B&B

we have decided that we live in bed & breakfast of types....

since the day we moved in we have had visitors in our new home. 

don't get me wrong--- i loveeeee having the company. 

its so nice to spend time with our amazing family and some great friends. 

from now until september 9 we are booked solid! 

well every weekend that is- 

we either have company or will be out of town. 

its pretty fun. 

the name of our little B&B is Holland Hill--- you will just have to come on up to see why. 

mama robin is here now--- 

and my brothers are coming later today. 

i love having the doors open and friends coming and going. 

if you'd like to book a weekend--- let us know! 

we are filling up fast :) 

frustrating

school is frustrating. 

im ready for a break from it---

only 3 weeks left and 4 clinical days. 

and i hate stupid classes like research. 

reallllly hate it. 

i dont want to do research. 

it annoys me i have to take 2 classes in grad school pertaining to it. 

oh and i took statistics. 

yeah annnnd both in undergrad. 

so yeah. not- learning- anyyttthinnng. 

anyway. enough of that. 

ill post my pickle recipe for all of you out there wondering tomorrow. 

but the pickles over the weekend: pickle spices package-- came from grocery store. mixed with 2 parts water. 1 part vinegar.

ill post more info later....

clinic tomorrow. luckily- this semester i loveeee clinic. so im excited to see what the day holds. 

pickles!

as ive mentioned before-- we have more cucumbers than we know what to do with

so saturday ryan and i decided--- let's make pickles!

i bought some jars- and pickling spices--

and sunday night....

we had PICKLES!!

best part is... the shockingly taste like PICKLES!

they are so so sooo good. 

im pretty sure this country, mountain life is for me!

sunday morning at church i told a few of the ladies about our pickle adventure- by today we already had a book on "canning", 10 more cucumbers, and a few pickling recipes. 

all left by the cucumber fairy.... or our wonderful neighbor- tiny :)

------

watch out- you may have a jar of pickles come your way soon!

weekend is workdays.... but

.....monday = funday!

weekends around here are normally busy with church things. 

saturday's are spent getting ready for sunday. 

bulletins. finalizing sermon. this weekend there was a 'work day' to clean at the church. etc etc...

then sunday of course is the "big" day of the week. 

we have gotten into the excellent habit- of using monday as our day of rest. 

fun. time for US. just me and ryan. i think thats vital as a family- and for us monday is the best day for that. so while everyone else dreads monday--- i look forward to it! 

today we are off to brevard! to explore the town. the waterfalls. and the hikes. 

so oooo excited. (: 

-----------------------------------

oh the trash

ive never been grateful for the trashmen. 

never been grateful for thursday morning's in durham when a big loud truck (normally would wake me up) would drive by and pick up the trash. 

most of the time i was kinda grumpy that they woke me up. 

forgive me God. 

forgive me trashman. 

one thing i DONT like about living here is no trashman. 

the trash man is me & ryan. 

we must pile up the nastiness in our car (or on top) and take it to the dump. 

today. the trash. oh my it was gross. 

i can't describe it to you. 

maggots. flies. spiders. smells. 

i almost vomitted. 

anddddd. on top of it- after my first adventure to the dump i went to lowes and bought a new trash can- that has a lid thats fully attached so i can put it in the trunk of my jeep without it getting stuff in the jeep. 

it didn't matter. i mean there is nothing in my jeep. but knowing that when i opened up the trashcan and maggots came out-- and flies-- and that was INSIDE my car--- i flipped. 

im NOT a girly girl. 

im NOT a city girl. 

but 

im NOT a BUG girl. 

ohhhh my. 

first thing i did when i got home (after washing with soap) i googled this. 

and found it. 

and now i want it. 

it goes into my trailer hitch on my jeep. 

perfect for trash. 

too bad it costs a million dollars. ((or $250)

if anyone would like to purchase it for me its called

24x48-3/4 Carpod Walled Cargo Carrier for 2" Hitches - 450 lbs

ok. awesome. 

thanks. 

i look forward to getting it in the mail. 

off to thank Jesus for trashmen and pray we get one in our big city soon.

wreath!

little art project i did up..... still need to add string to hang it- but its a wreath full of hydrangeas! inspired of course by pintrest. everything in this picture (other than the S) was 75% off. total spent MAYBE 7 dollars. :) 

happy

we will never starve.
came home to more cucumbers.
and our grass was cut.

amazing. simply amazing.

i tell you what though. im not a fan of driving 8hrs round trip to go to a class for 2 hrs and it be awful. like this lady just quietly read her powerpoint word for word. it was painful. so painful.

oh well. hopefully just one more trip to durham.
clinic is going great. i love it here in the mountains.
my site is great. im with a fabulous PA. the staff are sweet. overall going well---
and i actually see patients by myself and feel like I really know what i'm doing! im pretty pumped.

life is going good. life in the country is great.
we are happy as can be. (:

love on the walls---

this weekend-

in the midst of breakfasts, church, celebrations, bulletin making, church prepping, school workin, grocery shoppin, errand runnin' 

we found time to put a little love on the walls. 

and im so so glad. 

our entrance way by the front door: 

(light is crazy!)

this is the main wall to the left of our fireplace in the living room--- 

i put some explanations up on the first one. 

there is room for a few more additions. 

need to add one of his grandma's and my mema's

then maybe a couple cute baby pics of the two of us

we shall see

::here are some up close pics::

for some reason it looks kinda weird here. 

but i dunno. i love it on the wall. 

the fireplace-- still trying to figure out what to do with the square holes--

had to throw in my view :) 

dining room--- paula's picture!

bathroom pic-- yeah. bathroom. :) 

im so happy with our progress. 

it is really starting to feel like home!

our "bed & breakfast" schedule is filling up fast-- 

make your reservation soon if you know when you want to come up!!

((i am only half way kidding!))

love & peace from the country

thankful

 I have figured out that when I come home there is no telling what may be on my doorstep.

what did we get this week: 1 ziplock bag full of pasta

TONS of squash

TONS of zucchini

tomatoes

apples

cabbage

3 heads of lettuce

peppers

yes. i am so so grateful for the things we find on our doorstep. 

living in the country has its perks for sure. 

tonight's dinner consisted of some lovely local food: 

pasta with squash and zuchini- splashed with a homemade (by ryan) wine sauce-- soooo amazing. 

it was the perfect summer dinner.

 although--- with weather in the 50's at night and highs in the 70's during the day---

it doesn't feel like summer!

a side note- here was one project of the day. 

almost complete!

pictures!!

this is a collage that is going up tomorrow. 

its family photos. this is it laid out on the ground. 

ill post a pic tomorrow once they go up. 

we have 730 breakfast in the morning at church....

i get to be there at 6:15 to help cook. 

so on that note--- im going to bed. 

love & peace from the parsonage

pickle juice

ok. ok. it wasn't pickle juice--

but the majority of you were right. 

good old sweet tea in a pickle jar. 

i mean why not right?!?! 

i had never seen such a thing-- but apparently thats a normal thing to do. 

it cracked me up. big time. 

--------------

the settlin' in is coming along. 

still have boxes- but have put them all in the sewing room or in the office. makes life better that way. 

school is overwhelming. 

this semester was super 'back loaded'-- easy at the beginning but now i have a million things due- all at the same time. its a mess. 

but such is life. 

life is good in the mountains though. 

i wake up to a beautiful view. 

a kitchen full of fresh veggies. 

and a sweet sweet husband at my side. 

life is realll good.

----
on a side note--- i think i fixed the commenting issues. hopefully now you should be able to comment away! 

covered dish--

today was our first sunday in our new church home. 

it was wonderful. 

we were given a quilt. 

a handmade QUILT. that just so happens to match our bedroom. 

yes. they planned it. 

its gorgeous. 

we had a wonderful church service. 

ryan did an amazing job. 

i loved his sermon--

and am pretty sure the church did also. 

it was a full house today :) 

we are hoping to keep it that way too!!

after church we had our first 'covered dish' luncheon. 

you know. the kind where everyone brings something-- and you pig out. 

and you always wonder-- is this enough food?!?! 

but it always is. 

today i saw something i haven't seen before. it made me smile. 

i even went back upstairs to get my phone to try and sneak a picture.

i got it. too.

any guesses?!?!? 

i'll leave it up in the air for a while. 

let you guys guess--- i'll fill ya in on what it is later. 

maybe its an easy guess. 

maybe not. 

hahaaaa. oh it made me smile.

vbs started tonight-- i think i heard the word "you'ns" 343 times. really. 

also makes me smile. it was a fun night. a fun day really. 

lonnnng day though. 

we met so many people and are so excited to get going!

one week in.

we jumped in and got our feet soaked realllly quickly.

ryan has been out visiting. 

set up his office. 

we have transformed the parsonage into our HOME!

been to VBS meetings--- decorated the church. 

done meals with people.... and met lots more people.

and tomorrow is our first sunday at the church! 

tomorrow is an exciting day! 

im happy for all that is to come!

as for now--- its time to work on a 10 page paper

and pull out the master bedroom carpet. 

our mansion

i have lived in 4 parsonages my entire life. 

this makes number 5. 

this one is my favorite.... 

could be because i have a mountain view. 

or could be because its mine to decorate. 

or it could be because it is HUGE! 

at least compared the our tiny 2 bedroom duplex. 

today i worked on the house a good bit. 

still a long long way to go. 

but here are some pics.

many. many. mannny more to go. 

oh its so pretty here.

fresh blueberries left by the fairy in our fridge

living room and dining room.... with carpet

ahh! hardwood!! 

working hard....

living room afterwards!! 

((but still lotsss of boxes))

office. library. study. game room.

guest bedroom!!

will be painted and the carpet will be gone within the next month! 

dining room!

still need to arrange the china cabinet--

 but i loveeee it 

the master--- our quiet, calm, peaceful getaway

carpet is going... hopefully this weekend.

master bath:

guest bath: 

the 3rd bedroom.... it will be painted, and carpet gone too-- and reorganized. 

its the disaster room right now. 

im going to make it my sewing/craft room also! 

and our living room.

oh how i love it.

all our own furniture too!

this still needs some decluttering- unpacking... but ya know.

wood burning stove :)

view from front door

long way to go. but its coming along great. 

stay tuned for more!