live oath (which doubled as an advertisement for blue apron), and took us through all the regular segments. Such a good time. I even wore my Luke's Diner shirt.

We went to a wedding in October of a good acquaintance that used to host the trivia nights we frequently attend.  It was a fun wedding, they had a super hero theme and such fun touches throughout. I loved the photo booth, and I really loved my new grey dress that I wore. Going to weddings with Adam is always my favorite, as weddings feel so romantic. 

Our friend Luther came to visit from California, and we did so many fun activities. But they only one new for me was touring The Hermitage in Nashville. The Hermitage is the home of Andrew Jackson.We enjoyed seeing this historic home, walking the grounds of the old plantation, and learning more about the 7th president. 

For Halloween, we stayed in and passed out candy to the trick or treaters. I got a little into Pokemon Go this summer, so I couldn't resist dressing up a Pikachu. The kids loved it! Link was a very reluctant monster. 

Adam and I met some family members down in Shreveport, LA, for the Insane Inflatable 5k.  We had so much fun with the obstacles, some were surprisingly tall! But going down the slides after climbing up them was super fun, and not one of us managed to get hurt. So props to us!

Packer's season is well underway, and although our team sucks this year! I wanted to share this picture of the cutest Packer fan ever!

Click here to follow this blog on bloglovin and keep up with all my posts!

England/France Trip: Part 7

Our last day in Paris had finally arrived. It was drizzly, and we were headed out to Versailles in the afternoon, but there were a few things we still wanted to do in the morning hours. So after another room service breakfast,we left the room for our first stop, The Sacre Coeur.

You may recognize the Sacre Coeur from the film, Amelie! That is such a beautiful foreign film. We wanted to go there because we were unwilling to wait hours and hours to go to the top of the Eiffel tower. We wanted to make the most of our short time in Paris. But our tour guide from earlier in the week, told us the views from the Sacre Coeur were just as good.

So we walked up the steepest and most back breaking hills for what seemed like forever, before we finally got there. And the tour guide was right, the views were so worth it. And we soaked it in for a while.

Before heading back down the hill, I stopped to get some Macarons from a bakery we had spotted on the way up. I got a mix of flavors, but my favorites were the Pistachio and Earl Grey Tea ones. 

After we ate Macaroons and made our way down the massive Sacre Coeur hills, one of the things I needed to mark off my Paris bucket list was to see the Moulin Rouge, which we did with a quick ride on the metro. I would love to see a show at the Moulin Rouge one day, I always loved that movie!

It was time to head down to grab our tour bus out to Versailles. One of the best parts of walking around Paris is the little peekaboo you get of the Eiffel tower when you least expect it. It always took my breathe away.

 

After our morning activities, we headed out for an afternoon at Versailles. Versailles was the main reason I wanted to go to France in the first place. I would call Marie Antoinette one of my historical obsessions and I've gone down many a internet rabbit hole reading about her life. Our first stop at Versailles was the Petit Trianon. 

The Petit Trianon was a mini palace of sorts, near Versailles. Marie Antoinette used it as an escape from palace life. And it's beautiful. I loved the tiny bed (apparently they used to sleep sitting up)?  It was just cool to see the rooms she lived in and the furniture she used. 

The best part of the Petit Trianon was the hamlet. Marie Antoinette had built a "faux" village for her to experience. It was so picturesque and lovely. You could tell how frivolous and unnecessary it was, and it quite possibly was a small factor in the French Revolution (the nobility, especially the Royal family, just bled money). But it was just so lovely, I wish I could have had a picnic out there.

  

Versailles itself was even more extravagant! Gold, mural, and statues everywhere. And boy was it crowded, like sometimes hard to move crowded. But from what I've read, it is always crowded. But I got to lean over to Adam and whisper, "There is a lot of people at Versailles today," which was the famed line Marie Antoinette said to Madame Du Barry.  Yeap, I'm a nerd.

I loved the hall of mirrors especially and unfortunately the Queens chambers were closed this day. We did get some time walking around the lovely gardens though, getting a little soaked, due to the rain not really ever stopping.  

The amount of rain Paris had that week was unusual we learned, and in fact about a week after we left, the Seine flooded terribly. 

When we got back to Paris, we stopped and had dinner at a nice cafe. Adam and I were so proud because our waiter did not speak any English, and yet somehow we were able to have a basic conversation with him and order our meals just fine. It seemed a good way to end our trip, having learned a little french! I got the beef bourguignon by the way. 

The next morning we got up before dawn,  and discovered the subway was not opened yet, so we were forced to hail a taxi to the Eurostar station. We took the Eurostar back to London, and then took the tube to Heathrow airport before flying home. It certainly was a long travel day!

We had such a great trip to Europe, and I was so glad to finally have made it to Paris! Even Adam was surprised with how much he loved Paris, he didn't expect to like it at all. He can be a curmudgeon that way.

 

Click here to follow this blog on bloglovin and keep up with all my posts!

Huntsville Ghost Walk and Maple Hill Cemetery Walk

A few weekends ago, I met up with my college friend turned local friend, Lark, for a Huntsville Ghost Walk Tour. Lark and I are very a like in some of the activities we enjoy (like me she is a Disney Park friend). We are both into local history and beautiful homes. So when I texted her to find out if she wanted to go on the local ghost walk with me, she was like, "dang, I meant to text you about that first!".

There are three different tours, and we decided on the Twickenham tour, which is the historic district in Huntsville.  We really enjoyed the tour, I'm not a big, believer in ghosts, but I loved the ghost stories, and the historic information I learned. And I'm all about history.

A few weekends later we were again out an about for a little Huntsville history. This time for the Maple Hill Cemetery Walk. This Maple Hill Cemetery stroll is an annual tradition, taking place in this beautiful old graveyard. Actors and Actresses portray famous Huntsville people, standing in front of the graves telling their life story. It made for a very pleasant afternoon!

Click here to follow this blog on bloglovin and keep up with all my posts!