Mast General Store

This old general store is sooo neat. It is in the middle of nowhere. You don't think you will ever find it and then there it is. There are so many nooks and crannies to explore. We loved drinking an old fashioned soda in the little bottles and eating peanut brittle as a treat. Grandma Cutlan made the best peanut brittle. Our treat wasn't as good as Grandma's, but it did remind me of her. She would have loved this store!!

It was very cold in the Boone, NC area so I enjoyed the warm pot belly stove after my snack.

This is the outside of the store. Actually I took this picture when we stopped for the first time last year. Brian loved the thick wool socks he got last year, so he really stock-piled them this year.

Blowing Rock, North Carolina

After we left Rocky Mount, we spent a few days in Blowing Rock, North Carolina. We had stayed overnight last year and realized we should have planned for more time. My parents had been several times and told us we would really like it. I was especially excited when we arrived and saw there was snow!! Brian wasn't as thrilled. We stayed in a quaint little lodge. When we pulled up Brian kindly began to question what kind of a place it was. Everything looked smaller than it had on the internet. Imagine that! But once we got settled in we both began to appreciate the authentic cozy atmosphere of our lodgings, the town and the opportunity to relax.

Yeah!! I was able to have a little snow for the (after)holiday celebration!! Here I am in my favorite pink sweatsuit and fuzzy scarf that I wear all of the time!! Love it! This was the view from our "little cabin in the woods."

And here is a picture of our "little cabin in the woods." Yes, this was about the extent of the room. Wow! It was very small, but very cozy!

Celebrating with the Carlsons

We went to my parents' house in Rocky Mount for New Year's and had our Christmas celebration a few days late. I have quite a few pictures from our trip, so I thought I would post them in increments. Then I can give more details about our wonderful time with our family. What fun it was to see Kirk. The "kids" have a tradition of opening our stocking gifts after everything else, so here we were about to dive into the stockings. Kirk has had a tough time in the 2 weeks since this picture was taken. He had surgery for a kidney stone followed by much pain and uncertainty in the aftermath of the surgery. Thankfully his pain has finally begun to subside and he returned to work yesterday. Praise the Lord!

Mom and I having coffee at Books-A-Million while shopping at the mall in Rocky Mount!

Pop got all decked out for the Wisconsin vs. Tennessee game on New Year's Day! What fun to have such rivalry all under one roof. The funny thing is -- I forgot who won! See, obviously it meant a lot to me!! I'll continue to post pictures and stories of our trip. When I can do it in small increments like this, it doesn't seem like such a daunting task!