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.