Growing Greggs - A Love Story: September 2023

Tuesday, September 26, 2023

Moose - In Pictures

Someday, when I am done writing in this space, I plan on printing out all of the posts I have written and putting them in a binder to create a type of book for myself. I would be remiss if I did not include at least one full post to my most treasured creature - Moose.

I don't know why I love this cat as much as I do. He is needy, whiney, semi-abusive, demanding, and selfish. But...he can also be sweet, cuddly, adorable, and loving - when he wants to be.

I never in a million years thought that our household would have a cat, but I am so glad that we do. Moose is turning 6 in October which is so crazy to me because it feels like just yesterday we brought him home.

There will never, ever be another cat like Moose in my life. He is most certainly one of a kind, and I am so very, very glad that he is in my life.

Moose on the couch looking off in the distance with his front left paw stretched out in front of him.

Moose standing on the dining room table with his head in my flowers smelling some pink tulips.

Moose standing on his back paws looking out my bedroom window spying on the neighbors.

Moose stretched out on the area rug in my room when it was in front of my bed snoozing.

A close up of moosey sleeping on his side on the living room couch with his right paw stretched out in front of him. he looks so sweet and innocent.

Moosey on the couch sleeping on his back with one eye open.

Moosey squeezed into a little gray contrainer from Elizabeth's room sitting on the couch. Fluff is pouring out of every crevice.

Moosey standing on his hind legs looking out of the front room window checking out the neighborhood.

Another day, another angle of Moose on his hind legs staring out of the window making sure all of the neighbors following the rules.

Moosey sitting on the couch with the blue octopus on his head. He is looking at the camera with his pissed off face.

Moosey laying down on the couch looking at the camera. His ears are flat, his eyes are wide open and he is looking very, very grouchy.

Moosey sitting on the outdoor table at the kinsmore lane house surrounded by school books. he has a face that looks like he thinks he is hot shit.

Moosey sitting on a dining room table chair licking something off of the table runner.

Moosey has never, ever licked the table before (and hasn't since). I have no idea what he was licking.

Monday, September 25, 2023

Hikes Around Town

Andy and I (and Elizabeth once, too!) have been trying to schedule hikes around our small town this fall. We have only made it to two parks thus far, but we definitely plan to visit more.

On the hike that just Andy and I went on, we hiked about 4 miles. The path was flat all of the way which made it so easy to negotiate. The second hike that Andy and I went on with Elizabeth, it was a hilly pretty poorly maintained trail with lots of very narrow pathways and a lot of fallen trees across the trail.

Max laying down in the water on a hike. He is laying in a stream and facing the camera panting.

Max loves the water - not too much - but just enough that he can lay down in it and cool off.

Another pic of Maxi laying down in the same stream, but this time I caught him licking his lips in this pic so his mouth is open and his tongue is touching the top right hand side of his mouth.

Maxi still cooling off in the water - no longer panting, but just chillin' looking around.

A picture of a pine forest on both the left and right of the trail. Max is also in the picture just standing there waiting for the walk to commence.

A picture of the trail ahead of us. It is empty. There are tall pine trees on both the left and right of the trail.

A picture of yellow flowers and peach flowers

A selfie of Margie, Me, and Andy on the trail.

Me and my hiking buddies.

Andy sitting beside the trail that just he and I went on.

My main hiking buddy.

A picture of a river with a good amount of water flowing down it. There are embankments on both sides of the water with hills and trees.

Maxi laying down in this river up to his neck in water.

Max walking in front of us on the trail which is flat with trees on both sides of us as well as the river on our left.

Love this kiddo so much.

Friday, September 22, 2023

Elizabeth's 17th Birthday

On August 17th, Elizabeth celebrated her 17th birthday. She asked for a low-key day with everyone from the fam who could be here. (Sarah had been dropped off at school the weekend before, so she was unable to be with her sister.) Bobby took the day off from work, Josh came home from school, and my mom and dad came down too. Andy and I were also with her.

Elizabeth picked out her menu for the day which consisted of Lucky Charms for breakfast and out to eat for dinner at one of her favorite restaurants called Pinky's. We had appetizers at Top Golf for lunch.

The activities for the day included going to Top Golf and the lake.

We topped our day off with Dairy Queen cake.

Overall, I am pretty sure she enjoyed her day. It was quiet and low-key which is exactly what Elizabeth wanted.

Selfie of Elizabeth and Dad right after she woke up on her birthday.

Elizabeth just waking up

Elizabeth's 17 2-litter Dr. Pepper bottles lined up on the kitchen counter.

Elizabeth L-O-V-E-S Dr. Pepper. Because we don't often have soda in the house, Andy and Josh thought it would be a good idea to gift her with17 2-liter bottles of Dr. Pepper from both of them.

The Pride pins that Aunt Emily got Elizabeth for her birthday. They are all in a pile on the kitchen island.

A perfect gift from Aunt Emily and her family.

At Top Golf.

Nana taking her turn.

Me and Margie at Top Golf. We are by our bay.

Me and my girl.

Me, Nana, Dad, Andy, Elizabeth at the lake on our floats/paddle board.

Elizabeth in her zucchini laying perpendicular on the paddle board that she is on.

Pic of the entire family at the table at Pinky's - Nana, Elizabeth, Me, Papa, Josh, Andy, and Dad

At Pinky's for dinner.

Tuesday, September 19, 2023

Lake Life

In May, our family moved from northeast Charlotte to a small town 45 minutes outside of the city. We looked at multiple towns prior to choosing our current location in Denver, North Carolina. We chose our new town based on the vibe, the housing development we would be moving into, and also because Denver is so close to Lake Norman. Our house sits about a 7 minute drive to the water, and many a day this summer did we venture out to the lake both with our family and with friends and extended family.

Because we aren't sure yet where we are going to be long term, we knew that we did not want to invest in a boat, so we chose instead to purchase a couple of paddleboards and some heavy-duty water tubes. We also have two inflatable paddle boats from when we lived in Portland, Oregon.

After investing in a heavy-duty pump and an anchor, we were all set to make our lake adventure the best experience we could. I feel pretty confident that although we don't want to live on this lake (it is maintained by Duke Energy), we have decided that lake life is pretty awesome, and are beginning to think about what it would look like to settle down somewhere else that has a natural lake (vs man-made like Lake Norman is).

We definitely plan on enjoying this area as much as possible while we reside here for the next couple of years as the kids begin to finish their college journeys.