'Woo'hoo!!

Pat's cousin Trae got married...and the bride just so happened to be one of his good friends from high school. I know crazy, huh?! Not only did we get to visit with family we also had lots of fun with good friends we don't see enough.

For this wedding the McCarthy hospitality suite was on a whole new level. The Woo (Uncle Tracy) chose The Restoration on King which was centrally located between the hotels we were all staying in. We shared a condo with the rest of the Stier siblings across the street. The hospitality suite houses the essentials for any guest of the wedding and the best part is you are guaranteed to run into someone you know.

The bride was gorgeous and the church and reception site matched her perfectly. Pat was his usual self, attempting to steal the spotlight with his unusual dance moves (someone actually asked me if he was Russian?!).

We danced the night away and finally called it a night after a pit stop at...

We rounded out the weekend with a trip to The Battery in our favorite transportation for the weekend, a rickshaw, "a ricky".

Lounging on the rooftop...no big deal!

Congratulations to Trae and Meredith! We had an awesome time and are very happy for the beautiful couple!

A Different Point of View

Pat and I refer to this blog as 'ours' but I am the one who does all of the writing and I take most of the pictures therefore things are always from my perspective. Our recent vacation left us bound to a car for many, many hours. I filled some of that time looking through Pat's phone. While browsing his pics I found that he has documentation of everything he has done over the past 6 months.

My sister-in-law, Jenny and her family have made a tradition of compling a CD of the Stier's favorite songs for the year. My choice this year flew off of my tongue, it wasn't until later that I realized my song was written for my husband. The Lucky One by Alison Krauss and Union Station.

You're the lucky one

So I've been told

As free as the wind,

blowin' down the road

Loved by many, hated by none

I'd say you're lucky 'cause I know what you've done

Not a care in the world

Not a worry in sight

Everything's gunna be alright

Cause you're the lucky one

This boy is everywhere. He is somewhere different every week, sometimes everyday so he has seen a lot! Starting with the first picture in August here is Pat's life...

August 12:

Greenville, SC - Anacapri's birth

August 15:

Spruce Pine, NC

This stray dog kept showing up at the job sight. He was going to be Maggie#2 (sharing her love of spaghetti and all)  but never showed up on the last day of the project.

 August 20:

Mount Mitchell State Park, NC

August 26:

 Prosperity, SC

August 28:

Columbia, SC

Working with your best friend, not a bad deal!

September 1:

Brevard, NC

.

September 10:

Bayou La Batre, Alabama
Home of Forrest Gumps "best good friend," Bubba

September 20:

Highlands, NC

You're the lucky one

Always havin' fun

A jack of all trades a master of none

You look at the world with a smilin' eye

And laugh at the devil as his train goes by

September 23:

Columbia, SC

Maggie giving the "if I look at you out of the corner of my eye, you

don't see me" look. She really wanted to go for a ride!

September 27:

Isle of Palms, SC

O Happy Day

September 28:                          

Michael and Gina's Wedding

October 4:

Tennessee

October 22:

Andrews, North Carolina

October 26:

I-20 SC 

October 30:

Western North Carolina

Well you're blessed I guess

By never knowing which road you're choosin'

To you the next best thing

To playin' and winning is playin' and losing...

November 12:

 North Carolina

Our favorite gas station

November 27:

Asheville, NC

December 3:

The Biltmore House

December 6:

Another day on the job

December 26:

Port Allegany, PA

Maggs and her PJ's

December 28:

Ellicottville, NY

December 31:

 Port Allegany, PA

You're the lucky one I know that now
Don't ask you why, when, where or how
No matter where you're at, that's where you'll be
You can bet your luck won't follow me...
'Cause you're the lucky one.

Saved by Mistletoe

Our trip home was saved by an unlikely source.

 

Maggie decided to end her vacation with a bang. While we were sledding New Year's Eve Maggie snuck off into the woods and found what she though was a tasty treat. We found this out the hard way...my mom found the evidence on the kitchen floor (I know gross!). She's a dog so we didn't give it a lot of thought until 45 minutes later when she got sick again. The poor thing couldn't even keep down water so she was confined to the basement for most of the night.
 

Yesterday as we were packing the car she seemed to be herself. She was a little sluggish but she was eating, drinking and waging her tail. 30 minutes into the trip we smelled something terrible, it smelled like an animal had died in our backseat. It didn't take long to figure out that Maggie wasn't 100%. Now don't jump to conclusions (like we did), it was only gas but it was the WORST gas ever! After a few frantic stops to insure everything was okay we decided to dig through our luggage for the candle we had been burning last week. Ahhh relief, the aroma of mistletoe filled the car. It might not have been the safest thing to do but it was better than asphyxiation!
 

We made it the whole way without any accidents, thank goodness! It didn't make for the most pleasant trip but after a while we found the humor in it. I am sure this will be a story we tell for years to come.

Winter Wonderland II

I had high hopes of updating the blog throughout our holiday vacation but obviously that didn't happen. I thought my Christmas post was a little lackluster so I have decided to start from the beginning of our trip and work my way through. I hope you can keep up!

The trip

I have been traveling the roads that lead from SC to PA at least twice a year for 25 years so I am familiar with many of the landmarks along the way. This year we stopped at the Christmas lights display in Altoonta, PA, something I have been wanting to do for years.

Maggie enjoyed the ride, as always.

 

The SNOW!

Pat took it upon himself to shovel the sidewalk after the first snowfall...

And he happily aided Rick in the clean up after the BIG snowfall...

Skiing

Pat insisted that I accompany him for a ski trip to Holiday Valley about 1 hour from the house. I need to preface this story with a quick recap of the last time he took me skiing. It was two years ago and I had NEVER stepped foot in a ski boot in my life. We arrived, went straight to the most popular lift and rode it to the top. I stood up to exit the lift and my ski's flew out from under me. I knew it wasn't going to be good... My instructions were "pizza pie" so I tried to keep the tips of my ski's together as I darted down the mountain. I spent most of the time screaming things like "Watch out", "Whoa!" and "PAAATTT". On a couple of occasions many sympathetic people helped me gather my ski's, poles and helmet. One hour later I skidded to the bottom of the mountain, laying flat on my back with my head bouncing off of the ground. So....

This time we started off on the beginners course and to my surprise I did quite well. After I mastered turning and stopping I was confident enough to venture onto new slopes. We had the best time!



 Day two of our adventure was very different. Every muscle in my body was aching. I could hardly walk down the stairs of our hotel and when I put my feet in the ski boots I could feel the bruises on my legs that had not yet come to the surface. We skipped the beginner slope and chose one that we enjoyed the day before. Geez, I thought I was going to die! I had no control, I didn't fall but it wasn't pretty. On the next lift Pat dropped his sunglasses so we had to go down the slope to get them and this slope was blue (aka hard)! My legs were like jello and the more difficult slope didn't help. Once I started gaining speed I got scared and turned left to try to slow down, luckily a small pine tree stopped me. The only thing I could see from my vertical position were ski's and sky. That was it, I lost it! The tears started and continued most of the way down. I threw in the towel and opted for the warm lodge while Pat finished his runs. I vowed never to ski again...until next year.J

More Snow

 Pat wished and wished and wished for snow and his wishes came true! We got a ton of it, about 16-20 inches total.

Sled Rides

All of the snow made for great sled riding conditions.

Some kids like to be buried in sand, others prefer snow.

The yard is big enough for an awesome path but that wasn't good enough for Pat. He made a path up the hill that felt a mile long.

I had to take multiple breaks on the way up.

Spending time together is what the holidays are about and we do just that. The lack of television, cell phones and everyday distractions doesn't necessarily leave me feeling rested physically but I feel very satisfied mentally. 

I'm not sure why but the holiday season seems to be getting shorter as the years go on, this one in particular. I welcome 2013 but I wouldn't mind a few more days of 2012 to share with the ones I love. 

Happy New Year!