Flashback Friday ... sort of

We're home!

The past two days have flown by, but we had such a fun time. Eric had a business trip in Raleigh, so I thought the girls and I would tag along so we could visit with friends.

Raleigh is where I first met Eric (15 years ago!) and we lived there after we were married. Truth be told, I would still live there today! I remember when Eric found out about a job in my hometown and after several interviews decided we were moving back, I cried .... no, I sobbed. I just have such sweet memories in Raleigh and didn't want to leave.

Okay, I'm moving on before I get sad :(

We got there in time for dinner on Wednesday and had plans to take the girls to a neat pizza place we used to go to. The restaurant wasn't there anymore, which was a bummer but we ended up right beside ONE of my apartments (another story). We pulled into the apartment complex and I said, "Look girls! This is where Mommy used to live!" O (trying to process it all) said, "What? Where did Mawmaw live?" I told her Mawmaw didn't live in Raleigh with me to which E chimed in, "You LEFT Mawmaw and moved away?!?"

(Later, I asked E if she would ever want to live in Raleigh. She said yes, but she didn't plan to take me with her. When I asked her 'why', she said, "You didn't take your Mom, so I'm not taking you, either!" (My Mom is yelling "Amen" right now, I just know it).

Anyway, back to eating dinner. We weren't sure what to do, so we drove over one street and took the girls to the restaurant where we were engaged (Winston's). This is the place we had our first official date and one year later, Eric proposed to me at the same restaurant.

It was a little surreal sitting in that same restaurant with my two girls. They were tired and cranky and I mentioned to Eric that compared to our first date and the night we were engaged, this night with the girls was the most stressful. He disagreed and said it was the night he proposed. (Why do guys get so nervous? Don't they know we're going to say 'yes'?)

Here's a picture of our first 'official' date. My friend, Jennifer took this before we left to go to dinner. Who ARE these skinny people? Ha!

On Thursday morning, we took Eric to work and the girls and I drove around and looked at other places I had lived. My heart got a little sad when I passed by my old workplace. I loved working there and was very sad when I had to quit to move. But, God knew I would eventually leave everything and stay at home with my children, right?

We also drove by the place I went to college. Love this college. I told E she should definitely go here, but she wasn't buying it. Eric has her completely brainwashed over NC State. She just kept asking where that campus was. Whatever.

Then, we visited with my friend, Jennifer. We have been friends since 8th grade. So neat to see our kids playing together.

We picked Eric up and ventured out to our old condo (YES, the one that was so cold!). I do have great memories there being the first home we ever had. It was a little sad to see because the condos haven't been taken care of very well. Also, the part of the Neuse River that the condos are on has almost completely dried up because of the drought. The land around it looked very bare. I was nervous about walking around taking pictures because there were people outside, so Eric just got this shot of the front door and the sign.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving around and reminiscing. The girls were getting bored with it, but Eric and I enjoyed it very much.

On the way home, we ate at Mimi's Cafe (I've heard so many of you talk about it) and it was delicious!

Can't wait to go back.