Chapel Hill/Raleigh Trip.

Hello darlings,

I've been working ahead of schedule on the blog lately, in prep to be away in Haiti for a week. I've noticed the trend is to have guest posts while you're away and I've actually had a few offers I may take them up on it someday but I've actually had plenty to say/share/write about, just need the time to get it down before I'm away. I also expect I will come back with plenty to write about as well. We'll see. Maybe you all would prefer a few guest posts...

First up I wanted to share after my post about crochet sweaters that I found an orange Michael Kors one in Kentucky with Candy and I wasn't lying when I tweeted I planned to wear what I bought the week before instead of doing laundry for North Carolina. This was my favorite purchase of the Kentucky/Indiana weekend trip:

After my tweet a few of you wanted to know where I got it. The answer is TJMaxx and it was $39. I've already worn it twice and I love it.

My weekend in Chapel Hill/Raleigh was incredible. It was so nice to be away, to be with my sister and her family, to reunite with my sweet niece, and extra special that I got to spend Noa's first Easter with both of my sisters and my bro-in-law.

The girls on Easter morning @ church. That's Noa, me, Ruth, and Rachel.


Noey and I before the Good Friday service.

Rae and Ruth at Geer's Garden with our 'pile' o fries.

Noa and I on Easter Sunday.

Reunited! This is Friday after I arrived.

Ruth drove in from Clemson on Thursday night. Chris, my brother-in-law grabbed me from the airport on Friday morning. We all went out to lunch at Geers Garden (near Duke). We also had a fro yo stop immediately following lunch. Thankfully, my sisters love self serve fro yo as much as I do!

Friday night we went to a special Good Friday service put on my Chris's church where he is the Associate Pastor, it's called 'The Gathering Church'. It was so fun to be a part of their church and to meet their friends! Everyone was delightful.

Saturday morning I met Jo and Mia for coffee at Starbucks (actually Mia came got me and bless her heart, got lost!):

These girls have such a special place in my heart. I treasure their friendship and it felt so good to chit chat over coffee and bagels with them. I feel like I've known them forever. And I have to say it's great to have friends who understand the football world. It's really not something you can understand unless you've been part of it, lived it.

I was so excited leading up to this meeting that I was kind of depressed when it was over...BUT they've agreed to let me host a girl weekend in August here in Tampa that will include food, sun, beaches, pools, tans, and shopping. So I will just anxiously await that while obsessively over planning in the meantime.

Saturday afternoon the girls and I hit the mall for a bit. I behaved myself, buying only one top from the Limited that was on sale for $6 (couldn't turn that down, now could I?). That night my sister and bro-in-law cooked an AMAZING Easter dinner for us all plus a few of their friends. We had a blast! And I haven't eaten that good in...well, maybe ever. It was delicious.

Sunday we went to church and celebrated the resurrection of my Savior! What a special thing to celebrate with my precious family. I'm so grateful for the sacrifice and the victory associated with Easter weekend. I hope each of you celebrated it with your families as well.

I feel so blessed to have spent Noa's first Easter with her. It was great to catch up with both of my sisters as well as to be part of Chris's church during this special holiday weekend. It was hard to board that plane back to Tampa and I did so tearfully. But I'm already looking forward to many more weekends like this.

Love,

B