Keeping It Real With The Anderson's : Who's Spoiled?

On October 10th, I turned 29! It is scary to think that my twenties are almost over. But, I didn't let myself get too sad about it. Luck was on my side and Corey had a two day break from school on the 10th and 11th. So, I planned a trip to New Bern, North Carolina! I am a planner, in fact, I had been secretly planning this trip before I left Utah. The reason being that Nicholas Sparks lives in NC, and he has always been one of my favorite authors. I originally read his well known book, "The Notebook" when I was 16, and then read "A Walk to Remember". Some of his books have the same theme and aren't as good as his first few books. But, I have read almost all of his books, and have always wanted to meet him (especially because he isn't bad to look at, and he writes love stories)! He has written 17 books now, and ALL of them are based in towns throughout North Carolina. This is actually one of the main reasons I wanted to live here. Growing up in Idaho, I never thought it would be possible. But, on October 11th we waited in line at the New Bern Mall for only six hours to meet him! Jack, Addie, and Corey were such good sports through it all! Addie still says, "Mom, remember that line, it was terrible". In fact, Corey studied for a few hours while we waited, and that's the one test he got a 100% on. So, that's good news too! We met several GREAT people in line and basically we became instant friends, because we just chatted the whole time. The funny thing was that two of them had never read his books, they just thought it would be fun to meet a famous author. I thought that was hilarious! So, I met Nicholas Sparks, I was nervous, I got my original copy of "A Walk to Remember" signed, and I got his new book, "The Best of Me" signed. He told me I was going to get in trouble because I snuck in my other book to have him sign it. But, he signed it anyway! I'm spoiled! Corey got it all on video, something I will keep forever!

As for the city of New Bern, it is beautiful! It was founded in 1710, it's the second oldest town in North Carolina. It is where the Neuse and Trent Rivers meet, and the water surrounding the city made for a wonderful birthday picnic on the river! We went to the birthplace of Pepsi-Cola, and walked around their historic downtown. Corey and Addie surprised me with two shirts and a beautiful necklace for my birthday. Also, Corey REALLY wanted to give me the gift of NOT studying on my birthday. However, he got too worried about everything he needed to do and left me at the hotel with the kids that night to go study. :) I'm glad he did, he has to put school first because we have given up so much to be here. It has been a few weeks since my birthday and I'm still feeling so blessed to be able to have a mini-vacation with my family before Corey starts clinicals next week!!!