Bit of a book worm...

Lately I have had my nose stuck in such a good book. It's called The Gable Faces East by Anita Stansfield. It is such a good read! It's set back in the 1800's in Australia and is really one of the best love stories I've read in awhile. It is very inspiring and uplifting. I just love it. If you are trying to find a good read this summer, I would give this one a shot. It's a very simple read and has kept my attention very well so far. (I still have about 250 pages left) You know its a good book when you are happy to have that many pages left. So check it out and let me know what you think! It's a bit older so if you can't find it in a bookstore, check online!

Happy Reading!! :D

Married Life

Sometimes I wonder when I am ever going to stop feeling like I am playing house everyday. Those of you who have been married for a while now and have outgrown the newlywed stage are probably going to gag your way through this post. ha ha! 

But I seriously love being married! I not only love getting to be with Preston as much as I want now (hallelujah for not having to say goodbye at night because of curfews!) but I love all of the the little things that come along with being married. 

 Here are a couple of pictures of our place. Mostly to show my family but you all get to see too! 

 Front room

 Bedroom. Notice how we use a dining chair for a nightstand? classy. 

Not only is it the greatest thing being married to your best friend, but I love everything that makes me feel like I am a grown up! I love all of the new responsibilities I have. Making meals for my hubby, doing laundry, going to work, cleaning, paying bills, etc. (I just found out my braintype - ISFJ or BEAL - look it up, it completely explains my bizarre personality! haha)

Yeah, I said paying bills. I never realized how much I really like dealing with money before I got married! Preston always thought I would be a big spender before we got married but it turns out that I am  the one that handles all of the money! I love it! I keep track of everything on these nerdy spreadsheets I created, and as goofy as it sounds, it has totally saved us! It has definitely a lot of trial and error but we are slowly getting all of the kinks worked out! I think that is one of the best parts of being newlyweds! You get to choose just exactly what works best for your individual family!

made with smiles :) 

But by far the best part of marriage is being able to be absolutely content in whatever you are doing or whatever situation you are in, as long as you have your companion by your side. Hence why I can be as happy as can be eating a bag of gold fish while Preston chooses to play games on his Ipad opposed to paying attention to me. :D Hehe I love you babe. 

 Special shout out to my Momma - this is the shirt from Target I was telling you about. It looks more like a dress but I would wear it as shirt with some cute leggings! :D

And P.S. : This is where I do my work everyday. Tough stuff,  huh? 

Charleston, South Carolina

I don't know if I have mentioned this before or not, but one of the biggest reasons I was so excited about Preston and I's decision to take the job with Pinnacle (aside from making some serious moolah haha) was because we would be coming to North Carolina and I am a die hard Nicholas Sparks fan! If you aren't aware who Nicholas Sparks is, he is an incredible romance novel writer. You have most likely seen some of the movies that are based off of his books: AWalk to Remember, The Notebook, Dear John, The Last Song, etc. Well, in each of his books the setting is usually somewhere in North Carolina and when I have watched the movies I couldn't get over how beautiful this state looked! So you can imagine my excitement when I found out we would be living in the land of Nicholas Sparks for a whole summer!!! :D

Well, until this past weekend I hadn't really experienced the beauty that I had witnessed in those movies. I have been hoping to see long driveways lined with trees that make it look almost like a tunnel, sandy beaches with those bush type things growing on them. And then we went to Charleston, South Carolina and I fell in love with its beauty. You'll see why. :)

Driveway lined with trees :)

We visited the beautiful Magnolia Plantation. I could not believe it has been around since 1676! There is so much history in that place that I cannot even begin to comprehend! We spent a good part of the day there walking around the beautiful gardens they have and searched for alligators. And we found some! The boys were hoping to hold one of them, especially Preston. His wife, on the other hand, discourage this idea. This place was not a zoo so these gators have full reign of the place. It's our job not to get too close! It was a bit scary at times but also very fun to see! 

Preston's brother, Scott, and his wife Brittany came down there with us. We all had a great time together!

The Womping Willow :D

Doesn't it look like that??? From the Harry Potter movies?? I'm a nerd :)

The Plantation House. This has been around since the 1800's. 

Such a romantic place. :)

The big ol' gator we found!!!! And no, this wasn't a zoo so if that gator had been hungry enough he totally could have eaten us for a snack! 

Scott roping the lizard!!

This is an old slave house. It was very interesting to see what kind of conditions the slaves had to live in. 

We had to eat dinner at Bubba Gump's! They had such yummy shrimp! 

The Beach :) Doesn't this remind you of the Last Song movie? Like with Miley Cyrus??? The beach was so beautiful and the water was so warm! I wanna go back!

Preston found the most perfect shell! But it was still be inhabited so we brought it home and that was the end of him! Good thing we have a pretty shell though! 

Evidence of Preston's hard work. Isn't that tan line awesome!?! It seriously looks like he is still wearing socks! haha

We had so much fun down in South Carolina. I have seriously fallen in love with the south and am having a blast seeing all that there is to see on this side of the country. This world never ceases to amaze me at just how beautiful it truly is.