Coffee CubBuster

It's such an amazing fall day, and the leaves couldn't be prettier here in North Georgia (yes Marietta counts as North Georgia! Fun Fall Fact #1:  If you have a fairly wet summer, the leaves tend to be less brilliant in color, but the leaves last longer on the trees. If you have a fairly dry summer, the leaves tend to be more brilliant in color, but they fall off the branches much quicker.  It's a win win to me! HAPPY FALL!

Since Easton is suppose to grace us around Christmas, we had a theme party with Nicole's nursery colors! It was a whirlwind weekend jam packed with flown in family, food-o-plenty, a 3-D baby photo shoot, more food, games, party people, oh and a little more food as people partied. I think we were all doing a warm up for the upcoming holiday eateries--Halloween candy is just the appetizer meal before the main course at Thanksgiving and the late night snacks at Christmas. My sister's baby shower and engagement party were hits. Debbie Maupin, of course, had a little competition to keep the party rolling, and Nicole was excited about all her matching monkey, truck, and circle garb for baby Easton. Speaking of my nephew.... so, some MIT guys (well I don't actually know who, but I'm guessing some smarty people) have developed a way to see your baby in a creepy 3-D fashion. Poor Easton was just trying to take a nap as the sonogram lady started shakin him around, so he w

FIANCE/FIANCEE Your fiance is the man you plan to marry;  your fiancee (or fiancée) is the woman you plan to marry. Yes, my fiance emailed me this info (since I'm teaching and always love the look of a new pencil and common English error usage, and) because we were debating the correct spelling of the word. However, it turns out we were both using our version correctly to speak to the other!  Don't you just love sweet pet names like fiance?! Oh and btw (as my middle school students love to say) WE SET A DATE!!!!!!  May day! Yep Sunday, May 1st at the Day Chapel in the State Botanical Gardens of Georgia Thank you, Finace, for finding such an amazing place! I knew I snagged you for a reason! The Coffee CubBuster is gonna need a lot of coffee next semester!  I can't wait!

Don't you love it when you have the perfect temperature in your room to go to sleep, it's just cold enough to put on all the covers and not sweat, but not too cold that you can't move around and freeze to death if they come a little bit off. There's silence except for maybe a faint note of a river or breeze in the air. You awake to the most beautiful view when you step out of your room and see the day that the sun has exposed. Okay..... this was exactly how it felt in Helen this weekend! I slept so great (until my bladder was about to implode, and I had to rustle myself to the outhouse -it sucks being a girl sometimes-- you can't really pop a squat once the sun has risen) on the ground too! The weather was perfect, we had plenty of blankets to make a great sleeping pad, and the cool breeze made the fire that much more inviting. I love camping in the fall!!!! Seriously, if the idea of sleeping on the ground doesn't appeal to you, try it my way--lots of padding,

Sorry this is so delayed; I know that you have been waiting on pins and needles to find out how the Blueridge day ended. As you can see from my previous post, I've had a little distraction! Well, after cow-milking and apple-picking, Matthew and I went into the quaint little downtown Blueridge square. What is it about squares that just get me going? If they were circles would they still have the same appeal? Maybe if I was a math person I'd love visiting octagons, but I'm an English person, so I gotta keep it simple. Although, this downtown area felt more like a rectangle. Nonetheless, I loved it! We HAD to stop at L & L Beanery Cafe and Coffee Shop, which is so amazing because mom and pop coffee is the best kind, and an establishment that still does not have their own website is probably going to have coffee that blows your mind. And it did! Then we ate an early dinner at this perfect little cabin just before hitting the local drive-in theater to watch the new movie Wa

If you haven't already heard..... I have the absolute honor of becoming part of the other 2.5 million (actual stat) Smiths in America!!!! My last day of being 25 was one of the best days of my entire life.  God blessed me with my first gorgeous sunrise. Yes, I have never in my life watched a sunrise. Before you call me a lazy college bum, know that I've been awake  before Mr. Sun says good morning many a time, but I've never before gone somewhere to actually watch it peak slowly above the Earth's horizon. It was an actual miracle to see the day begin with such a brilliant work of art. Then, to my unbelievable surprise Matthew presented me with one of the most amazing gifts a girl could receive that early in the morning-- a cup of coffee!  Oh and also an engagement ring. Things were a little hazy and dream-like, but I know there was a beautiful letter, God's beautiful word, and some insane women who like to jog at the crack of dawn and were the first people to kn