Winter Vacation - Downtown Franklin, NC

 For our last full day in North Carolina, we decided to spend the day downtown. One of our stops was at the Franklin Gem & Mineral Museum. We went last time, but we figured Mike's dad would like it. 

 It's inside of what was the jail in Franklin. This was used until the 1970s.

 "Historical graffiti."

This was just a neat looking piece of glass that was on display.

We stopped for lunch at Motor Company Grill. Delicious food & a fun atmosphere!

While we were downtown, we decided to look around some of the shops, including antique shops. We also did some shopping when we went to Georgia. This is some of what I brought home. I'll save the details for another post.
 

 After a cold but enjoyable day exploring downtown, we headed back to the house to relax. The weather forecast on my phone had said there was a 30% chance of snow, so I had my fingers crossed. And sure enough, it started snowing!

The girls had a blast trying to catch the snow with their tongues. They may or may not be in their pjs with wet hair.

 I'm not even gonna lie, I was outside several times taking photos. This was our first time ever experiencing it really snowing! It did actually snow just a tiny bit our first day there, but very little.

 This was the last photo I took of Mike's truck. A pretty good amount had piled up in a short of amount of time. We were really hoping it would still be there in the morning, but I wanted as many pictures as I could just in case it wasn't. Two more posts and this trip will be finished. :)

Winter Vacation - GSMNP & Cade's Cove

 For our second adventure on this trip, we headed north. Our destination was Great Smoky Mountains National Park & Cade's Cove. It's definitely a full days trip, so that's all we planned. Mike's parents had not been there before, but we've been on both previous trips. It started out a little hairy, as our new GPS took us the wrong way! Thankfully we figured it out before it was too late. Our first stop in the park was at Newfound Gap, which is also the border between North Carolina & Tennessee.

And I'm sorry for the amount of photos, it's just so hard to narrow it down!

 

 We were excited to see more snow! However, it wasn't as thick as it had been last December. But still enough to make a snowball.

 They were climbing in search of fresh, fluffy snow.

 One thing different about this year was the trees. There was a lot more snow last year, but there hadn't been any in the trees. This time they were white! So pretty.

 I took so many pictures like this!

Once we got in to Cade's Cove, our first stop was a church. I believe this was the Methodist Church (1902).

 This is definitely the Methodist Church. I read that the reason there were two doorways was that one was for men, one for women. But that this church just borrowed the plans for their building, they didn't adhere to this.

 Then we were on to the Cable Mill (1870).

 (It's so hard to get photos of these places without tons of other people in the shot. Cade's Cove is a very busy place for being in the middle of nowhere).

 This was Dan Lawson Place I believe.

 This guy was eating out in front of the area where the mill & gift shop are. He wasn't bothered by all the traffic at all.

 This house started out as a log cabin, and later a framed addition was added on. You can see that here.

 I just love this. It would be lovely to have this in my back yard!

Once we finished exploring Cade's Cove, we headed back across the mountains. We did stop again at Newfound Gap to play in the snow a little more. 

 Time for another snowball fight!

 Layla in search of fluffy snow.

 Daddy going in for the kill - Blake has no clue!

Nonnie thought she'd be safe in the car, but that didn't stop Morgan.

If you look in the center of this photo, you can see the road we had just been on.

I absolutely love it up there in the mountains. And I cannot wait to go back! I'd love to do some more exploring, see some places we haven't seen yet. As much as I enjoy Cade's Cove, we've been three times now. There are so many other places to see in the Smokies. Hopefully next time we'll find more. Do you have any recommendations?

 

Purex Baby Detergent Giveaway Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered the giveaway! Now on to what you've been waiting for, the winners!

The lucky readers are...

Comment #12, Alycia

Comment #19, Jessica

and

Comment #30, Wendy

Congratulations!

Purex Baby Detergent Review & Giveaway **CLOSED**

There might not be any more babies in our household, but I am always eager to try a new product. Especially when it's from Purex. This time I got to review their new Purex Baby Detergent. Just like all of their other products, it's tough on dirt & stains, but this is also gentle on baby' skin. Plus it's hypoallergenic and dermatologist-tested.

I was very pleased with how our clothing came out of the wash. Very fresh & clean!

Now, for the fun stuff. Three lucky readers will each win a coupon for a FREE bottle of Purex Baby Detergent!

To Enter:
1. Tell me how many loads of laundry you do a week. (too many!) (Mandatory)

2. Become a public follower of my blog, or let me know that you already are. Separate comment please. (Optional)

Please make sure that I can either contact you through your profile, or that you leave an email address! And make sure that you leave a separate comment for each entry. Giveaway will remain open until 2/1/13.

Good luck!!

Yarn Wreaths

Unfortunately, I have not been crafting regularly. And I miss it! December had me focused on getting everything bought & wrapped and finishing up my math class, and then Christmas came, followed by our vacation. Now I'm back in school taking college algebra and anatomy & physiology I. It's a tough semester. Hopefully I can find some time to craft, and soon. In the mean time, I'm going to share a few wreaths I managed to sqeeze in back in November & December.

You might recognize the rainbow wreath at the top of this post. It's not new, but since I posted it, it's been pinned quite a bit on Pinterest, and I've read a lot of  comments mentioning making it for other holidays, etc. So I decided to copy myself. This gold one above I made for Thanksgiving.

Then in December, I joined at Christmas Swap hosted by Crystal at Little Bit Funky. I wanted to send something handmade to my partner, so I decided to make another wreath. I started again with the rainbow wreath as inspiration, but ended up not copying it 100%. 

She decorates with traditional Christmas colors, which I somewhat do as well (I really loves blues & bright colors though), but it was kind of hard for me to work with these colors. The red glittery sticks were part of a Christmas pick from Michael's.

I had purchased these little trees at the thrift, but didn't like the gold bases. So I covered them with some silver glitter.

After I shared photos of that wreath on Facebook, my sister in law mentioned she wanted one. So I got busy making another. This time I used the white Christmas wreath as inspiration. This time I added a small white pearl to the center of each flower, and added a chipboard deer glittered white. I also tied a bit of red twine around his neck. Sadly, this is the only picture I took of it!

(I apologize that it's crooked. I didn't notice when I was taking the photo!). Then I decided it was time for another one for me. But it was so close to Christmas (like, Christmas Eve), that I decided I'd go ahead and just make it more of a winter theme. So I used this pretty aqua yarn.

And I bleached a few trees and glittered their bases. And this was as far as I got. I was playing around with adding a brown glittery chipboard deer, felt flowers, snowflakes... but I couldn't decide. I thought maybe if I left it alone for awhile, it would come to me. But it still hasn't. And it hardly feels like winter most of the time here anyway. It's been in the upper 70's/low 80's quite a bit. So it seems almost silly to make a winter wreath!

Any suggestions for finishing this thing? Or should I just put it away until next year and worry about it then?

Linked to: I'm Crafty Party at So You Think You're Crafty, Catch as Catch Can at My Repurposed Life, Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Delicately Constructed Friday at delicateCONSTRUCTION, Friday Favorites at Simply Sweet Home, Inspiration Gallery at Craftberry Bush, Friday Favs at Naptime Crafters, Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots & Jello, Sundae Scoop at I Heart Naptime, Creative Bloggers Party & Hop at Homemaker on a Dime