Wedding Wednesday: Our Wedding Venue

Our wedding venue was one I had my eye on before we got engaged.

 I was a dreamer I guess. Or just one of those crazy girls that pre-planned her wedding before their boyfriend even had a ring. Probably the second option. :)

I knew it was one I would look at one day, and always had a gut feeling about it.

My sister, mom and I planned a visit a few months after we got engaged, and I knew it was the one. It was rustic, which I wanted. It had so much personality, even without the extra wedding decorations. And there was so many options on how your day could go.

I LOVED that it wasn't going to be "cookie cutter."

 Mine and Cody's personalities would shine at this venue.

So without further ado, here is our venue.

The place where we will say our "I do's."

The place where our forever begins.

The Ruins at Kellum Valley Farm

Cleveland, Georgia

website

 "Nestled in a picturesque valley of the Blue Ridge foothills, just an hour from North Atlanta sits The Ruins at Kellum Valley Farm. Together with breathtaking mountain views, and rich history, Kellum Valley Farm makes an enchanting location for your wedding. Our 19th century restored stone ruins seat guests in an outdoor ambiance that is certain to leave a lasting impression on your family and friends."

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There are so many good things to say about this venue.

For one, the price is amazing for everything you get.

DeAnne, the owner, has an entire room of props that are free to use for your day.

The food is the best food I've ever had in my entire life.

And I'm not exaggerating.

It's just beautiful.

Here are a few (or a lot) pictures I've snapped from a couple visits to Kellum Valley.

All these pictures get my mind rolling with ideas, and I can't wait to see the dream come to life.

The ruins...

 

The pool/cocktail hour area...

The grounds...

I can't wait to share the day with y'all!

It'll be here before we know it.

:)

Easter Basket Blog Hop | For My Husband to Be

I was so excited when I saw that Darci at the good life was hosting an Easter basket blog hop! I knew I wanted to treat my almost husband to a small celebratory Easter gift, so I hit up the Easter bunny to do the work. He shops at Target in case you didn't know.

But I did have to help out with the Sam Adams Cold Snap because Mr. Bunny forgot his ID. That darn bunny.   But in all seriousness, I was so excited that I put this together. As of recently, I haven't had all the time in the world to do this kind of stuff, and it was nice to get all festive and crafty. I rushed out with Hank & Maci in tow Wednesday night while Cody was at his weekly meeting to get all the stuff for the basket/bucket. Here were the items I snagged at Target:  

Men's Button Down |  Copper Planter | Sam Adams Cold Snap (Seasonal - similar here) | Archer Farms Tex Mex Trail Mix | Jack Link's Small Batch Beef Jerky Men's Button Down: With Cody's new position, it requires him to fancy it up more so than his previous job. He's always in need of a new button up, and I knew he didn't have a red in his group of shirts. And I just love the checkered pattern. Copper Planter: Ok. It's not a basket. Or even a bucket. It's a planter for your yard! But hey. It totally looks manly and rugged. Don't ya think?   Sam Adams Cold Snap (Seasonal): This is his favorite beer at the moment. Too bad it's a seasonal brew because we both think it tastes so good. I could only fit two in the bucket, so the extra four were an added bonus.   Archer Farms Tex Mex Trail Mix: I LOVE this isle at Target. There are so many different kinds of trail mixes, it's hard to pick just one. I thought he might like the Tex Mex flavor.   Jack Link's Small Batch Beef Jerky: What man doesn't love beef jerky? No. Don't answer that. I don't want to know! I even love it!

I filled the bottom with bright green basket grass. I was so excited to find the kind I did because it wasn't that plastic, shiny grass. This was made of paper, which gave it a more rusitc/natural feel - perfect for a manly Easter basket.  

  Before I put everything in the bucket, I tied the button down up with an extra burlap ribbon I found hiding in my craft closet. I had to add a girly bow somewhere. :)   I almost couldn't contain my excitement to give it to Cody on Sunday. But I managed to hold it in, and surprised him after church on Easter. I think he really enjoyed his manly Easter basket!  

  You can still join the Easter Basket Blog Hop with Darci! Just head on over to the good life blog - grab the button & share your Easter goodies!  

 

The First of Many Busy Weekends

Hello friends! I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter weekend! It's Monday yet again, and I feel like we didn't even get two days off we were so busy. It was a good kind of busy though, seeing lots of family and friends. Pretty much from this past weekend on, we don't have a weekend off without plans until the wedding is over with. But I'm so looking forward to each weekend, because it's all fun plans, mostly wedding related. This past weekend was more focused on our friends and celebrating Easter.   Friday I always stay late to finish up lessons plans for the upcoming week. With Cody's new work schedule, it's the best day for me to catch up on things since we know that's the one day he will be home early for the dogs' sake. So normally our plans are pretty low key, like me bringing home Chick-fil-a or us going out to a quick dinner. We hadn't seen Paul and Ashley for awhile, so they were nice enough to wait until I got home to meet us for dinner.   Speaking of Ashley (A Thousand Words), we celebrated her first baby shower on Saturday at her sister-in-law's house! They did a great job of making sure everything looked cute, and the mama-t0-be just looked adorable. The boys tagged along and went bowling while the girls babied it up. We're ready for Miss Nora to get here already. After June 7th though. :)

After the shower, we headed over to Brittany's parent's house to take some family pictures. Her family is HUGE and full of kids, and they managed to get everybody in town, so she wanted some family shots of everybody together. It was sweet of Brittany to ask me to take part in it, and I definitely wasn't going to pass down a chance to see my favorite peanut!  

  And lucky me gets to see this cutie at my shower next weekend!   Sunday was of course, Easter! My mommy was sweet enough to send us some Easter goodies on Friday for us to enjoy. Including this bunny candy dish. :) Thanks mom!  

  We were invited to go to church with Cody's family that morning, so we joined along and actually really enjoyed it. We're hoping when we move one day, we'll find our permanent home church. But this one was perfect for the occasion.  When we got back, I wanted to attempt a few pictures of us in our Easter best, but it proved to be a little difficult with nobody to take our picture. So that explains why were crunched down on our tiny porch because that's the only place we could set the camera up. Desperate times calls for desperate measures! ;) After that fun-filled photo shoot, I'll be investing in a tripod preeeeetty soon.

It just so happened that the Easter bunny paid a visit to Cody, and knew just what he liked. A MANLY Easter basket! (more on that tomorrow)  

  And we tried including Maci in on the fun, but obviously she wasn't having it. Five pictures later, that's the best we got. :)  

  We spent the rest of the afternoon at Cody's aunt & uncle's house with family and enjoying the lovely Easter weather!   I hope everybody had a wonderful Easter weekend! Enjoy your Monday!  

To Blog, Or Not to Blog

The month of March was not my best blogging month. I was busy, tired, and totally lacked motivation to even open my computer most nights to comment, read blogs or even write a post. I was definitely lacking in the inspiration department. And it was truly bothering me.   I really like blogging. I'm glad I was brave enough last summer to start. I love documenting my life. Sharing my thoughts and ideas. Meeting other sweet bloggers. It's a world of it's own. And you don't really understand it until you get into it for awhile. It requires a sense of bravery. To put yourself out there to the world is scary. But it's also empowering.   For me, it's not realistic to have a post every. single. day. Some days, I just can't get around to it. But the days I don't, I feel off. Like I've forgotten something. I love going home and seeing how people have responded to my posts, or reading other's from the day. It brings some added excitement. But one of the big reasons I was lacking inspiration to blog was due to this internal debate.   To blog, or not to blog. That was the question.   I kept asking myself, "Why am I blogging?" I felt like I had lost the purpose of why I was in this blog world. I had nothing exciting to share. I didn't have cute ideas for posts. I don't have time to take pictures of the food I make for dinner, nor does it ever look that pretty. I don't have time for DIY crafts. What the heck was I doing here? Do I care how many followers I have? Do I want to be one of those popular bloggers? Do I care if I have sponsorships? Do I care if people like or not? What do I even want out of blogging?   But then I kinda came to my senses. I'm blogging for ME. My friends. My family. My experiences. My opinions. My thoughts. My life.   The purpose for this blog is to keep my memories and every day life documented. To share with my loved ones, and to hopefully relate to others and maybe inspire others along the way. The amount of followers I have shouldn't matter. Even though the more the merrier! I love my followers, and feel so blessed that so many people find what I have to say interesting. But I'm not blogging for others. I'm blogging for me.   It's okay that I don't have time for the cute DIY projects and sharing recipes. Maybe one day I will, and it'll be fun! But I need to blog what comes naturally, or it's just not going to be me.   So why am I in this blog world? For me.

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Throughout your blogging journey, was there ever a time where you felt like you lost the purpose?