March {Photo a Day} Challenge: Days 5-11

I'm sorry I am late posting these pictures! Working at a school definitely has its perks - I was off last week for Spring Break! It was so nice to have a break, but I definitely went underground and barely checked my email! I'll be better about posting, I promise!

Day 5: Makes You Smile

Things that make me smile - my husband, the arrival of spring time (especially early this year!), living at the beach, and cooking!

Day 6: 5 p.m.

This evening I was at a dinner for The Gathering Place, which is a community based ministry that serves the youth of Brunswick and the Golden Isles community. This picture shows some of the kids involved in the group and how The Gathering Place has impacted their lives - very moving!

Day 7:  What You Wore

Day 8: Window

I was lucky enough to take a tour of the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base and this is a picture from one of the boats at the base. 

Day 9: Blue

My favorite color! These are some antique mason jars that my grandmother gave to me. I display them proudly in our home!

Day 10: Shoes

My favorite shoes this season, my flats! 

Day 11: From a Distance

View from my parents back yard - the flowers and trees are starting to bloom! 

March {Photo a Day} Challenge: Days 1-4

Day 1: Self-Portrait

Gotta love taking a picture of yourself, right?! This is me before leaving work in the morning. I tried the whole reverse camera on my iPhone feature to take a picture, but they were all very unfortunate! 

Day 2: Fruit

This is a kumquat tree that grows next to our house! I always forget about them, but I need to look up some recipes and put them to use. By the way, how pretty are the azaleas?! Already in bloom! 

Day 3: In Your Bag

First I had to show you "my bag" - yes, it is very large, and yes, it is full, but I love having everything with me at all times! 

... hence the following picture. Listed below are all of my items "in my bag"

1. My Tory Burch sunglasses (wonderful birthday/Christmas present from my sister!)

2. My makeup bag (loaded with way too much stuff that I rarely use)

3. Car Keys

4. A pair of socks (hmm, random! I had planned on going to the gym on Saturday after running errands and forgot they were in there ... guess they got lost in the depths of my monster bag)

5. My Kindle Fire - my newest addition to my accessories! So far I love this thing!

6. My Kate Spade wallet (props to my mom and dad on this Christmas present!)

7. A screw driver (hmm, another hard one to explain. I wish I could say this was from all of my DIY projects I have been doing lately, but its just from a friend returning it to me!)

8. Eclipse Gum

9. Multiple Pens (they get lost frequently)

10. My handy dandy purse hook 

11. Medicine (pepto, nasal spray) hand sanitizer, and lip gloss

12. Hair Brush (I love this brush, there is a mirror on the back!)

**not pictured, my iPhone! 

Day 4: Bedside

A split image of Johnathan and my night stands. We both are trying to be better about reading at night instead of watching TV, so we have a lot of books beside us!

Here is a reminder of the photos for next week's challenge!
5. Makes you smile
6. 5 p.m.
7. What you wore
8. Window
9. Blue
10. Shoes
11. From a distance

March {Photo a Day} Challenge

So, I have to admit, I am now officially obsessed with Instagram. For those of you who don't know what Instagram is, it is an app through iPhone that allows you to take pictures and share them with other followers! I love the options it give you for editing photos, and it is so fun to follow friends, family, and celebrities! It is definitely bumping Facebook and Twitter to the curb!

Well, on the note of talking about photos - the other day I saw someone post a "Photo A Day Challenge", and whether or not you have Instagram or not, I thought it would be so fun for all of us to take one picture each day this month and share it on our blogs! I am going to take a picture each day, and post them at the end of each week. I have listed below the types of pictures to take each day. I hope you'll join in!

Batman and Spiderman

Before all of the trick-or-treating began, our nephews stopped by our house last night to show off their costumes! They love superheroes, so they sported their favorite outfits! T.G. was Batman and Jack was Spiderman. They had a lot of fun outside climbing on the boat and up a tree - they really got into character!

 T.G., I mean, Batman, liked to get really close to the camera!

I had to get a picture with the cute boys! 

Jack climbing in the tree in our front yard - he really looks like Spiderman! 

Highlands, NC

Last weekend we traveled to Highlands, NC for a vacation with my family! I was so excited to get away for a few days, and now looking back, I wish we had stayed longer! We could not have asked for better weather to welcome Fall - the temperature was between 55-70 each day and the sun was out the whole time! 

The house where we stayed is an old mill house converted to a residence and rental property. It was absolutely amazing, set right next to a river and waterfall. 

On Friday morning, I went with all of the boys on a hike to Glen Falls. Here is the first opening we came to - hello beautiful mountains!

 On the "hike" (these leisure pictures do not depict the 3 mile round trip we did to get to the falls!)

 From the top ...

and then from the bottom! 

On Friday evening, we went to dinner at "On the Veranda." We sat on the porch overlooking a beautiful lake. After dinner, we went to Kilwin's to get ice cream. I love that place. I had dreams of their ice cream from out last trip and I could not wait to get back! (Don't judge, I have a sweet tooth!) 

On Saturday morning, I headed downtown with my Mom and Grandmother to hit the shops! Here are some pictures from Dutchmann's and The Nest - I loved their decorations for Fall, and of course I had to snap some pictures to get ideas for painting furniture!

 Here are some pics of a super cute garden shop called Oakleaf. I love the rustic outdoor look to this shop. We all picked up some bittersweet to decorate our homes for fall!

 On Saturday evening, we went to dinner at Wild Thyme. Its a quaint little restaurant downtown, but they had an amazing selection of wine (see all of the bottles in the background?) The food that night was amazing. Everyone cleaned their plates! 

Even though we were full, we made room for Kilwin's ice cream again. I got Macinac Island Fudge mixed with Fresh Strawberry ... mmm ... heaven in a cup! 

On Sunday morning, we got up early and went for a canoe ride on the lake by our house. 

 I think this picture gives a good explanation of why the lake is called Mirror Lake! I loved seeing some of the leaves already changing colors. 

 A few family pics before we leave! There's Johnathan ...

Oh wait, it's Mom ...

 Oh, and I couldn't forget the local wildlife! All of these little guys were around our house. Good thing I didn't get a picture of the snakes we saw on our hike to the waterfall! 

We had the best trip and I cannot wait to go back next year!

St. Augustine

Hello Friends! I hope you are all doing well! This past weekend Johnathan and I traveled to St. Augustine for a long weekend stay with his side of the family! We had such a good time - it was a much needed vacation and getaway! 

Friday evening Johnathan and I arrived in St. Augustine and went straight to the marina to put the boat in the water. Isn't this a gorgeous sunset? 

On Saturday, Jay, Laura and the boys arrived and came straight to the beach! We spent a full day there and had fun at the pool, too! 

Even some took naps ... 

Sunday morning Johnathan and I drove into downtown St. Augustine to get breakfast at a little French restaurant called Bistro de Leon that our friends recommended. They had the best french toast I had ever eaten! 

We enjoyed another relaxing afternoon on the beach, then we all got ready and took a boat ride to a great restaurant on the water. We could not have asked for better weather, and the food was great!

 Captain T.G. (a.k.a. Batman)  wanted to drive the boat

 Watching the sunset over St. Augustine 

Jackson Hole

Okay, I know I am so late on posting pictures from Jackson Hole, but I am sure most of you have seen pics posted on Jill and Maggie's blogs! Here are some pictures from our trip from my camera (as soon as I get Johnathan's camera to download his pics, I'll post those too!):

Here are some pictures of our house and the amazing views!

 Saturday night we went into Jackson and had a drink at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar then dinner at Snake River Grill

 Sunday afternoon we saw these amazing views! We literally pulled over on the side of the road and got these shots

 Here are some pictures of the National Elk Refuge

 On Tuesday, we went with Maggie and David to Yellowstone for a snowmobile tour! We saw Old Faithful, wild buffalo, and amazing scenery!