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!

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.

a little trip home.

as i mentioned at the end of my last post, i recently had a quick trip back to virginia to see my family and to see my bff kasey! juliet and i jumped in the car and made the drive up i-81 to my most favorite place in the whole. entire. world.

juliet is so smart that as soon as we take the exit she starts crying because she knows where she is and she gets so excited. like, head out the window excited.

although i don't blame her. if i wasn't driving i'd probably hang my own head out the window to breathe in that fresh country air. :)

but seriously. do my parents not have the best view in the world?

and it's a good thing they have a nice patio and view because poor juliet was so incredibly disappointed to find that momma and timmy weren't even home when we arrived! but she hopped up into her usual spot to watch over snakey acres as we waited. she loves being up on that wall and spends 95% of the time we are home outside by herself so she can sit up there. and she won't come inside until she's good and ready.

one of the sweetest things about visiting home {other than seeing everyone i love, of course!} is that my momma always put fresh flowers in my room before i arrive.

after momma and timmy arrived, we let their new puppy abi {abby?} and juliet meet for the first time. this face. how could you not love her?

and no, her tongue does not fit into her mouth. ever. actually that's not true. there's also this face:

silly puppy.

after a bit of time spent chatting/catching up/napping we all headed down to the blue ridge country music festival where we got to see colt ford, hunter hayes and little big town {gloriana played too but we missed them}. the music was good, the food was sold out, but the people watching was probably one of the best parts. i can't even explain some of the things. but we had a good time.

on sunday I GOT TO SEE KASEY! for anyone who doesn't know, kasey is my bestest friend from high school who moved to michigan right after we graduated. i actually drove her up there {okay, fine, i rode in my car with her as she drove and i slept most of the way} and spent a few weeks helping her get settled/hanging out/being silly. michigan is pretty far away but fortunately we get to see each other about once a year. last year she came to see our new house in tennessee! and while we usually spend about 6 hours taking pictures i somehow managed to only get this one picture of us this trip.

the best thing about getting together with kasey is that it's like no time has passed since our last visit. i'm so, so glad i got to see my best friend!

and now just a few random pictures i wanted to share from my trip. when momma came to visit me for my pinning ceremony i sent her home with some succulent cuttings and they've really taken off on her porch!

tucker puppy was begging for food and i thought this was the sweetest little face.

if juliet wasn't out on the wall, she was claiming this entire chair for herself.

and after a long day of playing in the yard, abi looks like this.

you and me both, abi.

stay tuned for more posts coming soon about more family fun and traveling!