Vacation 2012 {Photo Overload!}

After months and months of heavy prayer (and lots of searching), my husband got a new job!  We were so excited, but decided to take a week's vacation together before he put in his two week's notice with his current job.  You see....his current job comes with two weeks paid vacation while his new job is 100% commission and comes with no paid vacation.  When he changed jobs, he'd lose his two weeks off.  And since I have two weeks paid vacation, my two weeks would have been useless if I couldn't spend them with my husband.  So....you guessed it.  Vacation 2012:  February 29 - March 7.  Enjoy the photographs from our fabulous 7 days off from work, peppered with some shots of my husband's "vacation beard."  Any pictures where one of my eyes look a little lazy....yeah, that means I've been drinking.  Haha.  =)

Day 1

I dragged my poor, innocent husband to the Dermatologist.  He didn't want to go...he actually refused to be seen although he said he would go with me.  I had found what appeared to be an irregular mole.  I threatened not to go if he didn't go, and since he was worried about my mole....we both went.  Happy Day One of Vacation.  =)  My grandparents have a house at the beach, so we decided we'd stay there after our Dermatologist appointments.  We acted like tourists, I showed my husband around an area that long ago stole my heart, caught a buzz over lunch... and we had a perfect first day off of work.

Day 2

We slept in...and woke up at 9 am.  :)  Neither of us can really sleep in anymore.  We walked around the community that my grandparent's beach house is in to get some fresh, salty air.  There are some really huge houses going up in that neighborhood... I can't imagine what the owners must do for a living to building or living in homes that size in this economy.  We had a delightful and relaxing morning at the beach before coming home.  Mr rocked out in the (pink) man cave (it was my bedroom growing up) for a while, and then we cleaned up and started to get dinner ready - we had the new preacher and his wife over for chicken parmigiana, green beans & new potatoes, with Texas Toast.

 

Day 3

These plans were already in place before we decided to take a week off from work.  My dad bought front row tickets to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey The Greatest Show on Earth {Circus} in Charleston!  My parents, my sister and her boyfriend, myself and Mr. Robinson made a day of it - stopping for Pizza along the way, getting to the circus early to have plenty of time to stock up on cotton candy & funnel cakes, walked around the mall for a bit after the show (I bought a new Bible!), and went out to eat at Sesame Burgers & Beer after the show.  They are known for having one of the best burgers in Charleston, not to mention a pretty intense list of beers on tap (but we kept it a family friendly outing).  

Day 4

It was a Sunday.  We went to Sunday School, Worship Service, Bible Study, Decipleship Training, and Worship Service Again.  =)  No pictures, sorry!

Day 5

It was off to Ashville, NC bright and early!  We made a few random stops along the way.  Mr. Robinson showed me the first house he ever lived in, in Columbia.  We stopped at a random park on the side of the road to stretch our legs and pose for pictures in a chimney.  We checked into The Renaissance Hotel in downtown Ashville (the view was gorgeous and had some pretty cool decor in the lobby), and then had dinner at Barley's Tap Room.  Great pizza, lots of beer choices.  My husband got hammered and road a pig.

Day 6

This was seriously my most favorite day of our vacation!  =)  We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant and then spent the morning checking out the shops down town.  My husband even enjoyed the antique stores ~ although they were way outside our price range!  It was so much fun walking around and window shopping.  The weather was perfect!  After we'd looked at everything, we went to The Biltmore House.  I'd never been before, and it was absolutely amazing.  No pictures were allowed inside, but we did take some pictures while we were outside.  We toured the house, ate at a restaurant on the estate, went to the winery and wine tasting, and then hit the road and headed to Greenville, SC!  When we got to Greenville, we walked around and saw the town.  It was crowded but the streets were all lit up and very beautiful.

Day 7:

We woke up and had a surprisingly good breakfast at the Holiday Inn Express we stayed at the night before.  After we stuffed our faces (we were only people eating breakfast!), we checked out and headed to the Greenville Zoo!  We loved it!  =)  Mr. R has been wanting to take me to the zoo since our beginning, and we never got around to it until now!  At the entrance, after we paid admission, we were each given a token.  We could choose which species our token would help save!  It was such a sweet sentiment and idea - we were both thrilled.  We had the best time looking at all the animals and fantasizing about having exotic pets.  Mr. favored the giraffes, while I was pretty obsessed with the black swan and polish hens.  We got to watch them train the lions with syringes full of goat's milk, which was pretty cool!  The zoo took a little over an hour to walk, since it was small, so after we finished we hit the road and headed home.  We were able to stop by and visit his parents for an hour or so, then we picked up Zombie from my parent's house....and then we headed home and passed out.  

March 8th, we returned back to work.  Mr. took one last photo of "The Vacation Beard," and we made sad faces over going back to work....but we really did have a perfect vacation!

On our first day back to work, "Day 8" if you will, my husband put in his two weeks notice, and it went over well!  For that, we were thankful.  We were hoping and praying for the best, but were prepared for the worst.  We knew that there was a possibility that he would get sent home or "let go" on the spot.  But, it didn't happen!  Hooray!

On our vacation, we were able to take back roads for most of our trip, we only argued once and it was about the Bible (haha), and we were able to see and explore parts of American that we hadn't seen before!  Most importantly, we relaxed and bonded.  We made memories.  =)  Here's to rest of our lives and all of the adventures we'll have, babe.