I'm BACK!!!!

Thanks to my sweet husband for my Christmas present this year.  He gave me a new laptop.  My old one has been out of commission for the last 6 months, so I have not done any posts.  I had filled it up with too many pictures, dental school files, and junk.  Many more posts to come for 2012.  

Spring in Asheville

Logan, Ranger and I went to the gardens at the Biltmore house on Sunday.  There were lots of people out enjoying the beautiful day.  We enjoyed the tulips and daffadils in bloom, as well as many other flowers.  Here are some pictures from our outing. 

We had a difficult time getting Ranger to look for the picture.  We figured out if we said "Jasper" (his best dog friend that has since moved away from Asheville) or "cookies" he perked up and looked at the camera!

Ranger found the only stick anywhere in site among the perfectly manicured grass.  He went crazy trying to take it from Logan.

 This area is a courtyard off to the side of the house.  There will be a big flower carpet in the next few weeks in the space, but for now it is just gravel.  You can see the wall at the back of the picture that separates the house/gardens from the rest of the yard.  So now that you have a general sense for the area.......here is what happened while we where here.


Ranger knows a few commands such as sit, down, stay, "get it" (which could mean get the car, person, bird, bug etc).  He also knows jump.  We will say "jump" when we want him to jump on the sofa or bed, or to jump on rocks and stuff while we are out hiking.  So Logan, not knowing how well I have trained Ranger on this command, says "Jump Ranger" when they get close to the wall.....just testing and teasing him to see what Ranger will do.  Ranger jumps, almost goes over the edge, and Logan pulls him back on the leash.  It was a good thing that he was wearing his halti leash and did not get chocked!

This is a view of the other side of the wall, with a very steep drop off, that my precious dog could have fallen over the edge because my husband was teasing him!!!!!!!

 Everybody is good now.....no one is hurt. 

This is a view of the French Broad River.  Logan and I had a picnic here before we went home.  We were sitting there for about 10 minutes watching the goose in the water, when Ranger spotted the goose on the bank.  (See previous picture).  Logan instructed him to "get it", and he decided that he was scared, and ran back to us for protection.  

 All in all, it was a good day. 

War Eagle!!!

Here are some pictures from our fabulous trip to Phoenix for the National Championship game.  Logan and I had a great time site seeing, eating, shopping, and of course cheering on the Tigers.  The weather was wonderful at 65 degrees......a lot better than snow and freezing temps here in Asheville.  Our flight back to Charlotte was cancelled on Tuesday, so we were able to stay and enjoy another day in Scottsdale, and we didn't mind at all. 

View from outside our hotel in Scottsdale.

Logan's button was a hit.....people asked it they could buy it from him.  He said that his mother-in-law gave it to him for Christmas, so he couldn't sell it. 

Auburn fans were everywhere.

Me, Nicole, and Carrie

Scottsdale

Allison and me

The hotel with an Aubie outside the room

Game Day!

A Visit from the Elliotts

This past weekend, Mom and Dad came to Asheville to visit for the weekend. We had a great time going out to eat, sight seeing downtown, watching football, and enjoying each other's company. Here are some pictures from the weekend.

Sunday monring we went to brunch at The Swag in Maggie Valley.  http://www.theswag.com/about.htm   It is a country inn on a mountain top right next to the Great Smokey Mountain National Park.  The food was delicious and the views were gorgous! 



View from the front porch at The Swag



In front of the fireplace inside the dining room



View from Gooseberry Knob



We went to the farmer's market to buy some fresh NC grown apples.  Dad is sampling to see which ones he likes. 

Banana Split?

Can't you see the smile on his face?

Ranger got to dress up for Halloween this year.....yes my dog was a banana split.  Ranger got to show off his costume in downtown Asheville with the Halloween dog event.  A street in downtown Asheville was blocked off for canines and their owners.  I wasn't able to get too many pictures of the other dogs, because I had to concentrate on keeping Ranger from licking any person that walked by and sniffing every dog that got close.  His costume was quite a hit if I say so myself....everybody that walked by would say....."Is that a banana spilt?.....or "Look at that cute dog!"  People even asked to take his picture.  They had a contest for the best tricks, best costume, best kisses etc (by the dogs of course).  We decided to go last minute, so we weren't prepared to enter the contests....but we will be ready for next year!  We are already starting to practice. 

War Eagle from Asheville

We are excited about watching the Auburn game tonight.  We are going to watch the game with some Auburn fans that we have meet in Asheville, but there will also be some Clemson fans there too.  We will have to make sure that we are on our best behavior, and not get too rowdy and loud.  Next week we will be in Auburn for our first game of the 2010 season.  Ranger says "War Eagle!"

Around Asheville

In July, Logan and I did a trolly tour around Asheville.  Here are some of the picutres from that day.  Enjoy!

View of downtown Asheville from the Grove Park Inn

Me and Logan on the Trolly

Downtown Baptist Chruch

Art Museum

Pack Tavern, an old Speak Easy now restaurant

Court house and City Hall

Grove Arcade

Logan!