Who are the Joneses?

Ever wonder who the Joneses are or how you stack up? This site will really make you think. While you're there consider sponsoring a child. Just $38 a month can really make a difference!

Oooh, I can't wait to make this: Leather Leaf Necklace

I can't wait to pick up some supplies to make this awesome necklace. I mean let's be honest, what a cute, quick jewelry idea! Check out the full instructions at Missie Krissie...

Do you love hot cocoa as much as I do?

Things have gotten pretty chilly around here in the last couple of days. And while I am still a bit baffled by how early it go so cold (and snowy...none for us yet, but we can see it on the mountaintops), I'm willing to put that aside for a couple reasons:


3) I love fall/winter wear-by far my favorite season for outfits. I love scarves, jackets, layering, etc.


2)The holidays! The family, the food, the traditions and of course the religious aspects...what's not to love? In fact, our church started sharing the story of Mary and Joseph in a series several weeks ago and it's really got me looking forward to our first Christmas at our new church.

1)Hot Cocoa-To be fair, I've been drinking this since the temp dipped below 70 degrees. However, I have abstained from adding any sort of topping as of yet. My plan is to make my own marshmallows in fun shapes next weekend and to try out lots of different topping combos from the following items: sprinkles, marshmallows, whipped cream, chocolate shavings, etc., etc., etc. Winter, I welcome you with open arms!

Source: We Heart It

Check out Random Order on Etsy

So Beau's aunt Vandona is an amazingly talented person. She can cook, design jewelry, she's an awesome decorator and she's so much fun to be around. She loves making jewelry and she's designed some pretty unbelievable pieces. Check out her Etsy shop: Random Order. To peak your interest, here are a couple of my favorite of her pieces:

Fun random side note: Beau and I like to make Valentine's gifts for one another every year. We've been doing it ever since our first V-day together. That first year Beau was really nervous about having to make something so he went over to his aunt's house and she helped him make me two beautiful pairs of earrings. They are still some of my favorites to this day :-)

Happy Anniversa-brie and fun dog pics

So as you may know, it was our anniversary last weekend. Since we went leafing on Saturday and brunching on Sunday, we decided to stay in on Monday (our actual anniversary) and eat a yummy home cooked meal. We had, my favorite appetizer, baked brie to start. Salmon and twice-baked potatoes and some yummy chocolate fondue for dessert.

Baked brie is so delish and it's super, super easy to make. You really almost feel guilty for the lack of work you put into it. I didn't follow a recipe this time around, but basically all you do is this:
You'll need
-Puff pastry sheets (found in freezer section by pie shells)
-A circle of brie
-Egg
-Whatever veggies, fruits, or bread/crackers you want to use to serve it
1) Let one frozen puff pastry sheet thaw. While you wait, preheat oven to 400.
2) Take the the puff pastry sheet and wrap it around the brie, trimming off and saving any excess. Be sure to pinch the edges shut.
Optional step) Take a cookie cutter and use excess pastry to put a star, heart or other shape on top.
3) Beat the egg and mix with water to form egg wash. Brush egg wash over surface of pastry-wrapped brie.
4) Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
5) Serve with raw veggies, fruit and bread or crackers.

Enjoy!!!

Oh and as a fun bonus. Here are some silly/adorable pictures of those sweet pups of ours :-)



Finally...coming soon (like this week) a super easy, DIY version of the Lady Gaga Grammy that you can make just in time for Halloween!

In search of fall color...

Beau and I spent yesterday on a trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway in search of fall color and boy did we ever find it. We wanted to be adventurous so we made no real plans. That was a good idea and a bad idea.

We hit a hiccup around Grandfather Mountain where the Wooly Worm Festival, the App. State football came and other leaf-lovers all converged into a horrific mix of traffic. We couldn't find relief in any directions and after stopping and going and stopping and going we decided to just push on through. We finally made it to Black Mountain where we stopped off for a delicious meal and headed home exhausted but feeling really good about the day.

This morning after sleeping in for the first time in ages we headed over in for brunch at the Lake Lure Inn and Spa. It was amazing! If you're ever in the area on a Sunday and looking for a delicious brunch treat, check it out! The food was delicious, the views amazing and the place itself is like stepping onto a movie set.

Happy Anniversary to Us!!!

Two years ago this weekend I married my best friend! I've never met someone so sweet and accepting of me for exactly who I am. When I met Beau, it's like he brightened a light inside of me that I hadn't realized had grown dim. Not only have I grown as a person because of him, I've also grown in my walk with Christ and that is something I'll be eternally grateful for...literally.

Beau and I have found a way to make it through some really tough times. He's quite seriously saved my life, and while we do have our little fights we tend to always find something silly in those arguments to laugh about which keeps us from fighting over dumb things.

I don't know how I got this blessed but rather than question it, I'll just say that I hope that everyone in life is fortunate enought to find their "Beau".

Happy Anniversary Beau! I love you even more today than the day I married you!!!

I'm loving...

this etsy shop: Jean Jean Vintage

Check out these pretties and tons more by visting the etsy shop!

Things I like about NC

It was (yet again) another wonderful Carolina weekend. Beau and I both had busy Saturdays. Beau was helping to change oil for a church mission project and I ran in my first WNC 5k since moving to God's country.
The Race to Remember benefitting the Alzheimer's Association was such a well-organized event. I wasn't quite sure what to expect moving from Atlanta which has such a huge running community to WNC but these guys did not dissapoint. The only thing that did disappoint me was how terribly out of running shape I really am. I've been waiting for the weather to cool off and the cooler days are here so I'm either going to have to come up with another excuse or put my money where my mouth is.
One of the things I really love about WNC is the community. When I was walking around waiting for the race to start I wandered over to some folks to talk. They said to me "you look familiar" and even though I didn't recognize them I knew right away how we would know eachother...church! People are not only incredibly friendly here, but faith is at the forefront of everyone's mind....How refreshing is that!?!
This really is God's country, you see Him everywhere from each beautiful piece of nature to the smiles of perfect strangers and the I thank God not only for that but for bringing Beau and I to a place that really is helping us to grow our in our walk with Him.
Have a good week everyone!

DIY: How cute is this?

Source

Saw this cute bracelet tutorial by following a link featured on Divine Chaos. How cute is that? And it looks pretty simple to make too!

Great read!

Read "A Wife After God's Own Heart" by Elizabeth George....you are going to love it!

I've learned so much from it already. And it's even got me making the bed (mostly) every day, which is something that I have never, ever been good about. But seriously I've learned some really great, big and small lessons about this great book about looking at a marriage through God's eyes. Here are some of my favorites so far:

1) Pray for your husband several times a day.
2) Be scant with your words (it's not just in my blog that I go on and on...)
3) An object in motion tends to stay in motion so even on days you don't feel like doing even the smallest of chores, just get started and you'll most likely keep going.

For those of you that might not be wives yet, the same author of "a wife" makes a book for "a woman", "a mother", etc. Plus her husband wrote a companion book for the men in our lives.

So rather you choose to read this book in small group or simply on your own, it's worth it. My one suggestion is to take it a week at a time. Spread your chapters out and reflect on what you read. That's made this a very special read for me and one that I'll most likely reread each year (if not more often).

Old Favorite/New Favorite: Mother and Child

Old Favorite: Mary Cassatt

Source

New Favorite: Ellen Heck

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Don't you just love these intimate portraits? I've always loved Cassatt's work and when I saw the top Heck portrait on Anna Maria Horner's blog it instantly made me think of her work.

Cool weekend hike: Carl Sandburg home

Beau and I really wanted to get out and hike this weekend. We first tried to hunt down a cool trail that Beau had googled but we were only given some not so accurate directions and a pair of coordinates to look for it. With neither the coordinates or directions matching up or giving us much to go on we decided to choose between the trails at Jump Off Rock or at the Carl Sandburg Home. Since we were closer (at this point) to Flat Rock we settled on the Carl Sandburg home.

This place is amazing. It's not hard to see where Sandburg got his inspiration from, the beauty of WNC is all around you in this place. Not only does it have tons of great views, the outbuildings, gardens and goat farm are awesome to check out too.




This place has hikes from 5 mins to 2 hours and various skill levels and is definitely worth checking out. The hikes themselves are dog friendly enough. They do have several spots for you to get water for your pups from wells but the water just spills on the ground so if you dog is picky about what to drink from you may want to BYOB (bring your own bowl). However, pets are not allowed inside the houses or main farm areas (for obvious reasons) so if you want to take any of the tours and such it's best to leave your pooch at home.

We chose to only bring Rocky for this hike and I'm glad we did. I think Frankie would have freaked out upon seeing the goats but Rocky just stared at them with what could only be described as confusion. Since he didn't know quite what to think of them he just stared at them quietly while Frankie would have been barking like crazy.

Happy Sunday!

DIY Dress

Image found at Chic Steals

Check out this awesome DIY over at Chic Steals, isn't it awesome!!! I want to make one out of one of Beau's old shirts!