Birthday trip to Gatlinburg, TN!

So this post is super overdue, but I think you'll enjoy it anyway.  Back in December, Kevin and I went to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to celebrate my birthday and also to just kind of get away.  In our original discussions about where to go on our honeymoon, I had wanted beach, he had wanted mountains.  I kind of won that, but found somewhere that had both - Costa Rica!  It was wonderful and I plan on doing a post about it in the future as well.

Since we did the beach for our honeymoon (and kind of mountains - well, rainforest in some mountains), we decided to take a mountain trip next.  Someone had recommended Gatlinburg, Tennessee - and specifically, the Bent Creek Golf Village.

We absolutely loved Bent Creek Golf Village!  It was very nice, very peaceful and very beautiful!  We had a mini kitchen, a balcony, a fireplace...it was great!

Let me just say this - Gatlinburg is one of my favorite places that I've ever been!  And that's huge...I've been to some beautiful countries.  Not only was it beautiful, it had a feeling about it that I have never felt anywhere else.  It was so warm and inviting.  And most importantly, the story of Jesus was told numerous times, not just because it was Christmas.  You could see the love of Christ in the hearts of those who live there.

Onto the trip (and photos! Though I do wish I had taken more)...

We flew into Knoxville on a Friday morning, rented a car and drove the 1.5 hrs to Gatlinburg.  After checking into our room, we grabbed lunch at the Smoky Mountain Brewery.

Oh my gosh, it was so good!  We tried their beer flight which we really enjoyed...very unique beers.  And my burger was amazing!

Then we walked up and down the main street in town where they have all of the shops.  It's very cute!  We don't usually buy much when shopping.  It was just fun to experience the town.  Everything was Christmas-ed out!  I loved it!  Carolers sang on the streets, light were glowing everywhere, everyone was drinking hot chocolate and shopping for Christmas presents.  I highly recommend going at Christmas time!

We saw dancing elves...

I might have acted like I was driving this sleigh...

And the coolest part was the Ole Smoky Moonshine Distillery!  Apparently it's legal to make and sell moonshine in TN now.  You can do a tasting for free which we did.  The server was very entertaining and animated in a country-folk kind of way...very "Tennesse".  I wish I had taken a photo!  I can't say I love moonshine because I'm just not a big liquor person, but the flavors were interesting....apple pie, strawberry, blueberry, lemon drop, etc.  I also hear they have pineapple now.  Here we are out front...

And checking out the moonshine making process...

We did buy the apple pie one for our brother-in-law...

Whiskey tasting at Davy Crockett's Tennessee Whiskey...



We had dinner at Calhoun's and then went to bed early.  We were pooped!

The next day, we went to the Log Cabin Pancake House for breakfast...AMAZING!!!  If you ever go, get the French Toast Royale!!!  Delicious!!!!

Next, we drove through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park right outside of Gatlinburg.  It was pretty though we'd love to go back when there were actually leaves on the trees.  We drove to Cade's Cove inside the park which was neat and educational.  It's a beautiful valley between gorgeous mountains where some of the first European settlers came in the early 1800's.  There are still a few of the houses they lived in, churches they built, and other buildings.  There is also a lot of wildlife though I think a lot of them were hiding while we were there.  We saw deer and turkeys which I see a lot in the Texas hill country.  They say black bears and coyotes makes appearances there as well.

Our only complaint was the 11-mile ONE LANE road you had to drive on to see the cove.  The speed limit is 15, but the occasional Grumpy-pants McGee would go 3mph and not let you pass.  It was quite annoying....especially because there were many opportunities for them to pull over and let you pass.

I'd recommend seeing this part of TN in the spring or fall.

Oh!  Here's a cool waterfall...

We walked around the town and chilled the rest of that day.

The next day, we explored Pigeon Forge, TN and did a little shopping there.  We drove by Dollywood though we couldn't see anything really at all.  I really wanted to run into Dolly Parton...haha...what are the chances?!?! 

We shopped a bit and had some awesome pommes frites at Poynor's Pommes Frites.  It brought me back to my trip to the Netherlands and Belgium where pommes frites (what we know as french fries) started.  These little shops/stands are everywhere there so it was quite a treat to find this gem in Pigeon Forge, TN...of all places!

Then we went to the Dixie Stampede...created by who else, but Dolly Parton.  I LOVED it!  They were doing their Christmas program so it was a little different than what you'd see the rest of the year.  It's very similar to Medieval Times in Dallas, but "country" instead of "medieval-y". (I like to make up words)  This was the green team against the red team...of course.

My favorite part was the live story of baby Jesus.  The whole show revolved around the coming of Jesus Christ as a baby and that being the true meaning of Christmas.  How awesome!

So after the show, we drove back to Gatlinburg and had to kill some time before our scheduled trolley tour of the town.  The Dallas Cowboys game was on so we found a sports bar in a hotel which turned out to be quite an entertaining part of the trip.  A traveler was hitting on the sweet (older) bartender and she was handling him really well.  At first he thought we were jerks because I asked him if he was driving and then he realized how cool we really are and he bought us a drink.  Ha!  I wish that dude was in this photo with us...

I have no photos from the trolley tour, but it was awesome!  We learned a lot about Gatlinburg history and guess what?!?!  The tour guide shared the gospel!  He spoke about Jesus' story, his sacrifice on the Cross and how He had changed this guy's life...oh, and this guy was Dolly Parton's nephew!!!  Crazy!

And we flew back to DFW the next day...my birthday!  Happy 31st to me!  What a great birthday gift from my amazing husband!

Birthday key lime pie!!!

Walking around Knoxville



Needless to say, this was a phenomenal trip!  I highly recommend taking a trip there!  We hope to one day bring our future children back there, especially at Christmas.

I hope you felt like you were in Gatlinburg with us after reading that!  Thanks for stopping by!

5 on Friday!

I'm linking up with April, Natasha, Christina, and Darci again for 5 on Friday!

#1

This weekend I'm getting both alone time and girl time!  My husband is on a trip to Arizona with his grandpa so I'll be catching up on cleaning and reading at home AND enjoying some wine with my small group girlfriends and hanging out with my friend, Jennifer.  I'm pretty pumped!  Please pray for Kevin and Grandpa Bill - they're on a 17 hour roadtrip and then Kevin flies back on Monday.  I'm sure going to miss him!

 

 

#2

 

I recently found this amazing recipe for Crockpot Honey Sesame Chicken!  Kevin and I LOVED it!  It kind of tastes like chinese food from the mall food court but waaaay better and you know what's in it!  No MSG, not fried, no extra hormones.  We served it with white rice.

 



(photo by Table for Two)


#3

This one is about food too!  Even better....DESSERT!  For Valentine's Day, I made stuffed chicken breasts, jalapeno cheddar mashed potatoes, asparagus AND red velvet molten lava cake for dessert.  It was delicious!

(photo by Chelsey's Messy Apron)


 

#4

 

I want to share a little about an organization that I love and support!  Crystal, the executive director, is one of the most compassionate, go-get-em, driven people I know.  She worked with the International Justice Mission in the Philippines before helping run My Refuge House, a ministry that helps provide a safe home to empower and restore survivors of commercial sexual expoitation and abuse.  Kim, my friend and fellow IBCer (Irving Bible Church) just became MRH's Director of Engagements as well!  Congrats Kim! 

 

Visit the website!  Pray for the work they are doing!  I will share more about this in another post someday!

 

 

 

#5

 

Just so you know...it's almost baseball season!!!!  Woo hoo!!!  Kevin gets to go to a Spring Training Rangers game this weekend and I'm jealous.  We're ready for the season to start!  GO RANGERS!!

 

 



My Favorite Things (under $10)!!!

Today I'm linking up with Erika and Andrea for the Favorite Things Party!  So here are some of my favorite things that are all under $10:

#1

 

 

Victoria Secret's Beauty Rush Lip Gloss

 

I have LOVED this lip gloss for years!  They're $9 each (or 2 for $15) and they last me forever!!  This stuff seriously stays on my lips for a long time.  I love all of the different colors, but my favorite is the Mocktail Hour (second photo above).  It add just enough color and shimmer without being too much.

 

 

#2

Tazo Zen Tea

 

As I mentioned in THIS post, I absolutely love tea!  I drink it every morning and some evenings.  My favorite is the Tazo Zen Tea because it's green tea so it has plenty of antioxidants that are great for you, it has spearmint in it so it calms your stomach and I just love the taste!  You can get a cup already made at Starbucks or buy a box of 20 bags at Starbucks for $6.95 or, for even cheaper, at your local grocery store.

 

 

#3

 

Petal to the Metal Necklace Set from Charming Charlie

 

Can I just tell you how much I love this necklace?!  I kind of wear it a lot! I originally bought it for my rehearsal dinner back in October, but I've found so many outfits to wear it with.  It's $10 (ok so it's 1 cent away from being "under $10") and that includes the earrings too!

 

Well that was fun!  I hope you enjoyed it!

 







5 on Friday!

 

Today I'm linking up with a. liz adventures, carolina charm, hello! happiness and the good life blog!

 

I get to share 5 random fun things!  Here we go!

 

ONE

 

It snowed in north Texas yesterday!!  Actual snow...not the normal ice that we get when precipitation falls from the sky.  You're probably making fun of it if you're from the north, but it was kind of fun.  Too bad it wasn't Christmas, because it totally fit the holiday feel.  I did watch some of the neighborhood kids throw snowballs at each other...well, the small amount they could gather off of the ground.

 

photo by Sydney Pham

 



 

TWO

 

Speaking of snow...last weekend, my husband and I went to Oklahoma to see his grandfather....the sweetest man on earth.  Here we are dancing at my wedding:

 

 

It's always a hoot going to visit Grandpa Bill.  He loves going to country dances at the senior centers around the area.  Normally we go to one on Saturday night, but this weekend we went to two!  One was an hour away on Friday night and one in town on Saturday night.  I was exhausted!  There are 86-year-olds not taking a single break when I have to sit down every chance I get...haha.  It's definitely motivation to stay active and healthy so I can do stuff like that when I'm that age.

 

So we heard there might be snow on our drive home that Sunday, but didn't expect it to be nearly as bad as it was.  Our 5 hour drive home turned into 7 hours in the car with 2 anxious doggies.  It was definitely icy.  We saw probably 30 wrecks, overturned cars and semis.  It was pretty scary. 

 

See that long extension of the ice/snow storm, yeah, that was our entire drive from Grove to Dallas!  It somehow knew exactly where we'd be driving!

 



 

It went from this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

To this:

 

 

Thankfully, we made it home safely!

 

THREE

 

My husband and I love hot chocolate!  We always use the little store-bought packets, but they aren't wonderful and you never know exactly what they're sweetened with.  I found this amazing recipe for Double Chocolate Hot Cocoa through Jen's blog at Whimsy At Heart that originally came from The Nourishing Gourmet.

 

[source]



 

Since we are both lactose-intolerant, we don't drink normal milk so I made Kevin's with Lactaid and mine with unsweetened almond milk.  I also didn't have those sugar replacements so I used Stevia because I had some in my pantry.

 

FOUR

 

We pretty much finished our guest rooms and we're ready to have some guests stay with us!  Here is the big room where we've decorated mostly with items I've purchased while traveling and some bird-themed decor.  Once I've finished all of the walls, I'll post a photo from every angle.

 

 

And here is the other guest room:

 

 

And don't judge!  I don't have candles in the candle holders yet!  Thank you to the Guilbeau's for donating the bed decor.  I love it!  The framed 'B' and green clock were also gifts from our sweet friends, Wally/Monica and Tracy.  And bless my husband's heart...I initially wanted this room to be painted an olive green so we spent a whole day painting it.  Then, months later, I decided I wanted it to be grey so we re-painted it. 

 

FIVE

 

So my husband and I love watching shows like Treehouse Masters, Shark Tank and American Restoration, but we've started a new evening activity.  I especially like it because I get to interact with Kevin more and it challenges my brain.  We sit on the floor together and play Rummikub.  He ALWAYS beats me, but for the record, I beat him for the first time last night. ;-)

 



















It's tea time! Benefits of drinking tea!

As you might know, I can't drink coffee.  This makes me sad, because I used to LOVE coffee...the smell, the taste, the fact that it woke me up when I was tired!  But when my gastrolenterologist told me that it was contributing to my horrible pain caused by acid reflux, I quit drinking it.  I even cheated for a while and had a Starbucks latte or two, but after suffering even then, I quit drinking those as well.

We all like to drink hot beverages in the winter though, right?!  I had always been a fan of tea, but now I was forced to drink tea instead of coffee.  I love getting hot tea first thing in the morning when I get to work and often again in the evening at home, however, I hate drinking the same kind every time.  So I began sampling many different types of tea and discovered the kinds that I like.  I really like a good variety - here's a snapshot of my snack drawer at work:

Don't judge me for having the girl scout cookies!  Those Lemonades are to die for!  And yes, I drink Advocare Spark too.

Here is my tea collection at home:

Sorry it's not super organized!  We registered for a tea box during our wedding but didn't get it.  Maybe we should go ahead and get one anyway.

Black tea

There are so many different types of black tea.  Just to name a few: earl grey, english breakfast, chai, darjeeling.  To be honest, I drink these the least.  I just don't prefer the flavor and they have more caffeine than the other teas. 

My favorite black tea is Chai.  I steep a bag with only 4-6 oz of hot water for about 10 minutes so it's nice and strong.  Then I add almond or soy milk to the rest of the mug and add a little sweetener - I prefer Stevia in the Raw.  Celestial Seasonings has a great Chai, but there are so many choose from here.



Let's talk benefits:

1) It has antioxidants!

2) It helps reduce plaque formation on your teeth

3) Lower risk of diabetes

4) Boosts your immune system

5) Increased energy (hence the caffeine)

To read about these benefits in further depth, go here: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/11-benefits-black-tea.html

Green tea

Green tea is one of my favorites!  I like normal green tea or flavored green tea.  I'll be honest, if you don't like a real earthy taste, you may not like the normal green tea.  Try a flavored one!  And I prefer all of my green teas without sweetener.  This is my favorite green tea:



 Tazo Zen Tea

I love this tea because it has a little lemongrass and spearmint in it.  It helps clear my head (literally).  I have horrible allergies and the mint in it helps open up my breathing passages.  It has caffeine, but not as much as black tea.

I've bought various green teas from Japan and China that were wonderful too!  You can even buy a decaf green tea in case you want to drink it before going to bed.  I know caffeine really affects me so I need that in the evening.

Here are the benefits of green tea:

1) Increased metabolism

2) Lower risk of diabetes

3) Reduce risk of high blood pressure

4) Antioxidants, antioxidants, antioxidants!

5) Lower risk of heart disease

To read about these benefits in further depth, go here: http://www.lifehack.org/articles/lifestyle/11-benefits-of-green-tea-that-you-didnt-know-about.html

White tea

White tea is my next favorite tea!  There are so many different types!  Just to name a few: blueberry pomegranate white tea, mango peach white tea, berryblossom white tea, apricot vanilla white tea, ambrosia plum white tea, and my favorite....cucumber white tea.

Benefits of white tea:

1) Loaded with antioxidants!

2) Lower cholesterol and blood pressure

3) Lower risk of heart disease

4) No caffeine

5) Healthy teeth, gums and skin

To read more about these benefits in further depth, go here: http://www.whiteteaguide.com/whiteteahealthbenefits.htm

Red Tea

I've tried a few red teas and I've liked all of them.  They definitely have a unique taste!  Red tea is made from a South African red bush.  I was first given a box of red tea by a friend from Africa who said that it was good for allergies.  I'm not sure how much it's helped my allergies, but I also don't drink it every day.  Studies have shown that it helps fight respiratory diseases (see link below).  Here is the one I drink most often:

A great drink that Starbucks has and is not well-known is the vanilla rooibos tea latte.  It's red tea with steamed milk, syrup, vanilla and cinnamon.  I order it with soy milk and only two pumps of syrup instead of the normal three.  Three pumps is a little too sweet for me.

[Starbucks photo]

Benefits of red tea:

1) Respiratory health

2) Digestive health

3) Lower risk of heart disease

4) High levels of antioxidants

5) Lower risk of arthritis

To read more about these benefits in further depth, go here: http://www.chinese-tea-culture.com/tea-health-benefits.html

Herbal Tea

There are many different types of herbal tea.  Herbal teas are actually not teas - they are an herbal infusion.  Red tea (above) is actually an herbal tea, but I wanted to list it separately.  Just to name a few others: apple cinnamon, chamomile, mandarin orange spice, ginger, lavender, peppermint.  See others here.  Chamomile is supposed to help you calm down so many people drink it before going to bed.  I enjoy it with a little honey, especially when I'm feeling under the weather.

Wellness Mama actually wrote a great post on herbal teas here.

Herbal tea benefits:

1) Calming effect

2) Digestive health

3) Antioxidants!

4) Strengthen the immune system

5) Supports heart health

To read more about these benefits in further depth, go here: http://www.naturaltherapypages.com.au/article/Herbal_Tea_Benefits

As you probably saw, most all teas are loaded with antioxidants.  Antioxidants have been proven to reduce the risk of cancer so I think this is a big plus!  Read the technicalities and research here.

I do have to mention Teavana.  Teavana is a tea store that has TONS of different loose leaf teas.  It's a little pricey, but I make mine last a long time.  Check it out!

Leave me a comment below!  Let me know your favorite tea!  I'm always looking for new ones to try!