Weekend in NC: Wedding Festivities and visiting the Chick-Fil-A Dwarf House!!

Story time, my sister has never been one to be about a lot of fuss.  She had been dating her boyfriend Tanner for a while (two years maybe) and had talked about eloping and just getting married at the courthouse.  It didn't end up quite like that but still low key.  She got engaged and then a couple of days later had a small ceremony.  The original plan was to just go to the courthouse but she ended up last minute having a ceremony.  Being 8 hours away Kyle and I weren't able to come to the ceremony on such short notice.  As there wasn't an actual reception or way to celebrate with everyone my parents decided to throw a small get together an "I Do BBQ" if you will.  Kyle and I drove down for a quick weekend with everyone.

We stopped for dinner outside Atlanta and it has become a little tradition to eat Chick-Fil-A on our road trips so we stopped at one.  Little did we know that this random Chick-Fil-A we stopped at was one of the Dwarf houses.  It was the cutest Chick-Fil-A ever!!  Unfortunately it was about 30 minutes to closing time so we didn't get to experience all the other food offerings that Dwarf Houses have, look it up they even serve burgers.

We finally made it to NC around 3:00 AM and crashed.  After a couple hours of sleep my sister and I made a Dunkin Donuts run because coffee was completely necessary.  I got an iced coffee with brown sugar syrup and cream and I definitely recommend it.

I then went with my sister to get her hair done and run some errands and we made our way to the party.  It was held at a local sale barn and I couldn't wait to bust out my boots!

We have to get pictures whenever we are all together!

I found these sister bracelets online and loved the idea.  We all put them on together and I love seeing it on my wrist as a reminder of our connection.

No pictures with Dad or my brother Jacob but we do what we can...everyone is running in different directions and getting things ready for the party at least we got these.

It was a whirlwind trip but we had a great time.  I loved spending a little bit of time with my family, seeing people that have been a part of my life and celebrating with everyone.  Kyle's family even got to come up and it was great to see them.  Kyle and I stayed at my sister's new house and got to spend time with her and Tanner and see their house.  We also had a chance to go to my home church, I always love going back.  It was such a great trip and it just felt good to get back to family, home and the simplicity of the country.  I left feeling a little emotional about the distance and not being able to get back as often as we like but also feeling grateful and more grounded in a way.

Thanks for a great weekend!

Trip to NC: wedding, lake and food!

We just recently got back from a trip to NC to attend the wedding of Kyle's cousin (pretty much sister) we also decided to go to the lake and make a mini vacation out of it.

Free Tea Day happened to fall on the day we were driving out so we stopped and picked one up.  McAlister's tea is my favorite!

We got to NC around 9 that night and then made a trip to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  I pretty much always get the Fresh Start breakfast, that blueberry muffin y'all!

I had the honor of being a bridesmaid in Kyle's cousin's wedding so we attended the rehearsal dinner.  I was off my game and didn't get a picture of our dinner but it was delicious!  I had pest chicken and green beans, salad, mashed potatoes and the biggest slice of coconut cake I have ever seen in my life!

I spent the night with the bridesmaids and we talked, hung out and discussed marriage.  I didn't know any of the other girls going into the wedding but they were so sweet and inviting I had such a great time getting to know them.

Wedding day started with a Starbucks run to get the bride some coffee and then on to getting ready for the big day!

Photo by Jessica Gardner

Photo by Jessica Gardner

Photo by Jessica Gardner

Photo by Jessica Gardner

Photo by Jessica Gardner

Photo by Jessica Gardner

Such a beautiful and sweet wedding.  I was blessed to be apart of the special day.  We had such a great time seeing family and friends and making new friends.

After the wedding we started the next day with a drive to the lake, but first we stopped at my favorite bagel spot.  Bruegger's Bagels is my absolute favorite.  I got a cinnamon sugar bagel with cream cheese and they also had coconut coffee for summer which they should make a thing year round because it was AMAZING!!

I have been coming to Lake Lure since I was a baby, my grandparents have a house on the lake and I have been so blessed to be able to grow up at this lake.  Fun fact, Dirty Dancing and The Last of the Mohicans were both filmed here.

Not a lot better than starting the day off with coffee by the lake.

 

There was a little family of ducks that would swim up to the dock a couple times a day and we would feed them.

Such a beautiful lake, the mountains are my favorite!

My family also got to come up for the day and it was so great to see my parents and sisters, just missed the brother.  We went on boat rides, floated around and hung out.

Here's a picture of my grandparents' house...just kidding this is the castle on the lake.  It is so gorgeous and I would love to see what it looks like inside.

We only had one rainstorm but it left us with the most beautiful sunset.

We had such a great trip, it is always nice to get back to NC and see our families.