So I'm just sitting down to eat me a bowl of yummy cereal for dinner while the hubby is packing for our trip to the mountains again this weekend!! Yippee!!

I took some maternity photos for my friend Sarah this evening so I've uploaded a few (unedited except b/w) over on my photography blog to give her a sneak peak...Sarah is due with their first baby in December but her hubby was deployed back in August and won't be home until April! I know I couldn't be as strong as she's been through this pregnancy, but Sarah's just awesome like that!

Sorry so short, but I better step away from the computer for the night, pack and get ready for bed!

Just a quick post to give a sneak peak of some pics from this mornings photo shoot...These guys were awesome! They were SO easy to work with and we had a great time "exploring" together! (Enjoy the pics while I'm enjoying a slice of Lemon Cream Cake from Olive Garden!!)

So I've been MEANING to blog like every day this week, but somehow, I keep ending up with a thousand different things to do! I kinda wish all my random thoughts like while I'm driving in the car or trying to fall asleep could just be recorded and automatically posted to my blog...Would definitely make for some interesting reading! I've had several topics I've wanted to blog about this week, but whenever I've had the thought process going on I haven't been near a computer! (And then when I finally do get to a computer my mind goes to mush!)

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It's been a busy week, but the weekend is almost officially here! Tomorrow morning I've got a photoshoot with my friend Brandi to get some shots of her three kiddos...And then I've got a friend's baby shower in the afternoon...Oh yeah, and the Georgia game comes on at 3:30! (Yes, ANOTHER afternoon game! Why can't we just have a NIGHT game?!? And we already know that next week against Florida is at 3:30 also!!)

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I'm hoping sometime over the weekend I can spend quality time with my super awesome laptop to get some pictures edited! I've got pictures from the beach, Kackleberry Farm, and the mountains that I need to get edited and resized so I can plan out scrapbooking pages for our November 8th Archivers trip. (And between now and then I'll also have added ANOTHER mountain trip to the list of pics to work on!)

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Well, like I said, as soon as I sit down to write a post I lose all my terribly interesting thoughts that I wanted to write about...Oh well. Maybe if I post this one and then walk away I can trick myself...

And we're home!! After a wonderful little weekend getaway it's back to the real world!! So while my Super Hubby finishes steam cleaning the carpet I decided to blog about the rest of our weekend! (And yes, my hubby REALLY IS super! He even hooked up this wonderful laptop for me b/c I was just too dang lazy to get back up!!)


This morning we enjoyed sleeping in a bit and then waking up to find the mountains peaking out above the fog...





We took a few more pictures around our cabin...






And said goodbye...(Until next time!!)




Then we headed down to one of favorite mountain spots - Hillcrest Apple Orchard! All the yummy goodness there is great, but what we REALLY love is the petting farm!! They have the absolute SWEETEST animals! And yes, we're always the only two adults in there WITHOUT little kids, but we really don't care!! We could spend all day with these animals!!

Hello from beautiful Blue Ridge, GA!! We got here just shortly after dark last night...(Yeah, that in and of itself made driving up this crazy mountain quite an adventure!!)

I can't even begin to tell you how absolutely awesome our cabin is!! It's practically brand new and decorated to the nines! (Complete with the mountain cabin "smell"!!) We were like little kids on Christmas morning last night running around here checking everything out!! (All three floors of it and all the many mountain view porches!!)

I'll try not to mention how sweet the hot tub is though! Right on the side of a mountain...Heavenly!!


Here's a view from one of our porches!



Today we went to the Georgia Apple Festival in Ellijay...Fun stuff! All kinds of different vendors with quite the variety of crafts and handmade items. Also we found the Fall Branch Falls waterfall! It was definitely an interesting hike! Very pretty...





Oh, and these were my "hiking" shoes...



Well, that's just a quick update for now! More details and pics when we get back...But for now, it's off to the hot tub!!

Yesterday I started training my replacement at work. When our other accountant retires after the first of the year I'll take on her responsibilities and our new hire, Sharon, will take on mine. We've got a few months before the changeover takes place, but we want to have plenty of time for training! I'd been worrying about the person who'd be chosen to take my place...I never dreamed we'd end up with someone as laid back as me! She gets along great with me and Brandi and we've had a fun couple of days together! The day passes a lot more quickly when you've got an office buddy!

We're very much looking forward to the weekend and a relatively impromptu trip to the mountains! Since our summer vacation was so late, we were planning on not going to the mountains this year, but last weekend I just got the "fall bug" and couldn't resist! We're heading out Friday after lunch...We've got a cabin in Blue Ridge and plan to visit the Apple Festival in Ellijay and go rafting on the Toccoa! Can't wait!

Today we spent the afternoon at Kackleberry Farm in Louisville (that's pronounced "lewis-ville" for those of you aren't from around here!!)

Against his wishes, Matt & I took Grey with us...But of course once he got there he loved it! His favorite part was all the animals...We'd wander off to do something else, but it would only be a couple of minutes before I heard, "Aunt Jenn! Let's go see the ANIMALS!"

Here's a few (very unedited!) pics from the day!

(And you can see more here!)

Signs of the Season!

Fall! I LOVE Fall!! I always have...There's just something in the air makes it feel so wonderful! I've never been able to really put my finger on it to though...Maybe the cooler (well, slightly!) temps or the start of football season...Definitely the changing colors of the leaves...And the decorations...Pumpkins and scarecrows and bales of hay...

Here's a few "Fall" pics I took last night just playing around with my new lense...

Tonight is the ASU Alumni BBQ...Usually it's outside in the quad with a band playing and a very "Fall" feeling, but tonight's event has already been moved into the gym due to weather...Boo. Well, at least the food's always really good so we'll at least get a good meal out of it even if it's not all festive feeling!

Ohhh the Temptation...

I left work right at 5:00 yesterday and called in an order for dinner at Rhineharts...Of course I would have had to have chosen a restaurant that doesn't have carside to-go so I lucky enough to get completely drenched in a monsoon! I run home to meet Matt and change clothes so that we can get to youth (by 5:30, yeah right!)...But as I walk in the door I'm faced with THIS sitting on our coffee table...

Yes, that's two wonderful boxes that had just arrived via UPS...One box containing my first order of professional prints and the other containing my brand-spankin new 85mm f/1.8 lense! Human instinct told me to throw all caution to the wind and rip open these fantastic boxes...But the responsible me knew getting to church ASAP was the best choice to make. Of course it ripped my heart out - I felt like I was abandoning my first-born child! I'd been waiting FOUR whole days and now my orders were within my grasp and I had to force myself to walk away!

Well, now it's almost time to call it a day...And since we shouldn't have any plans tonight I'll have all the time in the world to enjoy my new lense! (Well, maybe...Considering it's probably going to be raining and I'll be stuck inside!!)

It's late in the day Wednesday so I guess that means we're over halfway back to another weekend! Kind makes me think of that song that says "Everybody's working for the weekend!" - But yeah, it's pretty much the truth!!

Tonight is our first night having youth in our new building...And now that we have our OWN building youth is back to Wednesdays instead of Sundays - Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! You just can't even imgaine how happy that makes us leaders...Having youth on Sunday nights in a place where we had to set up and tear down had really started to wear on us all. By the time you got home from Sunday morning service you only had a couple hours to kill before it was time to be back...It started to feel like a horrible chore that we all dreaded and that's SO not how it should be! We're looking forward to a big crowd tonight with lots of visitors and newbies and I can't wait to see what all God has in store for us!

Sunday was our church's 5th anniversary and also our first Sunday at our new campus...It's still hard to comprehend that it's all really ours! Our own sanctuary, our own children/youth building, our own fellowship hall...And we don't have to set up and tear down every week!! I think that's the craziness part of it all!

Here's a silly pic of my sweet little Greybug (note his "very" sad face!) and his buddy Cooper through the window in their new room!

Sunday morning's service was absolutely awesome! We had over 200 MORE people than we've ever had before...Now I know you can't really base everything on numbers, but still, that was a big one for us!

Near the end of Bobby's message the band came back out and we sang "Overcame" and then the chorus of the hymn "This is My Story" as several people came out and shared their "cardboard testimonies." - Each person would walk out on the stage and on one side of their cardboard would be something they've struggled with (or are currently struggling with) and then the flipside showed how God worked (and is still working) in their lives...It was really powerful to see some of these stories and to know that these are all REAL people around us. Definitely a chillbump moment!

I'm still in awe of God's very evident presence during worship! "Awesome" just doesn't even begin to describe it! It was really one of those "you just had to be there" kind of days! Definitely looking forward to next week!

Girl's Night Out rocks!! Normally, if given the option, I'm pretty much a homebody...But tonight, with Matt gone for the evening, I decided to be wild and crazy and invite my friend Christie out for dinner & a movie! Dinner was Atlanta Bread Company and the movie was "Nights in Rodanthe." We almost changed out minds on the movie b/c we heard someone say today that it wasn't any good...But all the reviews said just the opposite so we decided to risk it! Glad we did too! It was a really good movie! (Yes, it was a true Sparks tear-jerker, but still good!) Afterwards, we made a run over to Borders to get the latest Sparks book, "The Lucky One."

So that was my very fun night! I'm so lucky to have sweet friends to hang out with!

Now I'm home...Just started some laundry in an attempt to have one less load to do tomorrow! So far we are pretty commitment-free tomorrow...You can't even imagine how happy that makes me! I always look forward to a little downtime with just me and awesome hubby!

Oh but I just remembered one big plan I have for tomorrow...Ordering me the Canon 85mm, f/1.8 USM lens! Woohoo!! Hadn't really thought much about wanting a new lense, but I'm just loving the pics my friend Lindsey has been taking with hers (the Nikon version) and Ken Rockwell's awesome review just sealed the deal for me! I did a quick search today and the best price I found was on B&H for $355. Trust me, I'm dying just to run out to Wolf first thing in the morning and get my hot little hands on it, but it's listed at over $100 more on their site, so I'm guessing it's about the same in the store...(Although, I know I'm at least gonna break down and call as soon as they open tomorrow JUST TO MAKE SURE!)

Oh well. Scratch that whole "looking forward to having my hubby all to myself" idea. Matt just got home from a 4 hour practice for Sunday's morning worship to tell me that they now also have to be there at 11 in the morning to practice again. Forget that they just took everyone away from their families for all of Friday night. Let's just take them for a few more hours right in the middle of their Saturday too. I guess there's always next weekend. Maybe.

Yeah so now that I've been crying for half an hour I guess I'll just go to bed. No fun to blog anymore.

Sorry sorry sorry! I've been meaning to blog, but it's just been a crazy crazy week!!

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We got my parents all moved into their new place over the weekend. (By Sunday night it looked like they had been living there forever!) And now this week has just been busy with Matt doing work at the church every night and me doing other randomness!

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Last week I did some maternity pictures for my friends Lauren & Cliff...They turned out really great and Lauren and her mom loved them! Here's a few random ones I have saved on my jump drive:

And now it's almost time for this workday to come to a close...It's been a long and boring one!! Glad tomorrow's Friday!

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Tonight will be our first night home together since we got back from the beach two weeks ago! I'm so excited! I hate all the busy-ness of life right now! I just don't understand how some people do it! I LIKE my husband and want to spend time with him at home...Eating dinner together, cleaning house, playing games, watching movies...I NEED that time for just the two of us!
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So I'm off to the grocery store and then I'll be home with my honey!! Please no interuptions! ;)