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Emily
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I have never before been hiking in the winter. I get cold pretty easily and while I've thought it would be beautiful to do, I've never had the gear necessary to make me not freeze. Well, last week, I went hiking. In the snow. In jeans and thin socks and my normal shoes. Let me back up just a bit. I go to Knoxville to my alma mater, Johnson Bible College, every year for Homecoming. I love Homecoming. It's loads of fun. Now that Tony is a student at JBC, I went a few days early and stayed a few days late. Homecoming started Tuesday night, was all day Wednesday and ended on Thursday at noon. After lunch and a nap, Tony, Josh and I headed to the mountains.
There's a great overlook on the Gatlinburg Bypass that I love to stop at. You can totally tell the difference between Tony and I--Tony's just in a T-shirt and button down and I'm wear my hat, scarf, gloves, coat and have a fleece on underneath! What can I say? I get cold easily!
We originally planned on going to the Comedy Barn and doing some shopping. But, the Comedy Barn wasn't doing a show that night and we had the whole afternoon, so to the mountains we went! We got to the Sugarlands Visitor's Center and saw that the road to Newfound Gap, our original destination, was closed because of snow and ice. Bummer dude. Newfound is gorgeous:
*sigh* I love that man so very much. 
There's a great overlook on the Gatlinburg Bypass that I love to stop at. You can totally tell the difference between Tony and I--Tony's just in a T-shirt and button down and I'm wear my hat, scarf, gloves, coat and have a fleece on underneath! What can I say? I get cold easily! We originally planned on going to the Comedy Barn and doing some shopping. But, the Comedy Barn wasn't doing a show that night and we had the whole afternoon, so to the mountains we went! We got to the Sugarlands Visitor's Center and saw that the road to Newfound Gap, our original destination, was closed because of snow and ice. Bummer dude. Newfound is gorgeous:
I was really looking forward to seeing it in the snow, but that was not to be. So, we pointed the car towards Cades Cove to see what we could see.
We stopped at an overlook and got these pretty pictures:
*sigh* I love that man so very much. 
Then we saw a sign for Laurel Falls. I have a thing for waterfalls. And ever since Tony and I hiked Burgess Falls State Park in August, I've wanted to do more. And when he decided to transfer to JBC, I knew that I wanted to make it a loose goal of ours to visit all of the waterfalls in the Smokies. Laurel Falls is one of the more well known waterfalls in the Smokies. There's a 1.3 mile trail to the waterfall that is paved, so it's pretty easy. I asked if we could go and the boys were up for it, so we parked the car and headed into the mountains. The Smokies are beautiful any time, but I think they are especially pretty in the winter. I'd never seen them covered in snow, but it was incredible. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:
It was a great hike and we had a blast! I was cold, but mostly okay. My shoes were pretty wet, but I peeled them off and stuck my toes under the heater and that dried my socks quickly. It was definitely worth it. I look forward to many more winter hikes!
Posted by
Emily
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So I have this weird problem of writing blog posts in my mind, but never really sitting down and writing them out. Oops. I have so much to blog about: My 28th year of life, turning 29, hiking to Laurel Falls with Tony and Josh, Homecoming, a life well lived. I'm going to start catching up. You'll see lots of posts here as I make each event a separate post. Just helps me organize it better.
Starting this one, I want to look back at my 28th year of life. I'm gonna be honest and venture that it was the best year of my life. There were definite hard parts. Nearly cutting my finger off on March 16, 2008 and having to have surgery and then 6 weeks of therapy was not fun. It's been almost a year and I still have swelling and pain issues. They'll be there the rest of my life according to the doc. For the record...putty knives are evil. I still have a near panic attack when it's my week to mop the men's bathroom at the office. Not fun. And two weeks of jury duty...Blech. But there were a lot of really amazing parts...getting pied for missions at VBS and camp, rock climbing and zip lining and getting stuck way up at the top of the Y swing at camp, meeting Tony and watching him grow, my family reunion in August, spending time with Tony's family in October. And we can't forget my trip to Japan and Thailand in September. Or the many weddings that I coordinated. Or my best friend Heather's wedding on Oct. 3. It was a great year.
Perhaps the best part of the year is that I really feel like I've come into my own. I love my job and am really good at it. I am challenged and stretched by God on an almost daily basis. I've had a renewed passion for those who don't know Jesus bubble up out of me and drive my decisions for my future. I've hit my stride. I'm so glad that I spent year 28 figuring those things out. I think I'm just more comfortable in my own skin.
So many people dread turning 29 and then 30. I rejoice in it. I relish it. I welcome it. My 20s have been full of figuring out who I am and who God is and what He wants for me. Now that I have that part a bit more nailed down, I am excited about my 30s. They're gonna be incredible! So, the big 3-0...Bring It On! And until it gets here, I'm going to enjoy the heck out of 29. :)
Starting this one, I want to look back at my 28th year of life. I'm gonna be honest and venture that it was the best year of my life. There were definite hard parts. Nearly cutting my finger off on March 16, 2008 and having to have surgery and then 6 weeks of therapy was not fun. It's been almost a year and I still have swelling and pain issues. They'll be there the rest of my life according to the doc. For the record...putty knives are evil. I still have a near panic attack when it's my week to mop the men's bathroom at the office. Not fun. And two weeks of jury duty...Blech. But there were a lot of really amazing parts...getting pied for missions at VBS and camp, rock climbing and zip lining and getting stuck way up at the top of the Y swing at camp, meeting Tony and watching him grow, my family reunion in August, spending time with Tony's family in October. And we can't forget my trip to Japan and Thailand in September. Or the many weddings that I coordinated. Or my best friend Heather's wedding on Oct. 3. It was a great year.
Perhaps the best part of the year is that I really feel like I've come into my own. I love my job and am really good at it. I am challenged and stretched by God on an almost daily basis. I've had a renewed passion for those who don't know Jesus bubble up out of me and drive my decisions for my future. I've hit my stride. I'm so glad that I spent year 28 figuring those things out. I think I'm just more comfortable in my own skin.
So many people dread turning 29 and then 30. I rejoice in it. I relish it. I welcome it. My 20s have been full of figuring out who I am and who God is and what He wants for me. Now that I have that part a bit more nailed down, I am excited about my 30s. They're gonna be incredible! So, the big 3-0...Bring It On! And until it gets here, I'm going to enjoy the heck out of 29. :)
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