Fried Pickles



Military Museum/Antique Store



Notice the sign pointing to Myrtle Beach :)



Our lazy day trip to Southern Pines started out with us stumbling upon Gulley's Garden Center/Military Museum/Christmas Cottage.  I didn't take many pictures because I was so overwhelmed with all the plants, flowers, shrubs, trees, colorful pots, etc.  You wouldn't know it from the outside but this place is huge and absolutely beautiful!  One of the curved walkways took us down to the Military Museum/Antique Store pictured here.  The owner, Pete, was in Special Forces during Vietnam and collects military memorabilia (and we also found some UNC vintage magazines retailing for hundreds of dollars!).  Cute, cute, cute!  We loved everything about this place and found a very rustic piece of home decor we decided to purchase.  For those of you that don't know - I'm obsessed with everything rustic and we're trying to make it work in our rental house in Raeford.  Finally, our last stop at Gulley's was the quaint Christmas cottage.  Oh, how wonderful and spirited the decor was!  We will most definitely be returning to pick up our annual Christmas ornament to commemorate this year's big event - the beach house.  We weren't quite ready to decide on one beachy ornament so when the weather gets a bit cooler we'll make another trip to buy our ornament.  I mean who doesn't want another excuse to go up to Southern Pines anyway ;-) Oh, and here I am posing with the cute sign station, I got all giddy when I saw Myrtle Beach on there!  We dressed in "active gear" because we had intentions of going to a yoga class in Southern Pines and/or going on a hike afterwards but... long story short, we only dressed the part.  There's just too much to do here to try to workout!

We spent the afternoon meandering through the shops in downtown historic Southern Pines.  I'm so lucky to have such a loving husband that will view these days as fun little adventures and not boring window shopping!  Although, the next time we come into town, I want to make sure we do spend more time in the Wine Cellar & Tasting Room.  This unique combination retail wine shop/wine bar has a vast selection of wines and live music on Saturday evenings!  What's not to love?  Oh, and I read in their store they are having a BIG sale next weekend :-)

Another noteworthy place we ventured into was The Jefferson Inn, a 100+ year old landmark turned boutique hotel.  We asked to look around the hotel and Kelly, the manager, indulged us with keys to one of the fifteen rooms.  Adorable. Absolutely adorable!  Immediately we decided we're staying here next time!  Southern Pines is only a 35-45 minute drive from where we live but with all the upcoming events happening in SoPines we're sure to find an excuse to stay for a night. 

Finally, hunger hit AND the Carolina football game was about to start.  Obviously, it was time to find somewhere to eat where they were showing the game, which usually means bar food.  I'm a big fan of non-bar food so of course we were a bit skeptical and assumed that I'd be less than pleased with my meal but that was a sacrifice I was willing to make for the Carolina game.  In we went into The Bell Tree Tavern and surprisingly, this is probably what made my trip to Southern Pines so special - FRIED PICKLES.  One of the best things ever created and I rarely get to eat them because Jon is not a fan (so strange) and they're usually big appetizer portions.  Our waitress was kind enough to put in a request for fried pickles as my side item and I was ecstatic.  Out of the past 500 times I've asked for this, no waitress has ever complied but finally, FINALLY someone gave in :-)  We had a great experience at The Bell Tree Tavern (minus Carolina's miraculous come back only to lose to Louisville) and the staff was incredibly efficient and friendly. 



Brisket Sandwich & Sweet Potato Fries



Smoked Turkey Panini & FRIED PICKLES



And before I forget - we had arroz con pollo and homemade sangria waiting for us at home that night to celebrate Costa Rica's Independence Day!  To answer your question, yes, our lives revolve around food.

Something To Call Our Own

 During the week of the 4th of July, Jon and I took our parents on a little vacation to Cherry Grove Beach (the most northern part of North Myrtle Beach, SC).  We stayed in a community called "The Cottages at Surf Estates" that is located within the Surf Estates subdivision.  We absolutely loved the peacefulness of the neighborhood, the proximity to the beach, and how spacious (and modern) the houses were.  The more we kept talking about how much we loved it there... the more we got to thinking... we even called the real estate agent and asked for him to show us around through some of the different floor plans.  It was all fun and in the back of my mind I thought, "This would be perfect for family vacations, both now and in the future when we have kids."  We loved all the floorplans but the most practical and best use of space was the 4 bedroom.  "Well, that was fun" we thought, as we continued to enjoy our vacation and decided we'd look into it more when we got home.  A couple weeks after we returned home from vacation (and reality set in) we were still (to my surprise) considering putting in an offer.  I thought surely the excitement will wear down and we'll decide to wait until the Army tells us where we will be stationed next, but as we did more and more praying, research and number crunching it just seemed so right. 

Archie resting on Jon @ the beach

Fast-forwarding two months, we put in an offer and after some negotiating finally got a signed contract to start building our new beach house!  That next weekend, Jon and I took a mini trip down to the beach to sign some paper work and meet with our realtor.  We were able to stay in a townhouse that allowed pets - Archie's first trip to the beach!  He loved it so much :-) and we were able to spend some quality time with our friends Sally & Peter and Monica & Dusty (who had to moved to Washington state a week later).  Thankfully, Sally & Peter will still be here for another year before following suit.  We also took some time during this trip to pick out the outside color of our house (Stone Mtn Clay) and look at some of the cabinet, countertop, hardwood, etc. decisions we'll have to make in the near future (boy, was that intimidiating!).  

Moving on to last weekend (Labor Day weekend was spent in Lincolnton) we took a day trip to Raleigh with Sally, Peter, and Michelle (Peter's sister).  We all did a brewery tour of Lone Rider Brewery and the boys got Sweet Josie beer in growlers & commerative pint plasses.  Of course, they absolutely loved that!  The girls got in a shopping trip to Trader Joes and then we all ate at an Ethiopian restaurant called, Abyssinia.  It was a great experience (and tasty too) given that Peter and Michelle lived in Ethiopia as children while their parents were missionaries there. 



Michelle, Sally, Me outside Lone Rider Brewery



Jon & Peter @ Lone Rider with their growlers & new glasses

 

It's Been a While...

Wow! Has it really been nine months since my last blog post?  It is really unbelieveable how fast time has flown by; I will attempt to give a quick recap of those eight months, but for those who know me know I have a terrible memory.

It seems as though I never wrote my post on Thanksgiving last year - bummer.  Well, we drove to Owensboro, KY to spend the holiday with the Flaspoehlers as that is their special holiday.  The boys played in the Turkey Bowl (all the boy cousins play a game of football referred to as the Turkey Bowl).  This time of year is very cold for a Costa Rican and therefore I stayed indoors with my adorable niece and nephew and watched the game later that afternoon (it is always videotaped).  Unfortunately, I do not remember who won the MVP award after the re-showing of the game, but I'm sure it was well deserved.

Next, Jon and I missed my family's special holiday (Christmas) due to our trip to... SPAIN!  Yes, we went on a Spanish adventure in December and it was splendid.  We traveled for about two weeks to Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Granada, and Sevilla.  It was an incredible trip and we are incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to visit this beautiful country.  Being that it was Christmas time, it was beautiful to see all the cities lit up in Christmas lights and decorated in celebration of Christ Jesus.

This brings us to 2012 - we made it back in time to ring in the new year with my family in Lincolnton, NC with delicious Costa Rican food, pajamas, and SceneIt on Xbox :-)  We also celebrated all the Mora's birthdays at Maggianos: Dad - Jan 2; Mom - Jan 6; Me - Jan 18; Luis (older brother) - Jan. 31.  Thank you Lord for giving my family and I another year of life together!  January was also a celebration of Jon's good friend's wedding in Owensboro, KY (Congrats Ben Hill and Holly Roberts!).

Fast-forwarding a bit faster... Jon graduated the Maneuvor Captain Career Course in Ft. Benning in March.  He made the Commadant's List (graduated in the top 20% of the class) which is extremely impressive considering he was in an Infantry/Armor school and wasn't an Infantry/Armor Officer.  Yay for my incredibly intelligent and impressive husband!  Later that month he went on to Ft. Bragg for two week's of Civial Affairs Selection - which I have no clue what he had to do but at the end he got "selected" which triggered our next move, Ft. Bragg (NC) here we come!  Prior to moving we got to take a little trip down to New Orleans in April and were there just in time for French Quarter Fest.  Lots of awesome food + awesome music = happy Flaspoehlers.  We had bignets and cafe au laits at Cafe de Monde and all the traditional NOLA fare as well as discovered our new favorite jazz player, Trombone Shorty!

Finally, the move.  May marked the start of a whole new adventure for us - we moved to Raeford, NC which is even more rural than Lincolnton!  It's nice though because it's away from the traffic (and violence) of Fayetteville but close to post (and not far from Charlotte, Raleigh, Southern Pines, and the beach).  We only knew one other couple (Sally & Peter who also moved here from GA) that lived in Raeford but several weeks later we met many others (thanks Sally and Peter!).  We joined their bible study and quickly became friends with many more great people from all over.  Today actually marks a bittersweet day given that two of our friends from bible study (Monica & Dusty), who lived two doors down from us, are moving to Washington state!  We're so excited for their new adventure but will miss them dearly!  Not to back track too much - but in May we went to Charleston for Emma Santos & Dennis Curtis' wedding, in June we brought our dog, Archie, to live with us again (he's lived with my parents for 2+ years) and in July we took a much needed week long vacation at the beach with our families.  Both our parents (and lil brother David) joined us and my aunt, uncle, and three cousins came down for half the week.  We had a blast, celebrated my Tia Yami's birthday and absolutely loved the house we were staying in.  We loved the house so much... we put in an offer on a house in the same community a month later... stay tuned for more details :-)



Circa on our 2 year anniversary in July



Circa celebrating our anniversary (July 31)

Archie!

Veteran's Day Weekend



My new "Hope" shoes

Happy Veteran's Day to all present and former men and women of the United States Military. Your sacrifices are much appreciated and I am honored to be the wife of a current Army Captain!  Unfortunately for Jon, his Veteran's Day celebrations included getting all four of his wisdom teeth taken out.  Although, he was unable to eat and pretty swollen on Thursday after his surgery, we were really blessed there were no complications during and after his surgery.  He's almost back to 100% and we had no issues during his recovery, well except for his stomach being hungry!  Thursday and Friday we were able to spend some time with my mother-in-law, Donna, and brother-in-law, Tim.  This was a very special visit because Donna just left to go back to Peru where her and Kenny (Jon's father) are missionaries.  It was bittersweet enjoying our time together and knowing we would not see Donna again for another year but we're also incredibly excited for the work they are doing for the Kingdom.  To find out more about Kenny and Donna's work in Peru, you can read their blog, Peru for Christ.  During, Donna and Tim's visit we got to go shopping!  This was our very first trip to the Columbus mall, which was a lot bigger than I expected.  A couple of months ago in my blog I mentioned the Tom's shoe brand and how awesome it is (which it is still awesome) BUT I have found another awesome brand that is doing a similar project called "The Good Shoe Project."  Airwalk has partnered with World Vision and for every shoe that is sold they will donate a pair to a child in need.  The Hope shoe is sold at Payless and is only $19.99 (instead of the $50 for Tom's) but this project is only expected to go through mid February.  I got my Hope shoe, now go get yours!  Merry Thanksgiving to me :) Well, the boys eventually got restless about all the shopping but we did find Tim some new clothes and shoes for his new soon-to-be post grad school life, mission accomplished.  Every Nuclear Engineer needs new jeans and new shoes!  At the end of the night, after Donna showed me how to make a roast with potatoes and carrots, we (Jon and I) put on our Carolina jerseys and watched the UNC vs. Michigan State basketball game that was held on board the USS Carl Vinson at North Island Naval Station in San Diego, California!  My school truly is the best, go heels!

After Tim and Donna left, Jon and I responsibly tried to do some Christmas shopping and Spain planning.  The verdict - accomplished a bit but still much more to go!  We booked our Madrid hotel alongside some Dark Chocolate Pumpkin Bars - super healthy and hit the spot!

I love the Army because for major holidays they (usually) give everyone a 4-day weekend and I love 4-day weekends because a.) I get to spend more time with Jon b.) We (sometimes) get to go to NC or another fun place and c.) Jon has enough free time to make breakfast AND dinner.  Yes, I was spoiled yesterday.  On a usual Monday I would have oatmeal for breakfast and some quick, thrown together dinner made by yours truly.  But not yesterday!  Jon made french toast for breakfast and a healthy Cheesecake Factory Louisianna Chicken Pasta for dinner.  It was pure joy.  Tasted so incredibly delicious and literally a thousand times healthier!  Hence, I have instated a weekly reoccurance of Jon's new dish.  Thanks, love!

Also, in my quick and hasteful post I want to mention that last week I hosted a wine night with my girlfriends here in our apartment.  It was awesome having a mid-week girls night with tasty treats, yummy wine, and delightful company!  Speaking of, we probably need to get started on planning the next one ;)

 

Rache, Sally, Allison, Evangelina, me, and Jordan!

Hebrews 10:24-25



Rachel, Evangelina, Me, & Sally eating our first MRE

What a great weekend!  We spent the majority of the weekend in fellowship with our newfound friends, many of which also go to CrossPointe Church.  Our sweet friends, Josh & Evangelina Garcia, graciously invited a group of people over for dinner on Friday night.  Initially, I thought perhaps another couple in addition to Jon and I would be dining at the Garcia's on Friday, but boy was I wrong!  Evangelina cooked for 10 couples + her and Josh + 2 adorable toddlers = 12 adults and 2 toddlers!!  She truly is an impressive lady!  I mustn't forget that Josh cooked for us as well... at some point in the night the conversation turned to MREs. MRE stands for Meal Ready to Eat and it is what the military uses as meals when in combat or during training exercises in the field.  Clearly all the husbands at dinner were very familiar with MREs, some were even discussing their favorite flavors!  But, folks, do not be deceived, this is not a "lunchable" type meal (you know with the ham, cheese, and crackers).  MREs are meant to be a complete meal, each one providing an average of 1200 calories.  Although safe to eat cold, all MREs come with a flameless heater because MREs "taste" better when they are warm.  Josh was kind enough to heat up a chicken fajita MRE for the ladies by filling up the water-activated heater and letting it rest for a few minutes.  All the girls, minus Allie because she's pregnant, put together the tortilla, refried beans, and chicken fajita mixture topped with the cheese sauce and sampled our first MRE!  My conclusion?  It is edible but I will never choose to eat it again.  Now, Evangelina's sopapilla cheesecake?  Yes, please, I'll have seconds.



Columbus Public Library

Late Saturday morning, we drove over the the Columbus Public Library and got library cards!!  I'm not kidding, and we were super stoked about it too.  I could not believe how big and how pretty the Columbus library is - it is an incredible library and it is in COLUMBUS, GA!  We wondered around all over and even checked out some materials for our Spain trip.  Oh and I also found this cookbook, Hodgson Mill Whole Grain Baking: 400 Healthy and Delicious Recipes for Muffins, Breads, Cookies, and More, yes, I do love the library!  Eventually, we finally made it back home only to soon head out again.  Our church hosted a large potluck dinner/bonfire Saturday where I took some Spiced Caramel Apple muffins and we all feasted on an overwhelming amount of food and an even more amount of dessert!  We had a blast meeting some new folks and hanging out with our new friends, Peter and Sally Arendt, who were also at the Garcia's the night before.  Evangelina and baby Isabella were also able to join us at the potluck even though poor Josh had to do some training in the field.  So while we all had BBQ and a million side dishes, Josh was probably chowing down on an MRE...  We also had the privilege of chatting with our pastor, Brad Evangelista, briefly before leaving, which is always so encouraging because he is one of the most genuine and passionate people I have ever met.  After leaving the potluck, we really wanted to watch "A Better Life," so much that we drove to three different Redbox locations looking for it.  Unfortunately, it was out of stock at all of them so Jon rented "The American" with George Clonney, who is getting pretty old by the way.  Movie review?  I've been pretty disappointed with the last two George movies I've seen, this one included.  It is a muted romantic thriller oozing a little too much with existential angst.  I know a few people that would definitely enjoy this type of film, but I was not a fan.

After getting an extra hour of sleep Saturday night due to the time change, we went to church, where Pastor Brad preached on the theology of adoption.  Sunday was Orphan Sunday, an international movement among Christian churches to recognize our responsibility to care for orphans and promote this culture within our church.  We may not all be called to adopt, but we are called to participate in the process - either by financially supporting, fostering, praying for families and children in the process, or ourselves adopting.  It was a beautiful message including the wonderful testimony of a family that has adopted a little boy and is in the process of adopting a little girl at our church.  As always, I recommend you to listen to this inspirational and truth-bearing message that can be found on the church's website.  After the service, we hung out some more!  We went to Panera with a group of people from church, Tyler & Jordan Matthews (met at Lifepointe Group), Peter & Sally Arendt, and Josh & Evangelina Garcia.  It was great spending so much time in fellowship this weekend and I truly believe that having a church family has had a direct effect on our positive attitudes about Columbus.  We didn't have this type of community in Clarksville, which made it difficult to adjust to being far away from friends and family.  Given that Jesus’ final words to his disciples were delivered in the context of a group meal, I think we can surmise that fellowship is pretty important.  That said, sharing an MRE, going out to lunch, hanging out at a friend’s house–all of these activities are valuable forms of Christian fellowship. We may not be explicitly talking about Christ the entire time, but the way in which we listen to one another, build one another up, and create an environment of trust has the fingerprints of Christ all over it.   I am so thankful for the amazing church we found here and the awesome relationships we are forming! 



And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Hebrews 10:24-25

Dinner Party & Atlanta

Success!  We entertained our first non-family guests this weekend!  Our sweet friends, Josh and Evangelina Garcia and their sweet baby girl, Isabella along with our neighbor, Collin, came over for dinner Friday night.  We had a great time enjoying each other's company, talking, and eating (clearly the Flaspoehler's favorite thing to do).  I made my mom's Arroz con Pollo recipe which I could not post to my food blog because it involves "a little of this, some of that" ABSOLUTELY no real measurements which is a miracle that I can even make it!  Also, it includes speciality ingredients like Salsa Lizano (a condiment that is is ubiquitous on restaurant tables in Costa Rica, much in the same way ketchup is here in the States).  Also, I made Carnitas in the slow cooker with a pork shoulder and a carnitas sauce I bought at the Fresh Market.  Many of you would say that is cheating but considering how much work the Arroz takes I figured it was only fair to cheat a little where possible.  Speaking of cheating, I also made my first pumpkin pie and I don't know about everyone else but I LOVED IT!  I don't normally love anything I make - except if it's pumpkin flavored.  Instead of cutting/baking the mini pumpkin I bought I used canned pumpkin... but I also used PUMPKIN SOY MILK, which I truly believe should be sold in stores all year round.  Nonetheless, having our first (non-family) guests over for dinner was a success and hopefully it will happen more often!

Saturday, we drove to Atlanta to take my car into the Mini dealership for service.  During our wait, we of course looked at the new mini, the Mini Coupe, which is even smaller than my convertible mini and only seats two people!  Clearly, it's a darling little car but absolutely not practical (like mine is super practical...), also I was really surprised that it is not a convertible.  It's a very sporty car but I don't think it will sell as well as it would had it been convertible.  We took advantage of being in Atlanta to visit friends/family and we also had every intention to do some Christmas shopping but that didn't happen.  We met up with Jon's brother, Tim, my cousin, Randall, and our dear friend, James, at Atlantic Station and had a long and pleasant lunch.  It was really fun to walk around that area too because there was some sort of Halloween festival going on and tons of small children and pets dressed up for Halloween! 

Finally, at CrossPointe Church this past Sunday, our friends Josh and Evangelina, along with some other folks got baptised!  Their beautiful testimony was read out loud and after Josh's baptism he then baptised his wife, Evangelina. 

Also, in some exclusive weekly news... I made Spiced Pumpkin Bread for Jon and his Captain's Career Course class as a Halloween treat.  But, that is not nearly as exciting us our other Halloween treat - we bought our tickets to Spain Monday night!!  What a Happy Halloween for us :-) Unfortunately, we will be missing Christmas with my family but we'll still get to see them for a few days when we get back.  We're flying into Madrid on December 18th where we'll be focusing on Andalusia for our trip and flying back on December 29th.  Andalusia is the southern part of Spain, which includes Sevilla, Cordoba, Granada, etc. and this region's history and culture have been heavily influenced by the Muslims, Greeks, and Romans.  More to come on our trip to Spain!

Home Sweet Home

And I do mean Columbus!  I still feel like a traitor calling Georgia home - but alas, that is where my home is (for now).  It sure was nice to finally be home and not driving this weekend.  We absolutely love taking road trips but it was time we stayed in town for a change.    Friday night was our lazy night; we ate "tapas" for dinner which simply means I did not cook and we snacked on stuff all night and I actually convinced Jon to watch a scary movie in preparation for Halloween!  We watched Paranormal Activity and I won't lie, we jumped and "AHed!" a few times... but the most hilarious part was that we both closed our eyes at the end.  We know how it ended but didn't actually see the last 30 seconds.  We are chickens, I know, I'm not ashamed.

Well, good thing we laid low Friday night because Saturday we rented bicycles at Ride on Bikes downtown and rode through the RiverWalk for two and a half hours!!  The Columbus RiverWalk is picturesque, peaceful and with its historic markers, even educational.  It is an outdoor 22-mile linear park that hugs the banks of the Chattahoochee River and on this specifically beautiful sunny Saturday it was being enjoyed by walkers, cyclists, and joggers - all appreciating the beautiful nature that surrounds the trail.  We had such a lovely time trying out our new hobby that we completely lost track of time (and the distance!) but finally, we returned to our starting place feeling rejuvenated from our morning/afternoon ride.  We finally calculated how far we'd gone on our bikes and it was between 18-20 miles!! AHHH, can you believe that? I cannot!  I've had four knee surgeries, I never in my life would have expected to be able to go 5 miles, even less 20!  Well, I think I proved myself on Saturday :-) I can definitely get into biking.  Later that afternoon, we enjoyed a Pumpkin Spice Latte & a Salted Caramel Mocha while we did work.  I studied for the GMAT and Jon worked on his Army brief at Starbucks... doing work is so much more enjoyable with a tasty treat in hand.  I really need to either commit to this GMAT exam or not because right now I am only half committed making myself study when I'm done reading the Economist and Bloomberg.  There is no point in wasting my time studying sometimes if I'm not going to take it and there's no point in taking it if I don't really study.  I'll let y'all know what I decide...

Anywho.... we finally got back home after a trip to the Fresh Market (where I found pumpkin soy milk!!) and CRASHED.  We had absolutely no energy to get dressed and go out Saturday night.  Looks like our bike trip hit us hard!  We quickly decided it was a Trader Joe's Orange Chicken (along with some TJ's dumplings) and RedBox night.  We watched an incredible foreign film that I would highly recommend everyone to watch, Incendies.  The storytelling in Incendies strikes me as primal the way Greek tragedy is primal. Shattering. Cathartic. It is a breathtaking film. Go rent it.

This morning at CrossPointe Church our pastor, Brad Evangelista, preached a sermon called "Predestined According to His Purpose" that I would also highly encourage everyone to listen to.  It was a very real sermon on a highly controversial topic that I've never felt comfortable with.  For the first time in my life, I began feeling a bit more at peace about predestination after leaving church this morning.  Jon and I absolutely love our church here in Columbus, and come next Spring it's going to be awfully hard to leave it.  We know the Lord will provide us a new church in North Carolina but we will be sad to say goodbye to CrossPointe.  On the bright side, we get to go back to CrossPointe on Tuesday for our Life Pointe Group :-)

NC Bound: Ale's Wedding

This past weekend, one of my childhood friends got married!  It is so hard to believe that little Ale is all grown-up and married.  I have known Ale since I was in 1st or 2nd grade (she is 2 years younger), we grew up together and our families have always been very close.  Ale's family is also from Costa Rica and I still remember when our families were the only hispanic families in Lincolnton... boy was that a long time ago!  I saw Ale a few times when she was at UNC Wilmington and I was at Chapel Hill but we didn't get to see each other very often so in my mind she was still "little Ale."  I am so happy for her and Lee - getting to start their lives together and live in their favorite place, the mountains!  I am clearly an advocate for marriage as I have enjoyed mine so much thus far :) I am also extremely excited for Caroline Ranghel or should I say, Mr. and Mrs. Ashley Blake for tying the knot this weekend too!  Unfortunately I could not be in two places at once and had to miss Caroline's wedding but I know she looked stunning and had a perfect wedding in Raleigh, NC. 

Ale & Lee's wedding was the epitome of a beautiful fall wedding.  They got married at Lee's parent's mountain house in Grassy Creek, NC overlooking the beautifully orange, red, and brown leaved trees.  Ale looked stunning in her gorgeous gown and her & Lee wore orange Chacos for the wedding.  The cool, crisp air of fall surrounded them as they danced together for the first time as Mr. and Mrs. Lee Warden.  Perfect for a NC wedding (best BBQ = NC BBQ) they served BBQ, green beans, & cole slaw for dinner with pumpkin beer!  It was all too cute.  Congratulations Ale & Lee!!

My mother and husband accompanied me to the wedding and I got to catch up with one of my best friends from high school, Alex Mullen and his girlfriend, Nicole Sykes.  It was great to see some old familiar faces from Lincolnton there and also enjoy the beautiful scenery.  I am so thankful to Jon for willingly driving 8+ hours there and 8+ hours home for me to get to attend Ale's wedding.  Luckily, Lincolnton was on the way so we were able to stop and visit with my family some and break up the drive.  Clearly this is not enough time for me to consider it a "trip home" so I will be arranging another trip to NC soon :-)

During the short time we had in Lincolnton - we managed to eat mama's chuletas, gallo pinto, and empanadas and dad cooked us up some delicious kabobs before we left on Sunday!  Per usual, our trip was concluded with a dose of cafe con (tico) pan.  My parents, without fail, pick up baked Costa Rican goodies from the Costa Rican bakery (Tico Pan) every time we are in town and we delight in these with a cup of coffee.  We also ate some yummy Spiced Pumpkin Bread I made to try out a new recipe and it was tasty!
Lastly, I'd like to note that on our way home, we got gas for $2.86 in South Carolina!  Yes, exit 75 in Spartenburg!  Come on, GA, let's see you match SC's prices...

Beautiful Ale!

Jon & I with the sun in our eyes

Road Trip: Savannah, GA

                   Savannah  

I don't even know where to start except by simply saying I love Savannah.  Well, that and the fact that Jon and I have been hurting this week for all the "good eating" we did in Savannah ;)  Jon had Friday off and I took a vacation day so we could get an early start on our lovely Savannah weekend.  We wanted to get there so badly that we drove straight there (plus it was only a 4.5 hr drive) but for those of you that know Jon are well aware that he cannot go 2 hours without food.  Planning ahead, I packed him some snacks but in the morning rush I put my bag in the trunk!  TROUBLE.  So I lied when I said we drove straight to Savannah, we stopped for 2 minutes to grab the snacks out of the trunk.  As you can imagine, once we got to Savannah, we were starving!  Solution?  Shane's Rib Shack.  I did not love my BBQ chicken sandwich but I did love Jon's BBQ sandwich and the sweet potato fries were phenomenal.  Also, I think it's important to remember the Brunswick stew, it was quite delightful.  Don't get me wrong, Shane's was no Brother's BBQ, but it was a nice introduction to GA BBQ.  Clearly after stuffing our faces we started regretting eating so much and so fast but oh well we enjoyed it while it lasted :) The restaurant also has a Sunday Special, "Bring in your church bulletin and get 10% off."  Ah, I love the South!

Drinks @ Vic's



me in front of a huge pumpkin!



After a quick trip to our hotel suite to check-in we quickly departed for Historic Savannah (downtown).  I immediately fell in love and decided I never wanted to leave.  Streets and streets covered in history and historic buildings, restaurants, shops, houses, and monuments were everywhere!  Not to mention, River Street overlooking the Savannah River was absolutely amazing.  One neat law in Historic Savannah is that you are allowed to walk around with an alcoholic beverage as long as it's 16 ounces or less and it's in a paper or plastic cup.  We took advantage of the beautiful afternoon and walked up and down River Street, peaking in some of the stores and checking out the local vendors.  Due to our incredibly large lunch we weren't very hungry as the evening approached so we decided to check out Vic's on the River for happy hour.  So glad we went to Vic's!  It was a beautiful restaurant and the drinks were tasty; I had a Pina Colada and Jon had a Savannah Sweet Tea.  We loved the environment and the menu looked awesome, too bad we were still BBQ-stuffed. Well, to wrap up our Friday in less words than I have been able to use thus far, we continued to walk around and get aquainted with the area and finally ate dinner at another fun restaurant overlooking the river with live music.  At Tubby's we split the calamari appetizer and the shrimp po' boy (even though I still was not hungry!).   On our walk back after dinner, we were serenaded by a couple of guys singing "End of the Road" by Boys 2 Men and that's the best way to end a night, always.

Enjoying a bev on River St.


So I will not go into great detail with the rest of the trip, as I am trying to watch the Republican Debate and finish this post before bed...  Saturday we went on the Savannah Historic Trolly Tour and learned so much about the area and all the beautiful landmarks in the historic district.  We explored all morning and worked up an appetite.  The Pirate House seemed appropriate considering it was Pirate Fest in Tybee Island that day and many of the customers dining were in fact dressed as pirates for the festival. The place contains one of the oldest buildings in the historic district, and there was plenty of pirate lore all around. Southern style buffet for Jon: fried chicken, fried fish, fried okra, green beans, AWESOME mashed potatoes (of which I stole many bites), bbq, etc.  I delighted in a superb she crab soup with a steak and cheese sandwich and cornbread/biscuits were served with honey butter and orange marmalade.  It's clearly a popular spot because there was a 20-30 minute wait at 2:00 for lunch in October!  Skipping down to that evening, we were again too full for a traditional dinner so we went to the Rooftop Bar at the Bohemian Hotel for a drink before our night time Ghost Tour of the city.  This is probably the best place to have a drink overlooking the river at night, so beautiful and classy!  Now, for our Spooky Ghost Tour.  Savannah is in the top 3 "most haunted cities in America" and with all the deaths there from Yellow Fever and the city burning down 3 times they definitely have some stories to tell.  We walked around all over (90 minute tour) in the dark listening to the ghost stories for each building, taking pictures of the "ghosts" and getting chigger bit... well I did at least.  Oh well, it was fun and we learned a lot more about the city!  Finally, we decided to grab a "light" dinner at Jazz'd Tapas, you decide how light it really was.  A baked cheese terra cotta plate included blend of several cheeses (brie, goat cheese, fontina, and an aged cranberry cheddar) melted and topped with a succulent roasted head of garlic.  Tart green apples fanned around the edge of the terra cotta bowl, and the plate was also covered with toasted slices of baguette.  We also had the crab cakes which were a wonderful taste of a Savannah favorite. Plenty of crab meat came together for these scrumptious morsels, served with a remoulade sauce. Finally we had cuban rubbed beef satays; beef strips served with an original and successful sweet jalapeno glaze over crisp plantains.  Live jazz was playing during our delicious meal; we were incredibly pleased with our experience.

  

Jon & Scarecrow @ 17hundred90 during ghost tour

Forest Gump showed up on our Trolly Tour



Jon reading the paper before the Trolly Tour

 Sunday morning rolls around... my legs are killing me, Jon is exhausted, we must be getting old!  To our defense we did walk around A LOT the past two days and stay up A LOT later than we normally do.  The day was cloudy and windy, as predicted, seemingly there was a storm a brewing.  Due to the potential rain that afternoon and tropical storm coming in on Monday we decided to check out a day early.  We weren't heartbroken because we had seen and done a lot in our time and were quite exhausted, plus it gave us an excuse to come back and go to Tybee Island next time!  After breakfast, we packed up the Mini Cooper and headed out... but we weren't quite ready to leave, not yet.  We took one last drive through the historic district and clearly ended up parking and walking some more.  Finally, we came upon 17hundred90 Restaurant & Inn, which we had visited during our ghost tour.  In the brick-lined, low-ceilinged cellar of Savannah's oldest inn, this place is the site of Savannah's most famous 18th-century suicide.  Anne Powell is said to still be in her room, RM 204, which can be rented out.  There is a life-size female mannequin dressed in the 1800s dress which is looking out the window for the entertainment of the nightly ghost tours and is quite creepy I might add.  Anyway, the cute basement restaurant won us over and despite our lack of hunger, we split an order of french toast which we did not know also came with honey butter biscuits that were impossible to resist.  After one last stroll through the historic neighborhoods, it finally started to rain at 2:30, it was time to go home.  Until next time, sweet sweet Savannah!




one of the haunted B&Bs



Jon in front of the Cotton Exchange

Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

Gold-domed capitol building

 

Part of the Pirate House



Cathedral of St. John the Baptist




Captain Flash Runs 5K

This past weekend was a very exciting one for the Flaspoehlers... first of all, Hannah and Bobby had their little girl (and our first niece), Eberle Marie Gobel!  Congrats to them and her big brother, Silas!!  Also, Jon's mother, Donna, celebrated her birthday the very next day.  What a great birthday present, celebrating the birth of your first granddaughter!  And finally, Jon got promoted to Captain!  So now he officially sounds like a super hero, Captain Flash.    Unfortunately Captain Flash has a big brief (or some big army presentation) he has to give on Wednesday so he spent a large portion of his weekend studying/working on his brief.  We did get away Saturday morning for Jon to run in the Mogadishu Milke 5K Run.  The Mogadishu Memorial Run commemorates the members of Task Force Ranger killed during Operation Gothic Serpent on October 3, 1993.  The 5K alsos raises funds for Rangers wounded or killed.  It was an awesome event and we were honored to be a part of it.  Unfortunately, due to all my knee surgeries, I was unable to run in the 5k but I supported Jon by being there and shopping at the local farmer's market at the race! 

Yay! Go Jon!  Meanwhile, I was buying thai basil and every type of squash imaginable because I really love fall and all that comes with it.  After the race we went back home and did work...  HOW BORING! It was an absolutely beautiful day but we forced ourselves to get some work accomplished so that we could do something fun to really celebrate Jon that evening.  So for a few hours... yes, hours, I studied for the GMAT (finally) and Jon worked on his brief.  When it came time to celebrate though, we were out of the house with in 20 minutes!  We went back downtown because it is our favorite place in Columbus and ate at The Cannon and boy was it tasty.  Following dinner, we met up with our neighbor, Colin, and one of his friends at Belloo's Martini and Cigar Bar.  I'm pretty sure this was my first Cigar bar ever but nonetheless it was a fun time.  It was a pretty sophisticated environment (except for the drunk 30-something year olds fighting for the bathroom) with live entertainment playing some blues and jazz music.  Finally, we topped off the weekend with banana bread, butternut squash & goat cheese pasta, and south american style empanadas.  All homemade by yours truly.