A Visit To Charlotte

Last week I visited Charlotte, my once home.  I loved living there and miss it.  Lauren and I even drove by my old house.  I loved that house and still love it. 

It was such a great week in Charlotte.  There wasn't anything fancy about it.  I mostly visited with many friends, which is what I went there for.

Monday night Lauren picked me up.  It is always so good to see her.  She is such a great friend and I'm grateful for the friendship we have.  It was freezing when I arrived, but throughout the week it quickly warmed up and turned out to be a beautiful week. 

Tuesday we of course had to take a trip to Vera Bradley and TJ Maxx. That evening Karen, Jennifer, Ashley and Noelle came over for a little Lipsense gathering, some snacks and catching up.  Oh, what a fun night it was. 

Wednesday morning Lauren and I went to see La La Land.  It was a fabulous movie, even though I didn't especially love the ending.  Definitely will be on my favorite movie list.  That night my friend Michael who I use to work with came over to Laurens and we drove uptown.  We stopped off at one of my nurses home and visited with her and her darling children.  She has a sweet adoption story that I loved listening too.  I haven't seen this sweet lady for several years, but we picked up as if it was yesterday.  We then went to a party with providers that I use to work with when I lived in Charlotte.  It was so fun to see so many people that I use to spend so much time with. 

Thursday Karen and I went shopping and then to lunch.  It was such fun to sit and chat for a few hours.  She then took me over to the Middlebrooks where I visited with them for a few hours. 

Friday morning Lauren and I met up with my friend Jodia.  She use to work the 4-2 shift and I worked 9p-7a every other weekend.  Around the time she would be getting ready to leave, we would typically have a few minutes that we could chat.  It was just like old times as we sat in a cute little café in my favorite old town Concord.  Such a cute Southern town.  Oh, it was so wonderful to see her.  She was recently diagnosed with stage 1 colon cancer.  She has an amazing story, because she also had a melon sized tumor on her ovary, that thankfully turned out to be just a cyst.  The cancer was caught only because of the pain that she was having from the mass on her ovary.  Bless this sweet friend of mine. My sweet friend Katie stopped by later that weekend.  She is fantabulous! Love her so much.  Baby number 6 is on her way.  So happy for her.  3 boys and 3 girls; so fun.

Lauren has 4 boys.  They are adorable and make me laugh a lot.  I can't believe they are growing up so fast.

 Friday evening Nick picked me up and we had dinner with Rachel and her boyfriend at Vapiano's uptown.  This is one of my favorite places to eat in Charlotte.  It is always such fun to visit with Rachel.  Her boyfriend was so nice.  I hope good things come for them.  Nick and I then went to Steve's house were we visited with him and his wife Sara.  It was so great to catch up with them.

Saturday Nick, his grandma and I drove to the NC mountains. We had lunch at Woodlands in Blowing Rock.  They have the very best BBQ sauce.  I actually crave it.  Of course I got me a large bottle of this deliciousness to bring home.  We then visited Mass General Store in Boone.  It's such a fun store. 

 Sunday we attended church.  They had ward conference which was wonderful.  I so much enjoyed every meeting and felt such an incredible spirit.  It was a surprise when I saw Trevor Pool who grew up just a few houses from me.  I had no idea that he was in that stake.  It was fun to talk with him.  That day Nick and I made Chicken and Dumplings and Banana Pudding two of my favorite southern dishes. 

 We shared this yummy dinner with my wonderful friend Jenny and her darling daughter.  I haven't seen her in 4 years.  Oh, my goodness it was so awesome to see her.  We seriously couldn't stop talking.  There was so much to catch up on.  She said the sweetest thing that when she heard about my cancer that she wept.  What a great love that she has for me to weep for me.  I love this lady. 

 She gave me a cute journal that had one of my favorite quotes.  Inside she wrote me a sweet note. 

I have amazing friends.  I'm so very blessed to have them in my life.  I definitely was directed when I moved to NC.