P90X, The High Country and a Pine Cone Swag…

Ok..I know that title is confusing but I have several things to post about (and I know I haven’t posted in a couple of months) so I thought 1 post could cover it ALL!

 

First off, my sadistic wonderful sister-in-law ,Stephanie, talked me into doing P90X.  We just finished the first month and I have to say I feel stronger and tighter.  My jeans are a little less snug and my derriere looks a little higher…don’t you hate gravity…and aging!!  And no, there won’t be any before and after pics…I am not that brave!   And Tony Horton, if you’re reading this…I love and hate you all at the same time!!!  And I love your Horton-isms…

 

 

Shifting gears from pain to relaxation Stephanie and I along with her two girls spent a few days in the High Country of North Carolina.

 

We started off our trip at Mystery Hill in Boone.  I have been here a few times and I never get tired of taking someone new so I can see the expression on their face when they enter the room.  You are standing up while leaning…it’s very freaky!  The girls loved it.  From there we went next door to the Appalachian History Museum.  Before we enter we always take a picture with the Indian statue…

 

Next we headed to The Linville Caverns.  This is such a cool place.  At one point you get to experience total darkness.  You may think you know what total darkness is but trust me you don’t until you have been here.  If you ever go to the High Country you must check this out.

After that we went to Linville Falls.  It’s only a short walk to the falls and the beautiful colors around the falls made it worth the walk.

The next day we headed to Banner Elk for the Wooly Worm Festival.  Stephanie and her girls entered a Wooly Worm into the race and they nick-named it after Steph’s son- Jakester.  Everyone gives their Wooly Worm a cute name and the worm that wins the race gets $1000.  Yes, you saw right $1000.  Unfortunately Jakester didn’t bring home the gold but it was a lot of fun!  You put your worm at the bottom of a string and hope, pray and curse at your  worm to get to the top first.

After that we headed to the Valle Country Fair in Valle Crucis.  The view all around the fair was breathtaking.  We had some great hot apple cider and brownies which gave us the energy to forge ahead.

After the fair we headed to The Mast General Store in Valle Crucis.  I love this store!  It has a real working post office in it and a huge pot belly stove.  You can even sit a spell and play some checkers.

 

On our last day we had breakfast at The Daniel Boone Inn before heading home.  But a word of warning…get there early or be forced to wait in a line.  This place is great.  Everything is served family style and I promise you will not leave hungry.  Just be sure to eat everything you want because there are no doggie bags..

And now onto my pine cone swag.  Inspired by my trip to the High Country I wanted to bring the outdoors indoors.  This swag is so easy there is no need for a tutorial.  All you need is ribbon, a glue gun and pine cones.  Cut your ribbon at varying lengths, glue them to pine cones, tie the top of the ribbons together, trim the excess and hang.  I hung mine on my large white mirror in my dining room and I love the look!  This swag will take me all the way through Christmas without having to change the look for each season.

 

So from “The Junkin’ Chick{s}”…hope your fall is going as great as ours!!!