Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 112

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Sites from downtown:
1)

Elmwood Park
This guy was about to lose his pants...I waited for him to move to the side so I could get a picture of the fountain ahead but it just wasn't happening so whatever...funny thing is we kept seeing him randomly pop up all over the place while we were walking around haha...

2)

Doors of the old Norfolk Southern Building

3)

Up ahead is the old Norfolk Southern Building I mentioned in #2...it was just recently purchased as Norfolk Southern relocated their headquarters down to Atlanta... Linking with Weekend Reflections

4)

Center In The Square...on a nice day one of my favorite things to do while downtown is to visit the rooftop on Center In The Square...it provides such a great view of the city...

5)

This is a view from the rooftop of Center In The Square looking back the way we walked in...see that big building on the left? That is the old Norfolk Southern Building...you can also just make out the fountain to the right of it that I showed you in #1...this is the way we usually walk into downtown...starting at Elmwood Park and down past the fountain!

That's my 5 this week! I look forward to seeing your randoms! Don't forget to link up and visit others!! Happy New Year!!

Ozzy & Riley

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Ozzy

Riley who is a little mischievous...notice he has gotten something from the trash!

Today I am thankful for Ozzy and Riley...Ozzy our sweet Rottweiler will be 6 in February and I just love him to pieces...Riley is Ashlyn's little pooch and Ash and Ri came to live with us after she graduated from JMU...by the way, she's still looking for her "big girl job" anyone looking for a smart girl with a political science major? Anyways...Ozzy and Riley get along great, they are good friends!

Linking with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

“Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.”
― Mark Twain

Colorful Downtown

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Pricey townhouses along Norfolk Avenue . Downtown Roanoke

Linking with Wordless Wednesday

A Troutville Original

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This is one of my most favorite old houses that I frequently pass...

And...

A splash of yellow from fall...

And...

This morning's sunrise...came upstairs to make Nick some breakfast before he ran off to work and my kitchen was glowing!

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

Christmas Eve & Christmas

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On Christmas Eve we open a few presents like our annual Christmas jammies and some games...then we play games! Here is Ashlyn, Braden and Dalton and Ashlyn's dog Riley...

Christian and his girlfriend Madeline...

Me and Nick...

Ozzy...

Riley...

Christmas Eve dinner...pretty casual, just soup and sandwiches...This year I tried a Taco Soup that Ashlyn had at one of her friend's houses and loved it...it was pretty good...a keeper!

Ashlyn got very competitive playing Jenga ;)

Christmas morning...before the mess!

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas/Holiday!

Linking up with Mersad's Through My Lens

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 111

City Market Building . Roanoke . 1922

1) I'm going to rant for a bit...I had to get the historical significance of this fine old building from Wikipedia ...you can see the building's website HERE and while the site is pretty modern it lacks any detail about the building's history, which I for one, and I know many of you find the most important...at least dedicate a page to the building's history am I right? Ok, so, rant off!

2) Ahhhh done with my Christmas shopping! Yippee! Have to go food shopping tomorrow but I can happily say everything is wrapped and under the tree now!

3) Nick has been off this week...It has been nice having him home but also difficult to get things done!

4) Do you feel like it is Christmas already? I don't!

5) If you could have Santa bring you anything at all, what would it be? I think I would pick a family trip to Quebec. I have so many ancestral things to see there and would love to share that with all 6 of us! You hear me Santa? ;)

Ok that is my 5 for the week! I hope you will join in! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays!!

Dining Al Fresco

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Downtown Roanoke

Whoever this belongs to can certainly use it right now as no snow is in our forecast...looks like it will be a warm Christmas instead of white.

Today I am thankful for a text last night letting me know that my nephew out in California is doing much better after being extremely ill over the weekend! I know he still has a long road ahead but this was a start in the right direction!
Linking with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

Revisiting Colonial American Bank

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Colonial American Bank . Downtown Roanoke . 1926

This gorgeous clock might look familiar to you because I showed it to you HERE not too long ago but in that photo you couldn't see the pretty green details. I love, love, LOVE this clock!

Linking up with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

More Christmas Trees @ The Hotel Roanoke

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Last week I showed you a few of the trees around the hotel, here's a few more:

The North Pole Post Office

A tree reflecting in the mirror...don't you just love that mirror?!

This space always gets a big display! One year it was a Polar Express theme, which I showed you HERE and another time was a big gingerbread house, which I know I have pictures of somewhere but guess I never posted it...anyways, this year was a scene from Finding Dory...did you see that movie? I thought it was hilarious! Back on topic, isn't this great?! So much detail! I think that little girl wants to climb right in!

This tree is in the main lobby and everyone likes to come and have their pictures taken here. We've got a few of our own too!

Linking up with Mersad's Through My Lens

6 days till Christmas!

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 110

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1)

These 2! I have the best time with these 2 boys and my heart will break when they are older and more independent and have less time for me. Such is growing up...(downtown Roanoke)

2) And then:

as we were walking away from the above location we saw this! I mean really!! It's not often we eat fast food but when we do you can be sure I am going to eat every.last.french.fry! I'm not even going to lie about that!

3)

Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge
"History: The former First Street Bridge (which was also called the Henry Street Bridge) underwent a $4 million renovation in 2007 and reopened as a pedestrian bridge renamed in honor of the slain civil rights leader. The narrow bridge once provided a vehicle crossing over the railroad tracks between downtown and the Gainsboro neighborhood, where Henry Street was the retail and entertainment hub for many black Roanokers before “urban renewal” projects wiped out much of the neighborhood. The bridge was repaired numerous times over the decades and was closed to traffic in 2000. Since reopening in February 2008, the bridge has been a primary walkway for people who live in apartments in the renovated Norfolk and Western headquarters, who attend classes at the Roanoke Higher Education Center or who just want to admire the bronze statue of King at the north end of the bridge and listen to recordings of his speeches. It is the last steel truss bridge in Roanoke." Found that HERE along with a list of historic bridges in Roanoke...I need to make that my mission to visit each one and snap a photo!

4)

Statue of MLK Jr at the bridge in #3
In the 2nd photo you might recognize the white building to the right from Tuesday's post!

5)

"I have a dream" MLK Jr. bridge

That is my 5 this week! Please share your 5 randoms with us! Link back, visit others! Thanks so much and have a great weekend!

Market Street Walkway

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Downtown Roanoke
The walkway takes us over the train tracks, but look up, more train tracks!

Today, on Thankful Thursday I am thankful for a wood stove and a wood delivery guy who delivers wood when you need it! We have some cold weather today and overnight with crazy windchills...starting out tomorrow morning at about 10 degrees with windchills bringing us to zero! Bundle up!

Linking with Michelle's Thankful Thursday

Jefferson Street

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Downtown Roanoke

Taken the Sunday after Thanksgiving...Sunday's are pretty quiet downtown...

Hayes, Saey, Mattern & Mattern

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Norfolk Avenue . Roanoke

This awesome building houses an architectural/engineering design firm...makes sense right? In trying to find info on it I did learn that this firm is responsible for so much in the Roanoke area alone! They've had quite a successful run!

Linking with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures

Live Nativity @ Camp Eagle

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Last night we went and saw the Live Nativity in Fincastle...It was really neat...when we lived in Georgia there was an awesome one we'd go to each year and this was the first one we've seen since...they did a great job! It was pretty cold, I think in the 30's but at least it wasn't windy or rainy! When you arrive you are put into groups then wait for your group to be called, we were group 14...when they called us we loaded a bus which took us to the starting point of the nativity...there we entered the pavilion and were served hot chocolate and cookies and entertained while we waited again for our group to be called...there were these dapper guys performing and we also saw the church choir. This was the only picture I took...planned to take some from the nativity scenes but once we started I was told no flash and it was just too dark for me to mess with my camera so I know ahead now for next time! This was the last weekend the nativity ran...for more info, and a couple of pictures CLICK HERE

Linking up with Mersad's Through My Lens

Willy Nilly Friday 5 No. 109

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This week I am going to show you a few of the Christmas trees on display at the Hotel Roanoke:
1)

All around the hotel are Christmas trees decorated by various groups...

2)

Well not a tree but this was a train made out of 12 packs of coke with the Polar Bear driving, can you see him?! Also those are snowflakes hanging from the ceiling made from empty Coke bottles! Very creative display!

3)

4)

5)

This one is from the Roanoke SPCA...you can vote on the tree of your choice for a donation and the money goes to a charity...I voted for this one because you know how much I love dogs!

I will show more as Christmas approaches I am sure!

That's my 5 this week and I hope you will play along! Post 5 randoms, link back and visit others! Have a great weekend :)

The Christmas Tree @ Hotel Roanoke

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Hotel Roanoke . Downtown Roanoke

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

This week I am joining Michelle for her Thankful Thursday linkup...

I am thankful for online shopping & free shipping, especially this time of year! I do about 95% of my Christmas shopping online...so much easier don't you think?! Are you done with your Christmas list yet? I am almost!

Little Round Window

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Campbell Ave . Roanoke

Asberry Building

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Campbell Ave . Roanoke
circa 1890

Oddly I can't find much else on this building...linking with Tom's Tuesday's Treasures