Hippity Hoppity, Easter's on its Way

I absolutely love Easter, second to Christmas, it's my favorite holiday. The true celebration is of course, the most important, the rising of our Lord Jesus. What better a gift can we celebrate than that?!

1 // I've already ordered Cadence's Easter basket for this year. I would share a picture of it but it's not yet arrived yet. It's Lilly Pulitzer inspired and I purchased from a "blanks" page on FB. Essentially you can purchase un-monogrammed items from them, but there is a clear spot on the product where a monogram would go. It's for businesses or individuals who have their own monogramming machine. I cannot wait to receive her basked so I can monogram it. Pics to come! (Is it terrible I thought of ordering one for myself? #allthingsLilly)

2 // I have a Type A personality. What can I say. I plan out vacations, I'm organized and I'm not a procrastinator. This has pros and cons, but a pro is that I have already purchased some Easter goodies and thought I'd share the cuteness, just in case you have a little princess too. Cadence is smitten with cats. She always has been and I feel this isn't just a fad, but something she'll always cherish. How cute are these Easter basket items I purchased? All the links are provided on where you can purchase these adorable items.

Cat Ear Necklace

LED Kitty Nightlight

Pusheen Coloring Book

3 // Trust me, this video is worth watching. It will give you chills.

4 // Do you have any resolutions for 2018? I started on my list yesterday. I like to make a list in my monthly planner, this way I can look back at the end of the year and see how many of my resolutions I completed.  Some are things I've done before, some are things I've never done and some are things that I feel are necessary to do. 

5 // I enjoy baking. When I'm frustrated or bored I bake. It's just something I like to do. Others go on jogs, shopping, snacking or pouting, and while I am guilty of all those other things, I tend to gravitate toward baking. Yesterday was just one of those days. I woke up on the wrong side of the bed and every little thing aggravated me, so I baked. These lemon bars turned out delicious!

Powdered sugar on top makes all the difference!

Happy Friday!

Off to a great start | Plans for 2018

Snow in the lowcountry is a rare occurrence, and when it does indeed happen it's a light dusting that melts within an hour or two. It most certainly is never something that we can play in or really get our hands cold in.

When all our local weather stations predicted 5 inches of snow for us not many people believed them, I was one of those non-believers. I am so very happy to say that I was WRONG! We received a good 5 inches of snow, so much so that it is still on the ground today. Sure, it's not as thick or fluffy as day one, but it's still lingering, and y'all, it's beautiful! I sure wish we could get this at least once per year.

We have had so much fun making snowmen and snow angels, having snow ball fights, making snow ice cream (which was awful BTW), and eating tons and tons of fresh, white, fluffy snow. If you're new here I love photography and capturing moments. I was fortunate enough to get a lot of memories captured on camera.

It truly was such a fantastic way to bring in 2018!

Every two years we try and go on a long family vacation. As much as we'd love to do this annually, financially that's just not in the cards right now. So on the odd years we do a couple weekend trips here and there and on the even years we do our big one. Something Tarl and I always try and do once a year is a trip for just us two. It's great to have one on one time together with just him and I. 

Our last big trip was to Disney in 2016 and it was wonderful, you can read all about that trip here (I've also provided a link to my Disney Tips post which I find really helpful for families who are planning their first Disney trip):

Disney Tips

Disney Vacation 2016 Recap - Days 1 and 2

Disney Vacation 2016 Recap - Days 3 and 4

Disney Vacation 2016 Recap - Day 5

Disney Vacation 2016 Recap - Days 6 and 7

Disney Vacation 2016 Recap - Our Final Day

We start planning our big trip the year before, so back in 2017 we threw out three ideas, a week long trip to visit the Northeast states, Washington, or Disney again. As much as we loved the thought of visiting our nations capital, it was definitely not at the top of our list between the three. What ultimately decided us going back to Disney was a weekend trip back in 2017 to Orlando while visiting family. We had brunch at a Disney resort and rode the monorail for kicks before driving back home. Seeing the castle grace the end of Main Street USA but not being able to actually go inside of Magic Kingdom was torture, so we knew right then and there it was Disney again, so we booked for April 2018. What seemed like such a long time back in March 2017 is now quickly approaching us now that we're in January 2018. We are now in the double digits of our trip and all three of us are impatiently waiting on April to get here. 

The weekend trip that Tarl and I want to take later on this year is NYC. There's just nothing like walking those city streets. New York City is my most favorite place in all of the US, to be honest, it even beats Disney for me, but Cadence isn't quite old enough in my opinion to walk the streets of Manhattan, so we'll save a trip to NYC for her later in the future. In the meantime however, if you've ever taken your children to NYC please give me ideas. I've been three times but never with my child.  Tarl and I are discussing mid-October of this year. I've been before in the Fall and it's beautiful seeing the city graced in oranges, reds and yellows. Central Park is stunning in Autumn. This is not an officially booked trip, but as soon as those flights for October open up, I plan on booking!

I plan on sharing all of our plans and dining reservations for Disney in an upcoming post, so stay tuned! Are there any fun places you have planned for this year? Do tell!

New year. Same ole me. Same ole blog?

Are any of you still out there? I get it's been almost a year since my last post. Truth is, after everything that happened last year, family became #1. Family is always #1, but I didn't care about anything else, most certainly writing here, but if I'm being honest, I knew I'd come back. I love writing here and sharing my thoughts, ideas, and life in the lowcountry, so I put my blog on private and have read my favorite blogs every morning waiting for the right time to come back and start a blog post of my own. Here I am.

We have LOTS to catch up on so let's get started, shall we?

My last post was January of last year, how crazy is that? Needless to say we have a year to catch up on. On the other other hand though, the time rushed by and here we are, in a completely new year. Last year we started Cadence on her insulin pump which has been so beneficial in assisting her type 1 diabetes management. Her numbers have been so fantastic, that along with the dexcom, we have gotten her A1C down to 5.8, that's an A1C that a non-diabetic would have.

If you've been a reader for some time, than you know our love for Disney. If you're just now joining in on reading then be warned, we love us some Disney. This past year we just couldn't swing it. Financially we try to go every two years and with just having gone in 2016, it just wasn't going to happen. However, we went and visited with family in Orlando back in March so we made sure to make a reservation at a Disney restaurant, The Grand Floridian Cafe, for brunch, and then after we rode the monorail. It was awful! The food was delicious, but riding the monorail and seeing the castle so close but not being able to enter the parks was torture. On the ride home we booked for Disney 2018. What seemed like SO long at the time is now quickly upon us! We leave for 9 nights/8 days this coming April. To say we are excited is an understatement!

Along with Type 1 Diabetes, Cadence also got diagnosed with celiac disease. Disney is the best with food allergies. Gluten free Mickey waffles for the win!

Riding the monorail while simultaneously booking our 2018 trip!

If you really look close, you can see me tearing up being so close to Magic Kingdom and knowing good and well we couldn't go in! Hah!

This picture was taken in Mount Dora, Florida. We spent two wonderful days with my Aunt Nancy, Uncle Eddie and Aunt Jan. 

April was a fun one. Naturally, we all still miss my mom so very much, but of course, my dad has taken it the hardest. We try to spend as much time together as we can, and last April we spent some time at the strawberry patch. It was such a great day!

Most importantly in April, we celebrated the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We also took lots and lots of pictures.

We kept busy throughout the summer. Lots of trips to the beach and the riverside. We took several trips to the library and read our way through the extreme heat we have here in SC. We visited a museum in Columbia, along with our state capitol building. We went to the zoo. Cadence attended her first summer camp for four days. She enjoyed it thoroughly and had an amazing time. She said her most favorite thing was horseback riding.

Once the start of fall began in September, it started off not so great, Hurricane Irma! Tarl has a job that does not allow him to leave when a hurricane approaches, so Cadence and I were off to a girls trip, just the two of us, all the way to Gatlinburg, TN. It was the only place we could find with availability. I was a nervous wreck. I had never been that far without my husband, especially by myself. What I found on our journey, was that it wasn't as bad as I thought, in fact, there were moments that were amazing, like Cadence and I enjoying the beautiful mountains in Cades Cove.

We spent four days in chilly weather, mountain views, shopping and missing daddy. It was fun but we were beyond ready to get home. As soon as Tarl called and said it was safe to travel back, we did that same day. Our cabin was rented through Thursday morning, but he called on Tuesday morning and we left that day! 

Although it had a rocky beginning, September sure did have a beautiful end. My brother finally proposed to the girl of all our dreams! She has been such a blessing to our family, and when he finally proposed we were all ecstatic. There wedding was like something out of Southern Living magazine. Tarl, Cadence and I were all blessed enough to be a part of it.

October brought along with it my most favorite season, Fall. We did your basic fall (but necessary) things. Pumpkin patch, carving pumpkins, trick-or-treating, you name it, we did it. I adore fall.

November and December were spent celebrating the holidays the best way we know how, baking and family. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas and they always go by so quickly so I cherish every moment and memory that I can. We also celebrate our sweet girls birthday in December. Cannot believe she is another year older! Where has the time gone?! Cadence got chosen to be the lead in her ballet companies recital, The Nutcracker. She was awesome!

2017 was a crazy year. There were most definitely bad parts, but I always try to be optimistic and the good far outweighed the bad. I'm ready to see what 2018 has to offer for my family and I pray the Good Lord has wonderful plans for me and for you!

I'll share what we have planned for 2018 next time...