Been awhile

Wow, so much time has gone by since I've been on here. Life is just flying by. We got in yesterday at exactly 3:33 am from GA. It was so nice to get away and not worry about school. I got to read a lot and just chill. We trucked up to Fort Mountain State Park, about 20 min away from our cabin at the top of a mountain. Right before we pulled in, one of our camper tires blew, so we got to know our campsite neighbors pretty quick. They let us borrow an air compressor and etc. I was so glad it decided to wait til we were there to blow out and not in rush hour ATL traffic! We got a beautiful campsite with beautiful lake views. The lake was down the hill and across a small footpath. We set up camp the 1st night...took a couple hrs to get it all cranked up, waterproof mattress pads put on, stove going and water boiling for spaghetti.

Looking at the boys' bed inside the camper...woods in the background:)

 We realized pretty quick the things we didn't have and needed, so I started making a list for next time so it's fully stocked:)--strainer, dish soap, and the like. We LOVED camping in the camper and being in the park for nearly 2 full days. We did tons of hiking...a few trips around the lake trail, which was 1.2 miles and then we did the overlook hike which was about a mile straight up. I'll hafta post pics later. It was gorgeous, but terrifying for me as it was so high and the railings were lacking in the safety department for me. We hiked back down another way, past the stone tower. Whoever originally built the park had lined the trail in huge boulders and made rock stairs all the way down. It was quite something. We even let the kids go swimming at the beach area on the warmer day...they didn't last too long:) The last morning we were there, I tried out my 1st trail run around the lake, and busted out the 1.2 miles in 11 minutes. It was so fun and exhilirating, and I can see why ppl love to do the trail 1/2 marathons. You're just focused on the path directly in front of you and you fly down the hills. I picked up Evan on the 2nd lap and we ran/walked and finished in 17 minutes!! He did sooo good! I think he's gonna turn out to be a good runner. He said he'd like to practice w/ me so he can do a race. Maybe a mile 1st and work up to a 5k. I need to get on that. We packed up by 1pm on Thursday and headed to the cabin and Mom and I went to Mercier to get apples and oranges and some fried pies. Found a cute honey pot too, since the one I bought on our girl's trip doesn't work worth a smack.

JB and Jenn and the boys....and the rat snake, dog, and bucket of caterpillars, arrived around 10 Thurs night and the boys were hyped! We'd put them both down for a long nap so they could stay up to see them and play for a bit. They all played so good the whole trip! Friday the weather was nasty, so we went into town to "the alley", which is a podunk lil bowling alley w/ 2 big jump houses/slides and an area of arcade games and lazer tag. The boys bowled 1 game and had a ball, then went on to the bounce houses. The adults bowled 2 games and of course the competition was on. We were all bowling pretty terrible the 1st round but then busted it out the 2nd game. It was pretty funny.

We all took turns making dinner...Mom made a thing of ckn enchiladas and sloppy joes, I made my bbq pulled ckn in the crock, and Jenn/JB made dogs/burgers one night. We really went thru the food. I also made my new burritos--black bean and sweet potato w/ red onion, spinach and chipotle peppers...OMG< YUMMM! Mom even loved 'em too. I'm gonna try to make a double batch this week and freeze some small burritos for lunches.

We did a lot of hot tubbing there too, and went back to Fort Mtn on Saturday to let the kids play at the beach and swim...it was FREEZING. All us adults were sitting under blankets and comforters and there's the kids, swimming under the water. Miles got out and was shaking all over for like 10 minutes. It was pretty funny. Crazy kids.

I got up that morning, Saturday, and went into town to the running trail by the river. I ran 2 laps down and back to do 3.1 miles. Saw 8 other runners there, some w/ amazing bods, so that was pretty cool. Lots of ppl out and some boys' baseball teams out at the fields too. I was sucking air bad and coughing a bit bc the pollen was at an all-time high. You could see it all over the trail. But it was really good to be out there. I was s'posed to be doing the race for G'ma back in FL that morning, the Scope it Out for colon cancer race I've done the last 2 years....so decided to do my 5k there instead. I was pretty bummed I missed the race, but wore her shirt and thought of her there instead. I really miss doing my races.

Well, must go for now. Gotta throw some lunch together for the boys. Just realized I can't go to the gym bc the camper's still on the car and I don't wanna try pulling into that awkward driveway w/out ever having driven w/ a camper before. R will be home soon so I can go by myself to my dr's apt at 2:45. Follow up at the GI. Not sure what it's about, so am not really prepared w/ questions this go-round. Hopefully they will ask me a bunch so I can think of some stuff. Things are pretty much back to normal. I wouldn't say it's like it was before, but still good. I feel fairly energetic these days.

We had a good vacation and I got a lot of time to ponder and evaluate things. I'm a bit bummed at myself for losing my Bible and devotional while I was there (found it the last day), so didn't do that as I'd planned. I can see how God is changing me and was thankful for what changes He's helped me to make, esp in my reactions and attitude towards my family. I feel like He's really helping me to listen more and take things in and see them for what they really are. I have a long way to go, but it's a start;) We all had such a great visit, and the boys played so well together. The only problems were w/ the siblings fighting. brothers against brothers like always;)!!

I will try to upload some pics later. My phone didn't upload but like one I think??