Game Night

The other night Scott and I decided to play a few rounds of Yahtzee and had so much fun!

I had forgotten how much I enjoy game night and will be sure to incorporate this into our time we have together when Scott & I aren't working. It turned out I was awesome in round 1 but Scott killed it after the second go around. All I can say is one of us is super competitive and the other is not- I'll let you figure out which is which. In the future we would love to a few people over for a night of fun too, I'll just have to make sure Scott tucks away his desire to win :)

What are some of your favorite ways to spend quality time with your family? Any games that are good for two?

Count Down to Fall

I am so ready for fall! Now that Halloween has passed and Thanksgiving is just around the corner I better get into the Holiday spirit (which shouldn't be so hard)! Actually, I've been preparing for fall for the last few weeks but now that the leaves are finally changing colors and we are in a bit of a cool down, it finally feels like fall!

We started out by getting a new friend - Stanley, our "friendcrow" as we want to be a welcoming house :) But Stanley was a little lonely so shortly after his arrival Stella became part of our family too! I also tried my hand at making a pumpkin wreath for the front door - I think it turned out ok!

Scott and I are blessed to live in maybe one of the most beautiful places to be during the changing of the leaves, unfortunately my camera and phone don't do justice to all of the colors we are surrounded with! This weeks seems to be the peak for the fall foliage, so I will try to capture some pictures this week while I am out and about. 

I've also been careful to try and decorate with things that will carry us into Thanksgiving since I really only like Halloween for an excuse to dress up and eat candy!

Now I just need to make some hot apple cider, plan our fall menu and remember everything I am thankful for!

Trees

When you ask most people where their favorite place in the world, most give an answer of somewhere exotic or far off. My most favorite place is under my parents maple tree in their back yard.

From the first time I saw our house I loves it, but it lacked a big tree in the yard! The house sits on 3 acres of grass that was once a horse pasture so the ground is really fertile except for a few bald spots where the rain washed away the yard. I guess after a year or hinting Scott decided to plant 2 trees for us to watch grow as the years pass. Next to the books Nora gave me for Christmas a few years back, this is just about my favorite present ever.

We are now proud owners of a maple & oak tree! Although the ground is fertile, it is also hard as a rock. Scott wasn't sure he was going to be able to break through enough, but after much perseverance and a lot of encouragement he did it!

I can't wait to watch these grow into tall strong trees. The memories we'll make with these pillars of strength in the background will be priceless. 

Anniversary

A year ago today Scott and I had our first date at a local BBQ place. We were both a little nervous, but when our knees touched under the table I knew there was no looking back. That was the start of an amazing journey.

And what a journey it has been! From our first kiss to traveling across the US to meet my family, it has been a wild ride, but I ride I wouldn't change for anything! There has been a lot of growing and trying new things, laughter and tears, but most of all there has been tons of love.

I am so excited to see what the future holds for us :)

Happy First Anniversary honey, I love you to the moon and back!

Shooting

Guns. I am not the biggest fan in the world. I wasn't raised around them and really just don't understand why people have them other than for hunting. Scott on the other hand is an avid gun enthusiast. He enjoys target shooting and after a little nagging I was invited to go along with him while he sighted in the ones he is going to use for deer season this year.

Shooting was really a lot of fun and I wasn't that bad at aiming! I wasn't a marksman by any means, but I hit the target almost every time and even knocked down a metal gopher target on my first try!

Although it was fun, there is a healthy amount of fear/respect that I have for firearms. Safety was of course our main focus and between Scott and his buddy we were shooting with, I was given a lot of important information. 

While I still don't love the idea of guns and definitely don't want one of my own, I was so glad to be able to shoot one for myself. I look forward to the next time we are able to do it!

Garden

Our garden is officially out of season. It has been for quite some time now, but Scott finally mowed over the remaining tomato plants and weeds.

Honestly I was pretty sad. That garden was a great investment and provided not only us (seen here), but our family and neighbors with lots of fresh produce. I can't wait until next years planting season to arrive. I already have big plans!

County Fair

The Fair.
Corn dogs, funnel cakes, cows, award winning jam, rides, carnies.
The Hickory fair had all those things and more! Scott and I have been talking about the fair for quite some time and somehow it snuck up on us without us noticing!

The fair grounds aren't to far from our house, and that's where the flea market that I love so much (seen here) takes place.  We happened to be talking to friends who casually mentioned the fair and we knew we had to go before it was to late!

Friday night we headed to town for a night of fried foods, bright lights and lots and lots of people. First stop was the animals. I LOVE farm animals and wish we had a cow. They had an area to feed them and of course I jumped at the opportunity! We also watched a demonstration of how they used to cut wood using the power from old tractors, which was pretty cool. Next up, the blue ribbon showing! Did you know people really do enter big tomatoes, or homemade biscuits to see who's is the best in the county?! I thought those days were long gone, so I made Scott look at everything that had been entered with me. Who knows, maybe next year I'll enter something!

After spotting a hunting buddy of Scott's and eating some of the delicious BBQ he was serving up in order to raise money for a local school, we met up with John and Mary (who went to the hunting house with us) for a stroll and some tasty treats!

Now I don't remember ever having a funnel cake, elephant ears - of course- but never a funnel cake so that was the mission of the night. We all settled in and got a different tasty fried thing and boy oh boy was everything good! Between the 4 of us we got a fennel cake with cinnamon & sugar, red velvet funnel cake, fried Oreos and a corn dog.  Yummm!!

We also watched a man being shot out of a cannon. It was pretty intense and not a job that I would want, and piglet racing.

It was a perfect way to spend a warm summer night.