Thanksgiving in Indiana

This year for Thanksgiving we traveled to Indiana where my mom was born and raised.  It has been years since we have traveled to Indiana for a holiday!  Unfortunately, Melissa works in retail and had to work so she had to stay behind and got to dog sit as well.  However, I did hear that she had an awesome Thanksgiving lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Bohm. 

We left bright and early Wednesday morning, well not bright either.  5 AM and it is dark at that time!  However, I was sick on the car ride there.  No fun!  Dad was laughing about the situation, mom is like whatever, it's normal and Sarah, well Sarah.  I can't help it, she was the one who was voluntarily looking if and when I was getting sick.  About half way there I started feeling better, thank goodness!  

When I saw this bridge, I knew we were close.  Only 100 more miles to go! 

We didn't take many pictures from our trip, but here are the few we did take.

Grandma Hession & Uncle Jeff

 

It's November in Indiana and these 2 have shorts on!

These Pilgrim salt and pepper shakers traveled with us from Georgia.  Mom bought these from Publix years ago and no matter where Thanksgiving is, these go with us.

Mom had her pecan picking therapy before work everyday for a couple of weeks so we took them with us to start cracking.  We did this for a couple of hours over 2 or 3 days.  No wonder why pecans cost so much because it is a lot of work shelling those suckers!

We made 4 or 5 pecan pies!  Man were they good!

I must admit besides spending time with family on Thanksgiving day, we had a blast Black Friday shopping with our cousins.  Black Friday newbies!  However, we actually started at 6:30 PM on Thursday night and got home around 1:30 AM Friday morning.

We had intentions of buying these 700 thread count sheets that we buy every year at Wal-Mart on Black Friday and the 2 Wal-Marts we went to were out.  Not because they sold out, but because the truck did not deliver that pallet!  We were able to find my Grandma a set though because she has a full size bed and that was the only size left with only a few on the shelf.

 Okay, so northern slang and southern slang are 2 completely different languages so our cousins were able to keep us entertained and laughing all night long.  It started out with "buggies."  They call it a shopping cart and we call it a buggy!  They could not stop laughing and made jokes all night long.  Now I just have to find a miniature shopping cart / buggy and I will be mailing one to them with the word buggy on it!  They definitely won't forget this trip!

We came home Sunday and like before, we left early.  This time it was 4:30 AM.  Because we left so early, Sarah and I were out in no time and when I woke up, we were half way home.  Now that's the way to do it!  Eight, eight and half hours later, were pulling back into mom and dad's driveway.

We had a great Thanksgiving this year and really enjoyed spending time with our family in Indiana!  

More DIY Decor

So I have been back at it making more decor for the master bedroom.  I saw this idea via Pinterest a long time ago, but finally got around to finishing this project.  What I like about Shanty 2 Chic is everything is laid out for you step by step.  And you know me, I need a road map!

Literally, I probably purchased these materials 6 months ago!  I know, I know!  You are probably thinking, what in the hell have you been doing?!?!  I purchased my materials at Home Depot and Lowe's.  I went to Home Depot first because there is one only 5 minutes from the house; however, they did not have everything I needed.  I was able to get my 2 pieces of wood, which Home Depot cut for me.  This was a plus for me since I do not own any sort of saw.

Then problem # 1 arose.  I had to buy a 12" threaded rod, but it needed to be cut into 3" pieces.  Did I buy a hacksaw like the instructions said to for only $7?  Of course not!  After a few months, okay, maybe like 4 months, I finally brought the threaded rod to work for my co-worker's friend to cut for me.  Bingo, threaded rod cut!

In the meantime, I purchased 2 bottles of wine from Trader Joe's for only $2.99.  Not only was it cheap, but it was good too!  I thought I was going to use some Goo Off to get the labels off, but that did not work well at all.  So I started searching for ways to get labels off of glass and everywhere I read said to put the bottles in hot, soapy water and use a toothbrush to scrub off the labels.  Cha ching!  Worked like a charm!  No label, no glue!

Now that I had everything I needed, ready to go, it was time to start putting it all together.  Then, problem # 2 arose, no drill.  Man, I really need some tools!!  Finally, after a couple of weeks, I took one from mom's shop because I actually remembered that I needed it.  Don't tell me to remember something because I won't.  I must have my mom's memory!  She says it gets better with age!

  So after 6 months of piecing this project together, here are some pictures of my final results. 

Now we just need some curtains and we will be set.  I have really enjoyed decorating our master bedroom with DIY projects.  Slowly, but surely, it is coming together!  

Banana Pudding Pie

Who doesn't love banana pudding?  So about three Sunday's ago, Cody's nanny cooked lunch for the family.  This is a once a month ritual to get everyone together.  Great food and good, quality family time!

However, this past time, we had plans to attend the Brookhaven Arts Festival to see someone play in a band that we graduated high school with.  They had some pretty cool art pieces and some great DIY projects.  Cody could tell that my mind was spinning with ideas because even as we were walking he had made the comment that I bet you are loving this and I can see all the ideas running through your brain of what you can make.

We had decided after we left the festival, we would stop by his nanny and papa's house to pick up some food for dinner.  There was a little bit of banana pudding left and Cody shared one bite.  Can you believe that?  Wait, don't answer because everyone's answer is going to be yes!  After that one bite, I knew I had to make this recipe that I have been meaning to make for months.

Of course, I found the recipe here via Pinterest.  I've made banana pudding before, but never banana pudding pie.

I did tweek the recipe a little.  The recipe tells you how to make the pudding and the topping from scratch, but I knew I was going to take the easy way out.

One thing I would suggest for the crust is to use more wafers than it calls for.  I used my food processor to crush up the wafers - mess free!

For the pudding, I used 2 boxes of vanilla pudding - fast and easy.

For the banana layers, I used 2 bananas for each layer for a total of 4 small bananas.

After cutting up the bananas and making the pudding, I just starting layering everything including more wafers.  I would also suggest buying 2 boxes of wafers.
 

This was absolutely delicious and super easy to make!  I really don't like making desserts, but recipes like these are hard to pass up.  This will be one of my go to recipes for any future potlucks!

Enjoy!     

Girls Night

So two weeks ago, I got a group of girls together for a fun, filled night of painting ceramics at A Piece of Time in Ball Ground.  With our busy schedules, I thought it would be nice to get together for a relaxing Friday night.  Helen did worn us before we started that it is addicting and she wasn't lying.  I am ready to go back and paint something else.

Here are some pictures from our night.

We all brought snacks and drinks, but there was not much time for that.  Everyone was so busy concentrating on what they were painting that there was not much time for anything else.

Hope, Cody's youngest sister, went back it seemed like for a week straight to paint.  They are knocking their Christmas list out one by one!

Glenda, above, used acrylic paint so she got to see what her's was going to look like.  No surprises for her!

Here is my before and after.  Completely different look, but I love it!  I'll have this for years to come as part of my fall decorations.

Food Allergy Walk in Atlanta

On Sunday, Sarah, Melissa, Mom, Jessica Mason (Sarah's best friend) and I participated in the 2012 FAAN Walk for Food Allergy at Atlantic Station.  A long time family friend of ours has a daughter with food allergies so we thought this would be a great time to show our support.  

I know you are probably thinking what a lot of other people think.  It's food allergies, no big deal, but it actually is a huge deal.  Kacy is allergic is milk, eggs, peanuts, peas, watermelon, bananas, cherries and plums.  Most of these Shannon did not even know about until this summer.  She may grow out of it, she may not.  Where you and I take for granted eating any of those things, unfortunately for others, they are not so lucky.  And just think, milk and egg is used in so many recipes.

Having food allergies is a lifestyle change, but Shannon and her family have taken this challenge on full force.  

Here are some pictures from Sunday.

In the middle of Atlantic Station, they had several booths set up.  Each booth was giving away free stuff from coconut milk, jelly beans, cookies and lots more.  All allergy friendly of course.  Mom even found her some sunbutter that she really liked.  It is a sunflower seed spread that you would eat in place of peanut butter.  It tastes just like sunflowers and on some celery, it's delicious!  

Here is a picture of Kacy above.  I couldn't get her to look at me and smile.  I don't blame her, we had to get up really early!  Check in was at 8:00 AM!  

And we are off all walking together at the start!

You can kind of tell that are group is separating a little bit.  Sarah and Jessica Mason finished ahead of us, but it was a nice 2 mile walk that we finished in about 45 minutes.  Not too bad!

Sharon (Shannon's mom aka Oma) and Jody were troopers, from hand holding to shoulder riding. 

Here is a picture of the back of our team shirts.  The front says, "I love someone with food allergies."  This was a great idea and a huge hit.  We definitely had the best shirts there!

Jasper is Kacy's brother and youngest supporter!  Isn't he just precious?!?!

All the supporters wore green ribbons, while Kacy and the others with allergies wore turquoise ribbons, which was a great idea.    

  We had a blast and this is what life long family friends are all about.  Shannon is like an older sister to us, so being there to support Kacy and her family was something that we wouldn't have missed out on.  

Can't wait for the 2013 walk!

Prater's Mill Festival

This past weekend there was an arts and crafts festival in Dalton, GA called Prater's Mill.  This is one that we have never been to, so off on a new adventure for us.

Here are some pictures from our trip.

This was actually a little different than most of the arts and crafts festivals that we normally go to since there was a little history at the mill that we got to take a look at.

There were lots and lots of booths and this is not even all of them.  There were more to the right plus even more across the street.

Sarah, Melissa nor I found anything, but you can always count on dad finding a new bird house.    

While we took the highway there, back roads and scenic tours it was for us four on the way home.  The leaves are really starting to change colors now so taking the back roads was a great idea!
 

Blue Ridge Adventures

Mom, dad, Sarah and I headed to Blue Ridge this morning to take a trip to Mercier Orchards.   We missed you Melissa, but we get to have lots of fun with you next weekend!  I am sure like everyone else, we always stop in Ellijay to do our apple picking, but this year we decided to head a little further north to Blue Ridge.  This orchard was one of the best we have ever been to.  

They have 2 ponds for their irrigation system.  Pretty cool and smart, huh?

Orchard facts!

 
 After the orchard, we headed into Downtown Blue Ridge.  It was a cute little town and we seen some pretty cool things.

 

Candy by the pound!

This nativity set was pretty cool.  Each piece is it's own block with part of the story on each block that are just pushed together to form the diamond shape.  For someone that doesn't have a lot of space and wants a nativity set, this is perfect!

We thought this counter was a pretty cool piece.  

Some time we will take the Blue Ridge Scenic Railway.  It was a little cool today so those people in the open cars might freeze their little behinds off!  

They even got their Halloween decorations out!

With my recent key DIY art for our bedroom, this is a little DIY inspiration piece.

We thought this was a pretty cool piece too, but at $500, we'll pass and just take a picture!

On the way to Blue Ridge, we passed this place and we definitely had to stop on our way home.

As you can see, nothing is organized, but there was a lot of cool, old things in here so if you had an imagination or creativity, this is a DIY's dream place. 

Unfortunately dad mentioned American Pickers and was out $0.50!

If you get a chance, take a ride to Blue Ridge for a day, I don't think you'll be disappointed! 

We had a fun, filled Sunday, but next weekend is even more packed.