Simple Smiles

Reading things like this quote bring a smile to my face! You have got to love the simple things :)

An excerpt from At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks...

"Since they'd left the airport in Raleigh, the view on either side of the highway had been one long version of the movie Groundhog Day. Ramshackle farmhouses, barren fields, decaying tobacco barns, stands of trees... mile after mile. Sure, they'd passed through the occasional town, but even those had been indistinguisable, unless someone actually knew the difference between Hardee's and Bojangles."

This quote reminds me of the drive from Zebulon to Salter Path. Thought I would leave you with some of my favorite shots of natural beauty along that drive... Hope you enjoy!

Meeting Ean for the first time

My nephew, Ean Cheyne Clark, was born on December 2 and this was my first time to meet him. Here are some pictures from my trip...

Aiden, Ean, and I. Aiden gave me the elephant puppet for Christmas.

Aiden giving Ean kisses... What a good big brother he will be.

Me and baby Ean

Ama's Christmas

On Christmas Day, we always go to my Ama's! This year we ate dinner around 2pm and instead of being at the kid's table, like always, the adults sat there and we ate with our Ama! There are 8 grandchildren and with significant others we made 10 and Ama made 11. I'm not really sure what she thought of our conversation it was definitely hit or miss at times but we always have fun. Here are some pics of the day...

Me and Ama

My Cuz Ashley and I

Can you tell they're related? The man in the frame is a distant grandparent and we always thought the spot on his forehead was because he was shot or something. However, interesting fact this man cut off his thumb so he would not have to fight in the civil war. Peyton, my little brother, and him have a scary resemblance.
Dad, Mom, Peyton, Ama, and Me
No longer at the kiddie table group & Ama

The Privette boys - Three in the back row, Justin, Erik, Keith

The Byrd gals - Ashley(beside me) with her husband John, Hope(Santa Hat), Frances(to the right of Hope) with boyfriend Tony

The Clark kids- Peyton (Carolina hoodie) and Me

Ama and her children

Martha, Gary, Nancy, Beverly

Jamie and her kiddos

I had the best time spending time with my high school buddy Jamie and her family! They are so great! Jamie and I have been known to get into trouble in the past and my how things have changed. It is such a blessing to have one of those friends that no matter where you go or what you do it always seems like just yesterday when you talked. She always understands and can always make me laugh no matter what the situation. Her and her husband, Mike, have always welcomed me with open arms when I am home, and I love that about them! Their two kiddos are so adorable and tons of fun!

Mikey may be the busiest child ever... This was the only pic I was able to catch of him.

Isn't he adorable? I love me some Joe! I stayed over one night and the next morning he didn't want me to leave. He wanted me to stay and the babysitter to go home. He also got in trouble one day and Jamie got upset with him. He sat there deep in thought, she asked him what he was thinking about and he said, "I'm thinking about my friends like Noni, Daddy, Emmarie, the babysitter(can't remember her name). They don't yell at me." He sure does know how to tug at everyone's heart strings...


I saw Jamie everyday from the time I came home on the 17th to the 23rd before all of our family Christmas festivities began. It was fun to help them put together some Christmas presents including this NY Giants tackle buddy (i'm sure it is called something else but that is the best I could come up with). For some reason I never get pics of Mike but he was there. He was even nice enough to take this one of me and Jamie.

Thanks for a great trip and fun outings while I was in NC!

A German Meal

While I was in NC for Christmas I was able to meet up with Julie and Richard for dinner. We went to a German restaurant, J Betskis for dinner. I have to tell you that I had the best dessert I have ever had at a restaurant. A chocolate torte with sea salt and bacon on top. Sounds strange but it was oh so yummy... I really enjoyed my time with this couple. Thanks for a fun night!

The Kvernen Family

I was blessed this time home with the opportunity to see a family that I was with while living in East Asia. I have not seen Laura, Matt and Juliana since I left in July 2006. They were on my team and helped me so much in my year there. I definitely would have been lost without the guidance they were able to provide. The Lord totally blessed me through this friendship. The last time I saw them they were a family of 3, and now they are a family of 5. It was such a blessing for me to meet the youngest two, Lydia and Isaac. They have been in the states on furlough and were with her family prior to Christmas. It was great to be able to sit down and catch up with them. When I first talked to her on the phone the first thing she said to me was, "you still sound the same." It is so funny how different you assume people will be when you see them on the total opposite side of the world years later. So glad I got to see ya'll. Hope to see you again soon! Praying for you always!

Grandma Clark's Christmas

My Grandma Clark may be the spunkiest 88 year old you will ever meet! In the past year she has received 2 hip replacements, her last one being the Monday before Thanksgiving! This last time I was home I didn't get to see her a lot but spent some great quality time with her. After the Carolina Basketball game I went home got my stuff and spent the night with my Grandma. She was only home for this one night because she was doing rehab at my aunt's house in another city. That night my Grandma and I started talking and around midnight I was so exhausted I, the 27 year old, had to ask her if we could go to bed.

The next day we went to my cousin Keely's for our Clark Christmas Celebration and Grandma told everyone that I kept her up. It was quite embarrassing that I had to be the one to tell everyone it was quite the opposite. She just giggled when I told them what had happened and she didn't fight my side of the story at all :) We had a great time celebrating Christmas together with all 26 of us! We didn't even have everyone there, we were missing 5 and we had some additional add-ons. Here are some pics...

Kathryn and I with Grandma

Half of the fam

The other half

Aunt Cathy took all the pics :) This is the only photo I have of her or Michael.

Grandma with the grandchildren (minus 2) and great-grandchildren (minus 2)

Sisters... isn't my dad sneaky?

Me and Kathryn

Dad & Daughters :)