Wow, it's been 2 weeks without an update! Last weekend was the Mountain Mystery Weekend with Justin. I drove to the address he gave me Friday afternoon, which was in Sylva, NC. I had never heard of or been to Sylva, so it was a surprise to me even when I knew where I was going. The drive there was beautiful! Once I got off 40, the road took me through gorgeous mountains, winding around the beautiful Fall colors. I pulled up to the address and found Justin standing by a cute little cabin back off the road a bit. The cabin was SUPER cute. It was very cozy, quiet, and peaceful. There was no tv or internet, which made for a very relaxing weekend. We ventured out Friday night to find dinner and ended up eating at Subway, haha.
Saturday, we drove on the Blue Ridge Parkway for a little while, stopping at a few overlooks to take pictures. We then decided to drive about an hour away to Highlands, NC. Justin had been there this summer while working with USDA in western NC and said it was a cute little town. On our way up there, we stopped at Dry Falls which is a waterfall that you can walk under. I took lots of pictures there (until my 18-55mm lens stopped auto-focusing). We made it up to Highlands by way of some extremely windy and narrow roads that drop off straight down on the other side. It took us a while to find somewhere to park, but we finally did and found a great little deli to have lunch. Our chicken salad sandwiches were phenomenal (his on sourdough and mine on pumpernickel). We then indulged in some ice cream (strawberry for him and butter pecan for me, of course). We walked around and looked in a few shops, then headed back to the cabin. Once there, we took a little hike around the property and then just relaxed the rest of the afternoon. We watched Mrs. Doubtfire on his laptop since he was bringing it along with another DVD to me that I had left at his apartment months ago. Since it was really cold that night, he built us a really nice fire!
Sunday we got up, packed, checked out of the cabin and headed to Waffle House for breakfast. I had been craving pancakes, but the waffle was just as good! We then drove to Asheville to spend the day at Biltmore House. I had been about 8 years ago so it was nice to see it again! We took the usual tour through the house and then did a specialty tour at 12 noon on the roof. We learned all about the construction of the house and had a completely different view of the property from the roof! Justin really enjoyed it, especially learning that every single slate shingle (haha say that one 5 times fast) was hand-tied onto the roof in two places. That's some serious labor!
We ate lunch at a cafe near the stables area (chicken florentine pizza) and then had some ice cream. Cookie dough for him, and you guessed it...butter pecan for me. The ice cream was better here than in Highlands, but the waffle cone in Highlands beat Biltmore's hands down :) Justin and I then toured the basement level of the house (kitchen, pool, bowling alley, laundry, servants quarters) and the gardens. It was a great day with absolutely beautiful weather. The entire weekend was perfect weather actually.
It was extremely difficult for both of us to part again after such an amazing escape. We both felt like we could forget the world for a few days and just enjoy each other's company. That made leaving him really, really hard. I had a little meltdown that evening and the next day. Talk about pouring emotions...these were flowing like the Nile! I feel MUCH better now, but of course still miss him every day.
Now for some exciting news. I had a meeting today with Dr. Edwards and now have a direction and a plan for my project! I cannot discuss it in detail with the general public, but just know that it is novel, exciting, and has me ready to get going. I will be learning a lot of molecular techniques such as RNA isolation, RT (reverse transcription), building primers, and qPCR. A lot of this will be learned in Dr. Voy's lab, so it'll be cool to work in another lab in conjunction with the one I'm in now. I feel like I finally have some clarity and a direction. I was struggling with feeling unfulfilled and like I did not have a reason for learning all of these things in the lab, except to just learn them. Now, I have lots to learn and realize that everything I've been learning will help me greatly not only with my time in grad school, but with just expanding my "tool belt", as Dr. Edwards calls it, for when I finish grad school and head out into the world. It is amazing how perfect God's timing is. Just when I was crying out, questioning my being here, and struggling the most, He gives me clarity and gets me excited about heading somewhere. I appreciate all of the continuous support from Justin, my family, and all of my wonderful friends through my crazy emotional moments. I hope you know I will always reciprocate that support when any of you need it!
Here are the pictures from my weekend if you care to take a look
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