Hickory Dickory Dock

the mouse ran up the clock...Casey and I ventured up to Hickory, NC to visit with some dear friends.  As soon as we drove into town, we saw a furniture store named Hickory Dickory Dock.  In keeping with the little nursery rhyme, their sign had a mouse on top of a clock.  It was cute.  Hickory sure does have a large number of furniture stores. 
Anyway, the reason we went to the town full of furniture was to visit with some of my closet childhood friends - Laura and Stephanie Welborn.  (They are becoming good friends with Casey as well.)  I do need to point out that Welborn is now Stephanie's maiden name.  She got married two weeks after we did, and she is now a Cathcart.  We like her husband David alright too :)

The picture below demonstrates how we've taken pictures for the last 18 almost 19 years.  The picture was taken in Hickory's town square.  We enjoyed walking around the downtown area. 

Here is a shot of the newlyweds on our first Christmas.  Who would of thought that we would be able to meet up again this year?  The last time we saw each other was at Stephanie and David's wedding.

We ate lunch here.  It was worth waiting for a hotess to seat us. 

I like these four people.

We had a great time Welborn's and Cathcart's - can't wait for the next visit!

Holiday Lights

Christmas lights are always fun to see, but some people and places go above and beyond when it comes to stringing them up.  Last night, Grandma and Granddaddy took us to one of their favorite places of all times.  It is known as Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens.  Now, I have been coming to this particular garden ever since I was a little girl.  Casey however, had never been to a botanical garden before.  We told him he was in for a real treat.  The DSBG has started a holiday light tradition, and you just have to see it to believe it.  My pictures do not do it justice.  They start putting out the lights in September, in order to get it all done by the beginning of December.  Unfortunatly, most of my pictures were blurry. Therefore I only have a few to share.  

  This one is kind of blurry, but I wanted to show a small section of the garden.

As you can see, there was still snow on the ground.

It was literally freezing last night, so when we came inside from our tour Granddaddy bought us all hot chocolate.  We sat and drank it in the main building, which is also beautifully decorated.  I loved this big wreath.

One of the other big attractions at this time of year inside the main building is the Christmas tree made entirely out of different types of orchids.  I love the variety of natural colors!

Here is a close-up of the tree.

I'll leave you with a splash of red!

Stay warm!

Round Two

I know, I know, two posts in one day.   I just couldn't resist.  Casey and I took a hike around Grandma and Grandaddy's property today, and I took numerous pictures.  I figure if I don't post them now, I won't be able to keep up with the rest of the trip's pictures.

We were very bundled up for this adventure.

These are pictures of an authentic winter wonderland.

The barn is Casey's favorite.

This next one is of the hayloft inside.

The pine trees are my favorite.

Do you see Casey?

One last shot. 

That's all for today!

Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Good morning to you all, and Merry day after Christmas!  Yesterday morning, Casey and I braved the dreary weather, and headed up to North Carolina.  It either rained or snowed on us the entire trip.  Whenever it was snowing, Casey said it looked like we were driving through a Christmas card.  I agreed with him.  It was beautiful.  God's creativity never ceases to amaze me.  Once we crossed the South Carolina state line it started to snow relentlessly, and I had just started driving.  I drove for an hour while Casey slept, but when he offered to take back over, I did not argue.  We woke up to more snow falling, and a white world.

I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I'll be back with more snowy pictures!

It's one of

my favorite days of the year!  I've always loved Christmas Eve Eve, ever since I was a little girl.  Growing up we had a Christmas story cassette tape that had a song titled "Christmas Eve Eve."  Stephen and Aaron (my brothers) and I always sang it with gusto every year.  I don't remember what the tape was called - sorry Mom! :) 
Anyway, today this girl has a long list of packing and cleaning to do before we leave town this afternoon.  However, I wanted to do one more post before I am going to be out of pocket for the next few days.  In other words, internet will not be readily available, and I will be soaking in time with family.

I wanted to share the latest project I just finished with Casey this past weekend.  We want to start documenting when we did what, because we know we won't remember as time goes on.  

It started with me taking pictures like this...

Because I wanted to spell out our last name.  Now, Taggart has seven letters, and I could not find a single frame that had seven 4x6 picture slots for this project to work.  So, we had Casey's grandfather (known as Papa) build one. 

It was perfect!  This is a picture of it after I stained it.  I forgot to take one of the natural color, but it was much lighter than this.

Next, I painted it a navy blue color. 

                     And weeks later Casey and I distressed it with some fine sand paper.

                          He had been hunting - can you tell by the hat hair?

                     Here is a picture of the contrast of one half sanded and the other waiting to be sanded.

That afternoon we took it to Hobby Lobby to cut and install the matt, glass, and backing.

Here is the finished product.  We are very excited about having this new "homey" touch. 

Here is a close-up for good measure.

Have a Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

My first post and our first Christmas...

I have been thinking about starting a blog for awhile.  In fact, I thought I would start it this summer right after Casey and I got married.  You know, I would be the cute newlywed who blogged through her whole first year of marriage.  Considering the first 6 1/2 months have zipped past, that idea flew out the window.  Anyway, I'm here now starting my blog over Christmas break.   I have high hopes of documenting a little of the day-to-day, our travels, good food, family, friends, and how much we learn as time goes on.  We'll see how I do!  
I do want to say a little about our first Christmas this year.  Hopefully, Casey does not have to work on Christmas Eve, and we will be leaving for Jackson tomorrow afternoon.  We will spend Christmas Eve with his family.  Then on Christmas morning we will get up early and leave for North Carolina to visit my grandparents (my mom's parents).  They are having the coldest winter since 1917, so we will be packing every extra layer of clothing we own.  Good thing I bought Casey an insulated jacket for his Christmas present!  After we visit with Grandma and Granddaddy, we will travel back down to the Delta to spend New Year's Eve and Day with my parents and brothers.  We are very excited about all of the traveling, but are certainly praying for traveling mercies.  

In other news, I made a really fun wreath, compliments of the widely read blog thepleatedpoppy.com.  She is so creative!                

Using a little hot glue, I wrapped yarn around shatterproof ornaments...and

Voila!  You have a cute wreath.  It is hanging on our pie safe, because it is too pretty not to have inside.  This is about the extent of our decorating this year.  We decided to forgo a tree for two reasons.  Number one - we are traveling.  Number two - we do not have many ornaments.  Don't worry we will collect plenty in the coming years!

My closing thought is one that came from the sermon we heard on Sunday morning from our RUF campus minister.  He said that by Jesus coming the way He did, by being born in a manger, by being born into a lineage with women named, and by being surrounded by shepherds (who weren't even aloud to testify in court in those days), brought significance to the insignificant.  All of those things and people were not significant until His arrival.  Now, they are the very scene we reconstruct every year in the form of the nativity scene.  Since they were made significant, we are as well, through His great love for us.  That is comforting to me and the most wonderful gift we could ever receive.

Have a very Merry Christmas!