Super fun weekend

We had a WONDERFUL weekend getaway!!!
Well first off...we went Thursday to look at some campers. Ours is 12 years old and does not have any slide outs. So we browsed around for a while looking at all of them. Well.....we bought one! Yep! We will be trading ours in this weekend and picking up the new one.
It's the same size as what we had but the living room slides out. It has flooring that looks like hard wood floors, brass looking water faucets, antique looking lights. It's amazing. And SOOOOO affordable! I can't wait to take it out camping!

Then we took off Friday for our weekend trip. We stopped at a little jewelry store and ordered Danie a "add a pearl" necklace. We will be putting it up and will order pearls for it every year. When she gets married this will be her gift from us. I am excited about it. Then I got to go to the North Georgia Outlet Malls for the first time. I had been saving up for a Coach Purse so we headed to the Coach store where I was blown away at the pricing and the amount of people there buying bags! But I left with my first purse :)

We made it to the little cabin. It was so cozy. And with a hot tub on the inside. We loved that hot tub!!!

We took off on Saturday and headed to Dahlonega! Some a precious little town. Hit some of the stores and antique areas. Then we took a tour of the largest gold mine this side of the Mississippe River. The Consolidated Gold Mine. This was my first little friend we met. They were all over the place and so cute....hibernating.

And just a shot as we started to go down into the mine. We only went 7 stories down. There are two more levels below that one but they are full of mud and water.

 Once we were done we headed back top and panned for some gold and gemstones. I have always loved doing this but I am sure it is because I was doing it at one year of age. I have pictures of me with my Nanny and mom/dad at the big panning places just having a great time looking for gemstones.

Our next stop...Amicolla Falls! The first time I visited here I could barely make it to the first platform. That falls is a mile long from the base to the top. I do NOT have my zoom lens on the camera so this is a pretty good actual distance shot. This is almost at the base of the walk up.

 And here....I made it to the bridge that crosses over the falls and then heads to the top. There are 405 more steps from here to the top. I had walked enough at this point. On the way back down my knees were giving me fits but I made it and was super happy. It took us 30 minutes to get to this point and back down.

We had wonderful meals at the cabin restuarant. All in all is was perfect and just nice to get away for a while. No stress...no worries....just super nice.

BUT...then back to reality Sunday. We plan on getting away like that again. 

PPA and Mica Pearl Ex

I love to give home made cards - Here is a quick and easy card using Pearl Ex Jewelz and PPA.

First start off by stamping your image with embossing powder. I used the Sandi Miller Field of Daisies rubber stamp. I love this stamp. there are so many possibilities available with this image.

The next step is so much fun!

Take just a dab of PPA - Perfect Paper Adhesive and sprinkle on some Mica Pearl Ex Jewelz in antiques. I used antique copper, antique gold and antique bronze. This will make a thick paint. Paint in the stamped image...don't worry about staying in the lines :)

When finished painting, take a lightly damp paper towel and just wipe over the image. This will remove any of the paint on the embossing powder.

At this time you can add some more paints or fill in areas that you might want to change up a little bit. Once you are done with this step...take a Krylon 18K gold leafing pen and go around the edges of the stamped image. This will be your border. Trim around the image and begin adding your layers or paper for the base of the card.

For an added touch I went around the edges of the stamped image with a black pen, added some ribbon and some flowers.

Becky Thackston

Happy Birthday Butterbean

It's hard to believe that a year ago today....we had this precious angel enter our lives.
I remember so clearly at 12:30 in the morning...waiting patiently outside the OR room for them to get Kayla ready. And then to watch little Danie come into this world. I remember the tears of joy...the happiness....and getting to hold her for the first time...just minutes old.

And here we are today...one year later. It is so hard to believe that a full year has passed. Your still so small....at only 17 lbs. I don't think you will ever gain any weight. Still no teeth but you can eat anything put in front of you. You've been walking for the past 3 months...there is no stopping you. I love how you love to read books and will pick up on things so quickly. I can't wait to see what this next year will bring.

 We LOVE you butterbean! Happy 1st Birthday from Nana and Papa!!