2009 February « Smalls

Grandfather Mountain

February 26, 2009 at 9:33 pm | In Random Thoughts | 1 Comment
Tags: Hiking, Memories, Mountains

Last Saturday, Eric and I took a trip up to the mountains for some hiking. After looking at a few websites, we found a good trail by Grandfather Mountain that we wanted to try. So I looked up where to get the hiking permits, got directions to the location and we were set! Or so I thought…

We drove up to Blowing Rock (a good 2 hours north of Charlotte) and made our way along a winding, mountain road to find a marketplace at the intersections of two roads. Well, we pulled up and found the place boarded up for the season. I guess I should have looked up the seasonal hours or called to make sure they were open – whoops! We decided to take a drive and try and find the trail anyways. I had written down that the trail was at mile 299.9 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, so we headed off. Well, at mile 299.0 the Parkways was closed off for the season – second whoops!

I remembered reading about the Grandfather Mountain park online and we decided to go there for some hiking, but neither of us knew where exactly it was. We made a few calls and finally got a hold of my mom. She looked up the number online, we called and got directions and then we made our way over to Linville.

We ended up having to pay a bit more to get into the park than we were planning, but it was worth it. Eric and I first took a trail up to their Mile High Swinging Bridge. It was a gorgeous view!

We then headed off on one of the trails up the mountain. This trail included ladders and cables which literally went straight up the side of the mountain!

The trails were mostly covered in ice and it was so windy! There were times during the hike that I was scared we were going to be blown off the mountain, but we made it!

All-in-all it was a great day and we are looking forward to going back when it’s a bit warmer!

Tuesday Trivia

February 17, 2009 at 9:30 am | In Tuesday Trivia | Leave a Comment
Tags: Dogs, Pugs, Trivia

Is she not the cutest thing ever?? Today I will share with you a few facts about Pugs.

- “Pug” may have come from the Old English “puge,” which was an affectionate term for a playful little devil or monkey.

- Pugs were bred in China during the Shang dynasty. Their popularity spread to Tibet, where they were mainly kept by monks, then onto to Japan and eventually Europe.

- Pugs are prone to health problems that can include eye injuries, breathing issues, obesity and infections in their wrinkles.

- Some famous Pug characters in movies include:

Percy (Pocahontas),

Frank (Men In Black) and

Otis (Milo and Otis).

Get Funky

February 16, 2009 at 4:43 pm | In Random Thoughts | Leave a Comment
Tags: Pictures

I found this website today – Be Funky. They let you upload your photos and add different effects to the pictures. Lots of fun!

meg_and_eric_cartoon1

My Top 3

February 7, 2009 at 3:23 pm | In Elevation | Leave a Comment
Tags: Baptisms, Elevation, Memories, Unleash

This weekend we are celebrating Elevation’s 3rd Anniversary! In just three short years, God has blessed this church in so many ways. Eric and I have been attending Elevation for just over a year and a half and love being a part of what God is doing in Charlotte through Elevation. Elevation exists “so that people far from God will be filled with life in Christ” and Eric and I have taken active roles in helping to see that vision fulfilled.

This past week, Pastor Furtick, his wife Holly, and the staff have reflected on their top three moments at Elevation. Today I decided to share my own top three. In no particular order…

1 – Getting the opportunity to attend the Unleash conference at New Spring Church in March 08. I was honored to be included in a group of about 150 Elevators who loaded up on a few buses to attend the one day event. I wrote a full recap of the day and you can read it here.

2 – Getting baptized in May 07 as a part of Elevation’s spontaneous baptisms! Then, in August 08, getting the privileged to be on the other side of the event and prepare for others to be spontaneously baptized. Words can not describe how amazing it was to be in the row of volunteers waiting to cheer on those who had decided to take the plunge and see the flood of people pour out of the auditorium. Tears of joy were flowing that day!

3 - Opening night of the 6pm service at Butler. I did not expect the crowd we saw that night. In fact, I don’t think anyone did. God blew our minds that evening! Over 750 people attended the service (over flow was packed!) and 125 came home that evening!

I am so blessed and so thankful that God has led Eric and I down here at this time to be a part of this movement. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for Elevation’s 4th year of ministry!