OOTD

Memorial Day

First and foremost, thank you to those who fight for my freedom day in and day out. It takes a really special person to be able to sacrifice so much for lil ole' me, and I'm extremely grateful.

Today was such a blissful day. The beau and I started off the day with breakfast at Bojangles, oh so yummy! And we love all of the older folk who regularly hangout there. After that we made our drive to the Blue Hole. This is seriously a small blue hole deep in the mountains of Tennessee. It's really cold, but the most breathtaking scenery. I wish I had taken pictures today, but it was 90 degrees outside and not agreeing with me. We attempted to hike up the mountain and once we were worn out we turned around and cooled down at the blue hole. Surprisingly I saw my brother out there with his lovely dog! Such a complete and random surprise to see him. After the blue hole, the beau and I stopped by a dealer to check out a Jeep his dad wanted us to see. We test drove, and it drove nicely but maybe not worth the money. We then decided it was time to freshen up for dinner. My parents prepared such a delicious cookout. We had ribs, mesquite chicken, baked potatoes, and corn on the cob. While we waited for dinner, the beau and I put up the badminton set. That was quite the entertainment. But we managed to prove ourselves wrong and set it up properly. Of course after dinner we played a few rounds. I love playing badminton, I'm even taking it as a class next semester. It is always so much fun. Not only does playing cause a workout, but we laugh so much my stomach is usually hurting afterwards. We then finished the night with some sweet watermelon. Overall, this has been one of the best Memorial Days ever. I had such a great time with my family and beau. How was your Memorial Day??

-xoxo-

Yummy Eats

While on our road trip to Alabama we had dinner at Longhorns. This is a chain restaurant, and so yummy. If you like steak houses or seafood this is a place to go. I ate at one for the first time a year ago with the beau and his family, and it is now one of our go to places while in Piegon Forge. This visit we started with the Longhorn shrimp and lobster dip. Then I ordered the citrus grilled chicken with mashed potatoes, and sMb had the parmesan encrusted chicken with a sweet potato. The service was incredible and we really enjoyed ourselves. Definitely one of my go to places.

appetizer

citrus grilled chicken

First day of work

Today is the beginning of the pool season, so today I bring you my must haves while working at the pool.

1. Sunglasses are a necessity. The glare of the pool can leave me looking like I'm asian and makes preventing accidents difficult. So it is a must that I have my sunglasses with me at all times. And with sunglasses comes croakies. Not only do they keep my glasses in place, but they're stylish too.

2. A super cute beach towel is next. Sitting in the direct sun for up to 12 hours, well lets say you start to glisten. And nobody likes to follow a glistening guard. So to keep the seats clean, and from sticking to you, you must have a super soft towel.

3. Sunscreen. I am super fair, so I must must must have a high spf sunscreen with me at all times. I even must apply 30 minutes before going outdoors so as not to burn. I usually carry a variety for different scents, spfs, and different parts of the body. For example, I use Aveeno for my face because its not as oily as the others.

4. Water. It is important that a guard stays hydrated so to stay alert. I always carry a thing of water with me to the stands and to sip on in our guard house. It is vital that everyone drinks plenty of water when being out in the summer heat.

These are only a few of my must haves, but these are most important. 

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

-xoxo-

Kenny Chesney

Hello lovelies!!

Well, lets just say the past two days have been wonderful!! Wednesday morning I got up bright and early and may the trek to Knoxville to meet up with my dear friend sMb. We then traveled down to the deep south, Tuscaloosa, Alabama! I have never been to Alabama before and lets just say that I am in love now!! Everyone was so so so so nice and helpful to us. We had such a fun time. We went for the Kenny Chesney concert, which turned into a relief concert for Tuscaloosa. It was so great to be having a good time and giving to a good cause. Uncle Kracker opened up for Kenny and then Kenny played for around two hours. I would recommend seeing him in concert. Not only is hot, oh those muscles, he did such a great job!! We had amazing seats, and great company. It was a little sad to see the damage. A month later and there is still tons of debris laying around. I think the most scary thing was seeing metal just completely twisted around trees, terrifying! The University which went untouched, was gorgeous! I know I'm a Tennessee girl through and through, but oh my! This campus was spectacular and the nursing building you ask?! It was enough to make me call my mom and plead to let me transfer (which I'm not of course).  The overall road trip was the funniest yet. Nothing but laughter, good music, and Chik Fil A. Lets just say we can't wait to go back in the fall for the football game. Hope everyone has a wonderful Memorial Day!!

the beginning of chik fil a

Finally made it!

Me & sBm

those muscles!

Graduation

This past Friday night the beau graduated!! I'm so proud of him. He attended a very small private Christian academy, only ten people were in his class, and was the very first graduate of the first graduating class! It was so exciting to watch him cross that stage as the first graduate ever! Such great history. He looked absolutely darling in his navy robe and cap. It was a bit of an emotional night but one to celebrate. After the wonderful ceremony we had a reception. Since there are only so many students, each senior had a table set up with their own cake! The beau had an almond cake with buttercream icing. It was delicious! We spent the rest of the evening taking pictures and catching up with family and friends. The evening was very well done, much better than my 90 degree outdoor ceremony. Lets just say sweaty guests are not happy guests. Here are some photos from the evening.

Beaus mom and his table

He's off to Liberty in the fall!!

After the ceremony
My dress was a London Times,picked up from TJ Maxx at a steal!

Iphone Review

Recently I made the switch from Blackberry to the iPhone. And holy moly I'm beyond pleased!!! I had the Blackberry Curve 8330, and I knew it was becoming outdated when the beau's Blackberry could update to 6.0 and mine wouldn't even go to 5.0. Sad day when I realized this. After some discussion with my mom, okay a little whining, she finally caved. We headed to Verizon on Friday to pay our monthly bill, and while mom took care of that I talked with someone about the differences in billing and the expense it would cost to upgrade. Well since I already had the data plan from my Blackberry, and my upgrade was available back in March, I only had to pay a little for the phone. Once I explained this to mom she replied with" Well, do you want one?".. (Previous to this we had been discussing going for milkshakes, so I thought she was talking about milkshakes and was slightly confused) But of course I was super thrilled and we got one right on the spot. Now I'm in love. If you're thinking about making the switch, do it! I've never had a phone run as smoothly or quickly. Needless to say the beau was a little jealous, but he just received a Kindle for graduation so I've been playing with that too. haha. What are some fun books we could download for the Kindle? Do you know of any must have apps I should get? Much love followers!

Running and Baking

First, hello to all my sweet new followers!! :)

Thats exactly what I've been up to lately y'all. Lots of running, baking, and cooking.
If you're looking to get started running, which I promise anyone can do it, pop on over to Classy Southern Wife for tips. I recently started this past spring semester and I was the one who use to joke that I'd only run after an ice cream truck, seriously. But now I'm pushing myself to run an 8k at the end of this summer. Now y'all just need to hold me accountable ;)

This past weekend my parents traveled to the D.C. area for a concert so I had a friend from school come in and visit. We had such a great time! Saturday we saw Bridesmaids, which is hilarious. If you don't mind language, it is a really great movie to see. Definitely a feel good go with your mom/best friend movie. We then spent the rest of the afternoon perusing downtown and then popped into a mall in the next town over. Saturday night I cooked Chicken cacciatore for the first time ever! I got the recipe from a Paula Deen magazine, and it was so yummy! A little bit spicy for my taste buds, but super flavorful! We then spent the rest of the evening having a good time and watched Life As We Know It. This was really cute, definitely had my emotions going there for a bit. Sunday we made waffles and coffee and headed to church. The message was really powerfully. Afterwards we grabbed a bite at Outback and then went to tan at a friend's pool. It was hot hot hot on Sunday! We were grateful that the pool water was ice cold.

Yesterday I won Summer Wind's giveaway. Needless to say I did a little happy dance. I will be an owner of a Smather's and Branson needlepoint headband very soon. Now I must patiently wait for it to arrive in the mail. Yay!! I love Smather's and Branson not only for there amazing quality but the beau's name is Branson. He was excited because it had his name on it.haha.  I hope everyone is having a great week!!

Summer Goals

Now that I've officially settled in for the summer its time I start working on some short time goals. Some that I've been dying to do for a while now, others are spur of the moment. But I hope this summer is filled with wonderful beautiful moments.

First off, I want to ride the Creeper Trail in beautiful Virginia. My parents did this last fall and enjoyed it so much they want to do it again. My parents aren't the typical active people, but willing to try everything at least once. So me and the beau really want to give the Creeper Trail a shot this summer.

Second, I want to read as many books as possible. Growing up I was such a book worm but once I started high school and college reading for pleasure feel to the side. Needless to say, since the beginning of this semester I've started reading a little here and there. 

Third, I want to make some gradual steps to becoming a future nurse. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but something will work its way out with a little hard work and dedication. 

Do you have any summer goals?

Book Reviews

Since school has finished up I have started reading more for pleasure. After making a quick trip to our local library for a new card I picked up some new books. First off, I started the summer with Something Borrowed. And this was such a great read! If you haven't read it yet, go do so now! It was a short read and went really well with the movie. After I finished that I joined up with the College Prepster's book club and read Saving Cee Cee Honeycutt.

This was an absolute darling read. It encompassed anything and everything the charming south has to offer. It left me wanting to befriend the main character and pick up and move to Savannah, Georgia. Now that I've finished those darling reads I decided it was time for a classic. I chose The Great Gatsby. This was what I expected from what I had heard. I'm glad I've finally read it and marked it off my list. What are you reading this summer?

Yes to..

Heres to saying yes to..

..long runs in the morning..

..bananas with nutella..big floppy hats..

cheap movie days..free nights at the theatre..

finally wearing my bathing suit..ice cream..

my boyfriend coming home friday..

and lots of photo shoots to commemorate the summer

What's on your summer list?