One of the coolest things about Asheville is the fact that a 30 minute drive (or less really) will afford you some amazing hiking. Wednesday night after Wesley and his coworker Patrick got off work at 5:00 we went for a three mile in/three mile out hike at Looking Glass Rock. At the top of the hike there is a bald overlooking a spectacular terrain. The weather was perfectly mild and the trees are the greenest they will be all year.

We stayed on the bald until sunset thinking that the hike downhill would be a quick one. It were about halfway down the switchback trail when it got so dark we had to pull out the one headlamp we had. The trail looked like a whole different place at night. The lightning bugs made me feel like I was in a fairy tale; the crying cougar made me realize I was not. The silence was peaceful but there was so much life in the woods that I never felt isolated. It was quite an adventure and I can't wait to go camping up there.

One Step Closer

I packed today. Not everything, mind you. I packed my dishes, the few decent pots and pans I have, my nic-naks, and all of my wall art. Next week Wesley's apartment is going to have so much 'Eryn' in it he won't know what to do with himself (or his utter lack of closet space).

It was a beautiful day. I opened the windows and let the warm spring air push winter out of the house. I cranked up the classic rock and I took a major step towards the next chapter. You should have seen me dancing to 'Mustang Sally.' I was on a roll! Ha ha.

I look at the boxes lined against the kitchen wall and I grin from ear to ear. Once I get my things to Wesley's apartment, Asheville really will be home and Mississippi really will only be a temporary landing spot for me. In May I move my furniture to Asheville and I'll come back to stay with my grandparents in Jackson while I wrap up my summer semester.

I'm excited that I will get to spend a couple of months with family before I head off. My grandparents are like those active seniors you see in mutual fund commercials. They ride horses, travel, tile the house, email, and simply put, never slow down. It's great. Plus, when I need a quiet house to study, I know that they will understand. I can't let off until I pass my last class. No rest for the weary, eh?

The alarm goes off at 5:15 Monday morning. This is early. I mean, hot damn, way early. I somehow manage to get myself out of bed and into my whites knowing that it's going to be a long day. By the time I arrive at the hospital I am alert and ready to go.
I got to see all sorts of awesome-grossness and do all sorts of nursing-type things. It was a blast. I did a double-clinical so that I could have Thursday off and come to Asheville early. I didn't leave until 11:00 that night. I came so close to doing my first 16H shift. I was only slightly delirious by the time I got home although I did manage to snap at a classmate for asking a stupid question (she understood) and make a slightly lewd suggestion to my professor regarding our one male classmate. That was about the time we were let off the hook early.

After a few hours sleep I woke up at the same time on Tuesday. I was supposed to move the clothes to the dryer. I didn't. And now I have a random assortment of mismatched clothes with me. I got to school early and took my psychology midterm that was given to the rest of the class the night before. My psych professors have been graciously accommodating. I couldn't do it without their help. After that was the Med-Surg lecture at 8:30.

12:30 comes and it's finally time to get out of dodge. I hop in the car, find Tom Petty's Saving Grace on the Ipod, roll down the windows and hit the road. I get about fifteen miles outside of town when my car just decides that she has had enough. The engine is still running, but not getting gas. I slowly decelerate until I am stalled on the side of the highway. Need I remind you that this is Mississippi in July. It takes about 2 minutes before I am sweating like a linebacker. I wait, call Wesley, call Dad, curse my luck and try to turn the car on again. It cranks. It goes. It stops. I think I might have made the sailors on the coast blush- I'm sure they heard me. I call AAA. I call the roommate. Roommie comes to get me and take me back to the house. Mom drives from Jackson and takes me to my grandmother's never-used car, and the tow-truck picks up Jezebel (yes, that's her name). Ok, things are moving along. {Thanks Mom, Dad, and Courtney for all of your help!) and I get on the road at 6:00 PM. Luckily, Mamaw's car is a very comfy 2003 Accord and the drive was uneventful from Jackson on. I made it to Asheville around 3:30 AM, exhausted and hyped up on Sobe energy drinks.

Part II to come.

Bumper Stickers

Asheville is in the Guinness Book for having the most bumper stickers. Anywhere you go in that town and you will learn where people hike, what their political views are (usually militant), how to best save the earth, where their critters go to school, et al.



However, Ashevilleans have something to learn from the stickered in Hattiesburg. In Asheville, you have to use multiple stickers to convey that you are on the same hippie-page as all of the other stickered hippies. All of your 'save the world- damn the man' stickers could be rendered null and void by one false move. For instance, all Che Guevara stickers must be removed post haste or the hippies will kick you out of their Utopian book club and Tips for Dreading Your Hair listserv. People finally read about their Hero to the People and realized he was quite the bastard. It's no longer cool to admire Che... unless you want to be a part of that group.

The rednecks know that the more simple something is, the better. All you have to do in Hattiesburg to be 'One of the boys' is have a simple silhouette of a deer's head on the back windshield of your car. It can't actually be on the bumper, this faux pas might as well be coupled with a 'Hillary for President' sticker. And it has to be a certain sticker (I haven't found a picture yet, but will); no substitutes allowed. As long as you can follow these few simple rules, no other bumper stickers are needed to join the club. Having 'the deer' gets you secret information on where the best 'kills' happen, which clubs have the loosest women, and which John Deer tractor is the best for your bush-hogging needs. It's a beautiful plan.

I actually saw a different bumper sticker today that got me thinking about this. It spoke volumes about the driver of the 1988 teal-green Ford, although not in the way I think the man expected it to do. The sticker said "I ((heart)) My Wife."

Now. This is a very nice sentiment but still a little over-done even if bought at a five-and-dime. What one notices when looking closely though is that this glorious bumper sticker was the man's award for attending a marriage reconciliation retreat. What this tells me is that this man screwed up royally and the oh-so-affectionate bumper sticker is his self-adhesive scarlet letter.

I've seen a few of these around town and it's pretty much well known that it means the man got caught. Now, I'm not saying that women don't cheat- I'm just saying that the wives are smart enough to lose the bumper sticker while cleaning up the double-wide.

I live in such a glorious town, don't I?

guest post

hey hey,

this is wesley. how is everyone? eryn is busy packing up for her drive back to mississippi tomorrow so i was invited to put up a "Special Edition: Wesley Writes" entry.

so tonight we went to the Grove Park Inn and had a splendid dinner. included in the dinner was a nice cabernet; a portobello stuffed with artichokes, red peppers, and boursin cheese (divine, just amazing); local trout with a crabmeat stuffing; a just kickass 9 oz tenderloin; and one heavenly apple crisp with ice cream and hot chocolate. it was a great experience - even the penne and broccoli sides were topnotch. the conversation was quite deep and enlightening (for both people i believe), the view of asheville's skyline and mountains were just right. all in all a fantastic time.

so now i think she's almost done packing and i bid you all adieu. have a great night.

Crunch.

It's late and even though I criss-crossed all over downtown today, I can't sleep. I've been having not-so-fun dreams the past couple of nights and I guess it has me a little apprehensive.

So in leiu of a trip to Nod I am writing this and uploading pictures on to my new website, www.littlemisseryn.org/gallery . Thanks to my very thoughtful boyfriend, I have entered the world of ubergeekdom. If anything can cure insomnia, web design can; I assure you.

Let me back up and tell my adventures, starting with the dinner party last night.

Wesley and I cooked for ourselves, two other couples, and Jason. It was my first time meeting three of the seven people there and the two couples did not know each other either. It all went very well; food was good, fellowship was great. Then came time to do the dishes.

Crunch. We all heard it when Wesley ran the disposal. It was considered unnatural, but before anyone gave it any real thought the conversation resumed. After a while I got up to clean the mashed potato pot. I looked down into the disposal and saw a red light.

I thought "How cool. Their disposal has a light in it so you can see if you dropped anything into it." I looked a little closer and announced to everyone the astute observation that "There is something inorganic in here." Everyone immediately rushes over to see what is going on. Just at that time I pull out the mangled front cover of my phone. It was so pitiful looking that I had to laugh. Next I pulled out the body of the phone. The red light was still on and the think was vibrating. It was like a dying animal having seizures. Just pitiful.

So after the hooplah dies down, I order a new phone and the rest of the night goes smoothly. Hooray for morbid experiences with technology. Heh.

Today I went downtown and took pictures. I met very friendly people and got some pictures I like, many that I don't. This is partly because I forgot to take water and half way through the afternoon my hands started shaking and I was too distracted to really focus on what I was doing. Not that I was going for super-mega artsy photos anyways, but I wish I had spent a little more time on some of the shots. You can see them at www.littlemisseryn.org/gallery

It's late. I hope this post makes sense.

Since Thursday

I had nursing school orientation, where the professors each took turns scaring the ever-living daylights out of the fresh meat. I got homework assignments, rules, regs, and an opportunity to 'back out now before you spend any more money and waste your time and mine.' Yikes. It's only eighteen months, right? Oy.

Soon after that I was on the road to Asheville. Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone ran through my magic little Ipod and kept me company. It made the drive very bearable. I had a coke, a multi-vitamin, and trail mix for dinner. It kept me going better than I thought it would. I'm putting the meal on reserve as my last ditch survival effort for those late night cram sessions.

I was apprehensive about seeing Wesley. This is our first visit as a long distance couple. So many things could have gone wrong. I could have been too uptight (the most likely), Wesley could have been too busy (also likely), or we could have just been irritable with each other. But I wasn't, he wasn't, and we weren't. So far, I have had the most peaceful, loving visit. I feel at home, welcomed, and like I am supposed to be here. I guess my main worry was that I would be intruding; but I haven't felt like that at all. So, thank you dear.

We have had a lot of fun already. We went to a swanky little neighborhood bar with wood floors and a jovial bartender on Friday night. We met several characters there, my favorite being Colonel and his mighty watch. The watch, as he showed me, is also a compass, barometer, altimeter, and thermometer. His drinks went from beer to tequila that you sip like a cognac. I hope to run into him again. I bet he has a story or two to tell.

Saturday we went to Mount Pisgah and played in the creek that becomes Looking Glass Falls. We saw the water fall and it was pretty, but it was crowded. I had more fun playing in the creek above it and taking pretty pictures of creek-life.

Sunday was a very full day. We went to church and sat through a power-pack sermon (three for the price of one type thing). There was lots of music and a young priest who grinned like a cat the whole service. It was quite an experience.

After that we had lunch at a Cajun restaurant downtown, beignets and all. We went to the Mast General Store where we got camping fever, a place with over-priced fancy furniture for people who will never have kids, and a toy store where we had more fun.

We then made our way out of downtown and to a camping supply store where Wesley got a very sturdy tent and great backpack. We both got sleeping bags that will keep us alive and well in weather down to 20 degrees. You know, for all of those times we will go hiking in Juno in January. They are very comfy bags though. We are going camping Friday and then Saturday we will go up to the highest peak east of the Mississippi.

I am so ready to make this my home. Until then, I am having a wonderful time visiting.

Yesterday was a big, huge, busy day. It started when I *gasp* woke up early. I had orientation for nursing school. Was it exciting? Yes. Was I so nervous my hands shook while driving to the school? Oh yeah you betcha. Did I get a little queazy before it was all over? Check. Am I still looking forward to the next 18 months? Yes, but with a much more realistic view of the hell I am about to put myself through. Off to the races!!

After orientation I decided to head up to Asheville early. I threw my things in a suitcase, loaded down my ipod with goodies, kissed Chloe goodbye and got on the road. I got here last night at around 11:00 Eastern time. It was a quick drive, actually; partly do to the Harry Potter books-on-tape.