South Carolina

Joel and got to enjoy a weekend in South Carolina. We went to visit Jeremy and Amber (who we knew at MSU) in Clemson, S.C., which happens to only be an hour and a half from us. It is hard for us to get used to being so close to things.

On Saturday we spent the day exploring some local landmarks and enjoying the beautiful weather. We could not have asked for better weather...mid to high 70's with a nice breeze. I pulled out the shorts for the first time this season.

The first stop on our galavant was Stumphouse Tunnel. Click on the link to learn more about it...it was quite cold in the tunnel! There is a draft that flows through it year round...would definitely be a nice place in July!

Stumphouse Tunnel

Right in the same area as Stumphouse is a nice waterfall, Issaqueena Falls. We took some pictures from the top of the fall, and then we hiked down close to the falls to get some better pictures.

Abbi & Joel at Issaqueena Falls

Issaqueena Falls

Jeremy & Amber at Issaqueena Falls

After we spent some time at Issaqueena Falls, we headed to Caesar's Head. We drove all the way up the mountain to get a great view.

View from Bald Rock...on the way up to Caesar's Head

Lake view from Caesar's Head

And finally, to end the day we drove to Greenville to check out the downtown. It was one of the prettiest downtown I have seen.

River in Falls Park - downtown Greenville, S. C.

Falls Park

Waterfall at Falls Park

Suspension bridge at Falls Park

Pretty tree at Falls Park

I hope y'all were able to enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend. Looking forward to more nice weather!

It's Really March!

It is hard to believe how fast this year is already going. March is a big month for us in the birthday department. We will celebrate Joel's birthday next week, hopefully with some chocolate covered strawberries (he really likes those) and maybe cupcakes (I like cupcakes, haha :)). We also have a nephew who will celebrate his birthday this month. He is getting so big...crazy!

Also, we will be adding to our nephew count at the very end of this month on the Oakley side. We can't wait to meet the new little guy in less than a month! Hopefully, we will get to see him not too long after he is born and celebrate with the family.

My friend Brooke will be having her little boy sooner than expected. She was not due until the end of March, but she and Justin are excited about Brayden's arrival on Wednesday (if all goes as planned). I can't wait to meet him and get some pictures of him!

Joel is enjoying his week of Spring Break that officially started today. In Mississippi, he always got his birthday off during SB, but here, he will have to celebrate a week early. :) Today he has been enjoying some time playing Super Mario Bros. for Wii. He stays extremely busy during the semester, so I am glad that he can take a little time for himself. (He still has to do some homework this week, but at least nothing is due!)

I am off for part of the week. Two of the classes I teach are at a school that is on the quarter system. Unfortunately the end of the quarter ends one week after Spring Break, which I do get at the other school. So, this week, I have classes on Monday and Wednesday, but I get the rest of the week off. I am certainly not complaining. I am glad to be getting SB! :) I checked the book "A Time Traveler's Wife" out from the library this weekend. It has been nice to have a book to read while recovering from the flu, and hopefully, I will get to read a good bit this week while I am off.

I hope you have had a taste of this beautiful weather that we were given today. Here's to hoping it stays for a bit!

Quilt border & Snow!

Just wanted to write a quick update and show you the border I put on the crazy quilt. I really like the small pattern in the fabric I found for the border.


Last night the prediction for the weather was that we would get snow...I really wasn't convinced. However, as of about 2:30 this afternoon the snow started falling. It is really pretty to watch it coming down.

I know for some of you this amount of snow is nothing...but for a Mississippi girl this scene is really exciting and fun!



Joel and I are staying warm...hope you are doing the same. Have a great weekend!

Latest Project

The last day or so that we were in Starkville at Christmas, Stanthia and I started a project. We set out to make Krazy Quilts. Before I left, I had enough blocks for a twin size quilt, and Stanthia was on her way to having enough for a queen or king size quilt.

I finally took the time to put the blocks together today. Here is what it looks like so far (still needs a border).

Our Christmas Break...

Joel and I had a great time visiting our family over the break. Here are some pictures for your enjoyment...

This is JM...can you believe how old he is looking? He is 13 now...you'll be able to see just how tall he's gotten in another picture.

Here is Maddi. She is 10 now...they are just getting too grown!

Can you believe how tall he has gotten? Maddi will soon be taller than me too!

Here is a picture of Kelli and Avi. Avi is getting so big too...she is doing really well with her potty training!

Glad Sheri and I remembered to take a picture together too!

We also got to spend some time with Joel's side of the family. We are very excited that a new little one will be adding to this family this spring.

We also got to see Joel's brother Daniel and his wife Meghan. Unfortunately, I did not get a picture of them! We were glad to get to spend some time with them.

Here is my lion. Tang had a good time getting brushed by everyone while we were home.

Lastly, I will leave you with this picture. This was the first thing I attempted to quilt with my free motion foot after the quilting class I took. I gave this to Sheri as part of her Christmas present. Hopefully it will serve her as a good bookmark.

Thanksgiving Break

Joel and I were lucky enough to be able to spend a week with our family over the Thanksgiving break. During the week, we attended a birthday party, three family celebrations, and plenty of time just hanging out.

Here is the birthday boy, Wynn...turning the big 5 years old!

Here is Rebekah sporting her Mom's sunglasses. She is so stylish!

Sanders is getting so grown up. Here he is right after he got a haircut.

Just the boys. Uncle Joel, Sanders, and Wynn.

Uncle Joel, Aunt Abbi, Sanders, Wynn, and Rebekah.

Joel and I are so blessed with amazing families. We both incredibly enjoy being an Uncle and an Aunt. Every moment we get to spend with these kiddos above and our other nieces and nephews is special to us. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures from this past week with our older niece and nephew...I will have to do better at Christmas. Avi Grace is pictured below in her overalls that I blogged about last time. I was very pleased with how well they fit.

Just lounging...

Here is a back shot so you can see how well they fit.

On the way home today, Joel and I stopped at a Chick-Fil-A to get one of their AMAZING milkshakes. My personal favorite is the cookies and cream one. Anyway, while we were waiting for our handspun treat, we got to take a picture with the chick-Fil-A santa cow. Aren't we too cute?

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving break, and that you were able to spend a little time relishing in how much you have been blessed by God. I know I sure did. Now, I am looking forward to the upcoming Christmas season.

What I've been up to lately...

A couple of posts ago I mentioned that I had taken a machine quilting class. I have been practicing my free motion quilting on scraps of fabric. I have a small boy's quilt in mind that I plan to donate to a charity (perhaps Project Linus), so that is why I have been practicing on all of these trucks and cars.

These are in NO way perfect, but it was fun to try out something new. I did the train first, and you can definitely tell it! I think the truck looks the best. By the way, the color in these pictures is awful, but at least you can see the quilting. (It is actually green fabric with white thread.)


Also, I found a good deal on a Burda pattern - 9772 at the local JoAnn's store this week. I decided to go out on a limb and try it! It is the first piece of clothing that I have made that is partially lined. I am proud of it, but most of all I am proud because I didn't have any difficulties while sewing it! I almost always have some sort of major question about what the directions mean or something like that.

I still have to do the buttonholes on the bib and put the buttons on the straps. I thought the fall fabric was too cute.


I hope you are having a good week. It is nasty and rainy here today. We turned on the heat for the first time this weekend. I am about to whip up some waffles, and then maybe we'll watch a movie.

Sunday Afternoon in North Georgia

This afternoon Joel and I took off and headed up to North Georgia. We have been enjoying all the beautiful changing leaves and wanted to see more. These first pictures are from the entrance to our apartment area. The trees are so beautiful right now, and we get to see them every day! It was great to get to see all the pretty fall colors up in the mountains on our drive.

from across the lake

close up
This one is for Joel...he likes the yellow/orange/green ones. I like the red ones the best!

Finally, after I got these pictures taken, we headed to North Georgia. Our destination was a town called Helen. Every year for the entire month of October, Helen, GA, has Oktoberfest festivities. The town is quite interesting in its decor...just see the pictures below. Their specialty during this month is beer and brats. We did not try either, but we did enjoy the beautiful weather and the unique atmosphere.

I hope y'all had a great weekend!

Ok, so it's been forever, literally!

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back on track with blogging. Joel and I have been super busy.

We are really liking our new town, and we have found a great church. I started working with the Cubbies at Awana, and we have 20 - 3 & 4 year olds on the roll. On any given Wednesday night we usually have at least 18! Talk about a crazy night. It has been a lot of fun and has helped me meet other people at church.

Today I had the second (in a 2 part series) beginning machine quilting class at a local quilt shop. I had a great time and learned so much. I got to meet several great ladies, and we talked about different ways to machine quilt and ways to mark the quilt. Also, I got to practice using my new walking foot and free-motion foot. The teacher of the class was super nice, and she brought several beautiful quilts to show us. You should go check out her blog...she does some really beautiful work and some neat things with real pictures printed onto fabric. Hopefully I will have something fun to show you soon.

Joel has been staying super busy with all of his classes, teaching schedule, and the homework that keeps him up late at night! He is really enjoying his classes and learning a lot. He just registered for next semester's classes this week. Only a month and a half left in the semester and then he will get to take a much deserved break for Christmas.

So that's a little about what's been going on with us. Hope everything is going well with you. I will try to do better about blogging in a timely manner (better than I have done since we moved :)).