While it was a little stressful for me to host my in-laws for over a week with the house being a mess because we still hadn't finished unpacking, I was thankful that they could come. The last year has taught me a lot about letting go of things I feel that I need to control and the state of the house was just another one of those things. Thankfully, John and Judy are both very laid back and could have cared less about how many boxes were in the basement. It was a huge help to have them here to help with more unpacking as well as a nice break from all of it too :)
While we had a lot of time to just hang out over the week they were here but we also got a lot accomplished. We fixed the problem with the fence and the dogs are no longer getting out! Also, we got an outside storage shed to store all the lawn equipment in and give Evan more room for his tools in the garage. Evan and his dad built shelves for one of the basement closets making the space a lot more user friendly. They also installed our new digital thermostats. We broke down all the boxes that had been unpacked and took all the packing paper to the recycling center which cleared out a lot of space. In the sewing department, Judy lined a pair of the store-bought curtains for our bedroom that will block out the street light that was keeping Evan up at night. In addition, she gave me some lessons on her old sewing machine and I started the process of hemming the store-bought curtains for the living room. Also, we got fabric and I started making tie-backs for the curtains in our bedroom. Judy also helped me with the next step of the sweater I have been knitting for Baxter. It should only take me 2-3 hours more to finish it but who knows when it will actually be finished since I only seem to work on it in 15 minute installments. I'll post pictures of these projects as they are completed. However, I do have one project to post a picture of, but it is not one that I did any work on. Judy and Page, Evan's sister had been secretly working on a quilt for me for my birthday and Christmas. Judy brought the quilt top to show me and it is beautiful! I had to send it back to San Antonio so that Page could do the quilting :( I am really looking forward to having it to display/use in our guest bedroom! Thanks again J & P for my quilt! Here is one of the corners:
We also did some sightseeing and tried out some new restaurants. We drove down to the New River Gorge Bridge which is the longest single span, steel-arch bridge in the Northern Hemisphere and the highest vehicular bridge in the Americas. We couldn't have picked a more beautiful day! We took scenic route 60 to get to the bridge which is near Fayetteville and made a few stops along the way. We stopped at a waterfall and hydroelectric dam and got some great pictures. Both are close to where the Kanawha River forms as a result of the Gauley and New Rivers joining up. I still cannot believe we live in a place that looks like this! The bridge and the stops along the way are definitely ones that we will re-visit in the spring and fall to see the trees as they display different colors throughout the year. We also found a great little restaurant near the bridge. It was part of a camp type place where you can rent cabins or go on a white-water rafting tour. We are going to have to go back when the weather is warmer to take advantage of the outdoor sports and the view from the restaurant since it was just about dark by the time we got there.
Sign for the hydroelectric plant. The plant gets its name from the fact that is at the mouth of the Hawks Nest Tunnel. We thought what the sign said about fishing being open to the public "without discrimination" was weird...what does that mean?
Going down to the base of the dam
View of the river at the base of the dam
Cathedral Falls
View from the New River Gorge Bridge Visitors' Center. That is the New River below.
There were 200 or so steps down to the observation deck. It was worth the view but by this time, I was so hungry and my blood sugar was so low that Evan carried me all the way back to the top.
The New River Gorge Bridge
We also went to the Blenko glass company in Milton, WV. We got to see their stained glass museum and their beautiful showroom of pieces made on-site. The best part was getting to watch some of the craftsmen at work. Here are some pictures:
Craftsmen blowing glass that will eventually become a vase.
The scrap yard just outside the factory where they are blowing and firing the glass.
Thanksgiving Day was great but a little exhausting. We made WAY too much food but it was fun to host our first Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone helped with the cooking and it all turned out very well. The only thing I would have changed was to cook a smaller turkey and cut more of the recipes in half. Evan and I have enjoyed trying some leftover turkey recipes but we still have a whole gallon-sized zip-loc bag of turkey left in the freezer. It was also the first time we've eaten on our Wedding China which helped make the meal even more special. Judy and I were both so tired after all the cooking that we ate lunch in basically our pajamas because we never remembered to change! PJs, China, and crystal! It was great :)
Butterin' up the bird and watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The finished turkey! I couldn't have done it without Judy, John, and Evan!
After the meal, I took a long nap to get ready for the football game that night. Most of you know that Evan's family are all Texas A&M fans and that my entire family are UT fans. As we have in the past, we watched the game together Thanksgiving evening. Some would think it would be hard to watch the game together but everyone is a good sport about it. It is usually a close game and involves quite a bit of shouting at the TV. This year was no different. It was a very close game and very entertaining to watch. Thankfully, UT won in the end. National Championship, here we come!
The next day we had our first snowfall. It wasn't much and very little stuck but it was still pretty neat. While it got pretty cold that weekend, we still managed to make it to check out Mountain Stage on Sunday night. One of Evan's co-workers told us about the radio show that is often times recorded live in Charleston and showcases a variety of music. For all of you from Texas, think of it as a smaller version of Austin City Limits that is taped for radio not TV. The other main difference, from the little research I have done into it, is that while they do have big names from time to time, most of the musicians are up and coming. The radio show is then broadcasted on NPR stations across the country. The best part was that for $12.50, we got 2 + hours of great music! It surpassed all my expectations. My favorite performances came from a duo called Pianafiddle and a group called Winterbloom. We will definitely be going back for more in the spring and summer when they start up the series again.
Pianafiddle. To see a video we took of them performing click here.
Winterbloom
It was a very memorable Thanksgiving! Thanks again J&J for sharing it with us!
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