Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Monday, August 11, 2014

My Birthday--August 5, 2014

WELL Friends---I celebrated my 72nd birthday this past week!!  Yipes--how can it be???  BUT--as you can believe,  my hubby took me on a wonderful Surprise Trip to North Carolina to celebrate!   I have over 500 pictures to share --but don't think I'll show them all to you today! ha...

We stayed at Blowing Rock,  North Carolina ---and spent a few days discovering that area.  We traveled and explored the Biltmore House and Gardens,  the Blue Ridge Parkway,  did alot of hiking,  discovered many new waterfalls,  ate some delicious meals,  and even spent a day at Grandfather Mountain..  It was a fantastic trip!

Today though,  I will start by sharing my actual Birthday Dinner/Celebration on Tuesday, the 5th.  As you can tell from the photo above,  we had the Birthday Dinner at the Mountain View Restaurant at Little Switzerland,  North Carolina.  We had been to this restaurant a year ago and loved it.. SO---going back there was PERFECT and we were thrilled to go again.  AND---it does have a "million dollar view"...



We were lucky to have some fantastic weather so we ate dinner on the porch where we could enjoy that fantastic view.   Dinner started with a dinner salad.



Here is a photo of our VIEW from the Mountain View Restaurant... Isn't it marvelous?




It was fun standing up on the porch taking photos of that gorgeous view.



Here's another view from the porch (looking the other direction)...   For those of you who know the North Carolina mountains,  that is Mount Mitchell in the distance.



Besides the dinner salads,  my dinner consisted of Chicken Mediterranean,  Scalloped Potatoes and homemade bread.... George had Capri Chicken made with whole wheat linguini.  We both enjoyed our dinners very much!



Besides this wonderful trip,  George also made me a CD filled with favorite love songs.  He has given me a new one EVERY year since we got married... He collects these love songs throughout the year and puts them on a CD for my birthday each year.  I LOVE it--and love listening to all of the CDs from the past years also!!!  This gift is VERY special to me.



AND --this is my favorite gift of all... George took this photo from one of our favorite places,  the lagoon at the Biltmore House and Gardens  in Asheville,  North Carolina.  You can see the back of the big house from the lagoon.  George took the photo and had it made into a beautiful CANVAS for our Memory Wall in our office at home.. Isn't this one gorgeous? Wish you could see the entire wall.  I am a blessed woman!!!



Wonder what George is eating and obviously enjoying????!!!!




This is delicious Raspberry Vanilla FUDGE --from the Fudge Shop at Grandfather Mountain...  George chose this one --and loved it.



And you can see a very happy 72 year older here!!!!  Mine is my FAVORITE,  Peanut Butter Fudge... YUM!  I opted for FUDGE instead of a Birthday Cake --since I love it,  and never eat it much these days....  Oh how special!!!!!

My sweet mother-in-law used to make me a Peanut Butter Pie for my birthday until she died in 2011...  She knew that I love ANYTHING PEANUT BUTTER.... ha



I'll close by sharing with you a photo a nice lady took of us when we were at the Mountain View Restaurant celebrating my birthday.   Again you can see that beautiful view,  and you can also see their bird feeder---which all of the little birds in that area enjoyed!!!!  AND---there were NO squirrels... Yeah!

Upcoming posts will include many more photos we took while here in North Carolina.  All in all--it was a fabulous week and for me,  a TREMENDOUS Birthday!!!

Hope you had a good week last week--and are enjoying your August so far!  (Don't miss checking out the new quotes on my sidebar this month.)

Hugs,