Here I am working my keyboard mojo, again. I don't know that I have had reason to put my fingers on the home keys since my break began back in 2012. This blog will be an attempt to capture what happened up through the Winter Solstice. Four months is a lot of time to cover, so one blog can not satisfy all that has happened. With that, I hang my blogspot head in blogspot shame and attempt my blogger atonement.
Fall was muy bonito this year. Sam and I snuck away one weekend for a hike up through Black Balsam to enjoy the bursts of color. 'Twas a pretty day. We took a picnic, and on the way back home, we decided to stop by Westville Pub for an annual Catawba Valley Pumpkin Beer. Other celebratory fall musts was a traipse through the Elida Corn Maze. We got all 12 hole punches- score! We can add reading the corn maze map to the list of things we learned this year (not an easy feat or easy on the feet!). 
In the weeks leading up to Halloween, Sam and I carved pumpkins, a yearly tradition. However, this year, I was tired of the same ole patterns that come in the books that you can buy, so I decided to design my own. In an attempt to avoid school work probably, I set to work sketching out patterns for Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein that I found online. When I finished sketching them, I really wasn't sure how they would turn out, and it turns out Sam wasn't either, but he of course wouldn't say that until after they turned out (in our humble opinions) amazingly well. You can make your own judgement, but I think we have set the bar for years to come. It is sometimes a blessing and a curse to do things well (you can ask Sam that as he has acquired some "chores" that are solely his because of his greatness... like making coffee).
Sam's mom had a birthday. Due to our new budget with me being in school full time now, our gifts to our parents for their birthdays are the gifts of a homemade cake and manual labor. Back in September, for my mom, I made a chocolate cake, and we re-landscaped her flower bed. For Sam's mom, though, I made a German chocolate cake. This was my third attempt at a German chocolate cake, and I must say, I was satisfied at how it turned out, and those who tried it boasted that it was quiet yummy. Also, Sam's mom became a victim of circumstance as the only candles we had at the time were the relighting ones. Consequently, it made for a good laugh, which is also a gift!We were also fortunate enough in November to get a visit from my brother, Tim, and three nieces, Phoebe, Scarlett, and Eden. They are growing up so fast and are such enjoyable little girls. Nevertheless, Sam can turn them into screaming banshees with his "I'm going to get you" antics! Oh, Uncle Sam...you are so much fun! While they were here, we visited the gingerbread houses a Grove Park Inn, went on a hike to a waterfall in Cherokee, and had an early Thanksgiving celebration. It was truly great to see them.
Thanksgiving happened...and thus the trail of food begins. We celebrated Thanksgiving as Sam's parents' this year, my parents joining. As always, the food was delightful. Funny story. Sam and I decided that we would buy a computer on Black Friday this year. We are novice Black Friday shoppers. We naively thought that we could walk into Best Buy at midnight after enjoying a late movie and get the computer we wanted, no wait, no throwing punches, pay, and homeward bound. Luckily, they offered the same deal online, but that night we decided to drop Sam's car off early at the Honda dealership, and then we decided to drive by Best Buy. People were camping out and lined-up around the building! Seriously! Who does that! I don't know about you, but after seeing that, there is nothing that is worth it to me...especially when I can have it delivered to my house. Extreme shopping is not my cup. Anecdotal story aside, we got our new computer which has Windows 8 and a touch screen. Fancy!
In November, I got very sick. I had bronchitis which put me out of commission for a few days. I had a fever and was prescribed an inhaler. I watched way to much t.v. and sat around in sick delirium. I also had lingering symptoms for a few weeks afterward. I am just glad that it didn't hit during my finals week because I was not able to even think about school work. It was, in fact, the sickest I have been in probably 4-5 years since I had the flu.
The following weekend we got our Christmas tree, decorated it, and I tackled finals. AHHHH! It is not every bit as stressful as I remember it to be, but I can say in my old age, I am a way more focused student than I used to be (not that I ever did anything but acceptable in my undergrad). I don't mean to brag, but I came out very well grade-wise ::cough::4.0::cough::! To celebrate the end of semester I went out with some CSD ladies to the Biltmore Estate for a free wine tasting...(free- that's college students for ya). Besides the 10 hours a week of commuting, I can say I genuinely enjoy the program I am in and am very thankful to have the opportunity to go back to school full-time! I owe Sam one. I will leave it up to wise Samuel Walker to wrap things up.
Well, winter's off to a wooly start, and the worms aren't the only thing that's wooly this winter. The beard is getting pretty outrageous. And by outrageous, I mean grey. What to tell? Well, after Thanksgiving, my parents and I once again went to Iredell County to hang out in some graveyards. Actually, just one, but it was out in the middle of nowhere, as you can see:
We found the Williams family cemetery, which is my mother's side. The cemetery dates back to before the Revolutionary War and most of the 200+ headstones are fieldstones with no inscription. One of the only one's we could read was the brother of my several great grandfathers, Samuel Williams, who was named after his father. So I directly descend from a Samuel Williams!
Otherwise, I don't have much else to add to our autumnal atonement. Until next time....
Oh! and...
Obligatory cat picture!
