We had a very special guest arrive in town this week.  It is none other than the mastermind behind our site here at Light Love Hope, Gregory C. Johnson, aka The Quiet Computer Guy!

He arrived with a big bag of goodies, and when I say a big bag, trust me it had to be for this baby to fit inside!

After we recovered from our sugar high, we went over to a little town that we have been frequenting lately as it’s known as Horse Country!  Aiken has a lot to offer with little shops down town.  While we weren’t really shopping for deals on Black Friday, we just meandered down the street and made our way through little shops here and there just looking around.  We ended up having the best time by taking random pictures, laughing and giggling at the silliest of things (okay, that would be me … I’m the silly one in the group, but I’m perfectly fine with that!)

Yes, I made them suffer through these pictures.  There might have been a few groans that were heard, but they did it any way … because they love me!  🙂

After horsing around a bit, we went to dinner at The Willcox.  This is actually a hotel that was featured in the top 100 list in Travel Leisure Magazine.  We were surprised to learn that the little town of Aiken, South Carolina, was mentioned in there and actually this hotel has won many awards for their service and excellence!   You can stay there, of course, or you can just join them for dinner.  We have only been once before, but we liked the atmosphere so we decided to take Greg over to see what he thought.

We walked in to find a fire burning in the fireplace, and shortly after we were seated, beautiful piano music began to play.  I looked around and directly behind Greg was a beautiful tree that they were putting the finishing touches on.  As soon as they stepped away, I snapped a few pictures.  They are dark since we were basically seated close enough to the fireplace to feel the warmth and hear the sound of crackling coming from it.

After dinner, we went over to The Aiken Community Playhouse to see It’s A Wonderful Life … because it is.  It truly is.

We encourage you, especially during this holiday season, to take time to be silly with your friends and family.  Take time to slow down a little and just enjoy the moment surrounded by people you love and who love you.  Savor the moment, have fun with friends, laugh and play with your family, and make precious memories together.  That’s what it’s all about!