a little of this, and a little of that

     I'm back! It's been a great, albeit a very busy week, but nevertheless a great one so far. I have really been enjoying my new job at the Family Christian Store. I mean it's always a pretty good day when your boss hands you a book that is no longer listed in our system and gives it to you FREE of charge (if it's not in the computer system we have to throw it out....wait, throw out a BOOK? I think not!)  Oh, and I get to talk to people about Jesus and sniff books all day long while listening to NEEDTOBREATHE over the stereo, and I even get the chance to pray for the customers which is an amazing thing in this day and age! It's wonderful.

     I had Thursday off this week from work so I decided to go spend some time up in Asheville visiting with Jared and his family (who were up visiting from Rocky Mount for a few days). On Thursday we went to Best Buy and picked up a few dvds (because I had a $25 gift certificate), and then we went out for lunch at Taco Bell. After lunch Jay decided to take me to the Western North Carolina Nature Center for the day...oh, and did we ever have a blast! The coolest animals at the Nature Center (for me) were the Otters, Snakes and the Hellbender. The wolves were pretty cool too, but I must say that the Otters had this gal's heart! hehe The chickens and goats however totally frightened me! I think Jared was just excited to see that I was SO INTO learning and checking out all of the animals just like him, big zoology and crypto nerd that he is! ;-)

    After seeing loads of adorable, and quite kooky I must say, animals at the Nature Center Jay and I decided to head to the downtown area of Asheville so that I could capture the sites with Lila, and so we could peruse through some of the best bookstores ever together! I am absolutely in LOVE with the downtown area! The smells of Patchuli and Seared Steak...the noises of Dobro's and birds melodious chirping filling the crisp breezy air...the myriads of lovely used and new book shops...local art sculptures displayed alongside the streets...all of the beautifully different people...artists wielding coloured canvases for sale on the side of the pavement...beauty and unexpected adventure at every turn. Sigh. One day I will live there, I assure you!

   After our busy day we had dinner with Mammaw and Pappaw Fisher and then Jared's parents and brother stopped by to visit for a while. We talked and laughed a bunch while catching up with one another. We watched a Youtube video that made me and the rest of the family (okay, well only the guys and myself thought it was funny) laugh so hard we all nearly fell over and died laughing!! (See video above PLEASE.)

Casey Abrams - {image via: blog.babble.com}

After laughing ourselves silly we all sat down to watch the American Idol results, which I was totally displeased with I must say!! I will miss you being on the show, Casey Abrams! Really, I was upset and couldn't help but saying (ahem, slightly screaming) aloud "NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" when I heard that Casey was to leave the show. Jacob should have left. That's all I have to say about that!

     Yesterday we celebrated Jared's 21st birthday (a day early) by going out to a wonderful little Greek and Italian restaurant called Bellagio's. After eating a scrumptious Chicken Parmesan Sub and laughing some more while talking at the table with Jay and his family we headed over to Jay's other set of Grandparents' house to have cake and watch Jay open up his birthday presents, which consisted of the new TRON: LEGACY dvd and a KINDLE! Jay was excited about his gifts, as was I! Shortly after all of the cake cargo-ed-ness hit Jared, Seth and I headed out in the back yard so I could take some photos of the silly brothers! Then I had to drive back towards home to get ready for work last night, but only after giving Seth a piano lesson and spending a little more time with my love.

    And, yep, that's pretty much my week in a nutshell. I am so thankful that I was able to spend some time out in the beautiful nature with the young man I love dearly, and that we were able to celebrate his birth alongside his family! God is so good! Oh, and after I got home last night after work I checked my e-mail and found out that I had won the Garbaje Eco-Friendly Bracelet on Shannon's Below The Plateau blog! How cool is that?

     Well, I hope everyone is having a GREAT SATURDAY! I'll be heading off to the good ol' FCS here in a little while...here's to hoping that I don't find any more books in the Clearance room to spend more of my paycheck on today! Haha! Seriously though, I did manage to snag some great deals last night. I got three novels and two folders for $4.50. All I have to say is this: If you go to your local FCS PLEASE make sure to check out the Clearance room before you leave! There are treasures in there just longingly waiting to be found by YOU! =D

Happy Saturday Blogger Lovelies!!
P.S. -I'll have more photos up on my photography blog soon, so be sure to keep an eye out for more photos!