honey vanilla white tea. [autumnal weekend.]

This past weekend was full of autumnal occasions. Friday was a day of relaxation for Jeremy and I, I made dinner and we watched Scream 2, (Hocus Pocus is next on my list). It was nice to stay in and just enjoy each others' company. Saturday morning I met with my girls to discuss our brilliant ideas about our brilliant novels, and to laugh and be silly with each other as well. We had to cut our meeting a bit short due to the wedding of friends of Jeremy and I, which we were going to at two. Shelley and Nate married each other on the beautiful, albeit chilly, autumn day that Saturday was. The wedding was held In The Oaks, in Black Mountain, beneath a sunshade of autumn oaks, maples, and birches. It was gorgeous, and Shnate (as they have been dubbed) were blissful in each other's arms. I was able to take many good photos for them as well, just as a gift. The reception was catered by Jeremy's mother, Anne, so needless to say, the food was exquisite. Their dance was romantic, their smiles perpetual, and their escape, fingers entwined, through a throng of people tossing freshly gathered leaves of many hues, was sublime.
After the wedding, I went to catch the last fifteen minutes of the Montreat vs. Covenant soccer game, we won 4-0, very exciting. Jeremy and I celebrated with part of the team that evening.
On Sunday morning, Jeremy and I awoke early with intentions of leaving at the break of dawn and abscond to the parkway for the day to enjoy the beauty of the leaves, and the majesty of the mountains. Though we got up a little later than anticipated, we still made it up to the parkway before the crowds and had a wonderful day. We brought Cael along with us, he was a pain, but we love him were glad we brought him in the end. For some reason part of the parkway was closed and we couldn't go farther than Craggy Gardens, so we pulled in there. We ate our lunch, and then hiked the trail that began on the far side of the picnic area. Jeremy, Cael, and I embarked on the trail leading up to the summit of the small mount we were on. The trail took us twice as long to follow for we tended to venture off the beaten path whene'r something caught our eyes. It was an easy hike, about mile long, though we easily did two. One such venture took us deep into the woods for the better part of a half an hour before we rejoined the trail. The forest was beautiful, the sun danced playfully upon the golden leaves, while igniting the those that were crimson. The trees stood tall and strong, inviting us to caper below their emblazoned canopy. I felt like I was in a different world, the forest made me feel like I belonged there. The trees whispered around us, and the breeze carried their message of peace and tranquility to our ears, tempting us to lose ourselves within their undisturbed embrace of earthy serenity. We came to ourselves before all manner of mind was lost and found our way back to the path. Ambling the rest of the way up the trail did not take long, and the view at the top was magnificent. I spent some time up there, then began our trek back down to reality. The trip back didn;t take half as long as the former, and were within view of the prking lot all too soon. We drove him, still feeling enchanted, though our exhaustive exploits of the day began to take their toll on us the moment we sat down. It was a beautiful day, and I was lucky to be able to spend it with the most amazing husband anyone could ask for.
Later that evening, I made a dinner of avocado burgers with carmelized onions, and honey mustard dressing, and Laura and Chelsea came over to eat and watch North and South which is a charmingly romantic story set in 19th century England. Though a bit long, it was worth investing the time to see the way Mr. Thornton looks at Margaret in the train station.
*Sigh*
As always, Chelsea and Laura's company was amusing and thoroughly enjoyable.

As you can imagine, I'm quite knackered and in dire need of a good long rest which I am hoping to obtain tonight.

Cheerfully exhausted,

Caitlin