We ate at Jimmy Johns a couple times on the trip (THANK GOD FOR LETTUCE WRAPS!) and I was so so happy to find out that their potato chips was made purely from salt, oil, and potatoes! Yay! When we were in the Outer Banks, Matt and I went grocery shopping and bought only Gluten Free products. Matt was such a darling throughout the week. I seriously couldn't have stayed GF without him. Every time we went out to lunch or dinner with the family, he was the first to speak up or ask our server whether or not they had a GF menu. Initially, I was embarrassed by the inconvenience of it all and didn't want to sound so needy, but he made me stick to my plan and was an amazing cheerleader along the way. Most restaurants have gluten free products (you just have to be courageous enough to ask) and if not, you cannot go wrong with crouton free salads.
We left the Outer Banks on Saturday morning and headed to Charlotte, NC to visit Ashley, Chris, and Jude.
For the life of me!!!!
I cannot figure out WHY Ashley and I didn't take any pictures while visiting, but I think its because we were so stoked to see each other that pictures were the last thing on our minds. Chris and Ashley were so incredibly hospitable and Matt and I had such a fun time! Next time, I will make sure we can stay for more than 12 hours (more like a week!!) and I will also take thousands of pictures. For those of you who don't know Jude (one of the cutest kids on the planet) -- he is even cuter in person. Visiting with their adorable little family made my ovaries throb even worse than they already did. Jude is that stinkin' cute. Oh and Finley -- their dog -- loved me!! Success! Chris, Matt, Ashley, and I stayed up until around 2am (maybe?? -- there was lots of wine by that point) talking about everything under the sun and jamming out to music. The next morning, Matt and I snuck out early in the morning so we could make it back to Madison by that night.
Longest - drive - ever!
In the two days we sat in the car (there and back) we saw some beautiful sights. Mountains... Beaches.... it was the perfect drive. But we couldn't help but ask ourselves:
"Why in the hell do we live in the Midwest??"
The second we hit Indiana all we saw were---- cornfields. Blah.
Before that, this is what we witnessed:
We drove along side the ocean...
In the mountains....
And eventually hit........ cornfields.
Even the Midwest (God bless it!) has some beautiful sunsets....
We even stopped at a Big Boy to try out these famous burgers!
We're almost home!!!
My favorite picture I took all week.
Even more beautiful-- is what we celebrated while we were in the OBX....
Bert and Marita Fennel (Matt's Grandparents), who celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary this year. All of the Fennels gathered together (from as far as Peru in South America) to meet in the Outer Banks for one week to celebrate their wonderful marriage. We celebrated all of the love, family, and memories they've made throughout their 60 years of marriage during a catered dinner on Wednesday evening. It just so happened that Matt and I were the "newlyweds" of the house and it was so inspiring and heartwarming to watch their children make speeches about parents' lives and about having such amazing parents who stayed faithful to each other though out the years. Grandma and Grandpa Fennel was also the couple who danced the longest to "Remember When" by Alan Jackson at our wedding (for the Anniversary dance). At one point -- during this celebratory dinner in the Outer Banks -- I remember looking around and witnessing all six of their children with tears in their eyes while one of the siblings spoke about their parents. All I could hope and pray for was that maybe one day Matt and I will be blessed to be surrounded by our kids and their kids and so on...
It was seriously such a moving and an amazing moment. And I was honored to of had been a part of it.
Cheers to the Grandma and Grandpa Fennel ---- and their amazing marriage.
So this is what you were doing til 1:00 am....very nice entry.
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