now where were we...

oh yeah. somewhere not on the face of this planet. at least that's how it seems, seeing as how i haven't posted since AUGUST. shame on me. let's blame it on having so much fun lately i haven't even had time to stop and rest. which is actually kinda true. want proof in the form of photographs? comin' atcha. let's call this speed blogging.

when we last left off... i had just started work. then austin and i celebrated my first paycheck. i bought him a watch. i wore pleather pants.

lindsy and rj came in town. a lot.

we got new windows in the whole house.

we went to gatlinburg. and to dollywood. i ate cheesecake on a stick.

i decorated for halloween.

i made a new friend at work.

we went to the tennessee whiskey festival. austin proposed. with a bottle of shine. i said yes.

we celebrated dinger's birthday.

we went camping.

we forgot to pack dinner. or normal playing cards.

we made gross eggs for breakfast.

and hiked in the fog.

and i came over with hundreds of bug bites on my feet and ankles and elbows. fun!

we blew things up!

see? we have been busy! stay tuned for birthday shenanigans posts!

one last hurrah.

i just got back in town from my last hurrah trip before i start my new job. it just so happened that work set my start date perfectly so i could squeeze in a bit of family vacation before starting life in the real world. perfect!

it started with a stop in boone to see dad, robin, jessie and seth. jessie and seth just moved in to a new apartment together and, hallelujah!, this one has air conditioning and PARKING SPOTS! these are big things in boone, apparently. i was only in boone for about 18 hours, but we still managed to do quite a bit. some food at murphy's {i think that was what it was called}, some drinks at the town tavern, and a lot of porch sitting at jessie and seth's apartment. oh, and a trip to boone would not be complete without a stop by the mast general store for some candy.

sunday morning it was up and at 'em and dad and i hit the road. a quick drop off in greensboro and i was on my way to sunny skies at the beach!

our family has been going to the same beach for years. but everyone kept saying how they have never ever seen the water this clear. it was amazing! you could see your feet! for those of you who are regulars to the gulf, i'm sure you aren't impressed. but the water here is usually so stirred up you can't see your hand.

i was really hoping for some major waves to dive through, unlike those you find in florida, but i guess we traded big waves for clear water. you win some, you lose some, i guess.

timmy and i on the beach, after i frolicked around in the sand a bit.

we had a great view from the front porch. and being out of the shade of the porch was h.o.t.

mexican night! complete with margaritas. and timmy the candy thief. and fun fish-eye camera lens from sara.

wednesday morning i hit the beach pretty early, to soak up all the last minute beach-ness i could.

because then it was time to hit the road. a short stay for me. it sure was hard to leave everyone behind at the beach. but i gots things to do. like start my job!

one last picture as i drove off the island. i mean, i didn't take this picture while driving. because that would be unsafe. so... um... i stopped? sure. safety first.

on the way back, i stopped to spend the night in greensboro with dad and robin. since i was all alone in the drive, the full 9-10 hours in the car by myself would have been a bit too much, so breaking it up in to two days was much appreciated. i had a great trip! great time with family, great weather, it was perfect. the only thing that could have made it a better trip would have been to add austin, chris and jenna to the crowd. oh, and perhaps a longer time at the beach, too! but i was so happy to be able to sleep in my own bed last night. and juliet just about peed herself when i walked through the door {austin, too. just kidding. hehe}. but now, i'm off to finish some last minute things before i start my job on monday! watch out real world, here i come!

family time.

look who came to visit us recently! my timmy and my momma!

and, of course, two little furry friends came along.

and no, i don't mean austin, but rather tucker and miss abi!

i always get so excited when momma and timmy come visit and this time they came the weekend after i took my board exam, so some much needed fun was long overdue. friday night we all headed down to nightfall after grabbing some burgers at urban stack, one of my and austin's favorite places. i highly recommend the southwestern veggie {you know, no food with a face}.

i honestly can't remember what we did on saturday... i do remember we went to lowe's and ate at a new mexican restaurant in hixson. the rest of the day? yeahnotsure.

but i do think there was lots of puppy cuddles happening. tucker thinks he's a lap dog...

on sunday we went to the farmer's market and bought our veggies for the week and supplies for us to have a cookout that evening.

aren't my momma and timmy just the cutest?

and these puppies cuddling together. i mean, can you even? i can't.

so we grilled out on sunday evening. juliet hid in the shade of the elephant ears and hostas and austin got to use his new grill and his new smoker, too! we have way too many meat-cooking appliances for a household that is 50% vegetarian...

i'm so glad my momma and my timmy came to visit. it's always a great time when they are here!

and the pups are always entertaining...

too legit to quit.

you guys. so you know how the last 2+ years of my life have been spent crying/stressing studying my life away for this? well, despite passing my classes, being pinned, and graduating, i wasn't even a real pta yet. on top of all the crap hard work you have to do for school, you have to take a licensing exam to even be an actual pta {except for in the states of colorado and hawaii, apparently}.

we graduated on may 10th and had to wait two {2!} whole months to take our boards. july 10th was a super big day. because the local seats filled up before i was able to register, austin and i drove up to to nashville the night before and stayed in a hotel so i didn't have to try to drive and take the test all in one morning. after staying up as late as i could handle {about 10 pm} and trying my best to get a good night's sleep {right} it was time.

i came. i test. i left.

and that was it. it then became a waiting game to see whether or not i passed.

and i had to wait a whole week. 7 days. 7 days too many, in my opinion.

i mean, it's computerized. they should know immediately, right?

but i waited.

and...

and holy guacamole! i passed!

but even still, passing was not enough. the state of tennessee has to give me a license. and they did! it's legit! see that? active licensed. take that!

cue celebratory dancing, running through the house and perhaps a few tears. followed almost immediately by the ceremonial burning of the flashcards/old notes/papers from class.

best. feeling. ever. i am so, so happy to be done with school. it's been a long road but i can't wait to get started working as a legit licensed pta! because, yeah, i accepted a job! i interviewed with a handful of companies and got quite a few offers, but after careful consideration and a lot of sweating, i made a decision. so excited to get back into the real world!

signal point and fall creek falls.

i'm working on getting caught up on some recent happenings including sharing a couple of hiking trips austin, ben and i took back in june.

for our first trip we took the very short drive up to signal mountain to hike the trail at signal point. you may remember that austin and i took a hike up there about two years ago as part of our first wedding anniversary. this time we actually hiked all the way in {about two miles, i think} until we found a swimming hole.

a ridiculously, extremely, awfully cold swimming hole.

i got in, but only for about three minutes. because i could no longer feel my toes.

the second trip we took was up to fall creek falls. i'd never been before and it's just about an hour drive so we loaded up the car and the dogs and took off. we started at the top and hiked down to the base of the highest waterfall in the eastern united states.

the puppies had a fun hike, too. ben's dog sandy really loves the water, juliet just appreciates being in my lap and keeping her paws dry.

it was a seriously hot day, but the hike had lots of shade so it wasn't miserable.

we packed some food for a picnic lunch and break from all the hiking.

after eating we went to what i think was the most crowded part of the entire state park to find a spot to swim/wade in the water. we tried to get as far away from the crowd as possible, so juliet didn't eat anyone. and would you believe it that we actually got juliet to swim?! it took a lot of coaxing and some lead-by-example demonstrations showing her the water wasn't too deep for her to touch, but by the end of the day she was {almost} voluntarily going in the water! i was so proud.

i can't wait for austin and i to go back to fall creek falls to camp! hopefully it won't take another 7 years before i can convince austin to take me.

also, recently austin and i have been doing a fair amount of traveling for his work. first, we spent a few days at a conference in nashville and i got to meet up with brandi, katie and boomer for some non-air-conditioned dinner. the next conference was in knoxville and apparently austin and i decided to take a 6 mile hike through downtown to prove a point to some middle-aged ladies who thought it was too far to walk.

turns out, they were right. it was too far to walk. but we did it anyway because i was not about to be told how far i could or could not walk by some strangers.

totally should have listened to them. but at least we burned some calories. and austin ordered us some drinks that looked like dirty dishwater. yum?

aaaand cue completely unrelated pictures to end this post. because i've got no good way to end.