8, 8, 8

I heard a wise saying once. A healthy lifestyle uses the 8, 8, 8 rule. 8 hours for work, 8 hours for sleep and 8 hours for you. I think this is so smart! I love my husband, dearly. Madly. That being said, I don't often get evenings alone and let me just say, I am in heaven! I can watch stupid girl movies on t.v. (Twilight, Real Housewives Of NJ, Everyday Italian etc.) Not only that, but I can pour a glass of wine and read, or Facebook with a quiet house, with nothing to do but be lazy. Oh yes, and I am not cooking..oh no. Take out sushi. That is my perfect alone night meal. Sushi and wine.  And maybe a cookie, but who's counting? Basically, I am just enjoying my brief 2 hour break between work and a delightful 8 hours of deep, restful sleep. I love this little life.

Perfect Peace...

On April 16th, Max and I along with our good friends, Dan and Lauren headed down to Sevierville, Tennessee to spend the weekend in a spacious chalet on the edge of a mountain, literally, we were hanging off the edge. The cabin was appropriately named Perfect Peace. 

Photo Courtesy of americanmountainrentals.com

We had a fabulous weekend with nearly perfect weather, which was great because it rained the entire time we were away from lovely Cincinnati (which by the way has not let up since we have been back). The evening we arrived was a little chilly, so we stayed in and made dinner, opened some wine and around 11:30 jumped in the hot tub. We played a couple games of pool as well.

The second day we ventured to Smoky Mountain National Park with our sights set on Abrams Falls in Cade's Cove. It was an absolutely perfect day for our 5 mile hike, 75 and sunny. 

 

At home that evening we made delicious kabobs and Dan made Spanish rice, and enjoyed the hot tub some more!

For our last day, we went all touristy and visited Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We did it all, Old Timey Photos, Fudge, Go-Carts, Mini Golf etc... 

For dinner we ate delicious BBQ at Bennett's where we stuffed ourselves and then went home to make s'mores in the fireplace. Num Num Num! Lauren and I faded in and out of sleep on a pile of blankets in front of the fire while Dan and Max watched Louis C.K.'s latest stand-up.

On our day of departure, we decided to take one last final adventure on the way home, so we decided to zipline at Smoky Mountain Ziplines! We didn't buy the tourist photo, so luckily I can't embarrass myself, but we zipped down 14 lines and spent about 2 hours.

In summary, we all got a little closer, and laughed all day/night and drank ourselves happy. I think we all wished that we could have stayed one more day at Perfect Peace, but maybe we can do it again next year!