Outdoor Adventures

This past weekend, my friend Heidi and I took the dogs to the bark park. Heidi, who does not have any dogs of her own, is a stand-in doggy parent to several different friends' dogs. One of which is Buddy too. And every dog, when her name is spoken or they see her, they immediately FREAK OUT because they know a hike or a walk or a fun adventure is about to happen.

So this past weekend, we loaded up our friends' 2 beagles and Buddy, and we set out for some outdoor fun, before it gets too cold, and we have to wait to do this until springtime.

Photo courtesy of Heidi! A great shot!

There was a WHOLE lot of doggy handshakes (aka. butt sniffing)...

...and lots of happy tails and smiles...

...one of which decided to crash while in the car on the ride home...

Needless to say, the pups had a BLAST!

...those were some sleepy pups after their outdoor adventures!

Until the next adventure,

~AMK

Let's Give 'Em Somethin' to Blog About: Inspiration Destination

"Let's Give 'em Somethin' to Blog About" is an effort for me to share a blog posting that I have read somewhere or an article I have found interesting. I will give my thoughts that rambled on through my head as I read them or have been marinading since then. Some I may have just read within a few hours and others may be ones that have stuck with me through the weeks, months or even years, and I want to grasp something from it and remember. They are a way for me to look back and remember.

Today's Post: Our Wedding

Young House Love. What else can I say besides...LOVE! These two are fantastic (well, and Clara & Burger too!). John and Sherry are full-time bloggers with so much energy, quirkiness, and creativity that you can't help but soak up all they write. Amazing. Many of their projects and ideas have inspired me to think beyond what I actually see and create from that canvas to something so different you can't believe the transformation. They LOVE their ORB (I am a huge fan of it too, Sherry!), painting everything they can white or yellow (have I said before that I just love yellow?!), their ceramic animals, and crisp clean lines with bold burst of color and soft gray contrasts. I did not love gray or yellow or ORB or being crafty..at all... until I started reading their blog a few years ago (wow, has it already been that long?!). So it wouldn't surprise anyone then to say that their DIY wedding was a HUGE inspiration for me as KGK and I started thinking about our own wedding ideas. With that said, let's get into the pure simplicity and merry of their DIY backyard wedding. 

John and Sherry bought a house in Virginia and planned to have their wedding be as relaxed and friendly as their awesome personalities are. They had those cute vintage touches with the water and mint lemonade in the wine bottle, and string lights overhead to set the scene. Everyone looks so happy and soaking up the love of the day. They really focused on their guests and how much they appreciated them coming to their wedding and being a part of their lives.  There was also a photo booth where guests could commemorate the occasion with awkward yet funny pictures with friends and family, and enjoy the peaceful setting of a backyard cookout. How fun does that seem! 

So when KGK and I were planning our wedding, having it as relaxed and "us" was the focus. We wanted it to be as outdoorsy and inviting as we possibly could. Laughter, eating, catching up with family and friends you rarely see, and enjoying the time with people you see often was the main focus of our wedding. It was perfect. 

College friends!

Fall Centerpieces

Yeah, I love this guy ;)

So thanks, YHL, for the inspiration to keep it simple and you through the whole shebang. It made it so worth it. 

~AMK

Crock Pot Applesauce

On our honeymoon, KGK and I went apple picking. What a great way to celebrate fall, right?! It was GLORIOUS! I had been wanting to go for quite some time now, so we decided to find a spot to go during our last day of the trip. It was perfect fall weather!

When we got back, we had SO MANY APPLES, I had no idea what to do with all of them. Apple pie is one thing, but we could have made 4 or 5 of them. So it was time to think of something else. So then came...

...


Crock Pot Applesauce !!

This recipe is fantastic!! I found this online through a serious of friend's blogs and some online recipe searching. Not sure where the original credit goes, but I altered a little anyway. Enjoy!!

Don't mind the vase and flower stems in the background:)
I have a ROCKIN' husband who got me flowers!

The Goods:
8 large apples, cubed & peeled
1-2 tablespoons cinnamon (really just however much you like)
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract

Ready to cook! :)

The How-To:
Cut your apples into cubes and be sure all the skin is off. Put into large crock pot and sprinkle the entire thing with cinnamon (stir and add more if you like more cinnamon). Add your brown sugar and vanilla. Stir. Cook on low for 6-7 hours and stir intermittently. Enjoy!


Cutting & peeling the apples takes the longest time, but once you do, it is SO worth it! I think I may make this again this week! :)


And here are the flowers that were cropped out of the picture above...I'm in love:)

yellow love

~AMK

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

Embracing All Things Fall-ness

KGK and I had a wonderful honeymoon. We went to the mountains and enjoyed some cooler temps and some small, mountain town loveliness. We had a beautiful view of the mountains and the river from our big bay windows and loved going through the small shops and local restaurants. I just love experiencing the smaller, quainter places. The ones that may barely make the map but are filled with awesomeness (yes, awesomeness).

In this small mountain town, they were fully decked out with all their autumn and Halloween goodness (or badness?). There were oranges, reds, yellows (oh, goodness, do I LOVE some yellows!), scarves, hot coffees, and boots. I love when I can bring out my boots! It was the perfect picture of fall all around us. Leaves were barely starting to change, but all the little shops had their decorations holding the fall-color-changing wonderfulness scene until they were ready (why is this post full of so many -nesses today? Guess it helps me set the scene:) ).

Well, all the -NESS was happening. AND to top it all off, they had a scarecrow contest throughout town. Every shop made a scarecrow, and they had a contest where you could vote for your favorite. There was one that WON ME OVER. It was love at first sight scare. It combined 3 of my favorite things...AUTUMN, OWLS, and KGK:) It was my unicorn moment @Enjoying the Small Things! It was fabulous.

The best scarecrow ever.

How are you embracing all things fall? Does it give you that feeling to use "ness" way too many times?

Happy Fall! :)

~AMK

Swing of Things

Well, I now speak to you as a hitched woman! :) The BIG DAY has come and gone, and I wouldn't have traded any of it for anything. It was FABULOUS.

In my last post, I couldn't express enough all the thanks I had to those that helped prepare us for the big day and getting all those pesky little details worked out. And now, post-wedding, I AGAIN say THANK YOU. Everything wouldn't have been as wonderful as it was without ALL Y'ALL (I'm now officially southern because I've married into it!! WOOT WOOT!). :)

***

Now, I want to delve into some recent ideas and ramblings in my head lately, now that I am getting back into the swing of things...

-I am thinking of doing a "review" type format to some posts.  They will be a review or my insight from some of my favorite blog posts I may read on other blogs I follow. Gives me a nice way to remember ones that have touched me or given me inspiration. Now I just need to come up with a catchy name for these, like with the "Dear Future Self" posts that occur every now and then....hmmm....ideas are welcome:)

-Fall has arrived and I want to embrace all things orange, yellow, warm, halloween-ish, and involve the GREAT outdoors as much as possible. A fall hike may be in my near future...:)

-I went grocery shopping and have some awesome recipes I am eager to try. I will document and share, promise. :) I even have a HORRIBLY FAILED recipe I tried. I'll share that too...gotta keep it real, yo.

-And last and MOST DEFINITELY not least...I love being married. :) KGK rocks:)


So TGIF y'all!! Weekending is upon us!

post-cake-in-da-face! 

~AMK

Dear Future Self: The Home Stretch

Dear Future Self,

So we are on the home stretch of wedding planning, KGK and I! We are putting all the final touches to all things pre-wedding and pre-family arriving into town! :) We are so unbelievably excited!! :)

almost there!

So here's a few things that I want to remember when I look back on the last days/week before our wedding:

***

~I am nervous. Not about getting hitched, but about all the details. We are planners so that helps, but man! It still makes ya nervous. :)

~I have been doing really well with working out and plan to keep that up for the last little while before the wedding. I really enjoy water aerobics, cycling classes, core/abs classes and walking Buddy. I know he likes it when I decide to stay home and walk him instead of hitting the gym!

~I'm getting all my homework done and some from the week of and after the wedding. Staying on top of homework is one thing, but getting ahead...UGH! But I am doing it! Trying to stay positive! :)

~Have a few last minute things to buy, but other than that, all my accessories and dress stuff is taken care of for the most part. PHEW! That's always a big relief!

~Gettin' my tan on! Trying to have a little color so I'm not the stark white chick in the stark white dress;) So just getting a little rays to give me a good ole fashion glow.

~One of my good friends gets married just before us!! We are very excited to see them get married too! :)

~In honor of cooler temps and fall, I have a crock pot full of homemade chili waiting for us for dinner tonight. YUM!

***

So there you have it. Just a few things going on the last stretch before the BIG DAY!  Buddy, you are gonna officially have a Daddy! ;)

Buddy lovin' a car ride!

Until next time...

~AMK

Change of Seasons: Energized and Excited

Autumn. I love it. Cooler temps are welcomed around here! But, I don't like COLD. Make sure we clear that up. :) But cooler than 90 degrees is good. And for those that are pumpkin spice latte fans, you are in luck, as they are back! I am very much looking forward to this fall.

With the changing of seasons, I am always inspired and energized by the potential for something fresh and new. Any season really. I like change and try to embrace the energy that comes with the ideas, events, and happenings of another time of year. The shifts to different schedules and the expectation of the holidays around the corner get me all sorts of giddy. Autumn...here I come!

One thing this fall, I would like to be better about is taking pictures. For one, I just don't have time to take pictures on a nicer camera, upload, edit and then post. So I apologize for my lousy picture taking. I intend on improving this one day soon...promise:)  I use my phone for pictures which = boring and blah photos. I try, I do. I'm working on it and hope to make strides here soon with inspiration from the changing of colors coming up. I LOVE the way instagram edits photos simply and quickly, but they just don't show up as well on the ole blog. So one goal of mine is to be better in this time of changing colors and seasons to include some more quality photos. Here's hoping:)

Another wonderful change I am excited about is being able to include some recipes meant for cooler weather. Like homemade chili and muffins and casseroles. YUM. Having a bowl of chili on a 101 degree day just isn't as inviting as on a 60 degree day. So I very much am looking forward to these autumn days ahead.

Lastly, I cannot wait to start up camping again! My camping days seem to be fewer lately with wedding planning and schoolwork. I also want to try a backpacking trip once the wedding is over. Gotta start thinking of what, when and where:) KGK probably has some ideas:)

Hope you too are enjoying these glimpses into fall days! :)

Until next time...

~AMK