I had the most wonderful weekend.  My lovely mother in law, Judy and her darling “bo”, John came in to visit us from CA. We spent the weekend in a mountain chalet in Pigeon Forge TN.  I swear, I have NEVER seen traffic like this in my life. As we rolled into town, we noticed lots of camping chairs and restored old cars lined up along the main strip. It took us 2 hours to get through 6 stoplights! Crazy, huh? Still yet, I’d do it all over again. The cars were a real treat to see.  Several times each year, Pigeon Forge hosts what is termed as a “Rod Run” and as it turns out, we chose to stay during one of them. Today I’m wishing I had taken pictures of some of those roadsters.

Thankfully, we spent most of our time in Gatlinburg. I love that little town. It’s so artsy and far more slow paced than the commercialized Pigeon Forge. We drove along the parkway and visited a mountain frontier town called “Cades Cove”. The drive was incredible and the old homes were a sight to see. I wish we would have had time to stay longer. We missed a great deal of Cades Cove so I plan to go again the next time we are out there.

Now I guess I get to obsess about how much I’d love to live in Gatlinburg. Normally I would keep these thoughts to myself but if I express them “outloud” I have to follow through and make them happen.

Mark and I live in Lexington, NC by default. I moved her with my former husband and never left. This is only because I didn’t want to uproot my daughter and move her to a new place. I grew up in the small mountain town of Roanoke, VA.  My family still lives in that area so I’d thought for years that I would end up back there. Somewhere along the line, I disconnected from that prospect. Mark on the other hand, is from Tehachapi, CA, another, yet very different mountain town. We thought of moving there also, as that is where most of his family lives. (Well, proudly they are my family too now, but you know what I mean.) Today, as much as the thought of CA mountain living appeals to us, it’s too far away from my daughter for me to think of moving, especially with the twins on the way. There’s just no way I could leave her, her husband or their little guys. 

I think Gatlinburg is PERFECT for us but I can’t help thinking and feeling selfish for wanting to make such a drastic move. I struggle in my thoughts of how unfair this would be to our families. I do know that Zack and Ashley and their two little “Zackleys” would visit us often and we would visit them just as much. Five hours isn’t too bad of a drive, especially since we would all get to experience the beautiful Smokies as we drive home for visits.

So, Gatlingburg it is! I don’t know how or when, but Mark and I both want this badly enough to make it happen. I dont know a thing about their home based business requirements. Hopefully Uzilla is reading this. Perhaps she can check into it for me, since she seems to know so much about what’s required to setup shop in small US towns. lol! Speaking of Uzilla, I coordinated a little social network called Uzilla’s Envy. I’ve had very little time to spread the word so right now, there are only a few us that have joined as members. You can take a look around without being a member. If you’re looking for beautiful beads or well, handmade goods, please check often to see what the new members have listed. If you are a lampworker who’s not afraid of Uzilla’s wrath, please sign up! I’d love to have as many folks as possible, showing their work on this site. We can tag photos as AGLF goods too, so that they can be easily found by prospective buyers. I want to stress that I’m not doing this for money or advertising income. The cost is very minimal, so it’s no big deal for me to pay for. It’s just my way of sharing what these wonderful artists have to offer.

Now, I’m off to the torch. I haven’t lit her up in three days. I’m itching to get started! I think maybe some autumn inspired work is on the menu! Thank you all for checking in and I’ll be back soon to show some new work.