Picture Post!! One year BANDIVERSARY and finally home from my vacation extravaganza!!

Home sweet home!

Friends!! I have missed you all!! I am finally home from traveling the world...well more like the southeast...for the last week and a half! It's been fun and amazing and I spent wonderful quality with my family and friends!

Here was my agenda:

Saturday, October 16th:
I went with my family and Burch to the Auburn vs. Arkansas game in Auburn! Usually we take the camper and go for the weekend...but we only went for the day. It was a whirlwind trip but we won the game so that is all that matters!

Sunday, October 17th:
We headed to Cade's Cove up in the mountains in Tennessee which is about an hour outside of Gatlinburg. We took our RV so it took about 7 hours to get there. I went with my mom, dad, brother and our puppy, Simba. My aunt, uncle and cousins went as well. About five other families who are friends of my aunt and uncle went as well. So we had about 30 people with our little group. Every October for like the past 20 years my aunt and uncle and all there friends have camped in the mountains in Cade's Cove. This was our third year to join the group :)

During the day we hiked, went sight seeing, went on bike rides and a few days we went into town and enjoyed the local shops and restaurants. One day we went to this amazingly awesome antique mall. It was one of the best I have been to. It had a really eclectic mix of vintage and antique finds. A bought this really neat crystal decanter from like 50 years ago. I also bought this gorgeous glass perfume bottle that will go perfect on my bathroom counter. Haha and...while I was there I decided I wanted to start collecting old antique cameras. As you all know I love photography and what better to collect than old cameras!! There was a booth at the antique mall and all they were selling were old cameras so........I bought three and I love them!! I have a bookshelf in my room that has my coffee table books and photo albums on it so I will put my cameras on there!

For dinner each night we would all cook together and eat together...grilled out burgers, soup, chili, barbeque, etc. and then sit around the fire together. My uncle, who is hilarious and the best story teller in the world, would entertain all of us until midnight each night while we roasted smores in the fire.

Another fun thing we did was go to a place called Elkmont, an old deserted ghost town that hasn't been occupied since around the 1960's. It was old logging community established in the 1800's but when the last grandchildren grew up and died off, the town became abandoned. It's a small town that is off the beaten path. You would never know it was there unless someone had told you about it. Even the people that live in the surrounding communities won't tell you about Elkmont. If you ask how to get there, we figured out that the locals will act like it doesn't even exist. It's pretty eerie and creepy. I went with my brother, mom, dad and two cousins and we explored the town for several hours. Some of the houses are completely in ruins and the roof is caved in. Some of the porches are fallen in making it impossible to get to the front door. But the houses that were more in tact and not falling in, we explored...carefully of course. It was like people just up and left in the night. There were cabinets open, refrigerators with old food still inside and mattresses in some of the bedrooms. Seriously some of these houses could have fallen through at any minute...we are dare devils I guess. Haha not to mention there were signs on each of the doors saying "No trespassing" and if we are caught inside any homes we would have to pay fines! We were law breakers for the day but believe me, there was no one in sight at least for 10 miles!

So Cade's Cove was amazing. We headed home on Friday, October 22nd!

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Saturday, October 23rd was my ONE YEAR BANDIVERSARY!! I could contribute an entire blog to this but I will try to keep it short. On October 23, 2009 my life changed. It changed for the better and I couldn't be happier for making the decision to get the band. Like all of us, we are happier, healthier and more beautiful versions of ourselves. If it wasn't for the band, I wouldn't have created this blog. And if I wouldn't have created this blog, I would have met all of you amazing, gorgeous, thoughtful, fabulous people! I am grateful for each of you and your words of kindness that have helped me through my journey. As of October 23, 2010 I have lost 41 pounds. Those stubborn pounds will never be seen again...thank goodness!! I have about 52 more pounds to go until I get to my goal weight so as for this next year, I hope to meet this goal! I am hopeful and I am determined to make the right decisions to get me there. Thank you again for all the sweet words! I love you all!

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Saturday night my cousin and I drove to Mobile! When we got there we quickly hurried to the nearest Buffalo Wild Wings to watch the Auburn vs. LSU game with the rest of Mobile apparently. It was packed and we rooted our team on until the very end! What a fantastic game and for those of you who keep up with football, my Auburn tigers are #1 in the BCS!! Amazing!!

Then we got ready and went to the Carrie Underwood concert with two of our friends who live in Mobile! It was my second time to see her in concert and all I can say is fabulous!! Probably one of the best concerts I have ever been to. She is even more gorgeous and sounds even better in person. Such a natural raw talent unlike many other artists out there. I would pay to see her again and again and again.

Sunday morning breakfast and a quick shopping spree at the local mall, we were headed back to good ole Birmingham!! What an action packed last 9 days! But now Im home and glad to be united with the blog! I haven't been reading blogs or been able to update mine since I have been gone but I have lots of catching up to do!!

Have a fabulous Tuesday! I have lots of laundry and cleaning to do :) For all of you Ole Miss fans, my Auburn tigers are coming for ya!