Did I tell you about the time that I went to Biltmore in late summer

If you've never been to the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC, you need to go. I've been 4 or 5 times now and I see or do something different every time. My most recent trip was with my college roommate, Marlee. We had been once in the past when we were in college and we went for Christmas.

That's me on the right and Marlee kneeling in front of me in December 2005.

This trip was the first opportuity I have had to go to Biltmore while it is still in bloom. Most people who are there for the first time go to visit the house first and foremost. 

While love the house, after a few trips I don't feel like it has to be the most important part of the trip. This time I got to enjoy the gardens.

See the dragonfly?

The science nerd in me loved the fact that we were there for the height of the koi pond season.

Among the fish were bullfrog tadpoles the size of golf balls.

We also explored the greenhouse.

We went to the farm, Antler Hill Village, and to the winery as well.

And we watched an awesome demonstration of metalworking by Biltmore's blacksmith.

The last exciting thing we got to do while at Biltmore was visit my sister while at work. She works at the Inn on Biltmore Estate and as no one can get there without a ticket, I am the first person to see her at work.

Doesn't she look all important?

Thanks for coming along on my trip. I hope you enjoyed!

A Tale of Two Critters

So David, my husband, takes Pepper, our dog, out for a walk this evening. He returns very shortly after leaving and excitedly tells me to come look. Behind him is a cat. I love cats...my nose, lungs, skin, and eyes on the other hand, hate cats. I am highly allergic.

Reagrdless of this I'm very interested in our new neighbor. He looks well cared for and has on a collar and for some reason he seems to have fallen in love with our dog. 

Now Pepper is a very sweet dog when it comes to people. 

She's no longer is a big fan of other dogs as she had a couple bad experiences. I've never known her reaction to cats simply because we've never had to opportunity to introduce her. 

This cat was ready to be introduced.

He followed her to our front door and began rubbing all over her. Pepper backed away and looked extremely confused as to why this strange smelling new creature seemed to feel the need to headbutt her. She retreated into the house soon to be followed by the cat. 

Now again, I'm very allergic to cats so cat dander all over the house was not going to be a good idea. I scooped him up and back outside we went. I proceeded to distract the cat so David could take Pepper on her walk.

You're now probably thinking, "Umm, didn't you say you were allergic?" Yes, but again I love cats and have so few opportunities to love on them that I accepted the fact I would have allergic repercussions and played happily on the front steps with a very friendly kitty.

Once David and Pepper returned the cat quickly forgot his love for me and returned his heart to Pepper.

Once we brought her inside we though our new kitty friend would lose interest.

Or not.

In fact Pepper seemed pretty bummed to be away from him as well.

But after a while we bid our new friend goodbye and closed the door. We checked a couple times and he hasn't left yet, but I'm sure he has a family that loves him somewhere.

And a furry girl here that loves him too.

Did I tell you about the time that I....

I've realized that I have many things I wish I had blogged about before I had a blog. A friend of mine suggested that I start up a series of blogs dedicated to those blog-able experiences of the past. These experiences will be titled "Did I tell you about the time that I...", followed by whatever I'm gonna catch you up on. 

I hope you enjoy!

 

Did I tell you about the time that I....

First Day of School

I used to look forward to the first day of school. I am one of the few, and I believe lucky people, who couldn't wait to get back to school. Of course I enjoyed my summer and got sick of boring classes, but overall school was a place I was happy. I had friends, teachers generally liked me, and I was good at learning.

What better plan than to go into teaching right? I could go to school every day for the rest of my life, except for the normal summer breaks, until one day I was ready to finally let go of school and retire.

Those of you know know me well know that I don't always deal well with major change, so this appeals to that aspect of my life as well. I know how to do school. From both student and teacher point of view, it has always made sense. There's a daily schedule, you follow the same general rules, someone teaches and someone learns.

Something has gone wrong.

I now dread the first day of school.

The rest of the school year is manageable, but especially on that first day I can only think about one thing: somehow, somewhere, I've gotten lost.

In high school teachers started telling me I should teach. I wasn't sure of what I wanted to do and teaching had always been up there as an option so I started following that course. I knew that I could change my mind, but the more and more I thought about teaching, the more it make sense. As I said before, it was simple to stick to something I knew well, and to make it better I've always loved children.

Further along into high school I applied to and was accepted into the North Carolina Teaching Fellows program which was a big accomplishment that also helped pay for my college education. Everything was falling into place.

My college education was fulfilling and overall fun. I enjoyed learning and teaching and was ready to take on my new career. I had a tough time finding a job that first year and extended my search further from home than I hoped to go, but in time I found a job in Morganton, NC.

That first year had it's up and downs as I'm sure every first year teacher will have but I made it through....sort of. My principal and I did not see eye to eye on a number of things. By the end of the school year we had both agreed that it might be better if we went our separate ways. I wanted to be closer to home and she thought I would be better suited in another grade (as did I).

Another job was not meant to be. The economy took a nose dive in the following months and teacher jobs began to be fewer and farther between. I accepted the idea of subbing until I could find a permanent position.

It's now 3 years later and I'm about to start my fourth year subbing. This year, for the first year, I didn't apply to any full time positions. I didn't want to. These past three years have allowed me to realize that I don't think I want to teach.

Now what?

I still love school. I still love children. But again, something went wrong. Not being sure what went wrong or where it went wrong is half the struggle. Did I make the wrong decision in high school? Did I ignore doubts I had in college? Am I not cut out for teaching? Am I the victim of circumstances?

Am I a disappointment?

I've been lucky in my life. I've done well and made people proud. Suddenly I'm not proud of me. Every time I meet up with someone who doesn't know what's happened over the past few years, especially if they have something to do with education, I feel ashamed. I didn't make it. I didn't succeed. Somewhere I went wrong.

The first day of school is coming. A little more than a week away. I'll make it through and get on with the school year. I'll meet students that will make me wish I was teaching and I'll have moments that make me wish I could just forget school forever. At least I have a job. That's what I keep telling myself. So many people in so many worse situations.

I look forward to that first day of school when I'm taking my own little one to school. I'll be dreading the part where I have to leave them there, but what a day it will be when a first day of school comes and I have something at school to be proud of again.

Drum Circle

Last night I had a really great experience in downtown Asheville that I thought I would share.

First, my friend Marlee and I went to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge for some indulgent goodies.

Those are wine glasses full of cold sipping chocolate. Yes, they really are.

Afterwards, we walked down to the Asheville drum circle which was quite an experience. People from all walks of life gather to play drums, cowbells, or any other percussion type instrument they can bring along or create. Together they create music by simply starting whatever beat they want and meshing it with the beats of the others around them.

Everyone else who comes by simply listens or begins to dance. For a while we watched, but before long we joined in to dance. Though I'm not very good, I love to dance. It was amazing to listen to the music and to watch the dance that swirled around us as everyone simply did as they felt.

I have always been in awe of people who could sing, dance, or create music well. I enjoyed watching the reckless abandon of the dancers around us as much as listening to the power of the drumming we danced to.

Here's a clip from early on in the drum circle before most of the dancing had started.

The weather was perfect and the night was beautiful. After a couple hours of dancing and listening we went our own way. On our way out we also got to watch a nifty statue man sing when we gave him a bit of money.

A lovely night I must say.

Welcome

A little introduction is in order I believe.

I'm a 20-something, newly married, beginning blogger. My employment status is confusing, but more on that later as I don't feel it defines me right now. I love to read and I feel that a good book is one of the best things life has to offer.

I love to travel though I don't have the opportunity nearly often enough. I also love nature and everything is has to offer. It is both beautiful and interesting to me. Two of my favorite times to think are while watching the amazing power of a thunderstorm or while staring up into an endless starry night sky.

I have a passion for both children and animals. The simplicity of the thoughts and lives of both are always an envy of mine. The more time I spend with either the happier I tend to be.

My biggest fault would probably be my tendency to complain so I hope to keep that to a minimum here. I can also have a pessimistic tendency, which I'm sure is where the complaining comes from, and I hope to use this as both an outlet but also as a way to move away from that outlook.

As for what you can expect when visiting here, I haven't quite narrowed that down. I may never narrow it down. It may just be an eclectic source of thoughts and experiences.

So enjoy and comment if you'd like, while I put into words what I think about during thunderstorms and starry nights and everywhere in between....