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Fall Bucket List Buster: Weekend Adventures in Blue Ridge

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I know. I know. Technically we are not quite into the “Fall season,” but I am not going to semantics and silly dates get in the way of an opportunity to check off some pretty awesome bucket list adventures off of our list! Due to inclement weather school closures and an already scheduled 3 day weekend Waring, Addie, and I took the liberty to invite ourselves (sorry, not sorry) on a camping trip with my parents to Blue Ridge, GA.

We stayed in my grandparent’s camper on some family/friend property near Blairsville that has been outfitted for camping (complete with full hook-up and bath house!!). The pictures below pretty much speak for themselves. We had a blast!

Here are just a few bucket list items that have been checked off:

-Camping

-Apple Picking (September Wonder apples are the best….but we all prefer the Apple Cider Donuts!)

-S’mores

-Go to a Fall Festival (Blairsville Heritage Days Festival)

-Go to the Mountains (this was Addie’s first trip. Her first comment was “Mountains aren’t purple?—> The girl reads too many books!!

-Making a fire (okay, so technically someone else made it…but we enjoyed it!)

 

Now that we have a head start on Fall, we may be able to check off some bucket list items two and three times this season! Happy Fall Y’all!

 

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Visiting Mother Cabbage
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Note to self: remember this always.

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Glad we DIDN’T do this…

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Addie loves searching for “treasures” AKA rocks!
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YUM

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Being a farmer is hard work!
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Searching for gold!

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Candle making at the Blairsville Heritage Days Festival.
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Searching for purple mountains!
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Looking at those mountains again…
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Waring working at the campsite.
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Camp Hughes-Saxon

Fall Bucket List: 2016 Edition

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Summer was so fun with our season-specific list of things to do that I think we just HAVE to create another fun-filled bucket list or this Fall! Here are some of the things that we will be up to in the new few months:

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  1. Attend Disney’s Food and Wine Festival
  2. Go for 25 days total at Disney this year (making the most of that Annual Pass)
  3. Go camping
  4. Go to the mountains (any mountains will do…)
  5. Pumpkin carving
  6. Decorate the house with Addie’s old Halloween Photos (I read a book that mentioned each year decorating for Halloween with photos of past costumes and fun. I love the idea!!!)
  7. Make s’mores
  8. Make a thankful tree (similar to the Advent calendars that are hands-on for kids)
  9. Finish my thankful tablecloth prior to Thanksgiving this year (Every year family members sign the tablecloth and I embroider over their messages during the rest of the year. This will be year number 3 of this tradition and I love how precious of a keepsake that this is becoming).
  10. Go to a Fall Festival
  11. Take 3 year photos
  12. Host a Fall baking night
  13. Celebrate Addie’s Day (birthday #3)
  14. Conduct a birthday interview with Addie (yearly tradition)
  15. Host Friends-giving
  16. Buy (at least one) special Fall decoration
  17. Go to a corn maze
  18. Go see a drive-in movie
  19. Go to an Octoberfest
  20. Build a fire
This is an example of what it will look like in a few years!

That Paid Off Feeling….

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We bought my Outlander in 2012 in anticipation of growing a family within the near future. My previous car had been a Scion TC (read: very, very small). I loved that car because it was blue (my favorite car color) and cute and sporty. But….for all that is was, it was not a baby-mobile. So, we traded in my midnight blue TC for a sky blue Outlander.

Years later, the new vehicle has certainly served its purpose. It has hauled our little girl home from the hospital, carried me safety to and from work in Savannah each day, and taken our family on many, many trips. As happy as I was when we bought the outlander, I have never been happier with the SUV than today. You see today we made the last payment on the car! This is one exciting step on our debt-free journey, and I will tell you it feels great!

We still have a way to go and there will always be hiccups along the way, but to see progress, to gain some momentum….that feels oh so sweet!

This Weekend With Addie: Kendall’s Birthday

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Well it’s official….Addie was invited to her first birthday party! Our friends that we have met from church have a sweet little daughter that Addie just LOVES. We have to pray for her and her family most every night (I say most nights…because, well she is two and to be honest some nights the prayers are a little random/crazy. For instance, some nights she wants to pray for pickles and trees….).

Last Saturday we had a blast at Summer Waves and celebrated Kendall’s 4th birthday. We had Peppa cake and Kendall opened lots of Peppa presents. It was such a blessing to get to see these crazy girls (and Kendall’s baby brother, Kyler) in action. They took on that waterpark like pros!

Be a parent has crazy highs and lows, but one of the best parts is being able to relive all of life’s firsts! I am sure that there will be many “firsts” that I will be less excited to walk my daughter through in life, but this was definitely a lot of fun.

I am thankful for godly friends to walk along side in this journey of raising little girls…

Homecoming

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As I think about going to work in just a few short hours, I am filled with gratitude and thanksgiving to God. I have been blessed so richly in this life, and this school year is proof of God’s faithfulness and goodness. It has been eleven years, but I am back home as a Mustang.

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Since graduation I have seen the world, experienced the ups and downs of college life, married the man of my dreams, lost loved ones close to my heart, became a mother, a teacher, and an administrator. These experiences have shaped and molded my world-view, my head, and my heart.

This year I am blessed beyond measure to be working alongside a great staff, students, and community. I am helping to lead and serve my community in ways that I could never had imagined eleven years ago. More and more I am learning to trust in His plans. Even in the storm. In good times and bad, God is still good. Thank you for your perfect plans. Lord, help me to remember to give honor and praise to you in all of life’s circumstances.

You do not have tomorrow. Make every moment count!

Disney Friend-Cation: Mariah and April do Magic Kingdom

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I have never been to Disney World as an adult without a kid. We had a great time just wandering aimlessly around the park, eating at the newly-opened Skipper Canteen restaurant, and catching a glimpse of the new show, Mickey’s Royal Friendship Faire. While I will always love seeing Disney from the eyes of a child when I watch Addie, I have to admit that I had a blast just going with a friend! I hope that many more friend-cations are in our future!

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Summer Bucket List: Crushed it!

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In case you were wondering, Addie and I had a FABULOUS Summer. We (ok, mostly me) were driven by our Bucket List and determined to make the most of our time together. Check out some of our adventures below!

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Summer Bucket List—2016 Edition

-Go see a $1 movie: I actually don’t think that we ever saw a $1 movie…but we did see a couple of full-priced ones. We saw Finding Dory and Secret Life of Pets. While Pets was pretty cute, it doesn’t get much better than Disney…. Addie sat through the entire movies with no potty accidents. Addie even shhh’ed me when I was trying to ask her if she was having a good time. Apparently you are not supposed to talk during the movies!

-Make homemade ice cream: Yeah, no we didn’t do this.

-Go camping: Or this…I have high hopes that maybe this will happen in the fall. It is just way too hot around here for this to be very much fun.

-Tiedye t-shirts: We took care of this task during our Friend-cation weekend with Tori, Mariah, and Addie.

-Pick blue berries/strawberries: We actually picked blackberries. It was hot, but it was fun!

-Make jam & can tomatoes: Blackberry picking was followed by blackberry jam making. YUM! Waring and Addie grew tomatoes together, but we ate them all!

-Host a yard sale: Done and done! While we didn’t sell a ton, we had so much fun!

-Paint Pet Rocks/Character Rocks: Addie picked out her favorite rocks in Granny Layne’s yard, and then she painted them. This year her character traits that we wrote on the rocks were “loving” and “silly.” While I would argue that “sassy” would probably fit as well she was not into it…

-Go to the Library: We have fallen back in love with our local library. They have story time each month and Addie loves to go. I love that we get to read new books instead of the same ones over and over!

-Finish Thanksgiving table cloth: I am very, very behind in this area. I need to get on it before November, but to be honest I have just gotten lazy.

-Make flash cards: Nope. We didn’t even start this. She has two more years until pre-school….She will be just fine.

-Homemade pizza night: Does picking it up from Little Caesars count?

-Oatland Island nature walk: Let’s be real….it is waaaay to hot for this!

-Throw a Tea-Party: We had lot’s of pretend ones in the playroom. We will have real ones when she gets just a bit older…..

-Make a Pillow Fort & hold a Disney Movie Marathon: We watched Aladdin and Tangled on repeat!

-Play Make-up: YES! We all got makeovers by Addie.

-Make a Stepping Stone- The stepping stone turned out to be the cutest thing ever, thanks to the help of my Papa, Granny Layne, and Aunt Jenny. I can’t wait to make this a Summer traditions and get to see these precious pavers in the yard for years to come!

-Take swim lessons- Addie had a blast swimming with Mrs. Loren. She talked and talked about her each day until we finally arrived for her lessons!

-Paint Pottery: check!

This bucket list was so much for to think about and check off. I think that we just may have to make another one for Fall! What do you think?

 

 

Orlando: Our Week Away

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Every year since we have been married, Waring and I have been blessed with the resources, time, and health to travel. He often jokes that I will pinch every penny out of the other areas within our budget in order to make sure that we can make our travel plans a reality. What can I say, I have serious wanderlust. I like to collect memories more than things (although my friends would attest that I am certainly not a minimalist either).

We normally take our major trip over the Summer, and I am normally obsessing about it months ahead of time. I am a firm believer that planning for the trip is almost as fun as the travel itself! However, this year we decided to take an awesome trip through New England and up to Montreal during Spring Break. While this was our”big” trip for the year, Waring was able to get another week off in June, and I just couldn’t justify sitting around the house when there is so much FUN to be had out there on the road (my Dad told me this past week that if I suddenly woke up and didn’t want to go and explore anymore that he would know something was seriously wrong!) So, thanks to credit card reward points for the lodging, previous purchased annual passes to Disney (more on this later…), and groceries bought for the trip out of our monthly allotted budget we were able to spend an incredibly cheap week in Orlando (because we took our lunch into the park with us each day and steered clear of the gift shops we were able to spend $15 or less in Disney World each day!)

So much has happened in Orlando over the past couple of weeks, but our time in the city was full of pixie dust and magic. I pray that we all will continue to have the ability to safety travel and make memories just as we did this past week. Please check out some of our latest adventures!

Daddy- Daughter Hot Air Balloon Ride


Henna at Disney’s EPCOT = Bucket List Item Completed.

Only in Orlando can you get sushi and a burger!
Don’t let this little girl fool you…she can flex her muscles.

Addie’s new favorite ride is “Water Mountain” AKA Splash Mountain!
Addie loved the pool!

 

Mommy Milestone: I Love You.

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From the moment she was born I said it. I whispered it, prayed it, sang it, and repeated it over and over and over again. Even though those three little words couldn’t possibly describe my emotions bottled up inside, I said them anyway. “I love you.” From the moment she was born and for no reason at all I loved her. (It is in these moments that I feel I can see a glimpse of our Heavenly Father’s agape love towards man. We are nothing and could not possibly earn his favor, yet he so richly lavishes his love upon us.)

God has blessed our family with a sweet, sassy, silly, social butterfly named Addie. She has turned our world upside down, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Since she was born we make sure to tell her we love her each and every day so that it will be one of those undeniable truths that she can hold fast to when she becomes a teenager and thinks she knows it all, or her world is rocked by some unforeseen future or lingering doubt.

Most of our professions of love have been monologues spoken over her as she lie asleep, during late night rocking chair sessions, or fleeting and hurried moments throughout our time together. One day something different happened. She said it. Not “I love you too” as in a reply, but just out of the blue.  “Mommy, I’ll always love you.” And at that moment my heart grew three sizes and burst into a million tiny pieces all over the floor.

Now don’t forget, she is two…so shortly after this heartfelt moment she can usually be heard demanding another snack, drink, or negotiating five more minutes of playtime before her bath. But, in this moment I realize that another milestone of motherhood has come and I love her more with each passing day.

 

Painting pet rocks from the stones she collected at Granny Layne and Papa’s house.

 

Addie and April Take Over Summer 2016

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Well, week two of Addie & April Take Over Summer is almost in the books. I think that I can speak for us both by saying that we are having a blast. Last Summer was complicated for many reasons and I didn’t get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked, but oh we are making up for it this year in true list-making, adventure-seeking, task-oriented, action item crossing-off fashion! When I look back on this Summer I don’t want to say…we sat around and watched TV. I want to make memories and grow closer together this Summer. Not trying to brag, but you should be jealous because…we are on a roll! 🙂 In all honestly, my prayers each night seem to be summed up in two simple words (Thank you.) Thank you Jesus for the blessing of this sweet time. Thank you Jesus for this crazy little girl that you have entrusted to us. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Check out our progress below!

Summer Bucket List—2016 Edition

-Go see a $1 movie

-Make homemade ice cream

-Go camping

-See Sesame Street Live- check! Addie is in love with ELMO!


-Tiedye t-shirts– check! When the Tori and Mariah came down for the weekend we snagged a quick opportunity to tie-die a few shirts! This was so much fun, and the best part is that Addie and I still have some left over!!


-Pick black berries- check! Okay, so it was a little warm today when we finally got out to the farm today, but it was still fun. Addie is fighting a little Summer cold and doesn’t like to be sweaty, so she told us that she was “really, really thirsty and ready to go to Addie’s house” about 15 minutes after we got there. She DID love eating the fruits of our labor at lunch though!


-Make jam & can tomatoes

-Host a yard sale- check! We didn’t make a ton of cash, but we had a lot of fun trying! It was nice to spend a Saturday morning together with the family and get rid of some clutter in the process. 

-Get play make-up and have a makeover night- check! There really is no limit to the fun that $1 makeup from the corner Dollar General can provide!

-Paint Pet Rocks/Character Rocks

-Go to the Library– check! Addie absolutely LOVED Story Time at the library. I can’t say that I am not a little bit proud that she took a seat in the front row and tried to be Miss Star Student, even if she did tell some of the other kids to “shh….because this is a library.” 


-Finish Thanksgiving table cloth

-Make flash cards

-Homemade pizza night

-Oatland Island nature walk

-Throw a Tea-Party

-Make a Pillow Fort & hold a Disney Movie Marathon- check (sort-of). We haven’t had a full-on Disney Movie Marathon, but Hubby and I have been binge watching Black List while Addie watches a plethora of different DVDs in the evening time. By the end of the day the Summer heat has gotten to everyone and nothing is better than some lounge time in bed with the whole family!

-Make a Stepping Stone- check! The stepping stone turned out to be the cutest thing ever, thanks to the help of my Papa, Granny Layne, and Aunt Jenny. I can’t wait to make this a Summer traditions and get to see these precious pavers in the yard for years to come!

-Take swim lessons- check! Addie had a blast swimming with Mrs. Loren. She talked and talked about her each day until we finally arrived for her lessons!