Weekend in New Bern, NC Part 1

So if there's anything I've learned at mid-life is to be flexible.  We originally planned to take off Thurs. evening, stop midway on the 6 hour trip and sightsee then do the same thing on the way home on Monday.  Turns out Tom had to work Friday and didn't get away till late putting us smack dab in rush hour traffic so we had a very long drive to NC.  Arrived around midnight and after an hour welcome chat we crashed.

After a leisurely breakfast at Joe and Karen's we headed into town for the Farmer's Market.

 If there are hats to be found Tom feels compelled to try them on.  Even if they're knitted by two elderly British ladies!  We also checked out what was to be the first of many lovely antique stores

 Next we went to the Tryon Palace which included lots of things including a historical museum, a children's play area, beautiful gardens, a cafe, gift shop and the palace & surrounding structures.

           Yes, we did check out the gift shop for sheer goofiness and a patch for Tom's dominant eye.  Or because he wants to be a pirate.

 There was also a gorgeous quilt display:

 Since we were the only ones in the museum, we took over the kids section.  Joe and Tom manned the back of the ship while Karen and I handled the front.  I'm sure there's a nautical name for that but I don't know what it is.

Captain Joe 

 Tom was the cook so he was in charge of whacking the rats as they made appearances.  After the museum part we walked across the street for lunch at a great little seafood place where they had this as you walked in the door.

 I've never gotten the whole "hush puppy" craze until we tried these!  Hot and yummy with butter…tasted like donuts!

 After lunch we headed around the block to the palace itself.

 If you're a Sleepy Hollow (FOX) fan it may look familiar as I guess they've shot some of it here. Unfortunately no photos allowed there or in the kitchen and slave quarters but the home but it was all very interesting and beautiful!

Stables - only original building

 So nice to see some Spring blooms….

 Back into town and an old theatre…..

 ….and the birthplace of Pepsi Cola!

After a long day we headed back to the house and dogs for a relaxing evening of just visiting.

New Neighborhoods to Explore

Sunday when we got out of church we headed toward U Street to attend a fundraiser that my friend Shannon was in charge of.  She's a student at American University and is working on her masters degree in Arts Management.  This was a fundraiser for The EALS (Emerging Arts Leaders Symposium) and was being held in a small gallery.  The original plan was to Metro into town for church and this shindig but of course they decided to work on the Green line and the trains were on a very weird schedule with long delays so we opted to drive.

 FINALLY found a parking place on the street several blocks away from the gallery so got to check out some pretty new things to look at as we walked!

 Historical area where a lot of civil rights riots were held…especially after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

 Found our way to the gallery and got to see cute Shannon.  Yummy brunch goodies and silent auction items to bid on but we didn't win anything.  Met some cute Chinese students who are also studying arts management at George Mason U and also chatted with the guy providing acoustic guitar entertainment.

                                      Our fat heads are blocking the art on the wall behind us.

 On our way back to the car we of course took a wrong turn which allowed us to see some more interesting things but I just wish I had been wearing more comfortable shoes.

 Check out the hilarious hat someone placed on the statue at the Masonic Temple.

 We walked through Meridian Park as we hiked….yes, hiked back to our car.  Tom had been there before when he had been in town many years ago and visited some friends who lived nearby.

 That's President Buchanan sitting over there.  Only bachelor president, Tom tells me.  Which of course leads some scholars to assume he was gay.  I don't know.  I wasn't around.

Wrapped up with the Joan of Arc statue in the park, made a pit stop at Trader Joe's and headed home to soak my very sore feet.  It was a beautiful day in the 60's and perfect for walking around but not in heels.  Cheap heels at that.  After a swim at the complex pool we settled in with dinner and tv.  Pooped.

Date Night

For Valentines Day Tom and I alternate who plans the date and it usually means going away for a weekend.  However we've been gone so much and we're going away next weekend so I decided to just plan a fun night out for last night.  PLUS we'd already had that whole 5 day play time last weekend!

I got us tickets to the DC Improv Comedy Club since we both love good comedians and it's been a good while since we've been to see one.  Sebastian Maniscalco was in town and since Taylor had introduced him to me on Netflix and I thought he was hilarious I thought it would be a good night out.  

 I met Tom at the metro near his office and we went into town.  A bit early so we walked around the neighborhood a bit.  This building is where my agency Capital Talent Agency is located.

We got there early enough so we could have dinner before the show started and got great seats dead center but not close enough to be a target for the performer!

 It's fun to see comedians 'cause you never know when they're going to become big shots.  We saw Jerry Seinfeld and Jay Leno when they were both doing just stand up in Salt Lake and we saw Sinbad just a few years ago in Ogden.  Usually hit and miss with smaller names but as long as they're not vulgar (not funny) we always have a good time.  I would still love to see Brian Regan and Jim Gaffigan live sometime but we've blown through our entertainment budget for now!

It takes a lot to get us out of the house at night in winter but we had a great time and belated Valentine date!

A Week of Testimony

 So, sometimes it's the little things.  When we were in Alabama I loved that so many store clerks, fast food clerks, really just about anyone ended a transaction with "Have a blessed day!"  So when I stopped at the Wells Fargo drive thru last week it brightened my day to find this on my envelope. I did feel blessed by a small kindness on a rough day.

 A few days later I received this in the mail from a high school acquaintance in Utah who is now a Facebook friend.  Apparently she just does give-aways for fun on her page when people "like" something she has posted.  She contacted me to say she had drawn my name and wanted to know how to get my "gift" to me.  I told her she could just give it to my sister to hold for me (they live in the same neighborhood) but she said she wanted to send it to me as it's so fun to get things in the mail.  You know what…..she's right.  What a delight to receive this box of wonderful homemade items! Thanks LeeAnn!

Finally, I just want to share something wonderful that happened to me.  So at the first of the year one of our goals was to really get a handle on finances.  That included going to back to the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace habit of using cash for certain things.  The other was a vow to honor the covenant of a 10% tithe.  I've always had a testimony of it and I've seen God's hand in our lives in so many ways financially when we've honored it but lately have felt convicted as we've slipped up occasionally.  

So, we've been back on board on both counts and I've been carrying my Envelope System booklet with me with my cash for groceries and a few other things.  Been very good at using only what we had budgeted for food, transportation, entertainment, etc. and headed to Costco to get a few things.  Now HERE'S the real test as anyone who shops at warehouse places knows!  I was only getting things we needed.  Passed by things I wanted.  Knowing I had around $125 in my food envelope.

 I got to the check out and slowly worked my way up to the cashier.  A long line as usual and the woman in front of me was having a bit of a struggle.  She was struggling with the language (maybe Ethopian?), walked up the wrong side of the checkout stand so she was standing next to the cashier who explained that she needed to go around the other side and seemed generally confused by the whole process.  Once the cashier had checked her items it became clear the woman could not pay.  She had a credit card but Costco only takes debit cards.  The woman was clearly embarrassed and upset as the cashier tried to explain this to her.  It felt like many minutes had gone by as the line grew longer behind us.

You know how the holy spirit just sometimes takes hold of you and even though you know this is going to blow your awesome envelope system you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you need to do something.  Yep, it was one of those moments.  I asked the cashier how much she owed.  It was 76 dollars.  I looked in my grocery envelope and had enough to cover that with some left over but it wouldn't be enough to pay for my own as well.  I told the cashier…."Let me pay for it" and gave her the cash.  The look on the cashier's face was priceless.  But the woman seemed to have disappeared.  We looked around and in her confusion she had gone back to the end of the line.  The cashier called out to her to come up and said "This lady just blessed you by paying for your groceries".  I thought she was going to cry.  Both of them actually.  She hugged me and in her very broken english tried to get my contact info so she could pay me back.  Told her it was a gift as I knew that repayment was not what this was about.  I hugged her back, told her to have blessed day and payed for my own groceries with my debit card.

I left Costco and headed to the base to run a couple of errands and decided to use what little was left in my food envelope to grab some lunch.  I was sitting in the drive-thru line just messing with booklet when it flipped open to the second to the last envelope (I only use the first three) in the book and there was an envelope that I had set aside for money for Jessica when we were helping her out.  I don't when it was, or how long it had been there ( at least 4 years) but I opened it up and there was 90 dollars in cash in it.  90 dollars.  Now clearly I don't need to tell you the moral of this story except that our God is faithful.  We've seen it during the years we were paying out incredible amounts of money for Jessica's treatment and I see it here when we're trying to be more honorable in our giving and in our stewardship of what we have.  I have always had a testimony of giving.  It brings me joy and I see the joy it brings others.  Especially our Father in Heaven.