2014 in Review

2014 has been a year to remember for me. When I sit back to reflect I can't believe how many things changed in the past year! I moved out of my house in Greenville, started teaching first grade at a new school at the beach, got engaged to my best friend, bought our first house, and welcomed the SWEETEST chocolate lab into our home! I have to thank Him for all of the blessings that have come our way! Cheers to an AMAZING 2014 and hopefully an even better 2015. 

Here are the top 5 post of 2014 on this little ole' blog based on the number of page views. They just so happen to be my favorite as well! 

Our Engagement 

Wedding Wednesday- The Venue 

Meet Henson

Fall on the Front Porch

Apple Dip- Thank you Gift 

I hope you have a safe and happy New Years Eve! 

Christmas 2014

This year I was able to spend Christmas Eve in our new house with Justin's family and then wake up and travel home Christmas morning to spend Christmas with my family. I was worried how I would balance Christmas with two families in the mix but it worked out just perfect. Christmas Eve we had all of Justin's family over to our house for dinner, drinks and gifts. I was thrilled to get to spend part of Christmas with them for the first time ever. To keep things simple but also delicious everyone brought their own steak and potato and we had salad, rolls, tons of appetizers and butter finger pie. 

Christmas morning I woke up bright and early to head to my parents house. Justin couldn't join this year because of his work schedule. Fingers crossed that he can next year! Even though we could not be together I was so happy to be home with my family. There is just something peaceful about being "home" with your family. My mom made a big lunch, a yummy limoncello drink and we exchanged our gifts to each other. The past few years it has become a tradition to get together with our best girl friends Christmas night for a cocktail. This may have been my favorite year yet... so much fun with these girls!! We could talk for days on end and never run out of things to say. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. I'm so thankful for such wonderful family and friends who made Christmas 2014 one to remember! 

Christmas House Tour

Merry Christmas friends!! I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebrating with family and friends! This year I have been so blessed as I was able to spend Christmas with not only my family but Justin's as well, and with close friends. I have been a little absent from the blog enjoying every minute of the Christmas season but I am back and can't wait to share about my holiday! Those that have been reading know that Justin and I bought a house back in August; read here. This was our first Christmas together in our house and definitely one to remember. We had so much fun filling the house with Christmas decorations and starting traditions. I snapped some pictures partly to show off the Christmas decor and partly to show off how the living room and dining room are coming along! I hope you love it as much as we do!! 

So with this picture you can see our new Everett foyer table under the TV and our new chair. Next on the wish list is the matching couch, a side table and wall art. We're getting there.. one piece at a time. (: 

You can read about our hunt for a chair here. This is the Bennington chair from Rooms to go.. I LOVE how it turned out!! It is SO comfy and the perfect size to cuddle up in. 

Everett foyer table..this is probably my favorite piece of furniture in the house. I love love love it! It fits perfectly under our TV.  

 Do you see our NEW farm table in the dining room?! My future father in law built that for us for Christmas. Full post to come.. he did an awesome job! 

Christmas Cards

Can you believe Christmas is just 9 short days away?! I'm determined to make the most of these next few days. I love the whole spirit of the season- Christmas music, church services, holiday parties, wrapping presents, all the lights... should I keep going? I vote Christmas season should last at least two months.... whose with me?! I have always wanted to send out Christmas cards but didn't ever want to send one out with just me because let's be honest... who would want a picture of just me on their refrigerator? (other than maybe my parents) (; Now that Justin and I are engaged and we have a brown fur baby it felt right to finally be able to send out Christmas cards! 

I love how they turned out and love even more knowing my close family and friends know we are thinking of them this holiday season. Have a great day friends! (: 

Weekend Recap: Blast from the past

This past weekend Justin and I traveled to Greenville NC, our old college town. After living there for so long it is always so much fun to go back and visit! Apart of Greenville will always feel like "home". It's even more special since that is where we met! A coworker from my old school and close friend was having a gender reveal party and my sister lives there so it was the perfect weekend to catch up with old friends, visit my sister and see how the town has grown! 

I really wanted to walk Henson around campus Saturday morning but it was rainy so that just didn't happen. Instead we were able to watch a Christmas parade in one of the new downtown restaurants. Saturday was also the gender reveal for Jessie and oh my word... SO sweet!! I loved every moment of celebrating with her. We all agreed that her pregnancy became so much more real once we could put a name to the baby. Oh, and it's a GIRL. I actually have ANOTHER friend who is expecting and had her gender reveal party on Sunday. Unfortunately we had to miss that one but I caught up on the action through lots of videos and pictures. Katie's also having a sweet little girl!(: 

Look at that little bump!! 

On Sunday we woke up bright and early to head to Chapel Hill. We had tickets to the ECU UNC basketball game at the Smith center. Justin has family in Chapel Hill so we went a little early grab lunch on Franklin Street and visit the Tar heel basketball museum. Those that know Justin know how BIG of Tar heel fan he is. His face lights up just walking in the Smith center. Pure joy and I love it! 

Apple Pie in a Brown Paper Bag

When my mom told me you could cook an apple pie in a brown paper bag I looked at her like she way crazy. I had never heard of this method and putting a paper bag in the oven seemed like a recipe for disaster. Of course mom's are always right and she sure was. You can in fact cook an apple pie in a paper bag and it is delicious. I had to have my mom show me her ways and ever since this apple pie has become one of my favorite pies! Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and oh my word... melt in your mouth! 

I just love hand written recipe cards passed down from family! 

Ingredients 
1 unbaked 9" pie crust  
3-4 large apples, sliced 
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp flour 
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbs lemon juice
Mix all of the ingredients and place in your unbaked pie crust. 

Topping: 
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour 
1 stick butter, chopped into sugar and flour

Sprinkle mixture on top of pie and put pie in a brown paper bag. Clip bag together with paperclips. Bake 1 hour at 350. Don't open the bag until it's done!! The last 15 minutes you can cut a whole in the top of the bag and place back in oven to brown the top. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy! 

Thanksgiving Recap

There really is nothing better than having a chance to spend time with family, eat an unhealthy amount of food, and rest up. We had such a nice Thanksgiving this year! This was Justin and my first Thanksgiving spent together. We spent Thanksgiving day and a couple nights in his hometown. His family fried two turkeys and cooked a Boston butt along with a million other delicious side dishes. The Friday after Thanksgiving Justin had to work so I packed up and headed to my parents home with Henson. My sister and I have started a tradition and go to Greensboro to do a little shopping on black Friday. We are always happy to see a good sell! I spent the whole weekend at home and it was SO nice and definitely much needed! I was able to catch up with a few of my best girl friends, have a second Thanksgiving with my family and then spend lots of time in bed resting when I caught a cold. No fun with that last part. I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. (:

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Give Thanks this Thanksgiving

I am so thankful today and every day for my family, friends and this little ole' blog! Enjoy today with those closest to you. Give thanks, eat pie ..and drink wine. Happy Thanksgiving! 

The Great Color Scheme Debate

There is one aspect of our wedding I keep going back and fourth on.. the bridesmaid dress colors. I have narrowed it down to 2 colors, both of which I love! I just cannot make a decision when it comes to the colors. One thing I do know for sure is I want navy incorporated into the wedding party. What I can't decide is if I want navy bridesmaid dresses or navy groomsman suits. Ah! Help!! Here are my ideas so far:

Option 1:
Navy bridesmaid dresses and black/gray/tan, I'm not sure what color suits for the groomsman. see, I told you I need help :)

Option 2:
Neutral bridesmaid dresses and navy groomsman suits. 

What are your thoughts on this? I have parts that I like about both combinations and parts I'm not sure about for both. My favorite color for suits is the navy and I love the neutral color dresses but I know that is a hard color to match for all of the girls skin tones. I also love the navy dresses but am not a big fan of the gray suits or tan because of the brick wall in our venue. You can see the venue here. I'm in a bit of a pickle. Side note- this is a fun "pickle" to be in. I know ultimately we can't go wrong with either color combo because our friends will look great in anything!! Since we have to make a decision though your thoughts are welcomed and wanted! 

Happy Wednesday friends!