Fabulous Valentine's Trip

George and I had a wonderful Valentine's trip to join our good friends,  Judy and Charlie, in their beautiful mountain home in North Carolina.  We went out to dinner a couple of times.  We TALKED and TALKED and just relaxed.  It was a wonderful trip and a great way to  celebrate Valentine's Day --with such good friends.   Above is a picture of me and Judy.  Judy is standing up on some steps --since she is really MUCH shorter than I am!!!!!

We visited Biltmore House and Gardens in Asheville, North Carolina AGAIN (since we have season's tickets now)..  Since it is still winter,  there were no outside flowers blooming yet.. We have to wait until April to go back for that.  BUT--we did visit the Conservatory again --and there were many beautiful green plants and several beautiful flowers in bloom as you can see from the above picture.  As you can imagine,  we took a gazillion pictures ---so you will be seeing them on our upcoming blogs I'm sure.  (My new header was taken at Biltmore on Valentine's Day.)

Here's a view of the beautiful North Carolina mountains above Fontana Lake (which was very low on this side of the dam).  The mountains are very pretty--even in winter, aren't they????

And of course a trip wouldn't be a real vacation for us IF we didn't stop and see some waterfalls.  Isn't this a pretty little waterfall??  I loved seeing all of the Rhododendrons along that little creek.

George and I had a wonderful time with our friends...  I'm sure the four of us solved ALL of the problems in the world this week---with all of the talking we did!!!  ha ha

These are two wonderful people, Charlie and Judy.   We are blessed to have two such wonderful friends...  Thanks for the great time, you two!!

Finally,   no mountain vacation would be complete without a gorgeous sunset.... The weather was fabulous all week----and we enjoyed beautiful blue skies plus sunsets (like the one above) --over the mountains..     Life was beautiful in the North Carolina mountains, and we certainly enjoyed the view from Judy and Charlie's home!!!!

Hope you had a great Valentine's Day and week.

Asheville on Dwellable

Hugs,

Let's Talk Fridays: Dealing with Negative People

I am beginning a new Friday blog post.  All of us have opinions and we all love to talk and express our thoughts.   SO---I invite you to visit me every Friday,  and I'll choose a different topic each week.   I'll give you some thoughts ---and then you can give yours!!!!  It should be loads of fun!!!!

This week the topic is "Dealing with Negative People".   We all have these people in our lives--whether it's through blogging or other ways.  I read that negative people are like human black holes,  who come out of nowhere and suck the life out of you.  You recognize them,  don't you?  There's the sob sister (whiner),  the blamer,  the drama queen, the victim,  the constant talker or joke teller,  and the fixer-upper (requires endless help)....What can you do about these people?

Judy Orloff,  in her book,  "Positive Energy", gives us some strategies on how to deal with negative people.  A few of her ideas are:
1. Just smile and remain completely detached;  Remember that they are seeking a response from you!
2. Say (right after you've heard their tragic story):  "Now tell me something positive."
3. Ask yourself what it says about YOU.  Negative people want to get a reaction from you. They 'push your buttons'... You can learn alot about yourself by dealing with your response to this person.  This person should have no power over you.
4. Does this person and their situations make you feel NEEDED?  A good test to see if this is happening is to notice how you feel after 'helping' someone.  You may be giving your energy to them ---and this doesn't help either party.
5. Remember that this is NOT your fault.  You cannot solve the problems of the world.

There are plenty more strategies,  but I'm sure you have some great thoughts also.  When I worked for the church for about 25 years,  I dealt with all kinds of people.   I was trying to help them ---and  not take their problems and situations home with me.  It wasn't easy --but I always kept a specific saying on my computer at work:  "Surround yourself with positive people".

Now---tell your stories of negative people in your life, and what you do/did/will do about them and that situation.

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If you missed my yesterday's post,  you missed an important announcement. Don't forget to watch NBC tonight at 8:00 Eastern time (or 7:00 Central time) to see my hometown of Big Stone Gap, Virginia!!!  See yesterday's post for more details!!

Have a great weekend.  I'm taking a little blog break for Valentine's Day---so I will see you next Thursday,  Feb. 17.   Happy Valentine's Day to ALL.
Hugs,