Fly South for the Winter

"Fall Break?" "No, I'll be going to South Dakota. How about Thanksgiving?" "No, then you would have to deal with my crazy relatives." This was pretty much how the conversation went ever time Mary Katherine and I tried to plan a time for me to come down to her house in South Carolina.... until Christmas break. For the past six weeks, we have been planning my post-New Years trip to Lake Wylie, SC. Well, today is the day for my flight! But of course, the one time of year that South Carolina gets snow, its today. So I was able to move up my 7:30 flight to 3:30 so hopefully I will get there without any delays and avoid the bad weather that is on its way.

Well, its a good thing I moved up my flight because my original one ended up being cancelled, so I made the right decision! But either way, I arrived safe and sound to Charlotte, North Carolina and then was picked up by Mr. Mooney and brought to their place of residence. They have an adorable and such a welcoming home. Much of time that I was there was spent lounging around the family room talking, playing games, and watching movies. And then of course there is Lucy, MK's cutie dog. She and I became quick pals and shared many snuggles during my stay.

Sunday afternoon we headed up to Boone, North Carolina so that we could go skiing and snowboarding the next day. I have been skiing since I was probably five years old and I am pretty decent. I might be cautious but I can do a lot of the harder slopes. But snowboarding is something I had never tried. Nathan once said that I would never be caught dead on a snowboard. Well, apparently Mary Katherine is the factor he never knew in that equation. She told me the night before that she was going to snowboard and that I should try it too, so I did. How bad can it be really? Well, my very sore butt the next day could answer that question. So, I am actually not horrible but I would start going so fast and didn't really have things under control so I would just have to fall to stop myself and that got old very fast. But I can now say that I have tried snowboarding and that is something I am quite proud of. The point of friends and adventuring is to keep trying new things! I ended up switching back to skis later that afternoon after quite the tumble, but it was a great day!


 Mary Katherine and I are both lovers of the arts and so when we were planning my visit a few weeks prior, we had discovered that the arts center in Charlotte would be showing the Broadway show: An American in Paris. It was actually a musical that I wasn't familiar with beforehand but I was excited to see something new. It turned out to be one of the best live shows I have ever seen. After coming off designing the sets for the Christendom plays, I was blown away with every little detail that went into each set change and costume. Not only could these actors and actresses sing, they could really dance. MK and I exchanged glances the entire show and couldn't have been more impressed. If the show was going to be performed even within a few hours of Virginia anytime I would totally go see it again! Even when we got home, we couldn't stop talking about how incredibly good it was!

The end of the five day visit was quickly approaching but we squeezed in some more fun stuff in the last two days such as outlet mall shopping, multiple coffee dates, and even going to a paint-your-own pottery place creating some gorgeous mugs. (which of course we can use for our regular coffee dates back in the dorms!) It was a trip filled with laughter, amazing chats, and of course adventures. Although I thought I was flying south for the winter, I ended up getting the same weather I would have had back home, but I got to enjoy it with one of my best friends so it was definitely worth the journey!