This Week Through Instagram

     There is a craft blog I follow that has a post every now and then of Instagram pictures throughout her week, and I thought the idea was so cool that I decided to do an Instagram post on here every now and then. I can't remember that particular blog I follow at this time, but when I remember I will update and let you know! So here is my week through Instagram!

This is Gavin, one of my two nieces and me!

 I found this awesome canvas print for my bathroom at TJMaxx. My bathroom is decorated in burgundy, black, and white. I love what this print says, and it reminds me of my husband! ♥

Here's a crazy bee I saw while I was jogging outside! Yeah, I stopped to take the picture! lol 

Gavin loves Elmo! 

My parents built this fire in the backyard and we roasted hot dogs for dinner! It was actually chilly outside and it really felt like Fall!  

My Jack, the Pumpkin Head I bought at Bath and Body Works last year. I have put pumpkin decorations in my kitchen, and I love how I can put a candle in this and make it glow!

More pumpkin decorations in my kitchen!

This was my view when I was eating lunch on my lunch break. I love sitting with the windows down when there's a breeze outside! 

Here is the guacamole my mom and I made one Saturday for lunch! It was so fun shopping for the vegetables and making it together that day! 

Here's the link for the recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/robert-irvine/guacamole-recipe/index.html

Pumpkin towels in my kitchen! 

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend! ☺

Our Vacation Through Instagram

     My husband and I finally got a week off together! This has been our first vacation together since our honeymoon almost a year ago! We decided to visit the Smoky Mountains in Tennessee, and here are some pictures from our trip. ☺

The bad decisions started early...lol This was our "snack" on the way up to Pigeon Forge.

This is our view driving into town. Notice the Titanic museum up ahead and the mountains in the back.

Here's another view of the mountains and the beautiful clouds.

This is my Kosmic Karma + Roasted Red Peppers Pizza from Mellow Mushroom. ☺

The result of our visit to The Smoky Mountain Popcorn Company ~ Half Chocolate Caramel & Half Cheddar and Sour Cream 

...and our second trip to the Popcorn Company. Left to Right: Snickers, Taco, and Buffalo 

The Smoky Mountain Popcorn Company

This is a view of Little Pigeon River that runs through Gatlinburg. We happened to come upon this bridge while we were walking through downtown Gatlinburg.

The Old Mill General Store attached to The Old Mill Restaurant. This restaurant is definitely not the cheapest in town, but you definitely leave full and with plenty of leftovers!!

Parking at The Old Mill

The view in front of The Old Mill Restaurant ~ Fun shops with mountains as a backdrop ♥

Joe's Crab Shack in the mountains? You got it.

Another picture of Joe's. We had beer-battered fish, crab cakes, and my husband ate crab-stuffed shrimp. 

The super-cute pirate ship playground for the kiddies at Joe's

The back of the new Hollywood Wax Museum in Pigeon Forge ~ The King Kong is huge!

The yummy fried green tomatoes with feta cheese and spicy ranch from The Partridge and Pear Restaurant!

Christmas decor at The Partridge and Pear Restaurant

The Starbucks my husband has nicknamed "Ye Old Starbucks" because of it's appearance. ☺ We go to the Ye Old Starbucks every time just so we can say its nickname. Haha!

I hope you have enjoyed these pictures! I have many more to add to this post, so check back! ☺

Still here!

I'm sorry I haven't written a post in a few months. Things have been crazy; I got married and moved at the same time, so there has been little time for blogs! Anyway, it's a short post today, I just wanted to thank everyone who has been reading this blog! I should be able to post more frequently once I get internet set up at my new place. Thanks for tuning in!

Graduation and Beyond...

So, here I am, three months before graduation...and when I think about it, I kind of get scared. I have waited to get out of college really since I started. I have longed to walk across a stage in effort to grab my diploma that will symbolize all the stress, all the late nights, and all the studying and time consumption that has constituted my life for the last four years.
I'm don't feel overwhelmingly frightened, but I do feel like, "Ok, now that I've got my degree, what now?"
I know I will start looking for a job within my field, but it's the fact that I will actually be starting my career that has me stop in my tracks when I think about it.
I'm definitely ready to take the next step in my life, and I look forward to each step the future will bring, especially having a place of my own. Even Sean said, "You'll actually have to do laundry." Well, he has no room to talk, he doesn't do laundry, either. :)
But I definitely recognize that this is a turning point in my life and I am optimistic for the change, but at the same time...I am curious about the unknown.

A Year Almost Gone

After getting off work today, an extremely cold day, by the way (30 degrees when I left the house and 42 degrees when I left work), I noticed that the day was beautiful. I mean, a sun-shining, icy-cold day kind of beautiful. I drove home, and my house sits on a hill, so when I arrived I was able to see the blue and purple mountains in the distance through brown barren trees. I love winter. There is just something cozy about piling a bunch of clothes on, and then still having to put a coat on over all that. Don't get me wrong, I love warm temperatures, too. I just believe there is a season for everything, and right now, it's the season for winter.

That's why I feel hestitant to let the New Year roll in (and that's beside the fact that I won't even be in the country for the first 10 days). I mean, yes, this year has been....different for me. It has been frustrating and disappointing in more ways than one. I have been impatient with school and my job, and not to mention worrying about minor health issues. Yet, I was still able to fall more in love with my boyfriend of more than three years. :)

However, I just feel like I didn't get enough of the Christmas holiday, and it was over and gone like a speeding train disappearing into the night. I love Christmas. I mean, I really, really love Christmas. I had a small tree up in my house in September, and I had to sneak it in while my mom was at work. I just feel like it came up on me too fast, and was gone before I could really enjoy it. This whole month has had its stresses, but overall, I really loved it. The funny thing is, I wish I would have enjoyed it more at the time instead of looking back into the haze of my memories and feeling a sinking feeling in my stomach because those times have passed.

As much as a love Christmas, I almost equally hate the days that follow. When the joy of Christmastime is over, it feels like a huge balloon has popped. It feels like a room where the heat has been turned off and all that is left it the biting cold.

But I can only look forward now with optimism toward the New Year. I hope next year is a great year. I plan to graduate college in May, and then a whole new life for me will begin. I hope to encounter other new beginnings in my life as well, and those I won't mention here, not yet.

Dreams

I am amazed how the brain works. I dream every night, and I have a couple of vivid dreams every night that I can remember. But what amazes me is that the tiniest part of my day can be the focus of my dream that night. A person can say one sentence to me about something that isn't even really important, and I could end up having a dream about it that night. It could be one sentence that was said to me that I even had forgotten. And it won't be until the morning when I am reflecting on my dreams that I actually remember what was said to me that started the dream.

I can remember dreams I had when I was really young. Particularly one where I was at my mammaw's house and there was an outbreak of werewolves in my town. I remember seeing a sign on the road she lived on that said, "Warning: Werewolves on the Loose."

Sometimes I remember things from when I was young that no one else remembers and they tell me it was a dream. For example, there is this building in my town that is abandoned and for sale, and has been for years. However, I distinctly remember my mom taking me into that building, she was holding my hand, and I remember my dad was there playing in a band towards the back. No one remembers this but me, so it must have been a dream.

Last night I had a very strange dream. I remember running from someone or something, and my boyfriend and I had to jump in and swim in a very large river to reach the other side. When I jumped in it was very cold water, and we swam a ways until there was this huge wooden thing underneath us. Where it poked out of the river it created islands in the frigid waters. The more I saw it, the more I realized it was a huge sunken ship, rising to the top of the river. It was wooden and so large it took up most of the river. I remember marveling at its colossal size. I remember the wood was dark brown as the water lapped over its side.
We finally got out of the river and began to investigate why the ship was there.

I told you before, the brain amazes me with the things it comes up with.

First Blog

This is my first blog. I will post a longer one when I have time, but I need to be going to sleep soon because my second day of school starts at 9am tomorrow. Ugh. My day consisted of three classes, eating BBQ with my boyfriend, napping, taebo and blowing money on textbooks. Yay. Today was actually was a pretty good day. :)