Fresh Meat...read in your best Robin Leach voice.

There's this wonderful restaurant in the mountains of North Carolina called The Gamekeeper. The menu is wonderful and varied. They have your common fine dining cuisine such as beef and fish, even a nice large garden salad. Yet, as the name implies, their forte is in wild game.

On our, mine and my wife's, last trip to Boone, NC we met my dad and step-mom for dinner at The Gamekeeper. From the moment you pull up to this renovated house (after safely steering up 3 miles of curvy mountain road) you feel you are somewhere different. Valet takes your car and you step up onto the deck to take in a great view, which I recommend getting there before the sun goes down. Upon entering there is a wonderful staff and a great atmosphere, but we all know you wanna hear about the food.

So, onto the plates. We began the evening with a meat sampler; this was comprised of antelope, buffalo, buffalo sausage, and their "predetor and prey" sausage (this is the combined meats of rattlesnake and rabbit in the same sausage skin). These came with a serving of steak fries and three dipping sauces; homemade honey-mustard with a kick of horseradish, sweet barbeque with a mesquite taste, and horseradish sour-cream (the dinner party's favorite). This was promtly followed by our entree. Everyone enjoyed different items, I ordered the pheasant which was plesantly spicy served on top of some nice fresh spinach to cool off the spice. The best dish of the night went to my wife with her duck...tender, not overly seasoned and delicious. So tender I would have sworn it was filet mignong. We finished the night with an after dinner irish coffee and an acorn squash stuffed with pumpkin cheesecake and a topping of whipped cream with a caramel sauce on the side, this was slightly underwhelming after the dinner, but still quite tasty.

The dinner was wonderful and the company of family only made it better. If you are now curious about this restaurant, I recommend seeking it out. Mind you the menu changes on a almost daily basis as some items are in short supply, but everything you have there will please...or at least, everything I've had there has. So, I hope I peeked a curiousity somewhere and left you drooling. I'll send out an invite next time I'm going to Boone in hopes of sharing this experience with another couple at another time. If you have not followed any of the above links, again, visit www.gamekeeper-nc.com.

Good evening :)
(Smiley face added to take away from austire tone used throughout this blog, thank you and goodnight.)

My Adventurous Wife

I want to take a moment and commend my wife on being awesome. This past weekend we took some time away too the mountains, kinda a honeymoon extension. We enjoyed the cool Boone weather and spent plenty of time cuddling, wandering around local shops and hitting our favorite eateries.

We went out on Saturday morning to start a normal trail we like to do off the parkway despite the cloudy skies. As we drove further from the house we would hit patches of rain but decided to press on. Upon arriving at the trail there was a steady drizzle but nothing too off putting, plus, Jess wanted to try out her new hiking boots. So we hit the muddy trail after crossing a creek (or two) and enjoyed a nice gray hike. As we went further down the trail the rain would dance back and forth between a drizzle and a steady rain. A mile into the hike we hit a turn around point, and here is where Jess' true awesomeness starts to shine, Jess decides to press on in the rain. Ascending a hill (attempting to find an alternate route to Hebron Rock Colony) the sky began to open up a little more. I'm not talking about opening up for sunshine either. The rain starts to fall harder as we slide and scrape our butts down a hill to get to our destination. Hearing Jess' yelps and laughter made it that much more fun to experience. Not a word on the mud we were crawling through, or how wet we were getting, OR the fact we had walked over a mile in the rain are all reasons I deem her awesome. Although I did hear plenty about the worms coming out to enjoy the rain.

This was all a wonderful experience, as well as the unmentioned speedwalk back to the car and stripping of wet clothes, and I again applaud my wife. This is something that Myles Munroe touches on a few times throughout his couples' devotional. The point that men and women have different interests (not too surprising) but that a spouse should be engaging and share in the excitement of the other's interests. Munroe even goes into the details that men are looking for an recreational companion and women look for conversation. These are secondary needs to a man's primary need for respect and a woman's primary need for love...which will also have to be another blog. Not that you have to have ALL the same interests and hobbies, but that you should share in the delight with your spouse. I admittedy struggle with getting terribly excited about cleaning products, but I try and I smile and take delight in her excitement...and admittedly, the swiffer is a life saver. But this isn't about my lackings, it is about my wife's abillity to astound. Not only does she patiently sit through the same stories and pieces of information I constantly share (and Lord bless her when I get on the topic of ninjas) but there are some things she will jump in and really make the experience that much more enjoyable. Hiking in the rain is one example, so is our work in the kitchen on meals, going out in public (not always easy for me) and eating wild game. I'll elaborate on the wild game, tomorrow.

Jess, here's to you and your adventurous self. Thank you for making my life fun through our relationship from high school to now. I look forward to sharing more experiences with you and seeing the world, even if it is one small mountain trail at a time. I love you.

So in finallity, for the rest of you; hike naked, it puts color in your cheeks. No, really. Do it.

Being Wed

I am a married man. A husband. I delight greatly in my bride. I must say that the greatest of perceptable changes have all been small things. No overwhelming wave of "WOW I'M MARRIED" but instead;

"It's nice to have someone there when I come home."
"Wow, someone else is laughing while I watch T.V."
"Why is the bed sooo freakin' hot?! Oh wait, there is another body heating it too."
"I love feeling the rise and push of her back while she breaths leaning against me."
"That is the cutest apron ever."
"Wow, the refrigerator is actually full."

The list is endless as it is also ever growing. This is already fun, and I plan on keeping it that way.

Wedding Week

No, it's not a new thing on Discovery Channel. Although TLC may pick it up now and run non-stop episodes of Bridezilla and whatever wedding related shows they have. This is my own personal wedding week. Seriously, I'm married here in 6 days and 12 hours and 45 min.

All I can say is it feels like the beginning of a roller coaster. When I proposed the bar was lowered securely into my lap. When we started the planning the ride lurched forward. Now I hear a steady *click click click*. I am eager for the excitement to come, but I can't ignore the tightening of my stomach as I almost fear the fun times ahead.

I regret no decision I've made in my relationship with Jess, and I definitely don't feel it now. So, as we get closer to the kickoff I will slowly raise my hands. Surrendering to the fun ahead. I can't wait to scream like a little girl :)

Something Satisfying...

There's something satisfying in a hot shower after a day at work.

Granted, the warmth alone is pleasant, but that's not it. Nor is it the wonderful scent and smooth sensation of Dove body wash; it's not even the soft, fun, girly pink fluffy sponge that I wash with. The fluffy sponge is a nice touch though. It's not even the more ethereal "job-well-done" reward feeling after a hard day. My satisfaction comes from more grody fares.

I love the feeling of looking down at the initial runoff. The water turning gray from dust and dirt I've collected over the day. Running my hands over my limbs and getting an extra layer off and turning the water another fun shade of gray. Patches of thick dust and gravel disappear. This newfound brendle complextion returns to a pasty white. Watching as my hands become clean only to leave the task of cleaning out nails. (Which is a meditative act in itself, especially when done so with a knife.)

I enjoy the feeling of washing the grime out of my hair and brushing some odd collection of grime behind my ears off my skin. Rinse and repeat.

Then, incorporating my manly-tough pink fluffy sponge to retrieve the final layer of scum from my skin, I smile as the suds do their best to hide the gradient of gray beneath their surface. With the last of the bubbles running down the drain I take the simple enjoyment of a warm shower and slowly turn the knob to a colder setting. Cold enough to pull a gasp of air into my lungs, as if the warm air can help with the sudden flux of temperature. This does not last long before I turn the flow off and enjoy the warmth of a towel.

The ritual is complete and I feel clean. But that is not the excuse for the smile on my face. The smile is in the thought that I might get to do it all again, tomorrow.