We are back....BRRRR!

Well, we safely made it back from Tennessee! The boys so wanted to see snow this trip. When we landed in Asheville, NC there was old snow piled on the sides of the streets and parking lot. The boys were very excited!

They HAD to touch it and make a snowball....
Even without gloves on!
We spent most of the time INSIDE the cabin. Us Floridians are not quite used to temperatures in the single digits!!! When we first arrived though the forecast said only 30% chance of snow. Disappointed the boys went to bed. Only to wake up to see freshly fallen snow on the ground.

It sure is beautiful.


We had to make use of the 1/4 inch of snow on the ground (LOL) and make snow angels.

Even if most of it consisted of dirt!!
We traveled over to Gatlinburg for the day and walked around the shops. Stopped in at this yummy Coffee and Donut shop....yummo! But didn't stay too terribly long b/c the ice was forming on the roads and didn't want to be traveling in the dark with such conditions.
The boys had an absolute blast playing with their cousins...
As far as my eating and exercise routine...well...let's just say it was almost non-existent. I did enjoy some Steel cut oats each morning for breakfast that I hadn't really tried before. These are my new favorite! I cut up 1/2 banana, some cinnamon, stevia packet, and raisins....delish!

I did manage to get out and take a brisk walk up and down the roads (hello shin splits!) for about 2 miles, but between the freezing weather and the thoughts of some backwoods serial killer waiting to ambush me in the woods which highly freaked me out, I decided to turn around and call it a day. While many parts of the area we were in is absolutely beautiful, the one thing that I noticed quite a bit is that house, cars, barns, etc... once they are no longer useful they are just left there to rot and decay along the roadside. Barns looking like they are about to tip over with the slightest nudge of a windstorm stay there for eternity. They'll just build a new barn close by and leave the old one where it stands. What about a bulldozer?? Anyone use one up there?

Or you'll see these REALLY small cracker jack houses that look like they've been hear since the beginning of time. They look like something really bad and scary could happen inside their walls. It was these type of homes that had me pretty creeped out as I walked by, thinking someone was definitely waiting inside one just for me!

Since I've got the Disney 1/2 Princess Marathon speeding towards me (I think we've got like 8 weeks left??) I knew I needed to run last night after our plane landed.

First of all....it's COLD! I mean, come on....I was NOT looking forward to more cold, after having lived in it for 4 days. I live in Florida...what's up with this weather we are having????

The temp on my dashboard said 44 degrees outside. I know, some of you that live up north are thinking that's WARM. Well....for this Florida girl...no it ain't!

BUT...I strapped on my running shoes, grabbed my Garmin and hit the road. 6 miles. The hardest, longest 6 miles of my life. It was by far the most pitiful run I have ever done. I ran the first 5 and the very last mile I had to walk/run. My knee was killing me. Like really really bad killing me. Of course as soon as I would walk it would feel fine. BUT it's got me very concerned about increasing my mileage past 6 miles. I've got to double that number, plus one, to carry me across that finish line. I'm hoping it had to do with the fact that I hadn't done anything in 4 days, it was cold, I had been traveling and my eating wasn't what it typically is. I hope.

Anyways. It's so good to be home. There really is no place like home.