Little Miss Shadow Dozier

Juice cleanse

2012-01-11T18:36:00.000-08:00

Read about this juice cleanse on my new favorite blog The Skinny Confidential.

Today was day one and the juice was not so delish but I got through day 1. Only 2 days to go...

The best part is that you get to eat a 6oz. lean protein/veggie dinner.

Here are some pics of day 1 ingredients and juice.

G is for goat

2012-01-07T18:03:00.001-08:00

I've mentioned this here before, but I love the Carl Sandburg house. I feel so blessed that we can get out and hike whenever we want now that we live in NC and this is one of my favorite places to do it. Last weekend we got out with some friends to visit the goats and take a hike on one the CS trails. Here are some pictures from our day...

Truth be told. I have a bit of an obsession with goats. I would love to have one some day but I hear they are a lot of work to care for. You have to milk them like a million times a day. Maybe one day, but for now I'll have to get my goat's milk cheese from the farmer's market.

Later on we spend some QT on the porch and I did a little front porch "pickin" (I quote it because iI use that term loosely and that phrase jokingly). I am still working on learning the mandolin. School delayed my plans a bit to become a master mandolin player but now that I'm only taking one class for Spring 2012, I'm hoping to have more time to devote to becoming an expert :-)

One last thing...here's my new favorite website...The Skinny Confidential!

Christmas fun!

2011-12-28T06:10:00.000-08:00

There is only one word I can use to describe Christmas of 2011 and that word is "blessed". Beau and I felt so much love coming in from all ends of the globe. This was our second Christmas in NC and that in and of itself was a blessing but add to that the time spent with friends and family (be it over the phone or in person) and you have yourself one amazing holiday.

We started things off by a fun Christmass Eve Eve party at some friends from church. It was good to see so many close friends and to see so many family members in for the holiday. Christmas Eve I awoke to Beau insisting I open up my "big present". We had decided the night before to open our bigger gifts for one another early because Beau said I would need mine for the rest of Christmas.

I was thrilled to see receive the Kodak EasyShare Z5010 from Beau. I've been wanting a "big girl" camera forEVER! And now I finally have one!!! There are so many things I want to learn to do with the camera and first and foremost is bokeh. I saw this tutorial on The Friendly Fox and it seems really easy but I need to figure out how to do it. Any ideas or help is much appreciated :-)

Beau got a "big boy" present too. He has been dying for a video game system and I got him an X-box. We have a Wii but Beau really couldn't play the games he wanted on that. I originally thought that we might keep the Wii to do exercise stuff but now that I've seen all the bells and whistles that come with the X-box Kinect, I'm not so sure. The Kinect kicks serious tail!

But enought about gifts. Christmas Eve we spent most of the day relaxing, cooking, and getting ready for Beau's family to come on Christmas day! We went to Christmas Eve service at our church which was absolutely magical. Our pastor did an incredible job by giving an overview of the Christmas story from Genesis to the birth of Jesus and it was awesome. The service was full of babies being babies and hearing the sounds of all those children made you realize how incredible a miracle His birth was given the knowledge that this newborn baby would be our world's Savior.

After church we went to our friend's home where we ate a delicious meal and had fun with the wonderful company. Their girls took turns reenacting the Christmas story, we sang carols and it was just an incredible way to spend Christmas Eve. I hope we can make that a new tradition!

Christmas morning we woke up and opened up or wonderful gifts from family and some stocking stuffers we'd gotten one another. We played the X-box Kinect game that came with Beau's game system and got ready for family. Beau's mom and grandmother got in around 1pm and we had a delicious Christmas meal: Ham, green beans, sweet potatoes, yeast rolls and some gluten-free shortcakes for dessert.

To top of the holiday festivities, we decided (inspired by a video from close friends) to start a new tradition of a Christmas music video. We chose Bootylicious, because nothing says Christmas like a little Destiny's Child, right?

In between all the Christmas family we spend time catching up via phone with family and friends. I cannot even begin to tell you how blessed we feel to have spent such great quality time together with our loved ones. We hope that 2012 is filled with as many blessings as 2011 has been for us.

Old favorite/New favorite: Oreo cookies

2011-11-27T05:12:00.000-08:00

Yum! I love oreo cookies! So when I saw this recipe for delicious, homemade oreos, I could not resist trying. These guys are super easy to make and turn out so delicous. It is a bit scary when you make them to realize how absolutely horrible oreo cookies are for you, but other than those few moments of panic when you read the recipe and go "more butter...really?", you'll love them.

Check out the Smitten Kitchen recipe!

Halloween Fun!!!

2011-10-29T07:19:00.000-07:00

So last night Beau and I threw our first big bash at the new house. Here are a couple pictures from the event. I've also attached a link to the recipes that I used (some I embellished on a bit) for the food. These are all super easy dishes that I suggest you try sometime.

Beau and I went as Beetlejuice and Lydia from their "would be" wedding. I have to say, I was a little nervous because I didn't get to spend as much time on my costume as I would have liked, but I think our costumes turned out great.

Recipes to try....p>

Pizza Bread-yum yum...you can't see this one in the pictures of the goodies because it and the pigs in a blanket were still baking but it was delicious. Just slice this guy up and it is a delicious party treat. I used just pepperoni and mozzerella cheese but if you follow the recipe on this site you can see a recipe with a lot more ingredients.

Source

Artichoke/Spinach Dip

-For this one I just used the simple recipe on the back of the Hidden Valley packet but I added artichoke hearts to it and served it in a bread bowl to really give it some "class". Just kidding. Actually now that I go back and look at the recipe they suggest you serve it in a bread bowl too so I guess I'm not as classy as I thought :-)-Hidden Valley Ranch dip people: 1, Jolie: 0

South Georgia Caviar-Let's be honest Paula Deen, everyone knows this recipe as Redneck caviar but I realize that isn't so PC. In any case this caviar super yummy and really easy to throw together and make substitutions to if you don't like a specific item.

Pigs in a Blanket-I just used a simple Pillsbury recipe for these but bought the jalapeno/cheddar mini sausages to spice things up a bit and they were delish!

Cake pops-These are (and I'm not afraid to use this expression here because the cake pops warrant it) thebomb.com. Check out Bakerella.com for all sorts of deliciousness including these red velvet cake pops. These get easier to work with as you get used to the cake "medium" that you are dealing with. I also found that chocolate bark is easier to deal with than the Wilton candy melts.

Rice Crispie Treats-I made some of these and added orange food coloring to them to make them festive. I had every intention of cutting them into pumpkin shapes with my cookie cutters but ran out of time. Oh well. They are always super yummy!

I hope you enjoys these delicious treats as much as we did!

Quick craft: Toilet Paper pumpkins

2011-10-16T12:39:00.000-07:00

If you do a quick google search of toilet paper pumpkins you will find tons of tutorials, but I got this idea from my friend and fellow blogger Elisa. This is a great, cheap way to decorate for fall without spending a lot of cash (oh any cash if you use stuff around the house like I did). I made two different versions of this craft, but more on that later.

Supplies:

1/4 yard of fabric

Newspaper

Toilet paper (full roll)

Empty pill bottle (if you opt to make smaller pumpkins too)

Twigs

1. Lay your fabric right side down and center your toilet paper on the fabric. Surround your toilet paper with crumpled news paper. More if you want a fat pumpkin, less for a slightly less obese pumpkin.

2. Take and squish the edges of the fabric down into the toilet paper roll adjusting both the fabric and the newspaper as you go. Repeat until all fabric is squished into the roll hole and arranged in a way that resembles a pumpkin. (this part is important as it is easy to do this craft haphazardly and end up with something not resembling a pumpkin).

3. Finish it off by putting a twig down in the toilet paper roll with enough of the twig sticking out to resemble a stem. The fabric will keep the twig mostly in place.

*** If you want smaller pumpkins you can find smaller items around your house with a toilet paper roll size opening. For example I had just finished a prescription so I used the empty pill bottle to make a little pumpkin. Less fabric is needed for this too though you will need to be more careful with how you arrange the newspaper.

You'll notice that I also took front-porch sitting to a whole new level by taking a TV tray out on the porch so I could craft while enjoying this beautiful, fall day!

Happy Fall!

2011-10-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Hello readers!

Sorry for my long absence. I've had lots of exciting stuff going on since my last post. No, no, I'm not prego (the typical reason for long absences of female bloggers ages 28-32 who are nervous they will accidentally spill the beans before hitting the 12 week "safety" mark). Nope, we've just had tons 'o' stuff going on.

1. I decided to work on some classes I need to get licensed to teach. This is something I've always wanted but has become harder and harder to do as I get older. When Beau and I eventually have kids I would like to be on their schedule. I could have waited to get these classes in, but when would I do them? When I'm a new mom? When they go off to school? No, more than likely I would be freaking out 10-12 years from now when our kids go off to middle school going. Oh my goodness why didn't I do this earlier. So I decided for once in my life to make things easier on myself and get them done sooner rather than later.

Turns out I only need 6 additional classes so I am kicking myself for not having completed my minor in education when I was in college but grateful that I didn't totally slack off because it has made things easier for later on down the road.

School has been great but has kept me busy. I want to do this right so I'm devoting the majority of my time to this goal until it is completed. I'm happy about this but after work activites like blogging, running and much of my social life have taken a hit.

2. We've moved!!! This is a super fun announcement because we are finally settled in a house that we love. The dogs are happier, we're happier...LIFE IS GOOD! GOD IS GOOD!!!

Our new back deck view!

3. We've traveled a bit. We always wanted to do a cruise but were nervous/forced into doing something else for our honeymoon so we put it on hold. Nervous because neither of us had been on one before and what if we got super sea sick and forced because of a weird situation with Beau's old job. No biggie. We had an awesome honeymoon and both Beau and I love a good story and we certainly have one for our honeymoon.

In any case last year we decided to stop putting it off and booked ourselves a cruise as our Christmas present and finally went on it earlier this month! It was awesome. We loved it and definitely plan to cruise again, though this time someplace we are more interested in visiting. The Bahamas seemed more about shopping than really experiencing anything truly Bahamian. We're thinking New England or Canada next time :-)

Beau in front of the ship!

Beau coming down the water slide...

A beautiful sun getting ready to set.

Beau and I maxing and relaxing :-)

So that's that. I hope to be back up and blogging again soon but can't make any promises other than a quick craft later today because this is my last day of fall break from classes.

Until next time...Happy Fall Y'all!!!

Lessons learned from reality television or Can anyone explain: Reality TV Stars who think they can sing

2011-07-21T03:56:00.000-07:00

I had a bit of insomnia last night and after tossing and turning I finally decided to give in and watch some late night television. After considering Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives but being caught off guard by a curry dish that included apples, I finally settled on The Real Housewives of New York.

Why these Real Housewives shows are being made period could use some serious explaining in and of itself. Isn't a housewife technically someone who stays home from work? All the real housewives on these shows seem to have jobs. There is also the issue with half the women not being married and thus not even technically being a wife. I guess Bravo though prefers to go the route of "spirit" not "letter of the law". And since they are the ones that make the "big bucks" I'll assume they know what they are talking about and move on to my real issue.

I have a lot of legitimately talented friends that will never make it to anything close to mainstream because their musical ability goes unrecognized. That's fine. Contrary to the popular Roots song "Everybody is (not) a star". All my friends have learned to deal with that so I need to move on too. However, when I watch shows like "Real Housewives" I am stunned to see these less than talented women making music videos and getting legitimate, albeit mocking entertainment coverage.

I realized that there are some lessons to be learned from reality television. If you are on a reality television show: 1) It doesn't matter if you are far too old to be considered "pop star" age, if you have a reality television show, you get a music video. 2) You don't have to have an ounce of talent, you get a music video....It's really like a sick version of something I've seen a time or two on Oprah: "You get a car, you get a car!"

Oh well, I guess the true moral of the story here is that with enough money and a film crew following you around, you can be anything from a music video star (New York, Atlanta housewives) to a gallery owner (Miami housewife), to a runway model (Orange County housewives and the girls of Laguna Beach).

So that's the lesson kids. You can be anything you set your mind to as long as there are people following you around filming your every, pointless move.

Healthier, Happier Me: Getting started by counting calories

2011-07-09T07:27:00.000-07:00

So since the first of January this year, I've lost over 10 pounds. I'm not normally the type that sticks to New Year's Resolutions but this year was different. I was sick and tired of looking in the mirror and not being 100% happy with what I saw. Now I'm not saying I'm completely out of shape, nor was I completely overweight but I'm not getting any younger. I know the rounding the corner on 30 doesn't just mean that I am now "flirty and thriving" (I love the movie 13 Going on 30), but it also means I get to look forward to things like slowing metabolism and being more susceptible to health problems.

So I made the decision to start counting my calories. I knew I had to crawl before I could walk. The first thing I set my mind on was figuring out how much I was putting into my body. Was I eating too much, too little, the wrong amounts of protein, veggies, etc? It's maybe not the right choice for everyone, but it made it was the decision that worked for me and to me it was a good place to get started.

Now there are a number of ways you can go about tracking what you are putting into your body:

Food Journal: You can keep a simple notebook where you track what you eat on a daily basis. This certainly keeps things easy to track during the day but you have to come home each day and figure out the amount of calories in each item which can becoming time-consuming and monontonous.

Online Tracking: There are number of online trackers you can use. Things like MyFitnessPal, MyCalorieCounter, and MyFoodDiary. Just a simple google search of the words "online calorie counter" will bring you over a dozen more. Some are free services and some require payment. It's up to you to decide if this is a method that will work for you. I chose to go about counting my calories in a different manner because I wanted to be able to count whether I was near a computer or not.

Calorie Counting Phone Applications: This is the method I chose. This was the best choice for me for several reasons. First it was free via the application Calorie Counter for my windows phone. Second it was portable, with this application I was able to instantly enter what I ate at which times of day. Third, it has a database filled with restaraunt calorie counts and popular grocery store items. Another perk is that you can enter caloric information yourself if you can't find your item in the the existing database.

So that's my first step to a healthier, happier body. Counting calories is a good litnus test for you to figure out where you really are in terms of health. Lots of people think they are not losing weight because they are eating too much when it turns out they are not eating enough. Or they may be eating the right amount but are missing out on getting enough fiber or protein. Weight loss, like life is a balancing act.

Calorie counting isn't something you have to do every day for the rest of your life so don't stress over the time it takes when you first start out. The amount of information you gain from taking the time to chart your eating will help you out tremendously, so don't skip this essential first step. Eventually you will only count calories sporadically, as a maintenance step.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional or nutritionist. I am merely sharing my personal experience. Obviously you should consider going to see a professional before you get started with any weight loss or exercise regimen.

Just a Suggestion: Check out the Asheville Drum Circle

2011-07-03T17:38:00.000-07:00

If you are every in Downtown Asheville on a Friday night you have got to do yourself a favor and head down to the Drum Circle. This is a tradition on Friday nights spanning back 9 years and is one of the coolest, free things you can do to really experience all that makes Asheville the amazing place that it is. Things start up pretty early, like maybe 6pm or so in Pritchard Park.

Here are things getting started...

Anyone with a percussion instrument is allowed to join in the fun. I have to tell you, one of the coolest things about the circle is seeing people of all ages and walks of life joining in the fun. If drummings not your thing, not to worry, there is plenty of room for a spectator, dancer or hula-hooper. It's also a great spot for a good game of hackey sack.

So check it out when you are here, you won't regret it!

Here's the drum circle once things really got going!

Just a Suggestion: Giving in to reading "The Hunger Games"

2011-06-28T18:09:00.000-07:00

Source

So after hearing about it on blog after blog and from friend after friend, I finally gave in and decided to read "The Hunger Games". I'm only a couple chapters in but I already know that it is going to be the hit of my summer reading list.

I definitely suggest checking it out. I've heard that I'll love some parts and hate others but so far, so good. In all honesty, I had to read it. Afterall they are filming it right up the road from us in Shelby.

Anyway, just a suggestion but I think you should check it out!

Do you love tie-dye as much as I do?

2011-06-21T18:07:00.001-07:00

I love crafting and I love tie-dye and there is no better time to combine the two into one amazing craftivity than summertime. So here are some fun tie-dye goodies and even some great instructions from Michael's on how to throw your own tie-dye event!

I think it would be fun to pack a picnic lunch, throw on some grubby clothes, and head outside to tie dye/relax on one of these beautiful summer afternoons.

Here are some fun tie-dye goodies you could make at your craftivity or purchase via Etsy.com!

Source: Stefs Creative Jewelry

Source: Read Write Books

Source: Ben Thai

Source: Tillymaison

Source: Handmadens Crafts

Source: Mane Message

Do you love raw crystal as much as I do?

2011-06-14T18:25:00.000-07:00

I'm loving all the raw crystal and gemstone jewelry that has been popping up lately! I love the unfinished, natural look and I especially love it when it is combined with a nice, long necklace. Long necklaces are my favorite! But there are also some amazing cocktail rings being made out there in the Etsy world too. I'm really going to work this summer on learning to pull off a cocktail ring. Ever since I got engaged and now married I feel weird about wearing any ring other than my engagement and wedding ring.

But I digress, here are some of the pieces I've been drooling over lately. All of these pieces are $45 or under. I like to keep things on the cheaper side when at all possible and while I don't consider $45 super cheap, it is at least a lot better than the pricing you tend to see in your typical fashion magazines and stores these days. And besides wouldn't you rather support an independent retailer anyway?

Source: Moorea Seal's Etsy Shop

Source: Rozzie's Etsy Shop

Source: Yirweh Jewelry's Etsy Shop

Source: Larkin and Larkin's Etsy Shop

Source: Nubambu's Etsy Shop

Source: CuppaCoffee's Etsy Shop

Source: CyanOwl's Etsy Shop

However, if you prefer to "go your own way" and decide that you want to take on the task of getting crafty and making one of these gorgeous necklaces yourself you can always try out this tutorial from Seablanket.

Old Favorite/New Favorite: Running/workout socks

2011-06-14T03:46:00.000-07:00

So when I say that my old/new favorite things are socks I know that I’m getting some strange looks from a LOT of people. You’re thinking, “How much could socks really have changed? And aren’t these old/new favorite things life changers? I mean your last old/new favorite was quinoa for goodness sake, how can socks even compare?”

Well people, prepare to have your minds blown. I typically show pictures of my old favorites here, but we all know what socks are right?

Socks have been…I’ll say it...revolutionized in recent years. It’s not just socks. It’s all traditional cotton products that have been changed to incorporate wicking technology which “wicks” moisture away from your body instead of acting like a sponge for any sweat or moisture (which is the typical cause behind your socks, t-shirts and even shorts to get heavy with moisture after a really good or even relatively mediocre workout). Socks that don’t wick can cause you to get some serious blisters, especially if you are running, hiking, or walking any great distance. Wicking technology has changed my running/hiking life.

When you see the term wick, dry-fit, cool-max, etc. on something like a pair of socks or a t-shirt, I encourage you to try it out. It’s more expensive but it is so worth the extra cash you pay when you are not being weighted down by all that extra sweat. And when I say more expensive, even that is shrinking away as you can now find wicking technology products at traditional superstores like Wal-mart and Target. You can usually identify these products easily because they have a giant tag attached to them telling you all about the wonders of the wicking concept.

But enough with the random, science lesson, I’ve run my last two half marathons in these bad boys with nary a blister in sight after being blister prone in all previous races. I once ran a marathon in a non-wicking pair of socks and literally had 4 blisters by the end of the race. Trust me taking up the hobby of running can be tough enough, don’t blister yourself in the foot (get it like shoot yourself in the foot?) before you’ve even get started by wearing a pair of non-wicking socks.

My favorite brand is Iniji. These are toe socks. Whatever your thoughts are about toe socks, you have got to put those preconceived notions aside when you are a runner. Blisters between your toes suck, and they suck hard, and they suck really hard in these sweaty summer months. Do yourself a favor and try these puppies out, especially if you are blister prone like me. You will not regret it.

Above are a pair of socks for the runner who likes their socks to look like socks. Source

Here's a pair for those that want the traditional toe sock funky look. Source

And here's a pair for the yoga enthusiast. Source

This particular brand is most easily purchased online or at a running/outdoors shop. Some my favorite spots to shop for these bad boys if you are located in the South are:
Big Peach Running Company-Atlanta, GA (multiple locations across the greater ATL area)
Diamond Brand Outdoors-Arden, NC
Foot RX-Asheville, NC

Anyway, try out this new favorite of mine and let me know what you think!

Can you explain...my Shih tzu, Frankidini?

2011-06-13T18:06:00.000-07:00

So my mom and I were chatting this evening and she brought up the fact that my adorable, lovable Shih tzu Frankie is crazy. It's true. This dog is insane. Not only is she passive-aggressive (she once peed on one of our guest bed pillows because my mother-in-law, who she loves, left after a weekend visit and apparently had not given a proper goodbye). But Frankie is also an escape artist.

We have tried everything we can think of to keep her caged during the day. We would love to let her run free but Frankie not only has bathroom issues when people she loves leave after a visit, sometimes she will choose to tinkle on the floor inside after weeks and weeks of pretending to have established potty-trained habits. So we've tried crating her, but she has literally escaped every crate we've ever tried to keep her in, so I'm at loss and curious if anyone out there in cyber-land can explain my Shih tzu to me?

Here are the crates we've tried and the subsequent escapes by Frankie:

1)The traditional wire crate:

Source

This is a cool crate and I'm sure it works really well for most normal dog owners. In fact it worked really well for us when we crate-trained Rocky (our other adorable pup). Unfortunately Frankie is too smart for this crate. She uses her little Dr. Seuss*** paws to finagle the latch open on the bottom and sneaks through.

I once even came home to find her collar still inside the crate...How the heck did she manage that? Needless to say we have not put her in this crate again. I was worried she'd choke herself on this beast.

2. The pretty blue crate:

Source

This is where Frankie got her nickname Frankidini. This crate boasts multiple entry ways. One garage door type in the front, the traditional side entry, and the top opens up too. I came home from work one day to Frankie waiting patiently for me by the front door. My first thought was to freak out, "who the heck is in my apartment and letting Frankie out?". I walked over to the crate and all three doors were closed but the latch for the top entry was slightly busted. Frankidini had worked her magic on it. We tried her a couple more times and within a week Frankie had completely destroyed this crate. (This is a 11 pound dog we're talking about).

3) Collapsible soft crate:Source

This is our most recent attempt. Frankie unzipped it the first day we put her in it, but we figured we had put her in it upside-down and that gravity had been against us. Next we tried her in it (this will sound weird) in the bathtub. Sounds crazy I know, but the bathtub is Frankie's favorite spot in the whole house. I think it's because it's cool against her fur.

Once we kept seeing Frankie pace back and forth across the floor with her dog toys. Three or four times this happens and Beau and I get curious. We walk into the bathroom to find this:

Frankie has also figured out that water comes out of the faucet in the bathtub and as a result paws at it to let us know if she is thirsty in the middle of the night. Cute the first couple times, annoying at 3am on a work night.

So we decided to put the soft crate into the bathtub thinking that the cool of the tub could be felt through the vinyl crate. We came home to the crate outside of the bathroom and around the corner (meaning that she had managed to hop from the bathtub inside the crate out of the bathroom and around the corner before escaping. Frankie next ripped a whole in the side of the crate. This crate lasted approx. 3 attempts.

So can you help me out? Can you explain my Shih tzu to me? Any ideas you have for crate-training a reluctant pup are welcome.

***Dr. Seuss paws: This is what I call Frankie's pawsies because when they get wet the curl up at the end like a Dr. Seuss character...see:

Oh and here's a picture of my other puppy love Rocky...I don't want him to read this later and get jealous that he was only mentioned in passing.

Out and about in WNC with the fam

2011-06-11T06:14:00.000-07:00

So this past week was absolutely fantastic. I've been up in WNC for 51 weeks now (yes, almost a full year) and my mom, stepdad, little bro and sis in tow have been up visiting for the first time this past week. It has been amazing showing off the area that Beau and I love to our family.

We also spent a LOT of time showing off good ole Hendo. We went to the soda shop, walked around downtown, shopped, ate some amazing food and in true Southern fashion did some serious front porch sittin’.

Hendersonville has lots of perks but you can’t visit this part of the world without heading in to Asheville to see that town in action. Asheville has lots of fun, art, culture and people watching. So there was lots of showing off to be done. I insisted on taking my sister to UNC-A to visit the campus and to attempt to convince her to move to Asheville, got to UNC-A and become a hippie, simple request right?

Despite the great overview of the campus, she wasn’t fully convinced though so I had to attempt to bribe her with cupcakes and shopping in downtown. (Jury is still out but if a cupcake from Bake it Pretty won't help, I don't know what else to do, you know?)

Last night was our big send-off. Nothing says small town like a fun dinner with the family and car show/outdoor music downtown. One of the things I love best about Hendersonville is that it still has such a thriving downtown and offers so much up to us as residents from Music on Main to Mike’s Saturday Sock Hops to carriage rides to the countless festivals.

These may seem like “old people” activities and in all fairness Beau and I are the first to admit that we sometimes act as 80 year-olds trapped in 30 year-old bodies. But these things are oldies but goodies and these activities are the things that made the American small towns so great in the past and are missing from too many towns today. (Not to mention my family loves them too!)

I'm so bummed the fam is back in FL but the good news is that they fell in just as much love with Hendersonville as we are and have already planned to come up in the fall and hopefully winter too!

Healthier, happier me...(inside my head)

2011-06-07T03:43:00.000-07:00

So in just about a week it will be one year since Beauseph and I moved up here to Western North Carolina. A lot of people ask if I have any regrets about having left a job I loved and a city so close to Beau's family and our friends to move up here, but I honestly don't. Do I miss the people we love, yes but we've met great friends up here. Do I miss the job I loved, sure but we're building a life together up here and sometimes that means sacrifice.

After moving up here I realized how much I had put my life on complete hold since being the victim of violent crime while living in Atlanta. I had literally stopped living life. I hardly went out at night, I didn't run outside anymore and I really didn't do much outdoors unless Beau was there within 20 feet of me.

Then we moved up here. A place where small towns still exist, people are still friendly, and kids still look you in the eye when saying hello. Life changed for me in a subtle but freeing manner and I was living life again. I can go out at night (alone or with Beau) without a sense of fear. I run again (I hadn't done race of any substantial distance since 2008 when everything went down, I had blamed that on my job, but it was really my fault for being afraid to leave the house to run alone). And I'm just living a healthier life in general.

The only thing I really regret is the friends that I may have alienated while working through the things I worked through. No one has ever come out to me and said that I've did alienate them but I get the sense that I have and for that I'm sorry. I'm a firm believer in the idea though that everything that happens leads us to where we are today, so I can't look back with total regret on that because it got me to this healthy, happy place today and for that I'm grateful.

And honestly the guy who deserves a lot of credit for his patience, kindness and lack of any real social life while I got to where I am today (and continue to get to where I need to go to keep healing) is this guy right here. I love you Beau and thank you for letting me work through what I needed to to be me again.

P.S. Sorry for the somewhat happy but sad post. My mom is in town this week and showing her the town I love has made me retrospective and realize how far I've come. In the future, this will focus on not only the inside stuff that I'm doing to live a better life but the outside stuff too. I've lost 10 pounds since 1/1/11 and lots of people have asked me for advice on that so I'd love to share some tips on that kind of stuff too.

Thanks for reading!

New blog topic....Can anyone explain...?

2011-06-06T20:54:00.000-07:00

So I need to add some life to my blog. I was out and about there for awhile, getting settled into the Carolina lifestyle but I'd really like to refocus on writing here on my blog, getting back into crafting, and being more outdoorsy again.

To "get the party started right"-yes I just went there, I've decided to start a new blog topic called "Can anyone explain...?". For this week the topic I need explained to me is this season's "The Bachelorette".

Can anyone explain this bachelorette to me?

Background: I am not a follower of this show but this week my mom, step-pops, little bro and sis are in town visiting from Florida. This next part is going to sound silly but also a bit genius. My mom has this thing where she and my sister watch The Bachelor and Bachelorette so that my younger sister can learn how not to act around guys. Genius right?

Anyway, so I popped over to the cottage they are staying at after work today and they are both watching "The Bachelorette". Admittedly, both of them love to hate this show. Today's episode was especially horrible because it was literally a train wreck waiting to happen, the bachelorette requested that her potential suitors roast her Friars Club style. Can you say crazy?

You don't have to be rocket scientist to figure out that this plan went downhill super, duper fast. Now keep in mind that the Friars roasts are known to be brutal towards the person being roasted. Apparently this bachlorette missed that memo and so when one of her mens (yes, men plural) roasted her with some seriously funny jokes she got all worked over and the tears started flowing very quickly after the event finished up. She gets all super emotional and has to have meeting with the guys about how upset she is. When the funny guys approaches her to apologize for doing what she asked for in the first place, she makes him feel so bad that he contemplates leaving the show.

So I'll take any explanation anyone can offer up to explain this lady and her crazy. In the meantime, thank you this season's bachelorette for single-handedly solidifying the "women are high maintenance" stereo-type.

Old Favorite/New Favorite:Typewriter Display

2011-06-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

I love a good ole typewriter as a vintage prop for one's home but with space being tight here in our townhouse I decided that I needed to figure out another use for our old Remington (the photo up top shows it's previous job: doing nothing but holding up a yarn wreath). That's when it hit me...the keys on the typewriter would make a great way to prop up loose photos. Here are a couple shots of a vintage typewriter photo display in progress.

30th Birthday continued or Jolie learns the mandolin

2011-05-31T05:39:00.000-07:00

I don't know if I ever mentioned but I had no idea what I wanted for my birthday. Beau wanted my gift to be something special and so rather than get something just to get it, we decided to wait until we had figured out a gift that had some meaning that would last.

A couple weeks ago it hit me! I've been dying to learn to play an instrument...side note 1-I can play the clarinet, I was first chair throughout my 6th grade band experience prior to quitting and joining chorus. You may find this surprising but those clarinet skills don't really translate into day-to-day life as well. I wanted to be able to play something I could sing along with. So I've been wishy-washy about what to learn: guitar?, accordion? (yes, I've seriously considered it), or ukulele? (wouldn't it be fun to play, you'd feel like you are an a Hawaiian vacation anytime you pick it up). Finally though, we settled on mandolin.

I love it and I can't wait to start officially taking lessons. It is so much fun to finally be on my way to one of my life goals (to learn to play and instrument past the 6th grade level).

So here are some photos of our impromptu jam session Sunday evening. I can play all of one song right now...Yankee Doodle! So needless to say it was more Beau and his friend Blake playing but I hope to be able to hold my own soon after some lessons.

Side note 2: If you think I'm crazy for considering the accordion some things to consider are #1-I'm part Polish, it's in my soul to love the accordion and dance the Polka and #2-The BowerBirds. Check out their music and you'll dig the accordion too.
Side note 3: Truth be told, this was Blake taking a break from impromptu Yankee Doodle jam session to help Frankie recite some Shakespeare...Sunday evening it was decided that sitting Frankie upright and helping her to use her hands to recreate some of the Bard's famous monologues was hilarious. Chalk it up to one of those "you had to be there" experiences unless you have a Shih tzu of your own to try it with :-)

Memorial Day Fun In Asheville

2011-05-31T05:17:00.000-07:00

Beau and I had some fun company in town all weekend. One of Beau's best friends, Blake, came to visit for a man's weekend (he and his beautiful wife are expecting a baby soon). The boys spent most of the weekend hiking, fishing, biking, etc. which meant that I got some serious downtime (lots of crafting and cleaning). I love my husband but sometimes it is nice when he finds other people to be active with on the weekends so I can do some relaxing.

Anyway Beau's BFF (funny picture post on Beau's facebook where he calls Blake his BFF) left early on Monday and because Beau had been pretty active earlier in the weekend, we decided to take things a bit easier and opted to go down to Asheville for lunch and some walking around.

I didn't snap a ton of pics but here are a couple shots from our trip. The shirt I'm wearing is a new fave. It's a reworked dress that I rescued from a thrift store and decided would make a cute top. I've got a before and after of it but it's stuck on my camera and I cannot find the cord to transfer photos from my camera to computer...boo.

Ft. Laud or bust

2011-05-09T18:12:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned lately how proud I am of my husband? Moving up to Asheville and starting up his own business was a big step out of Beau's comfort zone but he did it, and as if God hadn't blessed us enough by facilitating all of this, He also helped Beau to win a trip through work to Ft. Lauderdale! An unexpected, but much needed vacation. Blessed much?

We had our choice of activities and one of the options was to take a tour of the Everglades on an airboat. I think Beau and I both expected a little more swamp and a lot less tourism but it was fun either way, and when else are you going to get the chance to ride around on an aiboat? Plus the whole experience was very "old Florida". I long for the old Florida vacation days gone by of citrust scented erasers, plastic alligators, and oranges/grapefruit by the ton sold in rickety road-side stands.

What vacation memories are some of your favorite?

Yard Sales and Flea Markets and Mother's Day

2011-05-02T19:16:00.001-07:00

Grandma and I at the Dino exhibit. After this she took me to Olive Garden where I tried and fell in love with Fettuccine Alfredo. I didn't know what to order and she said get the Fettuccine, it's like Macaroni and Cheese, you'll love it...and I did!

It's nearly Mother's day and that's got me thinking about all the great times I had with the wonderful women in my life. Now that it's getting to be the heart of spring, it has me thinking about all the fantastic times I used to have hitting up the yard sales and flea markets with my grandmother. We used to get up early, hit up the yard sales, find awesome treasures and reward ourselves with a nice Checkers hamburger when we had done all the damage we could for the day. I still order my hamburgers the exact same way lettuce, tomato, mayo and ketchup...it's a delicious combo!

We also liked to hit up the flea markets. Grandma would always take me to the gem-mining booth and sit patiently with me as I sifted through the muck in hopes of finding precious jewels. We'd snack on elephant ears or funnel cakes and have an absolute blast. I'm super excited because I hear there is actually a decent flea market up here in WNC. A friend has offered to take me out and show me around and while I'm sure it will be fun, nothing will compare to the times I spent scouring the booths with my Grandma.

I was blessed to grow up so close to my grandparents. I spent as much time as possible with them. My grandparents and I had some awesome times. She, my grandpa and I were the best of friends and I'll never forget those amazing times we spent together. She and I live several hours away from each other now, and my Grandpa or "Papa" as I called him, has gone on to be in a better place but I am so thankful for the time we spent together when I was younger.

Those memories will always be some of my favorites to think back on and I always get a warm, fuzzy feeling in my heart when I pass a yard sale sign and think of how lucky I am to have her as my grandmother.

It's already been a super busy spring...

2011-05-02T19:11:00.000-07:00

Beau and I have been busy, busy this spring. We've been doing lots of hiking, a little traveling and a little bit of giving back. We participated in the March of Dimes with the University of Phoenix-Asheville Team two weeks ago and had a great time. This is a great event and I found out after the fact can be made into a run if you're up for the challange.

I'll do several other posts this week hopefully with some more details about our busy weeks. I've got a little break from school and I'm taking advantage of the time to get caught up on my blogging :-)

Old favorite/New Favorite: Whole grain deliciousness

2011-03-15T17:59:00.000-07:00

Old Favorite: So I've always been a big rice, pasta, basically whatever type of carb you could throw at me, type of person. I ate mostly white rice and regular pasta. Lately though I've been trying to be more health conscious. I'm trying to replace the nutrient empty foods in my diet with foods that pack more of a nutritional punch. Beau and I are doing this my eating more fruits and vegetables, cutting out unnecessary carbs and making healthy substitutions of items we can't stand to live without (in my case...rice).

Picture source (and a great article on the many health benefits of quinoa)

New Favorite: Enter quinoa...this is like my new fave! I've never really been a huge brown rice fan so I was a little late to try this out but it is so delicious. If you haven't tried it, you have to go out and buy some. Quinoa is a delicious whole grain and while it's a bit pricier than brown rice, it's totally worth it because it tastes so good. Even if you aren't as sold on it as I am, you'll at least be able to agree that it's a nice way to mix up the whole grains in your diet.

Picture source

I bought the Eden brand of quinoa which was available at my grocery store, but there are also bulk grains available at your local co-op, you can even purchase it online at Amazon.com.

So here are a couple of the ways I've served quinoa in my house over the last week.

1) Instead of black beans and rice, try black beans and quinoa. Beau and I make a dish with black beans, diced tomatoes, onions, kielbasa and usually rice but quinoa made for a delicious substitution.

2) What about cabbage rolls? Okay, okay, Beau gave me that look too but the minute he saw these guys come out of the oven he was hooked and has been raving about them ever since. I saw this recipe on the Ingles site. I didn't quite follow the recipe exactly. I forgot to get fennel and celery. I am not a huge almond fan so I left those out and subbed Oyster sauce for Soy sauce. Even with all the changes these things were amazing. Trust me! Oh and this Nantahala sausage is awesome...not to mention local.

Picture source

3) Stuffed peppers. I actually had quite a bit of the quinoa/sausage mix left over from the cabbage rolls so I used it in stuffed green peppers...delish!

4) Next up is this recipe...how delicious does that look?

Little Bradley Falls aka Beau's waterfall

2011-03-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Several months ago Beau and a friend went on a hike out in Green River Cove and were psyched to discover a beautiful waterfall. For awhile they thought they were like Lewis and Clark but as it turned out, they had really just found an alternative path to a somewhat popular fall called Little Bradley Falls. Beau may not have been the first to discover it but to me it will always be Beau's waterfall.

Beau's been dying to go back so this morning we decided that this would be how we'd spend Sunday afternoon with the pups. And I'm so glad we did. We had a blast and literally every weekend that we go out hiking more and more signs of spring are popping up to let us know that March 20th (first day of spring) will be here before we know it.

The first day of spring is not just exciting for us because we go stir crazy in the winter time (Beau more than me). March 20th marks the 3rd anniversary of the day Beau asked me to be his wife and made me the happiest little lady in the world.

I hope you're enjoying these last few days of winter with someone you love!

A little mid-hike smooch

Fearless Frankie seems just as pumped about the view as we are!

I love this tough little pup!

Rocky was thrilled to be out running around.

In my book, butterfly = spring

A little love from Frankie...

If Frankie can see her shadow, spring is here!

Pwetty flowers!

Closing out my 30th Birthday month with a weekend away

2011-03-10T19:32:00.000-08:00

So to finish out my b-day month (that's right people, I was turning thirty so I got a month) of celebration, we decided to go stay at a friend's cabin in Sylva for the weekend. We were blessed with some great weather on Saturday morning so we set off in search of a waterfall but took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up on a great, forest trail. Here are some pics from our journey.

A cool, old hearth we happened across on our hike.

I love this pup!!! We got him on my birthday last year!

Rocky and I relaxing after a long hike :-)

After we got back to the cabin we were both super hungry and since we were only a few miles from Cherokee we decided to head over to the casino to check out the Paula Deen restaurant. The food was AMAZING! Beau definitely questioned my incredible love of Paula and her cuisine but after that, he was hooked too!

The food was good but the casino itself made me super sad. First of all, you have to understand, this casino is in the middle of nowhere. What was crazy though is the number of people that were there. Of course, you have to walk through the whole casino to get to Paula's and I am not kidding, 95% of the slot machines were filled with people. I thought we were at the end of a recession. People were spending money there like it was nothing.

I can't help but wonder, what have we learned from this recession? The greatest generation was the greatest because they learned a lesson from the hard times they experienced. What happens to those of us who fall on hard times and don't embrace the lesson we can learn from it? Like the saying goes, "those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it."

I don't know about you guys but I have no interest in repeating another recession any time soon. So we need to all take the lessons we learned from the hard times we've just been through and remember them and make changes. Save more. Spend less. Find ways to entertain yourself and your family that don't cost money. Don't live in fear but do have a plan for hard times.

It killed me to see all those people throwing, what I'm sure was hard-earned, money away on slot machines. And I haven't even talked about how smokey the place was but that made the entire thing completely unbearable.

It made me realize how lucky Beau and I are to have a love for the outdoors. Over the past couple years we've had some amazing times with just a backpack filled with water, granola bars and a trail to hike only spending money on a bit of gas. I promise I didn't spend the whole weekend depressed about what I saw at the casino but I did take it as an opportunity to learn a lesson. I also took the opportunity to look forward to spring. There were a couple twists on that trail that led to greener foliage that made me feel like I was turning the corner on spring. I can't wait for everything to turn green again!

Anyway, all in all my birthday month was amazing. I never dreaded closing in on 30 and I have to say that it's treated me well so far. I'm excited to see what the future has in store for Beau and I over the coming year as we take on our thirties together... :-)

Best Weekend Ever, also known as My Dad's Surprise Visit!

2011-02-17T19:21:00.000-08:00

So apparently Beau and my Pops have been in kahoots and planned a super, secret, surprise birthday visit. It was such a wonderful surprise!

I love being up here in WNC but it sure does make me miss my folks. Beau realized this and literally planned the best birthday surprise ever by planning with my dad a trip up here to visit. It was amazing! Here are some pictures from our visit!!!

Triple Falls for Triple 10

2011-02-17T19:08:00.000-08:00

Yup...I turned 30 recently. It's been an amazing birthday month! Beau got my birthday off to a great start by making me breakfast in bed! We decided a great way to celebrate the big 3-0 would be to hike up at Triple Falls. It was absolutely gorgeous. It's definitely on our top five list of places we have to take folks to when they come up to visit.

Here is our list of top five places to visit in WNC-Beau and Jolie edition (no particular order)

1. Visit Lake Lure (and if there is time, eat lunch at La Strada)

2. Drive up to Jump Off Rock (pref. at sunset)

3. Triple Falls!!!

4. Walk around downtown Hendo (America's #1 small town...maybe I made that last stat up :-))

5. Biltmore of course!

Here are some pictures from the hike...

What I can only describe as a tree chair....

Weekend fun with friends!

2011-02-17T19:01:00.000-08:00

Back in January we had some of our dearest friends come up to good ole' Hendo for a visit. It was so nice to share the town we love with good friends. We're keeping our fingers crossed that they decide to up and make a move up here like us :-)

We spent the weekend hiking, playing with our pups, and eating some really yummy food. Sydney even made us all homemade sausage biscuits on Sunday morning...how cool is that? I've never learned how to make "from scratch" biscuits, but after trying hers that is on my list of things to learn this year!

Who are the Joneses?

2010-11-15T17:19:00.000-08:00

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

2010-11-07T17:46:00.000-08:00

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?

2010-11-07T15:14:00.000-08:00

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

2010-10-26T17:22:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-24T17:07:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2010-10-15T15:42:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-03T18:20:00.000-07:00

this etsy shop: Jean Jean Vintage

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

Things I like about NC

2010-10-03T17:05:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-09-19T17:52:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-19T17:33:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-21T08:30:00.000-07:00

Old Favorite: Mary Cassatt

Source

New Favorite: Ellen Heck

Source

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

2010-08-08T12:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-07T14:44:00.000-07:00

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!

I'm back kinda and a fun DIY

2010-08-03T17:02:00.000-07:00

So we are settling in up here in beautiful WNC but not quite used to the day-to-day yet. I'm sorry I've been absent for so long but for those of you who are clicking on still I promise to have up update on our house and such soon (for example, we're planning on making a trip to Ikea this weekend for a cool bed that we've wanted for a long time...won't that be fun?).

In the meantime here is a totally awesome DIY from a Honestly...WTF. I mean honestly how cute is this idea...and how easy!

I'm on the run!

2010-06-29T14:56:00.000-07:00

Sorry that I've been out of the loop. I've not had internet for so long now that I can't even remember what my facebook profile looks like :-(

I wanted to do a quick post to let you guys know that we are settling in and also that I've found a great running group/charity to get involved with called "Girls On The Run". I'm signed up as a SoleMate which is a person that fundraises for this amazing organization to help them raise money for "Girls On The Run". This organziation prepares girls for a lifetime of self respect and healthy living by engaging them in healthy activities by encouraging them and helping them learn to find a love of running.

If you want to donate, click on my fundraising page!

Thank you in advance for your help!!!

Cute dress but why so short?

2010-06-12T17:41:00.001-07:00

Has anyone noticed lately that all the super cute dresses that are out now seem to be so, so short? I love dresses and prefer them to jeans or shorts most days but the styles these days are just way too short. It doesn't matter where you shop be it Mod Cloth, Forever 21 or Urban Outfitters, they are all pushing super short dresses. What's up with that?

Here's a dress that I recently happened across at Forever 21. If anyone out there is on the shorter side or just doesn't have the super short dress hang-ups that I have, you should buy it!

So here's a note to all you designers out there...I love the dresses that you're making I just need a little bit more fabric please....Thank you!

Going back, moving forward...

2010-06-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

Source

So this will be us (hopefully in a moving van) in a little under a week. Next Friday we are moving to North Carolina!!! This is why I've been a little absent as of late; it's also why I posted that last post. Before we go forward though, we have to go back. Some of this is scary, some is sad but trust that I accept all of it as a part of God's plan for Beau and me which means I wouldn't change a thing.

Beau and I have known for quite awhile that Atlanta was not meant to be our forever home. Several years ago I was the victim of an attempted carjacking/kidnapping (not sure what you call it when they want you and your car) just outside my home in midtown Atlanta. Before that day, I would have told you that Beau and I would raise our family inside that city, but after that I couldn't get far enough away. I honestly haven't been comfortable inside the perimeter ever since (and yes I know crime can happen anywhere, anytime but that's how I feel).

Being the victim of a violent crime affects your life in ways that you could never imagine. I've not been confident alone after dusk since that time. I was so grateful that Beau and I survived that night (he chased the guys off and saved my life). I went to counseling but it didn't change things. I was so happy to be alive. I wasn't depressed or not facing my issues, I was just scared. It's not fun to be so fearful every day of your life. It fades over time but that fear is always there just under the surface and the smallest thing can trigger it so that it feels like it happened only yesterday.

That is no way to live. So we decided not to live like that. We decided to make a move. We had no idea that it would happen so quickly. That's where God comes in, but who am I kidding he's been there all along. What I should say is that that's where we invited God in.

We longed to find the right place to live. We considered other parts of Georgia: Athens maybe?, or Griffin where Beau grew up?, maybe the N. GA mountains? Beau thought about a serious move, thinking of places like Alaska, Missouri, Montana. We considered all of these spots but none of them seemed right until we took one of our random weekend outings to Asheville, NC. We were immediately sure that this was where we were meant to be.

Now we knew where we needed to live, so we prayed that if it was God's will that He would open doors. And open doors He did! A process that we thought would take six months to a year (maybe two) went down in less than two and a half months. Beau got some interviews, and then some more interviews and then a job. We drove up again and found a perfect house. The last piece of the puzzle was a job for me and that fell into place this afternoon.

There's a saying that "if you want to make God laugh, tell Him your plans". Well we didn't tell Him, we prayed to Him and asked Him to guide us. We asked Him to open doors. We asked Him to show us His way. We believed unconditionally in His will for us and a dream came true. Our dream for a better life is less than a week away.

We've spent the last week or so saying goodbye to good friends. It's sad to leave this city and our friends behind but we look forward to what He has in store for us for the future. We know we'll be able to visit often but it will be hard to be away when we've been so close. We will continue to hold strong to our faith and always trust God's plan! There's another saying "We don't know what the future may hold, but we know who hold's our future."

My blogging may be a bit spotty here over the next week or two but know that I'll be back with lots of pictures and stories from the move.

Have a great weekend!

Prayer works...more details coming soon!

2010-05-31T19:12:00.000-07:00

Quick Craft: Well, this is adorable!

2010-05-25T18:41:00.000-07:00

Check out this super cute craft/planter. Have you ever seen anything so darling! I've always wanted a really whimsical garden space and this would blend in just fine. I also think it would be fun to plant a different herb on each level. It could be a living spice rack!

Source: Craftzine.com

Help Silent Clark silence cancer!!!

2010-05-20T07:44:00.000-07:00

I don't know about my colleagues at The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, but as far as fundraising was concerned, I really thought I had seen it all. I've seen tricycle races raise hundreds of dollars, pasta cook-off competitions that would make a Top Chef proud, even some pretty interesting Bachelor and Bachelorette auctions. That was nothing compared to what the month of May would bring. Enter Silent Clark...

Clark Harris aka Silent Clark is an alumni of the Team In Training cycle program. He participated in his mother's honor in 2006 and raised over $6,500 for LLS as she battled Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL). Since her passing, Clark has been looking for a bigger challenge and he's definitely found one: a month of silence and a goal to raise over $100,000!

Clark's only communication during the month of May will be through Social Media (i.e. Twitter, Facebook, etc.). In his own words, "What better challenge for a guy who never shuts up than to not talk for a month?". His goal is to raise over $100,000 during these quiet times and he's well on his way with close to $5000 raised so far. But he's got a long way to go and needs your help.

If you are interested in learning more or making a donation, check out the following links:

Silent Clark's donation page

Silent Clark's Twitter page

Silent Clark's Facebook page

This week's song obsession: Reno by Nic Cowan

2010-05-19T19:56:00.000-07:00

Every once in awhile a song gets stuck in my head in a really, really good way. This week I just cannot stop with the song "Reno" by Nic Cowan. Beau and I saw him perform it live with Zac Brown Band a few weeks ago and it just has some of the best lyrics that you could ever hope to hear.

"They got married three months later. He said when you find the 'one' you don't date her".

"We never had a choice to make. It chose us long before we ever met. It's love and nothing else."

Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Do you love robin's egg blue as much as I do?

2010-05-13T17:42:00.000-07:00

While I was walking around this beautiful day I couldn't help but notice several beautiful robin's egg shells. I guess spring is in full swing now that the baby robins have all hatched. It's such an unusual color to see out in nature and I couldn't help but think of how much I love that beautiful robin's egg blue. Do you love robin's egg blue as much as I do?

Some fun pictures from a fun weekend!

2010-05-11T04:50:00.000-07:00

Beau and I had an amazing weekend! The weather was beautiful and we had lots of fun plans for how to spend the time.

On Saturday we hit up "Ye Olde Renaissance Festival". These places have some of the best people watching and are just so much fun. There is no way you can take yourself seriously at a Renaissance Fair so you literally just walk around feeling like a kid for several hours which is amazing. It's got everything you were obsessed with as a child: pirates, knights, fairy wings, fried food (okay so some of those things you might still be obsessed with). Basically it's a wonderful escape from reality. Beau, Jody and I all agreed though that one of the coolest things we saw all day was the bird show.

Sunday we had big plans as well. Beau's cousin gave us some really great seats to the Zac Brown Band homecoming concert and it was such a great show. This guy really knows how to put on a show and he and his band have such a good time on stage. Plus because he's promoting his label Southern Ground, the show was filled with guest performances from some great up and coming artists like Levi Lowery, Nic Cowan and Sonia Leigh.

Levi's songs are heartbreaking and beautiful. As Zac Brown said upon introducing him, Levi has a great way of making horrible things sound beautiful. Nic Cowan reminded me a lot of Jason Mraz. And Sonia Leigh has a voice that is absolutely incredible and unexpected for her genre of music. It's a really interesting sound.

"You're like my favorite record on repeat..."

2010-05-05T15:01:00.000-07:00

So several, several months ago Beau and I were in the city square near our house having a lovely little Saturday when we happened into an antique shop. What drew me in was the fact that they ad an adorable set of mushroom salt and pepper shakers (which I didn't get because I don't need any more kitchen stuff, even really cut kitchen stuff) and a "Men At Work" record album sitting in the bargain bin out front.

Beau and I decided to go in and check the place out. Not only did this place have absolutely amazing antiques (lots of cool antique cameras, books, etc.) but also they have an entire record shop tucked into the back of the shop. This place was absolutely incredible. It basically cemented the idea that Beau and I had been contemplating for months..."to get a record player or not to get one". We ended up walking out of the store a trip or two later with a great set-up and several awesome records. My favorite being "The Smiths"!!!

This record player has turned out to be one of the coolest investments of our married life (don't worry people, I know a record player is not actually an investment). I love coming home every day and putting on something great like "She and Him", "Fleetwood Mac" or one of our new favorites the new "DMB" and just relaxing. It's made my life a lot more musical and has already introduced me to some more unique sounds that I might not have ever listened to via CD or Ipod.

It's also turned into such a fun hobby for Beau and I to share. My new favorite thing to do with Beau is to go to antique or thrift stores and sift through hundreds of forgotten records in the hopes of finding that treasure.

While we won't be purchasing one for awhile I really want to eventually get a portable record player so we can take it with us on picnics and to the park and stuff. I think it would be so much fun to lay around like these fine folks and just listen to music all day...don't you?

All images via weheartit.com

Spending the day in Callaway

2010-05-03T17:36:00.000-07:00

I'm back from FL and I miss my family but I'm so happy to be back in GA with Beauseph. Beau was super sweet and met me at the baggage claim with a beautiful rose and one of those silly valet signs that said my name. He totally cracked me up and it really made me realize how crazily I had missed him and his silliness.

When I got home to the pups I could not believe how much Rocky had grown in the short week that I was away. We weighed him today and he is 35 pounds! The Vet said he would top out at 35 and considering that he still isn't even 6 months I think that it's safe to say that there is more growth on the way. I love how with rescue dogs you never really know what type of pup you are getting. Every week is like a surprise.

Saturday was kinda an icky day so we stayed in most of the day and cuddled on the couch with the pups and watched Netflix shows all day. Beau got hooked on that Showtime show "Weed" while I was away last week so he spent most of Saturday catching me up. Instant viewing on Netflix kicks so much tail! I'm so glad we've got Netflix again.

Sunday we were going stir crazy so we had to get out of the house. We decided to go to Callaway Gardens. This is someplace I'd been wanting to visit forever. Beau knew that I would love the butterfly garden so he insisted that be our first stop. It was so worth it. I felt like I was surrounded by hundreds of beautiful angels.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our wonderful weekend!

Florida Thrifting Fun!!!

2010-04-29T13:12:00.000-07:00

Today after dropping Jacqui off at class and leaving Sean to finish school for the day, Mom and I went to one of her favorite thrift stores today and I found some great records only $0.75 each! Oh and a pretty cute scarf too! Here are some of the goodies (images courtesy of Amazon.com).

Jackson Browne The Pretender

2010-04-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

So wonderful...this is one of Beau's favorite songs and every time I hear it, I fall a bit more in love with it. Proof that true musicians are always better live than in studio.

I miss this face!!!

2010-04-27T06:35:00.000-07:00

And who wouldn't miss it, am I right? No one should have to go a week without a little Beauseph in their life. I forgot to mention earlier that Beau and I are not traveling down in FL together because he has work and classes this week and it make me miss him so, so, so much!

I love you Beau!!!

Happy Tuesday!

2010-04-27T06:25:00.000-07:00

Sorry I've not posted here in a few days. I am down in FL visiting the family after a wonderful weekend in St. Pete with our amazing St. Anthony's tri team. It was a great weekend. The swim got cut a little short because of some super choppy waves but everyone kept in really good spirits about the whole thing. Our team raised over $150,000 and counting in the fight against blood cancer....Go Team!!!

I'll be back this week with more fun!

Super cute craft from One Artsy Mama

2010-04-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

One more thing for the weekend...go check out this super cute craft from One Artsy Mama. It's a cardigan for your phone!!!

It's that time of year...

2010-04-17T09:36:00.000-07:00

It's April which means it's one of my favorite times of year here in Georgia because it's festival season. The greater Atlanta area is great because it's home to dozens and dozens of spring time festivities. This weekend alone there are three or four different festivals happening. How cool is that?

Right now I'm waiting anxiously for Beau to get home so we can head out the door with the pups to go have some festival fun. But in the meantime here are some pictures to get you in the festival mood all found at weheartit.com.

Measuring cup free cooking

2010-04-13T17:52:00.000-07:00

Check out this cool new website Food 2! I love looking at recipes. I don't so much go by the recipe in a really strict manner while I'm cooking. I'm more the type of person that looks at several recipes and combines them for a fun (almost always delicious) surprise. One of my favorite recipe websites has had this ad up for the past several days for the Food 2 website. I usually don't click on ads but after seeing the picture of the doughnut burger they had in their advertisement for several days, I had to check it out. Has anyone ever had one of these? I saw that it's like a 1500 calorie burger, how deliciously gross!

This isn't the exact photo but how can you not click on a link when you see this?

One of the first entries I saw when I clicked on the link was this article about how to hand measure ingredients so that you're not a slave to measuring cups and spoons. I see cooks do this all the time on Food Network so it was great to have some tips about how to hand measure ingredients. Anyway I thought it was super cool and definitely worth sharing...happy cooking!!!

Old favorite/New Favorite: Books?

2010-04-12T05:03:00.000-07:00

So this is an interesting one...

Old favorite: Books for reading

Source

New favorite: Books for planters

These particular books can be purchased as a kit from this website but I'm sure it would be a super cool DIY.

Supplies:
-Old book (please use one that is not a first edition or rare book...pretty please, I hate when I see amazing books turned into art projects).
-X-acto knife
-soil
-flower
-Some sort of plastic planter that could be used to line the inside of the book.
-Glue-ish substance, maybe mod podge to hold all the book pages together.

If you make one please comment with the link, I'd love to see it.

Providence Canyon

2010-04-04T14:58:00.000-07:00

We had a great weekend and a wonderful Easter! Friday Beau and I set out for Providence Canyon for what was supposed to some hiking and camping with the pups. We were told to expect a pretty long hike to the campsites so we packed up our backpacks and set out. But we made pretty good time (I guess) and we got to the campsites by about 2pm. We could either stay there at the site for several hours waiting for the sun to go down or hike back out, so we decided to hike back out and head on to Barnesville to visit Beau's grandmother.

Providence Canyon was gorgeous. The canyons were amazing and the trail was specked with colorful flowers almost like they were God's Easter eggs. It's a trail we'll be sure to hike again. Next time we'll just plan on it being a day hike. In any case it was really good excercise and backpacking practice.

We had a wonderful time visiting with Beau's grandmother and really enjoyed the chance to go to Easter service at her church. Barnesville is one of those beatiful backroad towns the Georgia is lucky to have and we are lucky enough to know about.

I hope your Easter was just as magical!!!

Getting a bit campy

2010-03-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

So I'm super excited about this weekend because not only is it Easter which I love, love, LOVE, but we're also taking advantage of the awesome weather to go camping!!! I'm hoping our experience is as beautiful and magical as some of these images from weheartit.com.

Lots of nature, lots of hiking, lots of time outside with the pups should work up a wonderful appetite so we can have a delicious meal like this for Easter :-)

Easter basket sugar cookies

2010-03-26T05:59:00.000-07:00

In case you can't tell, I absolutely adore Easter and all that comes with it. Not only is it an important day for me as a Christain but it also has always been an important day of family, fun and of course food!

This is a cute, little kitchen craft that I read about in my email this morning and I just had to share. Easter baskets made out of sugar cookies...how cool!

To get the directions just go to the Betty Crocker website. Also if you are gluten free like some of the folks in my family, don't count yourself out. I found a great recipe for gluten free sugar cookies by searching the web. My biggest suggestion is to check the recipe ratings and read the reviews. Betty crocker does have a number of gluten free dessert boxes but unfotunately they haven't gotten to sugar cookies yet.

Anthro inspired top

2010-03-24T18:58:00.000-07:00

Check out this quick and easy DIY top. I was flipping through the latest Anthro catalog when I saw the Climbing cowl neck and thought that I could do something very similar.

Source

I found an old t-shirt that wasn't getting much use and used fabric shears to make a scoop neck and shorter sleeve.

Next I used pins to get the shape I wanted. First on one side and next on the other. I didn't want this to look too matchy matchy so I used different amounts of stitches on each side.

Finally I used my sewing machine to stitch everything up and hand sewed a couple stitches to hold the neck in the way I wanted it. I'm pretty happy with the result. Not bad for my first try and it does look awful close to the anthro top. Forgive the horrible picture of me. I'm wearing another tank top under this shirt and it makes me look like I have eight stomachs :-(

Peeps

2010-03-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Well Easter is only a few days away and you know what that means...peeps! I'm not a huge peeps fan, actually that's not true. I'm a HUGE peeps fan! I think they are adorable, I just don't really care for eating them, until now. Check out what I found while surfing the web: Easter Peeps in a Jar!

If you do a simple google search of "Easter Peeps in a Jar" you'll find tons of examples. This is basically a really cute DIY Easter gift that you can give to friends and family. You can use the adorable jar as decor during the holiday and when Easter is over you can use the contents in the jar to make a delicious graham cracker and chocolate treat!

Here are some examples and variations that I found online.

Source

And here's a Halloween version of the craft.

Source

Some pics from our weekend

2010-03-22T05:03:00.001-07:00

Well Beau and I had a wonderful weekend! It was so nice to have nice weather for a change even if it was very short-lived (yesterday was rainy and we woke up this morning to flurries). We had fun trying out the geocach thing but were not very successful...oh well, there's always next weekend. In any case here are some pictures from our hiking with the pups.

Plans for today

2010-03-20T05:37:00.000-07:00

Today is beautiful! I'm so excited to have a wonderful weekend day for a change. Since we haven't had one of these in awhile and tomorrow is supposed to be rainy (plus it's the ING so we'll be out cheering on the Team In Training marathoners and half marathoners all day), Beau and I plan to make the most of the day.

Here are a couple of our fun plans for the day and weekend:

1) Run 6 miles-This is what Beau needs to do to stay on track for his half marathon training. If you haven't donated yet, feel free to do so here.

2)Take the dogs out for some exercise while trying something fun and new-We're going backpacking in a few weeks so both the pups as well as Beau and I could really use the training hike. We're going to try out something new though by going geocaching! We've been wanting to try this out for awhile to make our hiking more like treasure-hunting so we're excited to finally have some decent weather today!

3) Some spring cleaning...yuck! We'll try to save this one for tomorrow. We'll be moving in a couple months so it's time to give everything the once over and start packing the things we won't need for awhile.

Hopefully we'll have lots of fun pictures to post soon!

Well these are cool!

2010-03-19T16:43:00.001-07:00

Check out this super creative earring DIY I found...I might have to try these out!

Old favorite/Old favorite

2010-03-15T04:48:00.000-07:00

So I know that there are lots of Tim Burton's Alice fans out there and I respect your opinions but after watching the movie this past weekend I have to say that it is not my favorite Alice remake. My favorite Alice remake has always been and will continue to be the 1985 "Alice In Wonderland" with Natalie Gregory as Alice. I haven't seen it in forever but this particular remake has always been my favorite because it's the closest to the book and it is just the right amount of creepy.

I realize that Tim Burton's Alice was meant to be Alice's return to Wonderland as a twenty-year-old woman and that's fine. But why couldn't they have called it just that? There is no doubt that Tim Burton's version was visually spectacular but the story left a little bit to be desired. Maybe it was because it felt like several of my favorite fairy tales all mashed together. There were plenty of "The Wizard of Oz" and "The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe" moments in there. I just felt a bit slighted. Lewis Carroll did such an amazing job of creating a unique world with an equally eccentric cast of characters. I just hated that I kept going "wait, that's just like such and such".

The other thing that bugged me about this movie was the White Queen. Anne Hathaway is an amazing actress but I just didn't love her in this role. I felt like she either needed to tone it up or tone it down. The way she moved her fingers especially. In the 1985 Alice, the White Queen was extremely creepy but you still really liked her. This White Queen just annoyed me.

One thing I will say is that Johnny Depp is no doubt my favorite Mad Hatter ever. In fact, I'll go even further to say that I think Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter is the best I've ever seen him!

All in all, it wasn't a horrible movie. It was quite good really but I just didn't feel that the movie lived up to all the hype. I'm sorry. I know that there are a lot of people out there in cyber space that will be upset by that but it's my opinion and I felt like I just had to share it. So for me my old favorite Alice is still my favorite Alice.

All images from WeHeartIt.com

Great scarf DIY

2010-03-13T03:51:00.000-08:00

So the dogs woke me up early and to try and keep them from waking Beau up I decided to get up with them and go in the other room. We're trying to get Rocky used to sleeping later than 5am but the closest we've gotten so far is about 6:30am. Thank goodness we prefer mornings to nights.

I signed on my email this morning and found a really nice comment from a new blog friend Lola's Girl. Check out her blog if you haven't done so already. She has a blog post this week all about fun, spring scarves and one of them reminded me of a fun project I found over at another great blog called Pretty Ditty.

Scarf from Rouche

Scarf from Pretty Ditty

I actually found this project last fall but it is definitely more a spring scarf so I hadn't posted it yet. I made one of these for my sister in law Lauren and she really liked it. It's super easy and relatively quick too. The toughest part for me was finding fabric because I was looking last fall but you should have no problems now that spring is on it's way.

I apologize but I didn't take pictures because it was a rush birthday gift but I definitely plan on making another one soon so I'll be sure to take pictures of that one.

Quick Craft: Rope jewlery

2010-03-12T16:44:00.000-08:00

Check out this total awesome DIY from ...Love Maegan. It is so quick, cheap and easy that you could easily recreate this cute look in just an hour or so. It just uses curtain ties and some ribbon. How cool is that?

I'm always looking for new, fun blogs to be inspired by and I'm totally digging ...Love Maegan so be sure to check out her blog whether you like the craft or not. And because I love how you can totally start out on one person's blog and end up at a blog you've never visited before, here is the 6 Degrees of Separation (more like three I guess) for how I got to ...Love Maegan.

Divine Chaos>One Pearl Button>...Love Maegan

Happy Weekend! We're planning on spending as much time outside as possible so hopefully I'll have lots of fun pictures to post soon!

Some things I'm really loving

2010-03-08T10:02:00.000-08:00

I just watched the end of Miss Pettigrew Lives For A Day and I loved it just as much today as I did the first time. If you haven't checked this one out do yourself a favor and rent it! It's such a wonderful story of love and loss and self discovery. Plus spoiler alert it has a happy ending and who can argue with that.

Source: Wikipedia and EW.com

The second thing I'm LOVING right now is The Last Time I Was Me by Cathy Lamb. We just read this for book club and it is amazing! It's a story of a woman who's life has reached a breaking point in her life. She's realized that the life that she's been living has been a lie and this is the story of her hysterical journey back to the truth which includes pancakes, finger-painting, germs, a naked run along the river and yet again another happy ending.

Source

One thing I've learned is that it may not be hip and it may not be artsy but a happy ending beats a sad ending any day. Call it romantic comedy or chick lit but I call the belief that everything is going to turn out okay therapeutic and wonderful. So for those of you out there that love a happy ending please consider checking these two out.

I love to make this guy laugh...

2010-03-05T17:25:00.000-08:00

I fall more in love with Beau every day for a million different reasons. One of my favorite things about Beau is his laugh especially if I'm the one making him laugh. Every once in awhile when we're joking around I happen upon an accent or impression that he cannot help but laugh at and I absolutely adore it.

Sorry for the sappiness but I just had to share :-)

Spring is nearly here!

2010-03-05T15:04:00.002-08:00

I love love love Spring and cannot wait for March 20 to get here. Not only because that is the first official day of Spring but also because that's the day that Beauseph proposed. We're considering making proposal day like our own personal Valentine's day...how fun is that?

We are supposed to have some great weather this weekend and thank goodness; we deserve it! Alice in Wonderland comes out this weekend and we're super psyched about that. I don't think we'll go tonight because it will be too crazy but we'll definitley be checking it out sometime soon. This weekend Beau and I are also going to look at houses. Our lease is up in a couple months and it's time to figure out where we want to land.

In honor of Spring starting to peek out from behind Winter, here are some pictures of one of the first good weekends of last Spring.

One of the first signs of the beauty to come.

The Lord works in mysterious ways

2010-03-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

Beau found out today that a friend has passed. As many of you know Beau was injured in a car accident at 17 and fought back through cardiac arrests, a coma and a severe brain injury. Earlier this year Beau's aunt asked that he get in touch with a friend of hers whose daughter was going through a similar injury as the result of a car accident.

Beau reached out to the family and visited several times. He didn't know Candice prior to her injury but felt instantly connected because of having been through the same thing. Last week Candice had become more responsive and was even able to mouth some words. She asked her parents to bring someone in to help her do a bible study of Ecclesiastes 3. Later that day she slipped into a coma and passed away on Saturday. May God bless her family in this time of need.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.

Candice loved butterflies so here are some butterfly images from weheartit.com. We know she is with her Father in heaven but she will be missed here on earth. Enjoy your wings Candice!

Congrats to Mandy!!!

2010-03-01T05:33:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Mandy of Just Mandyness and Hello Ladies is the earring giveaway winner. Mandy please email me at MissShadowDozier@gmail.com and let me know what color earrings you would like and where to send them!

Here's what Mandy is looking forward to this spring:
"Hmmm, what I am looking forward to most about Spring .... Hopefully getting some baby bunnies! One year we 'bunny sat' some bunnies for a month or so and I miss keeping little hippity-hops! :)"

Have a great Monday everyone!!!

Giveaway love!!!

2010-02-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

Congrats to Katie of Punk Projects for winning the giveaway over at Divine Chaos. I've got a cute pink pair of earrings headed her way.

I realized I never set a deadline for the cooresponding giveaway on my blog, so here it is. You guys have until this Sunday, Feb. 28 at 3pm (East coast time) to get entered. You can leave a comment here or on the original post saying what you are looking forward to most about spring.

The winner gets a pair of earrings in the color of their choice. One entry for leaving a comment and a second for following my blog (just be sure to let me know in your comment that you are following).

For more giveaway fun head on over to On The Brink of Something Beautiful... for another super cool giveaway!

I love gnomes (do you love them too?)

2010-02-23T05:01:00.000-08:00

I've mentioned it several times here but never really blogged about my incredible love of garden gnomes. They are so quirky and magical. Maybe it's because of that old show David The Gnome or perhaps it's just my longing to have a yard to decorate with these guys. Either way it's an obsession that is not going away.

I have a couple theories about garden gnomes.

1)My first theory is that all gnomes have names that start with a G. The G is always silent though so we assume it's not there. Ex. David the gnome should have been spelled Gdavid the gnome. My name would be Gjolie if I were a gnome and so on.

2) All garden gnomes live in adorable mushroom houses.

3) For some reason I think male gnomes are cuter than female gnomes but it's probably not true it's just that female gnomes are so busy cooking inside those mushroom houses that they are never around that much to pose for photos. If there were a gnome paparazzi a photograph of a female gnome would be worth as much as a first picture of a newborn Jolie-Pitt child.

Okay, okay, enough silliness, I hope you enjoyed the cute gnome photos from weheartit.com. Oh and also check out Paper Sparrow for more gnome cuteness.

Old Favorite/New Favorite: Girl Scout cookies

2010-02-22T14:40:00.000-08:00

We got our Girl Scout cookies today and boy are they delicious. I pretty much stick to the classics when it comes to ordering Girl Scout cookies: Peanut Butter Patties/Tagalongs and Thin Mints. You cannot go wrong with either of these. My old favorite is definitely the Peanut Butter Patties though. (Side note-why do some people call them Peanut Butter Patties and some people call them Tagalongs)

This year though I decided to think outside the cookie box a bit (ha ha) and order the new cookie of the year. It's called Thank U Berry Much and it is absolutely wonderful!!! If you like Berry Captain Crunch you will love, love, love this cookie.

I suggest you hit up your local Girl Scout troop next time you see them out at a store front near you and get a box. You won't regret it!

Weekend fun

2010-02-20T06:50:00.001-08:00

Hey guys,

It's beautiful in GA today and Beau and I are headed outside with the puppies for some fun in the sun. But just in case you aren't blessed with the same weather here are some fun ideas for the weekend.

1) Make Polymer clay buttons with the help of this tutorial via Craft Stylish.

2) Crochet your own coffee sleeve. I used this tutorial this morning and it was super quick and easy. I'll post pics of my coffee sleeve soon.

Combine the two to make something like this! (picture source)

I plan on adding buttons to mine later.

3) Go see Shutter Island. Beau and I did last night and it was amazing! We are still talking about it. A lot of people have said they thought it would be scary but it really wasn't. It was more of a psychological thriller.

Donate now to help save lives!

2010-02-19T06:03:00.000-08:00

My husband is training and fundraising for a half marathon in memory of his grandfather Bill Hardy (pictured above) who lost his battle to cancer before Beau was born. This is definitely a labor of love for Beau. Beau loves to hike but running is not exactly his forte. He knows I love it though and that this is an amazing cause and so together (and along with a lot of help from Team In Training) we will get him from where he is today to across the finish line San Diego.

If you would like to help out by making a donation you can contribute at Beau's website.

If you are interested in learing more about Team In Training and how you can get involved please check out their website.

Thank you in advance for your support!

Check out Divine Chaos and giveaway!!!

2010-02-19T04:21:00.000-08:00

Happy Friday everyone!

Hop on over to Divine Chaos today to check out Emily's blog. It's full of crafty goodness, movie reviews, great blog suggestions and sass!

This girl is awesome. We are style school buddies and Emily has offered to do a feature of my blog in her Friday Friends edition.

To celebrate I'll be giving away two pairs of earrings (in the color of your choice). One through Emily's blog and one through mine. For my blog you get one entry for leaving a comment with the thing you are most looking forward to about spring. You get a second entry for following my blog (just let me know that you are following in my blog).

Take care!

Go fly a kite!

2010-02-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

That's what I want to do! I am so excited because for the first time in more than forever we are supposed to have some wonderful weather on Saturday. 56 and sunny may sound cold to some but it's a welcome relief to those of us in Atlanta that have been dealing with snow and ice and overcast skies.

So in honor of what I'm sure is a sign of spring on it's way, here are some lovely kite shots all found at weheartit.com.

What are you giving up?

2010-02-16T17:15:00.000-08:00

What are you giving up for Lent?

I'm giving up soda again. I gave it up last year too but I absolutely love it and I think it's the most appropriate thing. It's something I consume every day and so every day I'll have to think about why I'm choosing not to drink soda.

Beau is giving up hot sauce. To some people this may seem silly or not a very big deal. Those people don't know Beau. Beau LOVES hot sauce. It's even worse this year than it was last year because they just came out with Texas Pete (his favorite) in a hotter than hot version and he's been using even more of it than normal.

Side note-When we first started dating it used to really offend me because Beau puts hot sauce on everything. I remember the first time I cooked him dinner he didn't even take a bite before asking for hot sauce (for spaghetti...weird). The longer we were together the more I came to know Beau and the more I realized that he did that to everyone/every meal. Now he makes a point to try whatever it is before putting hot sauce on his meal. What a sweetie!

So to conclude hear are some pretty soda shots to remind me what I'll be missing over the next 40 days.

All images from weheartit.com
Happy Fat Tuesday!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

2010-02-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (New International Version)

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I love this guy!

We're staying in tonight. We've loaded up on delicious treats from Trader Joe's and are going to eat a delicious dinner and take it easy. Last year it was homemade pasta and meatballs but this year we're making pork loin. This is a new venture so wish us luck.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Valentine's day!

Snow day and puppy love

2010-02-13T07:19:00.000-08:00

Here are a bunch of pictures from our snowy morning with the pups. Our part of town got around 3-4 inches of snow which is definitely random for dear old Atlanta. It's even supposed to snow again on Monday.

This morning we took the pups out and decided to do a little bit of box sledding. It was just a bit after 9am but I was still surprised that no one else was out enjoying the fresh snow. I guess they'd all rather be inside watching it on TV. No wonder America has an obesity problem.

We heard on the news yesterday that this was the first time in years that there had been snow in 49/50 states. Hawaii being the only state without. Crazy that there was even snow in Florida. I know my family down in FL is enjoying the winter weather. It's cold but it's a nice break from the awful summer heat which was enough to make me high tail it to Georgia at my first chance. It's still hot up here in the summers but they are nothing compared to those FL summers.

So just in case your curious...the new puppy is fitting it really well into our family. We've had Rocky for a little over a week now and it's getting to be like he's already been here. Beau and I have both been really strict about potty-training and it's paid off. A couple accidents but what do you expect with small bladders?

The first night he woke us up a lot to go potty. The second night was around 2-3 times and now after only a week with our family he maybe wakes us up once per night.

We didn't have Frankie when she was in her whiny puppy stage but Rocky is definitely there. We've managed to curb much of that as well and now usually only hear Rocky cry when he wants something (food, bathroom, etc.).

All in all he's a great puppy. This is it for us for now. We've always seen ourselves as two dog people. Three just seems like a lot of work. The next big adventure for us will be kids and that won't be for awhile unless God has other plans for us :-)

Happy weekend everyone!

Do you love "pink hair" as much as I do?

2010-02-12T18:53:00.000-08:00

Do you love pink hair as much as I do? Maybe it's an early childhood obsession with the Jem cartoon, or maybe I just didn't rebel enough as a teenager. In any case one thing on my bucket list is to have pink hair.

I never thought I'd find a reasonable excuse for doing this until this week at work they launched the Totally Baldacious fundraiser. Participants can raise money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and do something a little crazy as well. You set your fundraising goal and when it's reached you either shave your head or die your hair a funky color. I definitely think I'll consider it when I'm fundraising for my next event. What a great excuse to have pink hair!

If you interested in fundraising for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society by doing your own Totally Baldacious fundraiser you can find out more information here.

All pictures found here.

Old Favorite/New Favorite: Puppy edition

2010-02-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

The old favorite for this week is a definite blast from the past. It's that classic Little Golden Book "The Poky Little Puppy". Do you remember this book. It's definitely one of my favorite of all the Little Golden Books.
Source
My new favorite is something that just struck me yesterday. I kept looking at our new puppy pal Rocky and could not figure out why this little guy looked so familiar. And then it hit me. Rocky is a dead ringer for the Poky Little Puppy. Especially in his curious and bumbling actions. I can't help but think that a dog just like Rocky was Janette Sebring Lowrey's inspiration behind this timeless classic.

29 years and meet Rocky!

2010-02-08T13:03:00.000-08:00

Source

So I turned 29 on Saturday. What a weird birthday that was. Beau and I went up to Blue Ridge to spend the weekend in the mountains which nice and relaxing-just what each of us needed.

Here are a few pictures of our weekend and our new (not quite photogenic yet) pup named Rocky!

Quick Crafting from Cakies

2010-02-04T05:07:00.001-08:00

Source: Cakies

Check out this awesome and quick DIY from Cakies. I made one of these a couple months ago and it instantly became my new favorite headband. Ruby's blog is definitely one of my new favorites!

I love blogs like hers! You know the kind where you read the stories, check out the pictures and can just see the wonderful love that the family shares :-)

Also check out Smile and Wave. This is the blog that led me to Ruby's blog Cakies. This blog gives you that same warm fuzzy feeling when you read it and Rachel is posting a ton of fun love stories this month. It is definitely worth a read.

Style Inspiration: Michelle Williams

2010-02-02T18:07:00.000-08:00

Dear Michelle Williams,

You did such an amazing job of playing Jen in Dawson's Creek that I didn't like you until the very end of the series when you were dying. You were the girl my friends and I loved to hate. And now you're the girl whose style I love to watch. My favorite look is the way you pair feminine florals with boyfriend blazers.

Keep up your gorgeous sense of style!

Love,

Jolie

I hope you like these pics. I found a lot more adorable pictures that show Michelle's awesome sense of style but I didn't feel comfortable promoting them since they were paparazzi shots of her and her daughter. I know if I were famous I wouldn't want some random person posting pictures of my child all over the internet.

Found here

Found here

Found here

Old Favorite/New Favorite: The Grammy Awards

2010-02-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

Can you think of a more perfect old favorite/new favorite than the Grammy Awards last night? I sure can't. There were some straight up awesome performances last night. Pink's performance was insane. Beyonce worked it (I'm not a huge Beyonce fan but I thought it was cool she busted out Alanis at the end) and the Michael Jackson tribute was just plain gorgeous!

For me it was the duets that really rocked. Here are my top three favorites:

I'm guessing that these links will most likely get pulled from youtube.com in the next couple of hours but keep on the look out because you do not want to miss these performances.

#3-Old Favorite: Stevie Nicks/New Favorite: Taylor Swift
I love Taylor Swift and though I don't think it was the best of the night I think it was a cool idea to pair her with a legend like Stevie Nicks.

#2-Old Favorite:Leon Russell/New Favorite: Zac Brown Band
No links to this one kids. Sorry you missed Zac Brown's amazing performance. Keep checking for it on youtube.com because it is one not to be missed.

#1-Old Favorite: Elton John/New Favorite: Lady GaGa

Do you love these as much as I do?

2010-01-31T17:22:00.000-08:00

I absolutely adore mushrooms, toadstools, fungi, whatever you might call them. I don't know what inspired my love of mushrooms but I just think they are so cute. It probably has something to do with garden gnomes or Alice In Wonderland. Either way here are some really cute mushroom images I found online today at weheartit.com.

Don't these look yummy?

I want to make this!

How beautiful!

Reminds me of one of my favorite parts of the book.

I'd love to go for a ride on this.

I want to visit this place.

And this place.

Another fun mushroom craft for me to try.

I'm so looking forward to seeing this, aren't you?

How cute is this picture?

More craft mushrooms!

Creepy but also very cool.

One final shot to leave you with. You can find all these images at weheartit.com and search "mushroom".

Quick crafting: Dog shirt

2010-01-30T20:41:00.001-08:00

Do you find a hard time finding dog shirts that fit the style of you and your pup? I do. I get so sick of all the cheesy sayings and frilly designs. I want shirts for my dog that match my style. I see cute designs all the time in the baby section but baby shirts always left too much fabric around my pup's stomach. Until now.

Here's what you need to know to turn a baby t-shirt to an awesome t-shirt for your pup.

Supplies:
Baby t-shirt (I used size 6-9 months but use your discretion based on your pup's size)
Scissors
Sewing machine or needle and thread

1. Try the shirt on your dog to eyeball how much you will need to alter it.

2. Remove the shirt and cut vertically down the back center. Remember the image on the front of a baby shirt is the image that will be on the back of your dog.

3. Turn inside out and match the two cut ends together. You may want to pin your ends in to place.
4. Sew vertically down the shirt. Use your estimate from earlier to determine where to sew. Be sure not to make the shirt too small. It's better to leave too much room at first and have to go back and do this step again than to sew it too tight.

5. Cut any excess fabric but be sure to leave 1/2 inch to an inch in case of fraying.
6. Turn right side out and dress your dog! How snazzy right?

Let me know if you try this out. I'd love to see pictures of your adorable pups in their awesome new shirts.