2nd Annual Camping Trip: Part 1

Hello there! I hope y'all had a fabulous weekend. Ours was fabulous, of course, because the Dawgs finally pulled out a win in the GA/FL game! Go Dawgs! I'm done editing/uploading the pics from our camping trip and I'm so excited to share them with y'all today (well, part 1 anyway).

Two weekends ago we packed the Jeep to the brim with camping gear and made the three hour drive to Pisgah National Forest in North Carolina, where we hiked up Looking Glass Rock Trail.

Doc was in tow, of course, and he loved every minute of it. In his mind, this was the best.walk.ever. And it probably had to do with the fact that this trail was a complete 180 from the trail we did last year. I was already a huffin' and a puffin' 5 minutes in, but granted I did recently get diagnosed with allergy-induced asthma, so that didn't help. But I was that lame wife who was this far behind the hubs pretty much the entire time:

About an hour into the hike, we stopped for lunch at this helipad (hence the big "H"). It was nice and warm and a great place to give our weary legs a rest.

Even though we brought him dog food, Doc thought it would be funny to eat all the rocks on the ground, so we (and by we, I mean Kyle) spent half of the lunch break doing this:

Gross. Good thing we brought along hand sanitizer! But Doc made up for it by being cute and charming all the other hikers to no end. He was a big hit!

So after we had our fill of lunch and felt nice and energized for the rest of the hike, we decided to veer off the trail a little bit to find a lookout one of the other hikers told us about. And I am so glad we did! Here is what we found:

Beautiful, isn't it? We also managed to get a family photo thanks to my self-timer taking 10 pictures in a row. Doc was bound to be looking at the camera in one of them, and sure enough, he did!

So the rest of the hike to the summit after that was the hardest part. It got really stumpy and rocky and we were pretty much doing lunges up the side of the mountain. The view was gorgeous, though, once we finally made it to the top. You could even see the Blue Ridge Parkway across the way!

As you can see from this photo, the drop-off was really steep at the top. We have been talking about taking a trip out to Yosemite once Kyle graduates from PT School and hiking up Half Dome, but Looking Glass Rock kinda made us second-guess that decision!

Due to the steepness, we didn't get a family photo at the top, so we just took individual pictures. You can even tell that Doc was a little skeered.

So that's all for the hiking part of our camping trip recap. Keep an "eye" out for Part 2 coming soon! (Sorry, I couldn't resist)!

Letter from Doc

Dear Dawgs,

Pweeeeaaaaase win my first Georgia/Florida game, or else you will break my wittle 8.5-month-old heart. And that would be weally sad.

Love,
Doc

Surprise Picnic Dinner Date

Hey y'all! Today I just have to brag on my husband a little bit. The other night he planned the sweetest date night for us, and it meant so much to me!

Everything seemed like a typical Friday, and Kyle even called to see what I was making for dinner like usual. Once we pulled in our driveway after work/school, Kyle told me I could go put on something cute and then relax on the couch while he started dinner. Sweet! Though I was getting a little suspicious at this point, I did what he asked and put on a cute outfit and then hung out on the couch reading The Hunger Games. I asked him if I could help with dinner and was promptly banned from coming in the kitchen at all. My kind of Friday night! Eventually Kyle asked me if I was ready to go, and that's when I found out we would be having a picnic dinner on the lawn at Hammond's Ferry. So sweet!

Kyle made us shrimp scampi with fettuccine, garlic bread, and brought along some Moscato to wash everything down. It was perfect!
I probably could have worn pajama pants and a t-shirt and you would never have known since I was bundled up in a blanket the whole time. I have my mother's cold-naturedness!
We topped everything off with a slice of Perfect Chocolate Cake from Boll Weevil. And yes, y'all, that is just ONE slice! You really get the bang for your buck when it comes to dessert at Boll Weevil. It took us about 3 days to finish it all!
After that we cuddled up and watched a movie under the stars on Kyle's laptop. It was so fun to just laugh and relax with my husband, just what I needed. Thank you for planning such a fun date, hubs!

On a kinda (ok completely) unrelated note, I had to share this picture of my baby with y'all:
He's too cute for his own good. Love the picture, don't love the pile of laundry that needs to be folded in the background. :) Up next, our camping trip recap!

Snuggled Up

We had a great time on our camping trip this weekend! Out of the three of us, Doc is certainly in the best shape. He pretty much wanted to sprint the entire three-mile trail up the mountain. Show off! ;) While I sort through the camping photos, I thought I'd share this with y'all (apparently I need to be better about October updates!).

Way back near the beginning of October, we made the pilgrimage to our favorite city in the dirty South, Atlanta, to visit some of our best friends from UGA. We stayed at Andy and Jami's house, and Rachel and Jason were also in town from Nashville. We were so excited to see everyone, since we hadn't seen each other since Rachel and Jason's wedding in May! What did we do during our glorious time together, you ask? Well, we shopped, we ate, we watched football, we praised Jesus, we talked, we drove around, we ate some more, and...we didn't take any pictures. Of the humans, that is. We most certainly took pictures of our furbabies, all cuddled up together after watching the heart-attack-inducing UGA/Tennessee game (way to snag that 100th win, CMR!).
Aren't they so precious? Roxi, Andy and Jami's Great Pyrenees/Lab mix, was the perfect-sized playmate for Doc. They wore each other slap out! I'll be back soon with a recap of a surprise date Kyle planned for us and photos of our camping trip in beautiful North Carolina. Have a great rest of your Monday!

Weekending

Kyle and I have some fun plans for this weekend! Here's a little hint at what we'll be up to:
Betcha can't guess. ;) Plus, I'm SUPER excited about two things:
1. The premiere of Once Upon a Time on Sunday. I hope it's not cheesy!
2. Southern Weddings V4 hits the shelves on Tuesday! Don't judge, the obsession with weddings doesn't have to stop after you say I Do! ;)
Have a fabulous weekend, y'all! Image credits: Kristin Vining and Laura Leslie.

Welcoming Fall with an Outdoor Wedding

The other weekend one of Kyle's good friends from high school got married, and we had the pleasure of attending their cozy outdoor wedding! I can't even begin to count the things I loved about this wedding, but I'll take a stab at it anyway: I loved that I finally got to sport a scarf and have a REASON to! The high that day was somewhere in the mid-60s, which is a frigid temperature here in the South! ;)

I loved that we got to see Kyle's parents and other old friends (but we have no pictures with them, hate that!)
I loved all the rustic chic decor. Moss in a window-pane lantern? Chandy in an old barn? Hand-painted road signs? Yes, please!
I loved that we were able to cozy up next to a huge bonfire and make s'mores. Check that off the Fall Bucket List!
I loved how this one little girl kept trying to lasso my Father-in-Law. It was hilarious!
I loved how they had games of cornhole and horseshoes set up for the guests. Though right as we were about to play, we were told we had to get out the way so they could intro the wedding party. Oops, bad timing!
I loved how they incorporated their dogs into the wedding. The one in the picture below with the white tulle bow went a little bonkers during the first dance, so the groom's father had to hold him back. It was kinda cute, though, that he was a little jealous!
Most of all, I love love. We ended the night dancing to Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood's "Remind Me," which is my current fave. Take a listen and you'll see (hear?) why.
I can't think of a better way for us to have ushered in Fall! Have y'all been to any Fall weddings yet? What did you love about them (or not love?). Do tell!