insta-lately. Nashville.

insta-lately. Nashville.

Why hello, friends.

Holy cow, the last few weeks have been insanely busy.  My weekdays have been filled with too much paper grading and lesson planning and the weekends have been spent away from home visiting friends.  Obviously, the traveling part is the fun-busyness that I prefer. :)

But now...I am officially on break.  Planning each day as I go and traveling even more.  

Stay tuned for some awesome adventures.  

First up: Nashville.

We ran a 5k. At 8am.  On St. Patty's.  

We visited a hot dog stand.

We line-danced and jammed to live country bands.

We barbecued and ate an enormous country breakfast.

Most importantly, we laughed and had an all-around awesome Nashvegas weekend. Nashville for the win! Again. 

7am, ya'll. Get 'er done.

Team Sparty Swag. Go green, go white!

This is Scott hating Instagram.  I instagram-ed him anyways.  Sorry I'm not sorry.

Gosh, I love them.

Just acting normally.

Promise you'll eat breakfast here?

Stay tuned. Trips to sunny Florida and Oklahoma to come.  Yes, Oklahoma.

charlotte, nc.

charlotte, nc.

What do.... Joe & Joe, a mountain top, chocolate peanut butter cake and Charlotte, NC... have in common?
A birthday-reunion-weekend of course!

Joe's best bro-friend, Joe, turned 24. (Confusing, I know.)
So we ventured to the super adorable Charlotte town to celebrate in Joe's honor, hike a mountain top and (literally) race through town in time for frozen yogurt (insert fatty jokes).  We had so much fun that I didn't even bother to take any REAL pictures with my REAL camera.  iPhone pics, y'all.  Whoops.
'Twas lovely.  We love these two.

Crowder's Mountain and State Park

This girl can pack a mean picnic.

I can't stop laughing at this. BROMANCE, right here.

Cake for breakfast, dessert and snack? Okay.

The only thing I love more than a skim capp, is a pretty capp. ;)

Pretty church, sound truth.

And if you're wondering, you should totally visit Charlotte.  I think I may have fallen a bit for it's antique, "low country" charm. The South wins me over yet again!

golf cart chillin'.

golf cart chillin'.

Ever heard of The Villages, Florida? No? Well, feast your eyes on the below.  It's all the rage for retirement: Haagen-Daz, Palm Trees and the highest percentage of golfcarts on any given street at any given time. Ever.
And my grandparents now reside in this very place.

Dad and my sweet Meme (grandma) being cute.

Momma and her "favorite son-in-law".

They. Are. Everywhereeeee.

Oh, you didn't know he played? Well, he does. Just look at him....

Really busting out the Garth Brooks on the ol' ivory keys.

Jk, he can't play. Nor can he or I take ourselves seriously.

A sweet and sunny new abode.

YES, there is a surfboard AND a hula girl on/in this golfcart.

We'll be back Villages, even though you'll force us "under 30s" to swim in the family pool.  We'll be back indeed.

this one time in spain.

this one time in spain.

It has been an interesting week.

On Thursday, I was having a horrible, terrible, no good, very bad day.  After my students had refused to behave or learn much of anything, my only wish was to be seen by a doctor and take some magical pill to cure my ridiculous cold/sinus awfulness.

Plan foiled.

As I'm headed through downtown Atlanta, BANG.  Two overly-friendly Argentinians swoop in front of my car and there goes my bumper.  My car once again looks as if it's encountered a Great White Shark.

And since Argentinians speak Spanish and I heard "Oh Dios mio" multiple times, I realized that I've never shared my muy bonita trip to Spain with the blogosphere.

Picture this: A "Study" Abroad trip to the picturesque Northern/vacation/ocean town of Santander, Spain.   Living with a Spanish family.  Doing a lot less studying and much more endless exploring.  I mean, wearing your bathing suit to class so you can walk to the beach after is not necessarily a difficult way of life. 

It was an unreal two months. Spain, I love you.

Discovering this beach was the best day ever.

Unimaginable beauty, right here, friends.

Back in the day when my locks were short.

This view is from a small island outside the city where I spent my 21st birthday.

It is the perfect combination of beach, beauty and history.  Have I convinced you to book a flight yet?

no photo nashville, but i do have wedding love.

no photo nashville, but i do have wedding love.

I would really love to share pictures with you of our weekend in Nashville, but guess what?
My sweet, sweet husband accidentally dropped my camera on the floor of a honky-tonk country showdown.  What can you do?  These things happen. 
Er, these things happen to those in NashVegas surrounded by cowboy boots and a whole bunch o' hollerin'.

In other news, here's more wedding loveliness, courtesy of our photographer/cousin.

I give you the ceremony.
Love, love.

It takes effort and extra hands to put on a wedding dress. Let me tell you.

Something old.  My "Meme" (grandma) made this from the very first formal dress she wore when she was 15.  The button is from a dress I wore when I was a little girl. LOVE, LOVE.

Could they be cuter? And the best part is...we're actually related to them. My cousin, Aaron and our niece, Grace. :)

My Grandpa and Daddy walked me down the aisle.  Such a sweet, emotional moment.

We painted half of an ichthus to show unity in Christ.

This is what pure joy looks like!

More to come! :)