Abby Dance

Grove Park Inn

This is Grove Park Inn where we got to stay in Asheville. It is almost 100 years old. Ten U.S. Presidents have stayed here in addition to F. Scott Fitzgerald, Harry Houdini, Will Rogers, George Gershwin, Thomas Edison, Eleanor Roosevelt, Henry Ford, and lots of other celebrities. This photo of the hotel is the view from our room looking up to the main hotel area. The two smaller photos are of the spa (on the hotel property) that I got to spend the entire day in for my birthday. It is ranked the 13th best spa in the U.S. It has 43,000 sq ft of amazing-ness. It has heated mineral pools with underwater music. They also have "therapeutic" waterfalls that you can stand under and it will massage your muscles. My favorite was the outdoor hot tub. It was wonderful to sit in hot tub and breathe the cold mountain air. I also got an 80 minute facial was the most amazing 80 minutes of my life!

My Birthday

Double Decker Coffee Shop

Winter Wonderland

The Biltmore Estate

Grandad's Painting

I was very nervous about this gift for John, because he can be an extremely picky man (meticulous on every detail) and I wasn't sure if this is exactly how he would have wanted this photograph of his Granddad to be represented. I presented the painting to John on Christmas and he immediately became very quiet. Because I was so nervous, and he was so quiet, I began to talk incessantly to fill the silence. I explained how the artist and I discussed cropping it, we discussed giving his eyes a little bit of color, we discussed charcoal, we discussed size, and on and on and on. He nodded every so often and would give an "uh huh". So then I would continue to talk. Finally, I paused to take a breath and asked him what he thought because he was being so overly quiet and it was making me a nervous wreck. He said, "I was just thinking back" and he paused a little bit longer, and then said, "I don't think I have EVER in my life gotten a better gift."

John is NOT the type of man who says things just to say them or give out compliments just because it is the nice thing to do. You have to EARN his compliments. I discussed with him the idea of taking it back to the artist and paying her to put more detail in the background or that we could have the hint of color put in his eyes. But every suggestion I made he said, "No, I love it exactly how it is." He really does feel that it is absolutely perfect. We sat together for almost an hour afterwards just staring at it, with him telling me stories of his Granddad and telling me how wonderful the painting is. I found out that John owns that tackle box of his Granddad's that is in the photo, another reason the photo is so special.