Fall Break Recap - Visting Helen

In order to get to Anna Ruby Falls, you need to drive through Helen, GA - which is an adorable Alpine Village in the North GA Mountains. You might notice in the pictures that I changed Bri's shirt during the day because she was getting a bit warm in her long sleeves. We decided to stop and grab some German food for lunch at a restaurant on the river...

After lunch we went to the falls, but then we headed back to the village for some shopping...

We took a short horse carriage ride. This is Henrietta and Bri got to feed her a carrot after the ride...

This is Molly, she was on the other carriage...

I love stores with coo coo clocks...

I even found some Asian goodies...

Make a wish...

This is the restaurant we ate at for dinner...

My two sillies...

As we drove home, Briana said, "I had the best day." I would have to agree...

Definitely a day to remember.

Fall Break Recap - Anna Ruby Falls (Part 2)

Bri looks so small in the above picture, doesn't she? The day was gray and misty (which totally frizzed my hair) but the rain kept the temps cool and it made for a lovely walk up to the falls. Once we got up to the falls, I asked Miss B to take a photo of me and Doug. We needed a photo of the two of us since we didn't get any pictures on our engagement day. ;D Anna Ruby Falls is such a beautiful place. I won't wait so long next time to visit it again.

 

Fall Break Recap - Anna Ruby Falls (Part 1)

Anna Ruby Falls holds a lot of memories for Doug and me. It holds the memory of a very happy time in our lives as well as a very scary and uncertain time in our lives.

Doug proposed marriage in front of the falls on September 23, 1995. Doug and I had visited Anny Ruby Falls a number of times while we dated and fell in love with the place. Doug always told me though that he would never propose to me there because that is what I would have expected. I give him credit because he threw me off the scent. I never expected a proposal there because of what he said. Well, except on that day. We drove up to Anna Ruby the morning of the proposal (I thought we were just going for a visit) and he started acting strangely when we got there. He barely touched our picnic lunch I that had packed for us to eat before walking up to the falls and he was pacing around a bit. I started to get a sense that something was up. Once we arrived at the falls, he walked away from me and started up a conversation with a couple that was also visiting the falls. I didn't realize that he was asking them to take pictures of the proposal. When I turned around, he was on his knee with my ring and I started to cry. It was an amazing moment in my life. As we walked back down the path to our car, the couple that took the pictures of the proposal walked down behind us and told everyone heading up to the falls that we had just got engaged. Unfortunately, not one picture they took turned out. The pictures were completely black. I have no idea what happened. But I do have pictures of my ring once we returned home that day...

My grandparents came to visit my parents a few days later and my grandmother snapped this picture of us...

That was such a happy and wonderful time.

When I found out that I was pregnant in 2002, I was terrified. Doug and I had tried for a year to start a family before we sought help. My doctor put me on Clomid and he checked my hormones levels (via blood tests) at certain points of my cycle each month. I finally found out I was pregnant on my third round of Clomid. But my progesterone level was so low during that cycle, when I called to tell the nurse that I had a positive pregnancy test (ok, I had 5 positive pregnancy tests), she told me it was impossible for me to be pregnant. She didn't believe I was pregnant. I begged her to let me take a blood test to find out for sure and she agreed. I cried all the way to the lab because she made me feel like I was crazy. Two days later, I proved her very, very wrong. (And she never apologized - which is another story. I left the practice after my miscarriage.) But, she told me that I had a 50/50 chance of miscarriage with a progesterone level that low.

When I was about 7 or 8 weeks pregnant (October of 2002), Doug took me up to Anna Ruby to try to take my mind off of how scared I was. We were hoping for the best, but we were also bracing for the worst. I just didn't feel pregnant at the time, even though everyone was telling me I was pregnant. I had an ultrasound at 6 weeks (that looked good) and my hormone levels looked good - except for progesterone. So, I was put on synthetic progesterone in pill form (I found out later from another doctor that oral progesterone is practically useless). But I knew deep down something was very wrong. As I walked up to and down from those falls, I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. I just couldn't be happy. My pregnancy went along for 11 weeks. And a few days before Thanksgiving, I did indeed miscarry. It was one of the lowest points of my life. (For those of you that have experienced easy, no worry pregnancies, consider yourself blessed and very lucky. I have been pregnant twice, and they most definitely were not happy, carefree pregnancies. I was completely terrified during both of them, and it ended up both times that I had every right to be scared.)

You can see from this picture that I had a fake smile planted on my face...

Doug was trying so hard to make me smile. I know deep down he was nervous too...

Doug nor I had returned to Anna Ruby Falls since that visit in 2002. We concentrated on trying to start our family, and Briana finally came into our lives in 2007. And then with all the hustling and bustling of being parents, we just never got up to Anna Ruby again. Well, until last week. And let me tell you. Briana has healed me. She has healed both of us. Being in our special spot with our daughter was simply perfect. She loved walking to those falls and collecting fallen leaves on the way. Being there with Briana made our special place, well, even more special.

Here we were last week with our amazing little girl. Our smiles were very real...

More pictures to come...

Fall Break Recap - Babyland General Hospital

Last week was Briana's fall break, and she and I definitely made the most out of it. Monday was a quiet day - we just did a little Halloween shopping and then Bri had a horseback riding lesson in the afternoon.

Tuesday, Briana and I asked Daddy to take a day trip with us up to Cleveland and Helen, Georgia. Briana had been looking at my old Cabbage Patch Kids over the last few weeks, and I told her about a place that had lots of them. She kept asking over and over to go to the place, so I told her we would go on fall break. We took her to Babyland General Hospital...

Once we got there, Bri kept looking around and she wanted to pick out a doll that looked like her. I told her the areas she could pick a doll from - steering her away from the dolls that are in $200 range. She ended up picking out this little lady...

Meet Briana Adelle #2. She named her after herself. Doug has been calling her "Mini Bri"...

While we were there, "Mother Cabbage" was delivering. Kind of creepy, but Bri loved it...

There were just a few people in the building. It was so quiet in there. And ironically (wink, wink) an Asian baby girl was born. I have a feeling the hospital worked some magic...

Bri got to yell out a name and she named the baby "Briana." Another woman yelled out a middle name "Lynn." Here is Briana Lynn...

I'm telling you - I was so tempted to shell out $225 for Briana Lynn. But, I calmed myself down and walked out without her.

Bri let her doll ride the school bus...

And then she rocked her on the front porch right before we left...

It was so great watching her face light up in that place. I went as a kid (except it was in a much smaller building, they have moved since then), and it was so fun bringing my daughter. Next stop (post) - Anna Ruby Falls.