High Country NC

Here are a few shots of our trip to Blowing Rock, NC. It's a beautiful place, and we highly recommend it. The city is a small mountain town and is as picturesque as it gets. A good amount of the locals are senior citizens and for good reason--it looks like a great place to retire.

Blowing Rock is just outside of Boone, NC (home of App State University) and is right on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Having lived near the Blue Ridge mountains for a good part of my life, I wonder why I never took more trips around here.

Our Accommodations

Kojay's Cafe
I wish Cary had more independent coffee shops / breakfast cafes like this.

(...and the breakfast too).

Historic [Apple] Orchard at Altapass
About an hour South on the Blue Ridge Parkway, you'll run into this gem: an apple orchard on top of a mountain that specializes in apple products (duh), hayrides, fudge, and having a good old time.

The Blowing Rock
The town's namesake. You can read more on the story of the blowing rock in the link above. More impressive are the views from the observation deck.

Mast General Store, Valle Crucis, NC (est. 1883)
This place is straight out of old school NC. Back when times were simpler, general stores sold everything you would possibly need ("if we don't have it, you don't need it"). Wish it was still like that today.

Local blue grass band pickin' on the front porch of the store

Week 14: It's Hot Out

Here's a quick update for week 14. It was hotter'n Georgia asphalt today so our photo session was cut short. My fault for trying to take a picture at 3 in the afternoon.

Liz made it back home to Richmond safely. She came to Raleigh with her Honda, but left here on a Greyhound. Thankfully, Liz was able to sell the car as-is to a collision shop mechanic for a fair price.

Rascal Flats came into town so we went out to Walnut Creek Amphitheater for a nice summer concert on Friday night. $10 lawn tickets...not too shabby. Thanks to my co-workers for letting me know about that special earlier this week.

To wrap up the weekend, we just got back from church where we had Charles Billingsley down as guest worship leader. Charles leads worship at Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg, VA, and is the "Artist-in-Residence" at Liberty University. Good man, great voice.

Next up: We'll post a few pictures from our trip to the mountains (Boone & Blowing Rock, NC) two weeks ago.

Unexpected ER Visit

I really didn't think we'd have to do another post in the same day. Earlier today, Jessica read an article that told readers that you shouldn't try to catch a knife that falls from the counter because it can/will cut your hand.

While cleaning up the dishes after dinner this evening, there were just too many cooks in the kitchen. A steak knife accidentally slid off of a plate on the counter [in slow motion of course]. The good news is that Jessica didn't try to catch it as it was falling. The bad news is that it fell straight into the top of her foot.

Result: A trip to the emergency room + 5 stitches. What a weekend.

[iPhone]

Week 13: The Bump

It's gotten to that point where threading a hair tie around the button of a pair of jeans, through the buttonhole, and back around the button just isn't cutting it anymore. Jessica is officially showing now. While she might not have a beach ball yet, it's about that time to start looking for some new clothes.

Enter Liz, Jessica's great friend and roommate from college.



As part of a top secret mission, we wanted to surprise Jessica so Liz drove down from Richmond to come visit for the weekend. She made it 173 out of the 175 mile trip without incident until...

Liz might be staying in NC a little longer than expected.

The girls left for Southpoint mall a few hours ago to go shopping for maternity clothes. No telling when they'll get back. Charlie and I were left at home to finish up the yard work.

Speaking of which, summer time has officially reared its ugly head, and temperatures are consistently in the 90s.


Don't let the numbers fool you either; 93° in the South feels a whole lot different than in other parts of the country. The "Feels Like" temperature for today has climbed into the triple digits. Not really looking forward to the rest of the week. Or July and August for that matter.

Week 12: It's Baby Time

That's right, you heard us. We're going to have a baby. It's on Facebook so it must be official.

Check out mama, fresh from a visit to the neighborhood pool, proudly holding up a snap from yesterday's ultrasound. The nausea is almost gone, energy is picking back up, and it's finally time to tell the world our wonderful news.

Jessica is just over 12 weeks pregnant. If you can do math quickly, that puts the baby due on December 26th. We're very, very excited.

Jessica: "Aw, poor kid will end up getting birthday/Christmas combo gifts every year."
Justin: "Yes! Standard deduction...come ooooonnnnn 2010 delivery."

Boy or girl? Not sure yet. We have names in mind. Maybe we'll share them soon. If family histories play any part in whether or not we have a boy or a girl, then chances are we'll have a boy. Justin has one brother, a bus load of boy cousins, and only one girl cousin...11:1. Jessica's side has a 3 boys, 5 girls.

We'll find out officially in six weeks.

It Begins

We're starting this blog to keep record of our family as it grows. If you haven't already noticed, the title of our blog is a little long. To make it easier, we made the address a lot more manageable with http://singerway.blogspot.com.

We live on Singer Way here in our lovely neighborhood in the heart of the Triangle. Even if we move one day, we'll never forget it because it's the first place we called home together as husband and wife.


Until next time, check out the "About Us" and "Charlie" tabs above. Stay tuned.

-J&J