UGA-Themed Mini Tree

I'm linking up with the Christmas Cheer Link Party today to talk about the cutest mini Christmas tree you've ever seen! 

Well, it's probably only cute if you bleed red and black and cheer for the Dawgs on Saturdays in the Fall.  But this is something that can easily be replicated for any college/NFL football team, so humor me a little bit. :)

My mom bought this tree to put in the waiting room at my Dad's vet clinic, and I don't think she could have picked anything more appropriate. See the little dog treat ornaments? So perfect!

Here are my favorite detail shots of this little cutie:

Do any of y'all decorate mini trees in addition to your big family tree? Growing up I used to have a little tree in my room and I LOVED it. This year I gave my mini tree a makeover and brought it to my office in Atlanta. It's been a big hit! Last night Kyle and I finally finished decorating our big family tree, so hopefully I will have a post up about it soon. If you have a Christmas tree post, be sure to link up with Megan at Honey We're Home today. I can't wait to see everyone's pretties! 

Graduation Getaway

Happy Monday, y'all! I hope you had a great weekend getting in the Christmas spirit. If you read my post from Friday, you know that I vaguely mentioned Kyle and I were planning something. Well, that something is a Graduation Trip! (Sorry if it got you excited about a pregnancy announcement. We've still got a few years to go on that one!). Since Kyle and I both didn't take a high school or college graduation trip, we figured a post PT School trip would be our last chance to celebrate a milestone before we had kids. So we are hoping to plan BIG, y'all. Like Europe big (we've both never been). But unless one of those travel deal sites comes through for us, my Europe dreams will probably be crushed. So you can bet I've done my fair share of stalking the likes of Groupon, Living Social, and Travel Zoo nearly everyday, but they have yet to come out with a deal for a European destination past March 2013. So if we can't make Europe happen, here are the domestic alternatives we're considering:

Source: dustjacketattic.tumblr.com via Diana on Pinterest

California: We're thinking about hitting up LA and San Diego, then driving up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Francisco. Between the two of us, Utah is the farthest West we've ever been, so I think we're both due for a visit to the West Coast.

Source: etsy.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

The other option we're thinking about is Yellowstone. My feelings toward this are kind of meh, but I do think it would be neat to see all the national landmarks and beautiful scenery in this area of the country.

Source: fuckyeahhiking.tumblr.com via Robert on Pinterest

So in the meantime, if y'all know of any good sites that offer travel deals like Groupon Getaways or Living Social Escapes, please please send them our way! Or if you've planned a big graduation trip before and have lots of advice to share, we are all ears. As thanks I will make you a batch of my red velvet cookies and promise to take lots of pretty pictures of wherever we end up going (how's that for motivation?)! ;)

The Final Countdown

Hi there! I'm back for my sporadic blog posts of the month. :) While I know everyone is reveling in the glory that is Friday today, this Friday is particularly special for us because, as of today, Kyle only has one semester left in Physical Therapy School. Yup, that's right--ONE. Y'all don't even know how happy it makes me to type those words! I feel like the past two and half years of PT School have FLOWN by, so I can only imagine how fast these next five months are gonna go. It seriously feels like just yesterday we were opening that acceptance letter to MCG together. Now here we are, five months away from Kyle becoming a Doctor, and I am SO proud of him.


So what will be going on between now and May you ask? Well, first, Kyle will have his last month-long Christmas break (enjoy it while you can, babe!). Then starting in January, he will have a 12-week outpatient orthopedic rotation, and after that a 4-week elective with an Atlanta Falcons Physical Therapy Center. He is really excited about these rotations since he is most interested in outpatient orthopedic therapy and hoping to get his first job in an outpatient setting. There's a little more pressure on these rotations since he will be expected to perform at entry-level by the end, but there's no doubt in my mind he can do it. And as alluded to in the title of this post, another thing going on in the Fenton household between now and May will be a countdown to graduation on our chalkboard! You can bet there's going to be a party up in here on May 10, 2013, y'all! Oh and one more thing--guess what else we're planning? Come back on Monday to find out! :)

A Celebration Dinner

One thing I told Kyle while I was still job searching this summer was that I wanted him to take me out for a realllllly nice dinner once I did get a new job. If you know me well, you know that food can be a MAJOR motivator for me, so once he agreed to my little suggestion it was GAME ON. Nearly two months after I started my new position, we finally went out for our celebration dinner this past weekend. We debated for a while on where to go, but when we heard our good friends Sam and Amanda raving over their experience at Veni Vidi Vici in Buckhead, we knew we found our place.

I got the party started with the Raspberry Truffle, which was basically a dessert in a drink. YUM.

We then ordered the Formaggio Fritto as an appetizer, which was basically glorified mozzarella sticks. It was good, but we were kind of disappointed with the portion considering what we paid for it.  

Kyle got the lasagna for his entree, which is described on the menu as "baked crazy lasagna with classic veal bolognese." I'd say his clean plate at the end of the meal speaks to how well he liked it. :)

I ordered the Risotto Frutti di Mare, which in non-Italian terms means a seafood and rice dish. It was SO GOOD y'all. Heaven in my mouth. It didn't photograph very well, but trust me, it was delish. 

We rounded out our evening with the classic Tiramisu for dessert, and I was one satisfied girl at the end of this meal. 

A few tips for anyone close to drooling over these photos and considering eating at Veni Vidi Vici in the future: 

1) The restaurant is directly connected to the parking garage where they have their valet parking, so it is   not a freestanding building. Don't be like us and drive by it three or four times before you find it. :)

2) Guys - you will probably want to wear a tie and maybe even a dinner jacket. Kyle felt a little underdressed in his button-up J-Crew shirt (but he still looked smokin' all the same!).

3) It's pricey so be prepared to spend around $40-$50 per person if you are going to order drinks and get a three-course meal.

That's all! Have y'all eaten at any new restaurants lately? Do tell! 

November Goals

{Ready...Set...Jump!}

Happy November, y’all! Are there really only two months left in 2012? If that thought stresses you out, I am right there with you! It seems like this time of year the pressure is ON. You feel the need to have everything together and finish up all those projects you resolved to do back in January. Now it's the first day of November and it’s crunch time. One overarching goal of mine for November is to combat those frantic feelings and try to focus on the things that really matter. I want to fill my heart with gratitude (as cliche as that sounds), because a heart of thankfulness really does change everything. Here are some of the other things I’d like to accomplish this month:

• Finish editing photos from this summer: Our visit to the Biltmore, Family Reunion, Caroline's Senior Session, and Labor Day Weekend
• Have a fantastic photoshoot this weekend with the Garmons!
• Finish decorating my new office
• Find time in my schedule to exercise (and have Kyle make me an exercise plan)
• Make a scrumptious Thanksgiving Dinner dish
• Order our Christmas Cards
• Have all Christmas shopping done!
• Start to refinish and paint our dining room chairs
• Get the materials together to build our farmhouse table
• Read Martin Luther’s biography (free ebook here)

What are your goals for this month? I am SO excited about the holidays approaching!

Ghosts of Halloween Past

Halloween circa 1993? This picture makes me laugh out loud on so many different levels. Hopefully my cousins will forgive me for posting this! ;)

I hope you have a very Happy Halloween (and Reformation Day!) today. What was your favorite costume when you were a kid? Apparently I was really into the Disney princess thing!

3rd Annual Camping Trip

Hello there again blog world! Some of you long-time readers might remember the tradition Kyle and I have of camping in the North Carolina mountains every Fall, and today I am excited to finally share with you some photos from our 3rd Annual Camping Trip! (You can read about our first trip here and our second trip here and here). To add to the goodness, Sam and Amanda (and their Weimaraner, Sterling) joined us this time, and it was so great to get to spend time with them and catch up. This year we hiked the John Rock loop trail, which is part of Pisgah National Forest, and I'd say it was the perfect medium between the really easy trail we did on our first camping trip and the pretty difficult trail we did last year. We got to the trailhead around 11 a.m. the Saturday of Georgia's bye game (gotta plan trips in the Fall around football games), and soon after we got the dogs settled into their hiking gear (aka red handkerchiefs and gentle leaders), we were off on our 5-mile adventure.

Sam and Kyle leading the way.

Posing for a family photo at the trailhead.

The dogs couldn't get enough of the fresh mountain water.

Almost to the top!

Gorgeous fall foliage. 

We made it! From the John Rock lookout, you can see this beautiful view of Looking Glass Rock, which is the trail we did last year. Looking at it from this perspective, it's no wonder I felt like I was about to DIE last year. That thing is like a mini Half Dome. 

After a much-needed lunch break while taking in the beautiful view, we posed for some more family photos. This one is definitely going in a frame. 

We love our Weimaraner babies. 

On our way back down the trail, we discovered quite a few spots that would be perfect as campsites, and since they are in a National Park it would be FREE, so we're thinking about going that route next year. But for this camping trip, we went back to old faithful Black Forest Campground. We got two campsites right next to each other since two tents wouldn't fit on one plot, so here is what the Fenton campsite looked like on the right. Now let's play a game and see if you can spot both Weimaraners in the photo below. ;) 

While we were waiting for the chili to heat up over the fire, Amanda got the s'more party going early. Dessert before dinner--a girl after my own heart!

And while we ate yummy food, the dogs got to chill on this waterproof outdoor blanket Kyle's mom gave me for my birthday this year. It held up really well against these two crazies flipping out and playing with each other, getting leaves and dirt all over it. At the end of the night we just shook it off and it looked good as new. Not even kidding.

The next morning we tried to get up and get an early start since the guys had a lot to do to prepare for their 3rd clinical rotation (Sam and Kyle are in the same class in PT School). Surprisingly we were able to get this group photo with both dogs looking:

On the way home, we made a quick pit stop at Ceasar's Head State Park for one last look at the mountains. It was a hazy morning but still a gorgeous view all the same.

Then we were off back to the real world. Thanks for enduring through this super long post with me! Anyone else go on a really good hike lately? We are always open to new suggestions!