Weekend fun!

Hey y'all,
I thought I would fill you in on my fun-filled weekend in Gatlinburg. One of my best-good friends (name that movie) and I went on a weekend getaway to the Winterfest conference held at the Convention Center. It is mainly for teens, but anyone can attend and the worship is always awesome! Oh and we dragged her Mom along with us...

The picture below was taken before I left as I was packing my suitcase... Maggie wanted to go really bad. Some friends, Sarah and Luke, were so nice to keep her for me. Thanks Luke and Sarah! Maggie had a blast.

Here is the nice welcome sign. The theme of the weekend was all about The Veil. We talked about how we are sometimes blinded to seeing the Truth that God wants us to see. We are blinded by veils, and these veils can be many different things. It can be any sin that keeps us separate from God. They had many guest speakers. The main guy was Jeff Walling. He did a great job in making these points.

Cara and I on our first night of Winterfest, we are so excited!!

There were over 6500 people on hand to join in a wonderful worship weekend! Most people brought big huge youth groups, so in order to keep everyone together, they made big signs on tall posts to make sure all the kids could find their groups. All of the signs were cute, and I wish I would have been able to get some close-up pictures. One creative group had a big tree branch that they carried around like a Christmas tree.

Cara and I pause for a photo-op while waiting to go into the Convention Center.

Cara and her mom, Stephanie... I hope we didn't wear her out!

Here is a view of the set-up inside. We had great seats!

Gatlinburg is not short on supply of beautiful views. This was our view at The Peddler, where we ate supper on Friday night. This is a really nice old restaurant which is known for its' salad bar and steaks. I have never seen so many toppings for a salad in my life. The "steak peddler" comes to your table with a two big slabs of beef. Our peddler had a huge cut of ribeyes and NY strips, and he cut our steaks to our specifications. You can also order off the menu... Try call-ahead seating at 4pm, in order to get creek side seats as seen below...

We also went to a restaurant called Park Grill Steakhouse. They are owned by the same people who own The Peddler, so they also had the awesome salad bar. The restaurant looks like a huge lodge on the outside and the inside is no different... high ceilings, "lodge" type decorations, beautiful hardwoods and great food! I got the pecan crusted chicken with garlic mashed potatoes, and it was pretty good. However, the dessert was so awesome. Pictured below, you have a brownie on bottom, then a layer of vanilla ice cream, and another brownie, all topped with chocolate sauce and caramel. They even put a cute bear-print on top of the dessert with cocoa powder!

So in case you can't tell, we had a great time!! I didn't get a whole lot of sleep, but it was so worth it! It was absolutely beautiful every day with sunshine and bright blue skies. The temperature was very warm on Saturday and Sunday!!
Now, its back to the real world, and today is really special too. I start school tonight to begin work on getting my RN degree! One of my BFFs sent me some pretty flowers to celebrate going back to school. The card says, "Good luck on your first day of school. Kick butt and take names!" I just love her, we went through nursing school together about 5 years ago, so she knows how difficult it can be! Here is a picture of the flowers... aren't they beautiful!
So, I did a long post, because I am not really sure how often I will be able to blog with all this school going on. I will try to keep up when I can, but I am not making any promises!! I should be done with school in about a year! Woo-Hoo!
Prayers are greatly appreciated!! Until next time, be blessed! S :)