Banana Nut Bread

One word for you. Yum. Just take a sniff of this glorious picture.

This recipe is from Southern Living and it is absolutely yummy. I wouldn't even mind using the base of the batter and trying out other ingredients!

Hope it is delicious!

Holly Jolly Christmas Shower

I have realized more and more how blessed and thankful I am for everything that I have. Getting married truly opens your eyes to how much you are cared for and loved by wonderful friends and family.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving (November 24), one of my very best friends and her mom (Ashton and Mrs. Lee Ann!) gave Jonathan and I a "Holly Jolly Christmas Shower" and it was absolutely wonderful! It was so good to see some of my closest family and friends and open their wonderful gifts. I have already realized how special this shower was because now at every Christmas when Jonathan and I are "decking the halls," I can remember the special people who gave us certain gifts.

One of my wonderful bridesmaids, Lynetti and I!

Awesome cake!! We hated to cut into it!

One of the sweet hostests and bridesmaid, Ashton!

Chatting with everyone! :)

Another beautiful bridesmaid, Meredith!

My Momma! :)

Thanks again to everyone that came and the wonderful, sweet gifts you gave.

Engagement Parties

This past July my parents arranged a beautiful Engagement Party for us that was so wonderful! One of the main ideas that we have had with the wedding events is to make sure that everything flows together, so we decided that our centerpieces and arrangements had to display that shabby chic feel that we envisioned at the wedding. We had such a great afternoon and truly loved seeing everyone together in one place!

 Some of my wonderful family enjoying each others company!

 The appetizers! I absolutely love this Pepsi crate! I found this in the little town of Bunn, NC at a old antique store.

 Haha--we were a little sweaty! It was very toasty that afternoon!

Some of my bridesmaids all together!

 Most of our bridal party! :)

Mom and I ordered lots of flowers from the wonderful Chelsea Barrow at Greene County Florist!

Not only did we have a great family day with this engagement party, one of Jonathan's groomsmen wanted to throw us a little get together also that was a little more casual... so we had a pool party! Here are some pictures from that event...

Dad, Mom, and I at engagement party #2!

I was so happy Beth could make it!

We loved having everyone together again!

Of course I was on the hit list to get thrown in... haha!

Sweet Kathryn could make it and I was so excited! :)

To finish this up, we are so thankful for everyone that celebrated our engagement with us. Jonathan and I are so happy and we are looking forward to the big day! Can't wait!

Ms. Jennings Room!

Hello All! Sorry for the lack in crafting and adventures lately, but our lives have been tossed up, scrambled and planted in a wonderful new location. Jonathan and I are truly loving our lives together in Buxton, North Carolina and we could not be happier. We can tell the kitties seem a bit happier too! Along with moving my apartment to Buxton, my classroom had to move too, which could also seem like a small living space with as much stuff as I had! I promise to post apartment pictures soon, but right now I wanted to show you my newest space, my classroom. This will be the last time I am starting out school as Ms. Jennings, so here is too the last school year as Ms. Jennings. :) Sort of bitter sweet! I love my name, but I do love traditions so I am excited about taking Jonathan's name too. My sweet Papa would probably be shaking his head right now if he was alive. He used to always tell me I couldn't get married because I had to keep that last name. Haha. Great memories.

So here is the tour with some before pictures to begin...

Pretty big mess if you ask me... but here are the after! I hope you love it!

I love the energy and excitement! I hope my kids know that I love math and that I am excited about it!! I can't wait for this school year!

Flourished Chalkboard

Hey Ya'll!

So of course I have a new project up my sleeve for the wedding. A few weeks ago while thrift store shopping with Stephanie I ran across a perfect find... only $15!

I knew immediately what my perfect project would be... so today Momma and I took the journey to Lowes to buy...

Valspar Primer in Gray Spray Paint and Valspar Chalkboard Spray Paint... I decided to paint the frame in the gray primer to keep the color very flat. I did not want the frame to be shiny... and I definitely wanted to get rid of that yucky gold!

For the chalkboard paint I turned the mirror over and used the back of it as a chalkboard... here is my finished product!

I am so proud of it! I can't wait to display our menu on it at the wedding reception! Too cute! :)

Well, I will see you soon.... I am sure with another project! :)

Registries-Check

Well we have finally completed our registries! It was definitely a chore, but also so much fun picking out our future home stuff together. I definitely find it funny when I look back over the registries and see that Jonathan snuck off to get something... haha. The people who know us best can probably pick out those gifts and we will just laugh and laugh if we receive them.

We are registered at:

Bed Bath and Beyond

Target

Belks

We are looking forward to the big day! :)

Wedding Cornhole Boards ♥

This weekend Jonathan and I embarked on an adventure and let me tell you what a wonderful (and of course beautiful) adventure it was...

A few weeks ago we went and purchased a set of unfinished cornhole boards and bags to eventually paint and use at our engagement party and our wedding... well this weekend we spent our entire time together painting and painting and painting and right now we are sitting with the most fabulous set of cornhole boards ever. Can I just say I am swooning?

All our supplies ready to go!

Putting on the first coat of white primer... in the kitchen of course!

Beginnings of the border--we used painters tape for the lines.

Jonathan worked on our designs and this was the final product. We laid down tape and then used an exacto knife to make a stencil.

Here's our first board ready for paint! We were so nervous!

We painted it a grey-blue color and then pulled off the tape. Our first few pulls went really slow because we didn't want to mess it up!

Finished grey-blue board... LOVE!

A few hours days later here is our completed set.
We absolutely adore them!

Jonathan and I had a blast working on this project together and I am so thankful for the experiences we had. Yes, we argued over little details and then laughed about it later... haha. Experiences like this truly make us love each other more ♥

Have a great evening! 

The Little Details

This weekend has been a blast and I am loving all the little details of our wedding that are coming together. Every little piece is making me so anxious to see it all as a big picture on the wedding day. Last weekend I received a call that my wedding dress was in! I was so shocked that it had come in so quickly, so this Saturday I decided that I was going to take the trip to Raleigh to pick up my wedding dress and go to one of my favorite places... the Flea Market! Also... of course any trip to Raleigh has to include one of my very best friends, Angel. So, I called Angel up and we set a date!

I was so excited that Angel was able to go with me to the Flea Market! We had such a wonderful time!

Along with finding some awesome blue mason jars, we ran across these wonderfully hand made frames.

The whole idea behind our wedding is romantic, sweet, and simple. To me all three of those can easily be found in a shabby chic way. I have a little project up my sleeve that will include this frame and I will share it with you soon!

Finally... the main event on the trip was to pick up my wedding dress! I have already put it on twice just for fun since it has been in my possession! I love it and I can't stop admiring it. I absolutely can not wait to see Jonathan's face when he sees me at the end of the aisle.

To close my wonderful weekend, Jonathan and I also ran some errands today. A big part of our relationship is corn-hole... haha (I know so random!) Basically the deal is is that I really stink at it, but Jonathan is really good... so to be honest we don't make that great of a team, but it is something that we love... (I think he likes it when I step away from the game and let him play with someone else... haha!) so with that we have decided to include it into our wedding day. Yes, we will have corn-hole at our wedding and we couldn't be happier!  We are also going to use the boards at our engagement party, so today we went and picked up some unfinished boards that we can paint---post coming soon! Along with our corn-hole trip we also went to start our first registry... and WOW can I just tell you what a work-out it was...

I was so excited about the little "gun" thingy... haha! The lady at Bed, Bath, and Beyond thought I was crazy... but who doesn't?

Finally, as adventures on the wedding side of my life have been beginning to happen God has opened my eyes to many new thoughts about how we should live each day. I have learned a few lessons these past couple of months and I would love to share these lessons with you through my favorite Bible verses, Psalm 139... it sums up my every thought perfectly.

O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
 You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You understand my thought afar off.
 You comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.
 You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
 If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there.
 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.

 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother’s womb.
 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
 My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.

 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.

 Oh, that You would slay the wicked, O God!
Depart from me, therefore, you bloodthirsty men.
 For they speak against You wickedly;
Your enemies take Your name in vain.
 Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
 I hate them with perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.

 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
 And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

I pray that your week is wonderful and that God will work in your life each and every day.