Time with Family, Part 1

In March, my father-in-law, Rick, came to visit, and we had a wonderful weekend with him!  We are so grateful that he came to see us, and we loved having him in our home.  His weekend here started out with an amazing tour of the area from the backseat of the F/A-18D Hornet!  Okay, technically it was from the F/A-18D Hornet simulator, but it certainly felt like we were flying because the cockpit was real and the graphics were unbelievably lifelike.  It was really neat to get a glimpse of what Kevin does when he's in the jet.

On Friday night, we had the pleasure of seeing Little Texas in concert about half an hour away from our house.  Kevin's Uncle Dwayne is a member of the band so we like to go to their concerts if they're playing anywhere near us.  Some of their biggest hits are "God Blessed Texas," "What Might Have Been" and "Kick A Little," and they always put on an awesome show.  

We also saw a movie, grilled outside and even spotted a gator while Rick was here.  All in all, a great O'Brien weekend!  (In case you're wondering, the alligator was not in our neighborhood...whew!)

Kevin, Kelly, Dwayne, Rick after the concert

Checking out the gator - he's in the water so you can barely see him

Like father, like son :)

Richard & Richard

Rick, thanks again for coming to South Carolina to see us!

Friday Five: Random happenings

On the phone last night, my dear friend Sarah asked when I was going to blog again.  Although it was a reminder that I'm way behind on blogging, it was encouraging to know that someone noticed my lack of blogging during the past month. :)  Thanks, Sarah!

1.  Tonight I'm trying a new recipe that I found via Pinterest - Turkey Taco Lettuce Wraps  They are healthy and easy (two things I look for in new recipes), so I hope they taste as good as they look!

2.  Kevin and I really enjoy the TV show Shark Tank.  Have you ever seen it?  If not, you should watch it.  Friday nights at 8/7c on ABC.  It's fascinating, thought-provoking and entertaining, and it has nothing to do with actual sharks.  The show celebrates innovation and capitalism, and it inspires great conversation between us.

3.  We have a new dining room chandelier, and I absolutely love it!  Kevin and my Dad installed it last week, and I feel like it has transformed the room.  My Dad also painted while my parents were here visiting, and you can see a glimpse of the new wall color in the background of this pic.  Not a dramatic change, I know, but a BIG change for the better in my opinion.

4.  A couple of months ago, Kevin and I went to a nearby auction with a bunch of our friends.  We didn't plan to buy anything, but we thought it would be fun to experience.  Of course, we each found something that we have been wanting for a very long time so we splurged and bought both things.  Kevin's find - a gun of some kind, I'm sure he'd be happy to tell you all about it.  (It's his very first gun.)   My find - a Louis XV style chair!  I've always adored this type of chair, but I've never purchased one because they are pretty expensive.  However, I bought this one at the auction for just $70!  It definitely needs a facelift, so I can't wait to find fabric with a modern design that will give this stylish chair new life.

For comparison, here's a similar chair available at Ballard Designs for $549!!!!

5.  Have you heard of Flat Stanley?  I was vaguely familiar with the name before last week, but now I have had my own personal experience with him.  My cousin's precious daughter, Bekah, sent him to me as part of a class project, and I was delighted to show him around South Carolina!

Getaway to Charleston

As you may or may not have noticed, I've been slacking in the blogging department lately.  We have had a crazy couple of months...Kevin changed squadrons (he was a Hawk, now he's a Bengal), we enjoyed visits from our parents, we drove to Kentucky for my Dad's retirement party and we went to Nashville for a dear friend's wedding.  We've also been spending some time working on our lawn and flowerbeds.  Before I share photos from all of the things I just mentioned, I need to show you our photos from Charleston.  In March, Kevin was able to take a few days of leave and we enjoyed our first real vacation since our honeymoon in 2009.  We spent a few days in Charleston, SC and a few days in Asheville, NC.  Here are some of my photos from Charleston...what a beautiful and charming city.  I'm glad that it's only a couple of hours away from us, because I can't wait to go back!

Our first day in Charleston was St. Patrick's Day,
so I wore this shirt that Kevin bought me in Key West.  He's pretty proud of it. :)

Friday Five: Reasons You Must Visit Biltmore

The History

The Views 

The Scenery

The Gardens

 

The Romance

The R-word

Spread the word to end the word...

Pledge your support at http://www.r-word.org/.

The Hyacinth

We received some unexpected news last week, and let's just say tending to the hyacinth (that I posted about recently) was not at the forefront of my mind.  I had high hopes of transplanting it into one of our flowerbeds, but I don't think that's going to happen now that it seems to be dying. 

If you're reading this and you have a green thumb, is there a way to revive this poor thing??