Can't we ever just stay put?

I guess not, since it looks like the McNaughton Family has another big announcement...

We are moving to Knoxville, TN!

I know what you are thinking...another move?  But yes, it is true.  How it all came about makes for a pretty long story, but I will try to give the abbreviated version.

Jeff's current company is closing up two facilities in North Carolina (the two where Jeff work) and transferring them to Sparks, MD and Puerto Rico.  Neither of those places was I really excited about living.  So Jeff started to look around and found a great opportunity with Siemens Medical in Knoxville. 

I will be working remotely for my company from Knoxville...yay, getting paid for staying in my pajama's all day!  :-)

Looks like we will be starting our new adventure right after the beginning of the year; Jeff starts on January 7th!

From the couple of trips we have made there to look for places to live, I think we are really going to like Knoxville.

And we are already taking reservations for visitors...so plan a trip to come out and see us.

My views on the election...

Although I could post a huge rant about my feelings regarding the recent election, I will choose to represent my feelings through posting the following cartoon I found...

Any questions?  I didn't think so...already looking forward to 2016!



Just a friendly reminder...

Jeff was in Oregon and Washington this summer for work (which is prime bigfoot country), and just had to take pictures of all the sasquatch memorabilia out there...

Guess we better start watching Finding Bigfoot again!

Look, I'm a Star!

At the beginning of August, we went to an open house at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC) for the new broadway season.  Since Jeff did so well last year by getting me season tickets to DPAC for my birthday, I am too spoiled to go back to not having season tickets again.  So we had to renew our tickets for the upcoming season as well.  While there, we were able to exchange our seats for seats closer to the stage (I am very excited about this season); the 2012-2013 season includes War Horse, Sister Act, Jersey Boys, Mary Poppins, Million Dollar Quartet, Jekyll and Hyde, Anything Goes, and Priscilla: Queen of the Desert.  It looks to be even better than last season.  I am sure we won't be disappointed.

Anyway, while at the open house, we got to take a backstage tour.  It was awesome to see the dressing rooms for the stars, as well as the cast signatures for each of the acts that come through DPAC.  There are literally hundreds of signatures on the walls of famous stars that have performed at DPAC.

I even got to be a star as Jeff took my picture in a dressing room.

Who knows?...maybe I will have a second career as a Broadway star!  Probably not, but at least a girl can dream!



Train Concert

Sorry I have been an absent blogger lately; proposal season was in full swing at work and took up most of my days, nights, and weekends for the past 3 months.  Finally, things look like they are starting to calm down a bit, so I will definitely have some time to catch up on my blogging.

Train came to the Raleigh Amphitheater at the end of July and I just had to get tickets!  I love being in an area that has so many options for fun things to do...and I am determined to not miss any of it if at all possible.  I have adored Train for a long time and was so excited they were coming to town.

The concert was on a Friday night that was filled with rain; we kept hoping that it would pass by, but just as Matt Kearney started to play as the opening act, the rain started.  We all had to evacuate (due to the lightning and thunder) to the convention center across the street and wait out the rain.  And wait we did (and wait, and wait some more)...almost two hours later, the rain let up and Train came out to play. I was surprised they didn't just cancel the concert.  So many people had left during the storm, but we decided to stay.

And I am so glad we waited it out!  The concert was amazing and even though we were wet, hot messes, we were wet, hot messes with a ton of other people enjoying great live music.



Train put on a hell of a concert and I will definitely see them again the next time they are in the area. 



Koda Remembers Kira

Since Kira went to Rainbow Bridge, we have slowly been donating her stuff; we donated her bowls and beds to the shelter in Florida where we got her.  We tried to donate her medicines to the shelter, but they wouldn't take them (it is against the law here in NC).  We did kept her leash (Jeff couldn't bear to get rid of it) and a couple of her bandana's (which she loved to wear)...especially her Clemson one and the one with her name embroidered on it that I got her as a puppy.  Those things will be placed in her keepsake box that we are going to create for her (when I feel like I can work on it without breaking down and crying).

That is why this post is so important...one of the only things that we still have in the house is one of Kira's orthopedic beds; it has a lot of cushioning and was still pretty new when she passed.  I couldn't bear to get rid of that, since there are times (I cannot lie) that I lay on the bed just to remember her scent.  For the longest time, Koda would not go near that bed; he would walk past it, look at it, but not get on it. 

But that has all changed lately.  The other night we watched him walk over to it, jump on it, dig in it for a bit, and then lay down.  The first he did it I didn't think much about it, but as time has gone on, I am beginning to wonder if he is trying to bring up her scent so he can remember her.

Whatever he is doing, it is the sweetest thing and makes me appreciate the special bond they shared together.  I know Koda will never be the same without her, but he is doing so well finding a new normal with CoCo.  It couldn't have been easy for him (it certainly wasn't for any of us), but I think she told him that he was in charge now; I see how protective he is of CoCo and I know that getting another dog was the right decision for our family.  Koda is not supposed to be an only dog....although he misses his big sister greatly.

We miss you too, Kira, but know that you are in a more peaceful place now with no more insulin shots and Cushing's disease pills.

Heading Home

On Sunday, we left the cabin around 6:30 am and started the four hour drive home back to Durham.  Before we left, however, we got some pictures of our home away from home the past 5 days.



The dogs were amazing and we didn't have to stop once with them; they just slept quietly in the back.  Every once in a while we would look back at them and see them in some hilarious pose.  Some of our favorites include...

We also saw hot air balloons in the air.  They were amazing back lit with the rising sun.  The pictures do not do them justice, as it was difficult to get pictures of the amazing colors of the balloons as we had to fight the sunshine.

Before we knew it, we were home.  It was a great quick getaway and we are already looking forward to going back.







A Saturday Spent Hiking

On Saturday, our last full day in the mountains, we decided to load up the dogs and head out to the French Broad River for more exploring.  The river is so pretty at any point; it was just too hard not to take pictures of it.  We were going to hike a trail up for a scenic view of the river, but the trail was very narrow and steep and we turned around not long after we left.  So, to make it worthwhile, we decided to walk the dogs along a good stretch of the river.

We took the dogs down to the river to see if they would get in...Koda wanted to, but was just a little too timid.  CoCo acted timid and then as soon as we weren't paying attention, she jumped in!  What a hot mess that girl is!

After some time in the river, we loaded up the dogs and headed down the road for more exploring.  We eventually found a park for camping and hiking.  It was way too hot for camping (plus, I just don't camp), but there were tons of people out there camping for the holiday weekend.  We got to see some incredible sights though.

And finally,  Jeff trying to successfully execute a three point turn on a narrow park road.  It was time to turn around when we thought we might hear banjo music at an given moment!

I had to get out of the truck and help direct, but he executed it nicely.  We then headed back to the cabin for our last night on vacation.

Back at the cabin, we started to pack up, as we had to leave early the next morning so I could pick up a work friend from the airport that was returning from Orlando.  We did manage to get the following cute picture.

A nice end to a very relaxing, albeit way too short, vacation!









Spending Friday in Hot Springs

On Friday, we gave the dogs a reprieve and left them at the cabin so that we could drive into Hot Springs and explore.  Hot Springs can best be described as a a tourist town; although there are residents who live there year round, it is basically open in the summer months for the tourists.  For example, the shops in town are generally only open April-November and have short hours like 11-6.  I wonder how they make money and what they do the rest of the year?  My guess is that they hole up in their homes for the winter and don't come out until spring.  The roads there are so twisty and have no guard rails; it definitely would make me think twice before venturing out in snow.  Plus, they are about 45 minutes from Asheville, and that is the closest place to shop for anything; Hot Springs doesn't even have a grocery store, only a small general store.  Crazy.  Definitely not the life for me.

Here are some pictures we took on the windy 6 mile drive to Hot Springs...





We had lunch at a small ice cream shop and then headed out to see what kind of trouble we could get into...turns out, with a town this small, not a lot.  But we still managed to get a couple of cool things.  I bought a retro lamp for my office at work from a fun consignment shop and a candy dish made out of an old record.  Cool!  We also bought some candy and sweets for the ride home and some treats for the puppies. 

After the town, we decided to keep driving and check out the scenery.  It was beautiful as we crossed over the French Broad River.

We also saw this amazing house high up in the mountains looking over the river...although I can see why they would want to live there, I have no idea how they get up to their house.  Either way, pretty cool.

Another nice day in the Blue Ridge Mountains!