west egg for brunch

after visiting piedmont park and perusing the farmers market, 

we headed over to the westside to one of our favorite brunch places ::

west egg.

if you haven't been yet, go. tomorrow.

everything is good.

i highly recommend the brown sugar bacon, 

the eggs benedict,

and the skillet potatoes.

yum.

piedmont park farmers market

 

we had some visitors this weekend all the way from texas! we took our sweet friends to piedmont park saturday morning to show off our beautiful city.  it was a perfect fall morning with a crisp breeze and lots of golden leaves all around.  we enjoyed all the sites of the piedmont park farmers market and i changed everyone's lives by introducing them to the best iced coffee in the land :: blue donkey's summer almond.  definitely a hit.  hopefully coming to whole foods soon! more on our weekend, soon.

pumpkin fish bowl

last night we had a pumpkin carving contest at small group, husbands vs wives style.

no one really won, but i wanted to share the boys' version :: pumpkin fish bowl. 

pretty creative!

bonus, room 019 now has 9 class pets.  NINE.

yayyyy 

fall in the south

we escaped the city this weekend and headed back to auburn for a little r&r with the daniels.  you may remember the last trip we took here.  we did a lot of the same things again; we ate bacon for breakfast, played a lot with gus, watched a lot of football, and the boys made wings again.  thankfully the weather had cooled off a lot this time and it actually felt like fall.  we enjoyed coffee on the porch, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin pancakes, lots of leaves, and a nice little sunset cruise on the pond. so delightful. there is just nothing like fall in the south.  now if it could just stay for a while and not get super cold, that would be great!  oh, and ps. thank you al, for talking the pictures of us.     

pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

fall is in the air and i am trying to eat slash drink as much pumpkin as possible!  my sweet friend chane over at what the hart likes makes the most amazing pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.  she made them the other day and since we don't live in the same city any more, i decided that it was time i learned how to make them myself.  after getting home from the store and realizing that i didn't have enough oil, i knew it was time to get creative and test out the applesauce for oil trick.  thankfully, it worked! so, here is my take on the best pumpkin chocolate chip muffins in the world!

mix together in a large bowl::

3 eggs

2 TB oil

1 C natural, no sugar added applesauce

(i used the vermont organic brand)

1 can pumpkin

2 C sugar

2 C white flour

1 C whole wheat flour

(3 C white if you don't have wheat)

2 C chocolate chips

1 tsp ground cloves

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp nutmeg

bake at 400 degrees for 15 - 20 minutes

makes about 24 muffins

yum!

::

 

playing in the field

took advantage of being in the country this weekend and had husband take some new photos of me for my photography website.  wish the city had more spaces like this!

happy birthday, sister

happy birthday, sister.

i am so thankful to have you in my life.

i'm so proud of you and the life that you lead!

philippians 1:3

athens to see sister

last sunday we drove over to athens for the day to celebrate sister and start off her birthday week right.  we brunched at last resort, walked the streets of downtown, enjoyed the beauty of north campus, and settled in at walkers for a few hours.  all of my favorite things with my two favorite people - dream.  after enjoying our coffees and chatting it up with the "young people" as they stopped by, husband and i both looked at each other and agreed that we really wished we could stay, avoid monday, and become townies.  unfortunately our short visit came to an end and we had to say good bye to the birthday girl.  soak it up for us!

pinch me

i recently realized that i never really elaborated on this post.  time just slipped away and i began to assume that you knew what was going on in my life.  i have also come to realize that it is challenging to post about this, because part of me is still in disbelief. disbelief that dreams that i didn't even know that i had are actually coming true.  i don't struggle with the belief that God is good or that He wants to bless me.  God has proven His goodness to me in small ways daily and in big ways through huge life decisions, like going to college, finding roommates, getting to work at camp, and meeting my love.  in my heart i always knew that i wanted all of those things.  i guess this new passion of mine is different because i never believed that i really could attain it.  i never thought that God could bring me to this place of being blessed to love a job so much and to be proud of working so hard to create something from the ground up. to follow my dreams, to try something new, to put myself out there, and not to give up.  i can remember watching the movie 13 going on 30 in high school and wishing i could just be a yearbook editor for the rest of my life.  i can remember visiting my Walgreens ladies weekly to develop my film and getting so excited about being an editor and creating my own layouts.  never in my wildest dreams did i think that i would one day become a photographer and get to create my own little website.  never.  it just proves that God is God and He knows more about my heart than i even do.  He knows the desires of my heart, even when i am too scared to really believe in them.  and to take it even a step further, not only am i blessed to be a photographer, but my work has even been published. published! working with the magazine has been such a tremendous blessing and something that i will forever be grateful for.  this reflection is important right now because i have been extremely busy the past three weeks, and i don't want my insane schedule to overshadow this exciting time.  i have been shooting lots of children, had my first "stranger" client, shot my first and second rehearsal dinner, shot my first wedding, and had one of my photos chosen for the cover of BuckHaven Lifestyle Magazine's cover! yes, the cover.  my photos were in the june, july, and september issue, but this cover is a first.  so yeah, i'm a little tired, i have forgotten how to cook, and my closet is a disaster, but who cares?!? i am living out my dream. right. now.          

if i were a boy

singing this song now
just can't get it out of my head after seeing this audition
what a dream to be able to sing like that!
i hope she makes it far
along with this girl, my other fave