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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…
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Outfits for a Vacation in the Mountains
I shared my packing list for our week in North Carolina on a blog post a little while ago (read here) so I decided it would be fun to share my actual outfits. The advantage of going on vacation is that it gives some new and interesting backdrops for outfit pictures. I did forget my running shoes and my dress at home but probably wouldn’t have worn either so it worked out well. The weather started at about 70 degrees in the morning and went up to the mid 80s during the day. Most of our activities involved being in the outdoors. This was my outfit for visiting the Museum…
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August Sunday Showcase: (School drop) Link Up is Live!
Welcome to the August Sunday Showcase link up with Ada from Elegance and Mommyhood and I! We hit a little snafu last weekend and the link up is now live.Thanks for joining us and lease visit Ada’s post too here! Since I had this post planned instead of my regular Monday post, you are seeing it twice, but now with Ada’s outfits to and the live link up! This month we are sharing ideas about what to wear when dropping off or picking up your children from school. It actually has been a year since my 2 middle boys have been car riders but this year, I do not want…
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Vacation: Expectations vs Reality
We recently got back from a week long vacation to the Great Smoky Moutains in North Carolina. This was somewhat of a last minute vacation with a 2 week “notice” to find an affordable and well located rental. While I usually share all the fun pictures and fun activities we participate in, today, I wanted to share some of the real life struggles of a mom going on vacation. We love traveling with the children but sometimes, I sure wished I could take a solo vacay to a deserted island! I have shared in the past about how some vacations traveling with a 2 year old can be more stress…