Less than 48 hours

...until I finally see my mom and dad!!!!!

I haven't seen them since Gaines and I left for the honeymoon, so to say I am beyond excited to spend the weekend with them in Athens is a huge understatement.

I Love Fall

As the temperature finally cools down in Georgia, I am reminded, just like I am every year, of why I love this season. 

The leaves begin to change...

Starbucks brings back the Pumpkin Spice Latte...

College football gets underway...

Sweaters are taken out of storage...

Favorite shows finally return...

Bonfires help keep you warm...

And fun holidays bring family and friends together.

 If you ask me, fall offers the perfect excuse for long days outside followed by long nights in front of the TV.  :)

What do you love about fall?

Office: Before and After

Here is our office/third bedroom in the "before" stage:

Gaines and his family took down the shelves, mudded the holes, sanded over the mud, painted the walls, and put in new carpet.  I was conveniently in Virginia at the time. ;) 

In the "during" stage of the room, we used it to hold lots of random stuff, including wedding gifts:

Yikes!

But we finally found a home for everything pictured above and gave the office a purpose:  

The shelf holds books and lots of our UGA memorabilia (including the awesome Uga picture from my brother) and the "K" and "G" letters came from our Couples Showers in Atlanta.  Linds had them hanging on the door to greet guests and then all of our firends who came signed the mat around one of our engagement pictures (which is below the "K"). You can see more on that shower here. :)

Our Backyard

 We don't have any noticeable "before" pictures of the backyard (with it's huge holes and dead grass), but wanted to share the "after" pictures anyways. :)

Here is the view of the backyard from the laundry room:

Our deck: 

Our shed in the back holds/hides all of our "outdoorsy" stuff: 

And the window on the right is in our bathroom, which is part of the addition the previous owners put on to the back: 

We think our backyard is perfect for Saturday afternoon "tailgates..."

...but what about a cute pup?

Maybe soon, but for now we love our wooden bird dog (Waynesboro is the bird dog capital of the world), who loves UGA, but doesn't bark, shed, eat, need to go out...

Recipe Box

My mom and her two best friends have known each other over twenty five years and our three families practically grew up together.  My "Aunt Sue Sue" and "Aunt Alexa" have known me since I was born and were so wonderful to Gaines and I during our engagement.  They hosted a wedding shower for me in Richmond and Aunt Sue Sue and her daughter Allie also coordinated a surpise recipe shower by mail.  They presented it to us at our rehersal dinner (which was actually at their house!).

 Here are the girls minus Allie's sister Caroline: 

Dailey, me, my mom, Aunt Sue Sue, Allie, Kelley, and Aunt Alexa

They sent out personalized recipe cards to everyone invited to our wedding, along with an invitation explaining the gift, directions for the cards, and return mailing information.  Once they got all of the handwritten cards back, they compiled them in a recipe box.

It was one of the most thoughtful gifts I have ever gotten, and Gaines and I love looking through and trying recipes from our favorite people. 

Speaking of, here is one of my favorite recipes.  I have made it a couple of times for parties, and it's a huge crowd pleaser.  Two of my best friends Windsor and Lindsay both recommended it and it's delicious...and zero calories. ;)

Skinny Girl Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients:
4 cooked chicken breasts

1 (8 oz) package fat-free cream cheese

1/2 cup Frank's RedHot Original hot sauce

1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup fat free Ranch dressing

1/4 cup fat free Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Boil the chicken until thoroughly cooked (about 10-15 minutes) and then shred it into small pieces.

3. Mix the cream cheese, hot sauce, ranch dressing and Greek yogurt in an 8x8 baking dish until it is smooth. 

4. Stir in the chicken until it is throughly combined.

5. Add mozzerella cheese to the top of the mixture.

6. Bake for about 20 minutes and serve with tortilla chips. 

Enjoy!

Would You Rather?

As Gaines and I were driving to the coast this past weekend, we tried to think of car games to play to pass the time.  In high school my best friend Demetria and I would spend hours playing "Would You Rather?" on roadtrips and would laugh until our stomachs hurt at the funny questions she would come up with.  Gaines and I played for over an hour on Friday and wanted to share some of our favorites!  Would you rather...

• have arms that are constantly flapping or arms that are completely rigid? 
• always have to say everything on your mind or never speak again?
• sneeze mustard or fart bubbles?
• be 3 feet tall or 8 feet tall?
• be able to hear any conversation or take back anything you say?
• be able to read everyone’s mind all the time or always know their future?
• be invisible or fly?
• be born with an elephant trunk or a giraffe neck?
• go about your normal day naked or fall asleep for a year?
• be stranded on an island alone or with someone you hate? 
• eat a bar of soap or drink a bottle of dishwashing liquid?
• forget who you were or who everyone else was?
• go without television or music for the rest of your life?
• sweat moderately but constantly 24 hours a day all over your body or have a metal pin in your jaw that constantly picks up talk radio stations?
• be a giant hamster or a tiny rhino? 

The Coast

We're leaving soon to spend all weekend here...and I could not be more excited!

Be back Monday!

Dining Room

As you can see from the picture, it's actually not a true dining room. But it is a room we dine in.  Doesn't that count!? ;)

Our kitchen table was a wedding gift from Gaines' wonderful parents.  It took us a while to find the perfect one, but we loved this one as soon as we saw it. Just like the dishwasher, I was surprised at how much I could love an inanimate object.

The paintings are from Puerto Rico and alway renind me of a great trip I took with my family (who I miss so much!).  

 

At our wedding Gaines and I did a "mixing of the sand."  He grew up going to his family's house on the Georgia coast, and I grew up going to our rivah house on the Chesapeake Bay.  Since both places are so special to us, we mixed sand from each place to symbolize our unity as a couple.  Awww. Anyways, when we got back from the honeymoon, the sand was sitting on our kitchen table and I wasn't quite sure what to do with it.  

Since it had special meaning and I didn't want it to go to waste, I added the mixed sand to the two hurricanes on our kitchen table. 

As for the the actual mixing container we used that day, I wanted to put it to good use, too.  So I loaded it up with wine corks I had saved throughout our engagement and placed it in the display cabinet next to the table. 

Both are such sweet reminders of that perfect day in June. :)

Feel free to stop by anytime for dinner!

Kitchen: Before and After

I am so excited to share the biggest upgrade of the house! 

Here is our kitchen "before:"

And "after" new paint on the walls, new paint on the cabinets, new hardware, new countertops, and a new sink and faucet:

Another "before:"

And "after:"

The new sink and faucet:

Like the granite? 

Did I fool you?  It's actually formica, a much more affordable alternate.  We absolutely love it and thought it worked well with the white cabinets and existing floors.  Gaines spent several nights ripping out the old white and green sparkly countertops and putting in the new ones.

One more "before:"

 

Notice anything different in the "after" picture below? A dishwasher!  I never thought I'd love a kitchen appliance this much in all of my life.  Gaines and his Uncle Charlie spent a Saturday installing it...and then rebuilding the cabinet to the right to make it fit. 

 Oh, and if you loved the border and vines on the cabinets, I know you'll love the grape stickers.

Those were quickly removed and all of the hardware was replaced.

Here's one final view from the "dining room:"

More on that room soon!