Ouch

What goes perfectly with the first boat trip of the season? The first sunburn, of course! I can't complain too much, since I made a conscious decision to not put sunscreen on my legs. It was a kind of cool day, with lots of cloud cover, so I figured I would go without SPF in an attempt to get some color. I got lots of color... RED color.

Before leaving the house, I decided I should probably put sunscreen on the tops of my feet. Trev was in the process of applying his own Banana Boat, and since he still had some on his hands he rubbed the excess on my feet. Notice the Trevor finger-sized white streaks above my ankle.The first couple of nights were a little rough, and trying to keep a bunch of kindergartners off my legs throughout the week was a challenge, but overall I am doing just fine. I have very little redness left... now I am just waiting for it to peel! Until then, it is ITCHY!!

First Boat Trip of the Season

We spent this past weekend in Alabama with my mom and dad and our boys! It was lovely. The weather was a little icky on Saturday, so we just stayed around the house. Trev helped my dad with some electrical work he is doing on the Man Cave, and I spent a couple of hours in the kitchen making runzas (a Dale family favorite... they are kind of like homemade hot pockets) for Trev. He had been asking for them for a while, but I do not have the counter space to make them in the apartment.

On Sunday, the weather was much nicer so we went out on the boat. Trevor and I both spent a lot of time on the water while we were growing up, and we miss it dearly now. There's nothing like it... the fresh air, the scenery, the sound and feel of the water. It is so calming and soul soothing. The water was too cold for me, but Trevor braved it for a while. Of course, it is never too cold for Taz and Tanner. And just like their mom and dad, there is nothing the enjoy more than a day on the lake!

The river is lined with lots of trees and beautiful bluffs!

Taz and Trev, two of my beautiful smiling boys.

Everyone in their usual spots... dad driving the boat, Taz seeking attention (and snacks), Mom in her corner seat, and Tanner just kickin' back.

As soon as the boat starts moving, Tanner starts sleeping!

What do you do...

... when you go to school online and you suddenly find yourself without internet for an undetermined amount of time? Well, first you panic, at least a little. That's what happened last week. Trevor and I returned home from a weekend in Alabama to discover that our internet was down. Luckily, we both had a week off from school and wouldn't be starting again until Tuesday (at University of Phoenix the school week goes from Tuesday to Monday). So we went to bed expecting to be back up and running by morning. When we discovered that we still didn't have service when we woke up, Trev got on the phone to the cable company to find out what was happening and when the problem was expected to be resolved. He was told that service was out in our area and that it should be back up within 24 hours. At this point, I was getting a smidgen nervous. I usually spend the day before class begins printing out the syllabus, filling in my calendar with assignment due dates, etc. But I figured I would just tackle it Tuesday morning and be fine.

When Tuesday came along and we were STILL without service, I started getting very anxious! Trev called the company again and was told that everything was restored and that they had no idea why we weren't getting internet service (very helpful). This, unfortunately, was the third time this month that we had had internet trouble, and so we decided it was time to look into other options. Trev called the complex's office to find out what other companies are available for us to use. When he explained that we were not satisfied with our current cable/internet/phone company (Charter), the leasing agent told him that Charter is no longer serving our apartment complex and that we should have been notified. GRRRR... obviously we had NOT been notified... and not only that, during the time Trev spent on the phone with Charter the representatives never mentioned, "Oh, our service is no longer available in your area. Maybe that's why you can't get on the internet, Sir!"

I was so frustrated, and by now I was panicking about school. Our classes had begun and we were without internet or an internet company! At this point, we decided we needed to contact our academic advisors (not an easy task when all your contact information is saved on your school profile and you do not have internet service!) to see about postponing our classes a week. Luckily, we were both able to do just that.

So, we now have a new internet and cable company, we have had consecutive service for 48 hours, and we have another weekend without homework. I guess everything worked out in the end!

So Sweet!

Look at these faces!! The last time we went to Alabama I took this picture of Taz and Tanner. They are such happy boys. At this moment, they were all smiles for several reasons:

1. They were outside

2. Trevor (their favorite toy) was getting ready to play ball with them
3. They were, and always are, surrounded by love

This coming weekend, Trev and I will be going to visit again. We both have a week off of school (WOOHOO!), so we are hoping for great weather so we can have a soul mending weekend on the water with my mom and dad and our sweet boys.

Wacky Weather

The last couple of weeks we have had really beautiful weather. During the day the temperature has been as high as 73 degrees with plenty of sun, cool breezes and an occasional spring rain... Trevor even got a bit of a sunburn last weekend. We have been enjoying the sunshine and so has Mother Nature. Spring is in full bloom around here, and it is GORGEOUS!

So, you are probably thinking, "Where's the 'wacky weather' the title of this post is referring to?" Well, it's currently 32 outside and we are expecting snow... yep, you heard correctly, I said SNOW. In one week the daily high temperature is forecasted to go from 73 to 41 and back to the 70s. We don't really mind the cold snap or the return of the snow, but we are hoping the drastic temperature change doesn't make us sick or damage all the lovely spring landscape!

Eureka!

We have found it! As I have mentioned before, Trev and I have been looking for a place to roller blade ever since we left San Diego. We never found anyplace in Arizona, other than the parking lot of the credit union where I used to work. We tried skating on our street but the asphalt was so rough it made our eyeballs vibrate. We hoped Asheville would be different since the city is touted as one of the best places to live for outdoor activities. And guess what? We have found it! This is the Mellowdrome:

It used to belong to NASCAR's Petty racing family and now is part of the city's park system. The track is 1/3 mile around with four banked turns. In the center, there is a hockey rink, a HUGE wooden jungle gym for the kiddies, and tons of grass. To get into the track, you have to use the stairs or ramp visible on the left of this picture. FYI don't attempt the ramp while actually wearing the roller blades!

Trev and I skated on the track for a while and then we tackled the path that winds all around the rest of the park. It felt great to be back on the roller blades again. As the weather continues to get better and the days longer, we will be spending much more time wheeling around Carrier Park and the Mellowdrome!

(This was the first real sun we have had in months, so please excuse the
ridiculously white legs!)

It's a Beautiful Day!

Today was a GORGEOUS day... probably the prettiest we have seen since moving here six month ago (yep, it has already been six months!). The sky was clear, the temperature was nearly 70 degrees, there was a slight breeze and the birds were singing in the first official days of spring. We decided that despite our pile homework the day was too pretty to spend inside. So, we headed to North Asheville. This is Beaver Lake:

It's a small man-made lake in the middle of a beautiful, older community north of the downtown area. For some reason, the lake was just recently drained, so it wasn't as scenic as usual. We parked the car and walked all the way around. We were hoping to find a paved trail - we are desperate to find a place to roller blade - but found a nice dirt trail instead. We can't wait to go back a little later in the year to see all the trees full and the water back up, and to rent a canoe to take out on the lake.

After we left the lake, we drove to a mountain top community. What a view!