{Puppies!}

Our breeder (Ridens Goldendoodles) sent some pics of the goldendoodles that were just born. One of these sweet babies is ours! 

How precious is this?!

We know they will all change in a few weeks and we also don't know which are female or male at this point but I'm liking these cuties...

They are all adorable, can I have them all? JK! So thankful we are first pick though!

A few of you have heard her name...we are pretty sure it's set in stone now but I'll save it for later anyways! 

Happy Weekend!

-S

{Summer in the Mountains}

Lazy days full of sunshine...

and sunset bonfires with friends...

and a little something to look forward to...

Slow down summer. Slow down.

-S

{Dad's Day}

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my dad. I'll never forget that day.

Maybe it's only because people have told me the story before but I like to think that I actually remember what was happening when this photo was taken. I was in preschool at our local church. The local church where my dad was the pastor. This particular day was "fire safety" day and the local fire department stopped by with the big shiny red trucks for the kiddos to see.

I was terrified. I thought there was a fire! Nobody could convince me otherwise so my teachers had to call in someone I would really trust. Thankfully that person was my dad and he was just a couple hundred feet away in an office and didn't mind taking time out of his workday to hold his little girl. Our faces explain it all. I still look terrified yet safe in my daddy's arms. Dad of course has a smile on his face like always. I'm not sure who exactly captured this moment but moments like these are priceless.

I love my daddy so much! Growing up we had a special bond for sure. I called him Bubba up until I was in middle school. I went just about everywhere with him. He is one of a kind and I'm so so SO thankful that the Lord chose him to be my earthly father. He's a good man. This was the card I got him this year and it is perfect:

I cherish these days with my dad. I'm so incredibly blessed! 

Love you dad!!! Happy Father's Day!

-S

{Life Update}

Well you would think with me being on "summer break" that I would blog more! We have actually kept ourselves really busy. Mostly we have enjoyed hanging out with friends, babysitting (yes, Todd too) and organizing/cleaning the house. My favorite summer activity we have done thus far is tubing. Oh my, why have I just discovered how wonderful tubing is during my last seven weeks living here?!?! Next time we go I'm going to buy a waterproof camera so I can capture the fun and memories.

I've also been working on some lesson plans for the fall and putting lots of thought into how I want my library to function including rules, collection development policy, etc. I'm SO excited about the job yet I'm starting to get really sad about leaving Boone. Bittersweet. Thankfully we have some good friends old and new that will be living near us in our new town that we can reconnect with.

Enough of my blabber...here is a hodgepodge of pics!

Long overdue pics from graduation!

The whole fam met up Friday in Hickory for dinner just for fun. I love these people so much and I'm looking forward to living closer to both sets of our families so we can do this more.

I'm trying to eat even more healthier these days than normally. I'm attempting to cut out processed foods, cold cuts, packaged foods that have more than five ingredients, etc. Since I have always had "stomach" issues, I've decided to limit my dairy drastically. The hardest to cut is cheese but I'm hanging in there. I also got Vegan mayo and it actually tastes good! But I'm not cutting all the fun that food has to offer because I have to be reasonable. Shooooot, we are having wings Wednesday and I'm not ashamed. Here is my all veggie wrap....SO good! 

Lastly here is a fun shot from our duo babysitting gig. Kids love Todd...or maybe it's his iPhone?! Who cares, this picture makes me just fall in love with him even more.

Now, if the sun would just come out here. We have hardly had any sun here and it doesn't feel like summer at all. I'm so ready to get away and go to the beach for a week.

Have a great day!

-S

{Anniversary Trip: Year One}

Well during my last post I ended it with talking about our anniversary trip plans. The "original" plans as we like to call them were going camping at Hunting Island State Park in South Carolina for two nights (which includes the beach) and then traveling on down to Savannah, GA for a night. Well, subtropical storm Beryl arrived and hit the state park the same exact day we were to go, canceling that part of our trip. I cried like a baby. I'll admit that. I was sad. We had been planning for months.

SO we changed plans. We went camping near our home on Sunday night instead. Thank goodness we live in such a beautiful place and it was f-r-e-e! It turned out to be a great night together. My favorite part was sitting by the campfire, making smores and talking about our life together.

I can't believe I'm showing you this but I've never seen my hair do this. This was the morning I woke up from camping. I guess this is what sleeping outside does to my hair. WILD and hilarious!

Monday was actually our anniversary of one year! We were tired from camping so we napped all day then got dressed up for dinner at Outback later that evening.

By Wednesday we decided to go on down to Savannah since we had prepaid for the room. We left early and made it by noon. Our hotel upgraded us for f-r-e-e (yea!) to a suite that included a balcony.

We immediately hit River Street and were true tourists. We have always wanted to make a last name photo collage and finally did it while in Savannah at a market vendor. It was so fun to make together and cheap since we only have five letters in our last name (thanks Todd)!

We ate LOTS of good food!

Our favorite! Best chicken tenders ever!

Yum, seafood!

Leopolds Ice Cream

We didn't eat at Paula's but had fun at the gift shop

We also did some great sightseeing. Look at this gorgeous cathedral.

We spent the weekend in Charlotte. I visited my new school on Friday and we also went apartment hunting. Hopefully we can find something soon but so far not much luck. We are finally back home for the summer (exact for a few weddings and maybe one beach trip). It's great to be home and we plan to enjoy the mountains as much as possible from now until August. 

Talk soon,

-S