December Delights

I have no proof, but I am willing to bet, that whoever makes the schedule for Justin's job has a slightly mean sense of humor. Not only this year, but last year as well, we were sent to some seriously cold areas of the country for winter. Last year, we were in Iowa and this year we are in Colorado. I can just imagine them sitting in their warm office laughing at us as we literally shiver in our boots. Haha! On a serious note, we are here in Longmont, Colorado, just north of Denver. We arrived the for the month of December and we will continue to be here at this point, through January. There have been some seriously cold days here. It is not only us who are having to adjust to the weather. The puppies are quite cold as well. We have one pup, Roper, who loves the snow and runs and leaps into the snow piles as much as possible. Then our other pup, Garth, wants absolutely nothing to do with being outside. He does not like the cold, he does not like the snow, and he does not like to be in the cold snow. They are adjusting though, and so are we.

It is extremely beautiful here! And though the town is quaint, it has everything we need to enjoy ourselves. We found a pizza place on Main Street called Rosalee's Pizzeria. Eating here is a must. Not only is the food delicious and reasonably priced, but the environment is so cool. The place is very tiny and people will wait for over an hour every night just to eat there. We also found a little painting place called Crackpots. It is a place where you can pick out the pottery pieces you would like and sit and paint. Justin and I went for a date night one Saturday night and had so much fun. We painted way too many things, but we couldn't help ourselves!

As many of you know, we announced that we are having a baby! We are extremely excited to bring a new little Belcher into the family. When Justin started this program, we literally thought that all the people who had kids in this program were insane. As the months pass and this lifestyle becomes a way a life you realize, that though it does seem insane, that insanity is our new normal. So, we are joining those other insane people and embracing our crazy normal! We can't wait to meet our little one the first week of July!

Before we know it is was already Christmas! My parents flew up for the weekend. We got to show them around the town, as well as do a little exploring. On Friday, we drove over to Estes Park, CO. That town is so cute. It deserves to be on a postcard. We walked around the little snow covered town and enjoyed the  sights and the stores. We also stumbled upon the Historic Stanley Hotel. (That is where Dumb and Dumber and The Shining were both filmed.) The hotel is filled with so much history and apparently ghosts! After touring around, we grabbed a cup of hot chocolate and headed back to Longmont.

Christmas came and went way too quickly, as did the time with my family. The hardest part of Justin having this job is never knowing when is going to be the next time that you get to see your family or your friends again. Dropping my parents off at the airport is like dropping off a little piece of my heart.

Southern Sensations

We made it back to the south. Though I must say our time was quite brief. But, in the four weeks we were in Charleston, South Carolina, we were able to have some fun and work with some incredible people.

Justin was partnered up with another IM at this location. They were expecting mass chaos. When we arrived, the restaurant was filled with so many loving people who welcomed all of us into their store. They were kind and loving and so eager to learn.

Justin and I spent some time seeing the sights around the area. We drove over to Folly Beach one evening just before sunset and walked the beach. It was too chilly for swimming and laying out, but perfect for a walk. And depending on which one of us you ask, our first date was spent walking along the beach.

What is the point of visiting Charleston if you don't stop by a few sights of The Notebook? Exactly, none! We took a Sunday afternoon tour of Boone Hall Plantation. The Avenue of the Oaks was breathtakingly beautiful! The house was Allie's summer vacation home from the movie. I was slightly disappointed to know that the house was built quite recently in comparison to the plantation. We also got to see the water where Noah and Allie went swimming! The plantation also included 9 original slave cabins and the wedding site of Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.

Thanksgiving was excellent! Thanks to the amazing supervisor at our hotel she upgrade both of the rooms we had booked to two bed room suites so all of our family could stay together! We were so grateful! Jesse, my parents, and my aunt and uncle were all able to travel to us for the holiday. We combined both of the kitchen tables into one room and made one large dining room table.

The day after Thanksgiving, we took a downtown historic carriage ride on the waterfront. We had so much fun and got to see so many beautiful houses. Our tour guide also told us that the first shot of the Civil War was by accident. Apparently a sneezed caused a soldier to fire the first shot, and hence started the Civil War. Crazy!

We spent the rest of the afternoon trying to stall so that we could all try a seafood restaurant that is supposed to be the best in all of Charleston. Online it said that people started lining up at 4:30 outside of the building just so that they could get in before they ran out of food. We figured that it must be good if people were lining up that early. No one in our group was impressed with the food, though the sunset was pretty.

Sunday, it was just us and our parents. And though we had planned every single minute of the time our family would be in town, we somehow forgot to take into account that the Sunday after Thanksgiving the interstates would be packed! Of course, we didn't realize the crisis until we were in the car for over an hour and began to pull across the bridge where we could see nothing except for unending miles of traffic at a complete standstill. At this point, it was too late, so we proceeded to Savannah, Georgia.

My Dad's face pretty much sums up the car ride.

We also wanted to go to Paula Deen's Lady and Sons Restaurant, and now we have. The food was okay. Nothing to rave about, but we got to check it off our bucket list!

We also did a bit of exploring the water front and took some pictures by the Forsyth Park Fountain.

By now you should know that where there are traveling Belchers, chaos is sure to follow. About a mile down the road, after we had left the park, Mom decides she wanted to show me a picture on her phone. Her phone was nowhere to be found. So, Justin whipped the car around and floored it back to the park. He let my dad, his dad, and myself out of the car on the opposite side of the park, so we could get to the place where mom and been sitting earlier. I went dashing across the park and get to the spot where she had been. I started questioning everyone around the area. There was a family who had seen a man take the phone. I thought, "Great that's it. The phone is gone." I darted around the corner, looking for the man that they had described, and there he was, holding Mom's phone. Before I could even ask him for the phone, he realized what I was there for and handed it back. He had been in the process of calling my Dad's cell to see if he could return it. Just when you begin to think the world is becoming void of good people, you find a good Samaritan.

The time with our family passed way too quickly. Before we knew it everyone had gone home, and we were left in our empty hotel room packing for our next adventure.

Schedule Change

This week has been rather dull compared to others. Even though we have not gone on any adventures, we have spent a significant amount of time planning and re-planning what our next few weeks will look like. Justin was originally assigned for his first Grand Opening assignment in North Carolina. Since next month is Thanksgiving we are also trying to coordinate with our parents coming to visit, their hotels, and flights. We would have been staying only minutes from the Biltmore Mansion, so we were more than excited to take a tour with our families. During the week, Justin met with his boss who let him know that we would be moving to a different location in Baltimore and that Justin would be the IM for an owner who has retired. That night we called our parents to tell them not to buy tickets to fly to North Carolina, because we would be staying in Baltimore. We also booked rooms for ourselves and our families to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City! We have always wanted to go to the parade, and there is no better time than with our family. The next morning Justin received an e-mail saying that he would not be staying in Baltimore, but that he would be taking over a store somewhere in the Atlantic Region. For his job the Atlantic Region includes: North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and Kentucky. Neither a city nor state were specified. He was told that we would know something as soon they were able to give us the information.

Friday, we went to dinner at Justin's favorite restaurant to eat crab cakes, G&M. The food was great! We also had the pleasure of being entertained by his grandmother during dinner. She always has interesting stories to tell. There is definitely never a dull moment when we are all together.

Sunday, we had a cleaning day with a couple of the team members from work. We spent a few hours doing some deep cleaning that is impossible to accomplish while the store is open. Cleaning doesn't seem so bad when you get to take turns pressure washing! After cleaning, we went home, ordered pizza, snuggled up with the puppies on the couch and watched the Raven's game.

The rest of the week proceeded as normal, but on the weekend we made a short trip to Philadelphia to visit some friends from home, Dave and Tammy. We started our morning with the Liberty Bell and Liberty Hall. Justin wanted to try and lick the Liberty Bell so badly, but the guard was taking his job seriously. (Barney and Ted did that on HIMYM.) There was no getting close to that thing. And for the Bell's sake and preservation, its a good thing.  Liberty Hall provides free tours through the building. Our tour guide was extremely informative. We could not believe that we were able to stand in the exact same room where our forefathers wrote the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence!

After touring the building, we headed down the road to check out the Quaker Meeting House. The building is still used today for annual meetings and prayer.

 Next, we made a brief stop by Benjamin Franklin's gravesite.

Betsy Ross's House was the next stop on our tour. She actually had a pretty sad life. Most everyone around her died. We read that other than Washington and the other political figures that had asked her to make the first American flag, no one else really knew she made the first flag of our country. It did not become well known until after her death. That information was kept quiet, largely due to the fact that she was taking such a large risk. It was considered treason to make another country's flag in Great Britain's eyes.

You can't go to Philly and not get a Philly Cheesesteak! When the lunch bell rang, we grabbed and Uber and took a ride through town to go to Pat's King of Steaks. Tammy and I had both heard that it was the best around. If you do decide to eat there, be sure to follow the rules that they have posted on the wall. They offer no answers to questions and absolutely no southern charm. You must only say what you want and in the order of the directions on the wall. Justin and Tammy both were harshly corrected for a normal ordering technique. The restaurant is also cash only, so make sure you have your bills in hand and ready to pay. While the service was not what we were expecting, the food was pretty good. It definitely had a cool atmosphere. The outdoor seating and traffic circling the establishment even offered a sort of entertainment with lunch.

After lunch, we visited the Benjamin Franklin Museum. It was an interesting and interactive museum. You were encouraged to touch and even play with many of the displays. They had several original pieces that belonged to Franklin. Though his house no longer stands, due to his grandchildren sold off his house and property, they have a ghost-like outline of his home and business. The only historical drawings are of the outside of Franklin's home, but there were no drawings of what the inside may have looked like.

Just outside of the museum there was a printing press. The tour guide that we had earlier at Liberty Hall, was also demonstrating and teaching about the printing press.

By accident, we happened to stumble across where the Continental Congress met. Not much to see here, but it was a beautiful building.

At the end of the day, we had to say goodbye to Dave and Tammy, or at least until our paths cross again. We found one more fun photo-op just before we reached our car.

Justin finally received his assignment. We packed our bags and boxes, and jumped on a plane to Charleston, SC. Until our next schedule change...