Biltmore Estate

I am very fortunate to live 5 minutes from the Biltmore Estate - America's private largest residence. This is a great place to visit any time of the year. Not only do they change things in the house each season, but the property itself is amazing. There are various gardens that highlight the flowers and plants of the season. There is an award winning winery and have daily wine tastings (yum)! I went there yesterday and although the gardens were pretty bare due to the cold weather, there were beautiful plants in the greenhouses.

I'm in a Treasury!

Thank you LuckyDogTreatCompany for including Dogs Galore Note Cards Set in a Treasury.

Click here to see the treasury and comment

Remembering Costa Rica

While going through some of my old photos I came across those photos from my trip to Costa Rica a few years ago. I went with a company called Adventure Life. Their mission is "to provide quality small group tours that have a positive impact on the local culture and environment." They really were great. We saw Arenal - an active volcano, the Monteverde Cloudforest, Quepos, and Manuel Antonio National Park. I wasn't very excited about going to Manuel Antonio as I had a pre-conceived notion that it was just a beach. After living in Florida for 10 years, I wasn't very interested in going to a beach! Along with seeing an active volcano, Manuel Antonio was the highlight of the trip. I love seeing wildlife and there were tons of monkeys! I was lucky enough to stumble upon the scene below. There is a man who has fallen asleep lying under the plaid shirt. His picnic lunch is in the white plastic bag.

I only wish that I had been able to get a picture of the man chasing after the monkey!

Timothy Adam Designs

As a newbie Etsian and blogger, I've had many questions. I've used the forums as my main source of learning. Yesterday I found Timothy Adam Designs blog. If you haven't seen this blog, it's a must for both new and experienced Etsians and bloggers. The site is filled with great tutorials and tips in an easy to understand format. It's great to know that there are people like Tim out there who are more than willing to help others. Thanks Tim!

Two posts in 1 week - amazing!

Today I woke up to temps in the 20's with the windchill making it 9 degrees! Pretty unusual for here. I normally take 2 of my dogs to run everyday (well they run, I walk). Since the weather report was for the temperature to continually drop I thought I should take them this morning. Schmidty, the Jack Russell mix, hates the cold, except for when she gets to go hiking. Although I was freezing, it didn't appear to bother her. Nellie is the English Setter rescue who absolutely loves the cold weather. We only did a little over a mile as I was quite cold but they had a great time anyway. (Photos are from my phone, thus the poor quality).

Tonight I'm going to see the Sweet Potato Queens. If you haven't seen her (Jill Conner Browne) you need to check her out. She is so funny!

Of course, I'll have to make it back in time to see the Lady Vols basketball game. I'm a big fan. They're having a bit of a rebuilding year, but hopefully in March they will be ready.

Guess I better get some work done. Check out my new listing here.

Stay warm.

My First Blog

This is my first attempt at blogging! I'm not a big talker or writer but I think this will be a great challenge for me in 2009. I hope to share with you a little about myself and my interests as I go forward. Thanks for looking and check back soon!