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The Fainting Goat Winery: Anniversary Date
So my husband and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary yesterday but knowing that he would be out of town, I decided we should do something fun and different on the weekend. We left the kids at home and my parents helped keep them entertained and happy and went to enjoy an afternoon at a nearby winery. I chose this particular winery from a list of recommendations from our neighbors (thank you neighborhood Facebook group!) and the key factor was distance and location. I did not want anything too far but was hoping for pretty scenery. The Fainting Goat is in Jasper, GA and is just an hour from home.…
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August Favorite Outfits (part 1)
Another month of winning outfits in my book! There were a couple looks I did not include because I did not like them and did end up donating one of those items worn. While I am not sharing any links this week, I have a reason behind that. As I gear myself for several months of hopefully no clothes shopping, I want to encourage others to shop their closets as I will shop mine or to make a list of the types of items you need for your closet. I am always tempted on Instagram or with my daily blog reading but I actually do have quite a nice fall/winter…
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Organization: a Key Component in Budgeting
I briefly touched on how being organized is important and vital in being successful with budgeting and saving money in an Instagram post last Friday. In this instance, being organized is synonymous with planning. You are organizing your budgeting by planning what expenses you will have. As you will see today, being organized does not mean you will always reach your goal because you also need dedication and self control but it will truly be helpful in planning your budget and being prepared for life events and being realistic with how much you can spend and save. Here are some areas that I think it is important to consider and…
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August Favorites
My favorite this month are experiences! It makes me feel good that we are spending time together and having fun! Day Date with my Hubby The last couple of weeks, my husband and I have been able to escape for an hour or so without the children and enjoy some time together. It might look like an trip to Home Depot or a hike up a mountain. We are planning a trip to a winery this weekend for our anniversary if weather permits. I will stop by the French bakery and pick up some croissants and pains au chocolat for breakfast, a baguette to make sandwiches for lunch and my…
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Inspired by Andrea at Living on Cloud Nine
I am not sure how long I have followed Andrea’s blog regularly but I would say probably a year or two. Since I have been regular on Instagram, I have really enjoyed seeing her in action in her stories and love her bubbly nature. Her style is feminine but also practical and her #walkand talk stories are fun and intereactive with polls about all kinds of subjects! Her fashion sense often inspires me (I have bought a few things after seeing her feature them and I am even shopping her closet for fall:she will be sharing more in her Insta stories next week: so many cute things to grab!). Now…
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Children Spaces: How to Make it Work
I have shared different parts of my home, especially the chilren’s spaces as I have made small improvements. Today, I want to share one of our playrooms. We have 2 spots that are not bedrooms where the children play. One is a loft area off the middle boys’ room and the other is what I call our media room. The media room is where the boys play the Wii and Nintendo switch and where we store most of our board games, where we have our puzzle table and now our multi game table. The purpose of this post is to remind you that whether your children’s play space is in…
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Tuskaleechee Caverns, TN
I am concluding our trip to the Smokies with a detour trip we took to visit the Tuskaleechee Caverns in Townsend, TN. The caverns were an hour and 45 minutes away from our rental and the ride there was beautiful as it took us through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Our favorite view was near the top and we stopped to take some pictures. I was ready for walking on slippery ground with my hiking boots which turned out to be a good idea since I ended up carrying my youngest for part of the way. The cavern has beautiful stalagtites and stagalmites formations. This was our second visit…
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Gauzy White Button Down: 5 ways
I recently bought this shirt as I wanted to have a layer for sleeveless dresses for church but then realized it was quite versatile. I quickly thought about 5 different ways I could wear it. I found this on the clearance rack at TJMaxx for $12 and I love the cotton gauzy material as well as the loose fit and tie. It is a reminder to not look at size as it is XS but fits me well without being tight at all. Over a Sleeveless Dress I love this Target tiered dress but it is not appropriate for my church with the deep V and sleeveless sleeves. I cuffed…
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Revisiting your Budget
I have written several posts about budgeting over the past year and a half: how to make budgeting work for you why do a budget reset? budget friendly snacks no spend month, how to be successful lower your bills don’t break the bank at Christmas These are a few of them. After the past 6 months of not really trying to be thrifty, I decided it was time to get back to my roots of wanting to share more about budgeting in all areas of my life. Now budgeting in my current situation may look different than it looks last year when our income was different but the principles are…
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Great Smoky Mountains: Water
One of our favorite things in nature is to find a body of water whether it is a creek, a river, a waterfall or a lake. So it doesn’t come as a surprise that our favorite day on our vacation to the Great Smoky Mountains was a day by the Oconaluftee River. But we also hiked up to see a beautiful waterfall, took a train ride by the Nantahal Gorge and river and enjoyed a few creeks too. I was so glad to have packed everyone watershoes even if mine didn’t make it past the second day as they were quite old and literaly fell apart.. Mingo Falls Mingo falls…