Over the weekend we went back to Raleigh on a mission.  Scott was fixing some of the items on our repair list from the inspection and we were also there to celebrate an engagement and first birthday.  It was the first time Peanut and Scott had been back since we have been down in Charlotte and it was a little bittersweet.  Especially when my sweet little peanut said the word, 'home!' upon getting out of the car. (Cue the heartstrings).



If anything, it afforded us the opportunity to visit some of our old haunts (cupcakes and chicken & waffles for all!) and catch up with some friends.  And by we, I mostly mean Peanut and myself.  Scott was a rockstar all weekend and did the heavy lifting as it pertained to fixing and packing. (Thanks babe!)

I talk a lot on this blog about my life which includes my family, my career, my list of extra-cirricular activities and the balancing act that is some times more successful than other times.  I think that the truth of the matter is where ever you are in your life, if you have a family, if your single and have a boyfriend/girlfriend and/or furchild, a job or a career, you are working in some sort of state of balance.  It's tough to achieve and even more difficult to figure out what works best for you and your circumstance.  And that's what is so important to achieving that balance, understanding that your circumstance, your experiences are your own and comparing them to others simply won't work and in most cases make your feel worse about yourself.

Arguably, I'm a beach girl.  Which is why it is odd that I chose a college which was about as far away from the ocean that I so loved.  Regardless of that, there is something about the mountains that truly makes my heart happy.  What makes my heart triply happy is being able to spend a beautiful Memorial Day in the mountains with Peanut & Scott.  We stopped over in Asheville for a quick respite on our weekend travels and decided to pop on over to the Biltmore for the day before we headed back to Raleigh.  The estate and grounds there are simply breathtaking and we cannot wait to come back and spend some real time explore the trails surrounding the home, playing in the gardens, and taking in all of the sights of Asheville.

There are moments in your life when you start to feel really old.  One of those moments is the realization that your two youngest cousins graduated, one from college and one from high school, in the same year.  I vividly remember these two ladies as babies and growing up we were fortunate enough to see them frequently.  It's amazing what fantastic, brilliant, fun-loving women they have become.  So this past weekend, we traversed the state of North Carolina and Tennessee to find our way to Nashville to celebrate these two and gather with family for a celebration.  Which brings me to my next point: there is nothing better than family.  We had a blast hanging with the Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, and Grandparents.






Needless to say we also had a great time exploring Nashville which included a trip to the zoo (in which Peanut referred to most animals as 'Coco', but did get to meet a giraffe), a 'initiation' into the troublemaking ways of my family for my baby cousin, a trip to White Castle, and lots of laughs.