Mississippi Bridal Shower

Yesterday, I had my first bridal shower!

The Baptist Women group at Zach’s family’s church in Mississippi threw me a beautiful bridal shower with all the ladies from the church, plus some of Zach’s relatives.

They set up the cutest decorations! I love the rustic look with the burlap and neutral colors.

I love the Mr. & Mrs. sign! Everything looked so pretty!

They had some sparkling juice and a delicious cake. Everyone was so thoughtful and spoiled Zach and I with such nice gifts! I was so floored with all we received! Everyone in Zach’s church is so welcoming and I appreciate all that they did for us with this shower!

The ladies of my almost-family! From right, my future mother in law, Brenda, me, my future aunt in law (  ) Beth (and the mother of our best man!), and my future sister in law, Emily (who is also a bride-to-be)!

All of the ladies from Zach’s family: his cousin Megan, his grandmother Lynn, sister Emily, me, Zach, his grandmother Grammy, mom Brenda, and aunt Beth.

Thanks everyone for throwing us such a beautiful and generous shower! We are so grateful for everything!

The shower capped off a great weekend! After a loooonnnggg drive to MS on Wednesday (I took a half day, we left at 11 AM central time and still didn’t arrive until 10 pm central time), we had a great Thanksgiving. Zach and I had our own Turkey Trot and ran a 5k around his town’s train junction. Then we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner and had fun spending time with his family. I also got to go with Emily, Brenda, Grammy, and Emily’s future mother in law to see their wedding venue. Their wedding next October will be beautiful!

Friday we had a relaxing start to the day before heading to Jackson to visit more with Grammy and Poppy. We also stopped by a few stores and I finally found the latest issue of Southern Wedding!

Saturday started out great with a run and a Gator win. But MSU?! We got our butts kicked by ole miss.  They broke my heart! How did your team do this weekend? How was your Thanksgiving?

Bakin' Queen

I have been baking up a storm the past few days! Between a holiday function for work and bringing goodies for Thanksgiving, I have spent some serious quality time in my kitchen!

My department at work had an International Thanksgiving lunch on Monday. Everyone brought a dish representative of their culture/home country. I brought Mississippi Mud cupcakes since Zach and I moved to South Carolina from Mississippi.

They were so rich and chocolatey and delicious! I loved trying all the different foods!

For Thanksgiving, we’re bringing quite a few items so after work today I got busy in the kitchen.

I made cinnamon loaf and pumpkin loaf for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning:

And for desserts on Thanksgiving, I made red velvet gooey butter cookies:

and gingerbread cheesecake bites!

The picture in the recipe always looks so much prettier than how my baked goods turn out haha!

Here’s a peak at my Thanksgiving decorations I have around the house:

I made the wreath but I think it needs more volume. I’ll add more next year!

We are heading out tomorrow to Mississippi to see Zach’s family for Thanksgiving. I’m taking a half day at work so we can get on the road as early as possible. We want to avoid as much traffic in Atlanta as possible!

We are going to have a relaxing weekend visiting Zach’s family and cheering on our Dawgs (and my Gators!!) this Saturday during the rivalry week. I’m also having my first bridal shower this weekend! Zach’s mom and the women at their church are throwing it for me. They are so sweet to have a shower for me! I’m really excited!

I hope you all have an amazing Thanksgiving! I’ll update y’all as I can!

And since y’all haven’t seen Zoe lately, here’s a sneak peak at the pictures we took of her for our Christmas card!

Where to Begin?

Where do I begin?

I haven’t blogged in months and months. My blog used to be such a huge part of my life and all of a sudden, it wasn’t. I had every intention of blogging, of running, of tweeting, etc. But I just didn’t.

I needed to figure some things out. I had just had a pretty big life transition. I went from being a recent graduate waiting things out in Mississippi to working full time in South Carolina within a couple of weeks. I was having an amazing time exploring my new city, starting my job, and planning my wedding. I gained some weight, felt like I “lost” my identity as a runner, and left a lot of familiar faces and places behind. I was satisfied with my current place in life but dissatisfied at the same time.

I have taken quite a break from running. I started training for a half marathon this fall but lack of time and motivation after work left me weeks from the event completely unprepared. So I deferred my entry to next year. I didn’t want to blog about it because I was so disappointed in myself and my laziness. I was embarrassed to share that I gave up. I got a Groupon for a gym in September and started Body Pump, which I love and have been going to regularly since September. Body Pump is hard work and actually fun! But I still need that cardio to lose some weight before my wedding. How did I let all this time pass??

I think after this hiatus from the blog world, I’m back to my old self. My motivation is back. I’ve been running regularly lately (it’s SO HARD to rebuild the foundation!!), as well as practicing yoga and going to Body Pump. I’ve lost a few pounds (just a few, but it’s more motivating when the effort pays off!) and I WANT to blog again. I want to run again, I want to do yoga, I want to lift weights.

Zach and I have had a pretty busy fall! We’ve spent a lot of time exploring our new city as well as heading out of town on several adventures!

Exploring downtown Greenville:

Cheering on the Dawgs with MC and Kevin (who came to visit us in Greenville!):

Spontaneous adventuring to Asheville and the Blue Ridge Parkway:

Amanda visiting!!!:

We cheered on Clemson!

And went apple picking in Hendersonville, NC!:

Cheering on the Vols in Knoxville and visiting Jimmy for the weekend:

Watching our DAWGS beat Tennessee (sorry Vols!) during a weekend in Starkville!!!:

I sure do miss Starkville!

Going to a second Clemson game! This time with MC and Kevin:

Spending a weekend in Charleston wedding planning with my parents:

We climbed to the top of the Ravenel Bridge and I immediately decided I was running the Cooper River Bridge 10k this April (my first race as a Mrs!):

Finding mice on Main Street:

Seeing downtown from a new perspective (horse and carraige!):

As y’all can see, I’ve had a busy and fun fall! I’ve missed the blogging community so much and interacting with all of you! I’m so glad to be back in my old-self groove!!