Strawberries

Destination: Strawberry Hill and Cowpens Battlefield
Total Miles: 100 miles
Total Cost: $30ish




Before I begin my tale of adventures in the Up Country, let me quickly update you on my adventure to the Low Country.

I am currently a member of the Rivertree Singers, a choral group composed of around 30 members. We are professionals who work and live in the Greenville area of South Carolina...there's everything from account managers, web designers, composers, and stay-at-home parents, to nurses, cosmetologists, and bakers/cooks. And we all have at least one thing in common: a love for singing.

This spring, we have been rehearsing for our summer concerts. One was in Greenville, and the other was in Charleston at the Piccolo Spoleto festival.

Now, if you have been following my blog since its beginnings, you know that I love Charleston. And like most of my trips to Charleston, this one was a bit of a whirlwind. Having worked the night before we had to be at St. Phillip's for rehearsal, I was thankful to catch a ride down...which, unfortunately, I failed to take advantage of and sleep. By the time I got to bed that night, I had gone for well over 36 hours with only an hour or so of sleeping on the drive down.

My friend and former piano-duo partner, John, was also visiting Charleston with his choir from Westminster during the festival. We sang a song he composed (which you should be able to hear here), and he graciously came to our rehearsal and conducted us (giving us some helpful tips on both interpretation and musicality). Following the rehearsal, John and I spent some time meandering around the Market...stopping for some Haagen-Dazs ice cream. It was great to catch up with him and worth the extreme lack of sleep!

Supper was at a delicious Italian place near St. Phillip's, and
subsequently called for a stop near the waterfront at a gelato venue. Those of us who had eaten supper together finished our gelato and gave a spontaneous mini concert (aka: we sang one song that we all had memorized). Then, I rode to the hotel where I don't really remember anything until the next morning. (YES! I realize I look half dead in the pictures...trust me, I look better with sleep than without). :)

We sang in the morning at a church in downtown Charleston, then after a quick lunch, we walked over to St. Phillip's for our concert.

Which, if I do say so myself, was quite a success.

Anyway...

I got back late that night (mainly because I had gotten locked out of the house and went to Panera to study), and trust me, I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping.

Having promised the LPs a road trip to get some ice cream, (and having that day off from my two jobs), I piled them into Mr. Darcy. We stopped for some glass-bottled-cokes and lunch at an awesome cafe in downtown Travelers Rest, William's Hardware Cafe.

Instead of taking the somewhat shorter route to Strawberry Hill, I drove them the back way...up Scenic Highway 11. We enjoyed singing crazy songs, drinking our glass-bottled cokes, and telling stories as we drove the almost 50 miles to Strawberry Hill.

Upon arrival, we delved into the homemade ice cream (eating WAY more than we should have!), and then we piled back into Darcy to finish the drive to Cowpen's Battlefield.

After walking around for a bit, the kids were able to take part in learning how to fire one of the grasshopper cannons. They were so cute!!

Then we headed out to walk around some more...and ended up splashing through puddles during a deluge rainstorm. Soaking wet, we laughed and ran around the battlefield...much to the dismay of certain park rangers (who probably think I had lost my mind). But hey, we had fun and there was no thunder!

I had them race about once the sun came back out, effectively drying them off, then it was time to take Charles to his baseball practice.

All in all...an awesome 60 hours.

And just a window into the wonderfully non-normal and non-boring life I am privileged to lead.

Four Exams and a Wedding

One year has passed since I received an email (followed by a letter) that altered my life.

No, I'm not referring to the letter containing the deed to Mr. Darcy...though that did arrive the same day and did impact me. My vehicle is a constant reminder to me that I am living debt free and loving it.

I am referring to the acceptance letter I received from Clemson University at the beginning of May 2012. An offer of acceptance into the full-time Family Nurse Practitioner Master's Program was presented to me, and I, barely cognizant  of the consequences, accepted.

The whirlwind that followed has been one of the most exciting adventures I have been on, to date. Whether it has been writing scores of pages or filling in every waking moment with clinical hours, my life has been anything but boring.

This semester found me working my fulltime NICU night-shift job while taking a fulltime credit load (including two clinical courses that required 90 hours of clinicals. Each.). When I wasn't working, I was at one of two doctors' offices learning. And when I wasn't at the offices, I was sleeping, in class, studying, or driving between those places.

Anti-social does not even begin to describe my life this semester.

But, I have a good report! By God's grace, I have passed all my classes and exams (still waiting to hear the official grades) and will be continuing in the program in two weeks with a summer class. Which means: one year from now, I will be graduating with my Master of Science!

This past week in particular has been an exciting one. Not only was I finishing up paperwork and exams for the semester but I was also Maid of Honor at my sister, Charity's, wedding. We had a blast preparing for the wedding this week.

She and her husband were married next to the Barn on the Enoree River where the reception was held. Even though it was overcast and very cold (the high on Saturday was 58F), the wedding went well, and the couple was sent off before the rain descended.

Still, if you had told me on April 30, 2012 that in 368 days I would be finishing my first year of graduate school and walking down the aisle at my sister's wedding, I would not have believed a word of it.

God works in mysterious ways!

There have been rough patches, especially with grad school...times where I have questioned the purpose of going back to school; times of seemingly insurmountable odds; times that I felt more alone and discouraged that I will admit to; and times where I wished I had turned down the offer and gone on with my travels.

But it is during those times that I am encouraged in Psalm 37. And it is during those times that I remember that my security is not in my schooling, in my job, in my friends and family...it is in my relationship with God.

Now that it is summer, I will hopefully be able to take more road trips, but school comes first. And as I reflect on the last year, I am reminded of a Robert Frost poem we sang in high school.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Back-Road-Trips

Destination: Simpsonville
Total Miles: 50-ish
Cost: <$20

What a stir that last post caused! Perhaps I need to post guest articles more often? Well, with only a couple days off this go around, I've done more planning than traveling. And while both are equally important, I much prefer the traveling part.

Cue Monday.

Andrew, a friend of mine from Atlanta, GA, happened to be working this weekend in Simpsonville, SC. I have known his family for over 8 years, and when I've chanced to visit Atlanta on occasion, I have had the privilege of hanging out with him. Since he was in town over the weekend, it was decided we would meet up with his mom for lunch.


(background) Having grown up in Greenville, I have come to know many of the back roads, shortcuts from here to there. My dad was a Bus Captain in our church's bus ministry for years, and as a kid, I loved riding the bus with him after morning church to drop off kids. Having inherited a fairly decent sense of direction from Dad (which I am eternally grateful for), I do not get lost very often just driving around. The LPs and I will occasionally play a "Get Lost" game (basically, I drive around following their instructions: turn left, drive 2 miles, turn right...then I have to get us home from wherever we ended up). This and the occasional drives myself and the older kids used to take on Sunday afternoons (just driving around and finding random places) have familiarized me with random backroads in and around Travelers Rest.

Because I now work and attended a church in Spartanburg, I have worked the last 2+ years on learning some backroads in and around Spartanburg, and some of the backroads between TR and Sparkle City.

All this being said, I have never really had a chance to just drive around Simpsonville. When Andrew recommended that we meet for lunch in Simpsonville (where he was completing a job), I saw it as the perfect opportunity to drive around a small portion of Simpsonville.

I was not disappointed!

We met for lunch at Pete's of Simpsonville and had a great time catching up. After lunch, we all went our separate ways. I was meeting a friend for a pedicure in an hour at a place not 3 minutes from where we had lunch, so I decided to just drive around to see what I could see.

I found an interesting road named Scuffletown Road. The name made me laugh and wonder what caused it to be named thus. I also found some very large subdivisions which made me wonder about the appeal of living in Simpsonville. (I am very partial to Greenville and have difficulty fathoming why anyone in the Upstate of South Carolina would want to live further than 20 minutes from G-ville.)

My favorite part of the drive was the massive, gorgeous houses located off some backroads I chanced to drive on. By far, my favorite was a Colonial style, two story, gray-blue house that had white trim, a huge front porch, and dark blue complimenting shutters. (I admit...I liked it so much I drove past it three times.)

While these houses were located just a tad too far from Greenville for my tastes, I very easily saw the appeal of living around Simpsonville. Expansive lots with an occasional glimpse of the Foothills...coupled with beautiful houses set just off the road...all located just a few extra hops and skips from both Greenville and Spartanburg would make for a decidedly prime building location (if you weren't partial to Greenville).

All in all, a very pleasant afternoon drive.

Perhaps there are places you like to drive around? Feel free to leave a comment about your favorite back-road-trips. :)