If you missed chapter one you can catch up here.
Chapter 2: Food
The first several days at home revolved mostly around food. My friends will not be surprised that I have
dedicated an entire chapter to such an important topic. I’d basically been eating the same seven
meals week after week for eight months.
On the list of things I was excited about experiencing while I was home,
there was Emily, baby, and food. I’m not
hard to please. So we picked some of our
favorite restaurants and got to share a few meals with some close friends. The first night was just the two of us at
Luigi’s, one of our favorite Italian places, with a very romantic atmosphere. If you live nearby, try the seafood risotto.
Wednesday night was The Cheesecake Factory with our friends
Jeff & Kristie, a meal we kicked off by ordering four appetizers. They got one wrong, which we realized
immediately - after we finished eating it.
When I mentioned
it to the waiter, they brought out the right dish, so five apps. Can you think of a better way to start
dinner? At this point I didn’t think
we’d finish, but Emily was eating for two, and they don’t make food like this
in Afghanistan. Though, I did get my
cheesecake to go. Keylime pie makes a
delicious breakfast the next morning.
Plus, lime is fruit, so... health food really.
Thursday was Carraba’s, one of my favorite Italian
franchises, after Olive Garden, naturally. Lauren and Carson, friends from Emily’s
undergrad days who also found themselves back in NC, joined us. After a long wait and many prayers, they
finally have a baby girl on the way, so we wanted to celebrate that with them. Congratulations guys!
Friday was our first road trip in the Swagger Wagon. Some great friends, Clay and Stephanie, had their entire extended family at Holden
Beach for a week, so we joined them for their last day. Yes, Emily was like ten months pregnant, but
we were only two hours away and we got the green light from our midwife. After a wonderful spaghetti dinner, I honed
my picture making skills by doing some family portraits for their whole
clan. I finished with some shots of
Emily on the water before we hit the road.
Thanks for sharing your vacation with us guys. Your pics are ready!
The weekend came with more relaxing at home, Church on
Sunday, and lunch at Nonna’s, one of our favorite local Italian places (I'm just now noticing a theme here).
Monday brought more fun adventures. Emily had made a great friend in her birthing
class, Ashley, and her husband David.
Ashley had considered getting some maternity photos done, but she was a
little hesitant and didn’t really know how to get that ball rolling. Emily happened to know a great photographer
with a spanking new camera that he was itching to use. I saw it as a great chance to get some
practice and scout some locations because I still wanted to do a full photo
session with Emily. So the four of us
spent the afternoon in downtown Fayetteville, moving from the train station, to
a crumbling brick wall, and finished up in a rose garden, complete with a
fountain and a bridge. I’d never even
thought about posing a pregnant woman, or a couple, but Ashley and David were
awesome, and I think they were very happy with the photos. Emily, even pregnant, was an incredible
assistant. We all had a great time until
the mosquitoes showed up. We finished
off that night at Samurai for hibachi and sushi. Fantastic time.
Before we knew it, an entire week had disappeared from our
calendar. Luckily we’d already eaten
enough food for two weeks. And the most
exciting adventure was still yet to come! More to follow in chapter three...
