a few days back, it was “cardio day” on my workout routine, so i packed my standard cardio items to go to the gym after i dropped off the girls at school. then, on a whim, i grabbed some bare minimum hiking essentials also. i literally had no idea which activity i planned to do, […]
just me myself and i
upcycled hoodie, take one.

awhile back, i took a class at village fabric on the art of upcycling an old textile of some sort into an oversized hoodie. i used a thrifted chenille bedspread and it was pretty cool and i vowed to make a million more. and then i didn’t. but when the sully’s upcycled hoodie pattern was […]
spring break (in my late 40s).

my spring break at forsyth tech was a measly four days long and also did not coincide with the girls spring break from public school, so it seemed like another good time to make a dash into the wilderness, for a little solo, camping, hiking, rest, and recharge trip. since it was the first week […]
another stone mountain escapade

after a busy holiday season and then a stupidly snowy january, when the first day of sunshine rolled around (with the kiddos sitting in their desks at school), i hopped in the car and headed to the mountains. stone mountain is a favorite local hike, and it had been closed for a bit of time […]
happy birthday to me. camping/hiking edition.

my little rest and relax trip to virginia over fall break reminded me how much i need some camping/hiking/outdoor/alone time built into my schedule. so, for my birthday weekend, i snagged a campsite at hanging rock, then proceeded to get way ahead on my school work so i could properly enjoy the downtime, and then […]
fall break recharge.

so, these days, community college operates on 8-week mini-semesters. i sort of got an explanation about why things are trending that way from derek’s sister who teaches at forsyth tech, but i’m not sure i agree with the reasoning. it’s pretty intense to cram an entire class into 8 weeks, and i definitely felt like […]
the porkies and me.

on these long summer road trips, derek usually has to work a few days here and there. on one such day, a beautiful one at that, we determined that it would be a good day for me to embark on a solo adventure, leaving him to work, and the kids to have a lazy day […]
happy mothers day to me. </br>camping/hiking edition.

immediately after dropping off my cake donation, i loaded up the outback and rolled off to the mountains for a little solo mother’s day camping and hiking trip. derek gifted me some car camping gear, to see if that’s preferable to tent camping. for this first attempt, he booked me a hipcamp site near brevard, […]
elk knob with hiking heather.

for several months (i think), my hiking pal heather has been talking about trying a trail she heard about near boone called elk knob. i’m game for almost any hike, so when she offered to pick me up and chauffeur me to the trailhead, i was glad to oblige. we were a little surprised to […]
47th birthday chronicles.

i normally wouldn’t have an entire post dedicated to a random birthday, but i did some cool stuff, ate some good food, hung out with fun friends, and well, i didn’t want my november post to have 60 photos, so here we are. first of all. two days before my birthday, six weeks after my […]