HILLYARD HAPPINESS

It's a good thing we don't have to drive very far to find us some mountains. Sometimes you just need to get away for a day or two, and the mountains, they are definitely that place for us. Although, I'm sure you all know that by now :) We had big plans to get out of town and head for the hills early one Friday, hoping to beat the rush and spend the weekend in the woods. I had every intention of leaving work AT NOON that day, but a deadline is a deadline, there are no exceptions. Hours passed by and I could feel myself getting more anxious and frustrated. No one else seemed to care much about wasting a perfectly good Friday night, working. Ugh. At 10 pm, I trudged my way in the door, totally bummed and feeling like our weekend had been ruined. And it was all my fault. I told Landon we should probably figure out something else to do around here, but he quickly rejected that thought with 'It's all good babe, we'll just leave bright and early tomorrow morning.' Love that man. I'm grateful that he always stays positive when I'm feeling like a downer. And I am sooo glad we went! Because gosh it was good. Good for my mind, good for my soul. It was all around good. And after spending a little time away from the rest of the world, I quickly felt like myself again.

Like usual, we left without a single idea (my fault haha) of where we were going. I had a small list of places I had considered, but mostly I just felt like exploring. So, I dropped a pin on Brevard, NC and we got on the road. Well Landon, he absolutely HATES not having a game plan haha, so once we made it to Brevard, we stopped at the first park we passed to quickly draw up a road map. The second we stepped out of the truck we were awing with relief as we had finally escaped the humidity! Ha! That crisp, dry air never felt soooo good. Some locals passed by us and asked to pet our dog (surprise, surprise..haha) and when they found out we were new to the area, they started spilling out loads of cool places (mostly hikes and waterfalls) we could go. Thanks strangers. We took their advice and wandered down the small town's Main street to the visitors center to grab a brochure or two. This place felt so much like Smithfield, the tiny little town where Landon grew up. We looked at each other and smiled. It felt so much like home! On the way back to the truck we took pictures of houses we liked and dreamed about the day we will live out in the middle of nowhere. Gosh, sometimes life seems to fly by so fast, and other days I find myself anxiously waiting for the good times ahead of us. It's a constant battle I swear haha.

We drove with our windows down, arms stretched out catching the cool air in our hands, and music blasting all the way to our first stop at Looking Glass Falls. I was hesitant to stop here, because it is literally right on the side of the road and I was worried it would be completely packed with people. Well indeed there was a bit of a crowd, so we opted to climb to a spot that totally felt like we had the place to ourselves! My only regret -- not packing our suits so we could go for a swim under the falls! If we were real adventurers we probably would have just jumped in fully clothed haha! Oh well. It was still awesome and absolutely beautiful. Once again I was proven that life doesn't have to be all that bad. Even if you feel a little lost and don't know exactly where you are headed, even if your glorious weekend gets cut short, there is ALWAYS happiness to be found, everywhere and everyday. So grateful for these small but significant moments in life when everything just feels alright. And right then and there you just know that everything will be okay.
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