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.

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you a season of joy, 

a season of cheer,

but most of all a wonderful year!

Merry Christmas!!

Thanksgiving Recap

This is way late but I though I would share anyway.  Thanksgiving trip recap and go.

We made the trek to North Carolina to see both of our families, it's always nice when we can work that in.  It was a couple of days filled with food, a little shopping and time together.

Pretty much tradition now (and I'm totally ok with it) to go to Cracker Barrel at least one morning with my husband and Father-in-Law for breakfast.  I love Cracker Barrel, good food, vintage atmosphere and cute gift shop!  What's your favorite thing to order at Cracker Barrel??  For breakfast I love the fresh start sampler (eggs, bacon, yogurt parfait and a big blueberry muffin) and of course LOTS of coffee!!  

We spent Thanksgiving with my husbands family (we rotate years).  Lots of good food, relaxing and my husband got to shoot guns.

I also got to break out my Carhartt, which is a rare occurrence in Alabama.  Later that night we went "Black Friday" shopping with my cousin-in-law, her fiance, my husband, and mother-in-law.  If you haven't seen my Black Friday haul check it out here.

On Friday we drove to see my family and spend a couple of days with them.  We had our second Thanksgiving dinner and stuffed ourselves yet again.

There is an amish store near where I grew up and they make the best donuts!  They only sell them on Saturdays and you have to be pretty lucky to grab them.  We ended up with two bags.  They were warm and delicious...oh my goodness so good!

In case you are new here my family raises beef cows.  I grew up on a farm showing cattle.  They also have a few horses that my sister handles.  She needed to go to a local western store to check out a few things so we tagged along.  I got to let my inner cowgirl out this trip and I loved it!

I always have to stop by the barn when I am home, it's not really home unless I've been to the barn.

Up close and personal with my sister's dog Apache.

My sister recently got another horse so all three of us got to go on a trail ride.  I hadn't been riding in years so it was a little bit of an adventure, new horse and a semi new rider resulted in some testing from the horse.  We both figured each other out and ended up having a nice ride.  My legs also let me know I hadn't done that in a while the next morning...  

There was a new baby bull calf born a few weeks ago that we got to check out.  How cute is he??

We also got to attend church at the church I grew up in, it is also where Kyle and I got married.  I always love getting to go back to church there with my family.  

We had such a great trip spending time with family, eating good food and relaxing.  I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are having a wonderful holiday season!    

Weekend Adventures (Talladega, football, and family)

Time for another weekend recap.  My sister and her boyfriend made the trip to visit us and we had such a great time!  

This weekend was also homecoming at Alabama and we wanted to show them the campus and stadium.  Usually we stay far away from campus on football games but we decided to head out to show them around.

We lucked out and found a random free parking spot and walked around campus.  Things were pretty crazy, it was homecoming after all.  We still haven't been to a game but it was pretty cool to be in the atmosphere and just hang outside the stadium.

Since my sister was going to be in town I planned on having her take a few pictures of me and Kyle. 

Of course we end up with some like these...

Rae's boyfriend was able to get Talladega tickets for all of us for the weekend and we of course took him up on it.  I'm not a Nascar fan at all but it was quite the experience.  Even though I'm not a fan it was really fun to be around all the fans and experience Nascar in all its glory.

We were cheering for Dale Earnhardt Jr. since it was his last time at Talladega, he didn't end up winning but he gave a good fight.

There were three wrecks throughout the race and they were pretty exciting.  Luckily no one was hurt, some of them got pushed into the wall and hit a couple of times.

On our walk from parking to the track we stumbled on the motocross show.  Little known fact about me I love this stuff!  When the X-Games are on I get pretty excited to watch these people perform these crazy stunts that I would never even think about doing.  If we go back I would love to go earlier to catch the whole show.

We had such a great time this past weekend, it was so great to see my sister.  It was a jam packed weekend and I am definitely going to need another weekend to recover but it was really fun!