Goodbye November

On the last day of November, I'd like to conclude my attempt at being thankful all month long.  I did a very poor job of writing something everyday.  I have no excuse.  But, I feel that today is a good day to conclude, after I had a serious case of the pity parties last night.  I hope that I will continue to be thankful and recognize how blessed I am beyond this month of gratitude.

Today, I am thankful for our teeny tiny house.  We recently decorated for Christmas and it feels so cozy and warm.  I love all of our little details that I have collected over the years.  I'm grateful that we have a pretty great landlord who allowed us to adopt a six month old puppy.  I'm also grateful for our hardwood floors.  They make for great entertainment when Orvis has his bursts of energy.  I love that we will always remember this house as our first home.  We already have great memories from this place.  We hope to create even more before it's time to move on.

Weekend Recap: 11.26.2012

This past weekend was truly fabulous.  A quick trip to visit family was just what we needed to get into the holiday spirit.  Thanksgiving is normally my cue to kick into holiday gear, but our Thanksgiving this year was a little different than usual.  I worked the whole day and spent the evening eating leftovers from R's family meal.  We spent the majority of our first Thanksgiving apart, so that was a bummer.  But, we made up for it by spending the weekend with family and friends.

R's family invited us to celebrate his grandfather's birthday by taking a trip to Charlotte for the Mannheim Steamroller concert.  We met them at Open Kitchen in uptown Charlotte for a preconcert dinner (side note: four generations of Campbells have dined regularly at the Open Kitchen in Charlotte, kind of cool).  After dinner, we made our way to the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center for the big show.  While the graphics were a little cheesy, the music itself was pretty awesome.  R and his brother enjoyed cutting up and rapping to Christmas carols while I spent the evening shushing them and avoiding tired glances from the ladies sitting next to us.

After the show, we went to the Bromby abode and spent time catching up.  I got to see my parents' sweet pup, Cosmo.  We are bffs.

Saturday was set aside for Christmas decorating.  Mom & I shopped for dinner while Dad and R prepared the Christmas tree for decoration station.  We invited my grandparents over for dinner and Dad made possibly the BEST ribs I've ever tasted.  I don't normally like ribs (too messy), but these were worth the mess.  Finger licking good.

Sunday, we were able to visit my home church.  It's always great to visit and see friends from several years ago.  It's amazing how quickly time goes by.  It's very strange seeing kids you used to babysit driving their cars out of the church parking lot.

After church, we loaded up the dogs and took them to Amie & Daniel's grown up house.  We ate turkey sandwiches and homemade corn chowder while Orvis and Cosmo played quietly and peacefully with their crazy pup, Luna.  Not.

While we did enjoy some fabulous corn chowder, here is a peek at how we actually spent our Sunday afternoon:

We ended our weekend back home in Hendo.  We brought home a Christmas tree and listened to Christmas music while decorating.  My favorite part of the evening was watching R struggle to situate the tree after moving it several times, circle it about eighty times with lights, then promptly declare he hates Christmas while stomping to his office to hide for the rest of the night.  Fun was had by all. :)

Pinterest Party!

Here is a fun post about my latest Pinterest finds.  Pinterest is a website that acts as a virtual bulletin board for you to post fun things that you find.  I am so grateful that Pinterest was invented before my wedding, as I got a lot of my ideas from there!

Anywho, here are some of my favorite pins as of late...

Pink Chalk Fabrics.  I've been getting more interested in sewing lately and this website has such fun fabrics.

DIY Peppermint scrub.  We are trying to save money this year, so a lot of our Christmas presents will be homemade.  This is a great round up of pretty homemade sugar scrubs!

Maya Brenner Mini Letter Necklace.  I want that.

I love the colors this house uses.  I've always loved grey.  It's so peaceful.

This French Script chair from World Market has been my obsession for the past few weeks.  I lurve it!

Do you have any recent pins that you love?  Share them in the comments!

Happy Tanksgibbing!

Today, I am thankful for my husband, my job, an amazing family, beautiful weather, and our tiny home.

What are you thankful for?

Recipe Box: Chicken Noodle Soup

I have never been a fan of canned chicken noodle soup.  I always hated the chewy chunks of fake chicken and the slimy noodles.  Then, I came across a recipe for homemade chicken noodle soup.  It has vegetables and shredded chicken and just looked delicious.  I put it on our monthly meal plan and it just so happened that the day I planned to make it was the day R and I got colds that kicked both our butts.

So, if any of you have been hit with a cold this season, whip up this delicious soup recipe and feel a little warmer.

**I prepared the majority of this ahead of time and froze it.  That way I could just dump it in the crock pot on my way to work.  All of the veggies and the chicken were prepared and frozen ahead of time.**

Chicken Noodle Soup

5 cups of chicken broth (boxed or can is fine)

One 10.75 oz can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup onions, chopped fine

1/2 cup celery, chopped fine

1/2 cup carrots, chopped fine

1/2 cup green onions, sliced

One 15 oz can of whole kernel corn, drained

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 1/2 cup Egg noodles

2 cups cooked chicken chopped or 2 cans canned cooked chicken

Add everything but the noodles and cooked chicken to the crock pot on Low for 5-6 hours, the last hour turn on High, and add noodles and chicken.

See? So easy!  The hardest part is chopping all of the vegetables.  Enjoy your homemade chicken noodle soup!

My chopped veggies before they went into the freezer.

A Little Q&A

April, over at The Striped Flamingo, shared a fun little Q&A quiz on her blog today.  I'm not normally interested in quizzes, but she asked fun questions and I love TSF, so I'm giving it a go!

These are the "rules" of the quiz.  I won't be doing most of these.

1. Every tagged person must tell 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions that the person who tagged you asked.
3. Ask 11 questions for the 11 blogs that you are going to tag.
4. Mention the blog that tagged you but don't tag back.



1. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream? Definitely mint chocolate chip.  But lately, I've been on a Kilwin's toasted coconut kick.

2. Colored Christmas lights or white Christmas lights?  White!  So that my ornaments have a little more pop.

3. What is your least favorite smell?  This is hard as there are many smells I dislike.  I guess I would have to say dirty socks.  There is something about dirty socks that I can smell a mile away and it makes me gag. :(

4. Do you have any pets? Yes!  We have a sweet puppy named Orvis.

5. What did you eat for dinner 2 nights ago?  Pizza

6. What was your very first job?  My very first job was as a receptionist at a hair studio.  I loved it.

7. If you could have any dream job, what would it be?  My dream job would be a veterinarian.  I love animals but I hate school.  So, that's how that went...

8. What was your favorite memory from 2012?  Marrying my sweet husband.

9. Daniel Radcliffe or Taylor Lautner? Explain.  Daniel Radcliffe, hands down.  1. Taylor Lautner looks like an alpaca. 2. This quote (minus the cigarette and the F word). 3. Daniel is British.  'Nuff said.

10. Do you wear pajamas?  I sho do.  All day if I could!

11. How many jobs have you had?  Too many.  No seriously, here is my list: receptionist at Artisan Hair & Nail Studio, admissions associate at Carowinds, cashier at Red Brick Pizza, front desk at a neighborhood pool, sales associate at American Eagle, youth intern at my childhood church, cashier at Luigi's Pizza, sales associate at Old Navy, shift leader at Stick Boy Bread Co., and now my current job at a local inn.  That is entirely too many for a 22 year old.

There you have it!  If any readers would like to answer some fun questions, here is my new list:
1. Do you live in a Mansion, Apartment, Shack, or House?
2. Who is your favorite talk show host?
3. What is one thing you wish you knew how to do?
4. What is your least favorite smell?
5. Soft cookies or crunchy cookies?
6. What is your favorite movie and book?
7. Do you currently have your Christmas tree up? 
8. What is your favorite childhood memory?
9. Daniel Radcliffe or Taylor Lautner? Explain.
10. What is your favorite holiday?
11. If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would it be?

Have fun!!

Tuesday Letters 11.12.12

Dear R, it makes me sad to see you sick.  You hit life so hard that when it decides to make you sick, it hits you hard back.  I hope some homemade chicken noodle soup and your Vicks Vapor Rub facials help kick that cold in the butt.
Dear Fall colors, I only got a brief glimpse of you before the super storm blew off all your leaves.  But, that brief glimpse was beautiful.  Thank you for always being magical and reminding me of the first time I met my love.
Dear Scout, I'm sorry I got you all banged up last week.  I promise to get you fixed up right away!  We've been through thick and thin together.  I won't let you go around with a busted lip for too long!
Dear sewing machine, I have the day off tomorrow and you and I are about to get reacquainted.  Get ready.
Dear Lori Normal, even after nearly 10 years of friendship, I am just now realizing how alike we are.  I'm glad I have someone to love donuts, Taco Bell, and IZZEs with.  I'm also proud of you and how happy/content you are in life.  I hope I'm like you when I grow up.

This post is inspired by Today's Letters.  According to the Loerke's, a letter can change a life.  I'm hoping to be more intentional with my words and use them to build people up.  Who do you know that could use a letter?

Weekend Recap 11.12.2012

Wow, this weekend was amazing.

As many of you know, R and I recently moved away from our beloved Boone to Hendersonville, NC. We have only been back twice since the wedding, and with fall and the recent snow, we were really starting to miss it.  Luckily, our dear friend Josh had the idea to invite lots of old friends up to Boone in order to propose to his beautiful girlfriend (aka, my life-long friend Carly).  So, R, Orvis, and I packed up Friday night and made the trek up the mountain.

We spent Friday night catching up with R's family, then heading to a local hangout for a little karaoke. We made plans to tailgate the next day (all the while, knowing sweet C-bug would have a ring on her finger by then) and headed to R's house for the night.

Saturday morning, we had a delicious breakfast with R's parents.  We then took off to run some errands before the big football game.  We got to stop by my favorite place in Boone (I loved it so much, I decided to work there for a year and a half!), Stick Boy Bread Co., and pick up a few pumpkin chocolate chip scones.  We also visited the house I used to live in and Richard's former office.  Around 11, we arrived on campus to do a little tailgating before the game.  However, if any one knows Carly's family, they don't do anything little.  The tailgate consisted of barbeque, macaroni & cheese, sausage balls, Texas caviar (a delicious salsa which I will post the recipe for later), fruit salad, veggies, brownies, pumpkin fluff (another recipe for later), and cupcakes.  I could hardly move after 3-4 trips to the food table.  We played cornhole and drank champagne to celebrate Josh & Carly's engagement!  We also discovered that pipe tobacco stops wasp stings from hurting after Josh's mom Tammy got stung.

We finally made our way down to the football game, where the Mountaineers won (go APPS!)  However, I will admit that I only stayed through the 1st quarter.  I like the idea of football more than I like football itself.  Also, after 4 1/2 hours of tailgating in the sun, I needed a nap.

Sunday, we were able to visit our favorite church in Boone (theHeart) with R's family.  Jason English, the pastor there, was our wedding officiant.  It was great to see him, and to spend time at church with family.  We later had a delicious lunch cooked by my mother-in-law (a fantastic cook), then it was back to Hendo!

We had an amazing time in Boone, and we hope not to wait six months between now and our next visit.

Here are some pictures, for your viewing pleasure:

The boys, in their plaid, playing hunting games.  Who did I marry?

She's getting marrriiiieeeddd!!

We are going on 10 years of friendship!  They bring me so much joy.

Lori- the incredible 

Lifelong friends!

Pretty finds at the Bead Box in Boone

And then this...

He is worn out from his exciting weekend!

Sunday Activities

Hello!  What a busy day today has been!  R and I planned for today to be our "Get Sheet Done" day, so we have been hard at work.  We had a relaxing morning with R playing video games while I put together our monthly meal plan.  Say whaaaa?  So far, we have tried to do a weekly meal plan to help us stay within our budget and to help me figure out what I need at the store so I don't have to make a bazillion trips.  That was great, but when I stumbled across this blog, I saw how much more beneficial it might be to plan out the whole month.  Half the time, I never got around to planning our weeks, so we would go day to day trying to decide what our meals would be.  That resulted in a lot of trips to the store each week and a lot of impulse buys.  We are hoping this monthly meal plan will help us stay on track with our eating and spending.

I have now planned out our entire month's meal plan.  I did leave Thanksgiving weekend blank because I knew we'd be out of town for those days and it's just hard to tell how that will go.  The way Callie does her meal plan is- she writes down each meal on the date they will eat.  She goes to the store and buys ALL of the ingredients they will need for each meal, then she spends several days in the kitchen preparing frozen meals that can be dumped in the crock pot or put in the oven.  I love that.  But, our tiny house only allows for so much freezer space.  Sooo, I'm just doing half of what she does.  I've planned out all the meals for the month, but I only bought the ingredients for two weeks worth of meals.  I spent a few hours in the kitchen today chopping veggies and cooking chicken so that it's super easy to toss everything into the crock pot.

I think this will be a good way to ease into the monthly meal plan.  I am super excited to see how it goes.  And, it takes so much pressure off to try to decide what to eat everyday.  I don't know about you, but often the hardest part off cooking is figuring out what to cook.  After the first day, this eliminates that problem.  I'll keep you posted on how things go.  If it goes well, I'll post my favorite recipes at the end of the month.  A lot of them are from Pinterest, which can be hit or miss.

Besides preparing food, R and I were able to go to the Annual Fly Fishing Expo in Hendersonville.  I was kind of dreading it, but it ended up being more fun than I thought it would be.  Fly fishers are so nice!  And they are very helpful, so R got to ask lots of questions and learn lots of new things, which is great!

Anywho, we finished up the day with a movie and lots of ironing.  My favorite.  Here is a lovely picture of all of R's shirts that get ironed eventually.

Also, today, I am thankful for the end of Daylight Savings.  That extra hour is so awesome!  I know the beginning of Daylight Savings is a pain in the ace when we lose an hour.  But, I think the extra hour in the fall is so worth it!

Saturday

I'm hoping to be more regular in my posts on this blog, than I have been on other blogs in the past.  I'm thinking about creating a schedule that will not only give me ideas to post, but also keep me posting regularly.  I have a few ideas so far, but I need to think a little more on it.  So far, my ideas are:

Monday Recap- a recap of my weekend.  This will be fun if I've had a fun weekend, but lots of my weekends are stay at home and clean the house weekends or work weekends.  Not sure how that would be to read about...
Thankful Thursdays- (after November is done with).  This will be great to keep me thinking about things I often take for granted.
High Five for Friday OR Confessional Friday- I could link up to other blogs for both, I'm just still deciding which I'd like to do.  Maybe a mash-up..!
Another thing I'd like to incorporate is a Pinterest Post.  I would love to post things I've found on Pinterest, because I love Pinterest and because it has awesome things.  So, we'll see!

Anyway, since I didn't post yesterday, I am going to write about two things I am thankful for today!

Numero uno- I am thankful for the awesome job I stumbled upon after moving here.  I am the Daytime Manager at a historic inn in Downtown Hendersonville.  I randomly walked in one day and asked if they were hiring.  As it turns out, they were!  For those of you who don't know, I graduated from Appalachian State (Go APPS!) with a degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management.  So, the Front Desk Manager position they offered me was the perfect way to get my foot in the door in the hospitality industry.  The Front Desk Manager position kind of morphed into a front desk, marketing, events, etc. position.  Then, just a few weeks ago, I received a promotion that made me the Daytime Manager.  I now manage the front desk, lunch, and housekeeping, with a side of marketing. :)  This job has been such a blessing!  The owners are so fun to work with and they are super flexible.  I am so thankful for the opportunities they have given me.  I'm looking forward to this holiday season.  The Inn will be so beautiful during the holidays!

Numero Dos- I am so so thankful for my sweet husband.  You had to know that was coming eventually!  On Monday we will celebrate six months of being married.  In some ways, it feels like our wedding was just yesterday.  In other, it feels like we've been married our whole life!  Either way, I am so grateful for him and his wisdom and his patience.  He is one of the most patient people I know, and that is probably one of the reasons we are still together.  I tend to drive him crazy- intentionally and unintentionally- and he just shrugs it off.  I love that he is full of boy knowledge (has anyone else noticed that guys tend to know the most random things?) like what color blood is that hasn't seen oxygen and how to hang a towel rack even though he's never done it before.  I am so grateful for how understanding he was when we lost my 12 year old Sheltie, Shadow, a few months ago.  He wanted to wait several months before getting a new dog, but he knew I couldn't wait that long.  One week later, we brought Orvis home with us.  He is a hard worker and hilarious and he makes me so happy.  I'm so thankful for these past six months (and the two years that preceded our marriage).

Alrighty, next week, I hope to have a better schedule planned out for the blog.  Tonight, I will leave you with a picture of R and I the day we adopted Orvis.  He's already grown so much!  And he's gained 8 pounds!

To start this blog off, I'd like to participate in what I like to call "Thankful November."  I haven't heard of an official title for it, so I have given it my own.  Basically, each day of November, you write about something you are thankful for.  I have so much that I can be thankful for that I'm sure this will not be difficult.

Today, I am thankful for the last bit of warm weather before winter sets in.  Today, it was around 60 degrees (a huge change from Monday- near 45 degrees with high winds).  The nice weather allowed us to take sweet Orvis to the dog park.  We met some friendly people and their cute dogs.  Orvis was a bit overwhelmed today, but I think he will get used to it if we take him more often.  Sometimes, it is too easy to use my one day off to be lazy.  But, I am so much more energized after spending the day out and about than if I were to rest all day.

Anyway, the warm weather was great, and I am so thankful that we were able to take advantage of it.  We tired Orvis out and he took a nice long nap at home.  Happy November first!

My Story

I'm Taylor.  I am a Christian, a wife, a dog owner, a reader, a friend, a Parks & Rec lover, a daughter, and a lover of lovely things.  You will probably hear about all of these and more on this blog.

My husband and I are newly weds.  We got married in May of 2012 and moved to Hendersonville, NC.  We are happy and in love.  The move to Hendo was a culture shock, especially for me.  I left great friends, a job I love, a beautiful mountain town, and above all, familiarity.  But, nothing could have been better for the first year of our marriage.  R and I have grown so much closer by having to depend on each other.  We know next to no one in this town and that has allowed us to know each other more deeply than we thought we could.

With this move, I lost a lot, but I have gained so much.  I have an amazing new job, where I recently got a pretty big promotion.  We have a sweet pup that we just adopted and have fallen deeply in love with.  We have a precious house that already holds so many memories for us.  And, we have a new beginning.  We can be whatever we want to be here.

Six months into this journey, we are just now getting settled.  We are itching to make new friends and really begin our life as a family.  I can't wait to share it all with you.  Be prepared, if I share the good, I will also share the bad.  But, what is life without a few complications?