Visitors

We rarely have visitors. Not because we don't want them (well most of the time thats not the reason). But because we live where we do - Philadelphia, PA. Most of my family is down south. Husband's family is all in Pittsburgh which is not far but they still don't travel the 5 hour treck often. His folks come once a year. Mine come once a year as well. We love the visits from the parents and hate to see them go. Another reason we don't have visitors often is again - because of where we live. Most of our friends are on average an hour away (philly's a big place) so we end up meeting halfway for lunch, dinner, or drinks. It works and then I don't have to scrub my house silly clean!

My parents came for their yearly visit Oct 5-9. We went shopping, toured Longwood Gardens, ate good food, saw the movie "Into the Wild", and did lots of chatting. That's what me and mom do - chat, talk, visit, and then do it some more. Longwood Garden's are truly beautiful, even in the fall. I was amazed by their organic vegetable gardens! That tour was right up my gardner parents alley.

The movie "Into the Wild" was just what I expected and more. Not only is a great film that I classify as a must see, but the message of the film is powerful. The movie tells the story of Christopher McCandless, a wandering soul who is searching for a greater life. He feels that life is waiting for him in the Alaskan wilderness. This true life story is an amazing and eventful one. I left there reminding myself that material things really hold little to no actual worth. Our happiness stems from our relationships and from love. I vow to be less materialistic. to value my relationships more. invest more time with others. love with my whole heart. stop spending money on pointless things. Again, the film is a must see.

We had dinner one night at Bonefish Grill in Exton, PA. Excellent food there as usual. I ordered one of the specials but regretted not ordering what husband did - the pistachio encrusted trout. That is my favorite dish there and the times I haven't ordered it, I've regretted it! I vow to stop trying new things there and stick with my love - the pistachio encrusted trout.

Parents departed Tuesday morning after I left for work. The treck back to TN is I-81 most of the way... horrible highway and too many trucks. But they had safe travels...

Travel

We've been busy traveling recently and I haven't had time to write. But I'm glad. We love traveling and doing new activities, seeing new areas, and meeting up with old friends.

Sept 21 we went to Connecticut for a long weekend of sight seeing and kayaking. Traffic in NYC was the norm for a friday night - total nightmare. We swore to one another, asking why we didn't go another way. Unfortunately, being stuck on the bridge, we had no option but to stick it out. Thankfully we made it to our dinner destination in Branford, CT. Dinner at Lenny's was amazing! Its a seafood joint down a couple small roads. It's not fancy or expensive and the food is great - so just our style! I had the Broth version of clam chowder and Husband had his usual New England clam chowder. Both were good but Husband's was great. I wish I could have ordered a cup of that but knew if I did, I wouldn't finish my dinner. Husband went with the fish and chips which he said were very good. We both agreed though - I outordered him! I had the Maryland crab cakes which were awesome. The perfect amounts of crab meat with breadcrumbs and perfectly matched spices. I LOVED my food.

We left there and drove up to Windsor, CT, just north of Hartford to stay overnight. Saturday morning we got going fairly early to do sightseeing of little villages and hit up some good new england tag sales. We scored a few good deals but mostly enjoyed seeing all the historic homes. Kayaking was great - so peaceful yet a good upper body workout too! We want to do this more often. The trip home was filled with CT backroads to get a real feel for the state. We loved what we saw and wish for our own center chimney home one day. Its always great to return home to Sammy and Nelly, our little pups. Well they're full grown but still our little ones we saw. Our kids. The four of us make up our family. Our happy little family...