A New Hobby

I decided to take up sewing sometime before Christmas in 2012. Wishing I had been able to learn from my Granny I guess somewhat inspired the new found hobby. I asked for a sewing machine for that Christmas and Mom came through with a brand new sewing machine! It came complete with all the works - needles, embroidery, hundreds of stitches and more!

Much to my surprise after Christmas came and went, I headed to Mom's for a regular evening where she cooks me dinner sometimes when Jake's working :) She had me open up this fine piece of history, that was all for me! My great-grandpa Laurence's old Singer! 

The Singer posing with the coasters I made for my great-grandma. 

He still had all the needles tucked away in some old metal tins, lots of thread that looked like it hadn't been touched and the manual still in its bag. He was a pack-rat but I'm sure glad he kept all of these things. It certainly isn't as precise as my new one but I am honored and thrilled to have it. 

He still had material in the machine and it was still threaded to a T. I cleaned it up and made those coasters shown above for my great-grandmother, using the machine and the thread that was still in tact. She called with the sweetest things to say after I mailed them to her. She didn't know I even wanted to sew. See, Laurence, did all the sewing back then like his State Trooper uniforms, pants that needed hemming and everything else. 

Love having this piece of history in our home!

Soil is Good for the Soul

Well, what started as a great idea almost ended in a typical Paige-kind-of-melt-down at Home Depot. After Mom helped me pick out some good stuff on Saturday night, I had to return to the dreaded Home Depot on Sunday with Jake. Why, on earth, we went to Home Depot I will never understand, nor will I return. My promise from here on out is to Lowe's, Knox Seed or Plants and More!

After the break down at Home Depot because they were out of the flower to the left, I ended up with two of the flower to the right. (Pictured below) As I begin this gardening adventure I promise I will eventually learn names of all these beautiful plants!  So having two different plants, thank the Lord, worked in our favor!

And now I officially feel like my mother as I talk to my plants daily now, "Grow little baby plants, grow! You look so pretty! Grow big and strong!"

So since my camera phone doesn't have the panoramic option... here are pictures of the front flower bed! It looks a little brown, hopefully in future pictures you will be able to see my little white Begonias, bloomed Day Lillies and whatever those red things are :)

More later on the new garden in the back yard!

"Where you have a plot of land, however small, plant a garden.

Staying close to the soil is good for the soul."
- Spencer W. Kimball

The Beginning of a New Chapter

December 14 started out just like any other day...got up, went to work, went to Jake's to get ready for his work dinner! I wore my sexy, red dress and curled my hair! Breaking out the 3" heels for this occasion was a big deal, we know I'm all about comfort!

As we were just a couple weeks 'til Christmas I was trying to be patient and wait until Christmas Day to open presents with Jake! He mentioned before we left that we should open a present when we got back from dinner...of course my reaction, "YES! Yippee! Hmm which one am I going to give you?" Immediately going through the presents I had for him under the tree.

Dinner was great! Met his work friends, so now I can put names with faces, and heard his supervisors say great things about their dedication and bravery.

Heading back to Jake's, feeling like a million bucks in my dinner party attire... now really contemplating which present I would give him. I huddled around the tree for a few minutes and I noticed he wasn't really reaching for one, didn't really think anything of it. So I picked out this great, soft, green Lands End pull over sweatshirt to give him, and I handed him the box. He had a big smile and put that box on the table... Im thinking.. what are you doing? open you're present, please! He drops to one knee with an open box with the most beautiful diamond ring I'd ever laid my eyes on.

I SAID YES!

Calling our parents and best friends that night and the next day was the happiest I'd ever been in my entire life. Spending the rest of my life with Mr. Jake McDaniel will be living out my dream!

We're still planning a few details but June can't come soon enough! We are beyond excited to start this chapter of our life, together!

Paige and Jake Fun Day

At the close of the 2011 Fair I decided I would really like to take a day off with Jake in October or November to go enjoy this beauiful town! We started out the morning at the Knoxville Zoo! I love the Zoo!! Since Fall is my favorite time of year, it was quite the perfect day! The Zoo was full of moms pushing strollers and lots of school aged children running wild!



First things first...the bears were not active! They were sleeping soundly, basking in the morning sun! However, our next stop was the birds exhibit which was hopping! Ducks and cute birds were playing in the water- morning must be there favorite time of the day!

We stopped for a picture in the Birds Exhibit! It was really neat, you had to walk through an old wooden doorway into this open air natural habitat! It made me happy to see that these guys were in one of the most natural exhibits I'd seen.

I also noticed several animals were getting or had already been moved to their new homes! There is a new Lion exhibit being constructed, which I am super excited about and the Red Panda's got a new home. It is very natural surroundings and looks so neat! The Knoxville Zoo really cares about their animals and their habitats.

I will have to admit I was so sad that the big turtles were away because of the colder weather! They are gone from October-April, so that just means I'll have to return in May to see my favorite reptile! So, instead I had to get a picture with this guy.

After spending a couple hours walking through the Zoo seeing all we could see, we headed up to Cades Cove! Living in East Tennessee and seeing the sights of house-less fields and mountains lingering behind, you begin to take such sights for granted very easily! Taking a long, peaceful drive through Cades Cove was beautiful!

The weather was perfect and it was a great day!

The earth is filled with the Lord's glory. Habakkuk 2:14